POWER
FISKE
WOR D
Study Aids $11.95 U.S.
$16.95 CAN
ISBN 13: 978-1-4022-0653-5
ISBN10: 1-4022-0653-4
Fiske WordPower —
The MOST EFFECTIVE vocabulary-building
system that GETS RESULTS FAST.
THE MOST EFFECTIVE SYSTEM FOR BUILDING
A VOCABULARY THAT GETS RESULTS FAST
EDWARD B. FISKE
FORMER EDUCATION EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
JANE MALLISON AND MARGERY MANDELL
1,000
words you need to know (and can
learn quickly) to:
✔ Build a powerful and persuasive vocabulary
✔ Raise your word IQ
✔ Communicate clearly and effectively
✔ Improve your writing skills
✔ Dramatically increase your reading comprehension
✔ Increase your SAT, ACT and other standardized test scores
FISKE
FISKE
MALLISON
MANDELL
Raise
Your
Word IQ
1,000
With Fiske WordPower you will quickly learn to write
more effectively, communicate clearly, score higher
on standardized tests like the SAT, ACT or GRE
and be more confident and persuasive in everything
you do.
Using the exclusive Fiske system, you will no longer need to
memorize words. You will learn their meanings and how to use them
correctly. The Fiske system will enhance and expand your permanent
vocabulary. This knowledge will stay with you longer and be easier to
recall—and it doesn’t take any longer than less-effective memorization.
Fiske WordPower uses a simple three-part system:
1. Patterns: Words aren’t arranged randomly or alphabetically, but in
similar groups that make words easier to remember over time.
2. Deeper Meanings, More Examples: Full explanations—not just
brief definitions—of what the words mean, plus multiple examples of
the words in sentences.
3. Quick Quizzes: Frequent short quizzes help you test how much
you’ve learned, while helping you retain word meanings.
Learn
1,000 Words
in Weeks
Raise Your
Word IQ
WORDPOWER
A POWERFUL VOCABULARY WILL OPEN UP
A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY
New_Fiske Final 5/10/06 9:14 AM Page 1
WORD
POWER
FISKE
WORD
POWER
EDWARD B. FISKE
JANE MALLISON AND MARGERY MANDELL
THE EXCLUSIVE SYSTEM TO LEARN,
NOT JUST MEMORIZE, ESSENTIAL WORDS
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page i
Copyright © 2006 by Edward Fiske
Cover and internal design © 2006 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of
Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage
and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its
publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567–4410
(630) 961–3900
Fax: (630) 961–2168
www.sourcebooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fiske, Edward B.
Fiske wordpower : the amazing new way to build your vocabulary /
Edward Fiske, Jane Mallison, Margery Mandell.
p. cm. ISBN: 978-1-4022-1991-7
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-0653-5
ISBN-10: 1-4022-0653-4
1. Vocabulary. 2. Vocabulary--Problems, exercises, etc. I. Mallison,
Jane. II. Mandell, Margery. III. Title. IV. Title: Fiske word power.
PE1449.F553 2006
428.1--dc22
2006012424
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
LB 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page ii
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page iii
Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Study Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Stage One: Consciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Chapter 1: Short Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Chapter 2: Putting Together/Taking Apart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Chapter 3: Down from Mount Olympus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Quick Quiz #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Chapter 4: Give and Take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Chapter 5: The Menagerie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Chapter 6: Talking About Talking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Quick Quiz #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Chapter 7: What’s In? Who’s Out? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Chapter 8: Something’s Coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Chapter 9: The Art of Losing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Quick Quiz #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Usage Test #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Chapter 10: What’s Cookin’? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Chapter 11: Fortune’s Fool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Chapter 12: Stubborn as a Mule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Quick Quiz #4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Chapter 13: Miss Manners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Chapter 14: Be Bloody, Bold, and Resolute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Chapter 15: Oddballs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
Quick Quiz #5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Chapter 16: Work Ethic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Chapter 17: Words For the Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Chapter 18: True Believers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Quick Quiz #6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Usage Test #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Chapter 19: Enemies, Adversaries, and Antagonists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Chapter 20: Comrades, Cohorts, and Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Chapter 21: Sounds Like, Smells Like . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
Quick Quiz #7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page iv
Chapter 22: Them Thar’s Fightin’ Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Chapter 23: I’m Against That—Or Am I Next to It? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Chapter 24: Splendor in the Grass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Quick Quiz #8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
Chapter 25: Farrago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Chapter 26: I Beg of You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
Chapter 27: Me, Myself, and I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Quick Quiz #9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Usage Test #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Chapter 28: I Just Don’t Understand You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Chapter 29: What A Relief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Chapter 30: Bad Guys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
Quick Quiz #10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Chapter 31: Not-Quite-Naughty Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Chapter 32: “The Stream I Go A-fishing In” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
Chapter 33: Confound It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Quick Quiz #11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Chapter 34: Earth, Air, Fire, Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Chapter 35: Lighten Up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Chapter 36: Don’t Yell at Me! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Quick Quiz #12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Usage Test #4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
Stage Two: Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Chapter 37: Speech Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
Chapter 38: How Deep Is the Ocean, How High Is the Sky? . . . . . . . . . .141
Chapter 39: Sycophants Galore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
Quick Quiz #13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Chapter 40: Down with Everybody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Chapter 41: Oh What a Tangled Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Chapter 42: The Words of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
Quick Quiz #14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
Chapter 43: Bored and Lazy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156
Chapter 44: See What I Mean? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Chapter 45: In Sickness and Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
Quick Quiz #15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164
Usage Test #5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Chapter 46: Mad as a Hatter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Chapter 47: Play It Again, Sam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170
Chapter 48: What a Mess! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
Quick Quiz #16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
Chapter 49: Keep It Clean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Chapter 50: How Divine! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
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Chapter 51: Godliness Redux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182
Quick Quiz #17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185
Chapter 52: Hodgepodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186
Chapter 53: Too Much . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
Chapter 54: Not Enough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192
Quick Quiz #18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
Usage Test #6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
Chapter 55: Send in the Clowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
Chapter 56: Dionysian or Apollonian? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200
Chapter 57: All in the Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203
Quick Quiz #19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
Chapter 58: Yield…or Don’t Yield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206
Chapter 59: Bits and Pieces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209
Chapter 60: Darkness, My Old Friend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212
Quick Quiz #20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Chapter 61: Do It In Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215
Chapter 62: Scary Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218
Chapter 63: No End in Sight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Quick Quiz #21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
Usage Test #7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224
Chapter 64: Om . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Chapter 65: Oy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
Chapter 66: Chalk Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
Quick Quiz #22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235
Chapter 67: Over the Rainbow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .236
Chapter 68: How Sweet It Is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238
Chapter 69: Sourpuss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241
Quick Quiz #23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243
Chapter 70: The Wonderful World of “O” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244
Chapter 71: The Play’s the Thing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247
Chapter 72: Not Fully Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250
Quick Quiz #24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
Usage Test #8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
Stage Three: Mastery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255
Chapter 73: The Blues…and Other Unpleasant States of Mind . . . . . . . . . .257
Chapter 74: Get Happy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260
Chapter 75: Eponyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263
Quick Quiz #25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .266
Chapter 76: Gallimaufry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
Chapter 77: Bright Lights! Loud Music! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270
Chapter 78: Crime and Punishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273
Quick Quiz #26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page vi
Chapter 79: Words, for a Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276
Chapter 80: High Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279
Chapter 81: What’s My Line? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282
Quick Quiz #27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284
Usage Test #9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284
Chapter 82: The Body and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286
Chapter 83: Off and On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289
Chapter 84: Who’s the Boss? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292
Quick Quiz #28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295
Chapter 85: Man is a Political Animal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296
Chapter 86: Quarantine Ward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .299
Chapter 87: Bottoms Up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .302
Quick Quiz #29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305
Chapter 88: Home Furnishings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .306
Chapter 89: Country Yokel or City Slicker? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .309
Chapter 90: How Interesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .312
Quick Quiz #30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315
Usage Test #10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315
Chapter 91: On the Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317
Chapter 92: Parlez-Vous Anglais? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320
Chapter 93: Achtung! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323
Quick Quiz #31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .326
Chapter 94: Weighty Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .327
Chapter 95: What’s in a Name? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330
Chapter 96: Am I Timid? Or Are You Intimidating? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333
Quick Quiz #32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335
Chapter 97: Have Mercy! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336
Chapter 98: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .339
Chapter 99: Potpourri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .342
Chapter 100: We’re Out of Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345
Quick Quiz #33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .348
Usage Test #11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .348
Final Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351
Postscript: More Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .359
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .363
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page vii
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page viii
W
e both thank Grace Freedson for leading us to this project.
Margery would also like to thank Mark, Jacob, Alix, and
Katie Sugarman for their shared love of language and their
invaluable knowledge of contemporary culture, and Charlie Pope for his
wit and verbal expertise. Jane offers her gratitude to Carole France, a
brilliant teacher, and gives her more than thanks to Kenneth Silverman,
magic man with words, and without.
Acknowledgments
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O
ne’s vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die,” wrote
English novelist Evelyn Waugh. The following pages, we hope,
will be the fertilizer for all those with an interest in enriching
their ability to express themselves eloquently. The fact that you’re reading
this introduction shows that you are already motivated to improve your
vocabulary. So let’s take a look at how this book can help you.
We chose the thousand words here from a variety of sources, including
standardized tests such as the SAT, the ACT, and the GRE; the best-
written newspapers and magazines in the country; and classic literature.
Our goal was to create a collection of one thousand words that will be both
interesting and useful whether your goal is:
• Short range—preparing for a standardized test
• Medium range—being able to write and speak more expressively
• Long range—being intellectually intrigued by words and by the
ways they came to have their current meanings
Fiske WordPower does not ask you to memorize lists. In fact, it offers
you a chance not to memorize new words but to learn them.
What’s the difference? Memorization of words and definitions is the
kind of learning satirized in Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, a dark
vision of a futurist society. There, children are taught facts by listening to
Introduction
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page 1
2 Fiske WordPower
a recording as they sleep (the fancy term is “hypnagogia.”) Thus, if they
hear, “The Nile is the longest river in the world” on Tuesday night, they
can on Wednesday morning tell you that “the Nile is the longest river in
the world.” But the knowledge is purely rote—it hasn’t been integrated
with the other knowledge in the child’s brain. If you ask them, “What is the
longest river in the world?” they are at a loss.
We’ve sometimes encountered well-meaning people with a similar
approach to building their vocabulary. They acquire a list of words, often
alphabetical with a brief defining phrase and set about memorizing the
list (few get past “H”). At best, they’re acquiring what Garrison Keillor,
in another context, calls “shallow knowingness.” If you ask them to use
the words in context, they are at a loss.
We will show you a better way. Using the unique method in this
book, you will not just memorize the words, but truly understand them.
The result is that you will learn words more effectively and remember
them longer. So let’s take a look at how this system works.
PATTERNS
First, we take a new approach to how and when you discover these new
words. Most vocabulary builders are alphabetical, asking you to learn
from A to Z. Here, however, most of the chapters are organized using
varying types of themes, so that learning any of the words aids you in
learning the others. Various sorts of linked patterns will help you connect
and remember your new words. The patterns in this book include the
following:
• Words with nearly synonymous meanings There are few
languages as rich as English in words that have the same—well,
nearly the same—meaning. By learning these words together, you
will better understand how different words fit best in different
contexts, and their different nuances of meaning (see chapters 12 or
29 for typical examples).
• Words on the same topic Other chapters take a topic such as
religion or theater or color and give you words used within that area.
Learning them together is easier than learning them separately (see
chapters 42 or 61 for typical examples).
• Words that are built the same A few chapters have words with
similar characteristics such as three-letter words or words that end
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page 2
Introduction 3
with “o”; the quirkiness of their similarity will help you remember
them (see chapter 70 for an example).
• Words of similar origin Still other chapters have origins in
common; their ancestors were all in Greek myths or were Germans
or French (see chapter 92 for an example).
The four chapters that are exceptions to this principle of grouping are
spaced at rough intervals in the book (chapters 25, 52, 76, and 99), and
what they have in common is that their titles—“Farrago,” “Hodgepodge,”
“Gallimaufry,” and “Potpourri”—are all useful variations on “assortment.”
DEEPER MEANING, MORE EXAMPLES
The next step in the system is to provide more, and more useful,
information about each word. We teach you each word in context, giving
you two examples—often a fairly simple use paired with a more abstract
example—of how the word actually works in sentences. This approach, as
contrasted with the “list of words,” might be compared with seeing a
living animal in its natural habitat as opposed to seeing the creature
isolated in a cage. It is one thing to know the definition of a word; it’s
another to see its subtle meanings come to life in different sentences.
We also frequently give you a nugget of information about the origin
and the possibly changing meaning of the word over time. Some of you
may wish to ignore those facts. But may we offer two examples here to
try to encourage you to get intrigued? You may find that you remember
the word ursine (“bear-like”) because you think of the constellation of
“ursa major” (the Big Bear, aka the Big Dipper). The word accolade
(roughly, “praise” or “honor”) comes from the same root as collar—the
Latin word for “neck.” The connection? Form the mental image of an
Olympic athlete having a medal on a ribbon, a visible accolade, placed
around her neck. Will you be likely to remember accolade when you see
it again? We think so. These words are creeping into your long-term
memory because you’re learning them; they’re becoming part of you.
QUIZZES
The last part of the system uses frequent self-quizzes. Yes, we know that
you may not like quizzes. But how else will you know if you’ve truly learned
the words? And not to worry, you’ll be the only one to see the score.
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4 Fiske WordPower
Philosophers who specialize in studying how we know what we know
(the very fancy term for this study is epistemology) disagree on many
points about how we acquire knowledge. But everyone who works with
the practical aspect of learning agrees that you’ll be more likely to
remember what you learn if you have early and repeated reinforcement
of it. So in addition to jogging your memory through association, as
described above, we have included a series of review quizzes and tests.
Our plan for learning does not let you go more than three chapters
before you get a check-up about what you’re learning. These trios are
often grouped to have weightier chapters matched with slightly lighter
matter, so that admitting thirty new words into your brain is a less
difficult process.
After every third chapter a “Quick Quiz” asks you to match fifteen to
twenty of your newly acquired words with their appropriate meanings.
After every ninth chapter, we provide you with sentences that ask you to
use twenty of the words you have acquired in those chapters. A “final
exam” at the end of the book tests your skill in remembering and using a
random sampling of one hundred of the one thousand words in the book.
This final exam involves word matching, sentence usage exercises, and a
series of fun questions that test your ability to use your new vocabulary
creatively and effectively within new contexts. We’ve included a “post-
script” section of this kind of question for those who want some extra
practice in critical thinking with your new words.
So that is the method we’ve designed to give your word power an
effective and permanent boost. Let’s move on now to some very specific
suggestions for the optimum (best) way to complement your use of this
book.
USING THIS BOOK EFFECTIVELY
Have you ever learned a new word and then immediately seen or heard
it again? Let’s say you just learned exotic (“out of the ordinary”) and
within a week you see an ad for “exotic tropical fruit drinks,” hear
someone talk about “traveling to exotic places,” and find a reference in
a history text to the fact that in the eighteenth century the English
considered Italian opera “exotic” entertainment.” Spooky? Mystical?
Weird? Not really.
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Introduction 5
The universe didn’t suddenly thrust those words in your path to
reward you for your new knowledge. No, it’s the other way around—you
noticed the word because you’d just learned it. (The same phenomenon
occurs when people plan to buy, say, a used car or an engagement ring.
Suddenly their worldview becomes newly aware that some cars have two
doors and some have four, that Aunt Tilda has a huge pear-shaped
diamond.) In short, you’re developing what we call strong verbal
antennae, an ability to sense what you earlier ignored. These antennae
will be your new best friends. If writers are, as novelist Henry James
suggested, people “on whom nothing is lost,” then alpha students of
vocabulary are people on whom no word is lost. If you see it, learn it. If
you hear it, learn it. If you learn it, use it.
The system in this book is designed to help you fully learn the one
thousand words inside. However, there are many things you can, and
should, do to make the process easier as well as to learn new words that
aren’t even in this book.
Rule #1: Get the proper tools.
No wordsmith worthy of the name will be without a good dictionary—or
maybe even dictionaries. If it’s possible, have several—one at home, one at
school or in your workplace, and maybe even a portable dictionary to
carry with you so you can check a meaning whenever you come across a
word that pleases you.
Rule #2: Don’t be shy.
If someone uses a word you don’t know, ask what it means. When the
father of your best friend says he’s tired of hearing people pontificate, you
can quickly learn that it means “speaking in a preachy manner.” No,
people won’t think you’re stupid for asking; they’ll feel good about
teaching you something.
Rule:#3: Find a way to capture those exotic new words.
Maybe you’ll carry a small notebook with you and jot them down quickly.
If you prefer an electronic device, that’s fine too. Just don’t let them get
away. Then, be sure to follow through with the next step—learning the
meaning of your new words. (See the box on pages 6 to 8 for some
suggestions to make this process easier.)
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6 Fiske WordPower
Rule #4: Consider the possibility of a study buddy.
If you know someone who’s also motivated to build his or her
vocabulary, ask that person to study with you. The same principle that
has made Weight Watchers successful for dieters can build your word
power. Studying with another person can keep you motivated and make
practicing the recommended techniques more fun. For example, your
fellow Word Watcher may know some of the words on your list (see
Rule #2), saving you the effort of looking them up; similarly, your
partner can share his or her list of new words with you.
Rule #5: Employ
interstitial
learning.
This fancy adjective refers to “space between cracks,” in this case, small
spaces of time. Study whenever you have a small bit of time. You’ll be
amazed how studying whenever you have a little bit of time can add up.
A successful book for students in graduate school is called Writing Your
Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. If someone a little older than you
can write a long scholarly treatise using such a method, you can build
your vocabulary in even smaller units of time. So however silly it may
initially feel, get out that list, those cards (see Rule #6 below), while
you’re waiting for the bus or sitting in the dentist’s waiting room. Your
new bits of knowledge will add up quickly.
Rule #6: Different techniques.
Try several techniques for getting newly noticed words into your mem-
ory, into your vocabulary. Learning styles differ from person to person,
and you’ll be able to determine fairly quickly what works best for you.
Flash Cards: A system of flash cards (3" x 5") with one word
per card, definition on the back of the card, offers little in nov-
elty, but its familiarity doesn’t cancel out its effectiveness.
Your ever-growing pack can fit in your bookbag or your pock-
et, readily available at a moment’s notice.
Silly Sentences. Make up sentences using your new words,
the sillier the better. These are even more fun if you’re learn-
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Introduction 7
ing words in a partnership. You’ll both remember the day you
asked Max if he had done any
ancillary
reading, and after only
a brief pause, he slyly replied, “Oh, yes, an
egregious
amount.” (
ancillary
= extra,
egregious
= outstanding)
Story Time. Think about expanding the sentence idea into the
writing of a little story. You don’t have to write it down. You
can just run it through your head while you’re brushing your
teeth. Take twenty words you’re trying to master and see how
many you can use in retelling, say, an old fairy tale or the plot
of a movie you just saw. Little Red Riding Hood will find her-
self in an
umbrageous
(shaded) area with a
nefarious
(wicked)
wolf waiting to
accost
(suddenly speak to) her. Or, the
virile
(manly) actor will be planning to
avenge
(get revenge for) the
wrong done to his
pulchritudinous
(beautiful) sister. What
happens next in each of these scenarios? What new words
can you use to build the plot?
Mnemonic Devices. Employ
mnemonic
devices (memory
tricks) whenever they come to you. If you fix
ravenous
(very
hungry) in your head by thinking of some really hungry black
birds, no representative of the Word Police is going to come
arrest you for ignoring the fact that the adjective doesn’t
come from the name of the bird. Don’t censor your silly
associations; if they walk into your mind, they’ll help you
remember. Watch that
saturnine
(gloomy) man get into his
Saturn and be unhappy that he’s out of gas!
Root Words. While your mnemonic devices can float free of the
root meanings of words, do help yourself another way by
building some knowledge in this area. For example, if you learn
that “pli” is a root referring to bending or folding (think “two-
ply” tissues”), then you’ve smoothed the road to learning
implicate
,
explicate
,
implicit
,
explicit
,
complicate, supplication
,
pliant
, and some other “pli” cousins. If you’re lucky enough to
have experience with a foreign language such as Latin,
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page 7
8 Fiske WordPower
Spanish, or French in your present or your past, you can make
strong connections with words you’ve learned in that area.
Prefixes and Suffixes. Similarly, mastering some basic
prefixes and suffixes can help. If you know that “a” at the start
of many words means “absence of” (think of
amoral
—
absence of morals—or
apathy
—absence of feelings), you’ll be
ready to make some informed guesses. (If I approach the
world in an
ahistorical
manner, am I a dedicated student of
the past?) Likewise, if I think how insecticide kills insects, I’m
set up to conquer
homicide
,
fratricide
,
genocide
, and
regicide
(killing of a person, a brother, a group of people related in
some way, a king).
Read. Read. Read. Read. We can’t say it too many times. (Read.)
Just as runners training for a marathon fare better if they start
their training early, those who’ve been dedicated readers for
several years have automatically deposited lots of words and
their contexts into their personal memory banks. Those lucky
people may not need to do any formal vocabulary study at all.
But it’s never too late to start. Read in a mindful way, trying to
guess at the meaning of the unfamiliar words you see. If you
read “The exhausted parent yelled at the
fractious
child,” you
know that “fractious” doesn’t mean “cute” or “sweet” or
“smart”! Some readers like to look up words they can’t guess
at as they go along in their reading. Others find that process
disruptive and choose to jot down the words and look them all
up later. See which is best for you.
Rule #7. Use this book.
Use it on its own. Use it in connection with your dictionary. Use it to
practice many of the rules and techniques described above. We hope this
book will expand your verbal worldview. You may already know many of
the words in this book well; others you may find familiar but be
uncertain of their meanings; still others may sound completely, well,
exotic. By providing you with one thousand useful words, we hope to
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Introduction 9
help you develop world-class antennae for words. You’ll pay more
attention to them when you come across them in books or magazines or
newspapers or when you hear them in conversations. Learning of the
word history of many of these words and seeing them all displayed in
sentences will help you not only to remember them but to use them as
well.
You’re lifting words off the arid (dry) page and planting them in your
own private garden plot of words. In short, you’re claiming these words,
marking them as your own through the techniques that help you learn
them. You’re ready to look at our suggested study plan (see page 12) and
to plunge into the first of the three major divisions of the book:
Consciousness, Competence, and Mastery.
So, congratulate yourself on beginning your learning, whatever your
motives may be. As an ideal we hope to nudge you toward being thrilled
to learn, say, that “nice” originally meant “ignorant” or that a “bonfire”
was once “a fire of bones” or that “struthious” means “pertaining to
ostriches.” But we’re English teachers and lifelong logophiles (lovers of
words). For now we’re content that you’re becoming a student of words,
that you’ve taken the first step towards nurturing a thriving vocabulary.
Okay, enough pontificating. On the next page you’ll see an impromptu
(“pop”) quiz, one where you can test yourself on the words you learned
almost accidentally while reading this section of the book. We used more
than twenty-five words that, by our guess, you may not have already
known. If you were waving those antennae about as you read, we’re betting
you learned a few, maybe several. Did you? If so, think about what made
these words stick in your mind. If you can do a little analysis of this sort,
you’re beginning to understand how you learn words, and that understand-
ing gives you a head start at continuing to build your word power.
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10 Fiske WordPower
QUIZ
Remember you’re strongly interested here in how you learned
these words, however many or few that may be. Consider learn-
ing in a separate study session all those you didn’t learn the first
time around. Answers for all quizzes in this book can be found in
the back of the book.
1. accolade
(a) a refreshing drink (b) closeness (c) an honor (d) assistance
2. ahistorical
(a) lacking a sense of the past (b) relating to time (c) pertaining to a
diary (d) relating to the marketplace
3. amoral
(a) romantic (b) lacking a sense of ethics (c) superior (d) longing for
food
4. ancillary
(a) shaded (b) extra (c) hopeful (d) related to business
5. apathy
(a) disturbance (b) most direct route (c) absence of feeling (d) ability to
learn quickly
6. arid
(a) loss (b) cow-like (c) superior (d) dry
7. avenge
(a) to return home (b) to come when called (c) to speak loudly (d) to
get back at
8. egregious
(a) half-hearted (b) talkative (c) outstanding (d) sociable
9. exotic
(a) hard of hearing (b) former (c) out of the ordinary (d) clumsy
10. fractious
(a) badly behaved (b) mathematically talented (c) broken (d) high-
achieving
11. fratricide
(a) killing of a brother (b) great hunger (c) absence of feeling (d) exces-
sive partying
12. genocide
(a) DNA experimentation (b) lack of specific information (c) murder of a
related group (d) intense dislike
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Introduction 11
13. impromptu
(a) lacking an appetite (b) devilish (c) lacking money (d) without prepa-
ration
14. interstitial
(a) disapproving (b) between the cracks (c) confidential (d) lacking ade-
quate evidence
15. mnemonic
(a) extra (b) relating to memory (c) disobedient (d) like a devil
16. nefarious
(a) closely related (b) outstanding (c) manly (d) wicked
17. pliant
(a) unhappy (b) not rigid (c) not transparent (d) roaming at night
18. pontificate
(a) to pray (b) to argue (c) to adopt a preachy tone (d) to delight in
hardship of others
19. pulchritudinous
(a) having a good memory (b) related to mass murder (c) beautiful (d)
tiny
20. ravenous
(a) very hungry (b) shallow (c) rude (d) poetic
21. regicide
(a) gloominess (b) killing of a king (c) wickedness (d) extravagant
spending
22. saturnine
(a) gloomy (b) astronomical (c) alternative (d) inactive
23. umbrageous
(a) boastful (b) slimy (c) cooperative (d) shaded
24. virile
(a) sick (b) manly (c) speaking well (d) disturbed
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page 11
A
thousand words. A hundred chapters. Is the task of strengthen-
ing your vocabulary starting to feel like a trek up Mount Everest
without a sherpa? Maybe we can help.
Here’s a study plan that should fit most users of the book. If you have
a timeframe of about six months to work hard on your vocabulary, you
can plan to cover nine chapters in this book every two weeks. A quick bit
of arithmetic makes this forty-five words a week, but if your lives are like
ours, you often have a pressured week followed by a week somewhat less
strenuous, so planning your study time around a two-week period pro-
vides more flexibility. (If you have a British accent or can pretend you
do, you may call the plan “A Nonet a Fortnight.” nonet=group of nine;
fortnight=fourteen nights.) The schedule below shows you your study
plan.
Almost all groups of nine chapters provide you with three Quick
Quizzes for instant reinforcement and one test over all nine chapters;
the last two units differ in the way shown below.
Stage One: Developing Your Consciousness of Words
First two weeks: Chapters 1–9
Second two weeks: Chapters 10–18
Third two weeks: Chapters 19–27
Fourth two weeks: Chapters 28–36
(Pause and reflect that you’re over one-third of the way up the mountain.)
Stage Two: Developing Your Competence with Words
Fifth two weeks: Chapters 37–45
Sixth two weeks: Chapters 46–54
Seventh two weeks: Chapters 55–63
Eighth two weeks: Chapters 64–72
(Pause and think about how much you’ve learned now that you’re over
two-thirds of the way toward the peak.)
Study Plan
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Study Plan 13
Stage Three: Developing Your Mastery over Words
Ninth two weeks: Chapters 73–81
Tenth two weeks: Chapters 82–90
Eleventh two weeks: Chapters 91–99 (two quizzes)
Twelfth two weeks: Chapter 100, final quiz, final test, recommended
extra practice session, final exam
(You’re there—one thousand words! May we offer you plaudits, kudos,
and accolades! And as you’ll know by then, those words all express the
idea of praise.)
For users of the book with more—or less—time:
• You’ve got a whole year to work on this vocabulary-building
project? Great! You can do nine chapters a month with a relaxing
last month for the final chapter, review, and testing material.
• You need a crash course? It’s going to be harder, but you knew that
already. Can you try for nine chapters a week? Focus on the fact
that you already know some of the words and know that you’ll gain
momentum as you continue to practice the recommended tech-
niques.
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Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page 14
T
he sixth-century Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu once said, “A
journey of a thousand miles starts from a single step.” You are
about to embark on a journey to acquire a thousand new
vocabulary words, and you, too, must begin with a single step. In this case,
the first step is the first of one hundred chapters consisting of ten vocab-
ulary words each. To make your journey less daunting, we have divided
this book into three separate sections. The first of these sections—
“Consciousness”—will introduce you to the first three hundred sixty
words and, we hope, acclimate you to the process of increasing your
vocabulary by making you more conscious of language. As our
introductory chapter suggests, your antennae for new language should
become increasingly well-developed.
In this first stage of the book, as well as in the two that follow, you’ll
probably come across words you know, such as “hex” (“to use supernatural
powers to cause failure ”) and “aphrodisiac” (“a drug that allegedly height-
ens amorous feelings”) as well as more exotic words, such as “eleemosy-
nary” (“dependent upon charity”) and “germane” (or “relevant”). We’ve
done our best here to mix lighter chapters, such as the “Short Words”
chapter or “The Menagerie” chapter of animal terms, with more difficult
chapters, such as the “Talking About Talking” chapter, which includes such
difficult words as “laconic” and “taciturn” (both mean “speaking very
Consciousness
1
Stage
Chapters 1-36
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16 Fiske WordPower
little”) and “lapidary” (“precisely worded”). As you will see, we guide you
through your journey of word acquisition by giving you short quizzes on
your new vocabulary every three chapters and longer review tests every
nine chapters. These exercises will reinforce your memory and help you
practice your new words. In this way, your first single step will quickly grow
into significant headway.
By the time you have completed this first third of the book, you
should have not only a greatly increased knowledge of words but also a
solid grasp of how you best acquire new vocabulary.
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:45 PM Page 16
Short Words
1
Some Three-Letter Words You
May Not Know
Chapter
W
hen we think of adding new words to our vocabulary, we
usually think in terms of long words such as “polysyllabic”
(describing words that have many syllables) or
“sesquipedalian” (a humorous word for long words, literally a “foot and a
half” long). But some very short words can also be important to know.
We’ll skip those weird two-letter words like “xi” or “jo”—mainly good for
board games—and go to some three-letter words you may not know.
1. ape No, not the animal, but the verb “to ape.” It describes the action of
attempting an overly exact imitation and ending up with negative or laugh-
able results. Memory hint: think of the animal ape attempting to, say, tango.
• Find your own style of playing tennis; don’t try to ape Venus or Serena.
• Max, a junior high student, was aping his college student sister when he used
many long words in his paper, but the result made his classmates snicker.
2. dun Usually used as a verb meaning to insist on the payment of a debt.
• His creditors have been dunning Mr. Gooch for weeks. If he doesn’t pay, he
faces the threat of legal action.
• The dunning letter was so harshly worded that it was insulting to Mr.
Beason.
(“Dun” can also be used to refer to a brownish gray color, as in “a dun horse,”
but you’re not going to see that much these days.)
3. fop It’s a noun, always critical and always reserved for males. (Don’t worry
about discrimination, guys; there are even more negative words reserved for
females.) It’s used for a man who, in a mainstream opinion, is too concerned
with his looks and his clothes.
• While Frank has great taste in clothes and a closet full of cool clothing, no
one would ever call him a fop.
• In eighteenth-century England many men with money wore patterned silk
vests, velvet jackets, and shirts with cuffs of lace. Anyone dressing like that
today would be laughed at and deemed a fop.
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18 Fiske WordPower
4. gad As a verb, it means to move about, travel, usually in a kind of aimless
way. Usually mildly critical but not related to the old-fashioned expression
“Ye gads!”
• Ashley has been gadding all over the country, trying to decide what colleges
she wants to apply to.
• Gadding about to different malls to compare sneaker prices can waste a lot
of time and gas money.
5. hex You don’t want to tangle with it because it means “an evil spell” when
it’s used as a noun or “to put an evil spell on someone” when it’s used as
a verb. (Maybe you’ve heard of “hex signs” on barns in some areas of the
country. They’re designed to ward off your enemy’s attempt to hurt you.)
• Did the three witches put a hex on Macbeth and cause his downfall, or was
everything his own fault?
• Taylor laughingly said that she would hex her winning volleyball serve if she
didn’t wear a purple heart bandaid on her arm.
(Extra knowledge: a “hexagon” is not an accursed geometrical figure. It’s just a
coincidence that classical Greek “hexa” means “six.”)
6. ken Yes, it’s Barbie’s boyfriend, but also much more. Usually a noun, “ken”
refers to your understanding, the limits of your knowledge.
• When my Latin teacher was asked his opinion of Coldplay, he replied, “I’m
afraid that question is beyond my ken.”
• The poet John Keats describes the sense of delight and wonder of an
astronomer when some new planet “swims into his ken.”
7. pox A rather old-fashioned noun meaning bad luck. You’ll still hear the
phrase “A pox on you” as a kind of humorous curse. You’ll also hear it used
as a part of a word for a viral disease like smallpox, chickenpox, or a new
variety called monkeypox. Such a disease is certainly bad luck because it
can put “pocks” or pockmarks on your body. (Before our time, “pox” was
often used as a “polite term” for a sexually transmitted disease.)
• When Margot was reminded of last year’s boyfriend, who treated her shab-
bily, she elegantly responded, “A pox on him! I’ve moved on.”
• Harry was waiting anxiously for the results of tests to learn if he had con-
tracted monkeypox.
8. sow As a verb, this is an agricultural term pronounced to rhyme with row
and meaning to plant a seed, literally or figuratively. (Did you sow in the
row?) As a noun, it rhymes with cow, but refers to a different creature, the
female pig. (Did you feed the cow after you fed the sow?) It can’t be a
coincidence that the traditional call for a pig is “So-eeeee!”
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Short Words 19
• Scott hasn’t heard the committee’s response to his proposal yet, but he thinks
he sowed the seed of the idea on fertile ground.
• Sylvia Plath writes of a sow in the north of England voracious enough to
consume the whole earth. (As you can guess, “voracious” means “hungry.”)
9. vex To annoy or perplex. It’s more often used for small matters than seri-
ous concerns. (Would you be vexed if someone hexed you with a variety
of pox?)
• The noise of the dripping faucet was a vexation to Will as he tried to finish
the daily crossword puzzle.
• Will was vexed by the clue for six down. He felt sure he knew a unit of Indian
currency beginning with “R” but he just couldn’t remember it.
10. vie (rhymes with cry) A verb meaning compete, contend.
• Many years the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox vie for the right
to represent the American League in the World Series.
• Tyrone and Brianna were vying for the title of “Master of Geographical
Trivia,” but Brianna triumphed when she named Canberra as the capital of
Australia.
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T
he word “dichotomy” (dye KOT oh mee) comes to us from the
Greek and means “the division into two contradictory parts.”
It belongs here because most of the words in this chapter make
up a dichotomy between grouping things together or dividing them into
distinct parts or dispersing them in many different directions.
1. amalgamation (ah MAL gam AY shun) This noun, which may have come to
us from the Arabic, means “to mix or combine into a unified whole.” The
verb form is “to amalgamate.”
• The new poetry anthology in Ms. Van Meer’s ninth grade English class con-
tains an amalgamation of poets from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the
Caribbean.
• Tired of the disorganized array of papers on his desk, Mr. Candis asked his
secretary to amalgamate them and put them in a file labeled “Desk Papers.”
2. admixture (ad MIX chur) This noun means the same as “mixture” and
comes from the Latin meaning “mix with.” There is no verb form except
“mix.”
• Charlotte confronted the prospect of graduating from college and moving to
New York with an admixture of anxiety, sadness, and excitement.
• The recipe for Leonore’s chocolate cake involves adding sugar, eggs, and
sour cream to an admixture of flour, baking powder, and cocoa.
3. eclectic (ek LEK tik) From the Greek word for “select,” this adjective means
“made up from a variety of sources.” The noun form is “eclecticism.”
• Global Crossings, the new shop on the corner of Maple and Elm Streets,
sells an eclectic mix of Far Eastern home furnishings, Latin American folk
art, and Native American jewelry.
• A musician known for his eclecticism, Smiling Lemon Hawkins has included
jazz, pop, and folk tunes on his new CD.
4. catholic (CATH lik) With a lower case “c,” this adjective has nothing to do
with religion. It means “comprehensive” or “of broad scope” and comes
from the Old French word for “universal.”
Putting Together/
Taking Apart
2
Words About Combining or Separating
Chapter
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Putting Together/Taking Apart 21
• “We are hoping Carolyn Blink’s new novel will have a catholic appeal since
it is about finding love and doing meaningful work,” said the publisher.
“Everybody is interested in that.”
• The topics for the school’s weekly chapel talks are meant to be catholic in
scope, covering any issues that are of interest to the student body, whether
they are intellectual, spiritual, or emotional.
5. motley (MOT lee) Like eclectic, this adjective means “composed of a variety
of sources.” A good synonym is “heterogeneous.” It comes from the Middle
English word for “variegated cloth,” which explains its other meaning—
“having many colors.”
• Seated at the bar in the newly gentrified neighborhood was a motley assort-
ment of students, day laborers, and trendy urbanites in search of a hip, new
hangout.
• Harlequins are famous for dressing in motley to amuse their audiences; their
patchwork clothing is usually accompanied by oddly shaped hats and boots
with bells on them.
6. corroborate (cor ROB or ate) This verb means “to bring in new evidence to
strengthen or support an idea or argument.” The noun form is “corrobora-
tion.”
• Naomi’s accusation of theft was given further credence after Leopold, who
had witnessed the crime as well, corroborated her story.
• Urban legends are seldom accepted as truth because there is rarely a third
party to corroborate these tales.
7. asunder (ah SUN der) We move to the “taking apart” portion of this chapter
with this adverb, which literally means “apart” or “into separate pieces.” It is
only used to describe
how
something is done.
• Charlene was dismayed to find that her brother Nickolai had destroyed her
Cabbage Patch doll, tearing asunder its arms and legs and scattering them
in the yard.
• Part of the traditional wedding ceremony that comes from The Book of
Common Prayer includes the words: “Those whom God hath joined together
let no man put asunder.”
8. diaspora (dye ASS por ah) This noun comes to us from the Greek word for
“dispersion.” With a capital “D,” it refers to “the dispersion of the Jews from
the sixth century B.C., when they were exiled to Babylonia, to the present
time.” It may also be used, however, to refer to any “dispersion of a people
from their original homeland” or any “dispersion of a language or culture.”
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22 Fiske WordPower
• The violence and persecution of the Jews during Word War II continued the
Diaspora that lead many Jews to settle not only in the United States but in
Latin America as well.
• There was a great diaspora of Europeans to New York’s lower east side at
the turn of the twentieth century; Italian, Polish, and Irish immigrants
arrived in droves to seek opportunities for a better life.
9. cleave (KLEEV) Interestingly, this verb has two opposite meanings. On the
one hand, it means “to split” or “to cut” or “penetrate.” The noun form is
“cleft,” and the past tense is “clove.” On the other hand, it means “to stick to”
or “to be faithful to.” In this case, the past tense is “cleaved.”
• Iago put a cleft in Othello’s relationship with Desdemona by convincing the
jealous Moor that she was engaging in an extramarital affair.
• As the hurricane grew more forceful, blowing over trees and knocking down
power lines, the children in the tall apartment building cleaved to their
mother and cried out in terror.
10. disseminate (dis EM in ate) The verb comes from the Latin for “to sow.”
It means “to scatter widely” or “to disperse” as in “sowing seed.”
• In her work My Fight for Birth Control, Margaret Sanger describes her struggle
to provide birth control information, which was illegal to disseminate in the
early part of the twentieth century.
• In order to discourage cigarette smoking, the American Cancer Society
disseminates information on lung cancer and heart disease on their website
and through printed pamphlets distributed in doctors’ offices throughout the
country.
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Down from Mount
Olympus
3
Words from the Greeks and the Romans
Chapter
Y
ou probably don’t spend much time worrying about the gods and
goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology. While they are no
longer objects of anyone’s worship, many of them have a kind of
fossil form in the shapes of words. Even their dwelling place, Mount
Olympus, lives on beyond its geographical existence in the name of the
peak of athletes’ dreams, the Olympics. Let’s look at some other verbal
legacies from various Greek and Roman heroes or supernatural powers.
1. aphrodisiac The Greek goddess Aphrodite was the goddess of erotic love.
She has appropriately left her mark in this word. It refers to food or drugs
that allegedly make men and women feel more amorous. It can be used as
a noun or an adjective.
• Mr. Parbst doesn’t really believe oysters are an aphrodisiac, but he does give
away bumper stickers saying “Oyster eaters are better lovers” at his store—a
seafood market.
• For many people, poetry and music in the right setting can have more of an
aphrodisiac effect than something like powdered rhinoceros horn.
2. chthonic This adjective, describing something related to forces from the
underworld, won’t often come out of your mouth. (But if it does, remember
the “ch” is silent: say “thonic.”) Still, you’ll impress people with your knowl-
edge of a word that begins with four consonants, and you’ll be ready for the
wise guy (or the textbook) that pulls the related word “autochthonous” on
you. (Don’t ask why, but the “c” IS pronounced in this word—say
aTOKthonous.) It means, roughly, “on native ground, originating where
found,” as in autochthonous folktales.
• Linnell had had such a run of bad luck that she quipped, “Could chthonic
forces be unhappy with me?”
• The doctors were not sure whether the blood clot on Henry’s lung was
autochthonous or whether it had traveled through the bloodstream and
lodged there.
3. hector This verb means “to bully or to try to force someone to do some-
thing.” Too bad for the original Hector, the greatest warrior for Troy during
the Trojan War, and really a very decent guy. The negative sense of the
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24 Fiske WordPower
word came in with a mid-seventeenth-century street gang named The
Hectors; others perceived them not as valiant but bullying.
• I’ll be more likely to get this physics project done if you don’t hector me
about it all the time.
• The supervisor, Mr. Logan, consistently spoke in such a hectoring tone that
his employees shuddered when he approached the office water cooler.
4. hermetic Here we have an interesting adjective. It can describe something
very literal, a jar so completely sealed that no air can get in. Or in past ages
it was used to describe a kind of pseudo-science such as alchemy, that was
“sealed off” to those who had not been given the supposed secrets. Its
name came from a namesake of the Greek god Hermes, whom we know
better by his Latin name Mercury. See #6.
• Ms. Fulton struggled patiently with the childproof medicine bottle before
sighing and saying, “I think it is hermetically sealed. I’ll never get it open.”
• Movies such as Young Frankenstein give us a humorous depiction of mad
scientists roaming the graveyards for body parts or hunkered over steaming
lab equipment, practicing their hermetic art.
5. junoesque This adjective, reserved for women, is a compliment that comes
via the Roman goddess Juno. It describes a woman who is unusually tall
and stately and so beautiful as to seem divine. Since Juno was the wife of
the head honcho Jupiter, she deserves to give her name to this word (as well
as to the month of June, even today associated with weddings).
• Members of the Springfield High Film Club, who watched the 1960s film La
Dolce Vita, enjoyed seeing the junoesque Anita Ekberg frolicking in a
Roman fountain.
• While one of the finalists for the title of Miss America was cute and petite,
the two others were positively junoesque.
6. mercurial The Roman god Mercury was the messenger of the gods and as
such had to be very swift. Thus, his name gets given to the chemical element
mercury, which can travel very fast and to the adjective mercurial, used to
describe someone whose moods change very rapidly. ( If you’ve read
Romeo
and Juliet
, think of Mercutio, who is certainly mercurial.) Two for one: a
synonym would be “volatile,” which comes from a root meaning “flying.”
• Shakespeare’s character Hamlet is very mercurial: one minute he’s very
gloomy and the next he’s wisecracking with old chums.
• George’s mercurial nature can make him fun to be around for a while, but
sometimes you want him to be a little more laid back.
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Down from Mount Olympus 25
7. mnemonic This adjective refers to memory or relating to memory. (And do
remember the “m” is silent—say “neeMONic.”) You’ll most often see or
hear this word in the phrase “mnemonic device.” The noun mnemonics
refers to memory in general. If you remember your fifth grade teacher giv-
ing you the word HOMES to help you remember the Great Lakes, then
you’ve used a mnemonic device. Mnemosyne was the Greek goddess of
memory—and here’s a mnemonic device to remember that fact. She was
the mother of nine daughters, many of whom had four syllable names such
as Terpsichore, and so she had to be the goddess of memory to remember
them all.
• I find mnemonics fascinating: why can I sometimes remember a person’s
name starts with an “S,” but I can’t remember the name?
• Ms. Bevilacqua loves mnemonic devices: she taught her seventh graders to
spell “rhythm” correctly by having them chant, “Ride Hard, You Thick-
Headed Monster.”
8. muse, bemuse Maybe you already know the noun “muse,” a traditional
female figure of artistic inspiration. In Greek mythology there were nine such
women, all daughters of Mnemosyne (see #7 above). The verb “to muse”
means to lose yourself in your thoughts, perhaps awaiting inspiration. If you
are “bemused,” you have passively gotten to a state of unfocused thinking,
again possibly to allow yourself to receive inspiration. (In short, you muse,
but you are bemused.)
• Nyelle mused over the curriculum offerings for her senior year. Should she
continue with Spanish or drop it and take psychology?
• When the music teacher put on a disk by Elgar, Sean tried to focus but soon
became bemused and started wondering if chicken nuggets would be on the
menu for lunch.
9. odyssey This useful noun for a long trip comes straight from that great
traveler Odysseus, hero of Homer’s
Odyssey
. Today it can describe a literal
journey or a journey of the intellect or spirit.
• My grandparents took a world cruise to celebrate their Golden Wedding
Anniversary. What an odyssey! They sailed all the way around the world
with stops in ports on every continent.
• Lex felt he had undergone quite an odyssey in his first two years of college,
for he had changed his career goals as well as his philosophical outlook on
life.
10. saturnine This adjective means gloomy or even bitterly sarcastic and
mocking. The Roman god Saturn doesn’t deserve such a melancholy or
cynical term. Today many people happily bear his name on their cars,
and in ancient times he presided over a very jolly festival (Saturnalia,
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26 Fiske WordPower
late December). So think, Saturn was NOT saturnine. (This fate hit
Hector as well. See #3 above.)
• The judge’s saturnine countenance increased the nervousness of the first-
year lawyer.
• Many people think of Gulliver’s Travels as a children’s book, but careful
readers will easily detect the saturnine temperament of its author Jonathan
Swift.
Quick Quiz #1
Chapters 1-3
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning. (Don’t worry about the part of
speech; you’re just looking for a suggested meaning, not a formal
definition.)
1. ______ insist on payment
2. ______ combine elements from many sources
3. ______ support an argument
4. ______ be gloomy or sarcastic
5. ______ relate to memory
6. ______ annoy or perplex
7. ______ have a broad scope
8. ______ give the limits of knowledge
9. ______ make a scattering, a dispersal
10. ______ put a spell on someone
11. ______ lose yourself in your thoughts
12. ______ mix into a unified whole
13. ______ divide into two contradictory parts
14. ______ compete
15. ______ seal very tightly
16. ______ change mood very fast
17. ______ move about aimlessly
18. ______ is stately, and beautiful
19. ______ bully others into action
20. ______ split or stick
A. amalgamate
B. catholic
C. cleave
D. corroborate
E. diaspora
F. dichotomy
G. dun
H. eclectic
I. gad
J. hector
K. hermetic
L. hex
M. junoesque
N. ken
O. mercurial
P. mnemonic
Q. muse
R. saturnine
S. vex
T. vie
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Give and Take
4
Expressing Generosity and Stinginess
Chapter
B
elow is a list of words that cover the gamut (GAM et, a word that
means “complete range”) from charitable and generous to down-
right stingy. Whether you are a “philanthropist” (someone who
works to promote human welfare by charitable aid) or a “miser” (someone
who lives meagerly in order to hoard money), you’ll find a word to
describe yourself here.
1. magnanimous (mag NAN im us) From the Latin word meaning “great
soul,” this adjective means “extremely generous and forgiving” and, more
generally, “courageously noble in mind and heart.” The noun form, a bit of
a tongue twister, is “magnanimity.”
• The magnanimous World Series losers congratulated and sent sandwiches
to their opponents.
• “It was very magnanimous of you to lend us your home for the party,” said
the leader of the prom committee. “Not many people would be comfortable
with three hundred teenagers in their living room.”
2. parsimonious (par sim MOAN ee us) This adjective comes from the Latin
word that means “to spare” and it is the opposite of magnanimous.
Someone who is parsimonious is excessively stingy. The noun form is
“parsimony” (PAR sih moan ee).
• In order to save money, the parsimonious director of the orphanage refused
to serve meat to the children more than once a week.
• Knowing her boss’s parsimony, Nina did not ask for a raise, despite weeks
of overtime work during the holidays.
3. prodigal (PROD ih gle) From the Latin word meaning “to squander,” this
adjective means “extremely wasteful” or “extravagant.” It can also be used
to mean “lavishly abundant.” The noun form is “prodigality.”
• The prodigal student spent all of his hard-earned money on extravagant gifts
and parties with his friends; he had nothing left for paying the rent.
• Prodigal praise was heaped upon Filomena for dancing so beautifully in
Swan Lake.
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28 Fiske WordPower
4. penurious (pen YOUR ee us) From the Latin meaning “want,” this adjective
means both “stingy, unwilling to spend money” and “poverty-stricken or
destitute” (another good word for poor). The noun is “penury.”
• During the Great Depression, millions of Americans were reduced to a
penurious lifestyle.
• Suffering disease, hunger, and penury, the homeless man sought help in a
shelter; he didn’t have enough money to buy himself a meal.
5. eleemosynary (ell ee MOS in err ee) This adjective means both “contributing
to charity” and “dependent upon charity.” It comes from the Latin word for
“alms.”
• The congressional commission doubted the proclaimed eleemosynary
motives of the corrupt corporation.
• “This is an eleemosynary institution,” said the director of the nursing
home. “We take care of our residents and depend upon donations from social
service agencies for support.”
6. frugal (FROO gle) A good synonym for this word is “thrifty.” Someone who
is frugal is extremely economical.
• My frugal wife Betty will only use half a paper towel to wipe up a spill in the
kitchen.
• Carlton was so frugal that he rationed his weekly earnings between food and
rent, and hid all the rest under his mattress.
7. munificent (myun IF ih cent) From the Latin word for “gift,” this word
means “very generous in giving.” The noun form is “munificence.”
• The knights were eager to help the generous king, famous for granting
munificent rewards.
• Thanks to the munificence of the Parent Association, our school wll be able
to build a new library next year.
8. avaricious (av ar ISH iss) This adjective means “greedy” or “desirous of gain.”
A nice synonym is “cupidity,” which also means “to want something too
much.” The noun form is “avarice.”
• “Don’t be so avaricious!” Nick shouted at his brother. “You’ve kept all of the
books, video games, and toys in your room, and you’ve left nothing for me.
Why do you think everything our parents have given to us belongs to you?”
• Known for his avarice, the store manager only offered his salespeople a
nominal commission and kept the rest as personal profit.
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Give and Take 29
9. mean (MEEN) Though we all know this adjective to mean (connote) “nasty
and disagreeble,” it also belongs in this chapter because another meaning
is “miserly and stingy” or “low in value.”
• Gangs of New York depicts the mean circumstances of Irish immigrants living
in the Five Points section of New York City.
• By Mr. Fagin’s mean calculations, the company didn’t have enough money
to pay anything but minimum wage, but the company’s high stock value
suggested otherwise.
10. indulgent (in DULJ ent) Although the word indulgence has several
meanings (including “the remission of punishment for a sin,”according
to the Roman Catholic Church), the adjective mostly means “lenient” or
“willing to gratify.”
• “Sure I will buy you a pony,” said the indulgent grandfather. “And you can
have everything else you ask for because I love you so much.”
• “Please indulge me for a few minutes,” said the angry mother, “and tell me
why you came home so late last night.”
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T
hough most of us know the words that mean cat-like (feline)
and dog-like (canine), few of us are familiar with the words
that describe the characteristics of or the study of the other
creatures, critters, and beasts on the planet. Just about all of these words
come from the Latin word for them. Below you’ll find a menagerie of
the menagerie (a noun that means both a diverse or miscellaneous group
and a collection of wild animals on display).
1. equine (EE kwine) This adjective describes anything bearing the characteristics
of horses, asses, or zebras. Equestrian, on the other hand, is an adjective that
describes anything having to do with horseback riding. (An equestrian is also a
man who rides horses while an equestrienne is a woman horseback rider.)
• Equine studies is a branch of the veterinary field that involves the care and
treatment of horses and horse-related illnesses.
• This store specializes in equestrian products such as saddles, reins, bits, and
blankets.
2. bovine (BO vine) This adjective means “of or relating to the characteristics
of cows, oxen, or buffaloes.” It also means “sluggish and dull”—like the
behavior of most cows.
• The veterinarian specialized in bovine diseases because most of the families
in the area were dairy farmers.
• With a bovine expression on his face, the child stared blankly at the television
screen and munched on a cookie.
3. lupine (LU pine) This adjective means ravenous (extremely hungry) or rapa-
cious (greedily taking by force), that is, having the characteristics of a wolf.
• The lupine crowd attacked the platters of cheeses and hors d’oeuvres as if
they hadn’t eaten in weeks.
4. ursine (ER sine) Here’s the adjective that means bear-like, usually a physical
description.
• The rather ursine man was tall and husky. He had a bushy beard and a thick
head of dark curls.
The Menagerie
5
Animal Words
Chapter
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The Menagerie 31
5. porcine (POUR cine) The adjective means resembling a swine or a pig, either
physically or behaviorally. The sentence below reveals both meanings.
• Stuffing an asortment of meats and cheeses into his porcine face, the obese
man smiled contentedly at the buffet table and contemplated going back for
more.
6. simian (SIM ee an) Anyone who resembles an ape or a monkey might be
described by the adjective “simian.”
• With simian intensity, the mother sat before her child and carefully picked
the leaves and sticks from his hair.
7. serpentine (SUR pen tine) This adjective means snake-like in behavior (sly
and tempting) or physically resembling a snake.
• The coastal road down to Sorrento serpentined along the rocky cliffs in a
series of hairpin turns.
• The serpentine witch offered Sleeping Beauty a bright red apple, knowing
that one bite would put her to sleep for years and years.
8. pachyderm (PAK a durm) This noun comes from the Greek adjective mean-
ing “thick-skinned” and refers to the group of large, thick-skinned, hoofed
animals that includes the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus.
• The best part of the circus is the parade of costumed pachyderms bearing
the acrobats on their trunks.
• “You have the hands of a pachyderm!” exclaimed Jennifer, grasping the
rough fingers of her husband, who had spent the morning gardening.
9. avian (AY vee an) This adjective means “having the characteristics of birds.”
An aviary, on the other hand, is a large structure for holding birds in con-
finement.
• The avian Michael Jordan took off from the foul line, flying to the basket for
a dunk.
• There is an aviary at the zoo that contains brilliantly colored parrots, toucans,
and peacocks.
10. herpetology (her pet OL o gee) From the Greek word for reptile, this
noun denotes the study of reptiles and amphibians.
• In the herpetology lab at the zoo, there was quite a collection of snakes,
lizards, and turtles that were used for a variety of scientific experiments.
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N
ot surprisingly, the English language contains many words
about the use of words, whether in talking or writing. They
run a gamut from words about sparing use of words to words
about over-use of words.
We’ll start with words to describe those who have little to say or who
say it concisely.
1. laconic (luh KON ik) Although this adjective sometimes used to describe a
writing style, it’s more often used for those who say little. It derives from a
Greek place name, Lakon, better known to us as Sparta. Spartans were
famed for fighting, not talking.
• President Calvin Coolidge’s laconic way of talking earned him the nickname
“Silent Cal.”
• Since Mrs. VanderVeen had hoped to extract details from her son about the
spring break trip to Mexico, she was disappointed with his laconic repetition
of, “It was fine.”
2. taciturn (TAS iturn) Roughly a synonym for “laconic,” this adjective has a
history implying an even more grudging conversational style. It derives
from the Latin word meaning “silent.”
• It is ironic that a Roman historian who wrote a good deal about the early
Roman Empire has the name of Tacitus, for he was far from taciturn.
• Is there any truth to the gender stereotype that males tend to be more taci-
turn than females?
3. lapidary (LAP I derry) The adjective characterizes precision of wording. It
more often applies to writing than to speaking since a writer has more
time to think of jewel-like phrasing. And, indeed, “lapidary” derives from
the Latin word for “stone.”
• The lapidary style of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is easily con-
trasted with the unremembered two-hour speech by the little-remembered
Edward Everett.
• Lines that are quoted often have a lapidary quality; for example, “To be or
not to be” is more memorable than “I can’t decide whether to go on living a
harsh life or to remove myself from existence.”
Talking About Talking
6
Words About Words
Chapter
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Talking About Talking 33
4. pithy This is another word of compliment for a style of word use that is
both brief and forceful; it can be used of a writer or a speaker. It derives
from the less-used noun “pith,” which means “essence.”
• Although Shakespeare’s character Polonius tells us that “Brevity is the soul
of wit,” his own style of speaking is far from pithy.
• Robert Frost’s poems often feature a rural speaker given to pithy utterances
such as, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
5. succinct (suk SINKT) This adjective describes concise speaking or writing.
Literally, the word suggests your flow of words is “belted” very tightly,
since it comes from a word meaning encircled, as with a sash or belt.
• Despite his subject’s prolonged entreaty for aid, the cruel king responded
with a succinct “No.”
• When asked why he refused to give the requested aid, the cruel king replied
equally succinctly, “Because.”
6. terse Brief, to the point. Like its five predecessors, this adjective for speaking
(or writing) minimally also comes from the classics. Although it has a less
Latinate sound, it comes from a Latin verb from meaning “cleansed.” In other
words, you have “washed away” all unnecessary words.
• When the general was asked what the army would do if peace negotiations
failed, he replied tersely, “Fight.”
• This verse
Is terse.
7. garrulous (GARR uh lus or GARR yuh lus) This adjective moves us from the
stingy with words category to the other end of the spectrum, for it means
talking a great deal, taking too much, going on and on. You get the idea.
• I like what Paul has to say in class, but he’s just too garrulous; he’d be more
effective if he could make his point more succinctly.
• Eliza’s topics of conversation are seldom engaging in themselves, so her
garrulousness has no redeeming qualities.
8. prattling This adjective comes from the from “to prattle,” which itself
comes from the verb “to prate.” If you prattle, you chatter meaninglessly.
• If you prate at length about, say, what the weather was like each day of your
vacation, you may find your friends dozing off.
• The prattling of a three-year-old child may please its parents because it
shows the child is becoming able to communicate, but the prattling of a
twenty-year-old pleases no one.
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34 Fiske WordPower
9. glib If you speak of write in a glib manner, your words come easily—but this
adjective is never a compliment. A person who is glib is always seen as, at
best, speaking without enough thought and, at worst, as being insincere.
• The glib promises of the unscrupulous politician pleased for a short period,
but ultimately the voters saw through the empty words.
• “Was I,” Ramona wondered later, “under some spell when I fell for Prince
Mandrake’s glib declarations of love?”
10. prolix (pro LIX) More often used of writing than of speaking, “prolix”
describes a wordiness of manner, a pouring forth of too many words, too
many phrases. Unlike “glib,” however, this adjective carries no suggestion
of insincerity.
• A professional editor was hired to boil down the prolix manuscript to a
reasonable length and thus make it more appealing to publishers.
• “I am fascinated by the decline and fall of the Roman empire,” said Adam,
“but I wish Edward Gibbon were not quite so prolix.”
11. maundering (MAWN dering) This adjective comes from the verb “to maun-
der.” If you maunder on about something, you just keep going when you
could have won praise for being more concise. The word comes from
“meander,” which can be a pleasant kind of rambling—the word originally
denoted a winding river—but “maundering” is always negative.
• Although Norman shared the religious faith of the speaker, he found himself
impatient with the maundering pieties.
• “Why doesn’t the committee chairman get to his point?” thought Basil.
“How long will he maunder on about the process the group observed?”
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Talking About Talking 35
Quick Quiz #2
Chapters 4-6
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ relating to elephants
2. ______ greedy for money
3. ______ like a wolf
4. ______ writing that is wordy
5. ______ willing to gratify
6. ______ not talking much
7. ______ relating to monkeys
8. ______ wasting money
9. ______ talking a lot
10. ______ talking a lot in a rambling way
11. ______ related to charity
12. ______ study of snakes
13. ______ jewel-like prose
14. ______ relating to birds
15. ______ thrifty
A. avaricious
B. avian
C. eleemosynary
D. frugal
E. garrulous
F. herpetology
G. indulgent
H. lapidary
I. lupine
J. maunder
K. pachyderm
L. prodigal
M. prolix
N. simian
O. taciturn
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I
s she popular? Is it trendy? Are you here? Do you want to participate
in the office Super Bowl pool? Did he make the throw in time? The
concepts of “in” and “out” have manifold uses in English. The ten
words below give the flavor of some of the possibilities.
1. indigenous (in DIJ en us) This adjective describes people or things that are
native to a region. Immigrants and transplants don’t qualify.
• When Barbara completes her research on plants that are indigenous to the
Smoky Mountain region, she will publish a monograph on the topic.
• The island that is the setting for Shakespeare’s play The Tempest is populated
by a father and daughter who came there in a small boat, and by a spirit
named Ariel and the ill-tempered Caliban, both indigenous.
2. interloper (IN ter LO per) Interlopers intrude where they aren’t wanted,
whether they are meddlers in the affairs of others or merely non-indigenous
species of plants (see #1). The word came into English from the Dutch in the
late sixteenth century, a period when England and the Netherlands were
great commercial rivals. The term originally applied to a trading company
attempting business in an area where another company had a monopoly.
• Although the Collinses had lived in Fancy Gap for over twenty years, the
community was so tight-knit that they sometimes still felt like interlopers.
• “I don’t need some interloper telling me how to raise my children,” said
Mrs. Grundy when her neighbor suggested that Rupert and Rosie shouldn’t
be tossing around a jar of kerosene.
3. extraneous (ek STRAIN e us) This adjective can mean simply “coming from
the outside,” but it is more likely to have the strong sense of irrelevant or
unimportant.
• The studio was soundproofed because extraneous noises would interfere
with the quality of the recordings made there.
• Learning how to eliminate extraneous details from their intra-office memos
and their letters to clients made the Rock Creek Public Relations employees
much better at communication.
What’s In? Who’s Out?
7
Describing Inside and Outside
Chapter
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What’s In? Who’s Out? 37
4. inherent (in HERR ent) If it’s inherent it’s literally “stuck into” the nature of
the thing (or the person), integral to its being. While “inherit” isn’t a root
word, it might serve as a memory device, since something “inherent” is a
part of the figurative DNA.
• A little investigation showed Carl he had an inherent flaw in the design of
the computer program; he had to scrap it and start over.
• When Molly admired Enoch’s orderly office space, he commented,
“Neatness isn’t an inherent virtue for me; I have to work hard at it.”
5. germane (jer MAIN) Nothing to do with Germany, this adjective means
“relevant” or “suitable” or “closely connected.” Literally, the root word
means “having the same parents,” so if you know Spanish, think “hermano”
(brother).
• While that detail about how little Thomas A. Edison slept may be interesting,
it’s hardly germane to your study of elementary electronics.
• “I try to consider your feelings,” said Sandra to J.B., “but it’s equally germane
that you try to consider mine.”
6. pariah (puh RYE uh) This noun refers to a social outcast, someone not
accepted in his or her society. The word comes into English from Tamil, a
language of southern India, where it refers more specifically to an
“Untouchable,” a member of the lowest caste.
• Mark Twain calls Huckleberry Finn the “juvenile pariah of the village.”
• After Aaron reported Matt’s misdoings to a teacher, he was treated like a
pariah by classmates who felt “ratting someone out” was the worst possible
offense.
7. endemic (en DEM ik) From the Greek words for “in” and “people,” this
adjective means native or common to or peculiar to a specific region or
abstract area. Perhaps because of the fact it sounds similar to “epidemic,”
it’s often (though not always) used for negative phenomena.
• When the first year teacher felt overwhelmed with work, she consulted her
experienced colleague who said consolingly, “Feeling absolutely swamped is
endemic to being a new teacher. You’ll never have the time you need, but
you’ll learn to accept that and live with the feeling.”
• “If you’re planning to travel in an equatorial region,” said Dr. Abernethy,
“you must get shots for diseases that are endemic to that region.”
8. intrinsic (in TRINZ ik) From the Latin word for “inward,” this adjective is a
rough synonym for “inherent” (#4), though careful stylists will find shades
of difference. “Innate” (literally, “in-born”) is another synonym.
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38 Fiske WordPower
• Gold, a metal like many others, has no intrinsic value, but its comparative
rarity and its attractive gleam have bestowed value on it in virtually every
society.
• Intrinsic in every major religion is the concept of valuing others and treating
them well.
8. ostracize (OS truh size) If you ostracize someone, you make him or her a
pariah (see #6). This verb has the meaning of expelling a person from a
community either literally or figuratively. Like many words and practices, this
one came from ancient Greece where a citizen could be forced to leave a city
by vote of his peers. Not yet having paper, the citizens voted with shards of
pottery—
ostraka
, forerunners of the modern “blackball.”
• Although the charges of sexual harassment against Mr. Larrabee have been
dropped, he continues to be ostracized by a number of people in his workplace.
• To help her psychology students understand the power of social ostracism,
Ms. Ewalt had her class participate in an experiment: on a regularly scheduled
basis, each member of the class spent two days being shunned by others—no
communication, no sharing of a lunchroom table.
9. tangential (tan JEN chul) This adjective describes neither “in” nor “out,”
but something “slightly touching” or “barely connected.” This adjective
derives from the world of geometry, where a “tangent” is a line or curve
touching another at a single point. So if a person “goes off on a tangent,”
he or she is getting away from the main concern.
• The leader instructed the teachers scoring the essay that would determine a
student’s placement in a composition class that a tangential approach to the
given topic was fine: “Think of the topic as merely an ‘invitation to write,’”
he said.
• Mr. Holland asked all his group leaders to focus on the major points of the
task that confronted them on this day, to save all tangential considerations
for the next meeting.
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Something’s Coming
8
Expressing Looming Events
Chapter
S
ometimes pleasant things are on the way, but the language seems
to have more words suggesting the looming disaster. Some of the
ten below are neutral, but most are not. Something’s coming,
something bad.
1. ominous (OM uh nus) A good illustration of the statement above: this
adjective, which comes from the Latin word “omen,” a foreshadowing of
the future, always describes the threatening, the menacing.
• The turnip-shaped cloud on the horizon seemed ominous and caused
McFarland to drive his truck quickly to the refuge of an exit.
2. portentous (por TENT us) As with #1, this word describes something
carrying a sign, a portent, of the threats of the future. A second meaning
laps over into the pretentiously weighty, the pompous.
• Sandy’s mid-term grades were passing but hardly portentous of a great year:
she had three C’s and two D’s.
• When Mr. Jaggers speaks, his words bear a portentous air, as if what he had
to say was highly meaningful to us all.
3. inauspicious (IN aw SPISH us) With the “in” prefix, it forecasts negatively, but
make it “auspicious” and it predicts or suggests something favorable. This
adjective comes from the Latin
auspex,
a man with the job of predicting the
future by watching the actions of birds. Beats the daily horoscope!
• Despite Darryl’s inauspicious debut as a novelist—his first book, Tough Is the
Night, received terrible reviews and sold badly—he has moved on to a
thriving and respectable writing career.
• When the politician, returning to his hometown from a campaigning trip,
stumbled while alighting from the steps of the plane, he turned the misstep
into an auspicious moment: kissing the earth, he proclaimed, “There’s no
place like home.”
4. imminent (IM ih nent) This adjective describes something about to occur.
Its root word—meaning jutting out or overhanging—allows it to be
positive or negative. Don’t confuse it with the sound-alike eminent, which
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40 Fiske WordPower
describes people who “jut out” of the common mass, in short, the famous
or well-known.
• Odysseus escaped imminent disaster from the sea monster Charybdis by
swinging up onto the one tree protruding from the rocky cliff.
• The eminence of Victorian biographer Lytton Strachey is based heavily on
his book Eminent Victorians.
5. impending (im PEND ing) It can refer to something threatening or not. At
any rate, the near arrival of the event hangs over you, and “hangs” (as in
“pendulum” or “pendant”) is the root word.
• LaForge felt a sense of impending doom as he rounded the landing of the
squeaking stairs and caught a glimpse of a giant bat just as the power failed.
• When Dr. Grayson was asked if she looked forward to her impending retire-
ment, she answered with a smile, “Do you enjoy vacation?”
6. minatory (MIN a tore ee) This adjective always means “threatening.” While
the sound is only a coincidence, if you’re a mythology buff you can think of
the threatening Minotaur, the bull-monster who demanded human victims.
• The minatory howl of the air raid siren was all it took for the hardy
Londoners to head for the Underground shelter.
• While tenth-graders were known to fear the minatory tones of Ms. Velma
Cloyd, a really stern math teacher, graduating seniors flocked around her to
thank her for her “tough love.”
7. presage (pres AGE) This verb refers to a forewarning, an ominous feeling,
a prediction.
• The stormy early quarrel between Hortense, the Duchess, and Arcite, the
Duke, over the combining of their coats of arms presaged their later years
of estrangement.
• Presaging Clem’s difficulties with calculus was the fact of overreliance on his
tutor during the Algebra II course.
8. bode and forebode (fore BODE) The one-syllable word is a verb referring
to an omen and the two-syllable repeats or intensifies that presentiment.
• Losing their best pitcher to injuries so early in the season doesn’t bode well
for the Durham Bulls’ chance at the championship this year.
• A sense of foreboding pervaded Willard’s work on his graduate school
applications; somehow down deep he may have known it was time to leave
the haven of school, at least for a while.
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Something’s Coming 41
9. propitiate (pro PISH ee ate) Sometimes, the forces of good or evil may be
modified. This verb describes actions to appease or calm forces that might
oppose a favorable outcome.
• Ian hoped to avoid detention and propitiate the principal’s anger by leaving
a box of doughnuts on his desk.
• Before Achates set out on the hazardous journey, he propitiated the gods
with the sacrifice of a fine plump lamb.
10. harbinger (HAR bin jer) This noun refers to a forerunner, an early warning
or messener of what’s to come. Its interesting origin derives from a person
sent ahead to provide lodging for one to come. (If you’ve traveled in
Francophone Canada or France, you may hear a hint of the word
“auberge” or inn.)
• The robin is famous as a harbinger of spring, no matter what the calendar
might say.
• Getting an A on his first paper in anthropology class was a harbinger of the
fact that he would win the Margaret Mead Prize at the end of the year.
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I
n a wonderful short poem, the poet Elizabeth Bishop tells us “the art
of losing isn’t hard to master.” And it’s even easier when you have
several words for different types of loss.
1. squander (SKWAN der) If you spend extravagantly, you’re squandering
money. If you don’t take an interesting summer internship, you’re squander-
ing a chance to pick up new skills. Either way, this verb expresses the idea of
“wasting.” The root word, thus far, baffles linguists.
• Although Shakespeare’s Polonius doesn’t use the word, he counsels his son
against squandering when he says, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for
loan oft loses both itself and friend.”
• Mr. Fleetwood, my neighbor, was given to quoting the Roman poet Horace,
who orders us to “seize the day” and further urging his son and me not to
squander our youth. “It will pass quickly enough anyway,” he’d add, know-
ingly.
2. dissipation (dis uh PAY shun) Two kinds of loss can be expressed by this
noun: (a) a literal scattering or dispersing, and (b) a specialized sense of
scattering one’s energy through immoderate pursuit of trivial pleasures,
especially activities such as gambling, intemperate drinking, and sexual
activity.
• The smell of burned marshmallows lingered in the air until the campfire was
put out and the odor completely dissipated by the wind.
• Polonius feared that his son Laertes would lead a dissipated life in Paris, and
this fact caused him, first, to give the young man lots of advice, [see #1] and,
second, to send to spy to watch him.
3. disenfranchise (dis en FRAN chize) To be disenfranchised is, primarily, to
lose the right to vote. The root word is “frank” as in “free.”
• Those convicted of felonies suffer the additional penalty of being
disenfranchised.
• The threat of disenfranchisement means nothing to those who never
exercise their hard-won right to vote.
The Art of Losing
9
Words About Loss
Chapter
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The Art of Losing 43
4. forfeiture (FOR fit ure) This noun, from the verb “forfeit,” expresses the
idea of a penalty, a giving up of something in one’s possession. It may be
used trivially, as in a game, or extremely seriously.
• “If you lose this game of whist to me, Miss Arabella, you must make
forfeiture of one of your gloves,” said Sir Kenelm. “It can then be redeemed
only by a kiss.”
• The forfeiture of one of his estates was a grievous loss to the young Squire
Moulton, and he rued the day he had signed the bond for his feckless friend
Bounderby.
5. denude (de NEWD) Primarily used of trees that lose their leaves or loss of
other vegetation, this verb means “to make bare” (as in “nude”).
• Although the lush summer foliage had been wonderful, the denuded land-
scape had a severe beauty all its own.
• Who knew that use of RILLEE-STRAWNG bug killer would also cause
denuding of the yard within a diameter of three feet? The warning was
printed in flyspeck type on the bottom of the spray can!
6. privation (pry VAY shun) As the sound makes clear, this noun is related to
the verb “deprive.” When you’re deprived of basic necessities or comforts,
you’re experiencing privation.
• “I wouldn’t call not having cable television in your room the equivalent of
living in a state of privation,” said Jon’s mom.
• The recruits at Fort Hard Knox lived in comparative privation the first
weeks they were in boot camp, but the discipline served its purpose: they
quickly became efficient and obedient soldiers.
7. divest (de VEST) Literal meaning: to undress (just as “invest” has the literal
meaning of “clothing,”as in “vest” or “vestments”). But you won’t hear that
today; instead, you’ll hear this verb used to meaning a more general “getting
rid of.” The noun form “divestiture” carries a specific financial meaning.
• When Cheryl asked David, a fellow booklover, to come to the bookstore
with her, he replied, “Don’t tempt me. I’m trying to divest myself of surplus
books, not add more.”
• When Mr. Taterface, Inc. announced the divestiture of its Tiniest Taters
division, even the sharpest of Wall Street analysts were surprised.
8. renounce (re NOUNSE) If you renounce something, you give it up. It’s a
rather formal verb, so, unless you want to be amusing, don’t use it for giving
up chocolate. (Don’t confuse this word with its near twin denounce, which
now means “to condemn openly” but which, confusingly, can be found in the
Declaration of Independence with its older meaning of “giving a formal
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44 Fiske WordPower
announcement of an ending” when the colonists “denounce their
separation” from Great Britain.)
• “And for this child, I renounce the Devil and all his works,” said the godfa-
ther of the baby at the christening ceremony.
• Prince Handsum made a formal renunciation of his right to the throne of
Bigland in order to follow a career in circuitry wiring, his deepest passion.
• The mayor denounced the perpetrators of the heinous crime and promised
they would soon be brought to justice.
9. elegiac (el uh JYE ik) This word is not only the adjective form for elegy, a
poem lamenting a death (see #5 in Speech Therapy); in addition, it
describes a feeling of sadness at many types of losses—of friends, of love,
of youth.
• W. D. Snodgrass’s poem “Packing Up the Lute” is beautifully elegiac: the
reader comprehends not only the loss of the ability to play the instrument
but a sense of the generalized lessening of abilities inflicted by age.
• Revisiting the site of her honeymoon forty years later gave Katrina an ele-
giac chill: the mountain town was little changed, but the marriage had long
been over.
10. bereave (be REEV) As an active verb, this word means “to leave desolate,
usually by death.” You’ll almost always hear it in its passive form, referring
to surviving relatives or close friends of a person who has died. And the
related form bereft is often used for a sense of abandonment or loss
stemming from any cause.
• The announcement at the funeral services stated that the bereaved family
would receive calls of condolence in their home any night of the following
week.
• Though the Bohannons had lost a great deal of their money through unwise
investments, they were not bereft of their ability to cope and quickly adapt-
ed to a modified way of living.
Quick Quiz #3
Chapters 7-9
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ an outcast
2. ______ threatening
3. ______ a forerunner
A. bode
B. bereft
C. denounce
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The Art of Losing 45
4. ______ forsaken
5. ______ expressive of sadness
6. ______ give an early omen
7. ______ situation with bad omens
8. ______ a unaccepted latecomer to a group
9. ______ famous
10. ______ give up
11. ______ lose vegetation
12. ______ a wasted life with no serious purpose
13. ______ banish from a social group
14. ______ not relevant
15. ______ self-important
16. ______ lacking the right to vote
17. ______ going to happen soon
18. ______ closely connected
19. ______ indirectly related
20. ______ express strong disapproval
D. denude
E. disenfranchise
F. dissipation
G. elegiac
H. eminent
I. extraneous
J. germane
K. harbinger
L. impending
M. inauspicious
N. interloper
O. minatory
P. ostracize
Q. pariah
R. portentous
S. renounce
T. tangential
Usage Test #1
Chapters 1-9
Directions: Select a word from the list below that best fits the
blank in one of the sentences and place the letter in the blank.
1. Knowing how to repair a computer is just not within Ray’s _____.
2. Did Helen of Troy offer men some kind of _____ or was her own beauty
enough to ensnare them?
3. It will ____ me until I can think of her name because I certainly know it.
4. Kudzu was not _____ to the South, but once planted there it spread
enormously fast.
A. aphrodisiac
B. asunder
C. avaricious
D. cleave
E. diaspora
F. disenfranchised
G. disseminate
H. frugal
I. hermetic
J. indigenous
K. ken
L. mnemonic
M. odyssey
N. ostracize
O. presage
P. prodigal
Q. serpentine
R. sow
S. succinct
T. vex
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46 Fiske WordPower
5. I am trying hard to be ____ this month because I need money to buy
my sister a birthday present next month.
6. The _______ road gave us beautiful scenery, but all those curves were
a little scary.
7. The medicine bottle had a ____ closing device because air could
quickly weaken the power of the medicine inside.
8. The pieces of the torn map were blown ____, never again to be reunited.
9. Husband and wife should _____ together, not letting anyone come
between them.
10. His _____ manner of speaking made it possible for him to communi-
cate much in a brief period of time.
11. The committee will try to _____ news about the upcoming conference
through the Internet and through personal contacts.
12. Some African Americans are using DNA testing to help provide
some family history wiped out through the African ______.
13. Our summer ____ took us to Uruguay, Patagonia, and the Falkland
Islands and provided many adventures.
14. Moralists tell us that what we ____ we will reap; the concept of karma
has the same idea of our acts affecting our future.
15. Do you know a _____ device that will help me remember the value of
pi to eight decimal places?
16. He is rather _____ with his talent, not cherishing it enough to value
its further development.
17. We generally esteem those who are thrifty, but those who go to the
extreme of becoming _____ are usually condemned.
18. I like this political candidate because she emphasizes that she tries
to speak for the _____ , who are often forgotten by society.
19. Farmers around here hope this dry spell does not ____ a season of
real drought.
20. It is true that societies sometimes ____ a genius when he or she is
alive, and only later generations recognize that person’s worth.
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What’s Cookin’?
10
Talking Food
Chapter
H
ere’s a group of words that have to do with food—not the
appetizers and entrees but the general category of words that
have to do with cuisine (see the “Parlez-vous Anglais” chapter).
Whether you’re cooking, dining, overindulging, or just tasting, you’re
sure to find a useful word on the menu of culinary terms listed below.
1. culinary (CUL in err ee) This adjective describes anything relating to cooking
or the kitchen. There is no noun form.
• Margot decided to go to culinary school so that she could learn how to make
béarnaise sauce to spice up her otherwise bland flank steak.
• Kitchen Magic is a store that specializes in culinary equipment, including
chopping knives, whisks, sifters, and measuring spoons.
2. gourmet (goor MAY) This word, which can be used as an adjective or
noun, means an expert (or “connoisseur”) of fine food and drink. It comes
from the Old French word
groumet
, which means servant in charge of
wine. It should not be confused with the word gourmand (goor MOND),
which comes from the same root. This noun also means someone with
discriminating taste in food and wine, but a gourmand likes food a bit too
much. The word means glutton.
• A gourmet, James favors Asian-fusion cuisine, a blend of French culinary
techniques and Japanese and Thai ingredients.
• Andrea is a real gourmand. Even in the most expensive restaurants he orders
several appetizers and several entrees because he doesn’t want to miss out on
any of the chef’s specialties.
3. epicurean (epp ik your EE an) Like a gourmet, an epicure (noun) or someone
with epicurean tastes has a very discriminating taste in food and wine,
perhaps even a bit too devoted or overly refined. Interestingly, Epicurean
philosophy, which burgeoned in Greece between 340 and 270 B.C., professed
that pleasure was the highest form of good but was not overly concerned
with food or drink.
• Catering to the epicure, Les Trois Cochons is a French restaurant, which has
all of its ingredients flown in from the south of France daily. Even their bread
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48 Fiske WordPower
is baked in Parisian bakeries because French water is necessary for creating
the ideal dough.
• Harcourt is a man of epicurean tastes. He has an extensive wine cellar and a
staff of chefs from all around the world.
4. gluttony (GLUTT un ee) You may know this noun as one of the seven deadly
sins. It means excessive eating or drinking. A person who stuffs himself and
drinks too much is a glutton. The word can also be used figuratively to
describe someone who overdoes it on anything.
• A glutton for punishment, Wilbur always forgot to water the garden, even
though he knew this would infuriate his wife Blanche.
• After indulging her natural propensity for gluttony, Jill went on a diet. She
had eaten almost an entire cheesecake as well as a quart of ice cream and had
gained three pounds in one afternoon.
5. voracious (vore AYSH us) From the Latin word that means “to swallow or
devour,” this adjective means ravenous (see “Weighty Words” chapter) or
excessively hungry. It can also be used more figuratively to connote
excessively greedy or insatiably hungry for things other than food.
• A voracious reader, Jody read as many as two books a day.
• “I could eat a horse!” Frank announced, voracious after running the
marathon. “I feel as if I haven’t eaten in a week.”
6. savory (SAY ver ee) As an adjective, this word means appetizing to taste or
smell. It generally means a salty or piquant (a word which comes from the
French word for “to prick,” meaning sharply pungent) flavor, not a sweet
one. As a noun, the word means a piquant or salty appetizer, such as olives.
The verb form, “to savor,” means to taste or smell with enthusiasm or
relish.
• The chef began the meal with a platter of savories, including chopped
anchovies, pickled tomatoes, and salted crackers with a white bean paste.
• The man savored the taste of the madeleine; the flavor of the soft cookie
brought back a rush of childhood memories.
7. omnivorous (om NIV er us) This adjective literally means eating both
animal and vegetable foods, but it has come to be used to mean taking in
or devouring anything available.
• An omnivorous culture addict, Dierdre attended the theatre, opera, or bal-
let at least five nights a week. When she was home, she read the newest books
on the bestseller list.
• Jacques indulged his omnivorous appetites by attending the Gourmet Club
dinner, savoring everything from the roasted pork to the eggplant casserole
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What’s Cookin’? 49
to the chicken in curried spinach sauce. No main course was too spicy, no
dessert too sweet.
8. gastronomy (gas TRON oh mee) This noun has two equally common
meanings. It refers to the art or science of good eating. It also means any
particular, regional style of cooking. The adjective form is “gastronomical.”
• The gastronomy in southern France features small, savory olives, rosemary-
flavored breads, and wild game.
• Indulging his gastronomical interests, Maurice decided to attend the
Culinary Institute for the summer in order to learn as much as he could
about the preparation of chicken, fish, and red meat.
9. palatable (PAL at able) This adjective means acceptable to taste or
sufficiently flavorable to be eaten—pleasing to the palate. “Potable”, on the
other hand, means fit to be drunk.
• It is possible to survive in the forest by eating what is available in nature.
Nuts and berries are palatable; rocks and pebbles are not.
• “This beef is not palatable!” cried the tempermental chef. “It is neither tender
nor tasty. In fact, it resembles cardboard.”
10. succulent (SUK you lent) From the Latin word for juice, this adjective
means juicy, either literally or figuratively. A well-cooked piece of roast
pig is succulent; so is a good piece of gossip.
• The lavish dinner was highlighted by a succulent whole sea bass, served on
a bed of Moroccan cous cous.
• Sharing a succulent hunk of wild boar, the cavemen gathered around the fire
and ate until they were sated.
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F
or better or worse, the situations we find ourselves in—either by
luck or by chance or even by our own machinations (a fine word
that means “plotting,” usually to accomplish a sinister goal)—
have plenty of words to characterize them. There may well be more
words that connote catastrophe than there are words that mean good
fortune. Let’s start with the happier options.
1. propitious (pro-PISH-ess) This adjective means “presenting favorable cir-
cumstances or a positive outcome.”
• “This is not a propitious time for investing,” said the astrologer, examining
Mr. Pierpont’s charts. “Your planets are all out of alignment, and you’ll surely
lose money.”
• With Mike Piazza behind the plate, the runner on first base knew that this
was a propitious time to steal second.
2. auspicious (aw-SPISH-ess) Like “propitious,” this adjective means
“marked by success or producing favorable circumstances.” The two
words are just about interchangeable.
• “Dolly MacGuire’s auspicious debut at the Grand Ole Opry wowed audi-
ences,” read the review in The Post Dispatch. “This girl will go far.”
• The loyalty and affection between Irving and Sun Lee was an auspicious
sign for their upcoming nuptials.
3. boon (BOON) This noun comes from the Middle English word
bon
, which
means “prayer.” It has lost any religious connotations and just means a
“timely benefit” or “stroke of good luck.”
• Odysseus received a boon when the winds changed; the ship’s sails caught
the breeze, hastening his escape from the Sirens.
• It was a great boon for the tenant farmers to have discovered oil on their
land.
4. adverse (add VURS) Although this adjective comes from the Latin for “turn
towards,” it actually means “turned against” or “opposing.” Circumstances
that are “adverse” are unfavorable or opposing one’s interests or well-being.
Fortune’s Fool
11
Words About Good Luck and Bad Luck
Chapter
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Fortune’s Fool 51
A good synonym would be “antagonistic.” An “adversary,” on the other hand,
is the noun form for an “opponent” or “enemy.”
• Calphurnia tried to convince her husband that her dream indicated adverse
circumstances for his going forth in public to greet the Romans.
Unfortunately, he ignored her and was assassinated that same day.
• The Germans and the British were adversaries during World War II and
fought bitterly, resulting in many deaths on both sides.
5. detrimental (DET trim ent al) This adjective comes from the Latin word that
means “to wear down” or “rub” and means “causing damage, harm, or
loss.” The noun form is “detriment.”
• The Surgeon General says that smoking may be detrimental to one’s health
because it can lead to lung cancer.
• “Daydreaming in class,” said Mrs. Grundy, “may be a detriment to your
understanding the course material. Pay attention or you will surely fail.”
6. travesty (TRAV ess tee) This noun originally meant “an exaggerated imitation
of something, usually of a literary work.” It has come to mean any “grotesque
parody”of something or a disastrous mockery. It comes from the French
word for “disguise” or “parody.”
• “Allowing the murderer to go free is a travesty of justice,” said the lawyer.
“It is a gross misinterpretation of the law.”
• The soccer game was a travesty; the Boston team, usually far superior to
their opponents, was careless, clumsy, and thoughtless. It’s no wonder they
lost by two goals.
7. debacle (de BAK al or DEB a kul) This noun is slightly different from
“travesty” although the consequences are the same. There is no element of
mockery here; it means “a sudden, disastrous downfall” or “defeat.”
• After the debacle at Gettysburg, the Confederate army never again crossed
the Mason-Dixon line.
• In 1943, the German army in Russia was trapped in a hopeless debacle of
their own making.
8. fiasco (fee ASS ko) Interestingly, this noun may come from the Italian
fare
fiasco
. It was used by the French for linguistic errors committed by Italian
actors on the eighteenth-century French stage. It means “a complete
failure.”
• Jonathan’s piano recital was a fiasco because he never practiced and couldn’t
read music particularly well.
• All investors hope that there will never be another fiasco like the one
experienced by Enron.
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52 Fiske WordPower
9. rout (rhymes with doubt) Originally spelled “root,” this noun once meant
only to dig or force out as when a pig “roots” for truffles in the forest. The
noun has come to connote an “overwhelming defeat” (see
debacle
) or a
“disorderly retreat after battle.”
• The battle was a complete rout by the Austrians. The Italians were forced to
withdraw their fortifications and return home.
• The Dobyns-Bennet Indians routed the Hilltoppers in the final basketball
game of the season.
10. enormity (ee NORM it ee) Originally this noun meant only a “monstrous
evil or outrage.” Over the years, however, it has been so misused to mean
“large size” (as in “enormousness”) that “immensity” has gradually
come to be another accepted meaning. Excessive evil is still the preferred
definition.
• The enormity of John F. Kennedy’s assassination shocked and saddened the
country for many years.
• The enormity of the concentration camps is detailed in Elie Wiesel’s book
Night.
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Stubborn as a Mule
12
Words About Obstinacy
Chapter
T
he next time you argue with someone for being too stuck in
their ways, this series of adjectives will give you the verbal
edge in your altercation (see the chapter entitled “Them
Thars Fightin’ Words”).
1. recalcitrant (ree KAL se trant) Speaking of stubborn mules, this word comes
from the Latin
calcitrare
, which means “to kick.” Someone who is recalcitrant
is “stubbornly resistent to authority.” The noun form is “recalcitrance” or
“recalcitrancy.”
• The recalcitrant child sat firmly on the couch with his arms crossed,
refusing to go to bed.
• Ted’s recalcitrance was obvious when he continued chatting with his
classmates, even after the teacher had called for silence.
2. obdurate (OB door it) The Latin root of this word means “to harden,” and
it therefore connotes hardened against feeling or hardhearted.
• At trial, the obdurate thief showed no remorse, even though his victim was
a poor widow.
• Kathleen’s obduracy surprised her colleagues when she insisted that her
secretary be fired for a minor infraction.
3. fractious (FRAK shus) Although someone who is fractious is considered
unruly or a trouble maker, the adjective also means “peevish” or “cranky.”
It doesn’t quite mean stubborn, but the word does suggest an unwillingness
to respect authority
• The fractious child refused to finish her roast beef and spinach even though
her father insisted.
• “Your fractiousness is another explanation for your lack of team spirit,” said
the coach, referring to Ian’s refusal to sit on the bench for the ninth inning.
4. refractory (ref RAK toor ee) Just like fractious, this adjective means “stub-
bornly resistant to authority.” Its noun form is “refractoriness,” not “refrac-
tion,” which has to do with the bending of a sound or light wave.
• Knowing her son could be refractory, Mrs. Silverman brought along several
books and magic tricks to keep him occupied during the lecture on parenting
techniques
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54 Fiske WordPower
• The students were particularly refractory, knowing they could take
advantage of the inexperienced substitute teacher.
5. intractable (in TRAK table) Someone who is intractable is “difficult to man-
age or govern.” Like “refractory” and “fractious,” it is most often applied to
children or to adults who are behaving like children.
• Michael was intractable, refusing to return his new convertible Jaguar when
his wife insisted that they couldn’t afford the monthly payments.
• The intractable boy hid under the piano when his mother called out, “Time
for your bath!”
6. obstreperous (ob STREP or us) From the Latin word that means “to make
a noise against,” this adjective means “aggressively and noisily defiant.”
People who are obstreperous make no bones about their obduracy.
• Obstreperous by nature, Arthur threw a tantrum when his mother insisted
that he put his pet ferret in the cage before joining the family for dinner.
• “I will not stand for your childish obstreperousness, Tom,” Aunt Polly said
firmly. “I asked you to help me paint the fence and if you continue to ignore
me you’ll have to paint the neighbor’s fence too.”
7. intransigent (in TRAN sih jent) This adjective comes from the Latin
meaning “not to come to an agreement,” and it means just that. Someone
who is intransigent is “stubbornly uncompromising.” The noun form is
“intransigency.”
• The senator remained intransigent after hearing the president’s views on
Social Security and refused to even consider his ideas about privatization.
• Maude’s intransigency on the subject of allowing gay marriage was
shocking, considering that both her sister and her father were homosexual.
8. incorrigible (in KOR ij able) Someone who is incorrigble is unable to be
reformed or corrected. Its use is usually reserved for unruly children or
adults with uncontrollable vices. The noun form is either incorrigibility or
incorrigibleness, but both are rarely used.
• “You are an incorrigible sugar addict!” exclaimed Harriet. “You always find
the cookies, no matter where I hide them.”
• No matter how many times the dog trainer came to the house, Otis remained
incorrigible, pawing food off the counters whenever his owner turned his
back.
9. dogged (DOG gid) Speaking of dogs, this adjective alludes to the
personality of certain breeds of dog and means “stubbornly perservering”
(see “tenacious”), often against all odds.
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Stubborn as a Mule 55
• Mr. Smythe doggedly continued to shovel the walkway in the blizzard.
• Jimmy contined to read Le Petit Prince with dogged determination even
though he barely knew any French.
10. dogmatic (dog MAT ik) Though it comes from the Greek word that
means “opinion,” this word has a more negative connotation. Someone
who is dogmatic stubbornly asserts an opinion that is unproved or
unprovable. Those beliefs are called “dogma,” and the person asserting
them is a “dogmatist.”
• Spouting religious dogma, the zealot called the college students “immoral
sinners” and told them they would “never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
• A dogmatic conservative, the president refused to raise taxes even though
key social service programs were woefully underfunded.
Quick Quiz #4
Chapters 10-12
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ really stubborn
2. ______ really hungry
3. ______ really delicious
4. ______ the art and science of eating well
5. ______ grotesque mockery
6. ______ relating to cooking
7. ______ holding stubbornly to one belief
8. ______ a timely benefit
9. ______ sophisticated taste in food and drink
10. ______ monstrous offense or evil
11. ______ having a negative effect
12. ______ unable to be reformed
13. ______ an enemy
14. ______ a terrible downfall
15. ______ overwhelming defeat
16. ______ eating everything
17. ______ persistent, not giving up
A. adversary
B. boon
C. culinary
D. debacle
E. detrimental
F. dogged
G. dogmatic
H. enormity
I. epicurean
J. gastronomy
K. incorrigible
L. omnivorous
M. recalcitrant
N. rout
O. succulent
P. travesty
Q. voracious
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T
he most important words relating to manners are, of course,
“thank you” and “please.” But the language contains many
interesting words concerning proper behavior, what we now call
etiquette, a word that comes from the Old French for “label” or “ticket” and
originally described a card giving instructions for proper behavior at court.
1. decorum (de CORE um) This noun for behavior appropriate to a prevailing
social code comes straight into English from the Latin for “appropriateness.”
It suggests a pleasing set of manners and awareness of what is considered
proper within any one social group.
• Alexander’s well-polished sense of decorum hid from the eyes of many his
tarnished sense of morality: he could lie with the air of a nobleman.
• The headmistress lectured the new student about her attire: “Perhaps a
camisole top and shorts were acceptable in your old school, but they are most
indecorous here at St. Sniffens.”
2. finesse (fih NESS) This noun, straight from France, denotes refinements
and subtlety in a given situation. It suggests situations less superficial
than those dealt with by decorum (#1).
• His finesse in dealing with his in-laws made many a tricky situation go more
smoothly.
• An ambassador needs both intelligence and finesse: you can’t be intelligent
and graceless nor polished and dumb.
3. seemly Even grammar experts could be tripped up by this word that looks
like many adverbs but is an adjective. It describes behavior that is appro-
priate, fitting the accepted rules of conduct.
• This adjective enters English from Old Norse, language of the not particularly
seemly Vikings, who plundered the shores of England for many years.
• It is seemly to pay tribute to the memory of an admired elder colleague; Mr.
Casson’s memorial service will be held on Friday afternoon.
4. protocol (PRO tuh call) This noun, in its social sense, names the codes of
expected behavior in any given situation. (Although the root word of
Miss Manners
13
Language for Appropriate Behavior
Chapter
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Miss Manners 57
protocol derives from the Greek word for “glue,” a linguist wouldn’t agree
with a layman’s guess that manners hold a society together.)
• Julie, uninstructed in matters of protocol, worried about the invitation to
lunch with the queen: should she call her “Your Majesty” or just go for a
democratic “Elizabeth”?
• Anyone doing business in a foreign country needs help in understanding the
unwritten rules, the protocol of that land; for example, are gifts to a
prospective business party expected, or might they be forbidden?
5. gaffe (gaff) A gaffe is a blunder, an awkward social moment. One who
makes a gaffe does not behave in a seemly fashion, does not possess
finesse. (Like many words relating to manners, this noun comes from the
French; in fact, the French phrase faux pas (
foe pa
—false step) would be a
synonym.) It is now coming to be a rough synonym for embarrassing error
or mistake.
• Tex’s acquaintance with fingerbowls and pickle forks is limited; he hopes not
to commit some gaffe when he attends the fancy wedding dinner.
• Jeanette’s gaffe in sending her negative email message to all members of the
department may damage her career.
6. propriety (pro PRY ity) Like decorum (#1), this noun concerns itself with the
observation of existing social norms; it’s no surprise that it is linguistically
related to the word “proper.”
• Standards of propriety alter radically with time: no one is aghast today if a
young woman enters a young man’s apartment without a chaperone, but in
the early twentieth-century this situation was still a shocker.
• The heroine of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was independent in her
thinking, but she was horrified when her sister offended the propriety of her
social circle.
7. boor This noun denotes a person with no social sense, one with rude or
non-existent manners. (It enters English from the Dutch, possibly from an
era when England regarded the Netherlands as an enemy.)
• “I would not allow such a boor to enter my drawing room, not even as a
servant,” exclaimed Lady Snoot.
• If you eat all of the cucumber sandwiches provided by your hostess and slurp
your tea, you may rightly be accused of boorishness.
8. churl This noun is a first cousin in sense to the unmannerly “boor” (#7); it
has been in the English family even longer, deriving from Anglo Saxon. The
shade of difference is this: “boorishness” emphasizes social cluelessness
while “churlishness” moves toward a bad disposition or its near-rhyming
surliness.
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58 Fiske WordPower
• Would it be churlish not to ask my Finnish first cousins to dinner? Not one
of them speaks a word of English.
• Stephen is a brilliant man, a highly-skilled chemist, but in the workplace he’s
a bit of a churl, not hesitant to let you know you’re slowing him down.
9. nuance (NOO ance) This noun refers to subtle or slight variation and to
sensitivity to those variations. An awareness of nuance is important on the
social scene as well as in areas of greater import. (Nuance is derived from
the Latin word for that changeable phenomenon, the cloud.)
• Mrs. Ramsay’s awareness of the finely layered nuances in her guests’
interactions was comparable to an orchestra conductor’s awareness of the
balance among the instruments.
• Prof. Duffy is so sensitive to nuances in poetic style that he can often guess
the author of a poem he has not previously read.
10. savoir faire (sav wahr FARE) Another manners lesson from the French—
the phrase literally means “to know what to do.” Those with savoir faire
not only know what fork to use at a fancy dinner, they also have the
grace and tact to put others at ease.
• When I was embarrassed to realize I’d mispronounced my host’s name, he
had the savoir faire to say laughingly, “Oh, that’s the other branch of the
family,” and put me at ease.
• Emile’s savoir faire makes him a good colleague and a pleasant guest; you
know he will behave equally well behind the desk or at a restaurant table.
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Be Bloody, Bold, and
Resolute
14
Daring Words
Chapter
B
eing daring can run the gamut from acting heroically courageous
to foolishly bold against impossible odds. Below are ten words
that cover the spectrum. Have the mettle (a nice word for
“courage”) to use them.
1. resolute (REZ oh loot) From the Latin meaning “relaxed,” this adjective
actually means the opposite—bold and determined, unwavering in
purpose. The noun is resoluteness or resolution, though the latter form has
several other meanings.
• Demanding that he be undaunted in his battle with Macduff, the apparitions
tell Macbeth: “Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn the power of
man.”
• Resolute of purpose, the cavalry surged onto the field brandishing their
swords.
2. undaunted (un DAWN ted) This adjective means not discouraged or
disheartened. Another form of the word is “dauntless.” Someone who is
undaunted is willing to forge ahead, whatever the odds.
• General Patton’s undaunted courage during battle earned him the nickname
“Blood and Guts.”
• Undaunted by her learning disabilities, Gillian hired a tutor and signed up
for an advanced precalculus class.
3. intrepid (in TREP id) This adjective is a synonym for resolute. Someone
who is intrepid is fearlessly brave. Though there are two noun forms—
intrepidity and intrepidness—neither of them is much used.
• The Intrepid was a fitting name for the aircraft carrier that was manned by
the fearless soldiers who fought in World War II.
• The small boy intrepidly resisted the jeers of the bullies and continued to
walk to school unaccompanied by his mother.
4. audacity (aw DASS it ee) From the Latin word for “to dare,” this noun has
a slightly different intent. Someone who has audacity is fearlessly, often
recklessly, daring. An audacious act is often committed without regard for
prudence or convention.
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60 Fiske WordPower
• The editor audaciously translated The Odyssey into prose, heedless of the
poetic rhyme and meter evident in earlier translations.
• “The audacity of that girl!” shouted Mrs. Sloan-Hawkins. “How dare she
wear sneakers to the debutante ball?”
5. restive (RES tiv) Though it sounds like restless, this adjective means some-
thing slightly different. It comes from the Old French
rester
, meaning “to
remain,” and it means to resist control or be impatient under restriction. It’s
not quite audacity but it does suggest a bold resistance to control.
• The students grew restive under the watchful eyes of the principal and
began thinking of ways to avoid detention.
• The government did nothing to reduce casualties during the war, and the
rebellious students grew more and more restive during their demonstrations.
6. fortitude (FORT it ood) This is one of several words (fortify, fortification)
that takes its meaning from the Latin word for “strong.” This noun means
the strength of mind to endure pain or difficulty with courage. There is an
adjective form—fortitudinous—but it is rarely used.
• The point guard on the basketball team had the fortitude to play with an
injured knee because he knew the team needed him to win the championship.
• Summoning up all of her fortitude, Joan of Arc refused to recant when she
was burned at the stake.
7. brazen (BRAY zen) Coming from the Old English word meaning “made of
brass,” this adjective means able to undergo adversity with bold self-
assurance. When someone is brazen, however, they are insolent (rude),
even shameless, in their audacity.
• The brazen woman, who was accused of murder, held her head high as she
walked through the crowd, ignoring their insults and taunts.
• The ninth grader would have to be pretty brazen to plagiarize from the
Internet after several students had already been expelled for doing so.
8. temerity (tem ER it ee) From the Latin word meaning rash, this noun is at one
extreme of boldness. Someone with temerity exhibits a foolish disregard for
danger. There is actually an adjective form of the word, “temerarious,” but
using this uncommon form would be a little bit audacious.
• Oliver Twist had the temerity to ask for some more porridge when he knew
the directors of the orphanage were determined to feed the boys as little as
possible.
• It took a lot of temerity for the soldier to cross No Man’s Land in the middle
of a skirmish.
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Be Bold, Bloody and Resolute 61
9. iconoclastic (i kon oh KLASS tik) This word desribes a person (an icono-
clast) who seeks to overthrow popular ideas or institutions, which takes a
certain amount of temerity. It comes from the Medieval Greek, which
means “smasher of religious images.” The noun form is “iconoclasm.”
• Ever the iconoclast, Stephen was the only student in class who believed that
cell phones were a foolish invention and a waste of money.
• Nietzsche revealed his iconoclasm when he announced to his nineteenth-
century readers that God is dead.
10. cheeky Like the synonymous adjective “saucy,” this is a charming word
for impudently bold. It’s usually used to describe the flouting of social
conventions and sometimes has a positive spin. Its roots are in the Old
English, and the noun form is “cheek.”
• Blanche had the cheek to call my mother a shrew right in front of my face.
• It was very cheeky of Hermione to wear a leopard-print jumpsuit to the
ladies’ luncheon; she made everyone else look dull by comparison.
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I
n the “Fortune’s Fool” chapter, you came across the word “enormi-
ty,” whose meaning has nothing to do with being big but rather with
being monstrously evil. Here’s a group of words, like enormity, that
mean something entirely different from what they sound like. If you
have been using them incorrectly until now, here’s your chance to get
them straight.
1. jejune (juh JOON) This adjective means dull, bland, or uninteresting and is
usually used to describe speech or writing. It comes from the Latin word for
“fasting,” as in unsatisfying to the mind or soul. Another meaning of the word
is childish or immature. It is possible that this comes from the mistaken belief
that the word comes from the French word
jeune
, which means young.
• Professor Calabrini was known for giving lectures that were so jejune that
most of his listeners were bored to sleep after ten minutes.
• Alonso’s bearing was so jejune that people thought he was a teenager when
he was in fact in his twenties.
2. niggardly (NIG ard lee) This adjective is not a racial slur. Probably of
Scandinavian origin, it means frugal (see the “Give and Take” chapter) or
tightfisted in giving or spending. A stingy, miserly person is a niggard.
• “You are so niggardly,” remarked Marie Claire, upon hearing that her father
had given her only a tiny sum with which to buy a prom dress.
• The dieting supermodel’s caloric intake was so niggardly that she began to
lose weight at an alarming rate.
3. forte You may know the meaning of this noun—“something at which a per-
son excels”—but do you know its proper pronunciation? It’s FORT (rhymes
with port). It comes from the Old French word for “strong.” Only when it is
used as a musical denotation to mean ”loud and forceful,” a meaning which
derives from the Italian, is the “e” actually pronounced. Over time, more and
more people have confused the two roots, however, with the result that the
two-syllable pronunciation (FOR-tay) has become more acceptable.
• Since words are her forte, I always defer to Jane when I want to know the
correct use or pronunciation of a word.
Oddballs
15
Words with Surprising Meanings
Chapter
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Oddballs 63
• Gaston has finally decided to make a career move and open his own bakery;
after all, butter creams, chocolate icings, flaky pastries, and fruit-fillings are
his forte.
4. hoary (HOR ee) Someone who is hoary is not full of hair (hirsute)—unless
it is gray hair. The adjective means gray- or white-haired and therefore
quite old. The white-haired, white-bearded seaman in Samuel Taylor
Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is described as
“hoary.” It can also simply mean ancient and worthy of respect as a con-
sequence of age. It can only be used to describe people, not things.
• The chestnut-colored hair of Vladimir’s youth had paled and turned hoary
with age.
• Having lived more than a century, the hoary and withered man commanded
respect wherever he walked.
5. gadfly (GAD fly) This noun is often confused with the word “gadabout,”
which is a person who roams about in search of amusement or social
activity. A gadfly, on the other hand, is a person who acts as a provocative
stimulus or catalyst to action, a goad (someone who prods or urges to
action). A second meaning is an irritating critic.
• Though Mr. Skuggins was a good editor, his constant and irritating nitpicking
often earned him the label of gadfly.
• Horace, the gadfly of the school, incited all of the faculty members to
demand higher salaries and better benefits.
6. piebald (PYE bald) Here’s an odd adjective that has nothing to do with
either pastry or pates (from the Middle English word that means “top of
the head.”) Something that’s piebald is spotted or patchy, especially in
black and white.
• Smearing his ink-stained fingers across the fresh bedspread, Alfonso left
behind a piebald pattern of black and white.
• The dalmatian’s piebald coat blended well with the spotted upholstery on
the firehouse couch.
7. toothsome (TOOTH sum) Though something or someone that is toothsome
might inspire a wide, toothy grin, the word has very little to do with teeth.
This adjective actually means delicious or luscious, as in a tasty meal, or
sexually attractive and exciting, as in a handsome woman or man.
• With her stunning good looks and impressive mind, Alexandra was certainly
a toothsome girl.
• The toothsome lobster thermidor was cooked to a turn.
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8. caryatid (CAH ree a tid) Although this noun sounds like the name of a
grasshopper or a more exotic insect, it’s actually an architectural term. A
caryatid is a structural column sculpted in the form of a draped female
figure. The name comes from the priestesses of Artemis at Caryae in Greece,
where there is a famous temple to Artemis.
• The statues of toga-draped maidens that support the lintel of one of the
temples at the Acropolis are probably the most famous example of caryatids
in Greek art.
• Dressed in flowing robes and carrying a fake slab of marble above her head,
Hermione was sure she would be the only guest at the Halloween party who
had come as a caryatid.
9. adventitious (ad ven TISH us) This adjective sounds as if it has to do with the
arrival or “advent” of something, but it doesn’t. The word means “not inher-
ent, or coming from an external source.” Another synonym is “accidental.”
• A large, adventitious population of Equadorians has settled in central New
York State, so the local school districts teach several courses in Spanish as
well as in English.
• Truffles sometimes grow adventitiously in the woods beyond the Smiths’
country house, enabling Hattie Smith to add a gourmet touch to her
otherwise ordinary dishes.
10. pulchritude (PUL krit ood) Here’s a noun that sounds ugly but means
great beauty. The adjective form is pulchritudinous.
• Helen of Troy’s face was renowned for its pulchritude.
• Needing beauty in the midst of such horror, the soldiers in the trench were
overwhelmed by the pulchritude of the sunset.
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Oddballs 65
Quick Quiz #5
Chapters 13-15
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ a proper code of behavior
2. ______ embarrassing social error
3. ______ unmannerly oaf
4. ______ subtle shade of meaning
5. ______ always knowing what to do, socially
6. ______ unchanging determination
7. ______ courage, daring
8. ______ “stiff upper lip”
9. ______ deliberately breaking taboos of society
10. ______ stingy, penny-pinching
11. ______ dull, uninspired
12. ______ attractive, luscious
13. ______ weight-bearing statue of woman
14. ______ beauty
15. ______ pattern of black and white splotches
16. ______ added on, accidental
17. ______ critical but provocation stimulus
A. adventitious
B. boor
C. caryatid
D. decorum
E. fortitude
F. gadfly
G. gaffe
H. iconoclastic
I. intrepid
J. jejune
K. niggardly
L. nuance
M. piebald
N. pulchritude
O. resolute
P. savoir faire
Q. toothsome
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I
f you work hard, you deserve words describing your efforts. Happily,
English supplies plenty of these.
1. sedulous (SED u lus) This adjective describes hard work, consistently applied
to the task at hand. It originates in two Latin words meaning “without trickery,”
a fact that shows the sedulous person isn’t trying to take any short cuts!
• Josh’s high grades are due to a combination of natural intelligence and
sedulous effort.
• The poet W. B. Yeats sedulously sought for beautiful images to use in his
writing and was delighted when his new wife indicated help was available
from the realm of the supernatural.
2. herculean (her cue LEE un) If you face a herculean task, you’re going to
need herculean strength. This adjective refers to something really difficult
or really powerful, like the tasks confronted by the Greek hero Hercules or
the physical power he used to complete them.
• We often say nothing good gets accomplished by a committee, but the
seventeenth-century King James translation of the Bible is surely an
exception: about forty-seven men worked together in the herculean task of
translating both the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible.
• Around midnight, Phoebe completed the job of revising her part of the
American history project, emailing the results to her partner, and writing a
“procedural” page on how she and Lindsay had coordinated their hurculean
efforts.
3. stamina (STAM in ah) This noun refers to endurance, the strength—
whether physical or mental—to keep going.
• The stamina to stay focused during a long college admissions test is an
important skill.
• Lord Astor’s racing horses possess speed but not stamina; they consistently
lead at the start of a race and fall behind at the end.
4. meticulous (muh TICK u lus) This adjective emphasizes painstaking care
with details. While it’s always a compliment today, it has its roots in the
Latin word for “fear.”
Work Ethic
16
Describing Hard Work
Chapter
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Work Ethic 67
• The fact that Lei has a wild artistic imagination does not conflict with the
meticulous nature of his drawing techniques.
• Willingness to give meticulous attention to details and strong eyesight are
the chief requirements those attempting the ancient art of making lace.
5. punctilious (punk TIL e us) Even a bit more than “ meticulous,” this adjective
suggests attention to every minute detail or point. (And like the word
“punctuation,” punctilious is derived from the word “point,” as in the dot at
the end of this sentence.) It can be positive or negative, depending on the
context.
• When George said, “Whatever,” to his punctilious boss’s outlining of the
rules of the job, it was clear this was not a match made in heaven.
• If the recipe calls for an eighth of a teaspoon, only the more punctilious
cooks will search for a measuring spoon.
6. fastidious (fast TID e us) This adjective pushes meticulous (#4) and
punctilious (#5) a little more toward the extreme. It can still be used in a
positive context but often moves over into meaning “overly exacting” or
“unnecessarily squeamish.”
• Even as a small child, Fauntleroy was fastidious: his toys were arranged
precisely on the shelf and the teddy bear was in the exact middle of the bed.
• Some consider fastidious people unfortunate, for they are so seldom pleased
with anything.
7. assiduous (a SID u us) Like sedulous (#1), this adjective suggests diligence,
persistence. Unsurprisingly, it comes from the Latin for “to sit,” implying
the ability to stay in your seat until the job is done.
• Yurah was so assiduous in her work on the Intel grant project that her
parents had to remind her of the importance of food and sleep.
• “Assiduous I’m not,” bragged Bo, whose work was frequently shown in
Outsider Art Fairs. “But folks seem to like my stuff anyhow.”
8. tenacious (ten ACE yus) The tenacious person holds on, whether it be to
an object, a goal, or a point of view. And, yes, the Latin root word means
“to hold.”
• Bud tried to loosen little sister Carole’s hold on his precious iPod, but her
grasp was surprisingly tenacious.
• Tenacity is usually a virtue, but not always: Howie, a major complaint
collector, holds on to every slight and grievance he’s ever suffered—to the
benefit of no one.
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68 Fiske WordPower
9. alacrity (a LACK ri tee) This noun refers to speedy and cheerful willingness
to do something. It’s most often seen in the phrase “with alacrity.” It comes
from the Latin word for “lively.”
• Slackers are not noted for performing with alacrity at school or at work.
• Mr. Dithers was delighted when Dagwood attacked the quarterly report with
more than usual alacrity.
10. frenetic (fren ET ik) Even positive qualities can be taken too far. If your
eager approach to work becomes too eager, you can describe yourself
as being frenetic—in short, frenzied, wildly excited. The next time you’re
tempted to go overboard, remember that “frenetic” derives from the
Greek word for “brain disease.”
• Being a journalist on a weekly paper suits Dennie perfectly, except for the
frenetic mood in the office as the deadline draws near.
• The longer the search for the missing child continued, the more frenetic
grew the mood of the anxious parents.
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Words for the Ages
17
Describing Youth and Old Age
Chapter
H
ere’s a list of words to describe the old and the young. Some
describe age in terms of years, others in terms of spirit.
1. dotage (DOE tij) This noun means the deterioration of mental faculties that
comes with aging. It can be used more or less interchangeably with “senility.”
A person who is in his dotage his called a “dotard.”
• In his dotage, Seymour no longer had the attention span to read long novels
and resorted instead to gossip magazines and television news programs.
• “Linda has married a dotard,” her mother wailed. “He’s not only fifty years
older than she is, but he can barely remember her name. I hope she didn’t
marry him just because he is a billionaire.”
2. venerable (VEN er able) Unlike dotage, this adjective means “commanding
respect because of old age or dignity.” It also has a religious connotation. In
the Roman Catholic Church, it is used as a form of address for a person who
has reached the first stage of canonization. It comes from the Latin word for
“worship.”
• The mayor, a venerable man in his late seventies, was respected by the town
for his dignified manner, his generous nature, and his years of experience as
a legislator and a leader.
• Singing the praises of youthful innocence, the nineteenth-century writer
Henry David Thoreau has described an infant as “more venerable than the
oldest man.”
3. puerile (PYOO ril) Though it comes from the Latin word for boy, this adjec-
tive applies to males and females and means “childish” or “juvenile.”
• Professor Larkin glared at his class of adult education students and shouted,
“Don’t be so puerile. This is no time for throwing spitballs!”
• The demure senator was ashamed of the puerile behavior of some of her
campaign workers, who made prank phone calls to her opponent’s head-
quarters.
4. wizened (WIZ end) This adjective means “dried up” or “withered.” You
can describe things, such as a piece of fruit that is no longer fresh, as
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70 Fiske WordPower
“wizened,” but it is most commonly used to describe a person who is wrin-
kled with age.
• In Coleridge’s famous poem, an ancient mariner, stooped and wizened with
age, returns from the sea to tell the story of his experiences.
• Whenever Marguerite purchased inexpensive tulips from the grocery store
down the street, they wizened almost as soon as she put them in a vase. Now
she buys them from the florist. They cost more, but they last longer.
5. pubescent (pyoo BESS ent) This adjective means “having reached puberty or
the stage of adolescence in which an individual becomes capable of sexual
reproduction.” It also means “covered with short hairs or soft down”—
perhaps a description of the cheek of a pubescent boy? The noun is
“pubescence.”
• “You’re acting like a pubescent girl,” Clothilde’s fiancé insisted. “We’re
planning an engagement party, not a Bat Mitzvah.”
• Sandy could tell by the braces, the pimples, and the budding mustache that
Zachary had reached pubescence; she hoped he would now finally ask her
to go on a date instead of playing “Cowboys and Indians” in his backyard.
6. dowager (DOW aj er) From the Latin word for “dowry,” this noun refers to
“a widow who holds property or a title that comes from her deceased
husband.” It can also be used to describe any old woman of high social
standing.
• Lady Entwhistle, a wealthy old dowager who grew up on the streets of
London, moved to Knightsbridge when she married Lord Entwhistle and
has lived there quite comfortably since his death several years ago.
• Miss Havisham, a character in Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations, is
a dowager who was left at the altar on her wedding day and waits for the rest
of her life for a groom who never arrives.
7. senescence (sen ESS ense) This is a fancy noun that means “old age.” It
comes from the Latin word for “old man,” but it applies to both genders.
The adjective is “senescent.”
• Having reached senescence, Laura felt it was time to think about whether
she would spend the last years of her life sitting in a rocker and knitting or
joining the Peace Corps and traveling through Africa.
• Dr. Hargrove is a geriatric doctor who specializes in health issues affecting
senescent patients, such as high blood pressure, heart palpitations, and
osteoporosis.
8. callow (CAL lo) It’s back to youth with this adjective. From the Middle
English word for “bald,” it means “immature” or “lacking adult experience.”
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Words for the Ages 71
Perhaps it comes from acting like a bald baby or else from acting “baldly,”
that is, bluntly, without sophistication or sensitivity.
• “Ah, callow youth!” reflected the old man when he overheard a group of
boys making fun of his long beard and bent walk. “They’ll know better when
they grow old.”
• In a speech he made in 1933, Winston Churchill refers to the students of
Oxford University as “callow, ill-tutored youths” and then goes on to blame
the adults of England for setting a bad example.
9. superannuated (SOO per ANN you ate ed) Although it comes from the
Latin for “over one year old,” this adjective means somewhat older than
that. It connotes “ineffective or outmoded because of advanced age.”
• “I’m tired of relying on superannuated forms of identifying plagiarism in
our students’ papers,” announced the principal. “It’s time we used the
Internet to help us locate the culprits and then punished them accordingly.”
• George Bernard Shaw once defined a nap as “a brief period of sleep which
overtakes superannuated persons when they endeavor to entertain
unwelcome visitors or to listen to scientific lectures.”
10. ingénue (ON jen oo) This noun comes to us from the French for
“guileless” (see “Oh What a Tangled Web” chapter). It means “a naïve
or innocent young woman.” It is also used to describe an actress who
plays that role.
• Arriving in New York City for the first time, the ingénue from Alabama
checked into a YWCA and asked at the front desk if there was someone
available to be her chaperone as she took in the tourist sights.
• Marilyn Monroe’s role in The Seven-Year Itch as a sexy ingénue who charms
her married neighbor while his wife is away on vacation catapulted the
beautiful young starlet to instant celebrity.
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I
f you’re a fan of any kind or have ever been passionate about
anything, this is a list for you. The words below are useful for
describing intense devotion—whether it’s love for another person,
strong belief in an idea, or just mad attachment to anything at all. This
is the real deal about real zeal (see “zealot” below).
1. ardor (ARE dur) The root of this noun is the Latin word
ardere
, which
means “to burn,” and it means burning passion or fiery devotion. The
adjective form is ardent. You can feel ardent about a person or an idea as
long as it is a very enthusiastic feeling.
• Romeo’s ardor for Juliet was so overwhelming that he waited below her
balcony in spite of her family’s antipathy to him.
• An ardent admirer of Mozart, Fritz waited in line for two days to purchase
tickets to the new production of The Magic Flute.
2. zealot (ZELL it) This is a noun for a person who feels extreme passion or
devotion, sometimes to the exclusion of almost anything else. It is used
almost exclusively to describe someone who is committed to an idea or
series of ideas; it is not used to describe someone who is passionately in
love with another person. The passion a zealot feels is “zeal.” The adjective
form is “zealous.”
• The religious leader attracted a group of zealots whose devotion was so
intense that they formed a commune in which they could live and work only
with each other.
• An enthusiastic medical student, Praveen approached his residency at the
hospital with zeal; he worked twenty-hour days and rarely took a day off.
3. amorous (AM or us) From the Old French word
amoureus
, which means
“loving,” this adjective describes a particular kind of passion—love or sexual
attraction. It is used exclusively to describe feelings towards people. A
similar word is “concupiscence” (con KYUP ih sens), which adds a bit
more lust to the mix. The adjective form is “concupiscent.”
• Popeye was so amorous about Olive Oyl that he saw hearts in the air around
her whenever he looked in her direction.
True Believers
18
Words About Commitment
Chapter
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True Believers 73
• Jeffrey thought about Gladys’s sweet soul and extraordinary beauty day and
night; he was overwhelmed with feelings of ardor and concupiscence.
4. fervent (FER vent) We’re back to hot passion for ideas as well as for people
with this adjective. Like ardent, this adjective means burning with enthu-
siasm. In fact, it comes from the Latin word for ”boil.” The noun form is
“fervor.” A related word, which means the same thing, is “fervid.”
• Luis’s fervent desire to move to New York was fueled by his need to make
enough money to support his large family.
• The audience applauded with fervor after hearing the candidate’s galvaniz-
ing (see the “Eponyms” chapter) speech.
5. fanatical (fan AT ik al) This adjective comes from the Latin words that
means “temple” (
fanum
) and “being inspired by certain frenzied,
devotional rites”
(fanaticus
). It means to be possessed by enthusiasm to
the point of being irrational. Another adjective form is “fanatic,” which is
also what you call someone who is possessed by these feelings. The word
“fan” comes from “fanatic.”
• Greg’s fanatical (or fanatic) devotion to the Yankees ultimately cost him his
job. He refused to remove his Yankees cap during executive meetings and
called in sick several times a week to go to the ballpark.
• Carlos was fanatic about ballet. He attended several performances a week
with Sidney, a fellow balletomane (see the “What’s My Line” chapter).
6. manic (MAN ik) Like fanatical, this is an adjective that means passion to
the point of madness. The symptoms of “mania,” as defined in the field of
psychiatry, include excessive gaiety, loss of sleep, and wildly irrational
behavior. These might also be the symptoms of someone whose passion
is manic or maniacal. The noun form is mania; someone who feels manic
feelings is, of course, a maniac.
• Elizabeth’s passion for frogs bordered on manic. Hundreds of stuffed frogs
lined her bookshelves; she wore T-shirts with pictures of frogs on them; and
she nominated herself president of the Frogs’ Rights Society.
• A maniacal coffee drinker, Lloyd drank ten cups a day, searching the city for
the best cappuccinos, expressos, and lattes.
7. evangelical (ee van JEL ik al) Passion turns religious with this adjective.
Although the word originally referred to anything relating to the Christian
gospel and the zealous preaching of those beliefs, it has come to have a
more generalized meaning than pure missionary work. Someone who is
evangelical has an ardent or crusading enthusiasm for something.
• The congregation was mesmerized (see the “Eponyms” chapter) by the
evangelist preacher’s fiery sermon on sin and damnation.
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74 Fiske WordPower
• Their ant-war sentiments bordering on the evangelical, the student
protesters marched through the streets of Washington with posters and
leaflets, chanting “No more war!”
8. vehement (VEE heh ment) It is possible that this adjective comes from a
Latin word for “to carry.” It means characterized by (or carrying) an intense
emotion or conviction. People are not vehement, but they do things
with
vehemence.
• At his trial, the accused man insisted on his innocence, vehemently denying
he had ever seen the victim before.
• When Nikita Khrushchev felt strongly about something, he would take off
his shoe and vehemently strike his podium to emphasize his words.
9. effusive (eff YOOSE if) This adjective means “unrestrained in emotional
expression” or “gushy.” Anyone who is very passionate about something
is likely to be effusive about it. It comes from the Latin verb for “to pour
out.” The noun form is effusion; the verb form is to effuse.
• Whenever you mention Sarah’s name to Josh, he blushes and becomes very
effusive, extolling (which means “to highly praise”) her beauty, wit, and
intelligence.
• Thrilled with the cashmere sweater in her favorite color, Sandy wrote a very
effusive note to Meg, thanking her for her generosity and thoughtfulness.
10. hell-bent This adjective, which can also be spelled without the hyphen,
means recklessly determined to do or achieve something. Anyone who is
truly ardent, zealous, or fervent is likely to be hell-bent about it.
• Teddy and Max, hell-bent on seeing the Nets win the basketball game,
painted their faces and stood in the bleachers, screaming, “Go Nets!” until
they were hoarse.
• Hell-bent on being the first to reach the North Pole, the explorers refused to
turn back, even when the sea was clogged by glacial ice and the temperatures
dropped to forty below.
Quick Quiz #6
Chapters 16-18
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ hard-working for long periods
2. ______ characterized by romantic love
A. alacrity
B. amorous
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True Believers 75
Usage Test #2
Chapters 10-18
For the blank in each of the sentences below, select the word that
best fits meaning.
1. Talking a walk in the park, feeding the pigeons, talking to friends,
shopping for the makings of a simple meal—these were all pleasant
activities for the ____ man, freed from his work after forty-five years of
dedication.
2. Her ____ search for just the perfect gift paid off: knowing that she had
found just what her mother wanted made her effort worthwhile.
3. The ease with which he asked his classmate for a date was ____ , for
he was really very nervous about being rejected.
3. ______ losing abilities because of age
4. ______ “gushy” in manner
5. ______ attentive to small details of work
6. ______ forceful in manner
7. ______ persistence, perseverance
8. ______ overly devoted to a cause
9. ______ retired, outdated
10. ______ frantic, harried
11. ______ role of a young innocent woman
12. ______ dried up, withered
13. ______ childish, immature
14. ______ ability to keep going
15. ______ quick and eager
16. ______ respected because of age
17. ______ adolescent
18. ______ requiring or possessing great strength
D. dotage
E. effusive
F. frenetic
G. herculean
H. ingénue
I. pubescent
J. puerile
K. punctilious
L. sedulous
M. stamina
N. superannuated
O. tenacity
P. vehement
Q. venerable
R. wizened
S. zealot
A. adventitious
B. adversary
C. callow
D. churl
E. culinary
F. detrimental
G. dogged
H. fastidious
I. fortitude
J. frenetic
K. herculean
L. piebald
M. protocol
N. recalcitrant
O. savory
P. seemly
Q. superannuated
R. temerity
S. toothsome
T. vehement
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76 Fiske WordPower
4. Those desserts in the bakery window all look very _____; I hardly know
which one to select.
5. Being an ambassador means you must be very familiar with the ____
of other cultures because you don’t want to commit a blunder.
6. Being asked by his parents to drop extracurricular activities in order
to work harder on his grades made him feel ____, but he knew better
than to argue back.
7. Getting the campaign materials organized requires a ___ coordination
of efforts by all volunteers.
8. The ____ coat of the dog provided him with the rather unimaginative
name of Spot.
9. Was his interrupting the author’s meal in the restaurant to ask for an
autograph ____ or just plain rudeness?
10. When he said, “No, in thunder!” to my request, I meekly said I hadn’t
known he felt so ____ in his opposition.
11. Only a real ____ could have refused the sweet little girl’s request that
we buy Girl Scout cookies from her.
12. Back in the 1960s the surgeon general’s report first offered scientific
evidence that smoking is ____ to people’s health.
13. Wayne is very ______, in that he keeps his office space very neat and
doesn’t like even his secretary to rearrange his desk.
14. On her birthday Lauren wants every friend to be near her and every
_____ to be far away.
15. The usually calm Ms. Howard grew quite ____ when the technician
told her that her hard drive had crashed.
16. The chaplain of the church camp stressed to the campers the impor-
tance of _____ behavior in the weekly church service; he would speak
privately to anyone behaving inappropriately.
17. Some people like to poke around hardware stores, but good cooks
probably prefer to roam the aisles of stores with _____ equipment.
18. Alice made cookies for her son’s friends, but she offered chips and
salsa for those who preferred ____ snacks to sweet ones.
19. Ms. Blevins had thought that Simon was maturing, but his class-
room prank yesterday was a regression to his earlier ____ manner.
20. Martina doesn’t think of herself as particularly brave, but her friends
have great admiration for the _____ she showed in working every
day while undergoing painful medical treatments.
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Enemies, Adversaries,
and Antagonists
19
Angry Words
Chapter
W
hether you’re only slightly angry (see “miffed,” #6) or
ready to declare war, the English language has plenty of
words that mean “adversaries,” (from the Latin word for
enemy or “antagonist”). For related words, see the chapters “Them
Thar’s Fightin’ Words” and “War.” There may well be more ways to say
“I hate you” than “I love you.”
1. nemesis (NEM ess iss) In Greek mythology, the goddess of vengeance and
retribution was Nemesis. The noun means “an opponent that cannot be
beaten or overcome” or “a source of harm or ruin.”
• Throughout the comic book series, Superman was plagued by his nemesis,
Lex Luthor.
• “Chocolate is my nemesis,” declared Johanna. “Even when I am on a diet, I
can’t resist it so I never lose any weight.”
2. inimical (in IM ih kal) From the Latin word meaning “enemy,” this adjective
means extremely hostile. There is no noun form.
• The inimical Ghengis Khan was obsessed with war and conquest.
• Poised for a fight, the inimical gang waited on the street corner for the boys
to pass them.
3. enmity (EN mitt ee) Here’s a noun that means deep-seated, often mutual
hatred. When two people share enmity, peace is unlikely. The word shares
a Latin root with inimical.
• The enmity between North Vietnam and South Vietnam was so great that
war was inevitable.
• Will and Jake felt a growing enmity as they drifted apart after college. One
joined the Peace Corps; the other took a job on Wall Street.
4. pugilistic (pyu jil ISS tik) This adjective refers to people who fight with their
fists. It comes from the Latin word
pugil
, meaning “fighter.” A related
word, “pugnacious,” which means “combative in nature,” comes from the
Latin root
pugnus,
which means fist.
• Spear in hand, Achilles assumed a pugilistic stance before his foe.
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78 Fiske WordPower
• Pugnacious by nature, the young man refused to sit down on the bus, even
when he was asked politely by the group leader.
5. belligerent (beh LIJ er ent) Here’s a strong adjective that means aggressive
or engaged in warfare. It comes from the Latin word that means “to wage
war,” the same root for “bellicose” (see #10). The noun form is “belliger-
ence.”
• By 1939, there could be no mistaking Germany’s belligerence towards its
neighbors.
• The boys in Mr. Sullivan’s eighth grade class were so belligerent that he had
to separate their desks in the classroom.
6. miffed (MIFT) This adjective describes someone who is annoyed or angry
over a trivial issue. There is a noun form, “miff,” which means a small spat
(see “Them Thar’s Fightin’ Words”,) but it is rarely used.
• Alexios was miffed when his sister Artemis ate the last of the chocolate chip
cookies; she had already had two, and he had had none.
• “You were supposed to be here at noon,” muttered a miffed James. “It’s
already one o’clock, and we have to be back at school in ten minutes.”
7. animosity (ann ih MOS it ee) This noun comes from two Latin words that
mean bold (
animosus
) and spirit or soul (
animus
). It means bitter hostility
or active hatred. There is no adjective form.
• Sujata’s animosity towards Rosie dates back to the time Rosie was took the
job that Sujata had applied for first.
• The animosity between the two brothers was so great that they didn’t speak
for almost twenty years.
8. antipathy (ann TI path ee) From the Greek word that means “of opposite
feelings,” this noun means a strong feeling of aversion or repugnance. It’s
a bit milder than belligerence or animosity. You might have an antipathy
for skim milk, but you wouldn’t want to wage war against it.
• The smoke-filled rooms and noisy music were antipathetic to Lynette. She
asked her date if he could find a cleaner and quieter restaurant.
• Cats have a natural antipathy towards dogs, especially large, growling ones.
9. malice (MAL iss) This noun, coming from the Latin word that means “bad,”
connotes a desire to harm others or see them suffer.Someone who is mali-
cious is deliberately harmful or spiteful.
• Stanley Kowalski had a malicious heart, and he detested the vulnerable
Blanche DuBois.
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Enemies, Adversaries and Antagonists 79
• In the playground, the malicious child kicked the other children and bit the
teacher when she tried to stop him.
10. bellicose (BELL ih kose) From the Latin root that means “war,” this adjec-
tive means about as hostile as you can get. Like belligerent, it means
warlike.
• The bellicose Mohawk Indians were quick to use their hatchets on the white
settlers.
• Eager to fight, the bellicose reporter documented all of the instances of dis-
crimination in the corporation’s hiring policies.
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L
ove, trust, honor, and sympathy are only a few of the words that
come to mind when we think of friendship. Here are some words
to describe casual acquaintances, close pals, and intimate partners
as well as some of the words we use for the feelings we have for them.
1. camaraderie (ka meh RAD er ee) From the Old French word that means
“roommate,” this noun means a light-hearted rapport (another good word
from the Old French that means “mutual trust”) among friends.
• In the 1920s, there was widespread camaraderie among the American ex-
patriates who congregated in the bars and cafes of Paris.
• The lonely graduate student drank her coffee alone, longing for even a
moment of camaraderie.
2. gregarious (greg AIR ee us) This adjective, which means “sociable,” comes
from the Latin for “belonging to a flock.” A gregarious person enjoys the
company of others.
• Franz Kafka, who loved to live and work in solitude, was hardly what his
acquaintances in Prague would call gregarious.
• The gregarious candidate greeted his constituency warmly from the podium.
3. affable (AF able) From the Latin verb that means “to speak to,” this adjec-
tive describes someone who is gracious and approachable, easy to speak
to. The noun form is “affability.”
• Always affable, Mr. Winterbottom said good morning to the doorman and
shook his chauffeur’s hand.
• Because of her affability, Sarah was elected president of the student council;
she was good at improving communication between the students and the
administration.
4. congenial (con JEEN ee al) Like “affable,” this adjective means “agreeable
and sympathetic, gracious.” It can be used interchangeably with “genial”;
they both come from the same Latin root,
genius
, which means “spirit of
festivity.” The noun for “congenial” is “congeniality.” The noun for genial,
however, is either “geniality” or “genialness.”
Comrades, Cohorts, and
Companions
20
Friendly Words
Chapter
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Comrades, Cohorts, and Companions 81
• With his bright smile and warm handshake, Smithers was known as the most
congenial employee at Phonics R Us.
• Miss Congeniality was talented and beautiful but, most important, she was
gracious and friendly.
5. simpatico (sim PA tee ko) This adjective comes from either the Italian or
the Spanish word that means “sympathy,” and it means “having like mind
or temperament.” People who are “simpatico” become friends because
they share common interests. There is no noun for this word.
• Louise and Susan are very simpatico; they both love Italian cooking, going
to the dog races, and playing jai lai.
• The two men are truly simpatico; they sit in Starbucks every day and discuss
everything from politics and food to the state of their souls.
6. veneration (ven ur RAY shun) Suggesting a bit more feeling than friendship,
this noun connotes ”respect or reverence.” It’s usually used to describe
feelings for someone older or more experienced. The verb is “to venerate.”
• The students at Pencey Prep venerated the headmaster not only for his
intellect but for his warmth and generosity. They felt he created an inspiring
atmosphere for learning.
• The patriarch basked in the veneration of his family and friends.
7. adulation (ad ju LAY shun) Here’s another noun that connotes a bit more
feeling than friendship. From the Latin root which means “to flatter,” this
word means “excessive admiration or flattery.” It’s pretty close to adoration
in meaning. There is a verb form, “to adulate,” but it’s never used.
• The fan’s adulation for Derek Jeter was so great that he changed his own
name to Derek.
• The students felt nothing but adulation for their history teacher until they
found out that he belonged to an illegal extremist group.
8. demonstrative (dem ON strat iv) This adjective means “given to open
expression of emotion.” Someone who is “demonstrative” usually, but not
always, demonstrates friendly or loving feelings. The noun form is
“demonstrativeness,” not “demonstration.”
• The newlyweds were very demonstrative in public; they always held hands
on the street and often kissed while seated in restaurants.
• The insurance salesman’s demonstrativeness was apparent when he began
to weep when his beloved Florida Marlins won the World Series.
9. cohort (KO hort) In Caesar’s time, a “cohort” was a division of the Roman
army made up of three to six hundred men. A legion consisted of ten
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82 Fiske WordPower
cohorts, or three to six thousand men. The noun has now come to mean
“any kind of group or band of people” and even to mean simply “a com-
panion.”
• “I expect you and your cohorts to appear in my office after school for deten-
tion,” said the principal. “I know you all went out for sushi together instead
of going to history class.”
• The thief and his teenaged cohorts broke into my apartment and stole all of
my video games.
10. kudos (KOO doss or KOO doze) Here’s a noun that means “the praise
one might offer to a friend or to someone of exceptional achievement.”
It comes from the Greek word meaning “magical glory.” Although it
looks like a plural noun, it is not. There is no such thing as a single
“kudo.”
• The brave fireman sought no kudos for his heroic deeds.
• The teacher gave Belinda kudos for being the only student in the class to
write the extra-credit essay. “Belinda is a thoughtful and hardworking
student,” she announced to the class. “She always goes the extra mile.”
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Sounds Like,
Smells Like
21
Words About Hearing and Smelling
Chapter
A
n old joke has it that all exotic foods “taste like chicken,” but no
one ever alleges that something sounds like a chicken or smells
like a chicken. In the absence of chicken jokes, we trust the
words below will help with smells and sounds. (See also chapter 82 “The
Body and Beyond.”)
1. resonant (REZ uh nunt) Literally meaning “sounding again,” this adjective
can be used in a literal or figurative sense.
• Torrance’s department store hired a Santa Claus with a reedy, piping voice,
far from the ideal Santa who should have a deep, resonant tone when he asks
children what they want for Christmas.
• The touching film showed the dying soldier clutching his buddy’s hand while
struggling to recite the resonant phrases of a Psalm he had learned as a boy.
2. sonorous (SON er us) This adjective has a meaning similar to that of #1—
describing a full, rich sound—and may also describe spoken words that
are impressive.
• Lying in the hammock, Iris relished the sonorous backdrop of humming bees
and the drone of a lawn mower being pushed by someone other than herself.
• Washington’s Farewell Address and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address are
probably the most sonorous orations in the history of this country.
3. reverberate (re VER ber ate) This verb comes from vivid Latin roots mean-
ing “to whip back.” We must picture sound beating its way back through the
air, whether we see the word used in its literal sense or its very common
figurative sense where it becomes a synonym for “repercussion,” literally,
“striking back.”
• As the nymph Echo shouted “Do you love me?” to the vain Narcissus, the air
reverberated with the response, “Love me, Love me.”
• Hiram felt the reverberations of his hasty decision to drop out of college for
many years.
4. acoustic (uh COOS tik) This adjective describes things which relate to
sound, as suggested by the Greek root word. In the field of music, the
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84 Fiske WordPower
word has the special sense of describing an instrument whose sound is
free of electronic effect. Put an “s” on the adjective and you have the noun
acoustics, referring either to the scientific study of sound or to the overall
effect of sound in an enclosed space.
• Frank and Stanley and Allen all heard Bob Dylan in 1963 when he was still
playing acoustic guitar; their younger friends who know only the later
period are envious.
• The acoustics of newer, more architecturally impressive buildings often
cannot match the quality of sound in older concern halls.
5. timbre (tam’ ber or tim ber) The word may be pronounced as its French
origins suggest, or it may be “anglicized” (pronounced like an English word).
Either way, the noun refers to the combination of indefinable qualities of a
sound that distinguish it from sounds identical in pitch and volume.
• The timbre of Placido Domingo’s voice has deepened over the years of his
long career, but he has sounded wonderful, young or old.
• Even the untrained ear can distinguish the timbre of a flute from that of a
bassoon.
6. tintinnabulation (tin ti NAB u la shun) You won’t have many chances to use
this noun meaning the sound of the ringing of bells, but when you see it in
Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Bells,” you’ll feel very learned. (If that doesn’t
impress your friends sufficiently, you can produce the fact that in earlier
centuries Oxford University had on its staff a “tintinnabularius”—yes, a bell
ringer.) A related additional bit of the lore of sound is the word tinnitis (tih
NIGH tus) meaning a persistent ringing or buzzing sound in one or both ears.
• As Poe says, “…the tintinnabulation that so musically wells/From the jin-
gling and the tinkling of the bells.”
• While we generally think of the sound of bells as pleasant, anyone who has
suffered even briefly from tinnitus can tell you the sound is maddening.
7. noisome (NOY sum) Sounds like a “sound” word, right? Surprise—it’s gener-
ally used for smells, and unpleasant or dangerous ones at that. If it’s a smell
that annoys it’s noisome. (Not just a pun—“annoy” has the same root word.)
• Students sought out the source of the noisome odors in the second floor
hallway and found it in the chemistry lab where experiments with sulfur were
underway.
• Tenants complained about the noisome fumes coming from the basement of
the Estcourt Building, fearing that an explosion might occur.
8. redolent (RED uh lunt) Another “smell” word and a more pleasant one. This
adjective usually describes a good fragrance, an aromatic smell. It can also
be used figuratively for an intangible quality, a memory or an aura.
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Sounds Like, Smells Like 85
• A full day after Thanksgiving had passed, the kitchen remained redolent of
the smell of roasted onions, sage, and spices used in pumpkin pie.
• Just opening his college yearbook transported Luke to memories redolent in
equal measures of good times and anxiety about the future.
9. pungent (PUN junt) This adjective describes sharp smells that may be
pleasant or otherwise, and the meaning may be extended to figurative
uses. The Latin root word means “to sting.”
• The pungent smell of burning leaves wafted through the lanes of the town,
prompting many a resident to wonder what neighbor was violating City
Code regulation #447.
• Enjoyment of the politically pungent satire of Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury
may depend upon one’s own political views.
10. odoriferous (o der IF er us) If you want a five-syllable adjective meaning
“having a smell,” then this is the word for you.
• Walking hand in hand with the love of his life in the summer sunlight
beneath the odoriferous trees of Charleston, Ben felt a heightened sense of
the joy of being alive.
• A steady diet of goat curry followed by gorgonzola cheese could make
someone a little too odoriferous for intimate companionship.
Quick Quiz #7
Chapters 19-21
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ ringing noise in the ears
2. ______ praise
3. ______ enjoying being with a group
4. ______ relating to the science of sound
5. ______ suggesting through smell or memory
6. ______ prone to go to war
7. ______ likely to fight
8. ______ close companionship
9. ______ a perpetual opponent
10. ______ pleasing in sound
11. ______ a group
12. ______ physically showing feelings
13. ______ uniqueness of a sound
14. ______ almost reverent admiration
15. ______ unpleasantly smelly
16. ______ enduring through time
A. acoustics
B. belligerent
C. camaraderie
D. cohort
E. demonstrative
F. gregarious
G. kudos
H. nemesis
I. noisome
J. pugnacious
K. redolent
L. resonant
M. sonorous
N. timbre
O. tinnitus
P. veneration
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T
here are lots of words for a good fight, whether it’s a small kiss-
and-make-up argument (i.e., a “tiff”) or a full-fledged battle. For
most of the words below, the weapon of choice is words not fists.
Let’s start with the small stuff.
1. spat In this instance, it’s a noun, not the past tense of spit. Quite simply, it
means a brief quarrel, usually fought with a few mean words.
• After the two friends got into a spat over who would eat the last cookie, they
resolved it by breaking it in half and sharing it.
• Though the couple was prone to spats over who would do the household
chores, they always described themselves as “happily married.”
2. bicker (BIK er) Here’s a verb for what people who have spats do—they
quarrel, usually over petty matters. Although people who bicker usually
hurl words not spears, the word comes from the Middle English word that
means “to attack.”
• “Instead of bickering over who gets to sit in the front seat next to me,” said
the mother, “why don’t you children walk to school this morning?”
• The couple’s constant bickering drove their landlord crazy, and she finally
asked them to move out of the building.
3. dispute (dis PYOOT) The Latin root of this word,
desputare
, means to
examine. Therefore, when you dispute something, you engage in an
argumentative discussion about its validity; you debate its truth. It can be
used either as a verb or a noun.
• The student was certain that the word “tiff” meant quarrel so he disputed
his grade on the vocabulary quiz when his teacher marked him wrong.
• A dispute over the existence of global warming was the focus of the environ-
mentalists at the conference.
4. squabble (SKWA ble) Also used either as a verb or a noun, a squabble is
another way to say a verbal argument over something pretty trivial.
Squabbles tend to be a bit more raucous (noisy) than disputes.
Them Thar’s Fightin’
Words
22
Battle Talk
Chapter
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Them Thar’s Fightin’ Words 87
• On the day before Christmas, the two adults squabbled over who would get
the last Scrabble set in the crowded toy store.
• A squabble between a police officer and a motorist illegally parked in the
crosswalk tied up traffic for over an hour on the usually deserted street.
5. tussle (TUSS le) A squabble takes on a physical aspect when you use this
word, either as a noun or a verb. Derived from the Middle English word
that means “to pull roughly,” a tussle suggests a rough struggle.
• The police officers tussled with the bank robber, finally wrenching the gun
from his hand.
• When the two football players fought for the ball on the forty-seventh-yard
line, one of them lost his helmet in the tussle.
6. wrangle (RANG le) Once again, the argument gets physical with this word.
Whether it’s used as a noun or a verb, it connotes a noisy quarrel. Even
though a wrangler is a cowboy or a cowgirl that tends saddle horses,
someone who wrangles is contending with words, not horses.
• The girls wrangled over their plans for the evening, unable to agree on
whether to go to a movie or stay home and finish their homework so they
would be free for the rest of the weekend.
• After spending an hour in a wrangle over what to do for the evening, they
realized it was too late to go out at all.
7. contention (con TEN shun) Deriving from the Latin verb
contendere
mean-
ing “to strive,” this noun means the act of striving to win in a competition or
debate. The verb form is “to contend.” The word usually involves a verbal
argument but not always.
• The soccer team played their hearts out in a fierce contention to win the cup.
• Most scholars contend that Shakespeare’s The Tempest was the last play he
completed.
8. altercation (all ter KAY shun) Here’s another noun that means a vehement
quarrel, usually verbal. Although there is a verb form—to altercate—which
stems from the Latin word that means to quarrel, it is rarely used.
• The judge ordered silence in the court after an altercation broke out
between opposing counsel.
• The teacher stopped the altercation between the two students by showing
them the correct answer in the textbook.
9. dissent (dis SENT) From the Latin
dissentire
, “to feel against,” this verb
means to disagree or differ in opinion. It can also be used as a noun,
although the preferred form is dissension.
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88 Fiske WordPower
• The Protestants dissented from the church of Rome and established their
own church.
• After the judge made his ruling, there was so much dissension in the court-
room that he was forced to call a recess.
10. irreconcilable (ear REK con SYLE able) No self-respecting chapter about
arguments would be complete without this adjective which means
“impossible to bring into harmony or agreement.” It’s most frequently
used in divorce court where couples insist that they should separate
based on “irreconcilable differences.” Consider the antonym: when
people fight and make up, they “reconcile.”
• Since one of the roommates was an inveterate slob and the other was a metic-
ulous cleaner, their dispute was irreconcilable.
• The dispute between evolutionists and creationists is irreconcilable.
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I’m Against That—
Or Am I Next to It?
23
Words About Placement
Chapter
W
ords that deal with placement in space can be as simple as
“by” or “in” or as complex as some of the words below.
1. juxtapose (JUX ta pose) This useful word describes placing items or
abstractions next to each other for the sake of comparing or contrasting
them. Noun form: juxtaposition.
• The juxtaposition on the bulletin board of the pictures of the students as
kindergarteners and as seniors intrigued many passersby, who attempted to
match child with young adult.
• The old phrase “champagne taste on a beer budget” neatly juxtaposes the
longing for expensive objects with a meager bank account.
2. contiguous (con TIG u ous) This word refers to the condition of sharing an
edge or of connecting without a break.
• As lab partners Gillian and Chelsea had contiguous work areas.
• In British usage, contiguous houses are often referred to as “semi-
detached.”
3. proximity (prox EM ity) The condition of being physically close. (Memory
trick: think “approximate”—an answer that would be “close.”)
• Larissa was on the chaise longue and the bonbons were on the adjoining
table; such proximity made her vow to eat healthfully all weekend almost
impossible to keep.
• The real estate agent was quick to point out the proximity of the house to
the best elementary school in the district in an attempt to offset the fact that
the lawn was parched and ragged.
4. athwart (a THWART) This is a very literary way of saying “across.” You won’t
be hearing it on the street, but you will find it in older or poetic writing.
• A famous eighteenth-century poet refers to stars that shoot “athwart the
sky.”
• William Buckley says he founded the magazine National Review with the
mission of “standing athwart history yelling STOP!”
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90 Fiske WordPower
5. trajectory (tra JECT ory) This word, meaning “a path through space,” can
refer to something as astronomical as a missile going through the skies or
as figurative as an individual’s career plan.(The word derives from the
Latin for “throw” and is thus related to words such as “reject,” “eject,” and
“projectile.”)
• Conner found it difficult to fill out the college counselor’s questionnaire
about his hopes for the future, for he had never before contemplated the
possible trajectory of his life.
• Air traffic controllers at any airport must be constantly aware of the
trajectories of all planes scheduled to land.
6. adjacent (ad JAY cent) A fairly common word meaning “lying close to or
next to.”
• Since Alyssa’s dorm room was adjacent to Pam’s, the two girls were virtually
roommates, constantly exchanging clothing and observations on life.
• What a bad idea—the rat poison and the aspirin were on adjacent shelves in
the bathroom!
7. periphery (per IF er ee) This word denotes the outmost area—an area to the
side—of something, either literal or figurative. The adjective form, “periph-
eral,” may be even more common.
• Drivers need not only keen vision for seeing straight ahead but good
peripheral vision that will detect traffic approaching from the side.
• Although Samantha was focusing on her academic responsibilities as the end
of the semester drew near, her grandmother’s illness was always in the
periphery of her consciousness.
8. perpendicular (perpen DIC ular) Possibly an old friend from math
problems, this word describes either the formation of a right angle or a
line that is vertical.
• Mr. McKean used a plumb line to make sure that the installation of the door
frame was perpendicular.
• Churches in the English Gothic style have a sharp emphasis on the
perpendicular; a viewer’s eye is instinctively drawn from earth to the skies.
9. oblique (ob LEEK) Another word that frequently appears in math problems,
this word has the literal sense of being neither vertical or horizontal but
slanting. It is also frequently used to describe something that is indirect or
downright misleading.
• Cynthia eyed the four unmarked streets entering the traffic circles at oblique
angles and wondered which of these was Mt. Carmel Road.
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I’m Against That—Or Am I Next To It? 91
• The politician’s oblique reference to “mistakes that were made” is not what
his frustrated constituents considered either an apology or an explanation.
10. catercorner (CATer corner) or cattycorner or kittycorner. In whatever
form it appears, this word has nothing of the feline about it. Deriving
from the Latin word for “four,” it means simply “diagonal.” Adjective
from: catercornered.
• Nat, hungry because he had skipped breakfast, used his mid-morning break
to run to the bagel shop catercorner to the school.
• Delighted to see her old friend Olivia at the banquet, Julia longed to speak
to her immediately, but since they were at kittycornered tables in the ball-
room, she settled for an enthusiastic wave.
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Y
ou may or may not know the 1961 Natalie Wood/Warren Beatty
movie of this title or the 1804 poem by William Wordsworth that
originated the phrase. Even if we have to acquire it secondhand,
from a movie or a television screen, we all need a touch of splendor—
brilliance, luster, grandeur, display, magnificence—in our lives. And
when we see something resplendent (dazzling), we’ll need words to
describe it. Here are a few.
1. panoply (PAN uh plee) This noun is used for a striking or splendid display,
often used in association with events such as a coronation or a state funeral.
It originally denoted a full suit of armor, which must, in its fully polished
condition, have given off quite a sheen.
• When Doreen first visited the United Nations, she was delighted by the
panoply of flags of all the countries represented there.
• The panoply of the funeral of Pope John Paul II fascinated even viewers who
had no religious associations with the ceremony.
2. coruscate (KOR uscate) This verb comes from the Latin word meaning “to
sparkle” and can be used either literally or figuratively.
• The film made sharp visual contrast between the life of poor Russian women
in drab shawls and the luxury at the czar’s ball where figures in shimmering
taffeta wore coruscating diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires.
• Prof. McIntosh sets high standards for students in his classes, but they
continue to sign up, for his coruscating wit makes his lectures a delight.
3. éclat (a KLA) This French noun has come straight into English to describe
great brilliance of performance or the appreciation such a performance
might receive.
• Dressed in a purple robe tipped with ermine, Prince Boyohboy entered the
kingdom with great éclat.
• When the company gave the name “Eclat” to one model of their luxury cars,
they probably hoped to evoke a sense of both sterling performance and
admiration.
Splendor in the Grass
24
Language for Grandeur
Chapter
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Splendor in the Grass 93
4. flamboyant (flam BOY ant) This adjective, which derives from the French
word for “flame,” can be used admiringly for something dashing and color-
ful in style or can shade over into criticism for that which is overly showy.
• About half of the faculty members defend Emily’s flamboyant individuality
as displayed through her spiky hair and equally spiky jewelry.
• The writer Truman Capote earned a lot of attention from the press for his
flamboyant activities, such as his Black and White ball given for five
hundred forty of his closest friends.
5. sumptuous (SUMP tu ous) From the Latin word for “expense,” this adjective
describes things or situations that are lavish, marked by abundance, and,
thus, are likely to have cost a lot.
• Fred’s midday craving for a sumptuous meal is not likely to be fulfilled by
the offerings of the salad bar and the sandwich stand.
• Marc Antony yielded quickly to the sumptuous effect of the regal Cleopatra
in her golden boat with its perfumed-filled sails floating down the Nile.
6. pyrotechnics (PY ro TECK nicks) This noun, taken literally, is the technical
term for fireworks (“pyre” equals “fire” in Greek). It can also be used for a
display of wit or brilliance in the performing arts that might rival the
sparkling effect of skyborne rockets and Catherine’s wheels on the Fourth
of July.
• The verbal pyrotechnics in Oscar Wilde’s plays are a delight for an lover of
language.
• Doc Watson’s uniqueness as a performer of traditional American folk songs
comes from the beauty and grace of his style rather than from technical
pyrotechnics.
7. burnish (BURN ish) This verb means “to polish to a high sheen.” You will
often see “burnished,” the adjectival form of the word, meaning “shining.”
• The turkey served at the banquet, beautifully cooked , appeared burnished
to a dull gold.
• The hair of Princess Myohmy was not so much brushed as burnished, for
she had six handmaidens responsible for its gleaming appearance.
8. sybarite (SIB uh rite) This noun, which can be used admiringly or critically,
fits an individual whose life is given over to pleasure and luxury. It has its
origin in an ancient Greek city, Sybaris, notorious for its luxurious excess.
• “Those who criticize our sybaritic existence are merely envious,” said Lady
Gotalot, as she sent her footman out for caviar and peacocks’ tongues.
• Being a counselor in many Girl Scout camps is great fun, but not for sybarites;
you may be asked to shower in cold water and to sleep on an army cot.
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9. iridescent (ear ih DESS unt) This adjective describes the appearance of a shin-
ing spectrum of colors. Its meaning and spelling (only one
r
) are easy to
remember when you know the word comes from Iris, the classical goddess
of the rainbow.
• Young John marveled at the iridescent display of colors in the feathers of so
common a bird as the pigeon.
• Photographers may find beauty in unexpected places such as the iridescence
of an oil slick.
10. ostentatious (os ten TAY shus) Anything, even splendor, can be carried
too far. This adjective always conveys a negative tone in describing
something that is perceived as overly showy, pretentious.
• Bernie likes cars as well as the next person, but he characterizes Brian, who
possesses three luxury sedans, an S.U.V., and a convertible, as “completely
ostentatious.”
• Gore Vidal encourages writers to avoid verbal ostentation by “killing their
darlings,” i.e, getting rid of any overly cute or precious phrasing.
Quick Quiz #8
Chapters 22-24
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ dramatic, showy
2. ______ argument
3. ______ fireworks
4. ______ disagreement with a majority view
5. ______ lavish, expensive
6. ______ marked by a rainbow of colors
7. ______ slanting
8. ______ polish
9. ______ course of movement
10. ______ person devoted to luxury
11. ______ physical closeness
12. ______ to the side, not central
13. ______ brilliant performance
14. ______ across
15. ______ petty argument
16. ______ not solvable
17. ______ impressive display
18. ______ place close together
19. ______ showing off
A. altercation
B. athwart
C. burnish
D. dissent
E. éclat
F. flamboyant
G. iridescent
H. irreconcilable
I. juxtapose
J. oblique
K. ostentatious
L. panoply
M. peripheral
N. proximity
O. pyrotechnics
P. squabble
Q. sumptuous
R. sybarite
S. trajectory
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Farrago
25
A Mixed Bag of Useful Words
Chapter
A
s you can see in “The Wonderful World of O” chapter, this
word means “a hodgepodge” or “mixture.” It originally comes
from the Latin for “a medley of grains used for feed.” This is
the second of our chapters without a specific theme or idea. The words
below are here because they are fairly common and often misused.
1. miasma (mye AZ ma) From the Greek word for “pollution” or” stain,” this
noun means “a poisonous atmosphere or influence.” It originally referred
to the atmosphere thought to arise from swamps or putrid matter. The
adjective is “miasmic.”
• The miasma of failure that hung in the locker room after the boys lost the
football game was too much for the coach to bear without launching into a
pep talk.
• In Henry James’s Daisy Miller, Daisy catches malaria after walking through
the miasmic atmosphere in the Roman Forum at night.
2. automaton (aw TOM at on) This noun means “a robot” or “a person that
responds in a mechanical way.” It comes from the Latin for “a self-operating
machine.”
• The requirements of basic training were so rigorous and so demanding that
by the end of the first week, most of the men and women moved more like
automatons than like human beings.
• Poet W. H. Auden has written: “One of the most horrible, yet most
important, discoveries of our age has been that, if you really wish to destroy a
person and turn him into an automaton, the surest method is not physical
torture, in the strict sense, but simply to keep him awake, i.e., in an existen-
tial relation to life without intermission.”
3. pomp (rhymes with romp) A noun that means “magnificent or dignified
display,” this word come from the Greek for “procession.” It is often used
to describe what occurs at wedding ceremonies, graduations, or royal
events.
• “Pomp and Circumstance” is a fitting piece of music to be played at
graduation ceremonies because it is both solemn and dignified.
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96 Fiske WordPower
• A symphony orchestra, a parade of soldiers in full-dress uniform, and a
procession of flower girls bearing bouquets of orchids and roses were only
part of the pomp at the retired general’s wedding ceremony in Virginia.
4. egregious (e GREEJ us) Although this word comes from the Latin for “out-
standing,” it means only “outstandingly bad or offensive.”
• Looking quite doleful, Marjorie handed in her essay exam and said to her
teacher, “Please forgive my egregious grammar and punctuation, but I had
a lot to say and not enough time to proofread what I wrote.”
• Robertson Roofers did such an egregious job of repairing the slate roof on
the Kandinskys’ house that they had leaks in their kitchen all winter long.
5. ululation (ull u LAY shun) This noun comes to us from the Latin and
means a “howl” or “wail of lamentation.” If you say it fast and loud, it
sounds like what it means.
• When Marlowe arrived at the edge of the village, he could hear the
ululations of the natives emerging from deep in the jungle and wondered if
there had been a death amongst the tribesmen.
• As Tulik made her way through the smoke of the funeral pyre, she heard the
ululations of the women who had gathered in mourning around the coffin
of the village elder.
6. minuscule (MIN us kyul) From the French, this adjective originally meant
“small, as opposed to capital, letter,” but it is generally used now to mean
“very small, tiny.”
• The doctors discovered minuscule traces of mercury in the preservative
used for the vaccinations but determined that they were not harmful.
• While she was in Venice, Laura purchased a collection of minuscule glass
animals which she now displays on a mirrored shelf on her bedroom wall.
7. attenuate (ah TEN you ate) This verb means “to reduce in force, value, size,
or degree.” It comes from the Latin for “to make thin.” A verb with a similar
meaning is “to truncate,” but it is used only to mean “to shorten.” The
adjective is “truncated.”
• Niko’s robust health was attenuated by poor eating habits, a lack of exercise,
and his high-stress job as an emergency medical technician.
• Ms. Nichols took her class to see a modern and truncated version of Hamlet.
The play was set in a computer software company in Palo Alto, and the entire
performance lasted only an hour and a half.
8. nugatory (NOO gat or ee) This adjective originally comes from the Latin word
for “jokes” or “trifles,” but it has come to mean “of little or no importance” or
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Farrago 97
“trifling.” When you make something “nugatory,” you render it “futile” or
“invalid.” It has nothing to do with the word “nugget.”
• “Now that you’re in tennis camp, you will spend all of your time strengthen-
ing your serve and improving your speed,” said Lars, the tennis pro. “All
other activities—including eating, drinking and sleeping—are nugatory.”
• The new administration’s lax environmental policies will render nugatory all
of the previous laws regarding carbon dioxide emissions.
9. recrudescent (ree kru DESS ent) This adjective means “to revivify” or “to
come back to life after a period of quiet inactivity.” The verb form is “to
recrudesce.”
• After a long summer of lazy beach days and afternoon naps, Walter Jimcrack
is recrudescent and ready to reassume his position as the vigilant security
guard at P.S. 117 in the South Bronx.
• Like a phoenix emerging from the ashes, Arnold recrudesced, returning to
his job as a construction worker after suffering what his doctors thought
might be a fatal brain tumor.
10. sallow (SAL oh) Here’s an adjective that means “of a sickly, yellowish
color or complexion.” No one who is healthy is ever described as “sallow.”
• After spending weeks in the hospital in Singapore fighting a rare blood
disease, Hortense was sallow, weak, and rail thin.
• At Yasger’s ranch, the men who herded the cows and rode the horses were
ruddy and strong, but the women who worked inside the dairy all day looked
sallow, exhausted, and depressed.
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I
f you want someone to do something for you, you may be able to
persuade them or to trick them, but often plain old earnest asking
does the trick. Below, a “decuple” (something with ten parts) list of
begging of various shades, various sorts.
1. importune (im por TOON) This verb refers to the making of insistent
requests, pleading so often that the person on the receiving end may
become irked. The word origin—Latin for “not a refuge” seems to foresee
the likeliness of an unhappy outcome.
• His teacher’s repeated assertions that his midterm grade was accurate did
nothing to stop Vance from continuing to importune her to change it.
• Shakespeare’s Desdemona repeatedly importuned her husband Othello to
forgive Cassio’s drunken behavior, thus unknowingly playing into the hands
of the plotting of evil Iago.
2. supplicate (SUP lih KATE) To supplicate is to ask in a very humble manner.
If you think of the related word “supple” (limber, bendable), you’ll get an
image of someone begging on bended knee—that’s supplication.
• In the opening of Sophocles’s play Oedipus Rex, the inhabitants of Thebes
appear before King Oedipus as suppliants, begging him to save them from
the plague that is destroying the city.
• All of Marcy’s supplication was in vain: her parents steadfastly refused to
allow her to have her own car.
3. cajole (ka JOLE) Sometimes teasing and flattery work where begging fails.
Cajolery attempts to nudge someone jokingly into doing what you ask. Its
possible Old French origin combines the ideas of chattering like a jay and
of luring someone into a cage.
• “Oh come on, Dad, let me have $20 more,” said Scott cajolingly. “You know
you feel good about yourself when you’re a really generous guy.”
• In eras when married women had almost no legal rights, many became expert
cajolers: they knew how to sweet-talk their husbands into giving them their
own way in various matters.
I Beg of You
26
Words for Pleading
Chapter
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I Beg of You 99
4. beseech (be SEECH) Related to the word “seek,” this verb emphasizes the
earnest and humble nature of a request..
• When Oliver Cromwell wrote on theological matters to the Synod of
Scotland in 1650, “I beseech you in the bowels of Christ to think it possible
you may be mistaken,” he probably didn’t foresee the day his words would be
available on a T-shirt.
• After the McCorkle family lost Beau, their older son, in the war, they
beseeched Jeb, the younger boy, not to follow in his brother’s military foot-
steps.
5. adjure (ad JOOR) This “begging” verb has the formal and solemn conno-
tation of swearing, the taking of an oath, as implied in the “jure” root
word. (Think of a jury member taking an oath.)
• “I adjure you by all you hold holy not to believe Mr. Badguy’s allegations,”
said Bartholomew Upright.
• The speaker in Poe’s “The Raven” dares “to adjure Hope” but is answered
by the equally allegorical Despair.
6. implore (im PLORE) This verb of earnest entreaty has at its Latin root the
idea of weeping: the person making the request cares so much that he or
she is, at least figuratively, near tears.
• The Lims implored their teenaged daughter to leave off the excessive
partying and aim for a more balanced life—some hard work, some fun, some
time for family.
• “See yourselves as serious students, writers, even poets,” said Mr. McCarron
imploringly to his young students, “and you’re more likely to become what
you have envisioned.”
7. woo (rhymes with boo) This wonderfully short word carries the olden-times
sense of a man seeking a woman’s affections, but it is still used in a larger
sense of begging, entreating, seeking an end.
• Nancy and Virginia are doing a project on Longfellow’s poem, “The
Courtship of Miles Standish,” in which John Alden attempts to woo a woman
for the bashful Miles Standish but ends up winning her heart himself.
• The St. Louis Chamber of Commerce is attempting to woo business back
into the downtown area where many attractive buildings are available for low
rent.
8. entreat (en TREET) “Earnestness” is the keynote here. If you make an
entreaty, you ask in a very sincere manner.
• The coaches entreated the administration to allow student athletes to leave
classes early for Friday afternoon games.
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100 Fiske WordPower
• A line that has been used in many a marriage ceremony— “Entreat me not
to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee”—has its Biblical origin
not between a wife and her husband but in the widowed Ruth’s plea to her
mother-in-law Naomi.
9. mendicant (MEND ih kant) This noun moves us from begging as general
pleading into begging for money, for help. A mendicant is a formal term
for a beggar. It derives from the Latin word for “needy” and an associated
root for “physical defect.”
• Jon has been reading about mendicant friars, those who took an oath of
poverty and depended on their belief in the providence of God and the
kindness of others for their very survival.
• Laurie and Lily had seen beggars in large cities in the United States, but they
were unprepared for the number of mendicant children coming up to them
on their foreign travels last summer.
10. cadge (rhymes with badge) This verb associated with begging for
money may derive from an old word for “peddler.” The slang term
“sponge” is a rough synonym.
• It is sad to see a man who once had such dignity cadging change from
passersby.
• Although Mark has officially quit smoking, he can be caught cadging the
occasional cigarette from a colleague.
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Me, Myself, and I
27
Words About Egotists and Rebels
Chapter
T
he words here all pertain to focus on the individual, not the
group. Are you sui generis (one of a kind)? Are you a rara avis
(a rare bird)? These are Latin phrases used in English, but
English has plenty of words of its own that deal with individualism of a
positive or negative variety.
1. narcissist (NAR sis ist) A negative word for those people (not you!) who go
too far in “being into themselves.” Narcissists, being in love with themselves,
lack empathy with others. The word comes from Greek mythology where
Narcissus fell in love with his reflection in a pool. His punishment was to be
turned into a flower, a very pretty flower.
• Some sociologists believe we are becoming a culture of narcissism, what
with the rise of the “self-esteem” movement and the growing popularity of
“blogs” that chronicle the lives of average individuals.
• “If you feel you’re falling in love with a narcissist,” counseled Dr.
Dougherty, “run the other way, head for the hills. It’s a prescription for
disaster.”
2. solipsist (SOL ip sist) The philosophical idea behind solipsism is that only the
self has reality or the possibility of being verified. Popularly, “solipsist” is
used as a rough synonym for “narcissist,” an individual who is completely
focused on him or her self. Even the root words reflect that: Latin for “alone”
(
solus
) plus Latin for “self” (
ipse
).
• Did you read the jazz critic who referred to John Coltrane’s playing as
“solipsistic caterwauling (screeching)”? Many would disagree!
• “You only exist because I believe you do,” said Ricky to Avery, before adding,
“Just kidding! I’m not really that much of a solipsist.”
3. autocrat (AW toe crat) An autocracy is government by one individual, so
an autocrat is either a ruler of that sort or, more generally, a person whose
power and authority have no limit.
• In 1858 Oliver Wendell Holmes published his Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.
These essays pretend to record accounts of the morning meal in a boarding
house by the presumed “ruler” of the group.
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102 Fiske WordPower
• Was Craig bragging or complaining when he stated that his household
became an autocracy when his son was born? “Nancy and I do whatever lit-
tle Ryland wants or needs,” he said.
4. autonomous (aw TAHN uh mus) This adjective describes something or
someone that acts independently.
• “Everyone has the right to be free/May we all live autonomously!” said
Mike, making up an impromptu rhyme to help him remember the word.
• The Trans’ oldest child is out of college and is fully autonomous; when the
younger two complete their education, Nam and Julie plan to travel
extensively.
5. autodidact (AW toe DIE dact) This noun refers to someone who is literally
self-taught, has not had formal education in a certain field.
• When the character Ishmael in Herman Melville’s great novel Moby-Dick says,
“A whale ship was my Yale College and Harvard,” he could be speaking for
the author as well. As a writer Melville was a complete autodidact.
• The most organized of autodidacts might work his way alphabetically
through a library; a minor version of this scheme is A. J. Jacobs, who recently
wrote a book about his experience of reading his way straight through the
Encyclopædia Britannica.
6. soliloquy (so LIL uh kwee) If you talk to yourself, you’re soliloquizing. More
literarily, a soliloquy is a speech given by a character alone on the stage.
“Monologue” would be a rough synonym.
• The most famous Shakespearean soliloquy is probably Hamlet’s speech
beginning with the words, “To be or not to be, that is the question.”
• “Don is a pretty good storyteller, but how can I tell him that some of his
monologues just go on too long?” asked his friend in a query to Miss Manners.
6. idiosyncrasy (id e o SIN kra see) This noun refers to some characteristic of
behavior that is limited to one person or group. It may be lovable or
annoying. The various Greek roots of the word reinforce the meaning: an
individual mixture of personal characteristics.
• “Lee has to look at the sports page before he’ll sit down to breakfast,” said
his wife. “It’s just his little idiosyncrasy.”
• Charles Dickens often makes his minor characters memorable by giving
them an idiosyncrasy that marks their appearances; for example, Mr.
Pecksniff always puts himself down as a way of making himself important.
7. recluse (REK kloos or re KLOOS) Recluses are people who choose to live in
solitude as much as possible The root word in Latin means “closed in.”
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Me, Myself, and I 103
“Hermit” would be a good synonym whereas its root eremite is a fancy
word used mostly for one who withdraws from the world for religious
reasons.
• Probably the best-known recluse in twentieth-century literature is Arthur
“Boo” Radley of To Kill a Mockingbird. He emerges from his house only in an
unusual situation such as saving a child from the murderous attack of the evil
Bob Ewell.
• Milton’s poem Paradise Regained refers to the Biblical John the Baptist as a
“glorious eremite.”
8. renegade (REN uh gade) The original meaning of this noun was “a deserter.”
Now, it’s used mostly with the more flattering meaning of “a rebel or outlaw.”
You can find, among others, a car model and a hiking boot named
“Renegade,” and you can be sure the marketing folk probably aren’t thinking
much about the appeal of traitors!
• SecretsRus screens its employs for loyalty carefully before they are hired, but
there’s no way to be sure someone won’t later turn renegade later.
• Adrian likes to think of himself as a renegade, but his rebelliousness is
mostly limited to boasting and to slogans on T-shirts.
9. heterodox (HET er o dox) This adjective describes statements, behavior, or
opinions that vary from accepted or popular belief. A renegade would
have heterodox opinions. “Orthodox” would be an opposite.
• With the developments in the Middle East in the past few years, most
Americans have had to do some fast learning about Islam, the mainstream
beliefs as well as some of the more heterodox variations.
• The poetry critic gave the phrase “a morning stippled with birdsong” as a
charming example of “heterodox word use,” since “stipple” is a word most
often employed for short strokes or dots in painting.
10. cynosure (SY no sure) A cynosure is something or someone that every-
one looks at, so narcissists or solipsists (see #1 and #2) would doubtless
like to have it applied to them. An earlier use was limited to the idea of
something, such as the North Star, that people use to guide and direct
them (so, obviously, they have to look at it). (All you lovers of word his-
tory, get yourself to a dictionary to understand why “cynosure” literally
means “dog’s tail”!)
• Even students who considered themselves “celebrity-proof” felt the
cynosural power of the star of Saturday Night Live as he made his way
through the lobby and hallways of the school, heading for the auditorium
where he would speak on techniques of satire.
• When Thomas Carlyle writes of the French Revolution, he refers to Marie
Antoinette as “the fair young queen, the cynosure of all eyes.”
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Quick Quiz #9
Chapters 25-27
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ a beggar
2. ______ an outlaw or rebel
3. ______ a hermit
4. ______ magnificent display
5. ______ flattering and teasing way of asking
6. ______ humble way of requesting
7. ______ a robot
8. ______ worthless, of no value
9. ______ cut off sharply
10. ______ outstandingly bad
11. ______ center of attention
12. ______ one who rules alone
13. ______ egotistical person
14. ______ small, personal way of doing something
15. ______ poisonous atmosphere
16. ______ bounce back after inactivity
A. autocrat
B. automaton
C. cajole
D. cynosure
E. egregious
F. idiosyncrasy
G. mendicant
H. miasma
I. narcissist
J. nugatory
K. pomp
L. recluse
M. recrudescent
N. renegade
O. supplicate
P. truncate
Usage Test #3
Chapters 19-27
Place the letter of the appropriate word in the blank for the sentence
that it best suits.
1. Pam felt like a ____ when she used her gift certificate at the spa to
have a massage, a facial, and a swim in the indoor pool.
2. The robot was completely _____, needing nothing but batteries to
keep him fully functioning.
A. adulation
B. antipathy
C. autonomous
D. burnish
E. cadge
F. camaraderie
G. contiguous
H. importune
I. irreconcilable
J. miffed
K. minuscule
L. narcissist
M. nemesis
N. periphery
O. pomp
P. recluse
Q. reverberate
R. sumptuous
S. sybarite
T. wrangle
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Me, Myself, and I 105
3. Ms. Hauk learned a lot at the conference but mostly she enjoyed the
____ of workers in the same field who always understood what she
was talking about.
4. The amount of zinc needed by your body is ____ but nonetheless very
important.
5. After the upsetting breakup with his girlfriend, Jed was something of
a _____ for a couple of weeks, refusing to leave his bedroom except
for an occasional meal.
6. Lance Armstrong has won the ____ of people in many countries for
both his athletic prowess and for his fight against illness.
7. All efforts to _____ his boss for a raise ended with her snapping, ”I said
no. Don’t keep asking.”
8. Although she spends a lot of time looking at the mirror, she’s no ____,
for she’s very aware of the concerns of other people.
9. Eric and Phil held amazingly similar records of victories in wrestling
each other; each regards the other as his ____.
10.The recently discovered manuscript of the writer will further ____ her
already high reputation.
11. Adepeju is not one of the central figures on this project, but she does
much unrewarded work on the ____.
12.The reenactment of the Renaissance banquet featured a table loaded
with wonderful food and many guests dressed in ____ costumes.
13. The two brothers tended to ___ every night over who would do what
kitchen clean-up chore; finally, their mother posted a schedule.
14. The Thompsons felt ___ that they were not invited to the neighbors
barbecue, since they had invited them over to their cookout the
previous month.
15. Beverly had such a feeling of ____ about her former employer that
she eagerly accepted the new offer that came her way.
16. George can easily pass on the message to Ned because their work-
spaces are _____.
17. The television coverage of the royal wedding. which was celebrated
with much ____ , drew millions of viewers.
18. The negative effects of the unfair dismissal of Ms. Lyons still ____
through her institution, although over five years have now passed.
19. Although the couple hoped that counseling would help their marriage,
their ____ differences eventually caused them to divorce.
20. James had several dollars in his wallet but had to _____ spare
change in order to use the vending machine.
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R
easons for misunderstanding are many and go beyond the verbal,
but each of the following words offers a possibility for having a
negative effect on communication or comprehension
1. abstruse (ab STROOS) This adjective describes something that is hard to
understand because of its intellectual difficulty or its obscurity. The root
word is the Latin meaning “to push away, to hide.”
• The fact that Greek uses a different alphabet gives it an abstruse appearance
lacking to, say, German.
• A bright young man, Jeremy breezed through the beginning weeks of
advanced physics, but as the degree of abstruseness increased, he intensified
his study regime.
2. byzantine (BIZ uhn teen) sometimes capitalized. This adjective is in
increasingly common use to describe something excessively complicated,
especially when the complexities come about through intrigue or
scheming. The origin, of course, lies in the word Byzantine as referring to
the eastern part of the later Roman Empire. Was the Byzantine Empire
byzantine?
• Although the company has very few written rules, the informal structure is
byzantine, leaving new employees bewildered until they figure out whom to
see about what.
• Sociologists are increasingly interested in the rather byzantine social codes
of preadolescent girls: if Millie insults Mollie, will Maggie snub Millie?
3. inscrutable (in SCROOT uhbul) If a person or thing is inscrutable, it’s mys-
terious, hard to fathom or penetrate. Good synonyms would be “puzzling,”
or “enigmatic.” In Latin, the root word means something like “not search-
ing through the rags or the trash.” (Would a dumpster diver be able to fig-
ure things out?)
• Characters in many Joseph Conrad novels know there is nothing more
inscrutable than the sea.
• Victoria prides herself on amateur psychoanalysis of her teachers, but Prof.
Holmes remained enigmatic, even to her.
I Just Don’t
Understand You
28
Language for Lack of Communication
Chapter
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I Just Don’t Understand You 107
4. mendacity (men DASS ih tee) Mendacity is dishonesty, plain and simple.
• Is the character of Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird mendacious because he is just
basically dishonest or because he wants to use his fabulous imagination?
• In Tennessee Williams’s play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the characters Brick and
Big Daddy have a memorable exchange about mendacity, each having good
reason to be well acquainted with the quality.
5. apocryphal (a POCK ruh ful) This adjective describes things of questionable
truth or authenticity. (The root word, from the Greek “hidden,” refers to
scriptural texts accepted by some Christians but not all.)
• The story of George Washington and the cherry tree is apocryphal; he may
never have come near a hatchet, but the tale illustrates a larger truth about
Washington’s honesty.
• “If it isn’t true it ought to be” is another way of describing apocryphal tales:
either they are in the spirit of truth or they are irresistibly good stories.
6. elliptical (e LIP tik ul) This adjective, usually used for written or oral expres-
sion, describes a verbal structure where some element is left out, either
intentionally or by error. The context determines whether the word
expresses praise or blame. The origin is from the Greek for “falls short
of”—just as the mathematical “ellipse” falls short of being a circle.
• If you shout, “Help!” you have uttered an elliptical sentence; you did not
need to say, “I need help!”
• A major difference between poetry of the late nineteenth century and the late
twentieth century is that the latter is much more elliptical. The reader must
often supply the implied connection between two lines or passages.
7. esoteric (ess o TER ik) Something esoteric is known only to a small group,
to a few.
• The word “esoteric” is not a common word, but it is far less esoteric that the
word “omphaloskeptic”—“meditating while staring at your navel.” Now
that’s esoteric.
• Joelle, not being a sports fan, is intrigued by real sports enthusiasts who
exchange esoteric bits of lore such as “most home runs hit by a left-handed
batter being pitched to by a left-handed pitcher.”
8. arcane (ar KAIN) Similar to “esoteric,” this adjective implies a sense of
exclusivity, something not known by people in general. It carries an even
further sense of being something at least mildly mysterious, appropriate
for a word whose roots mean “secret chest.”
• Since Mr. Douglas has taught at his school for over thirty years, he knows
many arcane facts such as what boy in the 1970s wore a short wig to hide his
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108 Fiske WordPower
long hair and what physics teacher was fired after only a few weeks on the
job.
• The spelling of “rhythm” may be difficult but it’s hardly arcane; look it up
in any dictionary.
9. disingenuous (diss in JEN u ous) Don’t play dumb with me! That’s what
someone who is disingenuous does. An ingénue (see “Age”) is an inno-
cent young woman, and a male or female
pretending
innocence is being
disingenuous.
• “I had no idea I would hurt your feelings when I called you a ‘total dunder-
head,’” she said, smiling disingenuously.
• When former President Clinton defended himself from attack by saying
much depended “on what the meaning of ‘is’ is,” was he being a clever legal
strategist or just being disingenuous?
10. factitious (fak TISH us) This adjective describes something
lacking
in
authenticity, so don’t be fooled by the fact that the first syllable is “fact.”
• Jim Dixon moved from his seat on the stage to the podium with factitious
ease; in reality, he was terrified about giving this speech on Merrye Olde
England, a subject dear to his boss’s heart but a concept he himself found
factitious.
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What a Relief
29
Words About Comfort
Chapter
T
his group of words is all about solace (a nice word that means
“comfort”). If you’re worried that you don’t know the right
words to describe the ways to soothe, this list might allay
(which means “to calm” or “to relieve”) your fears.
1. palliative (PAL ee ah TIV) This word can be used as a noun or an adjective
and comes from the Latin word for “cloak.” It means “soothing the
symptoms of a disorder without effecting a cure.” The verb form is “to
palliate.”
• Chicken soup is just a palliative for the flu. The hot liquid temporarily clears
the sinuses, but the virus doesn’t really go away.
• “I don’t like to take cold medicines,” Charlene said. “They palliate my
symptoms so I go to work because I think I am feeling fine, but they don’t
cure my cold and I end up getting sicker.”
2. assuage (as SWAGE) This verb means “to soothe” or “to make less painful
or burdensome,” and it comes from the Latin for “to sweeten.” The adjective
form is “assuasive,” but it is rarely used.
• Marla tried to assuage her daughter’s fears about getting her wisdom tooth
pulled by telling her it wouldn’t hurt a bit.
• The principal assuaged Alex’s parents’ concerns over their son’s failing
grades in geometry by offering to give him help in the school’s learning
center during his free periods.
3. emollient (ee MOLL yent) Here’s another noun that means “soothing,” but
it is used mostly to describe something that softens or soothes the skin.
• After a day of gardening without gloves, Emilia rubbed a special emollient
she purchased online over her hands to ease the blisters and chafes on her
fingers.
• Many people say that a popular emollient used for moisturizing the hands
works quite well as an insect repellant.
4. ameliorate (ah MEEL ee or ate) Here’s a more general verb that simply
means “to improve.” The noun form is “amelioration.”
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• “We have had many complaints about delays in our arrival and departure
times,” said the public relations spokesperson for Cross Country Buslines.
“We hope to ameliorate the situation shortly by adding more busses to the
fleet and hiring more experienced drivers.”
• Surveying the devastation that resulted from the recent hurricane in the area
around Palm Beach, Florida, Red Cross workers were doubtful that there
would be any amelioration of the wreckage in the immediate future.
5. alleviate (al LEEV ee ate) This verb is pretty much a synonym for “palliate”
or “alleviate.” It means “to ease symptoms” without providing a cure and
comes from the Latin for “to lighten.”
• Dr. Harvey suggested that Allegra take a strong pain medication to alleviate
the back pain caused by her fall during last week’s horse show, but she
refused, insisting the medicine made her too dizzy to ride.
• “I know you are upset that you can’t go to the ballet because of our board
meeting,” said Jorge’s boss. “I hope these two tickets to next week’s perform-
ance will alleviate some of your disappointment.”
6. conciliate (con SILL ee ate) This verb means “to overcome distrust or
hostility” or “to try to gain or regain someone’s friendship.” The noun form is
“conciliation.” It comes from the same Latin root as the word “reconciliation,”
which has a similar meaning—“to reestablish a close relationship between
two parties.” The adjective is “conciliating.”
• After telling Kate that her remarks in class were superficial and dull, Michael
thought it best to conciliate her by bringing her an ice cream soda and a
doughnut during lunch.
• Not only did the subcommittee on environmental impact brutally denounce
the president’s policies on emissions control, they refused to make any
conciliating remarks in the subsequent hearings.
7. foster (FAWS ter) This verb means “to nurture” or “to promote the growth
and development of.” “Foster parents” are called that because they nurture
children who are not related to them by blood. The word comes to us from
the Old English word for food or nourishment.
• Headmaster Owens insists on a stringent dress code because he believes that
a tidy appearance in school fosters a student’s respect for his teachers, for his
peers, and for his academic work.
• Carmine brushed his teeth three times a day, remembering the words of his
dentist, Dr. Payne: “Proper dental hygiene fosters healthy gums and teeth.”
8. mollify (MOLL ih fye) From the Latin word for “soften” this verb, like “con-
ciliate,” means “to calm in temper” or “to soothe hostile feelings.” The
noun “mollification” is too much of a mouthful; nobody uses it.
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What a Relief 111
• When Daisy dropped her ice cream cone, she began to wail. Nothing would
mollify the four-year-old, not even a new scoop of double chocolate chip.
• When Rover ate Ian’s new loafer, Ian became enraged and could not be
mollified; we had to bring the dog to a neighbor’s house to keep him safe
from Ian’s fury.
9. placate (PLAY kate) There seem to be plenty of verbs that mean “to lessen
someone’s anger or hard feelings,” and here’s another one. One “placates”
under the same conditions that one “mollifies.”
• A man of integrity, William made a point of never placating his enemies
with lies or empty promises.
• Almost any political office involves a fair amount of groveling and
manipulating in order to placate a constituency with a broad range of
demands and needs.
10. succor (SUK kor) This noun comes from the Latin for “to run to the aid of,”
and it means just that—“relief” or “comfort in a time of distress.” One can
“offer” succor, “receive” succor, or, in the verb form, “succor” someone
else. Don’t confuse it with “sucker.”
• Madeline took some succor in knowing that although she didn’t win the
spelling bee, she was elected “Best Speller Under the Age of Twelve” in a
nation-wide vote.
• After the dashingly handsome Juan was proven innocent and released from
the dungeon, most of the women in the village rushed to succor him,
bringing food and drink and the offer of a warm bed.
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B
ad guys come in both genders and in many different forms.
Here’s a sampling of types.
1. curmudgeon (ker MUDG un) This bad guy is a grouch, a grump. He (or she)
is in a perpetually bad mood. Weirdly enough, no one seems to know the
origin of this noun that suggests a growling cur.
• If Bobbie Sue doesn’t lose some of her curmudgeonly ways, she will find
herself without any friends or professional allies.
• Before his conversion to kindness, Dickens’s Ebenezer Scrooge was the
embodiment of a curmudgeon—and stingy, to boot.
2. booby (BOO be) This noun serves as an all-purpose term for a person who
is perceived as being foolish or stupid. Modern slang often shortens it to
boob, making it a short trip to “boob tube” as a slang term for a television
set.
• Catherine wondered what booby at her school had arranged her schedule in
a way that gave her no period for lunch.
• The women in James Thurber’s short stories all tend to regard their husbands
as boobies, men who deserve a good lecture in order to set them straight.
3. ninny (NINN ee) Roughly synonymous with the word above, this noun has
perhaps an even stronger sense of lack of intelligence or of overall silli-
ness. Dictionary makers think it may be a shortened form of the dark side
of innocence.
• Why, Brad wondered, should he be required to attend a session on career
counseling and have some ninny who didn’t even know him tell him what he
should do to earn a living?
• The title of John Ashbery and James Schuyler’s novel A Nest of Ninnies is
self-explanatory: it concerns the doings of some very silly people.
4. nincompoop (NINN com poop) This noun, whose origin is also unknown,
sounds much like ninny but seems to be a completely different word for a
silly or stupid person. Some find that just saying the word gives a sense
of satisfaction.
Bad Guys
30
Words for Fools and Other Nasty Types
Chapter
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Bad Guys 113
• Only a nincompoop would leave his expensive new jacket in the lounge
while he went to class and expect to find it when he returned.
• What nincompoop stapled a confidential internal memo to Senator
Quillen’s press release?
5. martinet (mar tin ET) This noun refers to a person who demands strict
adherence to all regulations, however small. Its use was originally limited
to the field of military endeavor, but today martinets can be found almost
anywhere.
• In the film Dead Poets’ Society the teacher, played by Robin Williams,
encourages his young charges to rebel against martinets they encounter in
their classrooms.
• As an office supervisor, Ms. Jennings prides herself on what she calls
“running a tight ship”; those unfortunate enough to work for her see her as
a cruel martinet.
6. roué (roo A) The history of this single-sex noun suggests it is a man evil
enough to be cruelly tortured by being broken on a wheel. Today a roué is
merely lecherous, perhaps more pitiable or self-deceiving than evil.
• Christopher Walken comically portrays a would-be roué who vainly
attempts to win women with an accent and champagne that are both French.
• A young roué might be mildly amusing, but an aging roué is merely
pathetic.
7. miscreant (MISS kre ent) In times and places where religious toleration was
lacking, this noun could describe those who were considered infidels or
heretics. Now it is more generally understood as a more equal-opportunity
wrongdoer.
• On any given afternoon the waiting area of Principal Shattuck’s office is filled
with young miscreants sent there by their frustrated teachers.
• In Leonard Bernstein’s musical Candide, set in the time of the Spanish
Inquisition, the cruel Spanish priests round up the miscreants while the
chorus sings “It’s a Glorious Day for an Auto-da-fe.”
8. poltroon (pol TROON) Simply put, a coward.
• Jordana was tired of dealing with poltroons who offered elaborate false
rationales for their failure to confront their oppressors.
• Those serving in the British Army in the eighteenth century may have been
ardent patriots or arrant poltroons.
9. buffoon (buff OON) A person who enjoys clowning, joking around, or one
whose normal behavior is perceived as ridiculous. This noun comes from
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114 Fiske WordPower
the Italian word “buffa” meaning “jest.” (A comic opera is, even in English,
referred to as an“opera buffa.”)
• J.D. enjoyed playing the buffoon in study hall, mimicking Ms. Springer’s
facial expressions behind her back, then feigning total innocence as she
turned to glare at him.
• Tony thinks his antics are original and witty, but most people regard him as
a complete buffoon.
10. scapegrace The English origin of this noun is self-evident; it describes a
person who has “escaped” a condition of “grace.” It’s used for a
scoundrel, a rascal, but often with the sense of describing mischief, not
evil.
• MJ and McKenzie were the leading scapegraces of the playground in the
park; their mothers often had to extricate them from tussles over whose turn
it was at the swings or who had the right to the last cookie.
• Were women attracted to Don Juan in spite of his being a scapegrace or
because he was such a rascal?
Quick Quiz #10
Chapters 28-30
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ very strict disciplinarian
2. ______ to give help or comfort
3. ______ known only to a select group
4. ______ of dubious origin
5. ______ lecherous man
6. ______ a coward
7. ______ calm or soothe a worry
8. ______ excessively complex
9. ______ phenomenon of lying
10. ______ intellectually obscure or difficult
11. ______ someone you might laugh at
12. ______ to help make peace
13. ______ a grumpy person
14. ______ a lovable rascal
15. ______ falsely playing innocent
16. ______ hard or impossible to figure out
A. abstruse
B. apocryphal
C. assuage
D. buffoon
E. byzantine
F. conciliate
G. curmudgeon
H. disingenuous
I. esoteric
J. inscrutable
K. martinet
L. mendacity
M. poltroon
N. roué
O. scapegrace
P. succor
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Not-Quite-Naughty
Words
31
Words for Mild Sexual References
Chapter
A
lthough these words nudge up to a naughty wink, they can be
found in scholarly literature as well as the daily paper.
1. ribald (RIB uhld) This adjective describes something or someone that is
characterized by witty hints at sexual content.
• The puppet show is suitable for families, but adults may get a sly laugh or
two from some mildly ribald jokes.
• The ribaldry in the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata doesn’t come through
in older English translations.
2. bawdy (BAWD ee) This word can be an adjective or noun and derives from
the word “bold.” Like “ribald,” it refers to humorously coarse language or
allusions. Risqué is a near synonym.
• Julia was startled to learn that the original words to “Yankee Doodle Dandy”
were rather bawdy.
• Shakespeare has so many bawdy lines that scholar Eric Partridge wrote an
entire book about them.
3. prurient (PRUR e unt) This adjective may describe an inappropriate variety
of interest in sexual matters, such as overt curiosity about other people’s
private lives. Appropriately, it derives from the Latin word meaning “to
itch.”
• In an earlier era some communities forbade the circulation of literature that
caused “prurient interest,” but lawyers had difficulty finding common
ground on the exact definition of “prurient.”
• In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the character Polonius has a prurient interest in
what his son Laertes is up to in Paris, even hiring a spy to check things out
and report back.
4. profligate (PROF li gut) Adjective or noun, this word refers to “wild”
behavior that may be in the monetary or the sexual realm—or both.
• Her profligate spending habits had to cease after she lost her high-paying
job as flower-arranger to the stars.
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• The Thompsons brought up their son George to observe a very strict code
of morality, so it has been hard for them to witness his adult transformation
into a profligate, specializing in wine, women, and song.
5. tryst (trist) A secret meeting planned by lovers, often a couple whose love
is not approved by society. If you know the operatic lovers Tristan and
Isolde, you have an instant memory device for yourself.
• After Romeo and Juliet secretly marry, they make an elaborate plan for a
tryst in the vault where members of her family, the Capulets, are buried.
• The storyline of the sitcom focused on Desiree’s fear that her husband was
plotting a tryst with an old girlfriend, when in reality his secretive actions
were part of arranging a surprise party for her, Desiree!
6. dissolute (DISS uh lute) A person whose sense of moral restraint has
dissolved
may be called “dissolute.” You have a root word and memory
device all in one here.
• The dissolute friends of the prince of Wales helped to cause a negative
transformation of English court life in the late eighteenth century.
• While some popular novels about college life in the early twenty-first
century suggest that all students are living a completely dissolute life, the
reality is quite different.
7. racy (RAY cee) This adjective describes neither speeding competitions nor
matters of skin pigmentation; instead, it describes something bordering on
the improper and serves as a rough synonym for ribald (#1) or risqué. Does
R rated stand for “racy”?
• Lucille’s first encounter with the beautiful images of love in the Song of
Solomon made her feel this book was rather too racy to be part of a Bible
study class.
• Chris’s posters advertising his race for class president relied on racy words in
big print followed by a coy, “Now that I’ve got your attention….”
8. dalliance (DAL e unce) This noun suggest a sense of playful flirtation. It
comes from the verb “to dally,” which can have a general sense of “wasting
time” or the more specific spending of time in an amorous mode.
• Marc Antony’s attraction to the Egyptian Cleopatra may have begun as a
dalliance but ended up changing Roman history.
• Karen had a period of treating men like charms for her charm bracelet; she
would dally with one guy’s affection and then move on to the next.
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Not-Quite-Naughty Words 117
9. carnal (CAR nul) This adjective describes matters relating to the physical,
particularly to the sexual. It often has a legal tang to it. It comes from the
Latin word for “flesh”: think “chili con carne.”
• The judge kept sealed all testimony about carnal matters.
• The phrase “carnal knowledge” as a formal way of referring to sexual union
has been in the English language since 1450.
10. smut (rhymes with gut) This noun can refer to something as simple as a
bit of soot, but these days it is more often associated with figurative
dirt—obscenity, pornography.
• One problem with a campaign to ban or label CDs with “smutty lyrics” is
that few can agree on how to define “smut.”
• Humorous poet Ogden Nash had a field day when a senator whose last name
was “Smoot” began an anti-obscenity drive: “Smoot Smites Smut,” he wrote.
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T
hat’s how nineteenth-century writer Henry David Thoreau
described “time.” Here is a list of words that also describe
time—how it passes rather than when. They are not, of
course, in chronological order (from the Greek word kronos, for “time,”
it means “arranged by the order of occurrence”).
1. evanescent (ev an ESS sent) From the Latin for “vanishing,” this adjective
means “disappearing like vapor.” The verb form is “to evanesce.” It can be
used to describe something literal, like a fragrance, or something more
figurative, such as love.
• “If I had known your feelings for me would be so evanescent, I should not
have allowed myself to fall in love with you,” Darcy murmured. “I am a man
who remains true to his feelings and foolishly expected the same of you.”
• As the fog gradually evanesced, the Golden Gate Bridge shimmered in the
morning light, awing Jack and Neil with its beauty.
2. ephemeral (ee FEM er al) This adjective comes from the Greek word that
means “day” and, though it originally meant “lasting only a day,” it now
describes anything short-lived or fleeting. The noun form “ephemera”
refers to printed matter—such as newspapers, greeting cards, or calling
cards—that have relevance or hold interest for only a passing amount of
time.
• The Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa once said, “No matter how
ephemeral it is, a novel is something, while despair is nothing.”
• At the antiques fair on the pier, we visited the stall of a dealer who specializes
in ephemera, including old maps, nineteenth-century women’s magazines,
Victorian postcards, and daguerreotypes.
3. chronic (KRON ik) From the Greek kronos (see above), this adjective is the
opposite of ephemeral. It means “of long duration” or “frequently
recurring.”
• Because of chronic financial problems, the Penniworths were finally forced
to sell their spacious brownstone overlooking the park and move into a small
apartment on the outskirts of the city.
“The Stream I Go
A-fishing In”
32
Words About Time
Chapter
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“The Stream I Go A-fishing In” 119
• Phoebe suffers from chronic and painful migraines from which she can find
no relief. As a result, she rarely travels far from home and limits her social
life to occasional lunches or dinners out.
4. dilatory (DILL ah tore ee) This adjective means tending towards postponing
or delaying. If you need a noun form, use “lateness.”
• Katy spends most of her afternoons in detention because her dilatory habits
make her constantly late for school.
• “You’re fired!” Mr. Hardy shouted at Nathan, citing his careless filing
methods, his unkempt appearance, and his dilatory attendance record as the
reasons.
5. diurnal (dye UR nal) This adjective means “occurring in a twenty-four-hour
period” or “daily” or “occurring or active in the daytime, rather than at
night” (see “nocturnal” in the “Darkness, My Old Friend” chapter). It comes
from the Latin word for “day.”
• Norman’s diurnal routine included a two-hour weight-lifting session at the
gym, a five-mile run, and one hundred sit-ups and still he was overweight. “It
must be all those cream puffs I eat,” he sighed, looking down at the scale.
• Many poets, such as William Wordsworth, have written about earth’s
“diurnal course” to describe the passage of a day.
6. antiquated (AN tik kwate ed) This adjective means “very old” or simply
“too old to be fashionable, obsolete.” It comes, of course, from the same
Latin root as “antique.”
• The headmistress held such antiquated views of teenage social behavior that
she had never even heard the expression “hooking up” and thought it simply
meant “to meet up with.”
• Men who hold antiquated views of women’s role in society expect that it is
their job to bring home the bacon and women’s place to clean the house and
cook the meals.
7. archaic (ar KAY ik) From the Greek word meaning “ancient,” this adjective
describes something that belongs to a much earlier period of time, often a
classical period of civilization. It is similar to “antiquated” in that it usually
describes something that is no longer in use, but it suggests something
even older. Something antiquated is “old-fashioned”; something that is
archaic is “ out of use altogether.” It is commonly used to describe language
that is no longer used.
• The belief that all human disease can be explained by the four humors—
blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile—and that most illness can be cured
by bloodletting is archaic; we have since discovered more sophisticated
methods for diagnosis and healing.
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• The psychologist Carl Jung believed in a “collective unconscious,” that the
human mind contains archaic images that are part of the most ancient,
universal thoughts of all mankind.
8. passé (pass AY) This adjective comes to us from the style-conscious French
and means “no longer current” or “out of fashion.” When something is
passé, its time has come and gone.
• “Little white gloves are so passé,” declared Jeanne, observing her sister’s
party clothes. “Take them off immediately. You’ll look like a dork!”
• “Cocktail parties are passé,” wrote Hal Hampden in his gossip column for
the Evening Star Tribune. “The latest craze is the breakfast get-together. It’s
a far more stylish way to meet the great and the near-great.”
9. gloaming (GLOW ming) This noun is a lovely literary term for “dusk” or
“twilight.” You won’t hear it much in conversation, but it comes up quite
often in novels, even contemporary ones.
• The narrator of Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness tells his story on board
a ship in the gloaming; the setting of the sun foreshadows the impending
darkness of the tale.
• His shoulders hunched in despair, I watched Jeremy walk the desolate beach
at sunset and disappear into the gloaming.
10. anachronism (an AK kron ism) This is a noun for the fairly common
literary technique of representing someone or something as existing in
other than chronological or historical order. So, for instance, a play that
includes a scene in which Sigmund Freud has a dinner conversation
with William Shakespeare relies on anachronism to make a point. The
adjective form is “anachronistic.”
• Iago’s horn-rimmed eyeglasses were an anachronism that marred the
student production of Othello currently being performed at P.S. 119.
• The audience is so familiar with the idea of personal computers that they
didn’t realize how anachronistic it was to have a clue sent by email in the
detective film set in the 1950s.
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Confound It!
33
Words for Confusion
Chapter
H
ere’s a category we hope won’t vex (see the “Short Words”
chapter) you. All of the words listed below are about chaos and
confusion. Some suggest only mild puzzlement; others
describe absolute mayhem (a noun that comes from the Old French
word for “to maim,” and means violent or riotous disorder). Let’s take
them in an orderly fashion, one at a time.
1. obfuscate (OB fuss kate) This verb comes from the Latin for “to darken
over” and means to make confusing or difficult to understand. One often
obfuscates intentionally in order to hide the truth. The noun is obfuscation.
• “Do not obfuscate the truth,” Mr. Gekko’s lawyer advised him. “The jury
will know when you are trying to cover up your intentions to embezzle
money from the company.”
• When Sam’s mother asked him where he was going so late at night, his
answer was so full of obfuscation that she was sure he was up to some
trouble.
2. melee (MAY LAY) From the Old French word for “to mix,” this noun means
a brawl, a confused and violent battle. There is no verb or adjective form.
• When the referee called a foul in the second quarter, a melee broke out on
the court; both teams rushed onto the floor and began throwing punches at
each other.
• “We’ll never be able to find each other in the rush hour melee at Grand
Central Station,” said Tom. “Let’s meet at a nearby coffee shop instead.”
3. anarchy (AN ark ee) Confusion takes a political turn with this word. From the
Greek for “without a ruler,” anarchy is a noun which means “the absence of
any form of political authority” or a more general “absence of order or
control.” The noun “anarchism” means something slightly different; it is a
theory that all forms of government are oppressive and should be abolished.
Someone who believes in anarchism is an “anarchist.”
• When the principal called the teacher into the hallway, anarchy broke out in
the classroom. The students began throwing spitballs and tossing papers out
of the window.
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• An avowed anarchist, Rachel was opposed to creating a student council in
the middle school.
4. bedlam (BED lem) Though we now use this noun to mean “any place or
situation of utter confusion or noisy uproar,” it once referred to only one
such place. Bedlam is a contraction of Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem,
a former institution for the mentally ill in London.
• There was bedlam on the senate floor when Senator Whistlebottom
declared his resignation; his was the deciding vote on the new transportation
bill.
• When the prison guards went on strike, there was bedlam in the cellblocks;
the prisoners began shouting for food and banging their cups on the bars of
their cells.
5. confounded (con FOUND ed) This adjective is a synonym for “confused” or,
another nice word, “befuddled.” It comes from the Latin for “to mix
together” or “confuse.” People are generally confounded, not situations. It
may also be used as a verb to mean “to confuse or cause to be mixed up”
or “to damn someone or something.” When someone is angry or frustrated,
a polite way of expressing that feeling is to cry, “Confound it!”
• The seventeenth-century English poet Sir Henry Wotton once said, “Tell
the truth so as to puzzle and confound your adversaries.”
• Although she had studied hard, Julianne was utterly confounded by the
math problems on her final exam.
6. convoluted (con vol OOT ed) This adjective doesn’t mean confused; it means
“confusing.” Something that is convoluted is intricate or complicated. It
actually means “coiled in overlapping folds,” like the inside of a seashell or
the petals of a flower or the folds in the brain. When we come across some-
thing that is convoluted, we feel confused.
• Marina’s directions to her house were so convoluted that Roger was certain
he would get lost.
• Jean-Paul used such convoluted logic to explain existentialism that Babette
had no idea what he was talking about.
7. perturbed (per TURBD) From the Latin for “to throw into disorder,” this
adjective means both “to throw into confusion” or “to be anxious, agitated,
or confused.” Something can be a force of perturbation (the noun form) or
someone might be perturbed by coming across something that is
convoluted.
• The researchers were perturbed by the results of the experiments. They
could not explain why rats found their way through the maze more easily
than humans.
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Confound It! 123
• The heat outside in the park perturbed Mr. Olmstead. It was January in
New York, and he expected it to be another cold and wintry day.
8. labyrinthine (lab er IN thin or lab er IN theen) If you remember the maze
that confined the minotaur in Greek mythology, then you’ll understand this
adjective. It describes something that has the qualities of a labyrinth or
maze—an intricate structure of interconnected passages. Like something
that is convoluted, something that is labyrinthine can be very confusing. It
describes situations or places, not people.
• The inside of the school was so labyrinthine that Megan could not find her
way to her history class and wandered the halls for hours.
• Christos’s excuse was so labyrinthine that no one was convinced that he was
innocent.
9. awry (ah RYE) This adjective doesn’t quite mean confusing but it belongs
here because it means “away from the correct course” or amiss—and that
can be confusing. A synonym is “askew,” which means “twisted to one
side.” People are not awry; things are.
• The wind blew in through the door, leaving the papers on the desk awry.
• Caitlin’s plans went awry when she decided to drive across country in her
mother’s old Chevy; she spent more time in the repair shop than on the road.
10. quagmire (KWAG myre) Though this noun literally means “a swampy,
muddy piece of land” (from the Middle English word for “bog”), its
figural meaning is “a difficult predicament.” When things go awry, you
often find yourself in a quagmire.
• Jake found himself in a quagmire when he purchased the last three tickets to
the ballgame but had already invited three of his best friends.
• America’s involvement in the Vietnam War was an infamous quagmire that
inspired protests and debates across the country.
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Quick Quiz #11
Chapters 31-33
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ lasting a very brief time
2. ______ twilight
3. ______ pertaining to physical aspect
4. ______ secret meeting
5. ______ attempt to obscure, confuse
6. ______ inappropriate interest in others
7. ______ complete confusion
8. ______ subtly witty about sex
9. ______ absence of government
10. ______ delaying in action
11. ______ gone off-track
12. ______ belonging to distant past
13. ______ dirt, literal or figurative
14. ______ confused fighting
15. ______ unrestrained behavior
16. ______ confusingly complicated
A. anarchy
B. archaic
C. awry
D. bedlam
E. carnal
F. convoluted
G. dilatory
H. ephemeral
I. gloaming
J. melee
K. obfuscate
L. profligate
M. prurient
N. ribald
O. smut
P. tryst
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Earth, Air, Fire, Water
34
Elemental Language
Chapter
L
acking the periodic table of elements available to students today,
the ancient Greeks concerned themselves with only the four
named above.
1. terrestrial (tuhr ES tre uhl) This is the Latin-derived adjective for referring
to the planet Earth or to land. Think “terra firma”—solid land—or “extrater-
restrial,” a being from another planet.
• While Caroline enjoys an occasional bit of bird-watching, most of her
scientific research is focused on terrestrial creatures.
• Everyone living in 1969 marveled at the first photographs of this terrestrial
blue ball floating in space.
2. firmament (FER ma ment) This noun might sound as if it referred to terra
firma, the earth, but instead it refers to the sky, the heavens. It’s usually
used in a religious, historical, or poetic context.
• The boys’ school retained its traditional ways, starting chapel every day with
the eighteenth-century hymn “The Spacious Firmament on High.”
• Herman Melville, in his powerful novel Moby-Dick, describes the sperm
whale as having “one broad firmament of a forehead.”
3. ethereal (e THEER e al) This adjective describes things that are heavenly,
delicate, insubstantial, as if they were “of the air.”
• Although Arthur Rackham, a nineteenth-century English artist, excelled in
drawing countless varieties of ethereal beings, I have looked only at his Blue
Fairy Book.
• Angela dwelt on this earth with the rest of us mortals, but she had a sort of
ethereal aspect to her, perhaps suggested by her name.
4. celestial (suh LES tee uhl) Deriving from the Latin word for “sky,” this
adjective can describe things literally relating to the concept of the sky or
the heavens, or it can take the meaning of extremely good, figuratively
“heavenly.”
• The young astronomy buffs enjoyed their campout, forsaking sleep for
attempts to identify the celestial formations over their heads.
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• The celestial aroma of frangipani delighted the aristocratic nostrils of Count
Almaviva.
5. conflagration (con fla GRAY shun) This noun refers to a really big fire. It
derives from the Latin for “to burn” that also gives us the adjective “flagrant.”
In English, the adjective form refers not to a literal burning but to something
conspicuously offensive, perhaps
as if
it were on fire.
• As Dennis slid down the fire pole, he heard the special ringing of the alarm
in the firehouse that signaled a huge conflagration.
• Her mother would forgiven lateness of ten or fifteen minutes, but when
Hepsie strolled in over an hour late, she was grounded for this flagrant
violation of their curfew agreement.
5. incendiary (in SEND e ary) In its literal sense this adjective describes
substances that can cause a fire. It can also describe anything that figura-
tively inflames.
• Don’t leave those oily rags in the garage! They are highly incendiary.
• Peter tried hard to keep his temper, but when Ralph used the incendiary
words, “You’re not man enough to fight with me,” he instinctively came out
swinging.
6. torrid (TORR id) If it’s torrid, it’s intensely hot, burning. The adjective may
also be used figuratively.
• The torrid midday sun blazed down unmercifully on the commandos doing
training exercises in the desert.
• Cinematic love scenes formerly allowed audience members to use the
imagination, but now the most torrid duo may enact their passion for the
audience.
7. febrile (FEE brul) From the Latin word for “fever,” this adjective describes
just that—something related to or characterized by fever, whether literal or
figurative.
• Parents are understandably frightened if their child has a febrile seizure, but
this natural response to a high fever does not cause brain damage.
• The “Letters” page of the newspaper has published a number of febrile
responses to the controversial article supporting human cloning.
8. deluge (del OOZH) This word refers to a flood or a heavy rain, either literal
or figurative. History buffs may know Louis XIV’s self-centered, “Apres moi,
le deluge” (After me, the flood—in short, I don’t care what happens later).
A pleasantly quirky related word is “antediluvian,” “before the (Biblical)
flood” or “a really long time ago.”
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Earth, Air, Fire, Water 127
• The television station has been deluged with calls protesting the news report
graphically showing cruelty to animals.
• Mira’s English teacher frequently digressed into accounts of her antediluvian
childhood, a time before color television.
9. sodden (SODD en) This adjective describes something literally soaked
through or something so dull and unimaginative that one might imagine
a flood had carried away anything potentially good.
• The messenger rode horseback for two hours in the driving rain, proudly
handing over the sodden envelope to the general.
• Why are you reading the sodden prose of that textbook when you have
access here to some of the best novels ever written?
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L
ighten up, see the light, do it with a light touch—our language
boasts many phrases about light and many more words that deal
with some sense of lightness or its absence. Here are ten.
1. banter (BANT er) This word, which can be noun or verb, deals with the light
touch in conversation. “Banter” refers to good-humored, playful
conversation.
• Cindy and Phil talked about their hometowns, their academic major, their
astrological signs—the usual first-date banter.
• Fans of Monty Python laugh at this group’s satirical routine on bantering;
somehow the comedians make this exchange of playful remarks into a
difficult skill.
2. badinage (bad in AZH) More lightweight conversation…this import into
English serves as a synonym—with a French twist— for banter.
• Late nineteenth-century wits Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler were
famous for their elegant badinage, each topping the other with an
inconsequential witty remark.
• The awkwardness of two strangers in an elevator is sometimes lessened by
badinage about the weather or the equally fascinating topic of the slowness
of the elevator.
3. repartee (rep ar TAY) Yet another French word for a light exchange of
conversation, this one emphasizing the retort or reply of the person
addressed, which may, in turn, inspire yet another clever remark.
• Most people can eventually think of a clever retort, but those skilled at
repartee possess the essential skill of responding immediately.
• Shakespeare’s matches his witty male character Benedick with a female,
Beatrice, equally talented at repartee.
4. gingerly (JIN jer lee) Here we move from lightness of conversation to light-
ness of touch. This adverb describes a cautious, delicate approach to
something, either literally or figuratively.
Lighten Up!
35
Words for All Kinds of Lightness
Chapter
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Lighten Up! 129
• When Dr. Pruitt encouraged Thomas to pick up the centuries-old Chinese
vase that was the center of his collection and examine it, Thomas did so very
gingerly.
• Brian, who longed to marry Felicia, knew he must approach the topic of
matrimony gingerly, for she had often expressed her delight in her
independence.
5. lambent (LAM bent) This adjective describes the lightness of… well, light.
It might tell of something flickering or something glowing, a literal “lick”
of light. It can also be used figuratively.
• By the lambent glow of the lantern, Randy was thrilled at last to see the cave
paintings he had been reading about ever since he was a teenager.
• Ian prefers comedians with a lambent wit that makes him smile over the
cruder sort that send their audiences into instant guffawing.
6. leaven (LEV en) To leaven is to lighten, either in a literal sense of causing
bread dough to rise or the metaphorical sense of lightening up a figura-
tively heavy topic. (The same root word leads to “alleviate,” meaning to
lighten the pain or burden of something.)
• Unleavened bread such as matzos has had no yeast or baking powder used
in its preparation.
• Dr. Lester’s imparting of ethical instruction was always leavened by his sense
of humor, which thus alleviated any potential sense of “ho-hum” on the part
of his students.
7. elucidate (e LUS ih date) This verb means to make clear (“lucid”) through
explanation, to shed light on the subject. The root word “lucid” is itself an
adjective coming from the Latin word for “bright” or “shining.”
• The scholarly edition of Virgil’s Aeneid had only a few lines of Latin per page;
many annotations to elucidate the text followed.
• Paula carried her letter of apology personally to Mrs. Coleman, hoping to get
a chance to elucidate any parts that were unclear in what she had written.
8. epiphany (e PIF uh nee) This noun refers to any instant perception, sudden
comprehension, spontaneous revelation. A cartoonist might indicate the
epiphany of a character by drawing a light bulb over his head. The root
word in Greek means “to show.” When capitalized, the word has the
specific meaning of a Christian holiday observed on January 6, when, as
tradition expresses it, the Magi or Three Kings arrived in Bethlehem to see
the newborn Jesus.
• Tiffany asked me if her realization that Chip just wasn’t that into her could
count as an epiphany like those in the stories of James Joyce.
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• The secular concept of the Twelve Days of Christmas has its origins in the
religious holiday of Epiphany.
9. diaphanous (die APH uh nus) Literally applied, this adjective usually
describes cloth that is so fine in texture as to allow one to see through it.
The root, “phan”—to show—is the same as in “epiphany” (#8). It can also
have the figurative sense of “easily seen through.”
• The chorus girls in Ziegfeld’s Folies wore diaphanous garments in varying
pastel shades.
• The invention of the cell phone has allowed liars to get away with tales such
as, “I’m working late tonight, honey,” that would formerly have been less
diaphanous.
10. benighted (be NITE ed) Today this adjective is always used figuratively
to describe a person or an argument in moral or intellectual darkness;
the “night” of ignorance has descended. (Would an epiphany change
things?)
• Prejudices that today seem utterly benighted may once have been considered
merely opinions.
• “Latin is not a dead language,” said the esteemed Miss Elmore, “and those
who call it such are themselves benighted.”
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Don’t Yell at Me!
36
Scolding Words
Chapter
T
here are as many words that describe the expression of anger as
there are ways to skin a cat (see “excoriate,” #8). The following
list details the different ways that you can upbraid someone (or
“sharply scold” them) as well as a variety of words that are synonyms for
an angry speech.
1. diatribe (DYE ah tribe) The root of the Greek word diatribe or “learned dis-
course” is
diatribein
, which means “to consume or wear away.” In English,
the noun means “a bitter, abusive lecture.”
• Stalin’s speech was a furious diatribe, harshly critical of his political
opponents.
• Xiao Xiao’s cutting humor and brutal sarcasm made each of her movie
reviews a hilarious diatribe against contemporary culture.
2. harangue (ha RANG) Although the Old French, Old Italian, and Middle
English roots of this noun simply mean “a speech to an assembly,” the
word now means a long, pompous, public speech with a particular point
of view. It can also be used as a verb.
• Though Willis intended to deliver a calm and focused speech, he quickly lost
control of his emotions and harangued his colleagues about the dangers of
grade inflation.
• Ralph has always longed to be a dictator, but his awkward mannerisms caused
assemblies to laugh at his brutal, fascist harangues rather than be frightened
by them.
3. tirade (TYE raid) Like diatribe, this noun means an “angry or violent
speech, denouncing someone or something.” It comes from the French
word for “torture,” the same root as for the word “martyr.”
• Cicero, the Roman orator famous for his public speaking skills, delivered
many brilliant tirades in front of the Roman senate.
• When Ed was late for dinner for the third night in a row, his wife launched
into a furious tirade about the importance of punctuality and respect for
family routines.
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4. rant (RANT) Unlike tirade or harangue, a rant is not only an angry or violent
speech, but it can also be used to describe a piece of writing that is angry or
that inspires anger or violence. It can also be used as a verb.
• The editorial in the school paper was an impassioned rant about the lack of
school spirit during the homecoming game.
• As the ball sailed through the pane of glass and Melvin broke his fourth
window of the summer, he could already hear his mother ranting at him
about keeping his games confined to the schoolyard.
5. vituperation (vye TOOP er a shun) This noun also means a sustained speech
of harshly abusive language. The emphasis here is more on abusing rather
than on arguing or correcting. The adjective form is vituperative.
• After years of being called “a cow” and other nasty names, Muffy grew tired
of her husband’s vituperation and decided to leave him.
• Judge Wilkinson grew tired of the prosecutor’s abusive style of cross-
examination and warned, “If you continue with this vituperative behavior
with the witnesses, I shall have you removed from the courtroom.”
6. castigate (CAST ih gate) From the Latin word for “pure,” this verb means
“to harshly scold”, “criticize severely”, or “punish.” Other words from the
same root include “chastise,” which means “to punish by beating” or
“harshly criticize,” and “chasten,” which means to “correct by punish-
ment” or “ verbally subdue.”
• In her letter to the urban planning department, Katya used all of the harsh
language she had learned in law school to castigate city officials for failing
to supervise the proper installation of wheelchair ramps in most of the
apartment buildings on her block.
• With her voice raised in anger and her finger wagging with fierce
disapproval, Martha chastised her boyfriend for having yet again forgotten
their anniversary.
7. fulminate (FULL min ate) This verb, from the Latin for “to strike with
lightening,” means to issue an explosive verbal attack, either in speech or
writing. A good way to remember it is to think of a “fulminate of mercury,”
which is a chemical powder that expodes under heat and is commonly used
in detonators. The noun form is “fulmination.”
• The group of first graders fulminated against the teacher who was
responsible for the lengthening of nap time, the shortening of recess, and the
decrease in the frequency with which ice cream was served in the cafeteria.
• Having heard his local newspaper’s fulmination against the president after
he increased the number of troops being sent overseas, the congressman
decided to articulate more extreme opposition to the war.
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Don’t Yell at Me! 133
8. excoriate (ex CORE ee ate) From the Latin word that means “to take off the
skin,” this verb means not only literally “to remove the skin” but to censure
strongly, as if flaying with words.
• Simon’s brutality as a talent show judge was so severe that contestants would
often burst into tears as he excoriated them for the mistakes they had made
during their performances.
• When Mara fell from her bike, her ankle was cut and her knee was
excoriated.
9. admonish (add MON ish) This verb expresses a milder form of anger than
most of the other words on this list. When you admonish someone, you
“gently caution” them or “warn” them against something. There is a noun
form—“admonishment”—but it is a bit formal.
• Because his mother never paid attention to him when he was well-behaved,
Joshua became a chronic mischief-maker, savoring his mother’s admonish-
ments each time she caught him misbehaving.
• Mr. Talleyboggin, Stephan’s mentor, admonished his protégée to apply
himself to his thesis work and push the university for more research funding.
10. invective (in VEK tive) This noun is not so much an angry speech as it is
a description of harsh and abusive language. The verb form “to inveigh”
(in VAY) is used with “against.” When one inveighs against something,
one vehemently protests against it or attacks it.
• In a speech full of invective, Mr. Watson criticized his employees for their
lack of creativity and their unwillingness to work overtime under deadline
pressure.
• Inveighing against the long hours, minimum wages, and poor benefits, Mr.
Watson’s employees went on strike, refusing to manufacture any more
widgets until conditions improved at the plant.
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Quick Quiz #12
Chapters 34-36
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ feverish
2. ______ violent speech
3. ______ glowing
4. ______ of the earth
5. ______ a large fire
6. ______ light conversation
7. ______ delicately handled
8. ______ to make clear
9. ______ a spontaneous revelation
10. ______ explosive verbal attack
11. ______ bitter lecture
12. ______ to scold harshly
13. ______ heavenly
14. ______ easily seen through
15. ______ intensely hot
16. ______ a flood
17. ______ soaked through
A. banter
B. conflagration
C. deluge
D. diatribe
E. diaphanous
F. elucidate
G. epiphany
H. ethereal
I. febrile
J. gingerly
K. lambent
L. rant
M. fulminate
N. castigate
O. sodden
P. terrestrial
Q. torrid
A. antiquated
B. assuage
C. banter
D. byzantine
E. castigate
F. celestial
G. dalliance
H. diaphanous
I. evanescent
J. inscrutable
K. martinet
L. melee
M. mendacity
N. obfuscate
O. perturbed
P. placate
Q. ribald
R. tirade
S. torrid
T. tryst
Usage Test #4
Chapters 28-36
Directions: select a word from the list below that best fits the
blank in one of the sentences and place the letter in the blank.
1. The instructions for setting up her new answering machine were so
____that Mildred asked her daughter to do it for her.
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Don’t Yell at Me! 135
2. Caroline’s expression was so ____that Sam didn’t know if she liked his
gift or thought it was ridiculous.
3. Prone to _____, Hal lied about his previous experience during his job
interview.
4. Susan decided to ____her disappointment over the cancelled picnic
by taking herself out to dinner.
5. Not even a double scoop of chocolate chip ice cream would
____Madeline after she fell and scraped her knee.
6. Mr. Caine was such a ____that he gave his students detention if they
were one minute late for class.
7. A passionate advocate for protecting the environment, Richard
launched into a ______against gas-guzzling SUV’s.
8. The mildly _____one-act play included a romantic scene between a
seductive student and her naïve tutor.
9. Forbidden to see his girlfriend on school nights, Dan arranged a
_____with her at the public library.
10. Cara’s and Tom’s relationship began as a ____over coffee but
developed into a passionate romance.
11. The beauty of fresh-cut flowers is _____; enjoy them while you can.
12. “Don’t ____me for being late,” Justine cried. “There was a lot of traffic
on the thruway.”
13. That map is so _____that it still refers to Sri Lanka as Ceylon.
14. David thought his son’s explanation for the broken window was so
confusing that he was deliberately trying to _____.
15. On the first day of the sale, Sheets & Towels R Us hired extra security
guards to control the _____of customers.
16. When she returned home, Fran was ____when she saw several police
cruisers with flashing lights parked in her driveway.
17. We hired an artist to paint a _____scene, including all of the major
constellations, on the ceiling of our attic.
18. The _____temperatures drove most of the families to the beach or to
air-conditioned movie theatres.
19. The English teachers engaged in a few minutes of clever _____before
settling down to discuss the curriculum for the coming year.
20. The _____curtains in the boardroom enabled the junior partners in
the firm to partially view the president’s meeting with the firm’s
biggest client.
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N
ow that you’ve come over a third of the way, you’ve piled up a
considerable hoard of new words. You’re acquiring competence
in the tangible form of having more words at your command,
and you should also feel a growing confidence in your ability to use your
own set of techniques to remember those new words. You are, we hope,
seeing opportunities for acquiring new vocabulary in every newspaper,
book, or magazine you read and hearing opportunities to expand your
knowledge of words in every conversation of which you’re a part.
The words included in the next thirty-six chapters, like those you
encountered in Section One, offer a range of familiar and unfamiliar
words. Many of you may know “smarmy,” “banal,” and “rehash” but do
you know “liminal” (“on the threshold”), “obsequious” (“falsely humble”),
or “internecine” (“intra-group struggle”)? We’ve continued the pattern of
mixing comparatively easy and more difficult chapters. And your old
friends, the quizzes every three chapters and the tests every nine chapters,
will continue to offer you solid evidence of growth: if your vocabulary
were a room, it’s moving from a minimalist décor to a richly textured style.
You now have the ability to express more complex thoughts and to word
them more precisely. As you pass the halfway point, chapter 50, and the
two-thirds point, chapter 66, you’ll feel even more strongly that you’re
becoming a competent wordsmith—maybe even a logophile.
Competence
2
Stage
Chapters 37–72
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D
oes your manner of speech need help or does it already possess
the virtues and avoid the pitfalls of the words described below?
1. bombast (BOM bast) This noun refers to padded, pretentious speech (and
now extended to use in writing). It’s no coincidence that the word is related
to an old French word meaning “cotton padding.”
• Jeremy would make a good president of the student council, but the
bombast in his recent speech really turned me off.
• Shakespeare’s character Pistol is given to bombastic utterances such as, “Let
not hemp his windpipe suffocate.” Why doesn’t he just say, “Don’t hang
him”?
2. pontificate (pon TIFF i kate) This verb, meaning to speak in an over-
authoritative manner, might suit many who are bombastic (#1). Only a
pontiff (a pope) deserves to talk in such a manner without giving offense.
• Hilary enjoys having a drink with her coworkers except when Jay comes
along, for he always grabs the center of attention and pontificates on
politics.
• Mr. Calabro is the best-informed man I know, and I admire not only his
knowledge but the fact that he never pontificates on any of his many fields
of expertise.
3. stentorian (sten TOR e un) This is a fancy adjective meaning “extremely
loud speech.” It is an eponym (see chapter 75), deriving from Stentor, a
Greek herald in Homer’s
Iliad
whose voice was said to be as loud as the
voices of fifty men combined.
• Why do those who use their cell phones in public places tend to be so
stentorian?
• In earlier eras the ability to be stentorian was prized, but in this day of
microphones and public address systems it is not required.
4. panegyric (pan e JIRE ik) Originally a speech of praise, this noun now
extends to the written form as well. Its Greek root words,
pan
(all) and
agora
(gathering place, marketplace), allow us to see the origin—a man
Speech Therapy
37
Describing Ways of Speaking
Chapter
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Speech Therapy 139
addressing an assembled crowd, perhaps at a funeral, where praise
comes most easily—and help us remember the meaning.
• In 431 BCE Pericles delivered a now famous panegyric for those soldiers
fallen after the first battles of the Peloponnesian War.
• “Should college recommendations for my students be pure panegyric?”
mused Mr. Isaacson as he began the daunting task of helping his students
complete their college application requirements.
5. eulogy (U luh jee) This noun can be seen as a rough synonym for pane-
gyric (#4), except that modern usage of eulogy is generally restricted to a
speech made at a funeral. Perhaps this fact is true because “eulogy”—
which literally means “good words”—sounds so much like “elegy,” a poem
lamenting a death.
• When circumstances allowed Huckleberry Finn to attend his own funeral,
did he get to hear a eulogy for himself?
• At the service for Ms. Dougherty, she will be eulogized by one family
member and one coworker.
6. histrionic (his tree AHN ik) This adjective literally means “relating to actors
or acting,” but is coming more to mean “overly dramatic or emotional, ” an
ineffective mode of speaking of writing.
• Mr. Ryshke had a excellent point to make at the meeting, but his histrionic
manner of presentation undercut its effectiveness.
• Indulging in histrionics in the workplace is never a good idea; tears or
yelling isn’t likely to win the respect of a boss or coworkers.
7. grandiloquence (grand IL uh kwens) This noun, literally meaning “grand
speaking,” could in theory be positive, but in fact it is always negative,
denoting pompous speech.
• Anyone who wants to be more familiar examples of grandiloquence might
look at Independence Day speeches from the nineteenth century—a heavy
use of long sentences and flowery abstractions.
• Erica longs to be an eloquent speaker but her overreliance on artificial phras-
ing makes her merely grandiloquent.
8. embellish (em BELL ish) The verb “embellish” means “to decorate,”
presumably with the end of making something beautiful. A speech that is
appropriately embellished is effective, but if the number of embellishments
is too great, bombast (#1) may be the result. The use of “embellish” is not
limited to language.
• Job-seekers may be tempted to embellish their resumes, but they should
attempt to resist that temptation.
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140 Fiske WordPower
• The Veneerings don’t merely hang curtains. No, the drapery at their
windows is embellished with cornices, valances, tiebacks, and more.
9. testimonial (test ih MOAN e uhl) You can give a testimonial for a person, a
faith, or a product. In short, it is a spoken or written statement of tribute.
(Like all words in the “testify, testament, testimonial” category, it has a
male-centered origin in the word “testes” or “testicles”; presumably, a
man holding a hand on that portion of his anatomy was speaking even
more frankly than if placing a hand on his heart.)
• I like Mr. Powell, but I don’t want to give a testimonial for him at the rally,
for I also like his opponent.
• Joella spoke so enthusiastically about her Hairsheen, her new shampoo, that
I fleetingly wondered if she had been paid by the company to give her dorm-
mates a testimonial.
10. sermonize (SER muh nize) While this verb could mean simply “to give a
sermon,” it’s more frequently used, with a negative sense, for a speech
or bit of writing that is inappropriately like a sermon. In short, it assumes
an air of moral superiority over the person listening or reading.
• Happily, the film doesn’t sermonize about the importance of the arts in a
school curriculum. It makes the point in a more subtle and effective way.
• All of Aunt Sally’s sermonizing made Huck Finn want to light out for the
territory, and many adolescents identify with that feeling when well-meaning
adults talk at them.
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How Deep Is the Ocean,
How High Is the Sky?
38
Words About Heights and Depths
Chapter
T
his chapter deals with heights, depths, and in-betweens.
1. apogee (AP uh jee) This noun has complex scientific aspects but is also
used by the common person to mean, simply, “highest point.” (The “gee”
at the end of the word comes from “Gaia,” a term for the earth.)
• Costas’s camera caught the ballerina at the apogee of her leap—what a
beautiful image by a talented photographer!
• Those at the apogee of their careers may have to wonder if descent is
inevitable.
2. acme, apex (AK me, A pex) Here are two more nouns starting with “a” that
are synonyms for apogee, highest point.
• Acme Hardware, Acme Office Products, Acme Pesticides—do these names
in the telephone book try to persuade the consumer that they representing
the highest point of their respective trades, or did the owners just hope the
company would get the first listing alphabetically?
• The hikers climbed steadily in near darkness for over an hour, reaching the
apex of the hill just in time to be rewarded by the beautiful sunrise
3. zenith (ZEE nith) From the three “A” words meaning “highest point” to a
“Z” word of the same meaning. This noun originally had an astronomical
sense of the highest point of a celestial body and comes from Arabic, the
language of many great early astronomers.
• Many scholars consider the thirteenth century to have marked the zenith of
Islamic literature.
• When Giuseppe Verdi wrote music for the operas Otello and Falstaff, he was
chronologically elderly but was at the zenith of his powers.
4. pinnacle (PIN a kul) Yet another word for “highest point” as well as a
common term for a mountain peak.
• When Cliff finished the difficult climb to the pinnacle of Mt. Katahdin, he
proudly recorded in his journal, “Today I completed my hike of the entire
Appalachian Trail.”
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142 Fiske WordPower
• “If I may speak frankly, my dear Miss Ashley,” said the impoverished noble-
man courting the American heiress, “I think you have reached the pinnacle
of perfection.”
5. nadir (NAY deer) This noun, meaning “lowest point” stands alone against
the quartet of words for its opposite. Like “zenith” (#3), it comes into English
from the Arabic word for “opposite”; it originally had an exclusively
astronomical meaning.
• Robby felt he had reached the nadir of his high school years when his girl-
friend broke up with him on the same day he received his disappointing test
scores.
• Hannah’s unbounded optimism allowed her to view the nadir of her fortunes
as a challenge to find a new direction for her life.
6. bathos (BAY thoss) This singular noun, coming from the Greek word for
“deep,” refers to a literary effect that is overly commonplace or grossly
sentimental. Less talented authors unintentionally fall into it, but parodists
or satirists may seek it out for effect. (It neatly rhymes with “pathos,” the
Greek word for feeling.)
• The poet Edgar Allan Poe wielded a mean hatchet when he turned critic, not
hesitating to condemn bad verse as “barbaric,” or “full of bathos.”
• Erica’s spoofing version of an episode in Homer’s Iliad featured a successful
moment of bathos: Achilles almost lost the battle with Hector when he had
to excuse himself to go to the bathroom.
7. abject (AB jekt or ab JEKT) This adjective describes either a low condition
or status or describes something most contemptible or most wretched.
Appropriately, it comes from the Latin meaning “thrown aside.”
• The writer Richard Savage lived many years in the most abject circum-
stances, often walking all night for want of a place to lay his head.
• To run away from a friend in need is one example of the most abject varieties
of selfishness.
8. liminal (LIM in ul) Neither high nor low, neither in nor out—liminal
describes something in between, on the edge. It comes from the Latin
word meaning “threshold.”
• When the lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream leave the city of Athens,
they find themselves in the uncharted forest, a liminal area not bound by
values established by the laws of the city.
• Many ethical questions related to new developments in science are in a
liminal state: many sincere people do not know what position to take.
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How Deep Is the Ocean, How High Is the Sky? 143
9. consummate (kun SUM it) Note the pronunciation; we’re talking about the
adjective form, not the verb (KAHN sum ate). The adjective describes the
highest, most complete or perfect form of some quality, whether positive
or negative.
• The Roman poet Horace wrote a satire about the consummate bore, a
person many readers have met in a twenty-first-century embodiment.
• Writers of a consummate artistic temperament must be admired, but family
and friends may find them hard to deal with, for they leave practical matters
to others.
10. quintessence (kwen TESS ence) This noun refers to something that is
not at any extreme except the extreme of being purely or perfectly itself.
The origin of the word had the literal meaning of having been purified
five (“quint-“) times.
• In his melancholy, Hamlet described mankind as being the “quintessence of
dust.”
• Andrea and Catherine are good examples of the quintessential student—
one who is always curious, always looking to add knowledge onto what he or
she already knows.
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S
ycophants are people who hope to gain advantages for themselves
for flattering people with power or influence. You can probably
think of a rich array of slang terms for this type of person—this
word guide doesn’t stoop to vulgarities—but formal English offers
attractive supplements.
1. smarmy This adjective describes a person who smears phony charm all
over the person he or she hopes to flatter.
• Dr. Idzal, faculty advisor for the yearbook, sees right through smarmy
students who think insincere compliments are the road to the position of
editor-in-chief.
• The musical My Fair Lady describes a character this way: “oozing charm
from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor”—it doesn’t get any
smarmier than that.
2. servile This adjective describes the behavior of someone willing to act like
someone’s slave in hopes of getting a payoff later.
• As Alphonse works his way up the corporate ladder, he tries to keep his
dignity intact, but even he has servile moments of getting coffee or running
small errands for his supervisor.
• Whenever the director of his lab starts to tell a joke, Nat servilely laughs
long before the punch line.
3. obsequious (ob SEE qwee us) Among the many words to describe falsely
humble behavior, this adjective offers the most syllables. Its root word is
the Latin verb “to follow,” and the obsequious follow with a vengeance.
• Obsequious people get the reward they aim for only if their acting is superb
or if the object of their attention is imperceptive or vain enough to believe
them.
• For lovers of the novels of Charles Dickens, the character Uriah Heep, who
talks nonstop about how “’umble he is,” has become almost synonymous
with obsequiousness.
Sycophants Galore
39
Words for Flatterers
Chapter
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Sycophants Galore 145
4. blandishment This noun is used for flattering language subtly designed to
coax the hearer into complying with the hopes of the speaker. Not
surprisingly, it comes from the Latin word meaning “to flatter.”
• Peter told his boss that her introduction to the annual report reminded him
of the style of the Gettysburg Address; will Ms. White fall for blandish-
ments like this?
• Prof. Ray enjoys students’ notes of a complimentary nature when they arrive
after grades have been given; otherwise, he fears they may be mere blandish-
ments.
5. minion This noun is always used contemptuously to describe a “yes-man,”
a person who unquestioningly serves another. (The cut of meat, filet
mignon, preserves the original French spelling and the more positive
meaning of “dainty” or “darling.”)
• Mr. Blunderbuss never personally fires anyone; one of his minions always
does it for him.
• The head of the division never sat at a meeting without his minions
flanking him as courtiers of a Renaissance king might do.
6. henchman Originally bearing a neutral sense of a trusted follower, this
noun has increasingly come to have a negative sense like that of minion
(#5), suggesting sycophancy.
• The king and his henchmen traveled by horseback through the north of
Scotland, looking to shore up support among the nobility there against a
threatened invasion.
• While no proof is yet available, the press strongly suspects that the leader of
the oil lobby is a henchman of Sen. Phogbound, who receives enormous
support from owners of oil wells.
7. fulsome This adjective, meaning “offensively insincere”, had a happier past
of meaning simply “abundant.” If you use it in that latter way today, you’ll
be seriously misunderstood and seen as absolutely oleaginous (slimily flat-
tering).
• After Mr. Brown made a false step with his boss, he wrote an apology that
was so fulsome that it offended more than the original error.
• Ms. Milnor’s fulsome request that we give a standing ovation to the speaker
wiped out any possibility of a spontaneous show of appreciation.
8. wheedle This verb describes a process of flattery or guile to achieve a
desired end. Sycophants are good at wheedling.
• With minimal skills and a genius at wheedling, Nanette turned a temporary
part-time job into a permanent high-paying position.
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146 Fiske WordPower
• His big smile and his double-talk rhetoric allowed the unscrupulous salesman
to wheedle the couple out of their savings.
9. fawn This innocent word for a baby deer has an accidental double in a
verb referring to the display of affection designed as a tradeoff for favor.
• Abigail fawns shamelessly on her dissertation advisor, hoping for extra-
special letters of recommendation from her.
• What a fawner Jed is! He practically slavers when his boss joins him at the
cafeteria table.
10. toady This noun is no accidental twin of the amphibian creature the
toad. A toady is an obvious flatterer, the term for which comes from the
graphic noun “toadeater,” occasional heard today.
• The original toadeaters literally ate or seemed to eat poisonous toads in
sideshows, a move designed to allow the audience to see that their partner
could expel the creature from their system.
• Tim was initially disappointed when his company transferred him to a small
town, but he solaced himself with the thought of no longer working with a
bunch of toadies.
Quick Quiz #13
Chapters 37-39
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ slavish
2. ______ to flatter
3. ______ in between
4. ______ wretched
5. ______ highest point
6. ______ loud speech
7. ______ overly dramatic
8. ______ offensively insincere
9. ______ sychophant
10. ______ lowest point
11. ______ to decorate
12. ______ funeral speech
13. ______ gross sentimentality
14. ______ pompous speech
15. ______ pretentious speech
A. abject
B. apogee
C. bathos
D. bombast
E. embellish
F. eulogy
G. fulsome
H. grandiloquence
I. henchman
J. histrionic
K. liminal
L. nadir
M. servile
N. stentorian
O. wheedle
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Down with Everybody
40
Words for Name-Calling
Chapter
H
ere’s a category that will bring name-calling to new heights (or
depths). Below is a list of mostly gender-specific insults that have
been passed down through the centuries. Political correctness
has eliminated many of them from our current vocabulary, but you’re sure
to come across them in much of the literature you read.
1. hag This word is actually an abbreviation of
haegtesse
, an Old English word
that means “witch” or “hag.” The noun is reserved solely for women and,
although it once meant “soothsayer” or “oracle,” it has since retained only the
negative meaning of “witch” or “frightful, ugly old woman.”
• In many fairy tales, a nobleman’s reward for helping an old hag is to see her
transformed into a beautiful, young maiden, ready to offer her hand in
marriage.
• With a cackle, the hag mounted her broomstick, donned her pointed, black
hat, scratched her wart-covered nose, and flew off into the night sky.
2. misogynist (miss OJ in ist) Dating back to the early seventeenth century,
this noun means “woman-hater.”
• People always suspected that Otto would inherit his father’s hatred of women
and, by the time the boy turned twenty, there was no question that he was a
full-blown misogynist.
• It did seem ironic that Gabriel, who had chosen to work at a women’s rights
center, should be such an incorrigible misogynist.
3. shrew (shroo) Although this noun applied to both men and women as far
back as the thirteenth century and meant “spiteful person,” it has since
come to mean “a peevish, spiteful, nagging woman.” The word comes from
the Old English for a “shrew mouse,” which was once believed to have a
venomous bite.
• Before her marriage to the gallant prince made her an altogether happier
woman, Gwendolyn had been a mean-spirited, pestering shrew.
• In Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, the character of Katherina, dubbed a
“shrew” for her stubborn and critical nature, is eventually tamed by the suitor
Petruchio, who transforms her into a tender wife.
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4. chauvinist (SHOW vin ist) This noun has two meanings. First, it describes
anyone who is fanatically patriotic. It also means someone with a prejudiced
belief in the superiority of his or her own gender or group, and it is mostly
commonly applied to males.
• Because Arthur was wary of being labeled a chauvinist and ruining his
political career, he tried to hide his belief that men were more intelligent and
more competent than women.
• The fact that Aidan continued to sing the praises of his country even after it
became apparent that its government was committing terrible atrocities
abroad made people realize that he was not only a patriot but a chauvinist.
5. misanthrope (MISS an THROPE) Here’s one of the few nouns on the list
that’s not gender-specific. Anyone can be a misanthrope since it means
“one who hates or mistrusts humankind.”
• Julian had turned into such a misanthrope that he could not stand to speak
to people, let alone see them, and so he spent most of his days locked up in
his room.
• Only a misanthrope would believe that no one would be willing to donate
money to the tsunami relief fund.
6. crone (rhymes with MOAN) We’re back to misogyny (see #2) with this
noun. It means a “cantankerous, old, withered woman” and comes from
the Old French word for “carrion,” or dead and decaying flesh.
• Years of hard labor and misery had transformed Roberta from a buxom,
sprightly lass to a wretched, hunchbacked crone.
• In the myth of the golden fleece, Jason helps a crone to cross a flooded river,
only to discover that the withered old woman is none other than the Greek
goddess Hera in disguise.
7. misandrist (miss AND rist) Here’s the other side of the coin from misogy-
nist—in short, a man-hater.
• When Lisa and Margot started the misandrists’ club at college, they chose as
the club’s symbol a picture of a man’s face with a red “X” superimposed over it.
• Patty had been abandoned by three husbands and was cruelly treated by her
father; it was no surprise that she was such a misandrist.
8. harridan (HARR ih den) Here’s another anti-woman noun that dates back at
least as far as 1700. It means a “vicious, scolding old woman” and may
come from the Old French word for “old horse” or “nag.”
• After years of being hounded, scolded, and maligned by his harridan of a
wife, Mr. Snogworth snapped and had to be committed to the local
psychiatric institution.
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Down with Everybody 149
• As Malcolm lay in his bed, he could hear the landlady trudging up the steps,
ready to reveal her true harridan nature by demanding the rent, complain-
ing about his playing loud music, and chastising him (see the “Don’t Yell at
Me” chapter) for smoking cigarettes in the apartment.
9. fishwife This noun can mean literally “a woman who sells fish,” but it
more generally means “a course, abusive, nagging woman.”
• “Go tell that fishwife of a mother to stop hounding us about how we raise
our children,” exclaimed Howard, tired of listening to his mother-in-law’s
unsolicited advice.
• George heard Martha’s gruff voice calling for him through the open window
and wondered why he ever married such a fishwife; she was always nagging
him to do chores when he was trying to relax.
10. philanderer (fil AND der er) This noun describes a male flirt, that is, a
man who carries on many love affairs with women that he does not take
seriously. Most philanderers engage in extramarital affairs with women
they have no intention of marrying. The word actually comes from the
Greek for “lover of men.” The adjective form is “philandering.”
• All of Hortense’s friends knew that her husband was a philanderer but no
one could talk her into divorcing him; she loved him, no matter how many
times he was unfaithful to her.
• When Nancy threatened to leave him, Marco promised to stop his philan-
dering ways and remain faithful to her; he was ashamed of his uncontrollable
habit of flirting.
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O
h what a tangled web we weave, when once we practice to
deceive!” said Sir Walter Scott in a tale he wrote two hundred
years ago. Here is a list of words that might be used to describe
the various types of duplicity (a good noun that means “deception”) that
weave those tangled webs.
1. ruse (ROOSE or ROOZE) From the Middle English word for “detour,” this
noun means “a crafty scheme,” “a sneaky plan.”
• Unable to pay his rent, Herman came up with several ruses to avoid bumping
into his landlord, including climbing out of the window and using a ladder to
leave his apartment building every morning.
• So that her husband wouldn’t know she was planning a surprise party for him
that evening, Jessica came up with a clever ruse to get him to the restaurant.
She told him they were going to a party for his best friend.
2. guile (rhymes with STYLE) This noun means “skillful cunning” or “deceit”
and comes from the Old English word for “sorcery.” “To beguile,” a related
verb, comes a bit closer to the word’s original roots; though it also means
“to deceive,” it often suggests a kind of cunning that is more charming than
treacherous. People have guile or beguile, not plans or objects.
• The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “The most
dangerous physicians are those born actors who imitate born physicians with
a perfectly deceptive guile.”
• Caught taking an extra cupcake off the food line in the cafeteria, Rasheen
beguiled the server with a bright smile and a shrug and said, “It’s for my
friend who forgot to take one when she picked up her lunch.”
3. clandestine (clan DES tin) Probably formed from the Latin for “internal
secret,” this adjective is used to describe something done secretly in order
to conceal a private plan or an improper purpose. People aren’t clandestine;
actions are.
• In a clandestine meeting that took place in his London war rooms, Winston
Churchill met with his cabinet to discuss the impending deployment of
British troops.
Oh What a Tangled
Web
41
Words for Trickery and Deception
Chapter
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Oh What a Tangled Web 151
• Knowing their parents would forbid their union, Romeo and Juliet arranged a
clandestine marriage by Friar Lawrence, who saw in their love the possibility
of ending the age-old feud between the Capulets and the Montagues.
4. surreptitious (SUR rep TISH us) This adjective means clandestine or
stealthy, in short—sneaky. Just like “clandestine,” it is more often used to
describe the actions people do, not the character of the people who do
them. The noun form is “surreptitiousness,” but it’s never used.
• The pickpocket sidled up to the commuter on the packed subway car and
surreptitiously removed the wallet from the man’s back pocket.
• Sylvester the Cat, known for his surreptitious gait, tiptoed up to Tweety
Bird’s cage, carefully opened the gate, and swiped the little yellow bird into
his paw. “I tought I saw a puddy cat,” Tweety Bird cried, as he slipped free of
Sylvester’s claws.
5. innuendo (in you END o) This noun may or may not qualify as “deception.”
From the Latin for “hint” or “give a nod to,” it means “a subtle or indirect
expression” or “an insinuation.” If it’s true, of course, it doesn’t qualify as
deception, but all too often it suggests the kind of half-truth that leads to
rumor or gossip. In fact, in a legal sense, it means “allegedly libelous or
slanderous material.”
• “This article is full of rumor and innuendo,” shouted Brad Pitt. “I was not
married in a secret ceremony in Las Vegas; nor am I the playboy it makes me
out to be.”
• The defense attorney in the murder trial attacked the prosecution’s case as
relying on innuendo as opposed to fact.
6. subterfuge (SUB ter fuje) The Latin root of this noun means “to escape
secretly,” but the word, like ruse, has come to mean “any secret plan or
strategy.”
• “Telling me you had to work late last night was pure subterfuge,” Alyssa
shouted at her husband. “I know you were out playing cards with the boys
instead of having dinner with my mother.”
• Through careful subterfuge, including dipping his thermometer into a cup
of hot tea when his mother wasn’t looking, Harvey managed to convince his
parents that he was far too sick to go to school.
7. finagle (fin AY gle) This verb isn’t quite slang, but it’s a more informal way
of saying “to take by dishonest means” or“to swindle.” It’s sometimes used
to suggest actions that are a bit more manipulative and a bit less deceitful
than out-and-out cheating.
• Babs managed to finagle a day off from work by saying that she had to visit
a sick relative in the hospital.
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• In a crooked real estate scheme claiming to offer cheap condominiums in
South Florida, the two crooks managed to finagle millions out of their
clients.
8. furtive (FUR tive) This adjective means “sneaky” or “shifty” and comes
from the Latin word for “thief.” It can describe a person or, more often, the
way a person acts.
• In a furtive effort to get closer to Cindy, Max shifted in his seat and
casually threw his arm around the back of her chair.
• Afraid that she would fail the history test, Olivia glanced furtively at her
neighbor’s paper and was immediately caught by the teacher and accused of
cheating.
9. bamboozle (bam BOOZE al) The origins of this odd-sounding verb are
unknown. Like “finagle,” it is an informal way of saying “to swindle” or “to
deceive.” It has the same almost playful feeling as “to hoodwink.”
• In Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, the King and the Duke attempt to
bamboozle some townspeople by pretending to be great Shakespearean
actors and charging money for their performance.
• Luke bamboozled Chip out of his vintage Mickey Mantle baseball card by
trading him a reproduction of a Babe Ruth card and telling him it was an
original.
10. temporize (TEMP er ize) From the Latin for “to pass one’s time,” this verb
has a slightly more sinister quality. It means “to act evasively in order
to gain time or to avoid an argument.”
• The congressman temporized during a discussion of stem cell research at a
White House conference in order to delay the vote and create more time for
his committee members to lobby opponents of the upcoming bill.
• In an effort to help their accomplice steal some chips from the corner deli,
the two hoodlums temporized with the man at the cash register, distracting
him with stories about the old neighborhood.
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The Words of War
42
Martial Language
Chapter
I
magine a world where all these words could be used only as
metaphors or in reference to history.
1. martial (MAR shul) Mars, the Roman god of war, left his mark on this
adjective. Unsurprisingly, it means “related to or characteristic of war or
warriors.”
• Martial arts are not part of war, but they do infuse a warrior-like state of
discipline on those who practice them.
• The martial blare of trumpets led off the triumphal procession that featured
exotic animals from the conquered land and chariots full of the golden spoils
of war.
2. carnage (KAR nej) This noun refers to the slaughter inevitable in any war.
The root word is the Latin for “flesh.”
• Although Homer’s Iliad glorifies the victorious warrior, it does not spare the
reader the sense of the terrible carnage of the Trojan War.
• After the birthday party for ten four-year-olds, the family room looked more
like a scene of carnage than one of celebration.
3. subjugate (SUB ju gate) This verb expresses the action of conquering,
enslaving. The Latin root word comes from the yoke that subdues animals.
• Although the French subjugated the inhabitants of England in the eleventh
century, the French language melded with the English language rather than
replacing it
• Toni looked longingly at the German chocolate cupcakes in the bakery but
subjugated her hunger by thinking of the form-fitting prom dress she had
just purchased.
4. internecine (inter NES en or inter NEES en) This adjective has come to
mean intra-group struggle or destruction. (Should you see it in literature
earlier than the late eighteenth century, it will lack that “internal” sense. A
famous seventeenth-century poem uses “intestinal” to describe civil war.)
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• The War between the States is one of the bloodiest examples of internecine
conflict in military records.
• My very literate mother yelled down to my brother and me that we should
stop our internecine squabbling.
5. besiege (be SEEGE) An army besieging a town surrounds it with armed
force and waits. The verb can also be used figuratively for any mental or
emotional pressure.
• When Ms. O’Brien announced that she could assist students in finding high-
paying summer jobs, she was besieged with requests for help.
• When the Turks besieged the city of Vienna in 1683, the results went
beyond the military: this was the occasion for the introduction of coffee to
the European world, or so some experts believe.
6. mercenary (MER sin erry) As a noun, this word refers to a professional sol-
dier, one who fights for pay for any country. As an adjective, it describes
any “just for money” motive.
• Thousands of Hessian soldiers from north Germany were sold to England to
fight as mercenaries against the rebellious colonists in America.
• When Rosa asked Raoul how much his summer internship paid, he snapped,
“Don’t be so mercenary. I’m doing it for the experience.”
7. plunder (PLUN der) This verb refers to the seizing of property during war or
some similar act of force. It comes from the German word meaning
“household goods.” The word is often associated with the words “pillage”
and “sack,” both of which describe the forceful taking of property.
• Many towns and villages were plundered during the Thirty Years War when
soldiers could be seen carrying out everything from knickknacks to bed linen
while distraught owners wailed.
• The evangelist encouraged his followers to “plunder hell” by depriving
Satan of possible inhabitants.
8. ballistic (buh LIST ik) This word’s formal meaning refers to the dynamics of
projectiles; the ancestry goes back to the Greek word “to throw”—think
“throw a
ball
.” This word is best known today in its slang meaning of really
really angry—angry enough to
throw
something.
• The ancient Romans had a machine of war called a ballista; its job was to hurl
heavy projectiles, just as modern ballistic weapons do.
• My physics teacher nearly went ballistic when I told him I didn’t have my
project done on time.
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The Words of War 155
9. hegemony (huh JEM uh nee) Many wars are fought over power, what state
will have hegemony over another. This noun, which became very trendy in
the late twentieth century, means just that: predominant influence of one
nation over another. The origin is the Greek word for “leader.”
• The movie Dr. Strangelove satirically displays the leaders of the United States
and Russia having to choose between hegemony and survival.
• Athenian hegemony first emerged in the aftermath of the wars with Persia.
10. ordnance (ORD nunce) This noun refers to items as dissimilar as
weapons, ammunition, vehicles—whatever is needed to keep the military
going. Do not confuse it with ordinance; this word sounds similar but has
the entirely different meaning of a city regulation.
• During World War II, Dennis, whose health barred him from serving in the
military, left his sales position for a job at the ordnance factory; he wanted
to feel part of the war effort.
• City ordinance #1415, forbidding the possession of “exotic animals,”
required that Sebastian divest himself of his cheetah if he wished to continue
living in Pleasantville.
Quick Quiz #14
Chapters 40-42
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ dominant influence
2. ______ to forcefully seize
3. ______ woman-hater
4. ______ frightful woman
5. ______ fanatically patriotic
6. ______ man-hater
7. ______ crafty scheme
8. ______ secretive
9. ______ indirect expression
10. ______ to swindle
11. ______ to act evasively
12. ______ related to war
13. ______ slaughter
14. ______ to enslave
15. ______ professional soldier
16. ______ ammunition
A. carnage
B. chauvinist
C. clandestine
D. finagle
E. hag
F. hegemony
G. innuendo
H. martial
I. mercenary
J. misandrist
K. misogynist
L. ordnance
M. plunder
N. ruse
O. subjugate
P. temporize
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D
o we get lazy when we’re bored? Or bored when we’re lazy? Or
both simultaneously? At any rate here are some words to
pinpoint those states of mind and body.
1. ennui (ahn WE) This noun is the French import for referring to boredom,
listlessness. If you’re bored, you can at least give a Gallic shrug to express
your state.
• Jean Paul had planned to drop by Les Deux Magots in the afternoon for an
apertif, but once ennui set in, he merely sat quietly in his room listening to
Edith Piaf songs.
• The gray sky and cold wind fed into Annette’s sense of ennui, and warm
gloves and umbrella she had planned to purchase that afternoon remained on
the shelves of the store.
2. enervated (EN er vat ed) This adjective (from the verb “
enervate
”)
describes a sense of weakened vitality, a loss of energy, letting you feel as
if some vital nerve had been removed.
• After the soccer team lost to their archrival, Jason, the team captain, felt
enervated, not so much from physical exhaustion as from emotional
depletion.
• Many Roman leaders believed that an excess of luxury had enervated
civilizations such as Egypt and that too much contact with these nations
could enervate Rome itself.
3. jaded (JAY ded) This condition of world-weariness may come from
overfamiliarity or overindulgence in something originally pleasant. The
word has nothing to do with the gemstone “jade” but derives from an old
word for a broken-down or useless horse.
• Having a world-famous chef for a grandfather had given little Morgan a
prematurely jaded attitude toward food. At ten he was heard to utter, “Fish
quenelles? Again?”
• Those who are overly self-indulgent pay the price of becoming jaded, unable
to enjoy exotic travel or fancy clothing, pleasures that would delight most
people.
Bored and Lazy
43
Language for Low Energy
Chapter
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Bored and Lazy 157
4. lassitude (LASS ih tude) Another noun for emotional fatigue or a dreamy,
lazy mood, “lassitude” comes from the Latin word for “weary.”
• As the whispered phrase “Nichols is coming” went from cubicle to cubicle,
workers interrupted their state of lassitude to assume the time-honored
posture of looking busy when the boss approached.
• Jess had studied so hard for her exams that the end of exam week found her
in a state of complete lassitude, barely able to do more than reach toward
her bedside table for her mug of cocoa.
5. otiose (O te ose) This adjective may describe a condition of idleness or lazi-
ness or a person or thing that is ineffective. The word derives from the
Latin word for “leisure.”
• Linda has not religious motivation for observing a day of rest, but she feels a
spate of being otiose benefits both body and soul.
• Do those marks over the letters of that brand of ice cream mean anything, or
are they merely otiose eye-catchers?
6. pall (rhymes with wall) This verb describes the fact of a phenomenon’s
becoming boring or wearying. (It is a verbal cousin to appall, to be filled
with shock or dismay.)
• Simon liked the first act of the new play, but as the villain grew more and
more wicked, it began to pall on him.
• There is a satisfaction in making your living environment neater, but those
who are not true neatniks find the pleasure of organizing the closet palls
after half an hour.
7. banal (buh NAL or buh NAHL or even BAY nul) This adjective describes the
predictably trite, the ordinary.
• E. B. White could take the most banal of thoughts (such as “big cities can be
lonely”) and turn them into fascinating essays.
• Hannah Arendt’s concept of the “banality of evil” has received a lot of
attention in the last half century.
8. somnolent (SOM no lent) This adjective is a fancy way of saying “sleepy.”
(Memory trick: think of “insomnia,” not getting any sleep.)
• Patrick wanted nothing more than to spend a somnolent afternoon in the
hammock, possibly working up to reading a newspaper headline or two.
• Although Rita likes the idea of books on tape, the narrator’s voice often has
a somnolent effect on her, possibly a holdover from years of bedtime stories.
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9. phlegmatic (fleg MAT ik) Here is an adjective describing a person who is
slow to act, slow to get angry—more or less the far extreme from
temperamental. While it can have the positive sense of “calm,” today it
more often has a negative feel, possibly as suggested by the feel of a throat
full of phlegm. (Word historians may enjoy knowing the long pedigree of
this concept: as early as 400 BCE it was regarded as one of four basic
“humors” or temperaments.)
• Sarah likes to stir up an occasional feeling of jealousy in her boyfriends, but
Ned’s phlegmatic nature has conferred immunity on him thus far.
• The stereotype of a certified public accountant as somewhat phlegmatic
certainly does not apply to Mel: he may crunch numbers all day but on the
weekend he skydives and bungee jumps.
10. torpid (TOR pid) If you’re torpid, you have no energy. If you’re a certain
kind of animal, you might be hibernating, but if you’re a plain old
human being, you’ve let yourself get bored stiff. And that’s what the
Latin root means.
• “So far as I know,” said Jack, school expert on music of the last twenty-five
years, “the only song with ‘torpor’ in the lyrics is ‘Like the Weather’ by
10,000 Maniacs.”
• Sean had promised his parents he’d clean out the garage on Saturday after-
noon, but the sight of piled up, rusting yard equipment and stacks of old
Saturday Evening Posts put him into a torpid frame of mind, and he took a
nap instead.
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See What I Mean?
44
Describing Ways of Seeing
Chapter
I
f you’re looking for the right word to describe how you perceive
things, peruse (a verb that means “to examine with great care”) or at
least have a glance at the list here and see what you think.
1. scrutiny (SKRU tin ee) From the Middle English for “to take a formal vote,”
this noun means “careful examination or study” or “close observation.” On
the other hand, something that is “inscrutable,” is “difficult to understand”
or “impenetrable. The verb form is “to scrutinize.”
• The orthopedist scrutinized Carol’s X-rays in search of a cause for her
excruciating shoulder pain, but she could find nothing out of the ordinary in
the images.
• After careful scrutiny of the crime scene, the detective determined that the
burglar must have entered through the kitchen door with a key since there
were no signs of forced entry.
2. scan (rhymes with pan) Oddly enough, this verb has two opposing mean-
ings. After much debate by word scholars, it was decided that it is acceptable
to use it to mean “to examine closely” or “to look over or leaf through
hastily.” It is also used by English and Classics students to mean “to analyze
verse into metrical patterns.” It comes from the Latin word for “to climb,”
because one could beat the rhythm of a poem by tapping one’s foot.
• Max scanned the school newspaper to see if there was an article on last week’s
soccer game since he scored the winning goal; sadly the sports section covered
only the girls’ swim team and the recent junior varsity lacrosse games.
• Scanning the first book of The Aeneid takes up the first month of Mr. Tobin’s
AP Latin class because the students have difficulty determining the poem’s
meter after a summer without practicing Latin.
3. discern (DIS sern) From the Latin word for “to separate,” this verb connotes
a particular kind of seeing. When you “discern” something, you distinguish
it from something else. You perceive it to be different or distinct. The noun,
“discernment,” means “having good judgment or keen insight.”
• “Your new toupee looks terrific,” Alice told her husband Morris. “I can’t
discern any difference between the hairpiece and the fringe of natural red
hair around your ears.”
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• Known for her discerning taste in French haute couture, Coco was hired as a
consultant for the photo shoot for the May issue of Vogue magazine.
4. monitor (MON it or) This word has many meanings as a noun, including
the screen on which you watch television or view the contents of your
computer. In this context, however, it’s a verb which means “to supervise”
or “keep a close watch over.” It comes from the Latin for “to warn.”
• After his heart attack, the doctor told Paul to carefully monitor his diet,
avoiding all foods that are high in sodium or cholesterol.
• As the new security guard for 124 Park Avenue, John’s job is to monitor
whoever comes into the building and stop any strangers from entering the
elevator without a guest pass.
5. descry (dih SCRY) This verb comes to us from the French word for “to call
out.” It means “to catch sight of something that is difficult to see” or “to
discover something by very careful scrutiny” (see #1). It should not be
confused with “decry,” which comes from the same French root but means
“to openly condemn.”
• In the dusky distance, Marlowe descried a ship heading out towards the
horizon, its sails golden in the sunset.
• After carefully examining the hieroglyphics in the cave, Indiana Jones
descried directions that would lead directly to the secret vault containing the
treasures of the lost ark.
6. gander (GAN der) Aside from being “a male goose,” this noun is an informal
way of saying “a look or glance.”
• On the first day of school, Hal nudged the boy sitting next to him in home-
room and said, “Get a gander at the new girl in the front row. She’s hot.”
• All of the telephone operators at the telemarketing company were required
to eat lunch under the gander of the supervisor so as to guarantee they
would not take more than the allotted thirty-minute break.
7. askance (ah SKANS) The origin of this adverb is unknown, but it describes the
way a person looks at something. It means “with disapproval or suspicion” or
“sideways” (which suggests that it might come from the Italian for “slanting-
ly” or “obliquely”).
• There is a fairly well-known, ribald (see the “Not-Quite-Naughty Words”
chapter) limerick that begins: “There was a young fellow called Lancelot,
Whom his neighbors all looked on askance a lot.”
• Stephanie’s elite summer camp was so snobby that the girls looked askance
at anyone who was not wearing the right designer jeans or the latest style in
sneakers.
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See What I Mean? 161
8. ogle (OH gle) This verb comes to us from the German word for “eye.” It
means “to stare at,” usually in a rude or flirtatious way.
• In a famous photograph by Ruth Orkin, a beautiful Italian woman walks
down a narrow city street while men ogle her from the sidewalk, from a
parked motorbike, and from a neighboring café.
• When Chet is the lifeguard on duty at the town pool, all of the girls sit on
their beach towels and ogle his perfect tan and huge arm muscles.
9. espy (es SPY) Like descry, this verb that means “to glimpse something
partially hidden.” It comes to us from the French, using the same root as
the word “espionage,” which means “spying in order to obtain secret infor-
mation.”
• In the gloaming (see “Darkness, My Old Friend” chapter), Captain Ahab
espied the tail of a white whale breaking the water in the distance and
headed further out to sea.
• The game of hide-and-seek was over when Julie espied the purple sleeve of
Penny’s party dress peeking out from behind the pale yellow curtains in the
living room.
10. myopic (my OPP ik) From the Greek word for “nearsighted,” this adjective
can be used both literally and figuratively. Someone who needs glasses
because they can not see clearly at a distance is “myopic,” but so is
someone who is “short-sighted” and “lacks long-range perspective.”
• Because she was so myopic, Ramona couldn’t see more than two feet in front
of her nose and had to wear thick lenses to correct her vision.
• “Don’t be so myopic,” advised the Millers’ stockbroker. “It’s foolish to put
all of your money in high-tech stocks because they are popular right now.
You’ve got to think about which industries will be successful in the years to
come.”
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I
n addition to technical terms for diseases or medicines, the English
language has plenty of useful, non-technical words. Many of these
can be used literally or figuratively.
1. placebo (pla-SEE-bo) A substance that contains no medicinal value but one
which the patient believes has such value. (In English it is a noun but
comes directly from the Latin verb form meaning “I shall please.”)
• The pharmaceutical company tested the new drug in a trial where half the
subjects received the medication and half received a look-alike placebo.
• Psychologists are interested in the so-called “placebo effect” wherein some
patients who falsely believe they are receiving a useful medication
demonstrate relief from their symptoms.
2. elixir (ee-LIX-er) A liquid potion or medicine falsely believed to cure any
ailment.
• In earlier centuries, dishonest traveling salesmen peddled elixirs that would
cure all ills—or so they promised before they quickly left town.
• Could love be the true elixir? The composer Donizetti wrote an opera based
on just such a premise
3. panacea (pan-a-SEE-a) Literally, a “cure-all,” a substance believed to be a
remedy for any disease or difficulty.
• How wonderful it would be if doctors could prescribe a panacea, regardless
of the patient’s symptoms.
• Worrying about an exam the night before it is, unfortunately, not a panacea
for neglecting to study throughout during the semester.
4. nostrum (NOS-trum) In past eras, an ineffective potion or pill sold by a
dishonest person; now, any possible remedy, not scientifically proven, for
a minor ailment or bodily condition.
• The old-timey “medicine man,” who often traveled with a carnival-like
show, offered glowing promises and an array of nostrums to an uneducated
audience.
In Sickness and Health
45
Health-Related Words
Chapter
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In Sickness and Health 163
• The shelves of today’s drugstores allow today’s overweight consumers to
select their favorite nostrum for possible help with losing weight.
5. salubrious (sal-OO-bree-us) Describing circumstances or conditions favor-
able to good health.
• Devon found that listening in class and taking notes had a salubrious effect
on his grade.
• The poet John Keats, ill with tuberculosis, left the foggy weather of London
for the more salubrious climate of Rome.
6. prognosis (prog-NO-sis) A prediction concerning the course of a disease,
particularly of the possibilities for recovery. (Compare with “diagnosis”;
both contain the root of the Greek word for “knowing.”)
• Although Jeremy continued to have symptoms of his illness, he took comfort
in the fact that the prognosis for his recovery was excellent.
• The second “talking head” on the Sunday morning television shows
disagreed sharply with the speaker before him concerning a prognosis for
society’s ills.
7. malinger (ma-LING-er) To pretend to be ill in order to get out of unpleasant
work.
• Students who habitually malinger do not win the sympathy of harder-
working classmates.
• Some films about World War II depict sergeants in the U.S. army as being
particularly skillful in distinguishing the truly ill from those who were
malingering.
8. benign (be-NINE) Used in a general sense to mean kind or friendly, this
word has the specific medical sense of meaning not dangerous to health.
• Mr. Reynolds was understandably relieved when his doctor told him the
tumor on his lungs was benign.
• The benign face and helpful words of her counselor raised Gina’s spirits on
an unhappy day in her life.
9. noxious (nock-shus) and innocuous (in NOCK u-us) Describing, respective-
ly, that which does harm and that which does no harm.
• Federal inspections work to keep noxious chemicals out of our food supply.
• Physicians must adhere to the first principle of the ancient Hippocratic oath,
“First, do no harm.” Their treatment, ideally, will be helpful, but it must be
innocuous.
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10. dyspeptic (dis PEP-tic) Literally, descriptive of a person suffering from
indigestion but often used more generally for a person who is grouchy
or ill-tempered.
• Selina’s doctor recommended that she see a specialist for her recurring bouts
of dyspeptic distress.
• Sharing a workspace with the perpetually dyspeptic Oscar did not increase
Elmo’s pleasure in his summer job.
Quick Quiz #15
Chapters 43-45
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ boredom
2. ______ weak
3. ______ world-weary
4. ______ trite
5. ______ sleepy
6. ______ to stare at
7. ______ careful examination
8. ______ short-sighted
9. ______ to feign illness
10. ______ cure-all
11. ______ harmless
12. ______ poisonous
13. ______ healthful
14. ______ suffering indigestion
15. ______ quack remedy
16. ______ to catch sight of
A. banal
B. benign
C. descry
D. dyspeptic
E. enervated
F. ennui
G. jaded
H. malinger
I. myopic
J. nostrum
K. noxious
L. ogle
M. panacea
N. salubrious
O. scrutiny
P. somnolent
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In Sickness and Health 165
Usage Test #5
Chapters 37-45
Directions: select a word from the list below that best fits the
blank in one of the sentences and place the letter in the blank.
1. Obsessed with baseball, Josh like to ____ about the strengths and
weaknesses of the various players.
2. At the funeral, Mark delivered a moving ____ about his mother’s
generosity and compassion.
3. Penny stamped her feet and pounded her fists in a ____ display of
disappointment at not winning the science award.
4. Marlowe did not ____ his story with unnecessary details or exaggera-
tions.
5. Many think the Nobel Prize for Literature signifies the _____ of an
author’s career.
6. Thousands live in _____ poverty in the crowded slums of Rio de
Janeiro.
7. The ____ servant bowed deeply before the king each time he entered
or left the room.
8. James was such a ____ that he was the only man on campus to ban
women from his eating club.
9. Dressed in rags, the ____ pointed a bony finger at the children and
demanded that they help her across the street.
10. Everyone knew that Esther’s husband was a ____ who was never
faithful to her.
11. Using all the ____ she could summon, Phoebe convinced her princi-
pal that she hadn’t plagiarized her essay even though she had copied
portions from the encyclopedia.
A. abject
B. banal
C. carnage
D. clandestine
E. crone
F. descry
G. embellish
H. ennui
I. eulogy
J. guile
K. histrionic
L. lassitude
M. misogynist
N. obsequious
O. ogle
P. philanderer
Q. pinnacle
R. pontificate
S. ruse
T. scrutiny
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166 Fiske WordPower
12. In a ____ meeting on the outskirts of town, the two men made plans
for their impending bank robbery.
13. Although her son Billy hated baths, Margaret devised a clever ____
that lured him into the tub.
14. The photographer’s images of the ____ on the battlefield were a
powerful antiwar statement.
15. The construction workers like to take their lunch hour right on the
street so they can ____ the women who pass by.
16. It was almost impossible to ____ the lights of the village in the thick
fog.
17. Since all of her friends were away for the summer, Allison spent her
nights at home suffering loneliness and ____.
18. The chaplain’s talk was so ____ that most of the students fell asleep
during the morning assembly.
19. Overcome by ____, Steve spent most of his winter vacation at home
watching DVD’s.
20. Topher’s careful ____ of the morning newspaper revealed no mention
of his team’s victory on the soccer field.
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Mad as a Hatter
46
Words for Mental Troubles
Chapter
M
ost of you probably remember the Mad Hatter, the partner of
the March Hare at the Mad Tea Party in Lewis Carroll’s 1865
classic, Alice in Wonderland. But did you know that the phrase
“mad as a hatter” was in common usage in England as far back as 1837? In
fact, hatters really did go mad. Prolonged exposure to the chemicals used to
cure the felt needed for hat-making caused a host of symptoms, including
twitching limbs, confused speech, distorted vision, and hallucinations. We
are all familiar with slang expressions for some form of insanity such as
“nutty” or “loony” or “cuckoo,” but real madness is no laughing matter.
Below is a list of words you might find a bit more expressive.
1. lunatic (LOON ah tik) This adjective comes from the Latin word for moon.
Because it was originally believed that the cycles of the moon could trigger
periods of intermittent insanity, the word means insane or wildly foolish.
The noun is “lunacy.” Oddly enough, the related word “loony,” which also
means crazy, may have a different root, coming from “loon,” a diving bird
noted for its wild cry.
• “Staying up all night to study right before an exam is sheer lunacy,” cried
Peter’s mother. “You’ll be too tired to think straight and you’ll surely fail the
test.”
• The naïve critic said that Jackson Pollock must have been a lunatic to think
that dripping paint on a canvas was a form of serious art.
2. irrational (ir RASH on al) This adjective means not rational or reasonable. It
may describe a person who is guided by other forces, such as instinct or
feeling, but it more often suggests an absence of mental clarity or madness
• Afraid of commitment and nervous about her impending marriage to
Melvin, Carla had an irrational desire to flee the country and join the Peace
Corps.
• “Fearing that everyone wants to harm you is irrational,” said the psychiatrist.
“You have done nothing to inspire such negative feelings in others.”
3. incoherent (in ko HERE ent) This adjective describes someone who is
unable to think or express his or her thoughts in a clear or orderly manner.
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168 Fiske WordPower
It comes from the Latin for “unable to stick together.” Someone who is
drunk or sleepy or confused may be incoherent but not insane, but the
word is often used to describe a symptom of madness.
• The homeless man walked down the street, gesticulating wildly and mumbling
to himself incoherently; the pedestrians avoided him, thinking he was insane.
• The label on the pain medication warns users not to operate heavy machin-
ery as it may cause drowsiness or incoherence.
4. deranged (dur RANJD) As a verb, this word means “to disturb the order of”
something or “to upset the normal condition” of it. Most often, however, it
is used as an adjective to mean “insane,” as in having one’s mental order
upset or disturbed.
• The deranged man ran through the streets of the city, crying for his mother
and threatening to harm anyone else who came near him.
• “Clarissa became quite deranged after her husband died,” explained the
doctor. “Her grief was so extreme that she could no longer take care of her
basic needs and had to be hospitalized.”
5. demented (duh MEN ted) Here’s an adjective that means loss of intellectual
faculties such as memory, concentration, or judgment. People suffering
from dementia (the noun form) have a kind of madness that comes from an
organic disease of the brain.
• Mrs. Wilson’s dementia had progressed to the point where she needed a
full-time companion who would make sure she didn’t wander out of the
house in her pajamas.
• In his demented state, Harry Lyme could not remember the name of his
wife or the address of their home.
6. neurotic (nur OT ik) Although a century ago, this adjective was considered
a scientific term for various emotional or mental disorders, such as
hypochondria, it is now only used informally to mean excessively anxious
or upset. A related word, which you might run across in a nineteenth-
century novel, is “neurasthenic,” which referred to nervous exhaustion
and breakdown. Both words share the prefix which means “having to do
with the nervous system.”
• Meg’s dog Georgia was a bit neurotic; every time Meg left the house,
Georgia would begin to howl and paw frantically at the door.
• Joel’s friends called him neurotic because he was always so anxious before
taking an exam, but Joel believed his anxiety helped him to study hard and
do well.
7. psychotic (sy KOT ik) This adjective suggests a much more severe madness
than neurotic. Someone who is psychotic has a severe mental disorder
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Mad as a Hatter 169
characterized by a loss of contact with reality and consequent inability to
function in social situations. The noun form is “psychosis.”
• The psychotic serial killer was captured by the police and found guilty of
murdering twelve women.
• I Never Promised you a Rose Garden tells the true story of a psychotic young
woman who suffered from multiple personality disorder.
8. berserk (ber SURK) This adjective, which means destructively deranged or
wildly unrestrained, comes from the Old Norse word
beserkr,
“a wild warrior
or champion.” These Norse warriors wore hides or shirts (
serkr
) of bears
(
bera
) and became frenzied in battle, howling like animals and foaming at the
mouth. Ironically this word only appeared in English in the nineteenth
century, long after these warriors were said to live. It is often used to describe
wild animals as well as mad people.
• When Suzanne discovered that her brother Ben had borrowed her iPod and
broken it, she went berserk, screaming loudly and threatening to break one
of his favorite toys.
• One of the elephants at the zoo went berserk; he broke out of his cage and
rampaged through the cafeteria, knocking over tables and chairs and fright-
ening the visitors.
9. delusional (deh LOOJ en al) Originally, a psychiatric term, this adjective
means having a false belief in something despite strong evidence to the
contrary. Like the psychotic, the delusional person has lost touch with
reality.
• The delusional Adolf Hitler believed he could successfully invade Russia;
ultimately he was forced to abandon his plan.
• The delusional drug addict donned a cape and insisted that he was Count
Dracula.
10. amuck (a MUK) Also spelled amok, this adverb comes from the Malay
and means doing something in a frenzied or uncontrolled state. It can
also be used as an adjective, though it rarely is.
• During the blackout, rioters ran amuck in the streets, looting shops, breaking
windows, and burning trash.
• The soldiers ran amuck in the village, killing women and children and
destroying civilian property.
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A
ll of the words below have to do with repetition—doing
something over again, sometimes once and sometimes many
times. We hope you don’t find the list too redundant (a nice
word for repetitive which comes from the Latin for “wave”).
1. rehash (REE hash) This verb means “to do something over again, often with
minor alterations.” It is usually used to describe the retelling of a story or
something that involves language.
• Despite rave reviews from the critics, Scott was very disappointed in the film,
calling it “a rehash of the novel without any of the sexy parts.”
• Karla couldn’t believe how badly her date with Jamal went; she rehashed the
evening with each of her friends, detailing Jamal’s flat tire, her lost wallet,
and their dreadful goodnight kiss.
2. alliteration (al LIT er AY shun) This noun is a literary term that refers to “the
repetition of the same sound, usually a consonant, at the beginning of
words in a phrase or sentence or in stressed syllables in a phrase.”
• A poem entitled Alliteration, or the Siege of Belgrade: A Rondeau is written
entirely in alliteration. The first three lines are: “An Austrian army, awfully
array’d,/Boldly by battery besiege Belgrade;/Cossack commanders
cannonading come,” and each successive line uses the next letter in the
alphabet alliteratively.
• Using alliteration in his poem “Exposure,” the World War I poet Wilfred
Owen writes: “Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous.”
3. recurrent (ree CUR ent) This adjective means “to occur repeatedly.” The
verb form is “to recur,” not “to reoccur.”
• Timothy had recurrent nightmares about his chemistry teacher; each night
he dreamed that Ms. Crossbones told him he failed his final exam and would
have to take chemistry again next year.
• The individual’s struggle for identity within the confines of old-fashioned
and often oppressive social conventions is a recurrent theme in the
American novel.
Play It Again, Sam
47
Repetition Words
Chapter
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Play It Again, Sam 171
4. doppelganger (DOP el GANG er) From the German for “double-goer,” this
noun means “a ghostly double of a living person,” usually one that stalks
or haunts its real-life counterpart.
• Joseph Conrad’s novella The Secret Sharer is about a sea captain who is haunted
by a doppelganger, a naked swimmer named Leggatt, who mysteriously comes
aboard his ship and shares all of the intimate details of his life.
• Clothilde was increasingly bothered by Holly, who became her doppelganger,
dressing like her, wearing her hair in the same style, and even taking a job in
the same advertising agency.
5. reprise (rih PREEZE) From the Old French for “to take back,” this noun
means a ”a return to an original theme.” It is used predominantly in music
to describe a repetition of a phrase but it can mean the repetition of any
action. It is also used as a verb.
• The thrilled audience gave a standing ovation to the orchestra of Kiss Me,
Kate and shouted for a reprise of “It’s Too Darn Hot” and “Wunderbar.”
• Mr. Kachtick’s Middle English recitation of the “Prologue” to The
Canterbury Tales was so popular that he reprised it each year for his Medieval
Literature elective.
6. recapitulate (ree cah PITCH you late) This verb means “to repeat in concise
form.” It’s slightly different from “rehash,” which can be an exact or even
longer recouning of the same event. The noun form is “recapitulation.”
• “Can you please recapitulate how you discovered that your house was
burglarized?” Detective Olsen said to Mrs. Butterworth. “Stick to the facts,
Ma’am, just the facts.”
• After a brief recapitulation of the novel’s plot, the women in the book club
began a serious discussion of its central themes and its relevance to
contemporary life.
7. tautology (taw TOL oh jee) Like “redundancy,” this noun means “a need-
less repetition of the same words or phrases.” It can also be used to
describe an empty statement composed of simple statements that make it
logically
true, whether the simple statements are
factually
true or not.
• “The general consensus of opinion” and “7 a.m. in the morning” are both
tautolgies; one only needs to say “the consensus” and “7 a.m.”
• “I am either in love with you or I’m crazy about you,” Harry said, offering a
meaningless tautology rather than an expression of his deepest feelings.
8. reprobate (REP row bate) This noun is included here because it means “a
hardened criminal” or, in the terms of this chapter, “a repeat offender.” A
reprobate has no hope of salvation.
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172 Fiske WordPower
• An incorrigible reprobate, Lefty McGee was arrested for robbery only
weeks after he was released from prison.
• The prison on the hill had a minimum security block for juvenile offenders
and a maximum security cell block for the more serious reprobates.
9. perennial (per EN ee al) From the Latin for “throughout the year,” this
adjective means “lasting an indefinitely long time” or “appearing again
and again.” “Perennial” plants come back and flower each year, while
“annual” plants have one season only.
• “Finding good teachers is a perennial problem at Highgate Academy,” said
Headmaster Wiggins. “Our best teachers tend to move on to university-level
jobs after a year or two and we’ve got to replace some of them every
September.”
• Dahlia has planted a lovely perennial garden of roses, irises, and azalea
bushes. The flowers bloom every season and all Dahlia has to do is weed the
garden and keep it well-watered.
10. replicate (REP lih kate) This verb meaning “duplicate” or “reproduce”
comes from the Latin for “to fold back.” The noun form, “replication,” also
means “echo” or “a reply to an answer,” but it is rarely used this way
now.
• The research biologists at the Immunology Center all agreed that they
should repeat their experiments several times to see if they could replicate
the results of their first experiment.
• Worthington carefully considered his colleague’s decision to duel and offered
only a silent nod of agreement in replication.
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What a Mess!
48
Talking Dirty
Chapter
T
he words listed here add a little refinement to the ways in which
you can call something “soiled.” Consider these possibilities:
1. besmirched (buh SMERCHD) Here’s a verb that means “to make dirty” or
“stain.” You can physically besmirch something as when you spill gravy on
a tablecloth or make something more figuratively dirty such as when you
besmirch a reputation through gossip.
• “Put your drink down on a coaster,” cried Helena, “before you besmirch my
mother’s antique mahogany end table.”
• After he was caught cheating at poker, Arnold’s reputation was besmirched;
nobody wanted to play with him anymore.
2. sully (SUL lee) From the Old French word
souiller
, which means “to soil,” this
verb also can be used to describe both physical dirtying or more figurative
tainting or corrupting. The adjective form is “sullied.”
• Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, but the turkey was sullied by gravy that
was way too salty.
• We spilled so much gravy and coffee on the tablecloth that Bill had to wash
all of the sullied linens immediately before the stains set in.
3. defiled (duh FILD) This verb comes from the Middle English for “to trample
on, abuse, or pollute.” It means to corrupt or take away the purity of some-
thing. It is often used specifically to describe the polluting of a consecrated
area.
• “One of our employees spilled soda on the assembly line and defiled a whole
batch of cookies,” explained the company spokesman, “so we will have to
recall all oatmeal cookies manufactured on that date.”
• The hooligans defiled the church by spray-painting graffiti on the statues on
the altar.
4. squalid (SKWA lid) This adjective means “dirty or wretched” caused by
poverty or negligence. It can also mean dirty in the sense of being morally
repulsive. The noun form is “squalor.”
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174 Fiske WordPower
• When he first joined the Peace Corps, Paul was horrified by the squalor in
which the natives lived. Many of them slept on the floor in mud huts and had
no electricity or flush toilets.
• The principal decided to ban several of the books on the reading list because
he considered the material too squalid for high school freshmen.
5. slovenly (SLOV en lee) Here is a milder form of dirty, an adjective that
means sloppy. Someone who is not neatly dressed is slovenly. It can also
be used to describe something done in a “slipshod” (or careless) manner.
• Trip’s mother refused to allow him to join the family at the restaurant
because he was dressed in such a slovenly manner. She sent him home to put
on a clean shirt and pressed pants.
• Rachel’s boss fired her for doing such a slovenly job. None of her files were
in alphabetical order and her desk was covered with unopened mail and old
food wrappers.
6. unkempt (un KEMPT) From the Middle English word that means
“uncombed,” this adjective, like slovenly, means disorderly or untidy. It
can be used to describe people or things.
• The English garden surrounding the cottage in Martha’s Vineyard was care-
fully cultivated to look wild and unkempt, as if it naturally grew that way.
• Although Liz paid a fortune to be styled at a chic salon, her hair always
looked dirty and unkempt.
7. disheveled (dih SHEV eld) This adjective comes from the Old French for
“disarranged hair.” Like unkempt, which literally means “uncombed,” it can
mean more than disorderly or untidy hair. People who are sloppily dressed
are disheveled, as are things that are not neatly arranged. It can also be
used as a verb.
• Professor Krupiak was as disheveled as his office. His clothes were rumpled
and his hair was uncombed, and his books and papers were scattered all over
the desk and floor.
• Carla carefully disheveled her hair to give it a windswept look because she
didn’t want to appear too prim when she went backstage to meet the rock band.
8. slatternly (SLAT urn lee) A slattern is a dirty, untidy woman, and the
adjective is slatternly. Oddly, the word is used only to describe females. It
comes from “to slatter,” a word used in an English dialect to mean “to spill
or splash wastefully,” but it may also have its roots in the Swedish word
slata
or “slut,” which did not originally have a sexual connotation.
• As the couple was leaving the opera, a slatternly woman dressed in rags
approached them, murmuring, “Alms for the poor?”
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What a Mess! 175
• Having fallen on hard times, Gwendolyn Greystone looked more like a
slattern than a society hostess. Her hair was unkempt, her clothes were dirty
and wrinkled, and she looked as if she needed a bath.
9. mire (MYRE) Both a noun and a verb, this word comes from the Old Norse
word for “bog.” It means both a wet, soggy, muddy place (a bog) and to
soil with mud or filth. It also means to get stuck or entangled in something
as in “mired in hours of math homework.”
• The fisherman waded through the mire to find the river stocked with trout.
• Mired in poverty, the natives were unable to afford medicine or proper
health care for their children.
10. bedraggled (beh DRAG gld) This adjective is a fitting follow-up to the
word “mire,” because it means “wet” or “limp” or “soiled as if having
been dragged through mud.”
• Our puppy Lucy looked so bedraggled after she was caught in a rainstorm
out in the woods. Her shiny coat was covered in mud and leaves.
• After camping in the Okeefenokee for a week, Alexa and Danielle returned
home tired, hungry, and bedraggled.
Quick Quiz #16
Chapters 46-48
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ insane
2. ______ not reasonable
3. ______ disorderly
4. ______ in a frenzy
5. ______ do over again
6. ______ repetition of sound
7. ______ ghostly double
8. ______ needless repetition
9. ______ hardened criminal
10. ______ lasting a long time
11. ______ to soil
12. ______ wretched
13. ______ sloppy
14. ______ untidy woman
15. ______ bog
A. alliteration
B. amok
C. doppelganger
D. incoherent
E. irrational
F. lunatic
G. mire
H. perennial
I. rehash
J. reprobate
K. slattern
L. slovenly
M. squalid
N. sully
O. tautology
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B
elow is a neat, orderly, and tidy list of words on the subject of
keeping clean. Some are about literal cleaning or washing, while
others are about cleaning up or editing language, a fitting set of
words for this book.
1. ablution (ab LOO shun) This noun means “a washing or cleansing of the
body” and is most often used to describe a religious rite. It can also be
used to describe any washing that is done in a ritualized way.
• Before entering the temple, the women were required to remove their street
clothes and engage in a series of ablutions in a special bathing room in order
to be clean for prayer.
• Before going to work each morning, Lola performed her ablutions—
brushing her teeth, showering with scented bath gel, applying foaming
cleanser and toner to her face—with consummate care in order to showcase
her legendary beauty.
2. immaculate (im MAK you let) This adjective comes from the Latin word for
“not blemished’ and means “impeccably clean” or “flawless.” Although
the word is best known from the idea of “Immaculate Conception,” the
doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church that dictates that the Virgin Mary
was conceived free from all stain of original sin, it is perfectly all right to
use it to describe a more secular purity.
• “I want this room to be immaculate before you leave,” Mildred announced
to her daughter Alex. “Pick up all the dirty laundry and put it in the hamper,
make your bed, and vacuum the cookie crumbs off the carpet or you’re not
going anywhere!”
• Carrie’s school record was immaculate. Her test scores were perfect; her
grades were excellent; and she was involved in numerous extracurricular
activities, including sports and community service work.
3. purge (PERJ) The verb, which comes from the Latin word for “pure,” means
to” cleanse or purify.” It can be used in many different contexts. One can be
purged of sin (the word “purgatory,” for instance, is a place of remorse or
purging). It can be used in the law to mean “cleared of charges.” It can
mean “to get rid of impurities” in a more general way.
Keep It Clean
49
Words About Cleanliness
Chapter
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Keep It Clean 177
• The vegetables at the health food store are carefully washed and purged of
all of their impurities before being pressed into fresh juice at the juice bar.
• Orthodox Judiasm requires that women be purged in a mikvah, a ritual
purification bath, before the Sabbath prayers.
4. expurgate (EX purr gate) Purging turns literary with this verb. It means to
“remove erroneous, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from a
book or other piece of writing before publication.” More often than not, we
hear the word “unexpurgated” to describe works that have not been
tampered with by overzealous (see the “Passion” chapter) editors.
• In the early twentieth century, one had to go to Paris to obtain unexpurgated
copies of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses.
• As late as the 1970s, many American schools only taught expurgated copies
of The Catcher in the Rye because parents and school administrators objected
to J. D. Salinger’s use of foul language.
5. bowdlerize (BODE ler ize) Like expurgate, this verb has to do with literary
cleansing. It comes from Thomas Bowdler (1754–1825), who published an
expurgated version of Shakespeare “in which those words or expressions
are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family.” It
means to “cleanse a manuscript of what is deemed ‘offensive’ material” or
to “shorten it so as to skew the content in a certain way.” The noun form is
“bowdlerization”.
• The novels of Henry Miller are too explicit to bowdlerize; by the time a
conservative editor finished removing offensive material there would be little
left to read.
• Horrified by the bowdlerization of the Shakespeare editions at her school,
the English teacher collected them all and burned them.
6. unadulterated (un ad DULL ter ate ed) The best synonym for this adjective
is “pure,” but unlike immaculate, which means “spotless,” “unadulterated”
means “not diluted with irrelevant or unnecessary material.”
• “Just tell us the unadulterated truth,” said Jamie’s father. “We want to know
what happened at the party and why the neighbors called the police.”
• The fresh cranberry juice, unadulterated by sugar or other fruit juices or
flavorings, was almost too tart to drink.
7. fumigate (FYU mih gate) From the Latin word that means “to make
smoke,” this verb means a particular kind of cleaning— “to employ smoke
in order to disinfect or exterminate.”
• There were so many spider nests in our basement that we had to call
Bugaway Pest Exterminators to fumigate the house.
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178 Fiske WordPower
• After the students in Mr. Peppiat’s chemistry class performed their sulfur
experiments, he had to have the lab room fumigated to eliminate the
horrible smell of rotten eggs.
8. hygienic (hi JEN ik) This adjective means “sanitary” or “sufficiently clean
so as to promote or preserve health.” The noun form is “hygiene.”
• Meticulous about oral hygiene, Barnaby brushed his teeth twice a day,
flossed after every meal, and rinsed his mouth with plaque remover before
bed every night.
• The chef at Le Café Sal set a high standard of personal hygiene for his staff.
9. pristine (priss TEEN) This is another good adjective that means “clean and
pure, free from dirt or decay.” It also means “original or uncorrupted.”
• “This copy of Dante’s Inferno is in pristine condition,” said the rare book
dealer. “The binding is perfect and the pages are clean. It looks as if it has
never been opened.”
• After the masterful restoration work, the Renaissance frescoes seemed to
return to their pristine condition.
10. winnow (WIN oh) From the Old English word for “wind,” this verb once
meant literally “to separate the grain from the chaff” by means of a
current of air. It has since come to have a more figurative meaning—“to
rid of undesirable parts” or “to separate the good from the bad.”
• After weeks of rigorous interviews, the list was winnowed down to the three
most experienced job candidates.
• “I have finally winnowed my book down from three thousand pages to one
thousand pages,” said Fabienne. “Maybe now I can get a publisher to read it
before rejecting it.”
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How Divine!
50
Words About Godliness
Chapter
S
ome say the phrase “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” comes from
ancient Hebrew writings. In any case, it seems a good enough
reason to make words about religion the subject of our next chapter.
Most of the words below have to do with numinous (or “spiritually
elevated”) topics. We hope you will find them inspirational.
1. apotheosis (ah POTH ee OH sis) This noun comes to us from the Greek and
means “glorification” or “giving God-like stature to.” A good synonym is
“deification.” The verb form is “apotheosize.”
• Many people believe that Michelangelo’s towering sculpture David apothe-
osized manly perfection.
• In his essay “Uses of Great Men,” the nineteenth-century writer Ralph
Waldo Emerson has written: “There are no common men. All men are at last
of a size; and true art is only possible, on the conviction that every talent has
its apotheosis somewhere.”
2. apostate (ah POSS tate) From the Greek word for “to revolt,” this noun is
used to describe someone who has abandoned either his religious faith or
political party or cause, in other words, “a turncoat.”
• After they closed down the factory, the strikers divided into two groups: those
who still believed in unionizing the workplace and the apostates, who chose
to go back to work the next day because they desperately needed the income.
• When Carl finally decided to abandon the beliefs of his local church and find
a minister who would marry him and Robert, he was despised as an apostate
by the people he thought were his friends.
3. heretic (HEH ret ik) This is another noun with a Greek root. It comes from
the word for “to choose,” and it means “a person who holds controversial
opinions.” It was originally used to describe anyone who dissented from
the official dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, but it has come to have
a broader use. The adjective form is “heretical.”
• The other teachers at the Hewlett Academy, a conservative prep school in
Massachusetts, called Mr. McPhee a heretic when he stopped giving weekly
exams and abandoned traditional grades in favor of pass/fail evaluations with
written comments.
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• The headmaster, who supported Mr. McPhee’s decisions, was later fired for
being a heretical thinker who was unable to control his faculty and preserve
the academy’s rigorous academic policies.
4. theocracy (thee OK rass ee) This noun means “a government ruled by reli-
gious authority.”
• “Allowing religious issues to determine our legislative policy is tantamount to
a theocracy,” shouted the senator, determined to fight the president’s policy
on stem cell research.
• Before the election of Saul as king, Moses essentially ruled Israel as a
theocracy, claiming all law was determined by God.
5. numinous (NOO min us) This adjective means “having a supernatural
presence” or “spiritually elevated.” It may come from the Greek word for
“to nod,” as in expressing divine approval by nodding the head.
• Dressed in a diaphanous (meaning “translucent” or “delicate”) white gown
and appearing suddenly at the top of the stairs, Belle’s figure took on a
numinous appearance in the candlelight.
• Nature was numinous for the transcendental philosophers of the nineteenth
century who believed that it was only through nature that the individual
could know his own soul.
6. ecumenical (EK you MEN ik al) This adjective means “universal” or “of
worldwide scope.” It is very similar to the word “catholic” (see “Putting
Together/Taking Apart” chapter). Its more specific religious meaning is
“promoting unity among churches or religions.”
• The community in northwestern Alaska was so small that the only church in
town was truly ecumenical, offering services for Catholics, Jews,
Protestants, and Unitarians.
• The Saturday religious services at Janice’s summer camp were always about
ecumenical topics that would appeal to the diverse group of campers.
7. redemption (ree DEMP shun) This noun’s specific religious meaning is “sal-
vation from sin through the sacrifice of Jesus,” but it also can be used more
broadly to mean “to rescue or save” or “deliverance upon payment of a ran-
som.” In its most secular usage, it can mean “recovery of something that
has been pawned or mortgaged.” The verb form is “to redeem.”
• After ruining his father’s tennis racquet by using it as a fly swatter, Josh
redeemed himself by getting a job as a golf caddy and earning enough
money to buy his father a new and better racquet.
• In the movie Rocky, the protagonist seeks his redemption and self-respect by
“going the distance” with the heavyweight champion Apollo Creed.
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How Divine! 181
8. sanctimonious (SANK tih MOAN ee us) Although this adjective comes from
the Latin for “sacred,” it means “pretending to be sacred” or “excessively
righteous.” It connotes a kind of hypocritical piety. The noun form is
“sanctimony.”
• The sanctimonious businessman maintained his veneer of innocence, but
the judge knew he was lying all along.
• The politician’s smarmy sanctimony about the importance of family values
in determining political policy earned him the mistrust of his more liberal
constituents.
9. transcendent (tran SEND ant) This adjective is most often used to mean
“lying beyond the ordinary range of perception” or “not part of the materi-
al universe.” In his theory of knowledge, the philosopher Immanuel Kant
uses the word to mean “beyond the limits of experience and therefore
unknowable.” The word should not be confused with “transcendental,”
which means “concerned with the intuitive basis of knowledge,” a term
which forms the basis of a nineteenth-century literary and philosophical
movement associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson, among others.
• According to most religions, God is a being of transcendent power who is
ultimately unknowable to human beings.
• Because of the unbroken horizon line and the excessive moisture in the air,
the sunsets along the beach in Key West have a transcendent glory that
renders them as spectacular as any sunsets in the world.
10. ecclesiastical (ek LEEZ ee ASS stik al) This adjective means “of or relat-
ing to a church” or “appropriate for use in a church.” The noun form,
“ecclesiastic,” means “a minister” or “priest.”
• Dressed in ecclesiastical robes and carrying a book of hymns, the bishop
stood out in the crowd of children and parents at the school’s December
Christmas party.
• Because ecclesiastics from all over the world were in Rome to attend a
special mass at the Vatican, it was impossible to obtain a hotel room at a
reasonable price anywhere in the city.
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R
edux” means “led back” or simply “again.” Readers may know it
from novelist John Updike: he gave the name Rabbit Redux to his
sequel to Rabbit, Run. Our language has so many terms from
religion that it warrants two chapters.
1. pantheon (PAN thee ahn) Literally, “all gods.” Today you’ll see it used in two
ways: (a) spelled with a capital, it names an ancient and beautiful circular
building, once a temple, later a church, in Rome or (b) a general term for a
group of people regarded as most important (figuratively, “gods”) in a certain
field or era.
• Although not originally buried there, the artist Raphael now has his tomb in
the Pantheon, as readers of Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons know.
• Alvin told me that his personal pantheon of twentieth-century figures
includes Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Winston Churchill, and Joe
DiMaggio.
2. sacrilegious (sac ri LEEJ us or sac ri LIJ us) This adjective describes
behavior that is disrespectful toward things many consider sacred, either
literally or figuratively. The surprise word history is that it is
not
related to
the word “religious” (note carefully the slightly different spelling!).
• “I know you’re not religious,” said Brenda to her husband Woody, “but
please try not to use religious oaths while my sister is visiting. She’d regard
it as not only sacrilegious but disrespectful to her personally.”
• “For a painting so tied in with the history of New York to be sold and sent
out of state is a sacrilege,” said Prof. Silver, distraught at the auction of the
Asher B. Durand painting Kindred Spirits.
3. canon (KAN un) Originally, this word referred to church law or codes as
established by a church council. It is now frequently used metaphorically.
• Hamlet, suggesting that only his religious beliefs restrain him from suicide,
laments that God has “fixed his canon ‘gainst self slaughter.’”
• For years schools taught only the best-known of literary works, highly
praised for decades, but now many allow teachers to choose non-canonical
texts, including some recent and controversial titles.
Godliness Redux
51
More Words About Godliness
Chapter
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Godliness Redux 183
4. laity (LAY uh tee) Sometimes you’ll hear “layman” or “layperson.” All
these words refer to people who are not members of the clergy or, by
extension, those who are not part of some specialized group. A modern
synonym would be close to “the man in the street.”
• “’Twere profanation of our vows/ To tell the laity our love,” writes the poet
John Donne, who at one period of his life saw erotic love as a kind of
religion.
• “When professional dance critics use phrases like ‘the nodes of intensity
ambush the formality’ or write of ‘structuralizing spatial velocities,’” said
Casey, “I’m happy to be a layman who just really enjoys ballet and modern
dance.”
5. credo (KREE doe)The Latin for “I believe,” this verb has become a noun that
serves as an elegant synonym for the simpler “creed,” a formal statement of
beliefs.
• “If you obey the credo that form follows function,” said the ceramics
instructor, Ms. Rush, “then you won’t make the handle of that mug a thorny
vine.”
• The Iago in Shakespeare’s play never overtly states a philosophy of evil, but
his counterpart in Verdi’s opera sings a powerful credo about his belief in a
cruel god.
6. messianic (MES ee AN ik) Literally, this adjective refers to a Messiah, a fig-
ure in the Judeo-Christian tradition that is or will be a savior of the world.
By extension it’s often used to refer to zealous or overzealous belief in a
cause or a leader. The word comes from the Hebrew for “anointed.”
• “There’s nothing wrong with green algae,” noted Don, “but when Doug
starts talking about it he gets that messianic gleam in his eye as if taking
algae could cure all the ills of the world.”
• Some earlier interpreters of Vergil saw a messianic theme in one of his early
poems, but skeptics argue he was merely flattering a Roman leader, suggesting
that his child would be remarkable.
7. incarnation (in car NAY shun) Religiously speaking, this noun means “a
fleshly version of the divine.” Thus, in Christianity, it refers to Mary’s
conception of Jesus—and the initial letter is capitalized. More generally, it’s
used for the giving of bodily form to something abstract.
• F. Scott Fitzgerald intensifies the religious feel of Gatsby’s near-worship of
Daisy when he writes, “He kissed her and the incarnation was complete.”
• “You don’t have to look at me as if I were the devil incarnate when I suggest
going off your diet long enough to have a bite of my birthday cake,” said
Angela huffily to her friend Adele.
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8. venial (VEEN e uhl) Deriving from the Latin word for “forgiveness,” this
adjective is used within the Roman Catholic church to describe a sin that is,
roughly speaking, “minor,” “easily forgivable.” Like all the other words in this
list, it’s also used figuratively, here to mean “unfortunate but not terribly
offensive.”
• “Okay, Tonya, I’ll admit I was twenty minutes late for our date,” said Huey,
moving from defense to offense, “but don’t you think that’s rather venial
compared to your calling up your old boyfriend the minute I went out of
town?”
• When his supporters forgave or overlooked many of his venial transgressions,
Senator Goofball moved slowly but more inevitably to greater breaches of the
trust they had placed in him.
9. conclave (KON klave) In Roman Catholic use, this is a meeting of the
cardinals of the church to select a new pope. By extension, it refers to any
highly secret meeting. The origin is interesting: the key word is “key”—
Latin, “clavis.” (Think of keys on the musical instrument “the clavier” or
the key-shaped “clavicle/collarbone.”) The original conclaves had to be
held in a locked room.
• Is it true that the Sistine Chapel was the setting for the conclave that chose
Pope Benedict?
• “This is a good afternoon to work on the senior prank,” said Hal impishly to
Mort. “All of the faculty members and administrators are in a big conclave
to choose the senior prize winners.”
10. hagiography (HAG e OG ruh fee) This interesting noun has nothing to do
with “hags.” Literally, it’s the life of a saint and more generally it refers to
a biographical account so uncritical as to make the subject sound too
good to be human.
• James Boswell’s eighteenth-century life of Samuel Johnson was far from a
hagiography: although Boswell held Johnson in the highest esteem, he did
not hesitate to show him gobbling down his food or “tossing and goring”
those in a conversation with him.
• Campaign lives are often in the hagiographical tradition: any less than
wonderful acts of the presidential candidates may be omitted or fancifully
reinterpreted.
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Godliness Redux 185
Quick Quiz #17
Chapters 49-51
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ not a member of the clergy
2. ______ rule by a religious body
3. ______ without any flaws
4. ______ life of a saint
5. ______ becoming a god or godlike
6. ______ to cleanse, remove the offensive
7. ______ smugly holy
8. ______ separate good from bad
9. ______ violation of the sacred
10. ______ promoting unity in religion
11. ______ relating to church matters
12. ______ violation of church belief
13. ______ to use smoke for cleansing
14. ______ overzealous belief in a cause
15. ______ official church rules
16. ______ a group of revered figures
A. apotheosis
B. canon
C. ecclesiastical
D. ecumenical
E. expurgate
F. fumigate
G. hagiography
H. heresy
I. immaculate
J. laity
K. messianic
L. pantheon
M. sacrilege
N. sanctimonious
O. theocracy
P. winnow
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L
ike chapter 25, this is a grab-bag chapter, one that offers ten fine
words that are NOT thematically related. Here goes:
1. susurrus (soo SUR us) An unusual word, and an interesting one, whose
sound hints at its meaning. It refers to a soft rustling noise, a whisper, a
murmur. It comes into English directly from the Latin, but a more anglicized
form is susurration.
• Just as Geordie, lolling in the hammock, was almost nodding off from the soft
moaning of the breeze and the gentle susurrus of the insects, a mosquito bit
him on the neck, sharply ending his sense of harmony with nature.
• The newspaper described the opposition to the prime minister’s speech as
being “a susurration of protest, not a gust of anger.”
2. epitome (e PIT uh me) This noun refers to a typical representative or
example of some category. Dictionaries are just beginning to recognize it
as a synonym for “embodiment,” a use long frowned on by purists. (See
second sentence below.) And in older literature you may see it used in its
literal sense as an abridgment or summary.
• This particular church was identified by art historian John Ruskin as an
epitome of the changes that occurred in Venetian architecture after the
thirteenth century.
• “Tad thinks he’s the epitome of ‘cool,’ but I’ve got news for him—he’s not,”
said Scarlett scornfully.
3. striation (stry A shun) Some call this a fancy word for a “stripe,” and that
may serve as a memory device. But it might also refer to a ridge, a groove,
or a furrow. Usually you’ll see it in the plural, referring to parallel group-
ings of the thing.
• McDermott’s plastered-down hair still bore the marks of the striations made
by his comb.
• The striated pattern on the rock was “beautiful” to Lars, the artist, and
“interesting” to Lara, the geologist.
Hodgepodge
52
Another Mixed Bag of Words
Chapter
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Hodgepodge 187
4. holistic (hole IST ik) There’s no “w” at the start of the word, but the meaning
has to do with “wholes” not “holes.” A holistic approach emphasizes the
overall quality of something, the interdependence of its parts.
• When Toby asked his new English teacher if she “took off for spelling,” she
answered, “No, I grade holistically; I look at the overall quality of your
writing rather than tallying up errors.”
• Dr. Ning’s lecture on holistic medicine clarified for the audience this alter-
native approach to medical treatment: a doctor using the holistic approach
would not merely look at the nose and throat of, say, patients with a bad cold
but would ask them about their eating, sleeping, and exercising.
5. stipulate (STIP u late) If you stipulate, you make an express demand as
part of an agreement; you specify exactly what’s required.
• When Harriet agreed to marry Peter, she made the specific stipulation that
he would never kid her (or, worse, criticize her) about her love of shoes and
her possession of many, many pairs.
• Rules for the operation of the Godivan Embassy stipulate that all meals
served there must end in the presentation of a dessert made of chocolate,
whether milk or bittersweet.
6. extant (EK stant
or
ek STANT) This word offers a one-word way to say “still
in existence.”
• Fossil records show us that many ancient forms of life were quite different
from extant life.
• The fact that there are eighty extant manuscripts of Chaucer’s poetry from
the early fifteenth century testifies to his popularity.
7. tribulation (trib u LAY shun) This noun refers to a hardship, an affliction, a
form of suffering. It’s not related to “tribes” or “tribunes” or “tributes.” Its
surprising (to most of us, at least) origin is the Latin word for “threshing
sledge”—a device that pressed on the wheat just as an affliction might press
or oppress your spirit. It’s sometimes used in a specialized sense within the
Christian religion as a period of great suffering for believers.
• Those working for a greater degree of racial equality in the 1960s were
sustained in their tribulations by their belief that this important change
would come.
• When Martin went to the administration of his school to protest the absence
of a soft drinks machine, the principal said gently, “Martin, I don’t think that
going without a cola for six hours ranks as one of the great tribulations of
all time.”
8. recrimination (re crim in AY shun) This noun refers to the fact of counter-
ing one accusation with another.
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• Ernest Hemingway made unpleasant and unfair statements about F. Scott
Fitzgerald in his book A Moveable Feast. Since Fitzgerald was already dead at
that time, I don’t feel that Hemingway’s own death should protect him
against a reader’s recrimination.
• Amy thought she would feel better after she lashed out at Jessica, but instead
her ugly statement has sent her into a fit of self-recrimination.
9. conundrum (cuh NUN drum) A conundrum is a challenging puzzle, a
dilemma, a riddle. Even the origin of the word is unknown.
• Bert accidentally goofed up his electronic calendar and now realizes he has
two social engagements at the same hour on Friday night; he’s now dealing
with the conundrum of which to cancel.
• “I’ll never understand Al,” sighed Jan. “He’ll always be a complete conun-
drum to me.”
10. belie (be LIE) This verb refers to misrepresentation, to self-contradiction.
Although it’s based on the word “lie,” it isn’t used to convey a sense of
deliberate deception.
• Although Carrie was falsely accused of cheating on the French exam, the
tears welling in her eyes belied the calm of her denial.
• Belying Dick’s statement that he “always traveled light” were the big suitcase
and the overstuffed duffel bag that he was cramming into the trunk of the car.
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Too Much
53
Words for Excess
Chapter
M
ae West though too much of a good thing was wonderful.
She’d probably agree that the wealth of words to express an
abundance or a superabundance is a very pleasant phenome-
non.
1. surfeit (SUR fit) As a verb or as a noun, this word expresses the idea of
“over-muchness.”
• The hosts meant well with their repeated offers of food, comforts, or
entertainment, but their constant attention to his welfare surfeited the
guest, who longed for a little benign neglect.
• The grandparents, remembering their own cherishing of one or two toys in
their Depression-era childhood, saw the many stuffed animals, games, and
electronic gear in Miranda’s room as a surfeit that might be unappreciated
or meaningless to the child.
2. superfluous (soo PERF loo us) Literally “overflowing,” this adjective can
describe either literal objects or more abstract qualities. Shakespearean
English allowed for the noun “superflux,” but we’ve lost that pleasing word.
• “Yes, you’ll need a hat to protect you from the sun,” said the tour organizer,
“but taking a straw hat, a cotton hat, a plastic hat, and a baseball cap is just
downright superfluous.”
• A superfluity of fragrance to a hypersensitive nose might make one “die of
a rose in aromatic pain,” or at least poet Alexander Pope thought so.
3. plethora (PLETH uh ra) From the Greek for “to be full,” this noun is a good
synonym for “excess.” Creeping into the language is a tendency to use the
word simply to mean “a lot,” but you’ll do well to keep it in the category
of superabundance.
• “It’s feast or famine,” sighed Mrs. Treadwell. “First I didn’t have enough
stationery so I told everyone I wanted it for my birthday. And now I have a
plethora! Where will I put all these boxes?”
• The plethora of choices in the six-page menu at the diner made things
difficult for the indecisive Earnestine, who kept changing her mind between
“farm-raised pork loin with cream-filled potatoes” and “dieter’s special Jell-o
with cottage cheese.”
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4. myriad (MEER e ud) Perhaps not
too
much, this noun expresses the
concept of an indefinite but huge quantity. It comes from the Greek for
“ten thousand,” but is never used in that literal way in English.
• Nothing can make an individual feel so small as to contemplate the myriad
stars in the sky and to reflect on the distance the light has traveled to reach
us.
• Even people unfamiliar with much poetry may know William Wordsworth’s
poem about his delight, after he “wandered lonely as a cloud,” in coming
upon a myriad of daffodils dancing in the breeze.
5. sate (rhymes with ate) and satiate (SAY she ate) How appropriate to have
not one but two verbs to express the idea of being fully or excessively
satisfied!
• Leroy was looking forward to the “all-you-can-eat” buffet and felt
disappointed that he was completely sated after just one refilling of his plate.
• Belinda, an ardent devotee of the Ramones, had thought she could never
learn enough about them, but midway through the five-day conference, she
was startled to realize she was on the verge of being satiated.
6. exorbitant (ex ORB ih tant) From the Latin for “out of orbit,” this adjective
expresses the concept of something that exceeds all fair bounds. It’s most
commonly used to describe prices or numerical quantities.
• “That new specialty food store has good things,” noted Nelson, “but the
prices are truly exorbitant. I mean, how special can cole slaw be?”
• The exorbitant number of demands his boss made of him lessened Selwyn’s
pleasure in the new job.
7. gratuitous (gra TOO ih tus) It can mean “free,” “given without obligation,“
(as in “There’s no such thing as a gratuitous mid-day meal,” but it’s chiefly
used today to mean “unwanted” or “unjustified.” The fancy word for a
“tip”—gratuity—is related, at least ideally, to the older meaning.
• “If I need his help, I’m glad to know he’s there to answer my questions,” said
Vivian. “But his hanging around my cubicle, offering gratuitous advice
about how to get ahead in the company is just plain annoying.”
• Nickleby’s gratuitous criticism of Selby’s work was beginning, subtly, to
undermine his confidence. Was that the effect Nickleby had hoped for?
8. supernumerary (SOO per NOO mer er ee) Literally, this noun refers to a
person who is in excess of a required number, but it is most often used as
an elegant word for an “extra” in a movie or dramatic work. Opera slang
sometimes calls such a person a “spear-carrier.”
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Too Much 191
• Sam, sensing his lovebird friends wanted to be alone, avoided the cliché of
“Three’s a crowd,” by saying dryly, “I’m something of a supernumerary
here so I’ll see you later.”
• Glynis hoped someday to become an actress herself, so she was delighted to
get a job as “townsperson” in the regional summer production of Horn the
West. “So, I’m a supernumerary,” she says. “I still get to hang around actors
and, don’t forget, I do say ‘Look, is that Daniel Boone?’ on stage!”
9. aggrandize (uh GRAND ize) This verb can mean “to make greater,” but
today it’s almost always used to refer to someone’s making himself seem
greater by exaggerating or by belittling others.
• Renee wondered if Jason believed his own self-aggrandizing statements or
if he just hoped to fool others.
• When Shirley, a so-so singer, told me she had “performed at Carnegie Hall,”
I was impressed. I later learned this was a bit of aggrandizement: her chorus
had rented out the hall for one night, as any group with enough money can
do.
10. lagniappe (LAN yop) This noun first referred to a small gift a storeowner
might give a customer but is coming increasingly to be used as “an
unexpected extra gift or benefit.” With roots in New World Spanish and
Quechua, it was originally used in the Creole dialect of Louisiana.
• Customers gave Bolling’s Department Store a lot of repeat business because
their children enjoyed the lollipops Mr. Bolling gave them as a lagniappe.
• To be true to the spirit of a lagniappe, this item in the vocabulary book
should have been an eleventh entry in the chapter, an extra, above and
beyond what’s expected.
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T
he complement to excess is dearth (see #1). All these words
suggest a quality of absence or deficiency.
1. dearth (rhymes with earth) The meaning of this noun is simple. There’s not
enough of something or maybe there’s simply none of it. The origin is in
the Middle English word for “costly,” kept also in the British use of
“dear”—“I’d like to buy mince pies, but they’re so dear lately.”
• The committee was surprised by the dearth of applicants for the Bedriomo
Travel Grant: Isn’t any student traveling this summer? Couldn’t some
student use a little financial help?
• The dearth of food in the Netherlands during World War II caused
residents to use the term “Hunger Winter” when they recalled the worst of
that era.
2. paucity (PAW suh tee) From the Latin word for “few,” this noun expresses
just that in English.
• The paucity of supplies available for classrooms meant that dedicated
teachers often paid for crayons and rolls of paper for class projects out of
their own pockets.
• Since he had anticipated an abundance of curiosity about his new invention,
the paucity of responses was not only disappointing but startling.
3. exiguous (ex IG u us) This adjective describes something that is just barely
enough for the purpose. It comes from the Latin for “measured out,”
suggesting a measuring cup that was never overflowing.
• When the young boy became aware of his family’s exiguous economic cir-
cumstances, he insisted on getting after-school jobs to help as much as he
could.
• There was an exiguous outcropping of grass among the rocks; otherwise,
the terrain was bleak.
4. eke (EEK) As a verb, “eke” carries two senses: the older one expresses the
idea of” adding to” or “increasing” while the one more in use today carries
the sense of “managing but with difficulty.” (Extra trivia for wordlovers: our
Not Enough
54
Words for Too Little
Chapter
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Not Enough 193
word “nickname” was originally ”an eke-name,” an “additional” name. The
“n” of “an” moved over and became part of the next word. “Umpire” went
the other way: it was originally “a numpere.”)
• Mr. Compton eked out a living as a teacher by continuing to work on the
family farm in the summers.
• Although Lynette had never studied Italian, she could eke out the meaning
of a newspaper article in a Roman newspaper through her knowledge of
Latin and French.
5. stint (rhymes with hint) The verb “stint” expresses the concept of “restrict-
ing” or “limiting.” (The stingy measuring cup of #3 is at work here as well.)
The noun describes a length of time spent on a particular task, presumably
with the sense of “not considering lengthening the appointed time.” The word
originates in older English meaning “to blunt” or “to stop.”
• “When you make Scottie’s birthday cake,” said Mrs. Meyers to her cook,
“don’t stint on the cream. Scottie loves cream.”
• Ms. Amendola did a two-year stint in the military before returning to the
pursuit of her original career goal, becoming a dancer.
6. scant (rhymes with pant) Whether used as an adjective or as a verb, the
word carries the idea of “barely sufficient” or “in short supply.” The related
adjective form, “scanty” echoes that sense.
• Porter received scant attention from his father when he was growing up and
is determined not to repeat that pattern: he lavishes love on his own children
now.
• Alison was always trying to balance her work as wife and mother and her work
as wage-earner; she felt she was always scanting one at the expense of the other.
7. nominal (NOM in uhl) From the Latin word for “name,” this adjective suggests
something exists in name only; in other words, it’s minimal, token.
• While Lord Redlinghuys is the nominal chair of the fund-raising commit-
tee, a professional staff does all the hard work of contacting possible donors,
publicizing the benefits, and the like.
• “I receive a nominal salary as a spokesperson for bass fishing,” said Rick.
“But I earn my real living by writing articles for men’s magazines.”
8. meager (ME ger) This adjective can refer to something that is scanty (#6)
in either quantity or quality. The word derives from the Latin for “thin.”
• Some would have described Henry Darger as living a meager existence, for
he lived in one room and worked as a cleaning person at a hospital. But the
richness of his inner life is revealed in his paintings, now being collected by
folk art museums.
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194 Fiske WordPower
• “Callie, I’m disappointed in the meager amount of reading you did this sum-
mer. Should you really be taking on an Advanced Placement English class?”
said Ms. Zak, the concerned teacher.
9. pittance (PIT unce) This noun refers to a tiny amount, whether, as
frequently, of money or of some more abstract entity. Tellingly, the origin
of the word is in the Latin
pietas
(think “piety”), suggesting that amounts
people give to charity may be minimal.
• “I was insulted that I was offered so little money, a mere pittance, to do the
research for the television show about the opening of the West,” said Walt.
“You know they must have some ‘deep pockets’ sponsoring it.”
• The song “I Felt Nothing” from the Broadway hit A Chorus Line describes
the satisfaction of feeling not a pittance of concern for the difficulties of
someone who earlier denied you a needed helping hand.
10. titular (TICH u lar) Like #7, this adjective carries the sense of “in name or
title only,” not possessing any real substance. It can also be used in the
simpler sense of “referring to the title.”
• The phrase “head of the family” that once had such powerful meaning has
now become merely titular and is probably on its way to nonexistence.
• Ivan, one of the titular brothers in Dostoyevsky’s great novel The Brothers
Karamazov has a frightening encounter with a figure called The Grand
Inquisitor.
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Not Enough 195
Quick Quiz #18
Chapters 52-54
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ to be fully satisfied
2. ______ a puzzle
3. ______ not looking at separate parts
4. ______ hardship, trial
5. ______ in name only
6. ______ a return accusation
7. ______ hatred of foreigners
8. ______ tiny little bit
9. ______ to exaggerate
10. ______ more than necessary
11. ______ unexpected benefit
12. ______ unwanted
13. ______ to misrepresent
14. ______ just barely enough
15. ______ a defined period of time
16. ______ a typical representative
A. aggrandize
B. belie
C. conundrum
D. epitome
E. exiguous
F. gratuitous
G. holistic
H. lagniappe
I. nominal
J. pittance
K. recrimination
L. sate
M. stint
N. superfluous
O. tribulation
P. xenophobia
Usage Test #6
Chapters 46-54
Directions: select a word from the list below that best fits the
blank in one of the sentences and place the letter in the blank.
1. Because her study partner’s explanation of the math chapters was
_____, Barb failed the review test.
A. belie
B. conundrum
C. defile
D. ecclesiastical
E. eke
F. hagiography
G. heretic
H. immaculate
I. incoherent
J. nominal
K. paucity
L. rehash
M. reprobate
N. sanctimonious
O. squalid
P. striation
Q. susurrus
R. titular
S. unkempt
T. winnow
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196 Fiske WordPower
2. After telling his mother about how he got a black eye in the play-
ground, Ivan had to ____the story when his father came home.
3. The juvenile detention center on Route 54 is currently being used as a
halfway house for ____and serious offenders.
4. Melinda did not want to ____her collection of Hummel figurins with
cheap imitations.
5. The ____apartment was furnished with a worn sofa, a threadbare
carpet, and dingy curtains.
6. After Nick wrestled with his brother on the lawn, his hair was ____and
his clothes were covered in grass stains.
7. Mrs. Bisby kept her kitchen as ____as a hospital room; everything was
swept, polished, and put in its place.
8. “Perhaps you can ____the weak chapters out of the manuscript and
rewrite the introduction,” advised Sara’s editor.
9. Considered a ____for her views on abortion, Cynthia was ostracized
by her classmates at her parochial school.
10.Tired of cleaning up after her roommate, Cecilia delivered a
____speech on the virtues of cleanliness.
11. The store specialized in ____products such as chalice cups, hymnals,
and votive candles.
12. James searched for a book on ____ to learn about the life of St. Jude.
13. You can see the level of the sea at high tide by studying the ____on
the rocks along the shore.
14. Flossie’s enthusiastic efforts preparing food would ____her feigned
indifference to the upcoming picnic.
15. “There is a ____of educational programming for children on the
television networks,” complained a spokesperson for the Children’s
Learning Center.
16. After years of trying to ____out a living as a poet, Florence decided
to go to medical school.
17. Janice was vexed about how to solve the ____of why she was always
on a diet but never lost any weight.
18. Karla was paid a ____salary for her internship at the magazine, but
the experience made it worthwhile.
19. Mrs. Peabody’s job as principal was merely ____since she had very
little say in the day-to-day running of the upper school.
20. Rose enjoyed feeling the breeze on her neck and listening to the ____
of the tall grass underfoot as she wandered across the meadow.
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Send in the Clowns
55
Words for Various Jokers
Chapter
J
ust as circus clowns differ from each other in appearance—one may
wear a polka-dotted floppy suit and a triangular hat while another
sports a red nose and huge shoes—so the world of words offers us
many words for those who excel in varying ways at making us laugh.
1. raconteur (ra kon TER) This noun describes a person who inspires laughter
through his or her verbal talents. The word comes directly from the French
and means a storyteller of skillful wit. (Memory trick: a raconteur
recounts
things well.)
• Osborne is such a raconteur that he had everyone at the dinner table
guffawing at his tales.
• When Jay Leno told the anecdote about the chicken, everyone laughed, but
when I tried to repeat it to my buddies, there was an awkward silence. I’m
just not the raconteur Leno is, in case you hadn’t noticed.
2. harlequin (HAR le quin) This fellow is recognizable by his clothing of brightly
colored diamond shapes and his mask. His outfit goes back to the clown fig-
ure in Italian acting troupes several centuries ago. (Romance novels now
sometimes associated with the word have no direct connection.)
• The bright costume of the harlequin figure in the ballet contrasted
dramatically with the all-white outfit of Pierrot.
• In Karl’s extensive teddy bear collection is an automated harlequin bear; if
he’s a bit chubby in his traditional outfit, he deftly juggles three wooden
balls—so long as his battery is working.
3. stooge Our immediate association may be to the trio of Larry, Moe, and
Curly, but a literal stooge is one who helps a comedian to be funny by
feeding “straight” lines to him. An audience may or may not be aware that
the stooge is part of the act. By extension, the word may leave the world
of clowns entirely and come to mean those who allow themselves to be
used by others, presumably in exchange for some kind of gain.
• While the skill of Cox, the stooge, was the secret to the success of the
comedy duo, it was Box, his partner, who received most of the applause.
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• Rafferty’s press secretary was a complete stooge: he habitually took the
blame for his boss’s bad decisions, always willing to say, “I misunderstood Mr.
Rafferty’s instructions.”
4. card This noun, mostly used in informal contexts, describes a person who
is not a professional clown but who is eccentrically amusing in his or her
behavior.
• Carol Ann is such a card that everyone in our grade enjoys hanging out with
her. She’s the one who tricked Mr. Hipkens into taking a big bite of a dog
biscuit.
5. wag Another amateur clown, a wag is similar to card (#4) in being a habit-
ual joker, a bit silly in his or her mischief. The word has a longer history
and higher verbal status than the more recent arrival card.
• A Shakespeare character punningly suggests that a certain young wag will
one day “wag” from a noose because of his mischievous ways.
6. wit This short noun not only denotes the quality of being verbally clever but
can also denote the person who is intelligently and subtly amusing. Wits can
easily trade quips, witty remarks made on the spur of the moment.
• O for a time machine that would allow us to sit in the same room with such
eighteenth-century English wits as Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift.
• While Georgie secretly longs to be perceived as a wit, the low-level caliber
of her humor qualifies her only as a class clown.
7. mountebank Examples of this particular type of clown are largely found in
accounts of earlier eras: they told stories and jokes, even did some magic
tricks in order to attract a crowd of folk to whom they could attempt to sell
ineffective medicines. The history of the word—Italian for “jump up on the
bench” allows us to visualize the start of their crowd-gathering tactics. Today
the word might be used for any unscrupulous salesperson, whether joke-
telling or not.
• Perhaps Michiko is romanticizing the past when she says she finds the nerve
and skill of marketplace mountebanks somewhat appealing.
• That used car salesman turned out to be a bit of a mountebank; his dashing
flattery faded when I realized the car I bought was a lemon.
8. droll This adjective describes words, facial expressions, or acts that are
amusing in an odd way, perhaps somewhat whimsical. The fact that it
comes from a medieval English word for
goblin
may help us sense its
flavor.
• The audience responded very favorably to Louis’s droll presentation of
Puck; at first they weren’t sure whether to laugh or not.
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Send in the Clowns 199
• The droll look on Jeff Foxworthy’s face made his supporters laugh even
before he began his comic routine.
9. antics This noun describes acts that are perceived as either amusing or
not, depending on the context or on the personality of the beholder.
Strangely enough, it derives from the same root word as
antique
,
although modern uses have no hint of age about them.
• The antics of the trained dog wearing a tutu had even the most sophisticated
audience member hee-hawing.
• Ms. Ford has just about had it with the antics of her last period class: is
secretly signing a classmate’s yearbook really more important than passing
the algebra exam?
10. prankster A prankster plays pranks, that is, mischievous tricks, practical
jokes. As with antics (#9), these pranks may or may not be perceived as
humorous.
• Writer Tom Wolfe captured in his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test the
antics of Ken Kesey, well-known author of the 1960s, who traveled cross-
country with friends who called themselves the Merry Pranksters.
• What group of pranksters filled the principal’s office to the ceiling with
bright-colored balloons? Will she be amused?
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T
his mouthful of a title alludes to a split described by the nine-
teenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. He described a
schism between the Dionysian (dye o NEES e un), a creative or
intuitive force, as symbolized by the Greek god Dionysus and the
Apollonian (ap o LOAN ian), the power of rationality, as symbolized by the
Greek god Apollo. Popular associations water down this intellectual
theory, associating Dionysus with his more immediately exciting
associations with wine and sex and Apollo with intellectuality and sexual
restraint. Here are some words associated with one of the two extremes—
five of one, a quintet of the other.
1. bacchanal (back uh NAL) This noun refers to any drunken or riotous celebra-
tion. It derives from a Roman celebration in honor of Bacchus, another
name for the god Dionysus, particularly in his role of god of wine.
• “Mom,” said Ian, impatiently, “it’s just a bunch of us from the calculus class
getting together over at Cameron’s house to study for the test. You’re talking
like I’m asking to go to some kind of bacchanal.”
• The literate detective surveyed the crime scene—empty bottles of wine and
champagne, scattered items of clothing, and a trampled party hat or two—
and deduced that a bacchanalian evening had moved from joy into violence.
2. hedonist (HEE dun ist) Derived from the Greek word for “pleasure,” this
noun denotes a person devoted to having a good time.
• Eddie was something of a hedonist, living it up to all hours, until he
surprised his friends by being accepted into a pre-med program and hitting
the books with equal fervor.
• For Joe and Deedee, devout lovers of the printed word, a hedonistic day in
London consists of visiting as many used bookstores as possible.
3. carouse (kuh ROWZE) This verb refers to taking part in noisy partying. The
noun form, “carousal” (kuh ROWZ uhl) refers to merrymaking but should
not be confused with “carousel,” (KARE o sel), the merry-go-round.
“Carouse” derives from a German expression for the last glass a drinker
could order before the bar closed down.
Dionysian or
Apollonian?
56
Describing the Intuitive and the Rational
Chapter
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Dionysian or Apollonian 201
• Paula’s parents, themselves quiet and hard-working, are distressed by the fact
that Paula, now supporting herself, chooses to spend her free time carousing
with like-minded cronies.
• The weekend carousals of the tenants in the neighboring apartment
continue, despite Kenny’s irate calls, first, to them and, then, to the landlord.
4. revelry (REV uhl ree) Another term for a loud “good time,” in the Dionysian
sense. The verb, “revel,” (REV el) has a milder sense of the enjoying or
relishing of anything, even a thought.
• College officials are less than thrilled with the sounds of revelry streaming
forth from on-campus residences every Saturday night
• Liam reveled in the announcement that he had won the Lucio Piccolo
poetry award.
5. libertine (LIB er teen) This noun refers to a person who acts without moral
restraint, a debauchee (DEB o SHAY)—is Deb O’Shea a debauchee?
• According to the musical The King and I, the English governess to his son
and heir does not like “polygamy or even moderate bigamy” and thus
considers the many-wived King of Siam to be a libertine.
• One of the most famous compulsive seducers is the Spanish Don Juan, whose
very name has become a synonym for a male libertine.
6. chaste (CHASED) From the Latin word for “pure,” this adjective describes a
person who is morally pure in thought and conduct (noun form, “chastity.”)
The meaning is often simplified to mean simply “not sexually active.” It can
also be used figuratively for a pure and simple design in art of architecture.
• “Some students can never remember,” said Prof. Strauss punningly, “that the
Fielding hero Tom Jones was chased, but not chaste.”
• After viewing so many pictures of heavily ornamented cathedrals for her
presentation on Gothic art, Maggie relished all the more the chaste design
of the Greek temple whose photograph hung on her office wall.
7. celibate (SEL ih but) Now used as a synonym for “chaste” in the sense of
“not sexually active,” this adjective, from the Latin word for “bachelor,” for-
merly denoted only the legal fact of being unmarried. You’d probably be
misunderstood if you used it that way today.
• The deeply loving husband and wife voluntarily agreed to occasional periods
of celibacy to help them focus on the spiritual aspect of their union.
• Shakespeare’s heroine Hermia, who refuses to marry the man her father has
selected for her, is given the choice between death and lifelong celibacy in
the service of the unmarried goddess Diana.
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8. ratiocination (RASH e os in A shun ) This noun refers to a methodical and
logical process of thinking. And, yes, it derives from the same Latin word
as the mathematical term “ratio.”
• Edgar Allan Poe’s detective M. Dupin solves the crime of the murders in the
rue Morgue through his talent at ratiocination.
• “Ratiocination is not my thing,” said Billy Ed. “I do okay by going with my
gut feeling.”
9. staid (STAYED) This adjective is most often used as a compliment to mean
“dignified” or, more frequently in a negative sense, “overly prim and
proper.”
• Mr. Alford encouraged his eighth graders to reread Atticus Finch’s staid but
passionate defense of the judicial system in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
“It’s all the more tragic,” said Mr. Alford, “that his faith is unjustified.”
• The staid appearance of Abby and Martha, the elderly aunts in the comedy
Arsenic and Old Lace is indeed mere appearance, for they delight in poisoning
visitors with their homemade wine.
10. spartan (SPAR tun) If you’re spartan in your way of life, you’re far from
hedonistic (#2). You’re self-disciplined, self-restrained, content with a
simple, spare way of life. The adjective also may suggest stoicism (STO ih
siz um), the ability to bear difficult physical or emotional circumstances
without showing distress. The word derives from the ancient Greek city of
Sparta, whose inhabitants supposedly possessed such traits.
• In early twentieth-century England, wealthy families often sent their sons to
somewhat spartan boarding schools featuring hard mattresses, cold showers,
and corporal punishment for offenses.
• “Matt has been positively spartan in his response to disappointments in the
college admissions process,” said Ms. Pleshette, his counselor. “No whining
or moaning—I wish more were like him.”
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All in the Family
57
Words for Family Connections
Chapter
L
ove, trouble, support, grief—what don’t we get from our fami-
lies? It’s no surprise that many words exist to express types of
family connections.
1. scion (SIGH un) This noun is a fancy way of referring to a descendent or
heir, most often to a male of a wealthy family.
• “Being a scion of the McBucks family is enviable in many ways but not
without its own set of problems,” sighed Bucky McBucks on a tough day.
• A scion of a family known for a successful investment business, James Merrill
made his own reputation as a distinguished poet.
2. epigone (EP ih gon) If being a scion is tough, being an epigone is tougher,
for “epigone” always has a negative connotation of “second-rate follower.”
From the Greek word for “child,” this noun is now used for a figurative
“second-generation,” an imitator, a copier of an earlier pathbreaker. A
modern slang equivalent might be “wannabe.”
• No one disputes Mick Jagger’s originality, and no one can count the number
of epigones following palely in his glow.
• Plato was an ardent disciple of Socrates, but he transcended the undesirable
possibility of being a mere epigone.
3. filial (FIL e uhl) This adjective describes the relationship of a son or
daughter to the mother or father. (And think of a related word such as
“affiliated.)
• Although Martina does not have warm feelings for the father who was absent
for much of her childhood, she does her filial duty, checking to make sure
he’s in good health and seeing him on family holidays.
• LuAnne’s filial bond with her mother is more than hereditary or legal:
LuAnne really enjoys her company.
4. avuncular (uh VUNK u ler) As the second and third syllables suggest, this
word describes a relationship with an uncle. By extension, it’s used even
more often to describe the kind, friendly manner of an unrelated man, a
manner like the kind uncle you remember or wish you had had. (Aunts—
time for a protest. There’s no equivalent word for you. Take solace in the
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204 Fiske WordPower
fact that in Latin even some uncles were left out, for the word referred only
to an uncle on the mother’s side!)
• “I can’t wait to see my brother and his son at the family barbecue,” said
Horace. “Nothing like renewing those fraternal and avuncular ties!”
• “McFadden’s avuncular manner doesn’t fool me,” confided Sandra.
“Underneath those corny jokes is a man conspiring to keep me from my next
promotion.”
5. nepotism (NEP o tizm) This noun refers to favoritism shown to relatives in
practices such as business matters. While it comes from the Latin word for
“nephew,” it now refers to any family member.
• “My sister is better qualified for this job than anyone I know,” lamented
Edwina. “Too bad the company has a strict policy against nepotism.”
• Colleges that give preference in admissions to children of alumni practice an
open form of nepotism, a practice outlawed in some companies.
6. posterity (pos TER uh te) In a limited sense, this noun refers to a person’s
descendents (children, grandchildren, etc.). In a larger sense it is used for
a general sense of “future generations.” (It derives from the Latin word for
“coming after,” the same root that makes “posterior” an elegant way to
refer to a person’s rear end.)
• The Smith family, immensely wealthy, has set up a trust to guarantee
comfortable living for their posterity.
• The Nobel Prize for Literature was not bestowed on James Joyce or Marcel
Proust. Posterity has had the last laugh, for those writers draw higher
esteem than most of the winners.
7. lineage (LINN idge) Generally speaking, this noun means “ancestry,” the
“line” going back to your forebears on the family tree. A chart of the family
tree is a called a “pedigree,” from the foot-of-a-crane appearance of such a
chart. “Pedigree” is sometimes used informally to refer to an individual’s
education or training or to a “purebred” animal’s background.
• Petra brags of tracing her lineage back to Charlemagne, ignoring hundreds
of other ancestors who didn’t make the history books.
• “I don’t care about his pedigree,” huffed Mr. Stormer when his daughter
began detailing her fiance’s educational background. “Is he a man who’ll treat
you right?”
8. progenitor (pro JEN ih ter) A progenitor is a direct ancestor, or by extension
an originator. The other end of the spectrum gives us “progeny,” a Latinate
word for offspring, literal or figurative.
• Historians of classical music regard Arnold Schoenberg as the progenitor of
modern music.
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All in the Family 205
• Nell sat back in her easy chair, happy to look again at her holiday cards from
Calvin, Russell, and Lila, each surrounded by their bright-faced progeny.
9. prolific (pro LIFF ik) This adjective describes someone with many offspring,
either literal children or figurative children such as books.
• Farm families of the previous century were often prolific, with each of the
many children assigned farm chores as soon as they were old enough.
• Joyce Carol Oates is an amazingly prolific writer, her fans can barely keep
up with her output.
10. posthumous (PAHS tyoo mus) Literally meaning “after death,” this
adjective has a special “family sense” in referring to a baby born after
the death of his or her father. It can also be used in non-family contexts.
• Modern-day psychologists have written about the childhood of eighteenth-
century writer Jonathan Swift: not only was he a posthumous child, but his
mother was geographically distant from him in his early years.
• Sicilian writer Giuseppe Lampedusa’s only novel, The Leopard, was published
posthumously to great acclaim; the writer knew only the sadness of having
his manuscript rejected twice.
Quick Quiz #19
Chapters 55-57
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ skillful storyteller
2. ______ Italian clown figure
3. ______ whimsically amusing
4. ______ practical joker
5. ______ drunken celebration
6. ______ person devoted to pleasure
7. ______ to party
8. ______ morally pure
9. ______ methodical thinking
10. ______ after death
11. ______ having many offspring
12. ______ ancestry
13. ______ overly prim and proper
14. ______ self-disciplined
15. ______ heir
16. ______ imitator
17. ______ favoritism shown to relatives
18. ______ amusing or outrageous behavior
A. antics
B. bacchanal
C. carouse
D. chaste
E. epigone
F. harlequin
G. hedonist
H. lineage
I. nepotism
J. posthumous
K. prankster
L. prolific
M. raconteur
N. ratiocination
O. scion
P. spartan
Q. staid
R. droll
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A
ll of the words in this list are adjectives that describe elasticity or
the absence of it. Whether you are describing someone who is
supple enough to do the most difficult yoga position, flexible in the
sense of being open-minded, or too hard-wired and unyielding to change
a position either physically or intellectually, there’s a word for it below.
1. resilient (rez ILL ee ent) From the Latin for “to leap back,” this word
describes the ability “to recover readily from illness or misfortune” or to
“get back into shape.” The noun is “resiliency.”
• “Children are quite resilient,” Joey’s pediatrician told his mother. “Though
he’s got quite a bad case of the flu, he should be back on the soccer field in
no time.”
• Although Gloria told Herb he was “dull” and “unattractive” after one date,
Herb’s resiliency enabled him to go back to Meet Your Mate Online and try
another date the following weekend.
2. adamant (AD ah ment) Since this word comes to us from the Greek for
“unconquerable” and “diamond,” it’s no wonder it means “impervious to
reason” or “stubbornly unyielding.” There’s even a stone named “adaman-
tine,” that was thought to be impenetrable.
• After hearing reports of terrorist threats at the airport, Belle’s parents
remained adamant about her not attending the spring break party in
Cancun.
• Although Rajneesh thought his history grade was unfair and complained to
Mr. Lombardy, his teacher, Mr. Lombardy remained adamant, insisting that
his class participation was poor and his final paper was inadequately
researched.
3. lithe (rhymes with writhe) A good word for “limber” or “flexible,” this word
can be used to describe people or things. Another form of the adjective is
“lithesome” or “lissome (LISS um).”
• Carmella’s long, lithe body and natural grace made her a skillful ballet
dancer.
• The lissome elephant grass, bent double in the tropical breeze, formed pale
green loops that waved gently in the morning sun.
Yield
...Or Don’t Yield
58
Describing Flexibility or Its Absence
Chapter
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Yield...Or Don’t Yield 207
4. implacable (im PLAK ah bul) We’re back to unyielding with this adjective. It
means “unable to be appeased or mollified’ (see “What a Relief” chapter).
The noun form is “implacability” or “implacableness.”
• Even though Greg brought her a bouquet of roses and apologized profusely
for missing her piano recital, Jessica remained implacable; she just couldn’t
forgive him for missing her big night.
• Fully aware of Lotta’s implacability when she was upset or frustrated and
fearful of her having another tantrum, her mother made sure to take an extra
cupcake in case Lotta dropped hers.
5. stringent (STRIN jent) From the Latin word for “to draw tight,” this word
means “strict or severe” or “constricted.” It is used to describe actions
rather than people.
• The school imposed stringent rules regarding dress code. Absolutely no
shorts or tank tops were allowed, even on the hottest days of the year.
• Samuel Smiles, the nineteenth-century Scottish political reformer, once said:
“No laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thrifltless
provident, or the drunken sober.”
6. stalwart (stal WART) This word, from the Old English word for “steadfast,”
means “firm” and “resolute” and can be used to describe people or actions.
It can also be used as a noun to mean “one who loyally supports a party or
a cause.”
• The band of striking workers remained stalwart, marching in front of the
factory and refusing to enter until they were given higher wages and better
benefits.
• The antiwar rally was attended by students, conscientious objectors, and a
large group of liberal stalwarts.
7. compliant (com PLY ant) Someone who is compliant is “flexible,” “adapt-
able,” or “willing to agree to the demands of others.” It is generally used to
describe someone who is “submissive.” A good synonym, which comes
from the same Latin root for “to fold” or “to bend” is “pliant.” “Pliant” is
often used to describe flexible things rather than flexible people. The noun
form is “compliance.”
• When Henrietta insisted that her husband come with her to see a doctor, he
came along like a compliant child; he must have been feeling very ill since
he generally distrusts the medical profession.
• “We expect full compliance with the rules and regulations of the country
club,” explained the club president. “That means no bare feet in the lobby or
sitting rooms.”
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8. obeisance (oh-BEY sance) This is not the noun form of “obey.” That’s
“obedience.” “Obeisance” is what you do to express your obedience or
respect. Like a bow or a curtsy, obeisance is “a gesture that expresses
homage or a willingness to serve.”
• Embarrassed by their obeisance and never remembering when it was appro-
priate to return their small bows with bows of his own, Walter had a difficult
time doing business with his colleagues in Asian countries.
• Jeeves bowed every time he entered Mr. Carnegie’s study, certain that his
employer would be pleased by his obeisance.
9. malleable (MAL ee ah bul) From the Latin word for “hammer,” this
adjective means “capable of being shaped or formed (as if by hammering,
either literally or figuratively).” It can be used to describe things or people
who easily adjust to differing circumstances.
• Bernard was an extremely malleable child, which made him easily liked by
the other children, particularly the bullies who always wanted to have their
way.
• The jewelry designer preferred working with silver because it is an extremely
malleable metal, making it ideal for creating unique and intricate settings.
10. inexorable (in EX or ah bul) This adjective means “relentless” or “not
capable of being stopped or changed.”
• Acutely aware of the inexorable passage of time, Ronak shouted “Carpe
diem! Live for today!”
• “In the end, nature is inexorable,” said the nineteenth-century Russian
novelist Ivan Turgenev. “It has no reason to hurry and, sooner or later, it
takes what belongs to it.”
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Bits and Pieces
59
Expressing Quantity
Chapter
W
hether it’s a “ton of” something or just a “smidgen,” a
“chunk” or a “tidbit,” the English language is filled with
words that connote quantity. Here are some of the more
colorful ways to mete out (“portion out” or “allot”) the tinier portions.
1. snippet (SNIP it) Here’s a noun to describe “a bit, scrap, or morsel.” It is
occasionally used informally to describe a small or mischievous person,
usually a child.
• The Farthingtons had so many leftovers after Thanksgiving dinner that they
filled a bowl with snippets of turkey and sweet potatoes and gave them to
their dog, Manolo.
• “Listen, you young snippets,” said Fagin, eyeing the boys playing a game of
dice in the corner of the room. “I’m the boss here and you do as I say!”
2. scintilla (sin TILL ah) This noun means “a tiny amount,” such as “a trace”
or a “spark.” In fact, it comes from the Latin word for “spark.” It’s also the
root of the word “scintillating,” which means “sparkling” or “fascinating.”
• “I believe I taste a scintilla of nutmeg in this Sonoma Valley chardonnay,”
said the oenologist (see the “What’s My Line” chapter).
• “There isn’t a scintilla of kindness in my boss,” whined Geoffrey. “He
wouldn’t let me have the day off, even though I told him it was the opening
game of the World Series.”
3. iota (eye OH ta) This noun is not only the ninth and smallest letter of the
Greek alphabet; it also connotes “a very small amount.” The Latin spelling
of the word is “jota” and gives us a different word with the same meaning:
“jot.”
• “There isn’t an iota of truth in what you are telling me,” Barney shouted at
his son. “You were the last one to use the car and there was no dent in the
fender when I drove it yesterday.”
• Mrs. Rumple squeezed a jot of lemon into her tea and smeared a spoonful of
marmalade on her scone.
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4. modicum (MOD ih come) From the Latin for “moderate” or “measure,” this
noun means “a small or modest amount.” Of course that amount changes,
depending upon what you are meting out.
• “I expect you to comport yourself with a modicum of manners,” Mrs.
Preston told the children. “That includes always saying ‘please’ and ‘thank
you’ when it is appropriate.
• Because Lucy was on a diet, she allowed herself only a modicum of sugar
each day, refusing a second helping of cake even though it was her own
birthday.
5. smidgen (SMIJ jen) This noun comes from the Scottish for “small person”
or “small amount” or, possibly, “small syllable.” It, too, connotes an inde-
terminate but small amount.
• My mother is the kind of woman who cooks without recipes. Her cakes call
for a “smidgen” of vanilla or a”jot” of lemon zest rather than “a quarter of
a teaspoon” or “two pinches.”
• Stuffed after the huge dinner, Cary asked for only a smidgen of pie for dessert.
6. mite (rhymes with tight) As a noun, this word can mean a lot of different
tiny things— a small amount of money, a small insect, a child, or even a
small particle. As an adjective it connotes “to a small degree.”
• The 16
th
century French essayist Michel de Montaigne once said, “Man is
certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes gods by the dozen.”
• “Aren’t you being a mite ridiculous?” Tammy asked. “I can’t believe you are
so angry at me for being only two minutes late.”
7. soupçon (SOOP sone) From the Old French word for “suspicion,” this noun
means a “tiny amount” or “just a trace or a hint.”
• Brigitte bought a blue suit in Paris that was elegant but understated with just
a soupçon of sexy mama in its design.
• Just as we can say, “I taste a suspicion of sugar in this iced tea,” we can say,
“there is a soupçon of cinnamon in this banana bread.”
8. dram (rhymes with HAM) Finally we have a noun for “a tiny amount” that
has a specific weight. A “dram” is “a unit of weight equal to
1
⁄16 of an ounce
or 27.34 grains. As an apothecary weight, it is equal to
1
⁄8 of an ounce. It is
often used to mean a small amount, however, without any reference to its
actual weight value.
• In Act Five of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo asks the apothecary for a dram of
poison, hoping that a small quantity of the liquid will kill him quickly.
• The police officer listened to Fast Eddy’s story without a dram of sympathy
and then issued him a speeding ticket.
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Bits and Pieces 211
9. shard (rhymes with LARD) This noun most often refers to a piece of broken
pottery or a fragment of any brittle material, but it can also be used to mean
“a small piece,” usually larger than the tiny “mite,” “iota,” or” scintilla.”
• The archeologists working outside of the kibbutz in the Sahara Desert found
hundreds of shards of pottery piled in one area of the dig, leading them to
believe that they had come upon an ancient wine cellar or food pantry.
• After he lost his job, his home, and his wife, Frank knew that he had no
choice but to pick up the shards of his broken life, move to a new city, and
start afresh.
10. dollop (DOLL up) This noun probably comes from the Norwegian word
for “lump” and means “a small quantity” or “splash,” usually of a liquid
or soft solid.
• For dessert, Sybil served her famous homemade apple pie with a dollop of
pralines-and-cream ice cream and a smattering of crushed macademia nuts.
• Jad knew that he should take everything Tatiana said with a healthy dollop
of suspicion; he knew she was prone to exaggeration and innuendo (see the
“Oh What a Tangled Web” chapter).
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H
ere’s a list of dark words to brighten a dim vocabulary. The
offerings here will help you to describe everything from a
poorly lit room to a dark mood to a hard-to-see solution to a
difficult problem.
1. obscure (ob SKYUR) This adjective means “so dark as to be barely visible”
or “indistinct.” It can also mean “hidden” or “not well-known,” “not easily
understood,” or “inconspicuous.” You can use the word to describe a little-
known town or author or even a dense piece of writing that’s hard to
comprehend. When it’s used as a verb, it means “to make indistinct or dark.”
The noun form is “obscurity.”
• Albert thought the reading assignments in his philosophy class were so
obscure that he started a weekly study group so that he could go over the
material with his classmates.
• A solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes into alignment with the sun and
obscures it, preventing it from being seen from the earth.
2. crepuscular (crep US cue lar) This adjective means “dim” or “like twilight.”
Unlike “obscure,” it is used solely to describe the quality of physical light.
• Having only one small window, the basement was damp and crepuscular,
even on a bright summer morning.
• More car accidents occur at dusk than at any other time of day because it is
more difficult to judge distances or see other drivers in crepuscular light.
3. nocturnal (NOK turn al) From the Latin word for “night,” this adjective
means “occurring at night” or “most active at night.” A related word is
“nocturne,” which is a painting of a night scene or “a piece of piano music
with a pensive, dreamy mood.”
• A nocturnal creature, my cat Bruiser wanders around the neighborhood at
night, searching through trash cans for food and getting into fights with the
neighbors’ pets.
• Most pianists aspire to play Chopin’s pensive but difficult piano nocturnes.
4. tenebrous (ten EEB rus) This adjective means dark and gloomy and is used
exclusively to describe literal darkness. There is a noun—tenebrosity—but
it is rarely used.
Darkness, My Old
Friend
60
Words for the Absence of Light
Chapter
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Darkness, My Old Friend 213
• The children looked out of the nursery window at the tenebrous woods
behind the house and, imagining ghosts in the trees, called for their nanny.
• The mansion, shrouded in a tenebrous fog, most definitely looked like the
setting for a gothic novel.
5. swarthy (SWAR thee) Here’s an adjective reserved for describing dark
complexions. The noun form is “swarthiness.”
• The poet Walt Whitman described himself as “swarthy” from so many days
spent outdoors under a hot sun.
• When scholars write about Shakespeare’s Othello, they often refer to him as
“the swarthy moor.”
6. shrouded (SHROWD ed) A shroud is something that conceals, protects, or
screens, whether it’s a cloth used to wrap a body for burial or a natural
screen such as a “shroud of fog.” This adjective, therefore, means
“wrapped in darkness.” The word comes from the Middle English word for
“garment.”
• Shrouded in the shade of the weeping willow tree, the lovers had a picnic in
the grass and read poetry to each other.
• We were late to the party because we couldn’t find the house; shrouded in
the crepuscular evening light, it was barely visible from the road.
7. dusky (DUSK ee) Since “dusk” is the darkest hour of twilight, “dusky”
means “dark” or “shadowy.” Like swarthy, this adjective is also used to
describe a dark complexion.
• The Ethiopian’s dusky skin and strong features stood out in the crowd of
Irish boys seated behind the goal line at the soccer match.
• Tess made her way home in the dusky light, fearful that her fragile figure and
innocent expression made her an obvious target for muggers.
8. opaque (oh PAKE) From the Middle English word that means “shady,” this
adjective means several different kinds of dark. First, it means “impenetrable
by light.” It also means “so obscure (see #1) as to be unintelligible.” Finally, it
means “dense,” as in mentally unintelligible. The noun form is “opacity.”
• The drawing room was so bright that Leslie hung opaque drapes on the win-
dows so that the sun would not shine through and fade the upholstery on the
couch and chairs.
• No longer in love with Chloe but afraid to tell her so, Will responded to her
invitation to her parents’ house for dinner with an opaque “We’ll see.”
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9. lowering (rhymes with flowering) Aside from its common usage to mean
“lessen,” this verb also means “to appear dark or threatening.” It can be
used to describe a stormy sky or an angry, sullen look. The noun form is
“lower.”
• Inspecting the lowering sky and feeling the sudden gusts of wind against his
face, Heathcliff spurred his horse to move faster through the heath.
• After the teacher chastised Philippe for talking in class, he gave her a
lowering look but stopped chattering with Kevin.
10. penumbra (pen UM bra) A word often used in astronomy, this noun
means “partial shadow,” the area between complete illumination and
total eclipse. It can also be used figuratively to mean “an area in which
something exists to an uncertain degree.”
• “Although our dress code is very strict,” said the headmaster, “wearing
certain items of clothing, such as shorts, on warm-weather days falls under
the penumbra of ‘exceptions due to climate.’”
• Anxious to avoid the summer heat but wanting to tan herself, Danielle sat
down in the penumbra under a leafy tree.
Quick Quiz #20
Chapter 58-60
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ easily able to recover
2. ______ stubbornly unyielding
3. ______ limber
4. ______ strict
5. ______ relentless
6. ______ a tiny amount
7. ______ a modest amount
8. ______ not easily understood
9. ______ a jot
10. ______ like twilight
11. ______ active at night
12. ______ of dark complexion
13. ______ impenetrable by light
14. ______ to appear threatening
15. ______ partial shadow
A. adamant
B. crepuscular
C. inexorable
D. iota
E. lithe
F. lower
G. modicum
H. nocturnal
I. obscure
J. opaque
K. penumbra
L. resilient
M. scintilla
N. stringent
O. swarthy
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Do It In Style
61
Words for the Fashionable
Chapter
T
hough not everyone knows how to spell it, most of us know the
word “chic” (SHEEK) comes from the French and means
“stylish” or “fashionable.” Below is a list of other words that
convey elegance and sophistication and just might add style to the way
you say “style.”
1. panache (pan OSH) From the Latin word that means “plume,” this noun
means a touch of added style or dash. Just picture a brilliantly colored
feather emerging from a Roman helmet, and you’ll get the idea.
• Jeanette decided to tie a crimson (see “Over the Rainbow” chapter) scarf
around her neck to add panache to her otherwise dull gray business suit.
• “The rhinestone buttons add panache to this wool coat,” said the salesgirl at
the Chic Boutique. “You’ll wow them on opening night.”
2. charisma (kar IZ ma) This noun, which comes from the Greek word for “divine
favor,” means “personal magnetism” or “charm.” It’s used to describe
someone’s personality rather than their fashion sense. The adjective form is
charismatic.
• The president’s charisma made him a powerful public speaker and garnered
him many admirers, despite his scandalous romantic affairs.
• The pop singer’s charismatic stage presence led to her becoming a spokes-
woman for a number of national charities and an outspoken political activist.
3. brio (BREE oh) From the Italian word for “fire” or “life,” this noun means
“vivacity” or “spirit.” It is generally used to describe a way of doing some-
thing. It may have entered the English language from the musical instruction
“con brio,” which means “with energy.”
• “Let’s go, everbody!” Dan shouted with brio as he led the tired scouts up the
mountain. “We can make it!”
• The performer recited Homer’s Odyssey with brio, galvanizing (see the
“Eponyms” chapter) the students with his engaging recounting of Odysseus’s
struggle with the Sirens.
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4. élan (ay LAN) This noun comes from the Old French word for “rush,”
originally from the Latin for “to throw a lance.” Like brio, it means
“enthusiastic liveliness,” but it can also be used, like panache, to mean a
dash of style.
• With his bright yellow scarf and beret, Pierre’s élan was obvious to everyone
at the biology fair; it was clear he was no ordinary scientist.
• Although she was the only woman to wear her Easter bonnet to the post-
parade luncheon, Gladys dressed with so much élan that the hat seemed
perfectly appropriate.
5. esprit (ess PREE) From the French word for “spirit,” this noun means
“liveliness of spirit” or “sprightliness.” You may have heard it used in the
expression “esprit de corps,” which means “a common spirit of enthusiasm
or devotion to a cause among the members of a group.”
• Professor Steinbach’s esprit so charmed her students that they managed to
be passionate about all aspects of chemistry, even the densely written lab
analyses.
• The esprit de corps was so high in the avant-garde dance troupe that they
didn’t seem to mind that no one showed up for their performances.
6. cachet (cash AY) This noun originally meant “a seal affixed to a letter or
document to mark its authenticity” but it has since come to mean “a mark
of quality or a distinguishing feature. It comes from the Old French word
for “to press.”
• The nosegay he wore in his buttonhole gave cachet to Mr. Giovanelli’s
otherwise indistinguishable blue suit.
• Lots of teenagers like to buy clothing with a designer label prominently
displayed because they think it gives cachet to their outfits.
7. flair This noun means a distinctive elegance or style and comes from the
Middle English word for “fragrance.” It can also mean a particular aptitude
or talent.
• Blair has a flair for the dramatic; when she waltzes into a room, dressed to
perfection, everyone takes notice.
• “Catherine will be our new It Girl,” exclaimed the cosmetics company
executive. “Her fresh face and natural flair will convince all women to buy
our new Luscious Lips lipstick.”
8. raffish (RAFF ish) Coming from the Swedish word for “rubbish,” this adjec-
tive can mean” cheaply or showily vulgar in appearance” or “tawdry” (see
“Eponyms” chapter). It is often used today, however, to mean “character-
ized by a carefree or fun-loving unconventionality.”
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Do It In Style 217
• When Jack walked into the classroom wearing a fedora at a raffish angle, his
classmates were amused and his teacher made him remove it immediately.
• Chet’s raffish behavior at parties and other social gatherings earned him the
admiration of Claire, the beat poet, and Stanley, the existentialist
philosopher.
9. rakish (RAKE ish) This adjective means “self-confidently stylish” or “jaunty”
and probably derives from the word “rake,” one of whose meanings is “an
angle of incline from the perpendicular” and is a term used to describe the
tilted masts of pirate ships. It is probably not related to another meaning of
the word “rake,” which is “an immoral or dissolute person.”
• Charlie Chaplin was famous for his duck-footed walk, his bowler hat, and the
rakish way he swung his cane.
• Rakishly dressed for a day of sailing, Alex wore white sneakers and slacks, a
striped sailor’s shirt, and a admiral’s hat tilted at a raffish angle.
10. verve (VERV) From the Old French word for “fanciful expression,” this noun
means “energy and enthusiasm in the expression of ideas, especially in an
artistic performance.” One uses this word to describe how a person does
something, not to describe the person.
• Roberta’s zither performance lacked the verve she brings to her piano
playing; the audience found the concert completely lackluster (a good word
for “dull”).
• “There’s no verve in your step,” shouted the dance instructor as she watched
the budding ballerinas trip haltingly across the dance floor. “Your audience
will expect a little enthusiasm, girls!”
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Y
ou’re scared of spiders, he’s scared of public speaking, they’re
scared of noises in the night. Fear is subjective, but the follow-
ing ten words conjure up concepts that might win a wide
following of fear.
1. jeremiad (jer uh MY ad) This noun refers to a speech or written work that
mournfully laments the wrongdoings of mankind and predicts a kind of
wholesale doom to descend on mankind. The bitter tone is associated with
the writings of the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah (seventh and sixth centuries
BCE), who lamented man’s evil ways. Today it may be transferred to a
lighter variety of doleful complaints.
• The sociology class seemed to be going pretty well until the last week of the
term when Prof. Ausmus broke into a kind of jeremiad about “your gener-
ation,” calling us self-centered and self-serving—ouch.
• Some African American writers in the 1960s thought James Baldwin’s
jeremiad of despair left little room for the possibilities of hope and change
in racial relations.
2. Armageddon (arm a GEDD un) This noun, also of Biblical original (here, the
Christian New Testament), refers to a projected final battle between the
forces of good and evil to occur at the end of time. Like #1, the word is also
used today in reference to more secular concepts. The word itself comes
from a variation of the name of a Palestinian mountain range.
• Michael is such a passionate follower of political matters that he views every
presidential election as an Armageddon.
• Many disagreed with the speaker from the large investment firm who
predicted a kind of economic Armageddon in the near future if current
trends persisted.
3. apocalypse (a POK a lips) From the Greek word for “revelation,” this noun
is also of Biblical origin. It refers to a vision of the total destruction of the
world, cosmic devastation. (Word #2 would be one of various possibilities.)
Adjective form: apocalyptic.
• “The choice of your prom dress is important,” said my mom, “but not one
of apocalyptic importance, not the end of the world.”
Scary Things
62
Words That Conjure Up Fear
Chapter
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Scary Things 219
• Ancient Persians, who were not part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, also had
visions of an apocalypse, some that frightened and some that comforted with
their prediction of the destruction of enemies of the Persians.
4. Gorgon or gorgon (GOR gun) This noun, which now can refer to a woman
who is regarded as terrifying, has its origin in the Greek myth of three
sisters, each with a headful of serpents and the ability to turn beholders
into stone.
• Depressed by her low grade on her Spanish project, Helena privately lashed
out at her teacher: “Señora Ehrhardt is a gorgon, a monster without being a
myth!”
• Visual artists enjoy the challenge of depicting the snaky-haired Medusa, the
most famous of the Gorgons.
5. chimera (ki MEER ah) and chimerical The noun form denotes another
scary female from Greek mythology. The mythological chimera was a fire-
breathing monster; part lion, part goat, and part snake. A chimera became
the more generalized word for any creature of the imagination, any
unfounded concept. The adjective form may be seen more often today.
• Sometime in the eighteenth century the concept of a giant sea snake ceased
to be a chimera and became a zoological fact.
• Andrea traded in her chimerical hopes of becoming a second Madonna for
work on an MBA degree.
6. incubus (IN kew bus) In medieval folklore, this malevolent demon could
sexually attack women in their sleep. Now time has transformed that
frightening image into any oppressive burden that torments an individual
as a nightmare might torment. And indeed the word derives from the Latin
word for “nightmare.”
• After the Civil War there was much rejoicing that America had at last freed
itself from the incubus of slavery.
• My twenty-page term paper on endangered species oppressed me all
semester. I’m glad to be free of that incubus.
7. juggernaut (JUG er naut) This noun refers to any overwhelmingly power-
ful, unstoppable force, usually destructive. Most people today don’t know
that it was originally a title for a Hindu god.
• Has the juggernaut of desire for instant gratification overcome the time-
honored principle of working for a long-range goal?
• The Dyersburg Trojans had hoped to win the regional football
championship this year, but the juggernaut force of the Union City Golden
Tornadoes has prevailed.
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8. specter Literally, a ghost (or wraith or apparition), this noun is now often
used for any disturbing image of a future disturbance.
• On the night before the battle in which he was killed, Richard III was visited
by specters of all those whom he had murdered, at least in Shakespeare’s
version of his life.
• The specter of a lifetime of minimum wage jobs kept Lenore motivated to
continue prepping to pass the bar exam.
9. feral (FER ul) This adjective can describe either an animal in the wild or one
returned to living in such a state. It can also describe human behavior that
is more like the savagery of an animal.
• Brad and Susanna, ardent cat lovers, wanted to adopt one of the feral cats
prowling the garbage dump, but they worried about the response of Moggy
and Lily, their pampered Persians.
• The feral smile of the salesperson was almost more disturbing than a leer,
thought Candace.
10. anathema (ah NATH eh ma) This noun comes to us from the Greek
word that came to mean “doomed offering” or “accursed thing.” Today
the meaning is roughly synonymous with a strong curse, a near wish for
damnation. (Oddly, its original meaning was positive—a thing set apart
as an offering to the gods—but the purely negative sense is all that’s left
now.) The word can refer to either the curse itself or the person or thing
that is cursed. In the later case, it is not necessary to include an article
when using it in a sentence.
• To Dorothy, a confirmed luddite, the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on
a laptop computer is anathema; she would rather use the money for a
fountain pen, some fine stationery, and an antique writing desk.
• In the opening act of Macbeth, the three witches gather on the heath and
revel in the anathemas they have placed upon a sailor and his wife.
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No End in Sight
63
Words That Mean Endless
Chapter
S
ometimes the end is desired, sometimes not. The words below
offer terms for either situation
1. interminable (in TERM in uh bul) Literally meaning “not able to end,” this
adjective is chiefly used to describe something tedious, a situation you
wish
would
end.
• During the seemingly interminable lecture on Habits of Twelfth-Century
Monks, Dustin contemplated the state of his fingernails and mentally made
a list of girls he’d had a crush on.
• Rosetta endured her mother’s interminable questions about her where-
abouts and her companions only by thinking of how soon college life would
prevent these inquisitions.
2. indefatigable (in de FAT ig abul) If you’re indefatigable, your energy never
ends; you’re incapable of becoming fatigued. Lucky you!
• Is it true that Julius Caesar was virtually indefatigable, dictating his
observations on the Gallic Wars while riding on horseback?
• “Even if I were indefatigable, I don’t want to work a sixteen-hour day,”
mused Frederick as he once again contemplated a career change from
corporate lawyer to deep sea diver.
3. abiding (uh BIDE ing) If it abides with you, it lives with you, and thus it
doesn’t end.
• Stephanie has an abiding love of board games: as a child she played
Candyland and Sorry for hours, and now she’s a chess fanatic.
• His abiding distrust of strangers has caused Leon difficulties in casual social
encounters.
4. limbo (LIM bo) Modern use of this noun refers to a state that
feels
as
though it will never end because you’re getting no attention or information
that might enable you to move on. The word originated in Roman Catholic
theology as an afterlife space of neither punishment nor reward (usually
capitalized when used in this sense). Souls placed there remained for
eternity. (No relation to the West Indian dance of the same name!)
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• “Yes, I’m staying on the waiting list for Exley, my first choice college,” said
Alf. “But I hate being in limbo, not knowing whether I’ll be there or at
Wiley, my second choice school.”
• In Dante’s poem The Divine Comedy, written from a Christian perspective,
the pilgrim’s tour of the afterlife reveals the Roman poet Vergil in Limbo; he
suffers only by knowing that others have a chance at greater happiness.
5. incessant (in SES unt) This adjective is a varyiant form of “unceasing.”
• The incessant banal cellphone conversations by fellow passengers made
Juan’s train trip less of a pleasure than it had been in less advanced techno-
logical times.
• Prof. Roskelly worked incessantly on her new book on rhetoric, determined
to meet the publisher’s new deadline.
6. ineluctable (in e LUCT uh bul) This adjective is a formal word for
“inevitable,” “inescapable.” In that sense, the end
is
in sight.
• The Fall of Troy was foredoomed by Fate, but each generation of inhabitants
sought to postpone the ineluctable event.
• The seductive Lola in the musical Damn Yankees seeks to persuade her
chosen victim that struggle is meaningless, for his surrender to her is
ineluctable.
7. unremitting (un re MITT ing) This is another adjective for something that
never stops, never slackens. Memory tip: it’s not “in remission.”
• The unremitting pain of Tim’s fractured wrist dented his pleasure in the ice
fishing expedition with his buddy Geoff.
• Darby’s unremitting pleasure in Joan’s company made him quote Antony’s
lines on Cleopatra, “Age cannot wither nor custom stale her infinite variety.”
8. pertinacious (per tin A shuss) This adjective means “holding on to a belief
or a plan,” “persistent.” It’s a near-twin of tenacious. (That there should be
two such similar adjectives—and with varying spelling—is one of the
mysterious delights of the English language.)
• No one is so pertinacious as a four-year-old who wants his parent to
purchase the Whameroo, a toy advertised every three minutes on television.
• Edison’s tenacious belief that he could invent a light bulb sustained him
through several false attempts.
9. unflagging (un FLAG ing) When something flags, it tires, possibly stops.
So the adjective describes something that does not tire, does not stop. The
root word is Scandinavian.
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No End in Sight 223
• Dinner party conversation began to flag with dessert; everyone had already
said whatever they had to say, which was, in the case of several guests, not
much.
• Sisyphus’s efforts to push the huge boulder up the hill left him with a rolling
stone but with unflagging spirits, if we believe philosopher Albert Camus.
10. relentless (re LENT less) There’s no stopping the adjectives for “unstop-
ping” (#4 is the exception). The root word derives from a word meaning
“to melt,” but the “relentless” never melts, never slows. You can also say
“unrelenting.”
• The relentless pressure on Margaret to succeed had begun when she was
three months old: her parents played the music of Mozart in the nursery
because they had read that it aided development of an infant’s brain.
• The unrelenting beat of the drum resounded through the tropical night,
delighting the dancers (Were they doing the limbo?) and frustrating the
would-be sleepers.
Quick Quiz #21
Chapter 61-63
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ inescapable
2. ______ endless
3. ______ tireless
4. ______ personal magnetism
5. ______ vivacity
6. ______ distinguishing feature
7. ______ stylishly unconventional
8. ______ jaunty
9. ______ battle between good and evil
10. ______ vision of cosmic devastation
11. ______ creature of the imagination
12. ______ malevolent demon
13. ______ unstoppable force
14. ______ ghost
15. ______ savage
16. ______ a curse
17. ______ persistent
A. apocalypse
B. Armageddon
C. brio
D. cachet
E. charisma
F. chimera
G. feral
H. incubus
I. indefatigable
J. ineluctable
K. interminable
L. juggernaut
M. anathema
N. pertinacious
O. raffish
P. rakish
Q. specter
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224 Fiske WordPower
Usage Test #7
Chapters 55-63
1. There’s not a ____ of evidence that the accused man was even at the
scene of the crime.
2. Jeremy could feel the arrival of final exams pressing on him like some
kind of _____.
3. Please add a _____ of kindness to your tone; we all need more than a
teeny little bit.
4. Mr. Skirball was ____ about the fact that the document had to be ready
by 5:00 p.m.
5. In the _____ light one could just make out the fact that three men were
walking along the road.
6. I have never seen anyone as _____ as Maude; once she gets an idea
for a project, she just doesn’t let go.
7. The monkey’s ____ body was draped around Al’s head and shoulders.
8. How did your irresponsible friends get you to _____ until 3:00 a.m. on
the night before your big test?
9. The clouds _____ on the horizon made us feel that we should not set
out for a long hike.
10. Although the living conditions were ____, there was a compensating
air of good fellowship at the camp.
11. The social critic came close to delivering a _____ about the future of
the country; he’s really very gloomy about things.
12. Those with a strong sense of ____ will be able to use their deductive
abilities and solve this case quickly.
13. I love Ethan’s stories; he’s a great _____.
A. adamant
B. carouse
C. chaste
D. crepuscular
E. hedonist
F. inexorable
G. jeremiad
H. juggernaut
I. lithe
J. lowering
K. modicum
L. nepotism
M. panache
N. pertinacious
O. posthumous
P. raconteur
Q. ratiocination
R. scintilla
S. spartan
T. stringent
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No End in Sight 225
14. The poet Robert Southey talked about writers’ need to earn a living,
saying they could not exist on “_______ bread and cheese.”
15. The society kept the women closely chaperoned to ensure they
would remain ____ until they married.
16. He seems to be living entirely for pleasure these days—what a _____.
17. There are very ____ penalties for anyone who violates the honor code
because we take cheating very seriously.
18. The air of ____ with which Alison performs has made her much in
demand, for everyone enjoys a confident sense of style.
19. The ____ passing of time makes most people aware of the importance
of treasuring every day.
20. Ruth had hoped her husband could work for her company some day,
but then she learned there was a policy against ____.
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T
his list makes a good preparation for the “Oy” chapter, which
comes next. These words offer ways to express more pacific (or
“peaceful”) feelings.
1. halcyon (HAL see yon) The “halcyon” was a Greek mythological bird, a
type of kingfisher that was supposed to have the power to calm the wind
and the waves. It’s no wonder, then, that the adjective has come to mean
“calm” and “peaceful.” It is also used to refer to the “golden days,” the
peaceful and happier days of the past. In fact, the adjective is generally not
used to describe people at all but rather to describe places or periods of
time.
• The nineteenth-century British poet Christina Rossetti has written: “My
heart is like a rainbow shell/That paddles in a halcyon sea.”
• “I remember the halcyon days,” Ruby’s grandfather reflected, “when it was
possible to find an affordable apartment in this city and walk the streets
without fear of being mugged.”
2. somnolent (SOM no lent) From the Latin word for “sleep,” this adjective
means “sleepy” or “sleep-inducing.” A good synonym is “soporific.”
• Their faces pale and somnolent in the moonlight that shone in through the
nursery window, the children waited for their mother to come in and kiss
them each goodnight.
• During the lecture series on the subject of finding happiness, the microbiol-
ogist gave a speech so soporific that half the audience was out like a light
after the first half hour.
3. ruminate (ROO min ate) This verb means “to chew cud,” as cows do, and
comes from the Latin word for “throat.” It belongs in this chapter because
it also means “to reflect on carefully” or “to chew over” in the mind, “to
meditate upon.”
• “You look like Rodin’s Thinker,” Juliet said as she watched her father
ruminate about the recent events in the Middle East.
• Albert Camus, the French philosopher, ruminates about the absurdity of the
human condition in his famous essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus.”
Om
64
Words That Connote Peacefulness
Chapter
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Om 227
4. repose (ree POZ) This noun means “the state of being at rest.” It can also be
used to suggest extreme rest, that is, “death,” as when a body is “in repose.”
The adjective is “reposeful.”
• Lying in repose on the divan in her sitting room, Charlotte looked as if she
were posing for Manet.
• “The body is in repose at the Happy Rest funeral parlor,” read the obituary
in the local newspaper.
5. equilibrium (EE kwil IB ree um) In physics, this noun means “the state of a
physical system at rest”; in chemistry, it means “a chemical reaction in
which its forward and reverse reactions occur at equal rates.” The word is
here, however, because we also use it to describe a state of mental
balance. Someone with equilibrium is stable and calm; he or she has
“equipoise” (a good synonym).
• Tom took one look at the maple tree that had fallen on his roof in the storm
and lost his equilibrium. “It’s going to cost me a fortune to repair that slate
roof,” he wailed in despair.
• After falling clumsily on stage in the first act of Swan Lake, the girl picked
herself up with perfect equipoise and got back on line with the rest of the
swans.
6. equanimity (eek wan IM it ee) This is another good noun for “equipoise”
or “equilibrium,” but it is used only to describe a state of mind. It means
“the quality of being calm and even-tempered, of having composure.”
• With a look of perfect equanimity on his face, the yogi sat on the floor,
closed his eyes, crossed his legs, and began to meditate.
• Batman met the Joker’s hostile glare with a look of perfect equanimity
before taking off in his Batmobile with a screech of rubber.
7. concord (KON kord) Part of the root of this noun is the Latin “
cord”
or
“heart.” It’s no surprise that it means “harmony” or “total agreement.” A
related noun is “accord,” which means the same thing.
• It’s not true that cats and dogs are natural enemies. My dog Daisy and my cat
Henrietta live together in perfect concord.
• After hours of debate, the two senators finally reached an accord about
revamping the Social Security system.
8. sedate (seh DATE) As an adjective, this word means “calm, composed, or
dignified in manner.” It can also be used as a verb to mean “to calm by
means of a drug that has a tranquillizing effect.”
• Lawrence was a sedate young man in his mid-twenties who dressed quite
soberly and never acted rudely or aggressively in the company of others.
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228 Fiske WordPower
• When the emergency medical team discovered that Stella was in shock after
the car accident, they thought it best to sedate her and bring her to the
emergency room.
9. quiescent (kwee ESS ent) A good synonym for this word is “quiet,” not in
the sense of “not noisy” but in the sense of “peaceful” or “at rest.” The
noun form is “quiescence.”
• Many of the shops in the mall have big sales in February to drum up business
in the quiescent period after the Christmas rush.
• Samuel Johnson, the eighteenth-century writer and lexicographer, said:
“Great abilities are not requisite for an historian; for in historical composi-
tion, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts
ready to his hand; so there is no exercise of invention.”
9. sinecure (SYNE ek your or sin ek your) This noun means “a job or similar
position that provides a salary but little work”—a great deal if you can get
it.
• Kareem’s position as the ambassador of good will was little more than a
sinecure; he was paid well and given a beautiful apartment in town, but he
rarely had to offer his good will to either visitors or natives.
• Damian was officially hired to be a landscape gardener at Shea Stadium, but
the position turned out to be a sinecure as he was able to watch all of the
Met games for free but did very little actual gardening.
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Oy
65
Words About Agitation and Aggravation
Chapter
T
he Yiddish expression “Oy vey” literally translates as “Oh woe,”
as in: “Oh, woe is me!” and is often shortened to a simple “Oy!”
The words on this list are all about being agitated, annoyed, or
aggravated, about the feeling that inspires a yelp of “Oy!”
1. exacerbate (ex ASS er BATE) When you “exacerbate” something, you
“aggravate” it or “increase its severity.” Its Latin root means “to make
harsh.” The noun form is “exacerbation.”
• The swelling in Mrs. Cunningham’s knee was exacerbated by the fact that
she had to keep bending down to pick up the toys left on the floor by her
twin sons, Aiden and Frank.
• The antics of disc jockeys like DJ Hamentashen exacerbate the pop music
industry’s image as contrived, superficial, and manic.
2. exasperate (ex ASS per ATE) Though it sounds like “exacerbate,” this verb’s
meaning is slightly different—“to irritate” or “annoy” or to
feel
“irritated”
or “annoyed.” Think of it this way: a situation is “exacerbated” (or “exas-
perated”) and then a person feels “exasperated.”
• Celia was exasperated after hours of conversation with a support technician
from her online service provider; no matter what he told her, she still
couldn’t sign on to the Internet.
• Disneyland exasperated Charles. The lines were long, the weather was
brutally hot, and he was tired of being waved at by Mickey Mouse.
3. harass (has ASS or HAR ass) This verb means “to persistently torment or
irritate” or “to wear out with repeated attacks.” There are lots of almost
synonyms, including “pester,” “badger,” and “hound,” but none quite
evoke the intensity and persistence of “harass.” The word comes from the
Old French
harer
, which means “to set a dog on.”
• Desperate for some fresh photos for the next issue of Celebrity Face magazine,
the paparazzi harassed the film star by following her all over town; he even
collided into her Mercedes with his truck in order to photograph her
irritation when she saw the damage.
• The landlord was always harassing his tenants for the rent, convinced that
they wouldn’t pay on time if he didn’t keep reminding them.
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230 Fiske WordPower
4. provoke (pra VOKE) This verb means “to incite to action or feeling,” more
specifically to feelings of anger or frustration. It comes from the Latin for
“to challenge.” The adjective form, “provocative,” means” stimulating,”
sometimes in a specifically sexual way. The noun is “provocation.”
• “Merwin Williams’s provocative new book about global warming will make
you seriously reconsider before buying a car that isn’t fuel-efficient,” said one
reviewer.
• “You are dressed too provocatively,” Melissa’s father insisted. “Go back
upstairs and put on a blouse that covers your bellybutton and a skirt that’s at
least knee-length.”
5. goad (rhymes with ROAD) In Old English, a “gad” was “a long stick with a
pointed end, used for prodding animals.” The word “goad” which comes
from this root has a more general meaning—“to urge” or “ to prod,” but
it retains some of its negative connotation. It can be used as a noun or a
verb.
• The anticipation of summer vacation is a good goad for making students
study for their final exams.
• Goading their team to victory, the crowd in the front row at the basketball
game shouted words of encouragement and waved banners proclaiming: “Go
Tigers!”
6. prickly (PRIK lee) One definition of this adjective is “marked by jabs or
pricks,” and this suggests its more figurative meaning, which is “irritable”
or “grouchy.”
• Knowing her husband could be prickly in a traffic jam, Mrs. Simpson
suggested a back route that avoided highway congestion.
• The prickly owner of the local soup shop shouted “No soup for you!” when
his customers made too much noise while waiting on line.
7. cantankerous (can TANK er ous) This adjective may come from the Latin
word
contingere
for ”to touch.” It means “very touchy” or “ill-tempered”
and “disagreeable.”
• Though he is often cantankerous to the residents of Sesame Street, Oscar
the Grouch has a secret heart of gold.
• The cantankerous Mrs. Noodlesburg frequently reprimanded the Miller
boys for playing softball on the street in front of her house.
8. testy (TEST ee) Another adjective that means “irritable,” this word comes
from the French word
tête
, meaning “head.” Someone who is “testy” is
“impatient” or “exasperated” or, considering the root, “headstrong.”
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Oy 231
• “Don’t get testy with me!” shouted Grandmother Vargas when her grand-
son Victor rolled his eyes and refused to stay home for the evening to watch
his little brother.
• Testy after a long day at work and a suffocating subway ride in the heat, Mr.
Sugarman was in no mood to hear about his daughter’s request for a new car.
9. beleaguer (be LEEG er) This verb comes from the Dutch for “around the
camp.” Like “harass,” it means,” to persistently torment” or, given the root,
figuratively “surround with troops.” One can beleaguer or pester someone
or be beleaguered by them.
• The beleaguered mother made herself a cup of coffee after her colicky
infant again woke her in the middle of the night.
• The beleaguered Confederate troops were forced to retreat after their
crushing defeat at the Battle of Little Roundtop.
10. irascible (ear ASS ible) This adjective means “ill-tempered” or being
near
but not quite
in
a state of anger (think “irate”). It’s a stronger feeling than
“prickly,” more along the lines of “cantankerous.” The irascible person
conveys a sense of “I might get angry if you push me any further.”
• I like Ginger, but her irascible nature makes me a little frightened of her, for
I don’t like to be yelled at.
• Konrad may indeed have an artistic temperament; does that give him the
right to be irascible much of the time?
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T
he words on this list all have to do with learning or teaching.
They should be instructional to both the novice (“a person
who is new to a field or activity”) and to the veteran (“a person
who is well-experienced or practiced in an activity”).
1. erudite (ERR yeh DITE) This adjective has an interesting history. It comes
from the Latin roots for “untaught” or “rude.” In English, however, it was
used to mean “learned” as early as the fifteenth century and, though it was
used only sarcastically for periods of time, it was ultimately used only to
mean “learned” or “scholarly.” The noun form is “erudtion.”
• The students at State College love Professor Krupotkin because he is
generous with his time, creative in his teaching methods, and so erudite in
the field of Russian history.
• Isabella’s erudition became quite obvious during her lecture at the
Archeological Institute; she has translated more than twenty-five languages,
including Sanskrit, Mandarin, and ancient Greek.
2. recondite (REK on DITE) Here’s an adjective that describes something that
is not easily understood or very “obscure” (see “Darkness, My Old Friend”
chapter). The noun form is “reconditeness.” “Recondition,” on the other
hand, means “to restore” something or put it back into good condition.
• The writings of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard are recondite not
only because of the complexity of his ideas but because of his dense writing
style and its awkward translation into English.
• “The operating manual to my new dvd player is as recondite as a page out
of a medieval history text,” wailed Ben. “I can’t figure out how to play
anything, let alone set the timer.”
3. pedagogue (PED ah GOG) From the Latin word for “a slave who
supervised children and took them to and from school,” this noun has
come to mean “schoolteacher” or “educator.” Although the adjective
“pedagogical” means “having to do with educational matters,” the noun
form often has a slightly negative connotation. A “pedagogue” often
instructs in a “pedantic” (see #4) or “dogmatic” (see “Stubborn as a Mule”
chapter) manner.
Chalk Talk
66
Words About Teaching and Learning
Chapter
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Chalk Talk 233
• Always the pedagogue, my father turned breakfast into an excuse for teaching.
Every morning, my sisters and I had to listen to a lecture on the nutritional
value of corn flakes or the relative merits of raising chickens organically.
• The teachers’ conference being held in Phoenix next June will deal with various
pedagogical matters, ranging from the use of PowerPoint in the teaching of
poetry to ways to make the curriculum more multiculturally diverse.
4. pedant (PED ant) This is a not very complimentary noun for a person who
pays too much attention to book learning and formal rules. A pedant is
ostentatiously learned and narrow minded. The adjective form is “pedantic.”
• Gregory was such a pedant that when Sarina sent him a love letter, declaring
her passion for him, he corrected the spelling and sent it back to her.
• Professor Carismundi’s teaching methods were so pedantic that few students
signed up for his classes. He taught the history of philosophy but never
discussed the ways in which the various philosophers’ ideas were relevant to
human experience.
5. didactic (dye DAK tik) From the Greek word for “taught,” this adjective
means “intended to instruct.” It, too, is sometimes used negatively to
describe someone who teaches or moralizes excessively. “Didact” is the
noun form.
• Though the minister often gave interesting sermons during weekly chapel,
he had a tendancy to be too didactic, forcing the students to focus on facts
and academic issues rather than to reflect on their spiritual lives.
• Maggie’s mother was didactic about everything; even preparing dinner could
turn into a lecture about nutrition and healthful eating habits.
6. docent (DOE sent) This noun represents a specific kind of teacher. It is
someone who lectures at a university without being a regular faculty
member or a tour guide who lectures at a museum or cathedral.
• Although Karen was hoping to get a full-time job as an English professor at
the university, there were so few positions available that she finally took a job
as a docent in the humanities department for one year and waited on tables
in her spare time to increase her income.
• After four years as an art history major in college, Julie got a job as a docent
at the Dia Arts Center in upstate New York, leading tours of new exhibitions
by contemporary artists.
7. tyro (TY ro) From the Latin word meaning “squire” or “recruit,” this noun
means “a beginner in learning something.” It’s a good synonym for “novice.”
• “There are three levels of hills at this resort,” explained Sven, the ski
instructor. “There’s the Bunny Run for the tyros, Pleasure Hill for the
moderately experienced skiers, and Break-A-Leg Mountain for the experts.”
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234 Fiske WordPower
• Since he was just a tyro at the guitar, Devon wasn’t yet able to play the more
complicated Beatles songs. His teacher told him he would need a couple of
months of lessons before he could take on “Norwegian Wood.”
8. savvy (SAV ee) This adjective may well be the only word in the English lan-
guage with a double “v.” It comes from the Old Spanish for “to know” and
from the Latin for “to be wise,” but it means more than “smart.” Someone
who is “savvy,” is “well-informed and perceptive.” There is even a touch of
shrewdness in the word’s connotation.
• A savvy investor, Herb made a fortune in the corn futures market by study-
ing weather conditions in the Midwest and reading The Farmer’s Almanac.
• Having worked as a buyer for several clothing boutiques and department
stores, Anne was a savvy shopper; she knew where to shop for the newest
fashions at the lowest prices.
9. edify (ED if fye) This verb means more than just “teach;” it means “to
instruct morally, intellectually, or spiritually.” It comes from the Latin word
for “to build” and suggests the building of character.
• The rabbi’s lecture to the group of Hebrew school students was edifying as
he attempted to teach them what it means to be devout in a world that is
increasingly secular.
• “You might not think playing video games is an edifying experience, but I
do,” Ralph said to his father. “Super Mario has taught me not to give up in
the face of adversity. I think that’s a pretty morally uplifting message.”
10. empirical (em PEER ik al) This is an adjective about learning, not teach-
ing. A student who learns empirically is “guided by practical experience
or observation rather than by precepts or theory.” It comes from the
Greek word for experienced. The noun for is “empiric.”
• Andrew’s psychology professor taught him the textbook definitions of
psychotic behavior, but empirical evidence suggested that his anxiety was
perfectly normal.
• The university president was shunned by the public for insisting that women
are weaker in math and science than men without any real academic basis or
empirical proof for his assumptions.
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Chalk Talk 235
Quick Quiz #22
Chapters 64-66
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ intended to instruct
2. ______ peaceful
3. ______ sleepy
4. ______ to reflect on
5. ______ mental balance
6. ______ total agreement
7. ______ composed
8. ______ a job with a salary but little work
9. ______ to aggravate
10. ______ to torment
11. ______ to urge
12. ______ ill-tempered
13. ______ scholarly
14. ______ obscure
15. ______ educator
16. ______ beginner
17. ______ shrewdly perceptive
A. cantankerous
B. concord
C. didactic
D. equilibrium
E. erudite
F. exacerbate
G. goad
H. halcyon
I. harass
J. pedagogue
K. recondite
L. ruminate
M. savvy
N. sedate
O. sinecure
P. somnolent
Q. tyro
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Y
ou don’t have to be an artist, a fashion designer, or a interior
decorator to know the right word to describe a particular shade
or hue. Here is a list of adjectives for a spectrum of colors that
will give you a much broader palette to choose from.
1. azure (AH zhur) This word comes from the Persian word for “lapis lazuli,” a
brilliant blue stone first mined in Turkistan. It is a light, purplish blue, the
color most often used to describe the sky on a sunny day.
• Dorothy and the Tin Man romped through the field of poppies under an
azure sky.
2. vermilion (ver MILL yen) From the Latin word for the larvae of a worm
from which the dye was first obtained, this is a vivid red. This word is often
used when you want to say something more interesting than “fire-engine
red.”
• Many visitors to Key West stroll to the boardwalk at sunset to watch the sky
turn a brilliant vermilion and see the sun drop below the horizon.
3. teal (TEEL) This is actually the name for a small, short-necked, freshwater
duck with bright plumage. As a color, it is a dark bluish-green, the color of
the feathers usually found on the head and wings of these ducks.
• The window dresser had difficulty with the display of the new teal fashions;
the clothes were too blue to blend with the green backdrop but clashed with
the light turquoise floor.
4. crimson (KRIM sun) This color ranges from a bright red, like vermillion, to
a vivid, purplish red. It comes from the Old Spanish word for a shield-
louse insect, from which the dye was first obtained. You often find crimson
used to describe the color of blood.
• Daisy’s cheeks flushed a bright crimson at the mention of Giovanelli’s name.
5. cobalt (KOH ballt) This is a deep, vivid blue, which sometimes ranges to a
greenish-blue. The metallic element cobalt is often used to create the blue
glass used for bottles of imported designer water.
Over the Rainbow
67
Words for a Spectrum of Colors
Chapter
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Over the Rainbow 237
• Rebecca held the cobalt bottle up to the light, but it was such a deep blue
that it was difficult to determine how much perfume was still left inside.
6. puce (PYUCE) This word comes from the French word for “flea,” and is said
to be the same color as the wings of a flea—a deep red to dark, grayish
purple.
• The puce-colored walls of the apartment were meant to be subtle and
elegant but appeared instead to be a dreary gray.
7. sepia (SEE pee ah) This is a dark brown ink or pigment that was originally
prepared from the secretion of the cuttlefish. In fact the word comes from the
Latin for “cuttlefish.” It is most often seen in old documents or manuscripts,
which were written in sepia-colored ink, or in old photographs.
• Andreas perused his parents’ old photo albums, studying the sepia images for
nineteenth-century costume designs.
8. heliotrope (HEEL ee oh trope) Ranging from a brilliant violet to a deep,
reddish purple, this color takes its name from the Latin word for a Peruvian
plant with small, fragrant, bright purple flowers that turn towards the sun.
• Emma wore a heliotrope silk gown to the ball which brought out the violet
in her eyes.
9. cerulean (sir ROO lee an) This color ranges anywhere from a brilliant sky
blue to a deep blue to a bluish green. It was often used by classical writers
to describe the sky, the Mediterranean Sea, and, occasionally, leaves or
fields.
• At twilight, the aqua-colored sea turned cerulean, contrasting sharply with
the white sails of the passing ships.
10. chartreuse (SHAR troose) This color comes from the name of a brilliant
yellow or green liqueur from the monastery of the Carthusian order and
is an apple-greenish yellow color, popularly used in DayGlo-colored
paint.
• Emile used differently colored highlighting pens for each of his textbooks:
hot pink for math, chartreuse for history, and blue for English.
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T
here are many different kinds of sweetness and an equal num-
ber of ways to express the variations. Below you’ll find a range
of words for describing things that taste, sound, or act sweet.
There are even specific words that mean too sweet or artifically sweet.
Let’s begin with a general noun for a sweet thing:
1. confection (con FEK shun) Not only does this noun mean a sweet concoction
like a piece of candy or a cupcake, but it also means any kind of object that
displays a splendid craft or skill. The adjective form is “confectionary.”
• The bakery’s shelves were stocked with delectable (see #8) confections such
as raspberry tarts, pecan rolls, and seven-layer cakes.
• Sandra’s frilly ballgown was a delightful confection of organza, silk, and lace.
2. treacly (TREE klee) From the Middle English word that means “antidote for
poison,” this adjective means cloyingly (see below) sweet or overly
sentimental. It can be used literally or figuratively. Treacle is literally a
sweet syrup.
• The treacle was particularly tasty on the salty biscuits.
• “You are the kindest police officer I have ever met,” Simone said in a treacly
voice. “Are you sure you want to give me a speeding ticket?”
3. cloying (KLOY ing) This adjective originally comes from the Latin meaning
“to drive a nail into.” It’s no wonder it means something that is so overly
sweet and rich that it tastes bad. It can be used literally or figuratively.
• Allison loves her boyfriend, but she is overwhelmed by his cloying
expressions of fidelity.
• I only put lemon in my tea because I find the taste of honey too cloying.
4. maudlin (MAWD lin) This adjective is actually a contraction of Mary
Magdalene, who was frequently depicted as a tearful penitent. It means
effusively (or gushily) and tearfully sentimental.
• I knew that Margaret was capable of somewhat maudlin behavior, but I was
stunned when I saw that telephone commercials made her cry.
How Sweet It Is
68
Words for Sweet Things
Chapter
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How Sweet It Is 239
• Henry found the production of the Yiddish play maudlin and melodramatic
and gave it a bad review.
5. unctuous (UNK chew us) This adjective comes from the Latin word for
ointment and actually means oily or slippery. It’s in this chapter because it
also means affected or insincere earnestness. Someone who is unctuous
often acts too sweet.
• The unctuous politician not only kept the graft money; he was actually
reelected.
• “I’ll be your best friend if you help me,” Mary Ann said unctuously. “Please,
please, please!”
6. dulcet (DULL cet) From the Old French word for sweet, this adjective
means sweet or pleasing to the ear, melodious. It can describe a voice or
a musical sound. Though there is a verb form—dulcify—which means to
sweeten, no one ever uses it.
• Phoebe played dulcet tones on her harp, but her husband kept right on
reading the newspaper.
• “I love your azure eyes, your delicate earlobes, the dulcet tones of your
voice,” Tristan crooned, hoping to win his lady’s affections.
7. euphonious (u FONE ee us) Like dulcet, this adjective means sweet or
pleasing to the ear. It comes from the Greek meaning sweet-voiced. The
noun form is euphony.
• Irving Bodolowsky changed his name to Johnny Rocket because he thought
it sounded more euphonious.
• Because of the euphony of the soprano section, the choir leader placed the
altos and the tenors in the back rows.
8. delectable (de LEKT able) This adjective doesn’t necessarily mean sweet,
but it does mean pleasing to the taste buds. It can be used as a noun as
well as an adjective.
• The juicy mango slices were delectable on the scorching hot July afternoon.
• The hostess of the mah jong game brought in a platter of delectables; they
weren’t all sweet, but there was a generous assortment of candied ginger,
caramel toffees, and chocolate-filled cream puffs.
9. winsome (WIN sum) Not to be followed by “lose some,” this adjective
means charming in a sweet or child-like way. Only people are winsome,
not things. The word comes from an Indo-European root which means “to
desire or strive for.”
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• The winsome child looked so longingly at the pony that the ranch hand took
her for a ride.
• “How do I look?” Blanche asked with a winsome expression on her face. “I
haven’t worn this dress since I left Belle Reve.”
10. saccharine (SAK a rin) A cross between cloying and maudlin, this adjec-
tive means excessively sweet and overly sentimental. People who are
saccharine are probably not being genuine. Like the artificial sweetener,
it’s a contrived replacement for the real thing.
• “She’s so sweet, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth,” hissed Leonore,
referring to Phyliss’s saccharine words about her new haircut.
• With a saccharine smile, Harvey told his new boss that her criticism was
extremely helpful.
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Sourpuss
69
Words for Sour Things
Chapter
F
or every word that evokes sugar, there may well be a matching
one that connotes vinegar. Here’s a group of words you can use
to describe the bitterest sourpuss you know.
1. acerbic (ah SERB ik) This adjective can be used to describe something that
literally tastes sour, or it can used more figuratively to describe a bitter
character or cuttting expression. “Acerbity” is the noun, but it is rarely
used.
• H. L. Mencken’s acerbic wit was beloved by intellectuals and social critics.
• The acerbic tarragon vinegar prevented the cole slaw from tasting too sweet.
2. acrimonious (ak ri MO nee us) If you want to describe bitterness in some-
one’s language, tone, or even behavior, use this adjective. It comes from
the Latin word for “sharp.” The noun form is “acrimony.”
• The couple broke into an acrimonious battle in divorce court, forcing the
judge to shout, “Order in the court!”
• The acrimony between the competing players on the court forced the
referee to threaten to pull them out of the game.
3. astringent (ah STRINJ ent) Based on its medicinal use, which means “to draw
together or contrict tissues,” this adjective means “sharp” or “penetrating,
severe.” The noun form is “astringency.”
• The teacher’s astringent comments on Angus’s history essay convinced him
to rethink his thesis and write a new analysis.
• The astringency of Orwell’s commentary on life as a policeman in Burma
earned him praise from the lower classes.
4. embittered (em BIT turd) Like it sounds, this adjective means “having
bitter or negative feelings aroused by something.” The noun form is not
“bitterness” but “embitterment.”
• Embittered by defeat, the Italian army had no kind words for the German
officers.
• Crushed by embitterment, Alexis vowed never to marry.
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5. acidic (ah SID ik) This adjective can also be used literally or figuratively.
Something that is acidic can have a high chemical acid content, but it can
also be used to describe a sour personality or a sharp humor. The simple
adjective “acid” is also acceptable.
• The Chateau Margaux tasted so acidic that James was forced to call over the
sommelier to help him choose a new bottle.
• The Speaker of the House’s acid remarks forced the Republican senator to
retract his argument.
6. captious (CAP shus) Based on the Latin word for “seizure,” this adjective
means “marked by a tendency to find and point out (catch) trivial faults.”
• The captious English teacher corrected his student for saying, “It is me”
instead of “It is I.”
• “It is impossible to work for such a captious man,” wailed Mary Ann. “He
makes me type everything over twice before he is satisfied.”
7. vitriolic (vit ri OL ik) Here’s a particularly strong adjective that means
“scathing” or “bitterly cruel.” It‘s reserved for the most acidic humor or crit-
icism. The noun form is “vitriol.”
• The humor of comedian Lenny Bruce could be particularly vitriolic when
he was mocking conventional mores and ideas.
• Put off by his vitriol, Angela decided not to see Charles anymore and began
dating a very gentle pharmacist.
8. caustic (CAW stik) From the Greek word meaning “to burn,” this adjective
means “biting or cuttingly sarcastic.” Caustic comments really sting on an
emotional level. The noun “causticity” is pretty much only used in scientific
writing.
• “If I were you, I’d put a paper bag over my head before going out with that
haircut,” said Richard caustically. “But don’t worry; it will grow.”
• Many students appreciate the caustic humor of The Daily Show; they get a
kick out of Jon Stewart’s criticism of our administration.
9. rancor (RANK or ) This noun means bitter, long-lasting anger or resent-
ment and comes from the Latin word meaning “to stink” or “be rotten”
(see #10). The adjective form is “rancorous.”
• Gwendolyn’s rancor at her sister was so intense that she agreed to go to her
party but refused to wish her a happy birthday.
• Ben’s rancorous remarks drove his wife to seek a marriage counsellor who
could help him learn the art of gentle criticism.
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Sourpuss 243
10. rancid (RAN sid) Rancid comes from the same Latin root as rancor but is
used slightly differently. It means “repugnant” or “nasty,” but it doesn’t
describe people, only their remarks or behavior. It can also be used to
describe food that has gone bad.
• After two weeks in a warm refrigerator, the milk was rancid.
• The valedictorian’s rancid remarks about the school’s curriculum
embarrassed the principal at the graduation ceremony.
Quick Quiz #23
Chapters 67-69
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ pleasing to the ear
2 ______ describing food “gone bad”
3. ______ artificially sweet
4. ______ dark brown in color
5. ______ bitter in tone
6. ______ fault-finding
7. ______ long-standing bitterness
8. ______ deep blue in color
9. ______ overly sweet in taste or manner
10. ______ very angry
11. ______ weepily sentimental
12. ______ flatteringly hypocritical
13. ______ the color of a flea
14. ______ sky blue in color
15. ______ sweet in tone
A. acerbic
B. azure
C. captious
D. cerulean
E. cloying
F. dulcet
G. euphonious
H. maudlin
I. puce
J. rancid
K. rancor
L. saccharine
M. sepia
N. unctuous
O. vitriolic
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O
ligarchy, oenology, opaque—many words start with “O” but a
select few end in “O.” You may have limited use for the dingo
(wild dog of Australia) and the fandango (Spanish American
dance), but the ten listed here should be in your hoard of words. And
check out “imbroglio” and “fiasco” in chapters 76 and 11.
1. bravado (bra VAD o) This noun refers to a swaggering variety of pretended
courage. If you’re faking bravery, you’re displaying bravado.
• Kyle wanted to back down from the taunt he had thrown at the stranger, but
the code of bravado known to many teenagers prevented his doing so.
• When Samuel Johnson said, “He who would be a hero must drink brandy,”
was he implying that alcohol reinforces bravado?
2. braggadocio (brag a DOE se o or she o or sho) A step above bravado in
swaggering, this noun implies a cocky kind of bragging. It sounds Italian,
but it comes into English from the sixteenth-century poem “The Faerie
Queene,” where it is the name of a boastful character.
• When Mel told Merry, “You’ve never known anyone like me before,” she
quickly responded, “I’ve never known anyone with your sense of braggado-
cio, you mean.”
• Although Mr. Fite’s words were unassuming, the audience sensed an under-
lying braggadocio in his manner.
3. virago (veer AH go) This noun refers to a woman seen as (a) bossy and
domineering or (b) strong and courageous. Context (or viewpoint) is all. It
derives from the Latin word for “man.”
• Casper Milquetoast scribbled in his diary, “I am surrounded by vicious
viragos. If only I had the courage to stand up to them!”
• The Virago Press specializes in the printing of literature by women.
4. crescendo (creh SHEN doe) Think “increase,” for this noun comes from the
Italian word of that meaning. Its original use is to describe a steadily grow-
ing loudness of sound, but it is now also used for any increase in intensity or
The Wonderful World
of “O”
70
Interesting Words That End with
the Letter “O”
Chapter
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The Wonderful World of “O” 245
force. (Purists still frown on the growing use of “crescendo” as a synonym
for “peak” or “climax.”)
• As Tchaikovsky’s music began its crescendo and the fireworks simultaneous-
ly rose in the sky, the crowd in the park set off a spontaneous cheer.
• Caroline Gordon taught her students of writing to build a crescendo in their
sentences, holding for last the word most deserving emphasis.
5. libretto (lib RET oh) As suggested by the suffix, a libretto is literally a little
book. Its use is reserved to name the text of an opera or similar work.
• When Mrs. Stoopy termed “pretentious” the fact that Mr. Stoopy had
brought the libretto of Aida with him to the performance, he snapped,
“You’re lucky I didn’t bring the score.”
• Is it fair that Giuseppe Verdi gets all the praise for the opera Otello while his
librettist Arrigo Boito goes almost unmentioned?
6. farrago (fah RAHG oh) This is one of many nouns to mean a mixture, a
hodgepodge, an olio, a potpourri, an olla podrida, a gallimaufry.
• The sentence above contains a farrago of synonyms for “farrago.”
• Jackie went to Dr. Smollett with a farrago of complaints: his leg hurt, he
sometimes couldn’t move his elbow, his eyelid tickled, and the like.
7. peccadillo (peck a DIL oh) A little sin, a small fault, this word comes into
English from the Spanish.
• Ms. Armstrong never dreamed she could be fired for a peccadillo such as
playing one game of solitaire on her office computer, especially a game she
had lost!
• Fans of W. C. Fields relish his famous line, “None of your peccadilloes, my
little chickadee.”
8. folio (FOAL e oh) A folio is a large book. You’ll probably most often hear it
in the phrase “The First Folio,” which refers to the first printing of all of
Shakespeare’s works. It’s a large book because the leaf (think foliage) is
folded only once to produce the two folio pages. (Extra knowledge: if the
leaf is folded again, you get a quarto, four pages, a smaller book. Folding it
yet another time produces an even smaller book, an octavo.)
• His grateful students presented Mr. Bruner-Smith with a facsimile of
Shakespeare’s First Folio as a retirement gift.
• While she admired the hard-backed quarto version of her favorite novel, the
octavo paperback was both less expensive and more portable.
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9. rococo (ro KO ko or ro ko KO) Formally, this adjective describes styles of art
and music (originating in the eighteenth century) characterized by orna-
mentation. By extension, it can describe anything, ornate, elaborate, or
complicated.
• “Maybe something a little less rococo?” suggested Elaine, when her room-
mate asked for her opinion on the dress with the flounced ruffles and lacy
bodice with a contrasting furbelow.
• The music of Couperin and Rameau will be featured at the “Rococo Rocks”
concert this weekend.
10. bibelot (bee buh LO) (The sound of the word ends in “o,” if the written
word does not!) The word names a decorative little object, a tchotchke.
• Mimi was disappointed when the beautifully wrapped box Rodolpho gave
her contained not a diamond ring but only a tasteful bibelot.
• Mrs. Stuk-Upp was annoyed when the domestic staff referred to her
expensive bibelot vitrine as a “whatnot shelf.”
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The Play’s the Thing
71
Theatrical Words
Chapter
S
hakespeare’s Hamlet uses a play to reveal the guilty conscience of
his murderous uncle, but our task is simpler: we’ll use the theatri-
cal realm to give us ten useful, interesting words.
1. repertory (REP er TOR e) or repertoire (REP er TWAR) Whether you choose
the English or the French version of this noun, you are referring to a col-
lection of plays (or poems or songs) that an acting company or a performer
is prepared to enact. Figuratively, the word can refer to any skills or apti-
tudes of a person or a group.
• The Whitworth Acting Company not only has all of Shakespeare’s English
history plays in its repertory, but during intermissions two of the actors
display their fencing skills.
• When they asked the short order cook at P. D.’s Grill if he could make a
special order of lobster thermidor, he smoothly replied, “Sorry, guys, that’s
just not in my repertoire.”
2. denouement (day NOO mon) This French import refers to a working out of all
the factors that made the plot thicken. It can be used for a play, a novel, or
real life. Literally, it means “un-knotting,” getting the kinks out of the thread
of the plot. Sometimes it’s used more loosely to mean “the final result.”
• The playwright had so many different plots going in the first half of the
play—pirates, vampires, and spacemen—that the audience was not surprised
that the denouement was unbelievable.
• Xenia’s first three years at Hedgepeth University were marked by a trip
abroad, a broken leg, and a major love affair; can the denouement of her
college years be any more dramatic?
3. thespian (THESP e un) This noun is a fancy term for, simply, an actor. It
derives from the poet Thespis, who supposedly originated Greek tragedy.
It can be used as an adjective meaning “related to plays.”
• “All you thespians out there, listen up,” blared the public address system.
“There will be tryouts Friday afternoon for the Springfield High School
version of Spam-a-lot.”
• Jo is equally interested in acting and singing; so far no critic has encouraged
her as a vocalist, but her thespian aspirations have met with some success.
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4. proscenium (pro SEEN e um) Literally, the area in a theater between the
curtain and the audience or the orchestra pit. This noun is sometimes used
as a word of contrast with more innovative “theater in the round,” which
lacks any such space.
• “I’m tired of Shakespeare productions on the proscenium stage,” said Mr.
Williams. “Let’s eliminate that fourth wall and get right next to the audience
in our beatnik version of Romeo and Juliet.”
• The proscenium was jammed during the final curtain call, as actors, stage-
hands, and technicians clustered together in a democratic “all-together” bow.
5. tableau (tab LO) Originally, this noun referred to actors “freezing” in position
as if forming a painting for the audience. More often these days you’ll see it
used for a striking scene or even a vivid description.
• The photograph of the smiling baby in front of his father, his grandfather,
and his great-grandfather presented a kind of tableau of the last ninety years.
• The early parts of the novel Jane Eyre gives readers a tableau of the life of a
nineteenth-century English governess.
6. protagonist (pro TAG un ist) A protagonist is the most important character in
a play. The character in conflict (the Greek word “agon”) with the protago-
nist is called an “antagonist.” In extended usage each word can be used,
respectively, for a leader of a cause and his or her opponent.
• In Shakespeare’s tragedies the protagonist is dead by the end of the play.
• Abraham Lincoln’s antagonist in his race for a seat in the Senate, Stephen
Douglas, is little remembered today.
7. catharsis (ka THAR sis) Greek tragedies, said the philosopher Aristotle, cause
viewers to undergo a figurative cleansing—a catharsis—of emotions such as
pity and fear. We still use the word to talk about Greek tragedy, and we also
use it for any experience that leaves an individual with a feeling of release
from emotional tension.
• The innovative musical The Gospel at Colonus uses a gospel choir to express
the viewers’ sense of catharsis after the death of the protagonist, Oedipus.
• Stephen’s argument with his dad at the Thanksgiving dinner table was
embarrassing to the guests, but both father and son found it cathartic; by the
pumpkin pie they were cracking jokes together.
8. hubris (HUE bris) This classical Greek word for an excess of pride that may
lead to a downfall is used both for what happens within Greek tragedy and
for what happens in modern day life.
• Whenever a protagonist declares himself as equal to the gods, the audience
may expect that such hubris will be punished.
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The Play’s the Thing 249
• Mona’s claim that she’ll be CEO of General Motors someday seems
hubristic, for she has only been out of business school for three years.
9. pathos (PAY thoss) Another word straight from classical Greek, pathos is
the Greek word for “suffering” (think “sympathy” or “empathy”). A play
or other work of art that arouses feelings of pity, concern, or tenderness in
the viewer or reader may be said to possess pathos.
• A sense of pathos welled up in the hearts of the usually tough members of
the team when they saw the photographs of famine victims, and they vowed
to raise money for the relief effort.
• Dostoyevsky has scenes of great pathos in his novels: who can read, without
pity, of a poverty-stricken widow, herself ill, forcing her little children to
dance and sing for money in the streets?
10. farce (FARSE) A farce is a comic play characterized by improbable but
humorous elements. By extension, the word can describe anything so
absurd as to be laughable, whether by its humor or the fact that it
makes a mockery, a joke, of an undertaking. (And isn’t it a little bit funny
that the origin of this word means “seasoned stuffing”? )
• The French farce featured three swinging doors, a trapdoor, and four
windows: characters repeatedly missed each other by seconds, causing the
audience to roar harder each time.
• “Student government at Montrose High is farcical,” complained
Annemarie. “Kids just run for office so they can list it on their college
applications.”
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D
on’t misunderstand. The words are fully defined, but each of
them expresses a concept that, for varying reasons, is not
immediately seen as fully shaped or precisely expressed. Is it
chaotic or merely inchoate (see #1)?
1. inchoate (in KO it) This adjective describes anything that is in a very early
state of development. An early stage could be chaotic, but it’s more likely
to be simply vague or unformed. In short, you’re just “hitching up,” as the
history of the word confirms: it comes from the technical term for a strap
that’s hitched to a harness.
• Polly asked the student senate to give her plans for the homecoming
celebration a vote of confidence even though they were too inchoate at the
time of the meeting to permit her to give the specifics.
• Judith and Glenn, engaged for three weeks, know they’re going to have a big
wedding in some exotic spot, but plans are inchoate, so don’t press them for
details.
2. amorphous (a MORF us) To describe something that lacks a defined shape
or organization, this is the right word. It comes from the Greek prefix “a,”
meaning “absence of” and the word “morph” for “shape.”
• In the new film production of Hamlet, the ghost is not an actor in armor but
an amorphous area of lightness with a commanding voice.
• Anais has some amorphous ideas for the required intellectual autobiography
for her graduate school application, but hasn’t yet developed an organizing
concept.
3. nebulous (NEB u lus) Cloudy. That’s both the definition and the word
history of this adjective.
• Aaron wants to take a “gap year” between high school and college, but he has
only the most nebulous of concepts of how he wants to spend the time.
• “What do you want to buy with your $200 reward money?” queried the
officer. “Oh, stuff,” said Megan, nebulously.
Not Fully Defined
72
Words That Mean Vague
Chapter
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Not Fully Defined 251
4. intangible (in TAN ji bul) If it lacks material shape or form, it’s intangible.
You can’t touch it. In short, you can’t tango with the intangible.
• Good will is certainly intangible, but savvy business owners know it is
important to the success of their operation.
• Maria looks at the next ten years of her life and knows she wants a career, a
home of her own, children, and a reasonable chance at intangibles such as
health and happiness.
5. allusive (al LOOS ive) Something allusive is characterized by an indirect
reference. The speaker or writer assumes the hearer or reader will under-
stand a statement that is not fully spelled out. (Don’t confuse this word with
the similar word “elusive,” meaning “tending to escape one’s grasp.”)
“Allusive” comes from the Latin word meaning “to play,” and indeed
allusions are playfully enjoyable—as long as you understand them.
• As we drove across the Delaware River, Alice’s dad, ever the amateur
historian, said allusively, “I hope you’re all feeling like George Washington.”
• When Ms. Witherspoon added a tray of diet soft drinks to the buffet table,
she said, “Let there be lite.” When everybody but me laughed, I knew that
once again I had failed to comprehend an allusive reference.
6. ambivalent (am BIV a lent) If you’re feeling ambivalent, you can see equal
merit in more than two opposing courses of action. The root words are the
Latin words for “both” and for “weigh.”
• The Roman poet Catullus’s ambivalent phrase “I hate and I love” (Odi et
amo) has been a solace to generations of ambivalent lovers since.
• Lara says she feels ambivalent about her preference for a presidential
candidate the next time around, but Tristan is already quietly campaigning
for his choice.
7. cryptic (KRIP tik) A crypt is a place where bodies or treasure may be hidden
away. As an adjective, “cryptic” describes that which has a hidden or a puz-
zling meaning.
• The pirates puzzled over the cryptic markings on the map, longing to
believe a store of gold doubloons was waiting for them on the island.
• Rory’s airs of superiority and cryptic utterances such as “Some day you’ll
understand” do little to win friends.
8. sophistry (SOPH is tree) If you engage in sophistry, you seem good at
arguing your case with superficially good reasoning that turns out to be
full of holes. The sophist is out to display his or her cleverness and enjoys
fooling others. The root word is the Greek word for wisdom, but sophistry
is a poor substitute for the real thing.
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• If Mr. Claxon wants to play the sophist with his friends, fine, but he has no
business coming into a junior high classroom and misleading students not
yet able to rebut his superficially clever logic.
• One may fool others with sophistical thinking, but one must be very clever
not to indulge in self-deception.
9. ineffable (in EF a bul) Something ineffable cannot be expressed in words.
While it may occasionally have the sense of the taboo, something
forbidden, it’s most often used to describe thinking about the abstract, the
transcendental.
• Poets and mystics may try to get at the ineffable through allusion, hint, or
image.
• Claire’s grandfather died shortly after she turned thirteen , and she found
herself puzzling over ineffable matters such as life, death, and a possible
hereafter.
10. spurious (SPYUR e us) From the Latin word describing an illegitimate
child, this adjective now describes anything “of dubious origin.”
• Ian kept trying to impress Guy with his vocabulary by telling him how
“cromulent” everything was with him. Finally, he confessed that “cromulent”
was a spurious word made up by a character on The Simpsons.
• While Ye Olde Antique Shoppe was well-stocked, Aunt Augusta felt sure that
many of their items were spurious and that the buyer should beware.
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Not Fully Defined 253
Quick Quiz #24
Chapters 70-72
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ a small misdeed
2. ______ the working out of a plot
3. ______ a mixture, an assortment
4. ______ abstract
5. ______ seeming wisdom
6. ______ having mixed feelings
7. ______ lacking a defined shape
8. ______ evoking feeling
9. ______ puzzling, mysterious
10. ______ relating to acting
11. ______ a fierce woman
12. ______ excess of pride
13. ______ a cleansing or purging
14. ______ ornate, elaborate style
15. ______ small decorative object
16. ______ pretended air of courage
17. ______ unable to be put in words
18. ______ collection of material
A. ambivalent
B. amorphous
C. bibelot
D. bravado
E. catharsis
F. cryptic
G. denouement
H. farrago
I. hubris
J. ineffable
K. intangible
L. pathos
M. peccadillo
N. repertoire
O. rococo
P. sophistry
Q. thespian
R. virago
Usage Test #8
Chapters 64-72
Put the letter of the most appropriate word in the blank space of
each sentence.
1. It’s fine a have a healthy sense of pride but when it comes to border
on ___, then it’s excessive.
A. amorphous
B. astringent
C. beleaguered
D. catharsis
E. crescendo
F. cryptic
G. equanimity
H. erudite
I. euphonious
J. farrago
K. goad
L. hubris
M. recondite
N. sinecure
O. spurious
P. teal
Q. thespian
R. tyro
S. unctuous
T. vitriolic
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254 Fiske WordPower
2. Prof. Maxwell is an excellent teacher and can make even the most ___
historical events come to life.
3. I know Mickey didn’t mean the things he said, but I’m having a hard
time forgetting those cutting and ____ comments he made.
4. Most people recognize and dislike flattery, but for some people no
behavior is too ____ to be seen as insincere.
5. When you’re a ____ in a certain field, you need to try hard to learn
from the more experienced people.
6. Slowly the ____ blobs took on a more defined shape and became
coordinated into a clear picture.
7. She’s not aiming at being deeply ____ about the presidency, but she
does want to understand the most common references.
8. People who can regard all of life’s hardships with a sense of ___are to
be admired.
9. The bluish-green neck of the duck has supplied it with its name; it’s
referred to simply as a ____.
10. The poet had selected words for the opening line of the poem that
were particularly ___; many people memorized it to have the pleasing
sounds in their head.
11. Her desk contained examples of the many types of books she like to
read. Quite a _____.
12. You must be feeling particularly ____ with so much work to do and so
little time to do it.
13. He’s the leading ___ of the school and is certain to win the drama
award.
14. The fact he doesn’t get paid until he finishes the work serves as a
____ for the completion of the project.
15. The alarm clock began its ____ of noise, getting louder and louder as
the sleeper failed to rouse herself to turn it off.
16. Janine enjoys tricky word puzzles—the more ___ it is, the better she
likes it.
17. The document is undergoing tests to determine whether it is genuine
or _____.
18. His ____ anger has a particularly wounding quality to it.
19. Evelyn is willing to work hard on a summer job; she’s not looking for
some kind of ____.
20. Although Clay found it difficult at first to talk about his overpower-
ing father, getting his feelings out may have served as a kind of ____.
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Y
our one thousand word journey is at the seven hundred twenty
word marker. Your journey up the Himalayan mountain of
vocabulary building is almost three-fourths completed. But
rather than experiencing a sense of exhaustion or the increasingly hard-
to-breathe air implied by the literal experience of traveling or climbing,
you should be feeling pride in your successful effort to strengthen your
vocabulary and a sense of mastery now that so many new words have
come into your ken. Those verbal antennae encouraged at the start of
this book are now as limber and as powerful as the wand of a fairy-tale
magician. But there is no magic—only determination and work—in
your decision to strengthen your vocabulary.
So, what remains now is doubly easy in terms of both tools of
learning and in number of new words. You know what techniques work
best for you, and you have only two hundred eighty more words to
review or to learn. You’ll go smoothly from “lachrymose” (start of
chapter 73) to “ebb” (end of chapter 100). If you’re puzzled now by
these sentences— “Almost no one finds a sense of anomie titillating,” or
“The ancient priest quaffed the libation,” or “He sloughed off his aunt’s
advice about the antimacassar,” or “I feel more weltschmerz than
schadenfreude these days,”— that bewilderment is about to end.
Mastery
3
Stage
Chapters 73–100
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256 Fiske WordPower
The quizzes and tests continue, and a recommended extra practice
session and a final exam offer you a final sense of achievement. May we
offer our own shout of “Bravo!” as you start this final stage and, as you
complete it, a more admiring cry of “Bravissimo!”
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The Blues...and Other
Unpleasant States of Mind
73
Words That Express Sadness
Chapter
T
he English language has many words for states of happiness—
and perhaps even more for various types of unhappiness. Let’s
look at some.
1. lachrymose (LACK rih mose) This adjective can mean either “weeping,
inclined to weep” or “tending to cause weeping.” It comes into English
directly from the Latin word for “tears.”
• Certain types of novels feature lachrymose heroines; these frail creatures are
equally likely to pull out their lace handkerchiefs at news of the death of a
distant relative or the sight of frolicking puppies.
• Logan could not abide such lachrymose literature. Give him a robust novel
about battle at sea!
2. morose (more OSE) This adjective describes someone who is melancholy,
gloomy, generally down in the dumps.
• While there is little pleasure in the company of those who are morose, those
who are unflaggingly cheery can also be tiring.
• Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice opens with a line by Antonio, a
morose character, who is bewildered by his mood: “In sooth, I know not
why I am so sad.”
3. apathetic (ap a THET ic) This adjective describes someone who lacks feeling,
lacks interest, has a bad case of “the blahs.” It comes into English from the
Greek root word “path” (feeling) and the prefix “a” (absence of). Noun form:
apathy.
• Although Mattie claimed to be apathetic about political disputes, she cared
very much when the issue touched her life directly.
• The humor of the old joke line “I’m not apathetic; I just don’t care.”
requires that the hearer know the meaning of the key word
4. listless This adjective, which comes from Middle English where “list”
could refer to interest or desire, works as pretty much as a synonym for
apathetic. Unlike that word, however, listless can refer to a physical as well
as an emotional state.
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258 Fiske WordPower
• After her best friend Sheila moved hundreds of miles away, Lola felt lonely
and listless for a time without the daily pleasure of her company.
• A bad case of flu left Allan both looking and feeling listless even after the
doctor allowed him to return to school.
5. despondent (de SPOND ent) This adjective meaning “discouraged,”
“dejected” comes into English from a Latin verb meaning to give up, to
despair. Noun form: despondency.
• The ancient philosophy of stoicism urged against despondency. Its follow-
ers sought to remain calm, whatever circumstances life might bring.
• After a few days of feeling despondent that he had not gotten the job he had
sought, Mr. Van Zandt rallied his spirits and began a new series of interviews.
6. lugubrious (lug OO brius) This adjective means “gloomy,” often to an exag-
gerated degree, and comes from the Latin word meaning “mournful.”
• Just because you had to miss the track meet is no reason to drag your
lugubrious attitude around the hallways, making no attempt to pull yourself
out of a bad mood.
• The lugubrious tone of the card Lauren sent to Dan was more worthy of a
sympathy note than a thirtieth-birthday card.
7. morbid (MOR bid) This adjective comes from the Latin word for “disease”
but in English refers more often to a disturbed state of mind, an emphasis on
or preoccupation with unwholesome thoughts.
• Rory listened patiently while, at the breakfast table, his sister read him bits
of newspaper articles about the recall of contaminated food and on the
spread of child abuse; when she started in on the dangers of avian flu, he
cried out, “Please, sis, something less morbid!”
• Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Fall of the House of Usher” features a
character with a morbid acuteness of his senses: this fellow would have a
tough time at a club with strobe lights and a disco ball.
8. querulous (KWER u lus) This adjective comes from the same Latin root as
“quarrel,” but rather than seeking the possible release of an argument, the
querulous person whines, complains, grumbles.
• Until you’ve spent your birthday taking care of a pair of querulous toddlers,
you don’t know the full beauty of a few moments of solitude.
• Some see the character of Hamlet as querulous, but most Shakespeare
lovers would claim the beauty of his language and his wit redeem him.
9. petulant (PET u lunt) This adjective describes one who is generally
irritable, bad-tempered. If you’re reading older literature, you may come
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The Blues...and Other Unpleasant States of Mind 259
across it as meaning contemptuous or childishly rude, and it may contain
a shade of that feeling today.
• Mr. and Mrs. Oldham privately lamented the spoiled nature of their
neighbors’ young child: “Nothing makes little Reynard happy. He remains
petulant even when given chocolate ice cream and a red balloon.”
• All of us crave attention from our friends and our family, but an air of
petulance is likely to be counterproductive.
10. peevish Most people have a pet peeve, something that frequently annoys
us, but we should try not to act peevish in response. This adjective
describes the mood of one who is unpleasant to be around. It’s roughly
synonymous with “petulant” (#9), but if that word retains some sense of
sending a bad mood outward onto others, a “peevish” mood may go
more inward into a crabbed, grumpy state of mind.
• When Dana was in a peevish mood, all efforts to draw him out only made
him retreat further into his mental cave.
• Although Clarice turned down Randy’s request that she accompany him on
his trip, she did offer to drive him to the airport. He peevishly replied, “It’s
the least you can do.”
11. dolorous or doleful (DOLE ur us or DOLE ful) If you are feeling dolorous
or doleful, you’re grieving or feeling sad or sorrowful. The words can also
be used for situations that cause the sadness. Both words come from the
Latin word for pain.
• The dolorous expression on young Buddy’s face displayed the sadness he
was feeling at the death of his beloved dog.
• What a doleful situation—Ann’s sister had to have emergency surgery on the
day of the planned family reunion.
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H
appiness is just a thing called X and Y and Z. There are many
ways you can experience your sense of well-being and many
words you can use to describe it. Let’s look at some of these.
1. euphoric (u FORE ik) This word generally suggests an extreme of happiness,
a “wow” feeling. (Its origins in Greek are more modest; it literally means
having good health, and indeed that should be a cause of great happiness.)
Noun form: euphoria.
• Mary Lou was understandably euphoric when she learned that she had just
won the state lottery.
• Ms. Bosco claims that her cat feels euphoric when he gets a fair ration of cat-
nip; while it’s hard to know about an animal’s feelings, jumping up and down and
tossing the shreds of catnip in the air does indeed suggest intense happiness.
2. ebullient (e BULL yent) This word describes an outward manner of high
enthusiasm that would presumably come from a feeling of joy and high spir-
its. Its Latin root word is a verb meaning “to bubble up,” so we might say
you’re figuratively “boiling over” with happiness when you’re ebullient.
Noun form: ebullience
• Lucretia’s good mood was evident to us all from her ebullient greeting of
each of us with a newly coined, affectionate nickname.
• When his accountant told him about the large tax refund he would receive
this year, Mr. Gadda’s resulting ebullience prompted him to make an im-
mediate booking of a trip to Patagonia.
3. buoyant (BOY unt) If you’re buoyant, you’re feeling light-hearted, uplifted.
Figuratively, we might say you’re floating on air, but the word derives not
from air, but from water: think “lifebuoy,” a device that enables one to float
in water. In short, whatever floats your boat could make you buoyant.
Noun form: buoyancy
• When Romeo learned that Juliet returned his feelings of love, he felt
positively buoyant.
• Sanjay’s buoyancy when he received a contract for his novel came partly
from the money he received but mainly from his pride at being a published
author.
Get Happy
74
Words That Express Joy
Chapter
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Get Happy 261
4. ecstatic (ek STAT ik) This word implies an extreme of happiness. While
today it can be used as a synonym of euphoric, its early history often finds
it used negatively, almost a synonym for being mad, deranged. (Indeed its
Greek roots suggest more the idea of “being beside yourself.”) But this
word has left all that negativity behind, and pure joy is what remains.
Noun form: ecstasy.
• Ingrid was ecstatic when she learned that her science project had been
awarded a top prize in the Intel competition.
• The prospect of floating along the canals of Venice in a gondola was for Lila
a great pleasure; when she learned the usual high fee would be cancelled, her
feelings moved closer to ecstasy.
5. jublilant (JOOB ill unt) The modern meaning of this word is, like the words
before it, the simple idea of being very happy. The history of this word has
religious overtones within both Christianity and Judaism (it’s ultimately from
the Hebrew word for “a ram’s horn”) and you may encounter older uses with
this shade of meaning. The noun form, “jubilee,” is equally complex. In addi-
tion to its more common meaning of a celebration, it can have a formal
meaning of a celebration of a fiftieth anniversary.
• Ms. Zak was jubilant when she learned that her son, her daughter, and all
three grandchildren would be able to spend the holiday weekend with her.
• Didn’t Queen Elizabeth II of England celebrate a jubilee fairly recently?
6. exultant (ex ULT unt) Here is yet another word meaning “extremely happy.”
It has not very common noun forms (exultance and exultancy) and, unlike
the five adjectives before it, there is a common verb form, exult, meaning,
“to be very happy.” (Its Latin root—a leaping dance step—suggests its
meaning.)
• An exultant look came onto Ben Hur’s face as he realized that victory in the
chariot race was certain.
• One of W. B. Yeats’s poems paradoxically challenges a friend whose work has
come to nothing to exult; we more ordinary folk are more likely to exult
when our hard work pays off.
7. jocular (JOCK u lar) A different variety of “smiley face” is represented by
this word. “Jocular” has nothing to do with “jocks”; rather, it means “tend-
ing to make jokes.” There are two close verbal cousins: “jocose,” which can
be synonymous or can carry a more generalized meaning of “merry” and
“jocund” is a somewhat more literary word meaning “lighthearted.” All
three have their roots in the Latin word for “joke.”
• Bartholomew was normally a serious fellow, but April Fool’s Day brought out
his jocular side.
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262 Fiske WordPower
• Lana’s mood is somewhat more jocose than it was during exam week.
• If months had personalities, the month of May might be called jocund.
8. risible (RIZ uh bull) This word meaning “relating to laughter” can describe
a person who is feeling inclined to laugh, but it is more frequently used to
describe remarks or situations that are likely to provoke laughter. (Coming
from the Latin for “laugh,” this word is the cheery relative of a negative
word, “derisive,” which means laughing at in the sense of “mocking” or
“jeering.”) The not very common noun form is risibility.
• On another night Niko would probably have laughed at the stand-up
comedian’s jokes, but he was not in a very risible mood the day he learned
about his low grade in physics.
• The cartoonish stereotype of a risible situation is that of a man in a top hat
slipping on a banana.
9. complacent (com PLACE unt) While the literal meaning of this word
derived from Latin is “pleased with,” today it always carries the negative
sense of being unpleasantly self-satisfied, smug. Noun form: complacency
• When Roger was hungry for success as an artist, he was a stimulating person;
now that he has won blue ribbons in a number of art competitions he has
grown complacent and dull.
• The married couple’s sense of complacency about having a life partner was
sometimes irritating to their singleton friends.
10. complaisant (com PLAZE unt) This near-twin of the word above has
taken on an equally negative meaning of its own: it describes a person
who is overly eager to please or who calmly accepts mistreatment.
Noun form: complaisance
• Patricia’s well-meaning complaisance was annoying to her hosts: instead of
expressing some preference when asked how she would like to spend the day,
she routinely said, “Whatever you want to do.”
• The subplot of the French play focused on the complaisant husband; why
didn’t he care that his wife was consistently unfaithful?
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Eponyms
75
Words Derived from Names
Chapter
T
he first word to learn here is the name of this chapter. An
eponym is the name of a person that becomes transferred to a
word that names or describes a quality associated with that
person. For example, the flower name “zinnia” comes from a German
botanist, J. L. Zinn. And when crime drama policemen ask their partners
is a suspect has been “mirandized,” they are querying whether the suspect
has formally been made aware of rights such as protection against self-
incrimination or the presence of a lawyer, as established in the 1966 court
case Ernesto Miranda brought against the State of Arizona.
1. dunce This noun is a good name for a stupid person, a dolt. It derives from
Duns Scotus, a thirteenth-century Scottish monk, whose writings became the
subject of ridicule long after his death. The eponym extends to the “dunce
cap,” which you may have seen in cartoons, a cone-shaped piece of paper
placed, in crueler schooldays, on the head of an unprepared student.
• What a dunce I am! I left the tickets for the senior play at home on the
mantel, and now we’ll all be late for the opening.
• The twentieth-century novel A Confederacy of Dunces drew its name from
Jonathan Swift’s assertion that we can recognize a true genius from the fact
that dunces will form a confederacy against him.
2. luddite (sometimes Luddite) A person who opposes technology has come
to be called by this interesting noun. It derives from one Ned Ludd, an
English workman who, around 1779, destroyed machinery for weaving
when it threatened his livelihood.
• If this book were being written with a quill pen, its authors could be called
modern-day luddites.
• Some consider Frankenstein the ultimate luddite novel, for it shows the
ghastly results of technology gone wrong.
3. pyrrhic (peer ik) This adjective is most often used in the phrase “a pyrrhic
victory,” meaning a technical win achieved at a high cost. The word derives
from an ancient Greek named Pyrrhus who defeated the Romans in 280
B.C. but lost nearly all his own troops in the process.
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264 Fiske WordPower
• Daniel, in a rather rude manner, pointed out his teacher’s mispronunciation
of “tyranny” in front of the class; he was correct about her error, but I’d call
it a pyrrhic victory since he needs her good will in writing his college
recommendation.
• Some historians point out that most slave societies were able to abolish slav-
ery without violence and that the Union triumph in the American Civil War
was pyrrhic.
4. spoonerism This unusual-sounding noun refers to humorous transposi-
tions of sounds such as saying “blushing crows” when you meant to say
“crushing blows” or “queer dean” when you meant “dear queen.” We owe
the term “spoonerism” to Rev. William Spooner, an English clergyman
who, supposedly, frequently committed such blunders.
• Lucy delights in all forms of word play, especially puns and spoonerisms.
• Laughter at spoonerisms is seldom long-lived, but the mayor is still being
kidded for saying he knows “every crook and nanny in this town.”
5. draconian (dra CONE ian) This adjective describes treatment that is seen
as exceedingly harsh or severe. The severe legal code of Draco, a seventh-
century B.C. Athenian politician, is here memorialized; no dragons are
involved.
• Georgia knew she had violated the curfew her parents had set for her, but she
still felt that grounding her for a month was a draconian punishment.
• Those who believe strongly in the right to bear arms will probably judge gun
laws in the United Kingdom to be draconian.
6. maverick This noun fits a person who dissents from group opinion and
goes his or her own way. It derives from one Samuel Maverick (1803–70),
an American cattleman who chose not to brand his cattle.
• We could detect a streak of the maverick in Ian when he attended his classes
on the day the other seniors had agreed to cut.
• When we asked Ms. Fanslow if she was a Republican or a Democrat, she
said, “You’d have to call me a maverick. I decide how to vote on the merit of
the candidate, not his or her label.”
7. quixotic (quik ZOT ik) This adjective, meaning overly idealistic, derives
directly from the fictional Spanish hero Don Quixote, who displays that
trait. (The adjective takes on English pronunciation while the Don retains
the “kee HOTE a” pronunciation befitting the Man of La Mancha.)
• Mr. Hanly admired his quixotic young student, so he spoke very gently in
saying it might be difficult to win the Nobel Peace Prize as well as write a
great novel before he was thirty-five.
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Eponyms 265
• One side of Caitlin’s personality is quixotic, but she tempers that with a
highly practical streak.
8. mesmerize (MES mer ize) This verb, now meaning “to enthrall, to capture
fully someone’s attention,” originated in a literal form of hypnotism. Franz
Mesmer (1743–1815), an Austrian doctor who believed he possessed
magnetic curative powers, won many followers who became literally hyp-
notized while attending his sessions.
• Mr. Lipscomb mesmerized his students with accounts of personal meetings
with Salman Rushdie and J. D. Salinger; he later scolded them for not asking
for more proof about these untrue tales.
• Although Abraham Lincoln could never completely shake his skepticism
about religion, he remained mesmerized by the idea.
9. galvanize (GAL va nize) This verb originally had the literal meaning of
shocking someone with an electric current. Today, it carries only the figurative
meaning of spurring someone into thought or action. The existence of the
word bears permanent tribute to Luigi Galvani, an eighteenth-century doctor
whose early research stimulated further experiments with electricity.
• The school principal used her assembly talk about poverty in this country to
galvanize her students into an understanding of the importance of compas-
sion.
• Some groups that once gloried in gaining the right to vote are no longer
galvanized by the importance of using that privilege.
10. tawdry This adjective describes something literally cheap or gaudy in
appearance of something more figuratively shameful. It enshrines St.
Audrey (think sain-TAW dree), a seventh-century English saint whose
name was given to a fair that sold decorative items such as lace. Alas for
St. Audrey, the word degenerated into a completely negative meaning.
• At twelve, Jenny attempted to acquire glamour by using all her mother’s
cosmetics but achieved only an unappealing, tawdry look.
• Why is it that some people enjoy revealing their tawdry secrets to a
nationwide television audience?
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266 Fiske WordPower
Quick Quiz #25
Chapters 73-75
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ feeling like weeping
2. ______ disapproving of technology
3. ______ independently minded
4. ______ having no opinion
5. ______ being overly idealistic
6. ______ cheaply gaudy
7. ______ deeply fascinated
8. ______ extremely harsh
9. ______ whiny, complaining
10. ______ smugly content
11. ______ very, very happy
12. ______ relating to laughter
13. ______ gloomy, mournful
14. ______ a win that’s really a loss
15. ______ content with bad treatment
16. ______ in a kidding, joking mood
17. ______ move someone to action
A. apathetic
B. complacent
C. complaisant
D. draconian
E. euphoric
F. galvanize
G. jocular
H. lachrymose
I. luddite
J. lugubrious
K. maverick
L. mesmerize
M. pyrrhic
N. querulous
O. quixotic
P. risible
Q. tawdry
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Gallimaufry
76
Another Mixed Bag of Useful Words
Chapter
T
his word (pronounced GAL ee MO free) comes from the Old
French word for “sauce” or “ragout” and is another good word
for a “mixed bag or “stew” (see “farrago” in the “Wonderful
World of O” chapter). Here is the third of our “free” chapters, a hearty
stew of words that are not related by any particular theme.
1. fallow (FAL oh) The source of this adjective is agricultural as it comes from
the Old English word for “fallow land.” It refers to a piece of land that is
plowed but left unseeded during a growing season. It can be used in a
more figurative sense, however, to refer to any situation that remains
uncultivated.
• Farmer MacDonald decided to build a new barn and a horse corral on the
back five acres since that land has lain fallow for the past five years and he is
no longer thinking of cultivating it.
• The American writer Henry Miller has written: “There is a time for play and
a time for work, a time for creation and a time for lying fallow.”
2. pallid (PAL id) This adjective means “abnormally pale” or “lacking vitality
and dull.” It can be used literally to describe a pale person’s complexion or
figuratively to describe something bland and dull, such as a pallid-tasting
slice of beef.
• After catching sight of a caped figure grimacing at her in the window,
Lorraine returned to the dinner table with trembling hands and a pallid face.
• The editors of the school paper decided not to run Mr. Bleg’s editorial about
grade inflation because the prose was pallid, the ideas were inane, and the
argument was politically incorrect.
3. supine (soo PINE) From the Latin, this adjective means “lying on the back
with the face upward.” It is sometimes used to mean “showing lethargy or
indifference.” In any case, it should not be confused with “prone,” which
means “lying on the stomach with the face downward” or “having a
tendency towards something,” as in a child’s “being prone to” tantrums.
• Lying supine on the couch with one arm draped dramatically over her fore-
head and one hand resting on her stomach, Victoria was the picture of
exhaustion, which is exactly how she felt after a day of babysitting the triplets.
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• The guard asked the prisoners to lie prone on the ground, their faces pushed
into the mud, and threatened to shoot anyone who moved a muscle.
4. atavism (AT ah vism) The best synonym for this noun is “throwback.” It
means “the reappearance of a trait or a form of behavior in an organism
after several generations of absence.” The adjective form is “atavistic.” It
comes from the Latin word for “ancestor.”
• Social Darwinists, who claimed that there were inferior races which displayed
more primitive traits than other human beings, often relied on the concept of
atavism to explain their theories.
• “Those boys are so atavistic!” Julienne whispered to Maggie. “All they do is
sit around, scratching their bellies and eating peanuts with their fingers.
They’re like a bunch of apes.”
5. imbroglio (im BROL lee yo) This noun comes to us straight from the Italian
word for “tangle.” It means “a confused or complicated disagreement” or,
quite simply, “an entanglement.” You might use it to describe a small battle
such as a fare dispute with a taxi driver or a larger argument with
complicated international implications.
• What an evening! Hernando accidentally left his wallet in the taxi; we arrived
late at the theatre; and we got into quite an imbroglio with the box office
manager over his letting us in without our tickets.
• The political imbroglio surrounding the controversy over same-sex
marriage will most likely remain a strong issue in future presidential races.
6. enigma (en IG ma) “A puzzling, inexplicable, or ambiguous situation” is the
meaning of this noun. You can use it to describe a person (the adjective
form is “enigmatic”) or a thing.
• In a 1939 radio broadcast, British statesman Winston Churchill said: “I
cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery
inside an enigma.”
• Professor Arfer’s grading policies were a complete enigma to his students; he
seemed to weigh class participation, attendance, and exam grades in different
combinations each semester.
7. bumptious (BUMP shuss) This adjective means “pushy” or “rudely
assertive.” Think of it as a cross between “presumptuous” and “bump,”
which may well be where the word comes from.
• “I really hate to shop at Toy World during the holidays,” Amy remarked with
a sigh. “It always involves dealing with nasty salespeople, long lines at the
cash register, and bumptious customers who try to get ahead of you in line.”
• It’s hard to believe that Lee and Dorothy are sisters. Dorothy is shy, cautious,
soothing, and calm whereas Lee is loud, annoying, bumptious, and aggressive.
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Gallimaufry 269
8. cicerone (SIS eh RONE ee or CHI che RONE eh) We’ve borrowed this word
that means “guide for sightseers” straight from the Italian. It originally
refers to Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.), the famous Roman orator,
statesman, and philosopher. You’re more likely to see it in literature than
hear it commonly used today.
• It will be terrific to have Julie as our cicerone when David and I visit
Florence in April since she’s lived there for two years and really knows her
way around the city.
• It is impossible to visit the famous temples of Ankgor Wat in Cambodia
without a cicerone as the ruins need to be protected from plundering by
thieves and vandals.
9. perambulate (per AM byu late) Here’s a fancy verb for “to walk” or “to
stroll.” It can also mean “to walk through” as in “to inspect on foot.” It
comes from the Latin for “walk” and “through. ”The British have found
another use for it. They call a baby carriage “a perambulator.”
• After the company picnic, the park service staff perambulated the grounds,
making sure there were no lost or left items and no damage done to park
property.
• Every evening after a light supper, Mr. Bartleby takes a constitutional, during
which he perambulates the streets along the waterfront and watches the
ships unload their cargo.
10. ancillary (AN sill air ee) From the Latin for ”maidservant,” this word was
once used as a noun to mean ”servant.” It is now used as an adjective to
mean “of secondary importance” or, alternatively, “something that is
auxiliary or helpful to something else,” such as a workbook is to a textbook.
• “While you are in Paris,” said Catherine’s mother, “I’d like you to learn
something about French art and architecture. Whether you actually learn to
speak French is ancillary.”
• On the first day of class, the teacher gave Catherine her art history textbook
and several ancillary materials, including a collection of slides from the
Louvre and a book about the French Impressionist painters.
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Y
es, there must be moods where you want your nerves to be jan-
gled, but the words in this list are negative, all describing a feeling
of “too-muchness” about sight or sound or overall atmosphere.
1. garish (rhymes with parish) An adjective that describes something loud (in
color or design), flashy, or glaring.
• The shocking pink shirt worn with the chartreuse pants certainly caught the
eye; only the addition of an orange belt could have made Mason’s outfit more
garish.
• The community of Oldest Oaks was horrified when the new residents
painted their picket fence fire-engine red. The Neighborhood Association is
sending Mrs. Oldschool around to discuss with them their garish taste.
2. gaudy (GAW dee) This adjective means tastelessly showy, suggesting
overly bright colors, overly flashy design. Coming from the Latin word for
“enjoyment,” “merry-making,” it illustrates the linguistic phenomenon of
pejoration
(PEJ or A shun), whereby a positive word becomes a negative.
• Gaudiness is in the eye of the beholder: large quantities of bright primary
colors please some, while to those who prefer grays and tans they are
unbearable.
• “Do you find the work of Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi (GOW dee)
gaudy?” asked Mr. Zavatsky, determined to get as close to a pun as possible.
3. lurid (LOOR id) This adjective meaning “causing shock or horror, gruesome”
gains its overkill effect through a glaring, unsavory sensationalism. Perhaps
anticipating the potential effect of something lurid, its origin is a Latin word
for “pale.”
• “Please, spare me the lurid details of the horrible things Rosemary said to
you. They’re just too painful to hear,” Luke said sympathetically to Nora.
• The lurid headlines of the tabloid papers blazoned forth phrases like “body
parts” and “sex fiend.”
4. cacophony (ka KOF uh nee) Literally, “bad sound,” this noun refers to
harsh, displeasing noises.
Bright Lights!
Loud Music!
77
Words for Jangled Senses
Chapter
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Bright Lights! Loud Music! 271
• “One man’s music is another man’s cacophony,” said Bryan’s father,
clomping off to the refuge of his study to escape the sounds of heavy metal
that his son relished.
• The school dining room, with the cacophonic buzz of the voices of hundreds
of fifth and sixth graders, was not the place for a leisurely repast.
5. raucous (RAW kus) This adjective refers to harsh sounds or any atmos-
phere of rough boisterousness.
• The street was filled with a raucous mixture of the cries of street vendors
clashing with car horns and the motors of Vespas.
• The principal cautioned the children to maintain a respectful silence when
they entered the historic building: “Our usual raucous playground
atmosphere is not appropriate in the Robert E. Lee Chapel.”
6. strident (STRIE dent) If it’s harsh and grating in its sound, it’s strident.
• When King Lear refers to a voice that is “soft, gentle, and low” as being “an
excellent thing in woman,” we wonder if he found a strident voice objection-
able in everyone or only in women.
• “You’ll clean up this pigpen and you’ll clean it up now,” Sergeant Maldonado
said stridently, horrified that the new recruits had not learned that a
barracks must be kept neat at all times.
7. dissonant (DIS on ant) Sounds that are unharmonious are called dissonant;
in a more generalized sense varying opinions may also be so described.
• Twenty-first-century listeners find it strange that the dissonance in
Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring caused a riot among those attending the Paris
premiere in 1913.
• One of the factors that made Mr. Robinette such an effective leader was that
he welcomed dissonant voices into a discussion; he did not regard
differences of opinion as a threat to his ego.
8. meretricious (mer uh TRISH us) The meretricious item attracts the viewer’s
attention but in a showy, vulgar manner. Appropriately enough, the
adjective derives from the Latin word for “prostitute.”
• Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby, who is described as being in the service of “a vast,
vulgar, and meretricious beauty,” is prone to excess—too much alcohol
served at too many parties, too many unread books, even—some would say—
too many shirts.
• “A little more restraint,” said Kelly, “makes you more appealing. Any more
sequins on that outfit and the effect will be positively meretricious.”
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9. barrage (buh RAZH) Literally referring to a heavy burst of gunfire or
artillery, the noun can be used for any kind of overwhelming outpouring.
• The publishers knew the book would be controversial because of its support
of the testing of drugs on animals, but they were unprepared for the barrage
of angry criticism that demanded it be removed from bookstore shelves.
• Blanche shuddered as she entered the nightclub: a barrage of strobe light
effects assaulted her eyes as completely as the thumping bass attacked her ear.
10. pandemonium (pan de MOAN ee um) This noun names an atmosphere
of uproar, wild noises, confusion. Having nothing to do with “pandas” or
“Pandora,” it literally means “(place of) all the demons.” It was coined in
1667 by the great epic poet John Milton as the name for the newly built
city in Hell in his poem
Paradise Lost
. It quickly became a part of secular
language, a five-syllable word that is widely known.
• Pandemonium broke out when the promoter announced at the assembly
that free tickets to the David Bowie concert would be available to the first
ten people to show up in the lobby.
• When the traffic lights at the busy intersection failed, there was a period of
pandemonium as cars hesitated, roared forward, hesitated again, and drivers
honked and cursed.
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Crime and Punishment
78
Words About Law and Order
Chapter
Y
ou don’t have to be a lawyer to use the words in this list, but you
might use them in any given conversation about law and order. In
any event, to not include them in this book would be criminal.
1. jurisdiction (jure iss DIK shun) Here’s a noun that means “the right and
power to apply the law.” In other words, when you have “jurisdiction” over
something, you have “authority” over it.
• “The casinos are located in the suburbs, beyond the jurisdiction of the city,”
explained the judge, dismissing the case.
• In his essay “On Vanity,” the French essayist Michel de Montaigne describes
“the human creature” as “a magistrate without jurisdiction” to emphasize
his idea of the individual’s impotence in the great scheme of Nature.
2. recidivist (ree SID iv ist) From the Latin word for “to fall back,” this noun
means “someone who returns to a previous pattern of behavior, especially
criminal behavior.” The adjective form is “recidivistic.”
• The Department of Motor Vehicles punishes recidivists more severely than
first-time offenders. Drivers who are caught for moving violations must pay
more for each succeeding ticket.
• The American Cancer Society suggests different measures for recidivistic
smokers, ranging from hypnosis to nicotine patches.
3. exculpate (EX kul pate) This verb means “to clear from guilt or blame.” The
adjective form is “exculpable.” “Culpable,” on the other hand, means “guilty.”
• The accused man was exculpated of the murder when he provided the per-
fect alibi; he was in the hospital having an appendectomy at the exact time of
the shooting.
• Whistling cheerfully with an innocent expression on his face, Max came
downstairs with chocolate all over his lips; I knew he was culpable for the
missing brownies.
4. vindicate (VIN dih kate) Pretty much a synonym for “exculpate,” this verb
means “to clear of accusation or blame with supporting arguments or
proof.” It can also mean “to avenge,” which is the meaning of its Latin root.
The noun is “vindication.”
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• Ben was vindicated for missing his varsity basketball game when he
produced a note from his dentist, detailing his emergency root canal.
• In her work Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the eighteenth-century
British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft said, “I do earnestly wish to see the
distinction of sex confounded in society, unless where love animates the
behaviour.”
5. impunity (im PYUN it ee) This noun means “exemption from punishment
or harm.” There is no such word as “punity”; we use “punishment.”
• In his ill-received poem “Sordello,” the nineteenth-century British poet
Robert Browning wrote, “Any nose may ravage with impunity a rose.”
• “In celebration of our last day of school, you may eat cupcakes and dough-
nuts in the classroom with impunity,” announced Mrs. Marm. “Just make
sure you clean up after yourselves or you’ll get in trouble with the principal
for making a mess.”
6. indict (in DITE) This verb means “to accuse of wrongdoing” or “charge.”
The noun “indictment” is used in the legal profession to mean “a formal
charge of wrongdoing by the findings of a jury.”
• In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain indicts the so-called “civi-
lized” behavior of pre-Civil War society in the American South, pointing out
its racism and hypocrisy.
• After her indictment on charges of embezzling thousands of dollars from
The Wilson Widget Company, Agnes Smith, the company’s bookkeeper, was
sentenced to ten years in prison.
7. contumely (KON toom lee) Though it looks like an adverb, this word is a
noun that means “rudeness” or “arrogance.” You don’t hear it much today,
except if you’re reading a nineteenth-century novel or if you’re in a court-
room, where it is used to describe behavior that constitutes being in con-
tempt of court. The adjective form is “contumacious.”
• “If you continue with this contumely,” Woolsey asserted, “I shall not have to
take you home from the ball. Such discourteous remarks are inappropriate,
especially from a respectable girl.”
• The defendant’s outburst of hostility towards the judge was considered
contumacious behavior, and he was severely punished for it.
8. litigate (LIT ih GATE) This verb means “to engage in legal proceedings” or
“to bring a lawsuit.” The noun form is “litigation,” and the adjective is “liti-
gious.”
• After he accidentally backed his car into his neighbors’ picket fence and ran
over their rare Japanese maple tree, Dr. Peron was engaged in litigation with
them for months.
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Crime and Punishment 275
• “I don’t see why they have to get so litigious about a little tree,” Dr. Peron’s
wife said, “just because it was planted over one hundred years ago.”
9. pilfer (PILL fur) From the French word for “spoils,” this verb means “to
steal a small amount or item.” Stealthily taking a wallet filled with $100 is
“stealing”; sneaking a couple of cookies off a platter which your mother
was saving for guests is “pilfering.” A good synonym is “filching.”
• Although she wasn’t caught by the police, Alice was punished when her
mother found out she pilfered a glittery ornament off the Christmas tree in
the lobby of the public library.
• Because he was such a sloppy eater, Jack pilfered a few extra napkins from
the pizzeria when he ordered a chicken parmesan sandwich to go.
10. injunction (in JUNK shun) The general meaning of this noun is “a com-
mand” or “order.” In law, it specifically means “a court order prohibiting
a party from a specific course of action.” The verb form is “to enjoin.”
• After her husband’s repeated threats of violence, the court issued an injunc-
tion preventing him from coming within a mile of the house.
• Because of its potential effect on the Hudson River striped bass, the
proposed construction of a sewage treatment plant was enjoined.
Quick Quiz #26
Chapters 76-78
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ gruesome, shocking
2. ______ a mystery, a puzzle
3. ______ falling back into an old pattern
4. ______ lying flat on your back
5. ______ complicated entanglement
6. ______ helpful in a secondary way
7. ______ showy, vulgar attractiveness
8. ______ a throwback
9. ______ wildly chaotic situation
10. ______ arrogant rudeness
11. ______ brightly colored, flashy
12. ______ lightweight theft
13. ______ clear of accusation
14. ______ legal proceedings
15.______ harsh, discordant sounds
16. ______ ”pushy,” demanding
17. ______ overwhelming repetition
18. ______ legal order forbidding
A. ancillary
B. atavistic
C. barrage
D. bumptious
E. cacophony
F. contumely
G. enigma
H. garish
I. imbroglio
J. injunction
K. litigation
L. lurid
M. meretricious
N. pandemonium
O. pilfer
P. recidivist
Q. supine
R. vindicate
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B
ecause human nature can be as capricious (see #2) as Mother
Nature, it’s no wonder we have so many words that mean change
and that suggest different degrees of changeability. Here’s an
assortment that will help you find the best way to capture the variations
from mildly fickle to downright arbitrary (random). Let’s start at the
beginning with a word we’ve borrowed from the Greeks that means “to
transform.”
1. metamorphosis (met a MORF oh sis) This noun means a complete
transformation in appearance, character, or function. The plural is
metamorphoses. It often suggests a change that occurs by magic or sorcery,
as in the mythological stories recounted in Ovid’s
Metamorphoses
.
• According to Ovid, the gods metamorphosed the handsome Narcissus into
a flower after he drowned, admiring his reflection in a pool.
• Dina’s metamorphosis into a beautiful young woman occurred after a
particularly awkward and painful adolescence.
2. capricious (cah PRISH us) This adjective comes from the Italian for “fright”
or “sudden start” and means “unpredictable,” “impulsive” or “subject to
whim.” The noun form is caprice.
• Capricious by nature, Samantha was warm to her friends on Monday
morning but quite aloof in the afternoon.
• Ruled by caprice, Professor Mason was sometimes an easy grader and other
times quite strict, frustrating his ambitious students and amusing the
indolent ones.
3. volatile (VOL a til) Another word that derives from chemistry (volatile
chemicals evaporate readily at normal temperatures), this adjective also
means fickle or inconstant. Since it comes from the Old French word for “fly-
ing,” it also suggests a person that is flighty or an emotion that is fleeting.
More often that not, that fleeting emotion is violent or explosive, either lit-
erally or figuratively. Volcanoes are volatile; so are political situations.
• Stephen’s volatile nature led him to break up with Dierdre after proclaiming
his love to her the day before.
Words, for a Change
79
Expressing Changeability
Chapter
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Words, for a Change 277
• Market volatility made it possible to make a fortune quickly or lose one.
4. mutable (MYOOT able) Another adjective that means prone to frequent
change, this word can be used to describe people as well as things. The
verb form is “mutate.”
• The weather was so mutable that Daisy left the house with sunglasses and
an umbrella.
• If the pollution in the river continues to increase, the fish may soon mutate
so that they can breathe air.
5. fluctuate (FLUK tyoo ate) Slightly different from the previous words, this
verb means to change in a very specific way. When something fluctuates,
it rises and falls irregularly, as if in waves. In fact, it comes from the Latin
word meaning “to flow.” It’s not used to describe people.
• The mutable weather caused the price of corn to fluctuate wildly all spring.
• James stayed home from school because his temperature fluctuated from
normal to 102.5 by morning.
6. labile (LAY bile) From the Middle English word meaning “forgetful,” this
adjective means constantly changing or unstable. It is often used to describe
a chemical reaction, but it can also be used to describe a person’s character.
• The emotionally labile child would burst into tears at the drop of a hat and
begin laughing only seconds later.
• Chili oil is a labile chemical compound which is destroyed by heat, so it
doesn’t taste spicy when you cook with it.
7. erratic (er RAT ik) This adjective is a bit different from the other words that
mean changeable. From the Latin word that means “to wander,” it connotes
lacking consistency or regularity. There is a noun form—erraticism—but no
one uses it.
• Joey’s erratic behavior stymied his parents; they considered bringing him to
a psychologist.
• Martine’s grades were so erratic that the teacher did not recommend her for
the honors class.
8. vacillate (VASS ill ate) A good verb for a chapter on words about change,
it means to swing indecisively from one idea or action to another. The
noun form is “vacillation.”
• Casey vacillated between going to school with a cold because she had a math
test and staying home and getting some rest.
• After work, the busy mother vacillated between ordering in Chinese food
and cooking a simple chicken dinner.
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9. quicksilver (KWIK sil ver) As a noun, this word is a synonym for the chemi-
cal element mercury. More useful is its sense as an adjective meaning
“changing its nature rapidly,” a synonym for “mercurial” (See “Down from
Olympus”).
• At the funeral of Julius Caesar, Marc Antony’s oration causes the quicksilver
crowd to withdraw its support from those who killed Caesar.
• Princess Melisande intrigues the reader with her quicksilver nature, cool
and willful one moment, vulnerable and fragile the next.
10. equivocate (ee KWIV oh kate) Someone who is ambivalent often equiv-
ocates. This verb means to make a statement with one or more possible
interpretations, often with the intention of misleading. The adjective is
“equivocal.”
• When Sam finally got through to Lily and asked her to dinner, she answered
with an equivocal “maybe.”
• Macbeth felt betrayed by the equivocating witches when he realized that he
had misinterpreted their ambiguous promises.
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High Finance
80
Money Words
Chapter
W
hether you’re rich or poor, it helps to know the words that
might come up when you talk about money. The follow-
ing list offers some options (a word that also means “the
right to buy or sell something within a specified time at a specified
price”) for words that have to do with “moolah” ( a slang word for “cash,
money, wealth”)—having it, lacking it, earning it, or owing it.
1. pecuniary (pek KYUN ee err ee) From the Latin word for “property” or
“wealth,” this adjective simply means “having to do with money.” One could
say that all of the words on this list are “pecuniary words.” A word with a
similar meaning is “fiscal,” which means “having to do with finances,” which
comes from the Latin word that means “treasury.”
• After his wife died, Mr. Stevenson hired an accountant to deal with all of his
pecuniary matters. He had left all of the household finances to her and had
no idea how to pay all of the bills.
• The chief financial officer of the company was in charge of all fiscal matters,
including salaries, bonuses, stock options, and budgetary issues.
2. destitute (DES tit toot) The Latin root of this word means “to abandon,” and
the adjective means “lacking all resources” or ”completely impoverished.”
The noun form is “destitution.”
• Utterly destitute, the family was forced to move into a homeless shelter in
order to obtain food, clothing, and a place to sleep.
• “In cases of extreme destitution,” said the social worker, “we call in all of the
social services agencies to help pay for a family’s basic expenses.”
3. fiduciary (fih DOOSH ee err ee) This adjective means “holding in trust for
another.” As a noun, it is “a person who acts on behalf of another’s interests
and is required to fulfill those obligations with the utmost good faith.” It
comes from the Latin “fidere,” which means “to trust.” It is a word that is
most often used for bank matters or legal documents.
• In failing to diversify the stock portfolio, the banker breached his fiduciary
duty to his client’s heirs.
• In this regard, the banker was acting as a fiduciary, but a bad one.
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4. stipend (STYpend) The original Latin means “soldier’s pay,” but the word
now means “any fixed payment (such as a salary) for services rendered.”
This is slightly different from an “honorarium,” which is “a payment made
for services rendered when a stipend is not traditionally required.”
• The medical student received a year-long fellowship that included room and
board and a stipend for his work on the research project.
• In gratitude for his speaking to the students about his experiences in
Washington, the school agreed to pay the congressman a small honorarium.
5. affluent (AF floo ent) An adjective that means “rich, prosperous, wealthy,”
it comes from the Middle English word for “flowing.” The money flows
freely for affluent people. The noun form is “affluence.”
• Gold River Estates is an affluent neighborhood. Every house has a swim-
ming pool, a three-car garage, and a five-acre plot of land surrounding it.
• The psychologists are doing research on the impact of affluence on teen
behavior. Their studies indicate that adolescents who come from upper mid-
dle class families may face different issues than teenagers from lower-income
neighborhoods.
6. solvent (SOL vent) This adjective means “able to meet financial obligations.”
Someone who is solvent may not be rich but he or she can pay the bills. On
the other hand, someone who is “
in
solvent” is not able to cover his or her
debts.
The noun form is “(in)solvency,” but you can also refer to a bankrupt person
as “an insolvent.”
• Because they had no insurance, the Smith-Walcotts were insolvent when
their house burned down in an accidental fire; they were forced to move in
with relatives.
• “We’re finally solvent!’ exclaimed Horace to his new wife. “My new job will
enable us to get a mortgage on a home and pay off our student debts.”
7. barter (BAR ter) Although this verb means “to trade goods or services
without the exchange of money,” it has an interesting etymology. It comes
from the Old French
“barateour
,” which means “swindler” or “cheat.” The
word no longer has the negative connotation. There’s no reason why a barter
arrangement can’t be a fair trade.
• “Let’s barter,” said the hungry landscape gardener. “I’ll plant a pretty garden
in the front of your house if you cook me a steak dinner.”
• Hoping to barter his prized Mickey Mantle baseball card for permission to
use his older brother’s new car, Amog began negotiations with his brother at
the breakfast table.
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High Finance 281
8. depreciation (de preesh e A shun) This noun means “a decrease or loss in
value due to age, wear, or market conditions.” Its opposite is “apprecia-
tion.”
• “I bought this car last year for $10,000,” said Carlos, “but I’ll sell it to you
for $7,000. I drove it across the country and the extra mileage has certainly
caused some depreciation in its value.”
• Because of excellent climate conditions in California, the value of California
wines appreciated considerably at the beginning of the century.
9. remuneration (re MYUN er ay shun) This is a noun that means “payment
for goods or services provided.” Salary is remuneration for work done, for
example. The verb form is “to remunerate.” A good synonym is “recom-
pense.”
• The hospital offered Caroline ample remuneration for her work in the
intensive care unit because the hours were long and the schedule was very
demanding.
• Carmen considered $20 per hour to be a fair recompense for babysitting the
Harrison’s four-year-old son, Irving, because he was very demanding and
never went to bed when he was told.
10. lucrative (LOO kra tive) This adjective means “yielding money or profit.”
Another word for money is “lucre,” however it generally has a negative
connotation associated with money that comes from greed as in the
mention of “filthy lucre” in the Bible (Titus 1:11). In fact, the word comes
from the Latin root for “avarice.”
• “Plastics is a very lucrative business, Benjamin,” said Mr. Robinson. “You
should consider a career in a field that will make you rich.”
• The miser surveyed his lucre and rubbed his hands greedily. “I’m rich!
Rich!” he exclaimed.
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I
f you read the chapter entitled “Menagerie,” then you know what a
“herpetologist” does for a living, but there are lots of other
vocations (from the Middle English word for “calling,” it means a
“regular occupation” ) and avocations ( a word that means “hobbies”)
with names you might not easily recognize. There’s even a word for
someone who simply dabbles in an art or field of knowledge—a
“dilettante” (from the Latin root for “delight”). Here is an assortment of
words that connote fairly common professions or interests.
1. oenologist (ee NOL oh jist) From the Greek word for “wine,” this noun
means someone who appreciates, enjoys, or collects wine. It is also
spelled “enologist.”
• At my brother’s birthday party, we asked Gerard, an oenologist, to recom-
mend which wines to order for the table; he knew the best vineyards in
France, Italy, and California as well as the best vintages.
2. taxidermist (TAX ih derm ist) A taxidermist is skillful at preparing, stuffing,
and mounting the skins of dead animals for display in a lifelike state.
• The Museum of Natural History in New York has a team of taxidermists
who prepare a variety of wildlife, from penguins to leopards to elephants, for
exhibition in a series of dioramas. (A “diorama,” by the way, is a three-
dimensional scene in which figures, stuffed wildlife, or other objects are
arranged in a naturalistic setting.)
3. husbandry (HUS band ree) The root of this noun comes from the Middle
English word for “husband,” but it means something different. Husbandry
is an old-fashioned word for the field of agriculture, including breeding
crops or raising livestock. Someone who performs husbandry is technical-
ly a “husbandman,” but these days we say “farmer.”
• John Deere makes all kinds of equipment that is used for husbandry, includ-
ing a variety of tractors, hoes, and fertilizers.
4. balletomane (bal ET oh mane) This noun describes someone who is an
ardent admirer of ballet, including both professional dance critics and
zealous fans.
What’s My Line?
81
Words for Vocations and Avocations
Chapter
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What’s My Line? 283
• Sidney is a real balletomane; she attends dance performances five times a week
and is familiar with all of the season’s new dance stars and their best roles.
5. philatelist (fil ATE a list) This is the noun for someone who collects and
studies postage stamps, postmarks, and related materials. The word comes
from the Greek word meaning “lover of things that are exempt from pay-
ment” because a postage stamp indicates prepayment of postage. Though
it looks like an adverb, the noun for the collection of stamps is “philately.”
• Billy is quite a dedicated philatelist. He has books of stamps from all around
the world and from many different eras.
6. legerdemain (LEDGE er deh MANE) From the Old French word meaning
“light of hand,” this noun means “sleight of hand” or magic.
• Through a skillful act of legerdemain, Merlin the Great pulled a live rabbit
out of his back pocket.
7. lepidopterist (lep id OPT er ist) This is the noun for someone who studies
the branch of entomology (the study of insects) that focuses on butterflies
and moths. The root of the word is the Greek for “winged creature.”
• The lepidopterist carefully pinned the wings of the butterflies to the mat,
hoping to get a better measure of their comparative sizes.
8. numismatist (noo MIZ ma tist) A numismatist is someone who collects or
studies coins, money, and, often, medals. The field is called “numismatics,”
not “numismatism.”
• A numismatist by avocation, Charlene loved to visit the Franklin Mint in
Washington, D.C., because it had a famous collection of rare and antique
coins.
9. bibliophile (BIB lee oh file) The Greek word “philos” means beloved or lov-
ing. Therefore, the suffix “phile” indicates a lover of the prefix that comes
before it. So, an audiophile loves music; a Francophile loves French things,
and a bibliophile is a lover of books. Interestingly, however, a lover of bal-
let is a “balletomane,” not a “balletophile” (see #4).
• A passionate bibliophile, Jane spends hours rummaging through used book
stores and libraries in search of first editions, original manuscripts, and
unusual bindings.
10. lapidary (LAP id air ee) Although this word also means “marked by
refinement or precision of expression” (see “Language” chapter,) the
noun form is also a vocation. A lapidary is someone who cuts, polishes,
or engraves gems. It comes from the Latin word for “stone.”
• The Italians were great lapidaries. One need only look at their Renaissance
jewelry to see their skillful and unusual handling of gemstones and settings.
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Quick Quiz #27
Chapters 79-81
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ producing lots of money
2. ______ transformation
3. ______ financially well-off
4. ______ wavering between decisions
5. ______ relating to money
6. ______ lover of books
7. ______ sleight of hand
8. ______ lacking financial support
9. ______ jumping around in mood
10. ______ trading goods or services
11. ______ getting paid
12. ______ wine expert
13. ______ potentially explosive state
14. ______ up and down variation
15. ______ deliberately mislead with words
A. affluent
B. barter
C. bibliophile
D. capricious
E. destitute
F. equivocate
G. fluctuate
H. legerdemain
I. lucrative
J. metamorphosis
K. oenologist
L. pecuniary
M. remuneration
N. vacillate
O. volatile
Usage Test #9
Chapters 73-81
What word does each sentence need? Select the word that best
fits the meaning of each of the sentences.
1. It seemed a very ____ plan for him to sell everything and move to Bora
Bora “for inspiration,” as he put it.
A. ancillary
B. apathetic
C. ebullient
D. fluctuate
E. galvanize
F. jocular
G. lachrymose
H. legerdemain
I. litigation
J. lurid
K. meretricious
L. pandemonium
M. perambulate
N. pilfer
O. pyrrhic
P. quicksilver
Q. quixotic
R. recidivism
S. solvent
T. strident
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What’s My Line? 285
2. ____ broke out in the auditorium in the form of when the lights went
out and the sound system failed; people were screaming and falling
over each other trying to get to the exit.
3. I didn’t want to listen to her ____ tale about the robbery and its after-
math because the details were too gruesome.
4. His ____ nature—serious one minute and joking the next—could be
both delightful and disturbing.
5. That aspect of the scheme is not my primary focus; it’s quite _____.
6. After her best friend moved to another town, she felt quite ____, and
she tried to cheer herself up with watching cartoons.
7. If the public in general is _____ , then the candidates representing the
few who do care will having an easy time being elected.
8. They hope to solve the problem out of court because any kind of ____
is costly and time-consuming.
9. I’m so impressed with the way the new councilman cleared up the
budget problem so quickly; it’s practically a feat of ____!
10. Although he won the argument, he lost a good friend in the course
of it and his triumph must be feeling rather ____.
11. I cannot give my approval: that television show has only the most _____
type of appeal, and I don’t want you to watch something so shabby.
12. I felt ___ all afternoon; I was practically floating on air after I learned
I had won the short story contest.
13.The family was thrilled that it had finally become ____ and could pay
off those pesky credit card bills.
14. Robert’s ____ mood was annoying to his sister, who just didn’t feel
like engaging in laughing and teasing right then.
15. Hot one day, cold the next—I wonder how long the temperature will
continue to ____ like this.
16. Although Hiram has his own apartment, he will still ____ from his
parents’ stock of groceries when he visits—how childish!
17. That prison has the lowest rate of ____ of any in the East; how do they
have such success in helping released inmates not fall back into
crime?
18. Shall we ____ the park for a while? I really feel like a stroll.
19. After seeing the documentary about world hunger Richard began to
____ other students into helping him raise funds for a charity that can
help.
20. Although his words were kind, his tone of voice was ____ and left the
hearer without the comfort he intended to give.
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any words, such as “visual,” related to the five senses are very
common; a few, however, are less well known, such as #1–4
below.
1. olfactory (ole FAK tuh ree) Of or relating to a sense of smell.
• A person whose olfactory nerves are damaged not only has a lessened sense
of smell but also a lessened sense of taste, since much delight in food comes
from its smell.
• The narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby refers to “non-
olfactory money,” meaning, roughly, “Money doesn’t smell.”
2. tactile (TACK tul) Of or relating to a sense of touch. The meaning may be lit-
eral or figurative.
• Those who bake their own bread can enjoy the tactile pleasure of kneading
and shaping the loaves.
• The critic Helen Vendler has commented on the “tactile language” used by
the poet Seamus Heaney.
3. audile (aw DEEL) Of or relating to a sense of hearing, a word that, we
guarantee, you will never encounter outside a technical context.
audible This word meaning “able to be heard,” you’ll hear frequently. If it’s
audible.
• The governor’s words were barely audible to the large crowd at the rally, for
the technician responsible for the correct functioning of the microphone
could not be located.
4. gustatory (GUS ta tor ee) Of or relating to the sense of taste.
gusto (noun) This related word extends its meaning beyond “taste” to
mean “an energetic sense of pleasure.”
• When you have a bad cold, the keenness of your gustatory sense will be
diminished.
• Shakespeare’s character Falstaff brings a sense of gusto to all aspects of life,
whether talking, joking, or falling in love; since we know he is fat, it is clear
he has also overindulged in gustatory pleasures.
The Body and Beyond
82
Words About the Senses—and Beyond
Chapter
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The Body and Beyond 287
We now move beyond the senses to other parts of the body. In the sen-
tences below, we’ll see words in an increasingly indirect relationship to
some part of the body.
5. rhino- (RYE no) (prefix) Words relating to the physical nose often use
“rhino,” which derives from the Greek word for “nose. Thus, a creature with
a horn for a nose is a rhinoceros and rhinoplasty is an operation to reshape
the nose. (Rhinestones, alas, are not gems in the nose but merely stones
that originally were made in the region of the Rhine River.)
• Ms. Typaldos was grateful for her knowledge of Greek: when the doctor said
her son was suffering from rhinitis, she knew he meant that the boy’s nasal
passages were swollen.
• After Melisande’s cosmetic surgery, her teenage brother alluded to her recent
“nose job.” She reproved his crude phrasing and instructed him henceforth
to refer to the procedure by its formal name, “rhinoplasty.”
6. hirsute (HEER sute) Hairy, often unusually so. This unusual word derives
directly from Latin.
• The hirsute face made it difficult to tell if the creature in the horror film was
meant to be human or only partly human.
• The giggling girls at the swimming pool admitted that they were trying to
decide which of the boys had the most hirsute back.
7. visceral (VISS er al) Descriptive of an emotional reaction that is deep, near-
ly instinctive, as if experienced in the intestines of the body, the
viscera
. In
short, a (literally) “gut response.”
• When an insensitive acquaintance parodied her favorite poem, Suellyn felt a
visceral disgust.
• Should we act on our visceral responses or should we regard intellectual
analysis as more important?
8. genuflect (JEN u flect) To kneel or to bend, touching one knee to the
ground, primarily used in reference to an act of worship. This interesting
verb comes into English from the Latin words for “knee” and “bend.”
• The devout pilgrims making the long trip to Santiago de Compostela on foot
genuflected whenever they passed an image of the cross, to them a sacred
object.
• Sebastian’s coworkers disliked his manner of flattering his employer; they
half-seriously accused him of genuflecting whenever “the great man”
crossed his path.
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9. epaulet (EP uh let) This word, synonymous with the diminutive of the
French word for shoulder, refers in English to an ornament, frequently
fringed, on the shoulder of a garment (most often a military uniform).
• Gregory looked unusually dashing in his regiment’s dark blue uniform with
its white epaulets.
• Although not a member of any branch of the military, Fiona delighted in her
vintage clothing purchase—a dark plaid dress with silver braiding and gold
epaulets.
10. pedestrian (ped EST ree un) Dull, ordinary. Everyone knows the
noun
“pedestrian” meaning a person who is walking. It derives directly from
the Latin word for foot. But much less common is the
adjective
“pedestri-
an,” referring to language or to ideas. Here it is words or thinking that is
figuratively “on foot” as opposed to words or ideas that have figuratively
taken wing and soared.
• Hard work with a talented teacher of writing has made Alexi’s prose much
less pedestrian; her last essay immediately caught and held the reader’s
attention.
• Although Prof. Genet’s work has been published in prestigious scholarly
magazines, many find her thinking somewhat pedestrian.
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Off and On
83
Words About Frequency
Chapter
O
ff and on, now and then, every once in a while…the language
has many words for the inconstant.
1. sporadic (spor AD ic) This adjective meaning “occurring irregularly” comes
from the Greek word for “scattered like seed” (if you know plants, think of
“spores”).
• Mark’s visits, though sporadic, were always welcome to his friends. “We’d
rather have a little of him than a lot of someone else,” they said generously.
• The teacher puzzled over Yvonne’s end-of-term grade; when she was present
she was brilliant, but her attendance had been highly sporadic.
2. desultory (dez ul TOAR e) This adjective can be a synonym for sporadic, or
it can mean “disconnected, jumping from one thing to another.” The sec-
ond meaning reflects the Latin root word “to leap.”
• Dawn and Harry once carried on an intense online flirtation, but it has now
dwindled to the desultory email.
• Gianna and Josie are both ardent readers but with differing styles: Gianna
pursues one subject through several books while Josie prefers a more
desultory manner, going from book to book.
3. spasmodic (spaz MODD ik) Another “off and on” adjective, this one com-
ing from the word “spasm,” with the suggestive idea of intense or abrupt
occurrences at irregular intervals. (It is also still used in its medical sense
of “relating to spasms.”)
• If you really want to learn a foreign language, you’ll benefit more from a
little study every day than from longer bouts of study spasmodically.
• Luigi’s spasmodic attempts to contact his old friend were prompted more by
guilt than by a genuine desire to renew their acquaintance.
4. paroxysm (par OX ism) Speaking of spasms” (see #3), we offer this noun
meaning an irregular burst of emotion or action. (It too has its origins in
medical usage.)
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• Recovering from a bad cough, Inez gave away her tickets to La Boheme,
fearing a paroxysm of coughing might interrupt a beautiful aria.
• Steve knew Naomi would be happy with the tickets to Hawaii he bought as
a birthday gift, but he was not prepared for the paroxysm of happy tears the
gift brought forth.
5. quantum (KWAN tum) You know already, don’t you, that a “quantum leap”
is a common phrase for a big change. But you may also enjoy knowing this
is one of those intriguing linguistic incidences where popular use of a word
changes its meaning. “Quantum,” as a physics term, refers to the
smallest
possible change that can be measured. One scientist cleverly describes if
as “such an infintesimal level as to be infinite.” Before it became wedded to
“leap,” it was simply the Latin word for “quantity,” and you’ll occasionally
see it in older writing.
• Eighteenth-century writer Tobias Smollett describes himself as having “a
respectable quantum of knowledge.”
• What Shakespeare expressed as “a sea change” in his play The Tempest is now,
in our scientific age, more often termed a quantum leap.
6. fitful (FIT ful) Here’s another adjective meaning occurring now and then;
think of the phrase “doing something by fits and starts.” This word too (like
#3 and #4) originates in a medical sense—“fits” was used for convulsions
or seizures. (See second sentence below.)
• George made several fitful attempts to begin studying vocabulary for the
Graduate Record Exam, but he decided to postpone the project until after his
vacation.
• “After life’s fitful fever, he sleeps well,” says the insomniac Macbeth enviously
of the king he recently murdered.
7. intermittent (in ter MITT ent) If you don’t want to use sporadic, spasmodic,
or fitful, you can use this adjective that also refers to the phenomenon of
irregularity. “Intermission” is a related noun.
• “Shall we postpone the picnic?” asked Mrs. Assingham of her house guests.
“They are predicting intermittent showers today, and I so hate it when the
wicker basket is dampened.”
• As a writer, Sally is improving, but she still displays only intermittent
control over sentence structure.
8. reiterate (re IT er ate) A verb meaning to repeat what you’ve stated earlier. It
comes from the Latin for “re-traveling.”
• Ms. Pappas patiently reiterated the course requirements for careless
students who had lost the original handout.
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Off and On 291
• Andy braced himself as his father began yet another reiteration of that anec-
dote about mowing lawns and raking leaves and never asking his dad for
spending money.
9. hiatus (hie ATE us) It’s a gap, a space, whether in time or continuity in gen-
eral.
• There was a three-year hiatus in Valerie and Paul’s friendship, but they
picked right up where they had left off.
• The crudely lettered sign has a hiatus between the “o” and the “c,” making
“local corn” look like “lo-cal corn.”
10. lacuna (la KOO na) This noun too refers to a gap or an empty space.
From the Latin for hollow or cavity (and thus leading to both “lake” and
“lagoon”), it forms its plural in the Latin way (see below).
• “There are so many lacunae (la KOO nye) in my memories of the past,”
sighed Jennifer. “I remember my fifth birthday but almost nothing at all
about being in the first grade.”
• Greek scholars are comparing their educated guesses to fill in the lacuna in
the third line of the newly discovered manuscript of a poem by Sappho.
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uthority is the subject of the list here. There are words that
connote the people in charge and words for the orders they give.
At the risk of sounding a bit imperious (see below), we hope you
feel compelled to learn them.
1. imperious (im PEER ee us) From the Latin word for “empire,” this adjective
means “arrogantly domineering” or “dictatorial.” It comes from the same root
as “imperial,” which has a more positive spin. Someone who is imperious is
“bossy”; someone who is imperial is “regal” or “majestic.”
• Josie thought her supervisor at the hospital was overbearing and imperious.
She was always telling all of the other nurses how to do their jobs but rarely
helping out when they were short-staffed.
• The imperial peacock proudly displayed his iridescent tail in the hopes of
attracting the reluctant female hiding behind the juniper tree.
2. delegate (DELL a gate) As a verb this word means “to authorize and send
as one’s representative” or “to commit or entrust to another person.” It
should not be confused with “relegate,” which means “to assign to an
obscure place” or “to classify” or “banish.”
• If Stuart would only learn to delegate more of his responsibilities to his
assistants, he would have more time to play golf and spend time with his kids.
• At the annual meeting of International Global Ltd., the members of the
board and the top administration were seated around the huge mahogany
table in the third floor conference room. All of the junior staffers were
relegated to the folding chairs along the wall.
3. officious (oh FISH us) Someone who is officious is “too eager to offer
unwanted advice or services to another.” It suggests someone who is a
know-it-all and is a bit bossy about it. It comes from the Latin word for
“dutiful,” but it has come to have a negative connotation.
• “If I were you, I’d line up all of my files neatly and keep my desk spotless,”
Prudence said, officiously. “An orderly desk represents an orderly mind.”
• Chris’s officious roommate consistently nagged him about keeping the floor
swept and leaving his muddy shoes in the hallway.
Who’s the Boss?
84
Words About Authority
Chapter
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Who’s the Boss? 293
4. mandate (MAN date) This noun means “an authoritative command” or
“order.” It can also be used as a verb. The adjective form is “mandatory,”
and it means “obligatory.”
• The state’s new legislation mandated that marijuana could not be used, even
for medicinal purposes.
• “Attendance is mandatory at the graduation rehearsal,” the principal
announced to the senior class. “Anyone who does not show for rehearsal will
not be allowed to attend the senior dinner in the dining hall this evening.”
5. patronize (PAY tron ize) This verb has several meanings. The first is “to act
as a patron or an active supporter.” It also means “to be a regular, paying
customer.” It’s in this chapter because it also means “to treat in a conde-
scending manner.”
• Dulcey felt patronized when Mr. Finch told her she did “a surprisingly good
job.” She didn’t think it should have been surprising to her boss that she
could actually file his papers in alphabetical order.
• For one week only, PCB, the huge drugstore chain, promised 50 percent off
on all hair products to customers who regularly patronized their stores.
6. fiat (FEE at) From the Latin for “let it be done,” this noun means “an
arbitrary order or decree,” often authorized by the government.
• After the students practically destroyed the football field after the game, the
school administration issued a fiat banning the consumption of alcoholic
beverages at university sporting events.
• The fiat against abortion drove a significant number of women away from
the Church.
7. ordain (or DANE) This verb has a religious meaning—“to invest with
ministerial authority,” but it also has a secular meaning. When something
is “ordained,” it is “ordered by virtue of a superior authority.” It’s meaning
is quite close to “mandate.”
• The Preamble to the Constitution states that “the people of the United
States, in order to form a more perfect union…do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.”
• Having completed his course work at seminary school, Joseph was ordained
as a Protestant minister.
8. pundit (PUN dit) This word comes to us from the Hindi for “learned man”
and it means “a person with an authoritative opinion.” It is most often used
to describe a source of political opinions. The noun form is “punditry.”
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• The cable news channel revealed its true politics when it brought in a
conservative pundit to comment on the impact of the president’s State of the
Union address.
• “I’m tired of the punditry broadcast on all of the television news magazines,”
Mr. Cohen told his Media and Politics class. “It’s easy to find a voice of
authority on both sides of every issue but, in the final analysis, they don’t tell
us anything we don’t already know.”
9. sovereignty (SOV rin ty) Here’s a noun that means “royal rank, authority, or
power.” It can also mean “complete independence” and “self-government.”
It is generally used to describe political situations. You wouldn’t call your
boss your “sovereign” unless you were being ironic about how she wields
power.
• Emma Goldman, an early twentieth-century American writer and anarchist,
defined “anarchy” as “the philosophy of the sovereignty of the individual.”
• The United States declared its sovereignty from England in the Declaration
of Independence.
10. peremptory (per REMP tore ee) From the Latin word for “to take away,”
this adjective means “putting an end to all debate or action, not allowing
contradiction or refusal.” It’s no surprise then that a “peremptory” person
is “offensively self-assured.” Don’t be confused if you sometimes spot a
similar-looking adjective “preemptory.” It occasionally sneaks into the
language in place of the preferred form “preemptive” as in “Biggles
made a preemptive bid for the property, an offer so good that would-be
competitors retreated.”
• The headmaster took a peremptory tone with the students who had missed
too many classes. “Anyone who misses more than ten classes can not
graduate,” he averred. “That’s the rule and we’re going to stick to it. There
are no excuses.”
• When Dara asked her mother whether she could stay out past her normal
curfew on a school night, her mother replied with a peremptory “No!” She
didn’t even give a reason why.
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Who’s the Boss? 295
Quick Quiz #28
Chapters 82-84
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ hairy
2. ______ decree
3. ______ wise person
4. ______ boring, commonplace
5. ______ state again
6. ______ sense of smell
7. ______ felt deep in the body
8. ______ fit or outburst
9. ______ a gap in time
10. ______ kneel reverentially
11. ______ in an unfocused manner
12. ______ an empty space
13. ______ overly eager to advise
14. ______ in a commanding manner
15. ______ supreme power
A. desultory
B. fiat
C. genuflect
D. hiatus
E. hirsute
F. lacuna
G. officious
H. olfactory
I. paroxysm
J. pedestrian
K. peremptory
L. pundit
M. reiterate
N. sovereignty
O. visceral
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T
hat’s what Greek philosopher Aristotle thought, and it’s a
belief confirmed by the many words in the language that deal
with aspects of government and politics, a word that comes
from the Greek word polis meaning “city.”
1. despot (DES put) From the Greek word for “master,” this noun implies just
that—a ruler, generally an oppressive ruler. If you want a different sense, as
in “a benevolent despot,” you have to add the qualifying adjective.
• George Orwell’s novel 1984 gives us the picture of complete despotism;
citizens are controlled partly through force and partly through mind control.
• Perhaps the fact that Mr. Parnell reports to an overbearing boss helps make
him a petty tyrant, a despot to his wife and children.
2. demagogue (DEM uh gog) It ought to be a good thing, for the root word is
“a popular leader,” but it isn’t. Today the noun is always negative, naming
a leader who gains power by manipulating the emotions of the people,
who presumably don’t detect the insincerity.
• Many consider Sen. Joseph McCarthy as a complete demagogue, one who
played on citizens’ fears about the Cold War to build his own career through
obsessive “Communist hunting.”
• Today we are so accustomed to seeing Josef Stalin as the embodiment of evil
that it’s hard to remember he was once a successful demagogue, a good
speaker with a confidence-inspiring manner.
3. edict (EE dict) This noun refers to a declaration, a decree, an order that
must be obeyed. The root word carries the same sense in “dictator.”
• Mr. Cross runs his classroom like an amateur dictator: he doesn’t give
homework assignments but edicts, and woe to the student who doesn’t
listen carefully.
• Historically, the Edict of Nantes, a decree issued in 1598, gave some limited
religious freedom to French Protestants.
4. incumbent (in CUM bent) In political terminology an incumbent is a person
currently holding an office. The different but related use is of an adjective
Man Is a Political
Animal
85
Words About Politics
Chapter
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Man Is a Political Animal 297
that expresses a duty or obligation, almost always expressed as in the
second sentence below.
• Despite the attractive platform and energetic campaign that Ms. Yeshlovsky
offered in her bid for office, the incumbent was still the favorite, perhaps
because of the general inertia of most citizens.
• It is incumbent on all of us to participate in the political process, at least by
voting on all elections.
5. caucus (KAW kus) Today, this noun refers to a political group that is part of
a larger group. This small group may select delegates, pledge support for
candidates, or recommend policy for the larger group. Let’s hope every-
body is sober while deliberating, for in Medieval Latin, a “caucus” was a
drinking vessel!
• The Women’s Caucus of the university faculty group has been instrumental
over the past twenty-five years in making everyone more aware of gender
inequities left over from the all-male years in the university’s past.
• Because the Iowa Democratic Caucus is the first test of voter sentiment, it has
assumed an importance that is out of proportion to the number of votes cast.
6. coup (KOO) In its most political sense, this is an abbreviated form of coup
d’etat (KOO day TA), a sudden overthrow of government by a small group.
In a more generalized sense, a coup (literally, in French, a stroke) is any
successful, unexpected strategy.
• Jane Austen knew how to depict a coup in the world of courtship of two
hundred years ago: wealthy young women and their scheming mothers never
dreamed that Miss Elizabeth Bennet would end up winning the heart of
Fitzwilliam Darcy and becoming the mistress of the elegant estate of
Pemberley.
• Quite a coup d’etat! Milton Megabucks quietly bought up enough shares of
stock to force his loathed uncle Matthias Megabucks out of his position as
CEO of Megabucks Ltd.
7. junta (HOON ta) This Spanish word for a “small group” has come into
English; it denotes either a small group of military officers seizing power in
a country or a small legislative body, usually in Central or South America.
• Though not quite a junta, Lee’s old prep-school ties with Greg and Eddie
have been strong enough to switch some votes in their college fraternity.
• Some recall the multilingual New Yorker cartoon of some years past that
depicts a small group of men entering a corporate office, saying, “We’re a
junta and this is a coup.” (See #6)
8. faction (FACK shun) This noun refers to a conflicting element within a larger
group. In a larger sense, it means the internal conflict itself.
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• Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar depicts the men who are plotting Caesar’s
assassination coming to visit Brutus, who solemnly notes: “They are the
faction” when he hears they are attempting to hide their faces.
• Unfortunately, the members of the church who used to enjoy frequent good
fellowship with one another have become increasingly factious, not over
religious issues but over small organizational concerns.
9. gerrymander (JER re man der) This verb has to do with the lines drawn
for voting districts in a way that favors one political party. The word came
into existence in 1812 as a combination of the name of a little lizard—a
“salamander”—and the last name of Elbridge Gerry, a former governor of
Massachusetts. Gerry’s party, allegedly, had redrawn district lines in a
way that favored it and in a way roughly resembling the shape of the
lizard.
• The original gerrymandering supposedly caught the artistic eye of Gilbert
Stuart, noted portrait painter of George Washington, who detected the
amphibious new shape.
• The pedant, one who just had to know more than everyone else, pointed out
to his friend that “gerrymander” should “properly” be pronounced “gherry-
mander,” for Gerry himself used a “hard G” pronunciation for his name.
(Extra knowledge for word lovers: that pedant could be called a “doryphore,”
a person who delights in pointing out the small mistakes of others.)
10. constituent (kon STIT u ent) Politically speaking, a constituent is a resident
of a region represented by a certain elected official. In a larger sense, it
could be any person who authorizes a member of his or her group to
speak for him or her.
• Representative O’Toole made a hasty pre-election flight from Washington to
his home state so that he could meet with his constituents, learn their
concerns, and impress upon them that he needed their votes.
• Students who were appointed to committees were told they would be prac-
ticing “non-constituency-based” stewardship; in short, they’d be giving
their own views, not necessarily views held by a majority of the student body.
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Quarantine Ward
86
Words About Disease
Chapter
Q
uarantine” refers, primarily, to the fact of keeping a person with
a contagious disease away from contact with other humans. It
literally refers to a period of forty days, a length of time that
evokes an era without the power of modern-day medications. All the
words below deal in some way with the unpleasant fact of destructive
forces or of sickness, whether it lasts forty days or forty hours.
1. pestilence (PES til ence) This scary noun refers to the kind of disease that
causes a fatal widespread sickness. The first syllable gives you an under-
stated memory clue. The word can also be used figuratively to describe
something that brings annoyance or disapproval.
• The bubonic plague brought pestilence to Europe in the fourteenth
century to a degree we can hardly imagine today; it’s little wonder the
phrase “the Black Death” came to be used as a synonym for this plague.
• The pestilent actions of the disgruntled employee were at first merely
annoying, but when the “poison pen” letters turned into death threats, his
boss knew he had to go to the police.
2. murrain (MUR in) Although this noun is still used for some diseases of
cattle, you’ll see it mostly in older literature or in poetic uses as a term for
any dire disease.
• “May a murrain light upon you for the unhappiness you’ve brought upon
my family,” muttered the powerless cottager as his cruel landlord rode by.
3. pandemic (pan DEM ik) Yes, it sounds like “epidemic.” Just as that word
means a spreading of a disease, “pandemic” suggests an even wider spread
of the contagion. “Pan” comes from Greek meaning “all.” Like “epidemic,” it
can be used figuratively.
• Today we don’t regard “flu” as a very serious condition, but pandemic
influenza in the early twentieth century was fatal to a large number of peo-
ple.
• “If the unemployment epidemic in this country is not to become a pandemic,
we must act now to decrease the number of jobs being outsourced to other
countries,” said Dr. Mehta, who had made an extensive study of the situation.
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4. virulent (VEER u lent) In a literal sense, this adjective refers to a very power-
ful form of a disease. By extension, it can be used to describe any negative
but powerful force.
• “The strain of pneumonia afflicting patients this winter is a particularly
virulent one,” noted Dr. Siegel, adding that one Broadway play was forced
to close its doors when both the star and his understudy were hospitalized
from the disease.
• “Okay, you didn’t like my book,” wrote the author piteously to the reviewer,
”but did your review have to be so virulent?”
5. scourge (rhymes with MERGE) As a noun, this word refers to a source of
misery such as that caused by pestilence (see #1) or war. As a verb, it can
mean to punish or, specifically, to whip (and the whip itself can be called
a “scourge”).
• Perhaps everything lies in the eye of the beholder: Europeans refer to
Genghis Khan as “the scourge of Asia,” while to his own people he was
considered a great leader.
• Hamlet saw himself as sent to be both “scourge and minister”; in other
words, he could both injure and heal.
6. blight (rhymes with light) Literally , it’s a disease that afflicts plants. More
commonly, you’ll see it used for anything that has a strongly negative effect.
• The potato blight in Ireland in the nineteenth century ruined the potato crop
and eventually stimulated a high degree of immigration to the United States.
• “Come now, young man,” said Prof. McFyte to the student complaining
about his final grade, “surely my giving you this grade of C+ hasn’t blighted
all of your prospects for the future.”
7. devastation (de vas TA shun) This noun refers to a widespread (see “vast”
in the middle of the word) area of destruction from disease or some other
destructive force. It can also be used metaphorically.
• The scene of devastation days after the tsunami was heartwrenching. Many
who had survived the initial wave were dead or near death from the lack of
uncontaminated water.
• “To protect yourself from this kind of emotional devastation in the future,”
said the counselor, not unkindly, “may I suggest you try to grow a thicker
skin; you don’t have to fall to pieces when someone frowns at you.”
8. bane (rhymes with main) Literally, “bane” is a poison, as in certain plant
names—wolf’s bane, henbane. By extension, it’s anything that causes ruin
or great harm. If someone is the “bane of your existence,” they figuratively
poison your life.
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Quarantine Ward 301
• The poet John Milton calls gold “that precious bane,” alluding to the fact
that money can help bring happiness or misery, depending on its use.
• That country is just now beginning to see the long-term baneful effects of
its foreign policy.
9. baleful (BALE ful) You might, though it’s unlikely, see “bale” used in older
literature to mean “evil” or “emotional suffering.” Most often today you’ll see
“baleful,” meaning “sinister” or “harmful.” Perhaps it’s inevitable that there is
some overlapping between the meanings of “baleful” and “baneful.”
• Milton, who, in the entry above, calls gold “bane,” describes the fallen angel
Lucifer as rolling his “baleful eyes.”
• The baleful stare of the security cop caused the boys to change their plans
about daring each other to walk on the beams of the half-constructed
building.
10. pernicious (per NISH us) Something deadly, dangerous, or destructive
might be termed “pernicious.” You may have heard it in the name of the
disease “pernicious anemia,” a particularly threatening form of the illness.
“Deleterious” might be a good synonym.
• “This form of the bacteria is particularly pernicious,” explained Dr. Epstein.
“Just when we think we’ve developed a medicine to counteract it, it mutates
into a newer, more deadly form.”
• Supersize Me is a documentary vividly showing the deleterious effects of a
diet made up primarily of meals from “fast-food joints.”
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J
ust as eating gives the language several interesting words (see
chapter 10, “What’s Cookin’?”), drinking offers a liquid set of its
own. Drink up!
1. potable (POTE uh bul) As “edible” is to eating, so “potable” is to drinking. In
addition to this adjective form, it can also be used as a noun. “Potion” and
“potation” are related nouns.
• Lavinia felt sure that water in all foreign countries, including Canada, was
not potable, so only bottled water touched her lips while she was on the
road.
• In addition to the huge platter of shrimp and crabs, Brenda and Bob offered
their guests a wide array of potables, some adorned with tiny paper parasols.
2. quaff (quahf) If you sip daintily at your beverage, you’re not quaffing. That
action requires downing the drink with gusto. (“Swig” and “swill” are
other verbs for hearty drinking.)
• The Viking warriors hoisted the flagons of mead into the air and then
simultaneously quaffed them.
• The narrator of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” longs to quaff a
potion that will blot out his torturing memories.
3. draft (rhymes with laughed) This noun names the amount of liquid that can
be taken in by one act of swallowing, one “pull” from the glass or bottle.
(“Draft beer” is a related term in that it is beer that is “pulled” from a keg.) If
you see the word in writing from England, it will be spelled “draught” but
pronounced the same.
• Mr. Switters longed for a draft of some bracing potion, something that
would give him strength and courage for his ordeal.
• When the speaker in John Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale” says, “O for a
draught of vintage that hath been/ Cooled a long age in the deep delved
earth,” he refers to the custom of cooling wine below ground.
4. imbibe (im BIBE) “To imbibe” is a formal way to say “to drink.” It may also
be used metaphorically. Its verbal relative “bibulous” (BIB u lus) refers to
the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Bottoms Up!
87
Words About Drinking
Chapter
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Bottoms Up! 303
• The neighborhood children spent long summer days sitting on the Milhorns’
porch playing endless games of Monopoly and imbibing pitchers of lemonade.
• Even two months of imbibing gracious manners in Charleston, South
Carolina, have not served to cure Barry’s tendency to be rude.
5. slake (rhymes with snake) This verb is a formal way to refer to quenching
or satisfying your thirst. It can also be used for the satisfying of other
cravings. Its origin is related to the word “slack.”
• Although the knight longed to pause and slake his thirst at the well, he
pressed on, hoping to reach Daffydown Hall by nightfall.
• An hour of detailing his complaints against his boss served not to slake
Ritchie’s unhappiness with his job but to increase it.
6. libation (lie BAY shun) Historically, this noun describes the pouring out of
a liquid, usually wine, as an offering as part of a religious ritual. It is now
used informally, for any intoxicating beverage.
• “Hey, Jim, how’s about heading for the club car and a cool libation?” said Al
as they boarded the commuter train for home on a hot summer day.
• Aeschylus’s Greek tragedy The Libation Bearers is named for the group of
women who assist Electra in pouring out that libation onto the tomb of her
father Agamemnon, killed by his wife.
7. distill (dis TILL) Distilling is a chemical process involving the condensation
of a liquid in order to purify or concentrate it. You’ll hear it in reference to
water and to some alcoholic beverages. (And the “still” that Great-uncle
Joe supposedly had in the basement or the backwoods derived from that
word.) It can also be used figuratively.
• Since Max and Rebecca aren’t really drinkers, their decision to organize their
trip of Scotland and the Hebrides around visits to all the distilleries of sin-
gle malt Scotch was a little surprising.
• When Regan, ready to enter the world of dating again, asked the more
experienced Norm to distill all his wisdom about women into some advice,
his pal unhelpfully said, “Just go for it, man.”
8. imbrue (im BREW) This formal verb means “saturate” or “stain.” It’s easy
to use “brew” as your memory device, and indeed that is the root word. A
near-twin is “imbue,” meaning “to permeate, to stain.”
• A hilarious mock-suicide scene occurs near the end of Shakespeare’s A
Midsummer Night’s Dream when the character of Pyramus stabs himself,
saying, “Come, trusty sword, come, blade, my breast imbrue.”
• Imbued with a strong sense of idealism from the reading of romanticized
accounts of leaders’ lives, Felix may have trouble adjusting to the day-to-day
life of an aspiring political candidate.
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9. abstemious (ab STEEM e us) While its literal meaning can refer to moderate
eating and drinking, it’s often associated with not drinking alcoholic
beverages—perhaps because its sound is similar to “abstinence” (from the
verb “abstain”). (It once had a primary sense of abstaining from alcoholic
beverages but may now be used more for abstaining from premarital sex.) A
related word for one who partakes of no alcoholic beverages is teetotaler,
coined by the nineteenth-century Temperance movement.
• Accustomed to what he termed “the good life,” Smithers found prolonged
visits with more abstemious relatives not only unpleasant but painful.
• Carrie Nation was not content with choosing a teetotaling life for herself;
instead, she won her place in history with her habit of wielding her hatchet
in public taverns.
10. vintner (VINT ner) Descriptions of main streets in old novels often have a
reference to a “vintner’s” shop—a store selling wine or possibly making
wine. The root word is “vine,” and you’ll see it reflected in other words
such as “vinous” (relating to wine) or “vintage” (the yield of grapes, often
that of an especially good year. See #3, second sentence).
• In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens sets a powerful scene outside a
vintner’s shop in Paris: a wine cask runs with red wine, symbolic of the blood
soon to be shed in the French Revolution.
• Since we now associate him with the pasteurizing of milk, it’s a little surpris-
ing to learn that Louis Pasteur wrote a book on vinous fermentation.
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Bottoms Up! 305
Quick Quiz #29
Chapters 85-87
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ oppressive ruler
2. ______ decree
3. ______ government overthrow
4. ______ conflicting element within a group
5. ______ plague
6. ______ cattle disease
7. ______ widespread contagion
8. ______ strong negative effect
9. ______ deadly
10. ______ drinkable
11. ______ swig
12. ______ quench
13. ______ saturate
14. ______ moderate in drinking
15. ______ wine-maker
A. abstemious
B. blight
C. coup
D. despot
E. edict
F. faction
G. imbrue
H. murrain
I. pandemic
J. pernicious
K. pestilence
L. potable
M. quaff
N. slake
O. vintner
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A
nyone who has read Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird may
remember that Tom Robinson gets into trouble when he’s asked
to “bust up a chiffarobe.” But how many people today know that
a “chiffarobe” is actually “a tall piece of furniture with drawers on one
side and space for hanging clothes on the other?” Although it was a
common item in the 1930s when the novel is set, it is a term rarely heard
today. Below is a list of similar items. They are all terms for furniture
that were in common use at one time and, in fact, may still be still
around today—if not in the home then in literature and films.
1. davenport (DAV en port) Oddly enough, this noun can mean two entirely
different pieces of furniture—both popular in the nineteenth century. It is
either a large sofa, often convertible into a bed, or a small, writing desk
(which probably took its name from the manufacturer).
• Fiona sat down on the davenport, hoping that Mr. Beebe would sit down
next to her when tea was served.
2. antimacassar (an tee mak ASS ar) This noun is a small piece of material
placed on the backs of chairs and sofas that protects the upholstery from
hair-oil stains. It comes from Macasar, which was a brand of hair oil, popular
in the late nineteenth century.
• The living room of Mrs. Carrington’s country cottage was filled with knick-
knacks and frilly decorations to protect her furnishings. There were doilies
on the table, antimacassars on the sofa and chairs, and lacquer coasters
scattered on the end tables.
3. ottoman (OT oh min) Originally, this noun meant a type of couch without
arms or back, used for reclining. Its name came from its imitation of the
kind of seating used in the Turkish or Ottoman Empire. Today, it is more
commonly used to mean a low, upholstered seat or cushioned footstool.
• Harrison entered the drawing room, sat down in a brown, crushed velvet
armchair, placed his feet up on the leather ottoman, and rang for the
butler.
Home Furnishings
88
Unusual Words for Furniture
Chapter
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Home Furnishings 307
4. credenza (creh DEN zah) This noun comes from the Latin word for “trust,”
possibly from the practice of placing food or drink on a sideboard to be
tasted by a servant to ensure that it contained no poison. It is a buffet or
sideboard, usually without legs. It is also used to mean a piece of office
furniture with a long, flat top, containing file drawers and accessories for
a computer.
• Millicent placed the large platter of turkey on the credenza in order to leave
room on the table for the various side dishes and trimmings.
5. chesterfield (CHEST er field) Although this noun is known to mean “a
single or double-breasted overcoat, usually with concealed buttons and a
velvet collar,” it is also a term for a large sofa with upholstered arms. This
type of sofa was manufactured in Canada where it was commonly used at
the turn of the twentieth century, but it was also popularly used in
Northern California around the same time. Its name comes from the earl
of Chesterfield.
• Since John Steinbeck’s house in Salinas has opened as a museum and contains
much of its original furniture, there is likely to be a large chesterfield in the
front parlor that was originally used for seating visitors.
6. hassock (HASS ik) This noun comes from the Middle English word for “a
large clump of grass,” and it refers to a thick cushion used as a footstool
or for kneeling.
• Dylan glanced around the room, looking for a comfortable place to sit. He
settled for a rickety, wooden rocker and pulled over a small hassock
upholstered in kilim on which to rest his feet.
7. armoire (ARM war) This word comes from the Latin word for “a chest for
implements or tools.” It evolved to mean a “large, often ornate cabinet,
used for hanging clothes and often containing drawers.” A good synonym
is “wardrobe.”
• Mr. Carnegie examined the armoire and wondered if it was large enough to
contain all twenty of his suits and his rather extensive collection of dress
shirts and ties.
8. divan (dih VAN) This noun has many obscure meanings, including “a
counting room or public audience room used in Muslim countries,” but it
belongs in this chapter because it chiefly refers to a “a long, backless sofa,
especially one set with pillows against a wall.”
• In nineteenth-century paintings of odalisques, a harem girl is usually depicted
reclining sensually on a divan, partially dressed and appearing to be awaiting
her lover.
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9. highboy (HIGH BOY) This noun means a tall, wooden chest of drawers,
usually divided into two sections, one slightly wider, and standing on
legs. The “boy” comes from “bois,” the French word for “woods.”
• Mrs. Walker kept most of her clothes in a mahogany highboy, her lingerie
in the smaller drawers at the very top and her sweaters in the wider drawers
below.
10. commode (cah MODE) This noun comes from the Middle English word
for “convenient” and connotes several different types of furniture. It can
mean “a low, elaborate chest of drawers,” “a moveable stand or
cupboard containing a washbowl,” or “a chair enclosing a chamber pot.”
It was popular in Western Europe and in America before the invention of
indoor plumbing and it appears quite often in novels of the eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries.
• The Roundthwaites’ guest room was comfortably furnished with an oak,
four-poster bed, a matching oak highboy and a commode, containing a del-
icately painted, porcelain pitcher and washbowl.
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Country Yokel or City
Slicker?
89
Words for the Urban and the Rural
Chapter
A
s the title of this chapter suggests, slang offers words (many,
like these, negative) that embody aspects of life in a rural area
or in a city. But more formal English also has some fine words
evoking these contrasting areas.
1. bucolic (bew KOLL ik) This adjective meaning “typical of the countryside”
always has a connotation suggestive of leafy peace and quiet.
Appropriately enough, the root is the Greek word for “cow.”
• Selina likes the combination of rural and urban: when in a city she seeks out
bucolic pockets such as small parks with trees and fountains, and in the
country she can be found buying bandanas in the general store.
• Bucolic poetry has a long tradition, for both Greek and Roman poets depict
shepherds philosophically discussing life, love, and art, everything but the
care of sheep.
2. idyll (EYE dul) This noun can refer to a literary work depicting an idealized
version of rural life or it can refer more generally to an pleasantly peaceful
event or setting.
• Tom and Gina had an idyllic (eye DIL ik) summer in the northern part of
Greece, living in a beautiful cottage on the edge of a forest and taking part
in an international poetry seminar held in the village town hall.
• Alfred Lord Tennyson’s long poem Idylls of the King tells many beautiful and
fantastic tales of life at King Arthur’s court.
3. pastoral (PAST or ul or pas TOR ul) This adjective may have either the literal
sense, synonymous with “bucolic” (think “pasture”). In addition, it often has
a metaphorical sense referring to the life of a minister, a pastor. (The link is
the concept of the head of a religious congregation as the “shepherd” of a
“flock” of followers.)
• The meadow made a perfect pastoral setting for the Philharmonic’s
performance of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, nicknamed “the Pastorale (pas
tor AL).”
• The Reverend James Martinson took his pastoral duties very seriously: he
not only led inspiring services on Sunday but kept himself aware of the lives
of all his parishioners, offering help when it was needed.
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4. rustic (RUST ik) This is a frequently used adjective meaning “referring to
the countryside.” Its Latin root is the same word that gave rise to “rural.”
• Bert likes the trappings of rusticity (rus TISS i ty), buying tables with twig-
like legs and hanging a handmade wooden rake on his wall, but in reality he
never wants to be more than ten minutes away from a shopping mall.
• It is easy to idealize a rustic existence; real-life farmers, whether in this era
or an earlier time, can testify to the hard work essential to the endeavor.
5. arable (AIR uh bul) If you want to add an authentic farming term to your
vocabulary, here’s a good one. It describes land suitable for cultivation. Not
related at all to “Arabs,” it derives from the Latin word for “plow.”
• Leyla’s hopes of having a vegetable garden outside her kitchen door were not
easily realized, for the hard-packed, sandy soil was not arable, and she is
reluctant to spend the money required to replace it with topsoil.
• “Twenty acres of arable land will be auctioned off on Saturday morning to
the highest bidder.” Theola read the poster with growing interest. Could she
persuade her city-born husband to join her in becoming a part-time farmer?
6. urban (URB un) and urbane (ur BANE) Plain old “urban” means “relating
to a city,” but “urbane” describes an elegance and refinement of manner
that is by no means possessed by all who live in a city. Both derive from
the Latin word for “city.”
• Atlanta has recently been afflicted with “urban sprawl,” the unplanned
spreading of heavy population growth to areas on the edge of the city, a
development that gives rise to major traffic congestion.
• The fictitious James Bond fits many people’s definition of an urbane man:
never at a loss, he always knows what to say, do, wear, drink.
7. cosmopolitan (KOS muh POL ih tun) If you’re cosmopolitan, you’re
sophisticated enough to be at home anywhere in the world. Similarly, a
cosmopolitan society has elements from many parts of the world. Not
surprisingly, the two root words mean “world” and “city.” (The related
word “metropolitan,” derives from “mother” and “city.”) Opposites would
be “provincial,” “parochial,” and “insular” (narrow in outlook, as if knowing
only the world of a small province or parish or an isolated island).
• The poetry of Constantine Cavafy beautifully reflects the cosmopolitan
nature of the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria; there’s nothing insular
about his view of humanity.
• Despite the magazine’s name, Christine found the periodical not cosmopol-
itan at all but rather quite provincial, having quite a limited perspective on
the world.
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8. flaneur (fla NUR) This French noun is coming to be more and more used in
English. While it can have a negative sense of one who loafs or wastes
time, it more often takes the positive sense of the name for a perceptive
person who strolls about a city, unhurriedly noting and observing. (The
feminine form in French is “flaneuse,” but in English “flaneur” is unisex.)
• When asked her goals for the future, the prematurely sophisticated Julia
promptly replied, “I think I’d like to be a flaneur.”
• Janet Flanner, the Paris correspondent for The New Yorker from 1925 to1975
wrote many columns dealing with her experiences as a flaneur in the streets
of Paris; this pleasing verbal coincidence was, however, obscured by Flanner’s
use of the pseudonym “Genet.”
9. sophisticated (so FIS ti kat ed) This adjective, so positive in modern con-
notation as a synonym for “urbane,” has a checkered past. It once carried
the negative sense of “adulterated,” “made unnatural.” If you come across
this use in older literature, you’ll be one of the few to understand it. (See
the second sentence below.)
• Tom Stoppard’s play Travesties is written for a sophisticated audience, one
that knows twentieth-century history and art and, especially, one that knows
and knows well Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest.
• In the late seventeenth century John Dryden wrote, “I love not a sophisti-
cated truth, with an alloy of lie in it.”
10. teem (rhymes with beam) This verb meaning “abounding” or “swarming
with” is often used of the crowds on city streets but can work equally well
for nature’s bounty in a rural setting.
• On Thanksgiving Day in New York the sidewalks are teeming with children
and adults, clad in parkas and mufflers against the cold, patiently waiting for
the bands and colorful floats of the annual parade.
• While Gary waited patiently with his family for the annual Thanksgiving
Day parade, his mind wandered to thoughts of his childhood home in upstate
New York where the vistas were endless and where the rivers and lakes, not
yet frozen over, were teeming with fish.
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Y
ou can read the title of this chapter as “How interesting?” or
“How interesting!” because all of the words below pertain to
the range of expressions that mean either dull and ordinary or
exciting and fascinating.
1. mundane (mun DANE) From the Old French word that means “world,” this
adjective means “of this world” or “secular” rather than “spiritual.” It’s in
this chapter because it also means “ordinary” or “commonplace.”
• On the first day of school, most of the teachers covered such necessary but
mundane topics as school supplies, homework requirements, and grading
policies.
• Because the minister at Christina’s church feels it is important to engage in
mundane matters as well as spiritual matters, many of the parishioners are
actively engaged in political organizations and community service work.
2. prosaic (pro ZAY ik) Perhaps because this adjective comes from the Latin
word for “prose” rather than“poetry,” its meaning is “straightforward” or
“matter-of-fact.” More often, however, it has the more negative connotation
of “unimaginative” or “dull.”
• Winnie’s description of her visit to Washington, D.C., was so prosaic that
George couldn’t decide if he had no desire to visit that city or no desire to go
anywhere with Winnie.
• When Gideon asked Josh to give him a description of the girl he wanted to
fix him up with, Josh replied rather prosaically: “She’s got brown hair and
brown eyes and a medium build.”
3. quotidian (kwo TID ee en) This adjective, which comes from the Latin for
“each day” means “occurring everyday.” It’s not just used to mean “daily”;
it also describes something “commonly occurring” or “commonplace.”
• Leopold decided to liven up his otherwise quotidian job by wearing silk
pajamas to work and telling his colleagues they were the latest fashion in the
workplace.
• Every weekday morning, Marybeth engages in a quotidian ritual that
includes showering, brushing her hair and teeth, and having black coffee and
How Interesting
90
Words for the Dull and the Fascinating
Chapter
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How Interesting 313
a scone. Then, she walks her pet squirrel Zsa Zsa on its rhinestone-studded
leash and drives to her job at the animal hospital.
4. vacuous (VAK you us) This adjective means “without substance or meaning,”
in short, “dull and stupid.” It comes from the Latin word for “empty.” Think
“empty-headed.”
• Knowing they’d rather be at the beach than sitting in a summer school
classroom, the students stared vacuously at their teacher, clearly not listen-
ing to a word she said.
• At the cocktail party, the women sipped their drinks made vacuous conver-
sation about the beauty of Michelangelo’s art.
5. inane (in ANE) Like “vacuous,” this adjective means “senseless” or “mean-
ingless.” The noun form is inanity.
• The arguments made by the captain of the debating team were so inane that
the team was forced to cut him before the next round of the championship.
• Tired of the inanity of Saturday morning children’s programming, Jody and
Paul decided give away their television set and take their children on regular
Saturday morning trips to the library.
6. insipid (in SIP id) From the Latin for “not savory” or “not tasty,” this adjective
means just that—“tasteless” or “dull.” You can use it to describe the way a
certain food tastes or just about anything else that’s bland, including some-
one’s personality. The noun forms are “insipidity” or “insipidness,” but both
are rarely used.
• “My chicken vindaloo was so insipid that I don’t think I’ll go back to
Bombay Palace Cafe. I like my food to be spicier and more flavorful.”
• Considering that he devoted himself to his job for over thirty years and was
on such warm terms with his staff, Mr. Dobbs’ goodbye speech at his
retirement party was rather insipid.
7. pique (PEEK) This verb comes to us from the French and means “to prick” or
“to provoke.” It also can be used as a noun to mean “a feeling of wounded
pride” or “indignation.”
• “Your description of the restaurant really piqued my curiosity. I’ve never
tasted Asian-Lithuanian cuisine before, and it sounds delicious,” Patty said,
patting her stomach.
• In a fit of pique, Lotta threw away her scale and said, “I’m tired of trying to
look like the skinny models in all the fashion magazines. I’m chubby and I
like myself just the way I am!”
8. titillating (TIT ill ate ing) From the Latin word for “tickle, “ this adjective
means “to excite pleasurably,” often erotically. The noun is “titillation.”
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314 Fiske WordPower
• In the 1950s, many love scenes were cut from popular films because
Hollywood censors felt they would be too titillating to audiences.
• In last Sunday’s book review, the plot description of James Harmon’s new
novel sounded so full of titillation that bookstores were sold out of the first
printing by the end of the week.
9. ponderous (PON der us) This adjective means “having great weight.” When
a thought is “ponderous,” however, it can be so heavy and unwieldy that
it’s actually “dull,” another connotation of the word.
• The guest lecturer in Professor Zito’s class, “Tupac Shakur and the Modern
World,” was so ponderous that most of the students could barely follow his
thesis, and some even walked out in the middle.
• Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville often hiked on Monument
Mountain near Arrowhead, Melville’s home in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and
had heated and sometimes ponderous discussions about the state of
contemporary literature.
10. platitudinous (PLAH tih TOO din us) A “platitude” is “a trite remark, often
expressed as if it were something important.” The adjective form describes
any such expression. A good synonym is “banal” (bah NAL or BANE ul),
which comes from the German for “summons to military service.”
• “Spare me the platitudes, Pop,” Ken retorted, when his father said, “Today
is the first day of the rest of your life.”
• The executives at the computer software and technology convention in
Dallas found the keynote speaker’s remarks on the future of high tech start-
ups to be so banal that they booed him off the stage.
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How Interesting 315
Quick Quiz #30
Chapters 88-90
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ large sofa
2. ______ sideboard
3. ______ wardrobe
4. ______ tall chest of drawers
5. ______ pastoral
6. ______ peaceful event or setting
7. ______ suitable for cultivation
8. ______ relating to the city
9. ______ perceptive city stroller
10. ______ sophisticated and worldly
11. ______ swarming
12. ______ secular
13. ______ unimaginative
14. ______ occurring everyday
15. ______ without substance
16. ______ weighty
A. arable
B. armoire
C. bucolic
D. cosmopolitan
E. credenza
F. davenport
G. flaneur
H. highboy
I. idyll
J. inane
K. mundane
L. ponderous
M. prosaic
N. quotidian
O. teeming
P. urban
A. antimacassar
B. arable
C. baleful
D. bucolic
E. despot
F. desultory
G. divan
H. faction
I. imperious
J. inane
K. mundane
L. peremptory
M. quaff
N. quotidian
O. rustic
P. slake
Q. sporadic
R. teem
S. vintner
T. virulent
Usage Test #10
Chapters 82-90
Directions: select a word from the list below that best fits the
blank in one of the sentences and place the letter in the blank.
1. Julie hated when her sister became ____and ordered her to clean up
her room and walk the dog.
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316 Fiske WordPower
2. John spends so much time with his ____morning ritual of shaving,
showering, and dressing that he never has time to read the newspaper.
3. After the team lost their third game in a row, the coach ordered them
in a ____voice to come to practice an hour earlier every day.
4. Mr. Swanson’s secretaries thought that he was a ___who demanded
long hours at minimum pay.
5. Conflicted over their company’s new hiring policies, the employees
broke into different ____and argued about the issues.
6. A ____outbreak of the flu swept through the swim team, causing the
best swimmers to miss the championship meet.
7. A ____expression in his eyes, the rabid dog stumbled along the street
towards Scout.
8. My uncle, a California ____, believes the particularly dry summer will
prove disastrous for this year’s grape harvest.
9. “You worry about the ____matters of our Bible class such as where
we’re going to hold Saturday’s picnic. I’ll handle the spiritual work,”
Father Eccles told Mary.
10. A good ____of ice cold water is better than a soda on a really hot day.
11. No matter how much he drank, Joel could not ____his thirst in the
unbearable heat.
12. The new movie at the multiplex on Main Street was so ____ and so
unoriginal that the boys left before it was over.
13. Gertrude always put an ____on her armchair before Arthur arrived
with his gelled hair.
14. Sandy lay back on the ___in the parlor and listened contentedly to a
Bach concerto.
15. The ____view from my window included an open meadow filled with
grazing sheep surrounded by a dense pine forest.
16. On parade days, the streets ____with people lining up to see the
band, the majorettes, and the homemade floats.
17. Because the land is so ____in upstate New York, the local farmers
grow everything from apples and pears to corn and alfalfa.
18. The Harrisons built a ____log cabin and filled it with furniture crafted
by local carpenters.
19. The head of the department made a ____speech to his staff in
September, moving from one topic to another without much
coherence.
20. Tristan’s interest in Renaissance painting inspired him to make
____trips to Florence and the hilltowns of Tuscany.
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On the Road
91
Words for Journeys and the Travelers
Who Make Them
Chapter
H
ere’s a list for the nomad (or “wanderer”) in you. The list
below offers words for journeys, for those who take them, and,
in some cases, for how they take them.
1. itinerant (eye TIN er ant) As an adjective, this word means “traveling from
place to place.” It comes from the same route as “itinerary,” which is “a
proposed route or journey.” It can also be used as a noun. Someone who
travels around is “an itinerant.”
• Following in his father’s footsteps, Ethan moved to rural Pennsylvania and
became an itinerant doctor, visiting the families of Appalachia and provid-
ing them with basic health care services.
• In the 1960s, the Haight-Ashbury section of San Fransisco became an
attractive area for itinerants from all over the country, who arrived there in
search of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
2. vagrant (VAY grint) This is a noun for “one who wanders from place to
place without a permanent home or means of livelihood.” It can also be
used as an adjective. A more contemporary term, also used as a noun or
an adjective, is “homeless.”
• Since the Depression, many vagrants in Manhattan have built temporary
shelters beneath the highway overpass leading to the Brooklyn Bridge.
• Despite the sign reading: “No Vagrants” on the door of the public
restrooms, a homeless man was found sleeping on the tile floor beneath the
sinks.
3. sojourn (SO jurn) From the Latin for “to spend the day,” this noun means
“temporary stay” or “brief period of residence.” It may also be used as a verb.
• Last summer, the Sugarmans rented a villa overlooking a vineyard in central
Tuscany and made regular sojourns to the surrounding hill towns of
Montepulciano, Montalcino, Assisi, and Volterra.
• On their honeymoon, the Lesters sojourned to San Sebastian, Spain, before
traveling to the French Riviera.
4. transient (TRAN ze ent or TRAN sjent) As an adjective, this word means
“remaining in a place for only a brief time” or (like the related word
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318 Fiske WordPower
“transitory”) “passing with time.” As a noun, it means a person who stays
somewhere for only a brief time, such as a hotel guest. It comes from the
Latin for “to go over.”
• The nineteenth-century American writer Henry David Thoreau walked the
length of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, making transient visits to various
beaches along the National Seashore.
• Mrs. Wallabee does not like to take transients into her rooming house,
preferring long-term boarders whom she trusts.
5. migrate (MYE grate) This verb means “to move from one country or region
and settle in another” and is used to describe the behavior of both animals
and people. Words that come from the same root—“emigrate” and
“immigrate”—are used only to describe the activities of people.
(“Emigrate”describes the movement
away
from the point of departure
while “immigrate” describes the movement
to
a destination.)
• In the nineteenth century, a potato famine forced many Irish citizens to
migrate to America in search of food and labor.
• The film Winged Migration beautifully details the precise choreography of
the migration of various species of birds around the world.
6. haj (HAJ) From the Arabic word for “pilgrimage,”this noun literally means
“a pilgrimage to Mecca,” made during the religious life of a Muslim. It can
be used, however, to signify any important journey. From the Arabica
word for “flight,” comes the word “hegira,” which signifies the flight of
Muhammed from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D., marking the beginning of
the Muslim era.
• Having exhausted all of the traditional forms of medicine, Karina decided to
make a haj to Lourdes, France, with her daughter Katie to see if they could
find a cure for Katie’s cerebral palsy.
• A scholar of D. H. Lawrence, Professor Brentwhistle made a haj to
Lawrence’s home in Taos, New Mexico, to pay his respects at the author’s
gravesite.
7. peripatetic (PER ih pa TET ik) From the Greek word for “walk about” or
“covered walk,” where the philosopher Aristotle allegedly lectured, this
adjective means “walking from place to place” or “traveling on foot.” The
word comes from the followers of Aristotle, who conducted his philosoph-
ical conversations while walking about in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.
• The peripatetic Anders Svensen made his living writing travel articles for
various in-flight magazines.
• Easily bored and not yet willing to settle down with a wife and family,
Theodore broke up with his fiancée and indulged his peripatetic impulses
by hitchhiking from New York to California.
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On the Road 319
8. peregrination (PEH reg grin AY shun) This noun comes from the Latin word
for “foreigner” and means to wander or travel abroad. The verb form is “to
peregrinate.”
• After her sophomore year in college, Kamisha planned a year of
peregrination, starting in Africa and then traveling to Latin America and
the Far East.
• Giving in to his wanderlust (see “Achtung” chapter), Damian quit his job at
One Hour Photo to peregrinate through Europe; he left Boston for Paris
with an open-return ticket and no hotel reservations.
9. circumvent (sir cum VENT) This verb seems appropriate in a chapter about
traveling since it means “to get around by artful maneuvering” or “to
bypass.”
• Clarissa circumvented her mother’s anger at her for missing her curfew by
avoiding the front door and climbing through an open window into her
bedroom.
• In order to circumvent the rush hour traffic, the experienced taxi driver took
a series of service roads to the airport.
10. aberration (AB ber ay shun) From the Latin word for “to go astray,” this
noun suggests a more figurative kind of travel. It means “a deviation
from the expected course” and is more likely to connote not following
expectations than physically traveling anywhere. The adjective form is
“aberrant.”
• “These poor grades are an aberration for Timmy,” the principal told the
Hammonds. “I’ve called you into my office to find out if there is some kind
of problem at home since he is usually such a fine student.”
• The psychologist could not account for Shamika’s aberrant behavior. She
was quite surprised to discover that her patient had disappeared on the day
before her wedding without notifying anyone of her whereabouts.
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W
e all know that American cooking has borrowed many tips
from French “cuisine” (or style of preparing food), but have
you ever thought of how many French words have added a
certain “je ne sais quois” (literally “I don’t know what”) to our vocabulary?
Here’s a “melange” (another word we’ve appropriated that means
“mixture”) of French words we commonly use because they add spice to
our ripostes.
1. riposte (rih POST) Used as either a verb or a noun, the word means “quick
retort.” In the sport of fencing, it means ”a quick thrust given after parrying
an opponent’s lunge.” It can be used to mean any clever, retaliatory reply—
in words or actions.
• Insulted by his father’s sarcastic remark about his poor table manners, James
riposted with a flippant, “It must be in my genes.” (The word “flippant”
means “disrespectful levity.”)
• The flirtatious banter between the countess and the duke was filled with
ironic observations, teasing insults, and witty ripostes.
2. risque (ris KAY) This adjective comes from the French word that means
“to risk.” It’s no surprise that it means indelicate or bordering on the
inappropriate.
• The plunging decolletage of her dress was a bit risque for a Sunday church
service. (Decolletage also comes from the French and means plunging
neckline.)
• The professor’s vulgar joke was a bit risque, even for a class full of college
students.
3. fait accompli (fayt a com PLEE) This noun literally translates from the
French as “accomplished fact.” We use it to suggest a completed and there-
fore irreversible action. The plural, by the way, is faits accomplis.
• Her annoucement to the press to run for mayor was a fait accompli and
there was no turning back now.
• The CEO had second thoughts about the deal, but his signature on the
contract made it a fait accompli.
Parlez-Vous Anglais?
92
Words Borrowed from the French
Chapter
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Parlez-Vous Anglais? 321
4. soignee (swan YAY) Like so many of the words English has taken from the
French, here’s another word that evokes stylishness. This adjective comes
from the Old French word that means “to take care of.” We use it today to
mean fashionable or elegantly sophisticated and well-groomed. It can, by
the way, also be spelled with one “e.”
• The soignee movie star arrived at the opening in a Chanel evening gown
with matching accessories.
• The couple stopped for a nightcap at a soignee, little club not far from the
theatre district.
5. pastiche (pah STEESH) This noun has two different but related meanings.
The first is an artistic work that openly imitates, often satirically, the works
of other artists. The other more simply means hodgepodge or collection of
mismatched parts.
• The cathedral in the Piazza San Marco in Venice is a pastiche of different
architectural styles from several centuries.
• The musical was a pastiche of Broadway shows, gently mocking the overly
romantic plots and melodramatic lyrics of the most popular productions.
6. matinee (ma tin AY) Although this noun comes from the French word
“
matin
,” meaning morning, it actually means a performance that occurs in
the daytime, usually in the afternoon. Although it’s almost always used to
describe a theatre performance or a movie showing, it’s also related to the
Old French word “
matins
,” an ecclesiastical word that means morning
prayer. It can also be used as an adjective:
• If we catch the matinee performance of the pastiche, we’ll have plenty of
time to go to the museum before it closes.
7. insouciant (in SOO see ont) Coming from the Old French word for “not
troubled,” this adjective means nonchalant (another French word that
means “cooly unconcerned”) or blithely indifferent. The noun form is
“insouciance.”
• Mrs. Winthrop walked her dog Bubbles with her usual insouciance, allowing
him to jump on strangers and trample the gardens of her neighbors.
• I admired his insouciant expression after hearing the devastating news about
his mother-in-law.
8. faux (FOH) Coming from the Old French word
fals
, meaning false, we use
this adjective to mean fake or artificial. When we combine it with the French
word
pas
or “step,” as in
faux pas
, it’s a noun that means social blunder.
• The hypocritical woman felt her moral edge because she was wearing a faux
leopard coat.
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322 Fiske WordPower
• The faux sophistication of the King and the Duke was soon apparent to
Huckleberry Finn.
9. gauche (GOASH) This adjective comes from the French word that means
left or left-handed, but it also means awkward or clumsy, lacking social
polish.
• The garrulous woman was considered gauche for talking during the funeral
service. It was certainly considered a faux pas.
• The debonair urbanites were stunned by the gauche behavior of the coun-
try hostess who served apple juice with her coq au vin. (“Debonair” also
comes from the French and means carefree or jaunty.)
10. anomie (an oh MEE) The original French meaning of this noun is law-
lessness, but it has taken on a more complex social and philosophical
meaning. When one suffers anomie, one has a feeling of alienation and
purposelessness caused by a lack of standards, values, and ideals.
• His silent friend wandered away in solitude and anomie.
• The dark, brooding student, lost in his thoughts, could not conceal his
anomie.
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Achtung!
93
Words Borrowed from the German
Chapter
A
ll of the words listed below, most of which are quite commonly
used in academic or intellectual discussions, have come to us
from the German. As you will see, they have the uncanny (a
word that means “unsettling” or “eerie”) ability to express in one com-
pact word what it often takes many words to say in English. Pay atten-
tion (Achtung!) and you’ll be able to hold your own in the most sophis-
ticated conversations.
1. angst (ONGST) This noun means a feeling of neurotic fear or anxiety that
often is accompanied by depression. It’s related to the Old German word for
“anger” and was considered a foreign word until the 1940s when Sigmund
Freud’s writings made it popular in English.
• Overwhelmed with angst over his impending graduation from college,
Arthur stayed in bed all day and suffered insomnia at night.
• “You are not psychotic,” said Dr. Melrose, Johanna’s psychiatrist. “You are
understandably feeling a bit of angst about your parents’ divorce. Your
anxiety attacks will subside if you continue to talk about your feelings.”
2. schadenfreude (SHAD en froid deh) This noun comes from the German
words for “damage” and “joy” and means a pleasure derived from the
misfortune of others.
• Revelling in a bit of schadenfreude, Oliver was happy to see his parents
blame his brother for the Ming vase the boys broke while playing catch in
the living room. He was tired of being the one who always got in trouble.
• Although she didn’t want to admit to her schadenfreude, Abby was happy
to hear that everyone but her failed the math final; she thought it would
make her seem especially smart to her teacher.
3. weltanshauung (VELT an shung) From the German words for “world” and
“view,” this noun means a “perspective”or “world view.”
• According to the Elizabethan weltanshauung, social, moral, and political
values were determined by the principles of the Great Chain of Being.
• “If we all lived by the weltanshauung of today’s teenagers,” reflected the
professor of pop culture at the Midwestern college, “love, culture, and even
religion could be determined by the Internet.”
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324 Fiske WordPower
4. weltschmerz (VELT shmertz) This noun comes from the German words for
“world” and “pain” and means sadness over the evils of the world. The
word was popularized by the nineteenth-century German poet Heinrich
Heine.
• After watching the eleven o’clock news and seeing so many stories about vio-
lence, poverty, and war, Justin was overwhelmed by a sense of weltschmerz.
• Woody Allen’s films are filled with weltschmerz, forcing audiences to
ponder evil in the world, even as they laugh about it.
5. wunderkind (VUN der kinnd) From the German words “prodigy” and
“child,” this word is used to mean a person of remarkable talent or ability
who achieves great success at a young age.
• A musical wunderkind, Sarita was playing violin at Carnegie Hall by the
time she was nine.
• “The after-school math class is not just for wunderkinds,” explained Ms.
Ruddy. “Any child who is interested in math is welcome.”
6. wanderlust (VAN der lust) This noun means a very strong desire to travel
and comes from the German words for “wander” and “desire.” A related
word is “wanderjahr,” which is used to describe a year spent traveling,
wandering, or taking an absence from one’s work.
• Overcome by wanderlust, the Smith-Joneses both quit their jobs to travel
around the world and take photographs of mountain ranges and oceans.
• Although Cliff was very happy at college, he decided to take a wanderjahr
after his sophomore year and hike the Appalachian Trail.
7. bildungsroman (BIL dungs row MAHN) A popular word in the English
classroom, this is a noun for a novel about the moral, psychological, and
intellectual development of a youthful main character. It comes from the
German words for “novel” (roman) and “formation.”
• J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye is a bildungsroman about the poignant
experiences of Holden Caulfield after he drops out of prep school and tries
to cope with what he calls the “phoneys” of New York City.
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a bildungsroman that details the develop-
ment of a boy who must confront his feelings about race, religion, and
education in the pre-Civil War South.
8. gestalt (geh SHTALT) This noun comes from the German word for “shape,”
“form,” or “appearance,” but it is a bit more complicated than that. A
gestalt is a physical, psychological, or symbolic pattern of elements so uni-
fied that its properties cannot be derived from the sum of its parts. In other
words, the “gestalt” of something is its overall impression or sense, a
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Achtung! 325
whole that suggests more than the sum of its parts. It is also the name of
a school of psychology founded in the early part of the twentieth century.
• The gestalt of the students in Mr. Ramirez’s first period class was that they
were bored; in fact, they were exhausted by yesterday’s exam and not ready
to absorb any new material.
• The gestalt created by the architect’s plans for the contemporary art
museum reflected the innovation, creativity, and originality of the work that
would be displayed inside.
9. leitmotif (LIGHT mow teev) This is a noun that is used in discussing music
or literature. In music, it is a melodic phrase, especially in Wagnerian
opera, associated with a specific character, situation, or element. In a
novel, it is a dominant or recurring theme.
• In his 1845 opera Tannhauser, Wagner uses an orchestral leitmotif to convey
the theme of redemption through a woman’s love.
• The idea of an individual’s impotence in the face of oppressive bureaucracy
is a leitmotif that runs through many of the works of Franz Kafka.
10. zeitgeist (ZITE GEIST) From the German words for “spirit” and “time,”
this word means “spirit of the age” or the taste and outlook that is
characteristic of a particular time period or generation.
• Willy Loman’s aspirations to be a successful salesman were typical of the
post-World War II zeitgeist; his goals were to pay off the mortgage on his
house, support his wife and family, and raise two ambitious sons.
• ”Online dating is part of the zeitgeist,” reflected Professor Brown. “We are
a generation that believes that all of our needs can be met by the Internet.”
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Quick Quiz #31
Chapters 91-93
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ spirit of the age
2. ______ child prodigy
3. ______ traveling from place to place
4. ______ temporary stay
5. ______ remaining for a brief time
6. ______ pilgrimmage
7. ______ travel abroad
8. ______ bypass
9. ______ retaliatory retort
10. ______ risky, inappropriate
11. ______ elegantly sophisticated
12. ______ collection of mismatched parts
13. ______ nonchalant
14. ______ neurotic anxiety
15. ______ fake
16. ______ alienation
17. ______ world view
A. angst
B. anomie
C. circumvent
D. faux
E. haj
F. insouciant
G. itinerant
H. pastiche
I. peregrination
J. riposte
K. risqué
L. soignée
M. sojourn
N. transient
O. weltanshauung
P. wunderkind
Q. zeitgeist
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Weighty Words
94
Describing Fat and Thin
Chapter
T
he words in this chapter all mean either “fat” or “skinny.” Why
use a harsh or blunt word when you can use one of the
euphemisms listed below? (A euphemism (U-fem-izm), by the
way, is a mild, indirect, or vague term that substitutes for a more offen-
sive one.) Someone’s feelings are less likely to be hurt if you use almost
any of these adjectives.
1. rotund (row TUND) Think of the shape of the rotunda on the Capitol in
Washington. This adjective is used to describe a person, not a building, who
is round or plump. It comes from the Latin word meaning “round.” The noun
is “rotundity.”
• The rotund professor disguised his weight with a well-fitted vest and a pair
of crisply ironed slacks.
• Harold was so rotund that he took two seats on the airplane in order to fly
comfortably.
2. svelte (SVELT) From the Italian word that means “to stretch out,” this
adjective means slender or graceful in figure, thin.
• The svelte young woman had the figure of a fashion model and was able to
wear the designer clothing, which was cut quite narrowly.
• Mario’s ordinarily chubby body looked quite svelte in the Italian-cut suit.
3. corpulent (KOR pyu lent) From the Latin word meaning “body,” this adjective
means a lot of body or excessively fat. Someone who is corpulent is obese.
The noun form is “corpulence.”
• “A high-fat diet is almost guaranteed to cause corpulence,” said Dr. Pritikin.
“Stick with fruits and vegetables if you want to stay slim.”
• Despite his corpulence, the actor Jackie Gleason was a graceful dancer. He
carried himself like a man who was one hundred pounds lighter.
4. emaciated (ee MAYSH ee ate ed) The direct opposite of corpulent, someone
who is emaciated is excessively skinny, usually as a result of starvation.
• After months of near starvation, the men and women in the concentration
camps were pale and emaciated.
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• Twiggy was a fashion model in the sixties whose emaciated frame provoked
many teenagers to all but starve themselves.
5. portly (PORT lee) Although this adjective has the same meaning as corpulent,
someone who is portly is generally more comfortable with his or her size.
Although the word once meant majestic or grand, it is now only used to
connote “pleasingly plump.”
• The portly woman waltzed gracefully onto the dance floor, obviously
comfortable with her large size and slim dance partner.
• The portly gentleman tucked a napkin under his chin and dug into a heap-
ing plate of spaghetti and meatballs, oblivious to the amused stares of the
slimmer diners at the restaurant.
6. ravenous (RAV en us) Although this word doesn’t exactly mean either
skinny or fat it seems to belong here because it means excessively hungry.
From the Old French word that means “take by force,” someone who is
ravenous will do just about anything to get some food.
• Ravenous after running the marathon, Christina came home and devoured
a huge steak, a plate of french fries, and a slice of apple pie.
• The ravenous hyenas devoured the remains of the wildebeest left by the
lion.
7. stout (STOWT) Although this adjective also means “brave, determined, or
resolute,” it is more often used to mean “thickset or bulky in figure.” It’s also
the word for a very dark beer or ale. Someone who drinks a lot of stout will
probably become stout.
• Botero is famous for painting stout figures of men and women, often
wearing bathing suits or scant clothing.
• The stout matron eyed the teenagers in tight jeans and cropped T-shirts
disdainfully, knowing she could never wear such clothing.
8. anorectic (an or EK tic) Although this word is often associated with
anorexia nervosa, a psychological disorder marked by a fear of becoming
obese and a persistent unwillingness to eat, the adjective actually just
means “marked by loss of appetite.” It comes from the Greek word for
“without appetite.” The word is also often spelled and pronounced
“anorexic.”
• The anorectic girl took one look at the plate piled high with food and asked
to be excused from the table.
• The heat and the malaria had an anorectic effect on the villagers; they were
all thin as rails.
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Weighty Words 329
9. buxom (BUKS um) This adjective means “healthily plump” or“full-bosomed”
and is reserved for describing females. It is quite similar to the Yiddish word
“
zaftig
.” A woman who is buxom is not fat; she is curvaceous.
• The buxom barmaid brought a tray of beer to the table, bending low as she
distributed the glasses. All of the men grinned lasciviously (a word that
means “lustily” or “lecherously”).
• The actress Mae West was famous for her buxom figure, which was
considered voluptuous (sensual) by both men and women.
10. embonpoint (ON bone pwan) The only noun in this list, this word comes
from the French expression for “in good condition.” In English, however,
it means rather plump.
• Accentuating her embonpoint, Margot wore a tight black dress to the
cocktail party. Though her size was exaggerated, she looked quite alluring
amongst the skinnier women.
• Notwithstanding her short stature and embonpoint, Selena made a wonder-
ful fashion model because she wore her clothing with great style and élan (see
“Do It In Style” chapter).
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A
lthough Shakespeare’s character Juliet queried the importance
of names in the phrase that gives this chapter its title, the play-
wright himself never undervalued them. And it’s a pretty good
bet he knew all the words in this list below.
1. nomenclature (NO men klay ture) The Romans had a special class of slaves
called “nomenklators,” whose function was to remind their masters of the
names of those they met. The modern word “nomenclature” translates as
“name call” and refers to a system or arrangement of words in particular
discipline.
• When he began babbling about “xylem” and “phloem,” I threw up my hands
and said, “Please stop! I don’t know the nomenclature of botany.”
• When Callie graduated from law school, Will said, “Wow, you’re an attorney
now.” She responded, “Get your nomenclature straight. I’m a lawyer.
Attorneys have passed the bar exam.”
2. taxonomy (tax OHN uh me) This noun refers to a method or system of
arranging or classifying or, more loosely, a science of naming or labeling.
• The average high school cafeteria offers a study in informal taxonomy: your
student guide is not slow to point out the “cool table” or the hallowed seats
of the “jocks.”
• Scientific taxonomy is very complex, for scientists must observe carefully in
order to decide why, for example, opossums should not be grouped with
porcupines.
3. pseudonym (SOO doe nim) The silent “p” at the start distinguishes this
noun. It literally means “false name” and is most often used for the pen
names chosen by some authors.
• Mark Twain is one of the best-known pseudonyms; Samuel Langhorne
Clemens used it for all of his novels.
• Mary Ann Evans, a woman living in nineteenth-century England, chose a
male pseudonym—George Eliot—for her novels.
What’s in a Name?
95
Words About Names and Naming
Chapter
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What’s in a Name? 331
4. moniker (MON ik er) Some see it as slang, some don’t. Either way this
noun is a name, a nickname, a pseudonym—what you’re called. The origin
puzzles linguists, who speculate that it may be a blend of “monogram”
and “signature.”
• “Put your moniker there on the dotted line,” said the salesman, “and you’ve
bought yourself a fine used car.”
• If groups like Nine Inch Nails or the Dandy Warhols had less memorable
monikers, would they be less known?
5. epithet (EP ih thet) In the world of names, this noun refers to a term used
in addition to a person’s name or as a substitution for the name. Out of the
world of names, it can mean an abusive or contemptuous word or phrase
such as profane or obscene language.
• The classical hero Achilles is characterized by the epithet “fleet-footed.”
• As soon as the drivers in the two-car collision determined that no one was
hurt, they jumped out of their vehicles and begaqn angrily hurling epithets
at each other.
6. diminutive (di MIN u tiv) Generally speaking, this word can be an adjective
meaning “small,” but in the category of names, it’s a noun meaning a form
of a name expressing either affection or—contrastingly—contempt.
• When she was growing up, Susanna’s father called her “Suzie-Q,” a distinctive
diminutive she loved to hear from him even after she turned twenty-one.
• The experienced politician raised his brow at opposition candidate Hiram
Smith and said, “No, Smithy. We never went to war against Australia.” The
diminutive magnified his obvious contempt.
7. sobriquet (so bri KAY) This synonym for a nickname or an epithet comes
straight from French where, patronizingly enough, it once meant “to chuck
under the chin.”
• Mr. Hanly’s extensive vocabulary prompted his students to the admiring
sobriquet “The Walking Dictionary.”
• “The Great Cham” is a sobriquet used variously for the Khan of the Tartary
region in Asia and for the eighteenth-century writer and dictionary maker
Samuel Johnson.
8. misnomer (mis NO mer) This noun refers to an inappropriate or inaccurate
name for a person or thing.
• To say I made eye contact with him would be a misnomer, for I found myself
entranced by his bushy eyebrows and could not quit staring at them.
• When I asked Mr. Monaghan to name his best student, he replied, “It’s
Lucinda Poor—what a misnomer! She’s anything but ‘poor.’”
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332 Fiske WordPower
9. appellation (a pel A shun) A name (usually one other than the proper
name) or title given to someone or something. If you survived even a week
in a French course, you’ll remember Je m’appelle …. (My name is…)
• When I referred to the potter as an “artist,” he modestly said, “I don’t
deserve so grand an appellation. I’m just a simple craftsman.”
• The intricate rules of the Electoral College may cause the country to give the
appellation of “president” to someone who was not the people’s choice.
10. shibboleth (SHIB e leth) This noun refers to a password or a distinctive
pronunciation that shows that a person is or is not an “insider,” a person
deserving the name of that group. (The word comes from a passage in
the Hebrew scriptures: two tribes were distinguished by the inability of
one to give the correct pronunciation of “shibboleth.”) Today the word is
also used in a looser sense for a distinctive trait of a certain group.
• The World War II film depicted the dazed Sgt. Pritchett desperately trying
to recall the piece of baseball trivia that was the shibboleth of his unit.
Without it, his comrades might think him a spy.
• The ease with which profane or obscene language is used in public may be
the shibboleth of generational difference; older folk grew up with a taboo
on so-called “four-letter words.”
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Am I Timid? Or Are You
Intimidating?
96
Words for the Brave and the Cowardly
Chapter
A
m I scared because I’m temperamentally fearful? Or am I scared
because you’re so fearsome (scary)? This list offers some words
for either possibility.
1. craven (KRAY ven) As adjective or as noun, it simply describes or refers to a
coward or cowardly behavior. When the song from the classic Western film
High Noon
refers to a “craven coward,” it’s just doubling up the intensity of
the word.
• Ms. Chapin pointed out to her students the line “thou… art sure no craven”
in one of Poe’s most famous poems: “The bird the speaker addresses wasn’t
cowardly, I agree, but also there aren’t many words that rhyme with ‘raven.’”
• While the corrupt but brave Don Giovanni, in Mozart’s opera of the same
name, boldly confronts the spirit of the departed Commendatore, his servant
Leporello is cravenly hiding under the banquet table.
2. pusillanimous (PEW sil AN ih mus) If you’re really angry at someone’s
cowardly behavior, this is the adjective to hiss at him or her—very satisfying
in its sound! Even the word history is satisfying: it describes a spirit (Latin
animus
) like that of a weak, little animal such as a pullet, a young chicken!
• “There are times it is not only a duty but a pleasure to speak one’s mind,”
said Ms. Cunningham sternly, “and expressing my disgust at your pusillani-
mous actions is one of those times.”
• Pusillanimity can be found in the home as well as on the battlefield, for it
may be emotional as well as physical.
3. timorous (TIM er us) To be timorous is to be full of apprehension, of fear. The
same root word gives us “timid.” Do NOT confuse this word with “temerity,”
which means the opposite—“daring”—and can be found in chapter 12.
• “Wee, timorous, cowering beastie,” wrote poet Robert Burns to a field
mouse, frightened because her nest has just been overturned by a plow.
• During the question and answer period after the talk, Walter wanted to
address the speaker but was too timorous to speak up.
4. tremulous (TREM u lus) This adjective describes something physically trem-
bling or quaking, particularly, though not exclusively, in response to fear.
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334 Fiske WordPower
• When the armed mugger demanded his wallet, Chuck tremulously brought
it forth from his pocket.
• In a tremulous but clear voice, Rita spoke up to Mrs. Tipton, her second
grade teacher, to protest the fact that her friend Ellie had been put into the
dark cloakroom as a punishment.
5. harrowing (HARE oh ing) If something really frightens you or distresses you,
you might describe it with this adjective. A harrow is, literally, a farm imple-
ment that breaks up clods of earth, but these days the word is commonly
used for an experience that gives you the figurative feeling of having your
insides ripped out as if you’d been literally “harrowed.”
• “It harrows me with fear and wonder,” says Hamlet when, on the dark
battlement of the castle, he first sees the ghost of his father.
• “What a harrowing experience for you,” said Ms. Pitt sympathetically, “to
have been stuck in that subway car for forty minutes.”
6. skittish (SKIT ish) No, it doesn’t mean you feel like putting on a skit. It means
you’re nervous or timid or you’re undependably likely to change your mind.
• “I have a driver’s license and all that,” said Donna, “but I’m skittish about
driving on anything more challenging than a quiet country road.”
• “Yes, I know the Foxes said they’d buy the property, but don’t count on it till
the contract is signed because first-home buyers are notoriously skittish,”
counseled the real estate agent.
7. rebarbative (re BARB ih tiv) This adjective describes something repelling,
something that irritates, such as, say, rubbing your cheek against the prickly
stubble of a beard. Yes, the root word is the Latin for “beard” (as in “barber”).
• In his later years, Nasby became increasingly rebarbative, often answering a
friendly query such as, “How are you today?” with a sarcastic rebuff like,
“Who wants to know?”
• While Edmund has his rebarbative moments, he can also be welcoming and
friendly; the trick is to catch him in a good mood.
8. impregnable (im PREG nuh bul) If it’s literally impregnable, it’s something
like a fort or a castle that cannot be taken by force. In the extended sense,
a person is impregnable if he or she is likely to be right and is extremely
firm in his or her convictions.
• “Of this, as of everything, I am certain,” said Aunt Augusta confidently,
reinforcing her nephew’s sense of her impregnability.
• Ross was such an obnoxious person that I longed to refute his claims, but
eventually I had to admit his facts were correct, his argument impregnable.
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Am I Timid? Or Are You Intimidating? 335
9. redoubtable (re DOUT uh bul) Don’t try to guess the meaning of this
adjective, for the person it describes arouses, depending on the context,
either fear or respect. That kind of person isn’t usually given to self-doubt!
• In the seventeenth century the English Parliament summoned the
redoubtable Oliver Cromwell to lead their forces against the Royalist Army.
• Because Prof. Castillo was intolerant of error and demanded exacting
precision of her students, they learned a lot, even though they found her
personally redoubtable, not the type of teacher with whom they might have
an informal chat.
10. formidable (FORM id a bul) This adjective frequently describes a person
or situation that arouses fear or dread, though in less personal contexts
something formidable might inspire admiration (see the second sentence
below).
• Ariel decided to live with the annoyances of her medical condition than to
face the formidable prospect of the major surgery that could remedy them.
• Meg has excellent grades, high test scores, extra-curricular activities she’s
devoted to, and a winning personality—a formidable combination for a
college applicant.
Quick Quiz #32
Chapters 94-96
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ system of classification
2. ______ nickname often used for a child
3. ______ a literary alias
4. ______ a curvaceous woman
5. ______ a shaking voice
6. ______ somewhat overweight
7. ______ title for a person
8. ______ really scary
9. ______ very cowardly
10. ______ can’t be defeated
11. ______ contemptuous word or phrase
12. ______ inappropriate name
13. ______ very hungry
14. ______ fashionably thin
15. ______ system of naming
A. appellation
B. buxom
C. diminutive
D. epithet
E. harrowing
F. impregnable
G. misnomer
H. nomenclature
I. portly
J. pseudonym
K. pusillanimous
L. ravenous
M. svelte
N. taxonomy
O. tremulous
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I
f you’ve read or seen Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, you
may recall a great speech by the female character Portia (disguised
as a judge). It begins “The quality of mercy is not strained.” On this
page as well, “mercy” is not strained but is expanded to ten words, each
of which has some connection with the concept of escaping punishment.
1. exonerate (eg ZAHN er ate) The root words have the idea of “laying down
a burden.” And, indeed, if you are exonerated, you are freed from a respon-
sibility or blame, whether in a legal matter or something less official.
• Graham was accused of being the “redheaded boy” who threw an egg out the
second floor of the school building onto a passerby in the street below, but
he exonerated himself by having every student in his calculus class affirm
that he was in the first floor calculus classroom at the time.
• “No officer worth his salt,” said Major Rigsby-Radnor, “would want to be
exonerated from his duty of fighting for Her Majesty Queen Griselda; in
fact, I insist on leading the charge.”
2. clemency (KLEM en see) An easy synonym for mercy, kindness, or even
mildness (see second sentence below).
• The defense lawyer pleaded with Judge Hogarth to show clemency in
sentencing in that his client was the sole support of two relatives and a for-
mer racing greyhound.
• “Inclement weather all weekend,” said the weather reporter. “All picnics
should be cancelled.”
3. indemnity (in DEM ni tee) This noun is defined as “security against hurt,
loss, or damage,” as in the financial form an insurance company might be
able to provide.
• Slowly recovering from heartbreak, Ellen wistfully asked her mom, “Why
isn’t there some way to indemnify yourself against emotional distress? I’d
rather lose money than hurt so much.”
• Have you seen the old movie classic Double Indemnity about a wicked
scheme to defraud an insurance company by attempting to stage an acciden-
tal death?
Have Mercy!
97
Words About Forgiveness
Chapter
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Have Mercy! 337
4. amnesty (AM nus tee) Talk about mercy! If you receive amnesty for a
wrongdoing, you get a pardon, either literally or figuratively. The root
words mean “absence of memory”—the bad thing you did is literally
forgotten.
• The public library has declared an amnesty period of two weeks: anyone
returning overdue books during this period will not be charged a fine.
• “Dad, I’m not asking for complete amnesty for violating my curfew by
twenty minutes,” wailed Ned to his stern father, who had grounded him for
a month. “Couldn’t you just give me some kind of community service?”
5. forbear (for BEAR) As a verb, this word expresses the idea of patiently
enduring something unpleasant or refraining from something you might
otherwise do. Don’t confuse the verb with the noun forbear (or forebear),
which is an ancestor, even if you’re not a bear.
• “I am noted for the kindness of my disposition,” said Gwendolyn, “but I have
forborne as long as I can your insolence to me.”
• Forbear the waving of your red handkerchief at that bull; he’s said to be
excitable.
6. absolve (ab ZOLV) There’s often a religious connotation to this kind of
forgiveness. Its root word means “to loosen” (think “dissolve”).
• “I just can’t read all of this thick Sunday newspaper. Will you absolve me of
my moral duty to be thoroughly informed?” said Eugene to his wife.
• Author Frank McCourt states that he now, as an adult, has some understand-
ing of his father but that he can still not grant him full absolution for
abandoning a wife and young children.
7. lenient (LEEN e unt) If you’re lenient, you have a mild and tolerant outlook
and forgo harsh punishment of someone even in a situation where you
might have a moral right to such. “Indulgent” might be a rough synonym
• “My parents were too harsh with me, so now I’m too lenient with my kids.
They’ll probably grow up and be too harsh with their kids,” sighed Mr.
McGoogle. “Is there any way to get it completely right?”
• Judge DiLucia was given to quirky judicial decisions. For example, he once
exercised extreme leniency to a defendant who happened to have the same
birthday.
8. mitigate (MIT uh GATE) This verb contains the idea of something being made
less harsh, less severe. You’ll often hear it in the phrase “mitigating
circumstances,” meaning that there are reasons for regarding the phenome-
non in a softer light.
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338 Fiske WordPower
• Fernanda attempted to mitigate the degree of bitterness she felt toward her
sister Roxanna, who had, she believed, wronged her but soon realized she
needed the help and healing of time.
• “Dear Dragon,” cried the maiden, “please mitigate your fiery wrath toward
me. I promise to crochet a lovely mat for your lair, if you’ll let me go.”
9. condone (con DOAN) In its purest sense, this verb means the overlooking
or forgiving of wrongdoing. It is now being used in a somewhat stronger
sense of meaning the giving of unspoken approval to something.
• The old saying from the ’60s—“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part
of the problem”—implies that condoning wrongdoing is as bad as committing
the action yourself.
• “I cannot condone the fact that you threw your lanyard at Skippy,” said the
group leader to the camper, “but since she has forgiven you, I will not
administer a punishment.”
10. reprieve (re PREEV) As a noun or a verb, this word refers to the granting
of a temporary delay in a punishment or in the performance of a harsh
duty. Sometimes you’ll see the phrase “a temporary reprieve,” but if it’s
permanent, it’s not a reprieve.
• The prisoner received a thirty-day reprieve from the execution of his death
sentence to enable his lawyer to investigate further the anonymous call that
purported to offer new evidence.
• Entering the huge vaulted cathedral where a choir was singing Gregorian
chants offered a welcome reprieve from both the hot July day and the noise
of the plaza.
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The Good, the Bad, and
the Ugly
98
Words for Right and Wrong
Chapter
A
moray is an eel, morale is spirit or confidence, morels are mush-
rooms, but morals are values, standards, principles of right and
wrong, as defined in your society.
1. mores (MORE aze) This noun, always plural and spelled and pronounced
exactly the same in English as in the Latin original, refers to customs,
defining standards of behavior in any one culture. The Latin is the origin of
the English word “morals” but not a synonym.
• “Is it okay to wear our shorts into this holy site?” queried Lindsay. “I don’t
know the local mores.”
• Mores change gradually over time: these days even the best-mannered of
women leave their white gloves at home when they head out for a day of
shopping.
2. turpitude (TURP ih tude) This noun is a strong term for immoral, even
shameful behavior. It is reserved for actions considered really “bad” in our
society such as, for example, child molestation.
• Although the jury found Mr. Brown not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,
an accusation of a crime of such turpitude as his will follow him all his life.
• In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, the disappointed Enobarbus wonders
how Antony would have rewarded his possible good acts “when my
turpitude/Thou dost so crown with gold.”
3. louche (LOOSH) This French adjective has come into English with the
meaning of “possessing questionable taste or morality.” Unlike the very
serious “turpitude,” it often is used with an air of slight amusement or mild
amazement. Since it derives from the Latin word meaning “one-eyed,”
perhaps it is associated with slightly shady behavior at which one might
wink, not shriek.
• “Algernon, you old scoundrel! I wouldn’t have been startled to run into you
in a louche bar in the wrong part of town but meeting you at a prayer break-
fast is a surprise!”
• At seventeen, Charley is still a minor, but his parents give him complete
freedom in choosing his friends, even tolerating the rather louche Ferdinand
at their family dinner table.
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4. effete (e FEET) Not immoral, “effete” denotes behavior or manner that is
lacking in vital force or marked by self-indulgence. “Robust” might be given
as an opposite. It has been often confused with “effeminate” (describing a
man with traits deemed more appropriate to a woman), but the difference
in meaning deserves preservation.
• In typical movies about the Wild West, the Eastern male new to the town is
often shown as being effete—an over-refined creature who couldn’t shoe a
horse no matter how pressing the need.
• Hardy pioneer American women were far from effete, totally unlike the
stereotype of females as delicate creatures requiring male protection.
5. amoral (AY mor uhl) This adjective means “completely lacking in any moral
sense.” The “a” represents the Latin prefix meaning “absence of.” Don’t
confuse the word with “amorous,” which means “relating to love.”
• Prof. Demaris objects to journalists who describe hurricanes as being cruel
or wicked. “Weather,” he pronounced, “is strictly amoral.”
• The criminal refused to make any statement of contrition about his act; in
fact, viewers of the trial were bothered that he seemed so completely amoral.
6. rank As an adjective, this word means “offensive.” When it’s not being used
to describe behavior, it might describe a strong, unpleasant smell.
Occasionally, it means “complete, total” with a sense of disapproval.
• “I’m not going to let some rank amateur come into my office and tell me
how to run my business,” snorted McGonigle.
• Shakespeare’s Claudius was evil enough to kill his brother but was not
amoral: he had enough conscience to lament, “O, my offense is rank. It
smells to heaven.”
7. nefarious (nee FAIR e us) If you’re nefarious, you’re wicked, stunningly
wicked. The adjective derives from the Latin meaning “violation of divine
law.”
• “To call these terrorists ‘nefarious’ would be redundant,” noted
Representative Hawkins.
• As the pilgrims enter the lowest circles of Dante’s hell, they encounter the
most nefarious of sinners—those who betrayed friends or relatives,
including Ugolino, who may have eaten the bodies of his dead children.
8. venal (VEE nuhl) The venal person is corrupt, crooked, willing to sacrifice
any principles if the price is right. Appropriately enough, it derives from
the Latin word for “sale.”
• “Throw the rascals out!” is a catchphrase used at election time in reference
to venal politicians.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 341
• One doesn’t like to associate venality with the teaching profession, so it is all
the more disturbing to learn that Mr. Whitt, the chemistry teacher, had been
accepting bribes in exchange for high grades.
9. probity (PROBE ih tee) There are even a few words for
good
morals. A
person of probity is a person of complete integrity.
• “The morals of a person of probity will never need probing,” opined Bill,
who could work a pun into almost anything.
• While his private life is not without rumors, no one has ever questioned
Senator Choozme’s financial probity.
10. rectitude (REK ti tude) This noun means moral uprightness; synonymous
with probity, it comes from the Latin word for “straight.”
• While Thomas Jefferson’s morals are frequently examined and condemned,
no one has made a dent in the rectitude of George Washington.
• “You should never hesitate to do good even if for the wrong reason;
possessing rectitude of intention may be more common in angels than in
humans,” said Miss Dove to her students
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H
ere is the last of our four “variety” offerings as we reach the
penultimate state of this book. By the way, be sure you know
that word means “almost the last’ (“pen” is from the Latin
prefix for “almost,”—a peninsula is “almost” an island). And as you’re
doubtless guessing, “potpourri” means a mixture.
1. aesthetic (es THET ik) This adjective refers to the perception or appreciation
of beauty.
• Those who want to be architects must have a very practical sense of how
buildings function, but they must also have a strong sense of aesthetics; no
one wants an ugly building, no matter how practical it might be.
• Bea is a complete aesthete: her kitchen toaster barely makes a piece of bread
light tan, but she defends the appliance on the grounds that “the pink stripe
across the middle makes it look really pretty.”
2. flaccid (FLAS id or FLAK sid) It’s from the Latin for “flabby” and that’s what
it means. It can be used in the literal or the figurative sense.
• The polio he suffered as a child left his leg muscles flaccid, but Wilfrid has
not let wearing leg braces stop him from an active life and a successful career.
• Driving cross-country together, Grace and Emily kept up a non-stop,
animated conversation about childhood, books, men, cats, careers, and life in
general; the exchange became flaccid only when physical fatigue set in.
3. trenchant (TREN chunt) This word describes something forceful and effective,
especially something quite sharp in its effective. Like the concrete noun
“trench,” it comes from a French word meaning “to cut,” but this adjective is
always used abstractly.
• Those who pride themselves on trenchant distinctions between good and
bad, right and wrong, may oversimplify some of the most interesting and
subtle questions about life.
• Luigi’s analysis of the situation was both trenchant and witty; I don’t think
he’s ever uttered a flaccid phrase in his life.
Potpourri
99
Another Mixed Bag of Useful Words
Chapter
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Potpourri 343
4. milieu (mil YUH) Another French friend firmly lodged in the English language,
this noun means simply “place” or “environment” with a sense of being in
the center or middle of it. It keeps its French plural form.
• Francine had a quiet, rural childhood, so when her college experience placed
her in a milieu of fast-talking, sophisticated peers, she needed a year or so to
adapt herself to this new way of living.
• Part of Gaspar’s success as a journalist is that he has the knack of making
himself at home with people from all varieties of social and cultural milieux,
thus putting them at ease and making them willing to talk to him.
5. parvenu (PAR vuh noo) A newcomer to a “higher” level of social or
economic status, one who doesn’t yet know “how it’s done”—this French
noun brings with it into English a non-democratic, judgmental perspective.
• “Hubert, that parvenu? I would never trust him to advise me on my finances.
He doesn’t even know how to place his silver at the end of the meal,” Mrs.
Hayes sniffily observed.
• Although his wealthy guests from the fashionable side of the bay were happy
to attend Jay Gatsby’s parties and drink his illegal alcohol, they continued to
regard him as a parvenu, a man with a fancy automobile but without a horse.
6. ubiquitous (yew BIK wit us) Literally, being everywhere at once.
Obviously, it’s used in a metaphoric or an exaggerated sense. It’s from the
Latin for “everywhere.”
• To celebrate the publication of the new biography of Herman Melville, Andy
and Dawn are starting a chain of teahouses called “Queegqueg’s Place.”
Here’s betting those franchises will soon be as ubiquitous as Starbucks!
• Truman Capote was known for his ubiquity on the social circuit: this party
one night, that one the next.
7. agog (a GOG) If you’re eager, amazed, or excited, you may be agog.
• On his first trip to Asia, Henry revealed little in his words or on his face, but
inside he was quietly agog with happiness at the new sights he had seen, the
new experiences he was having.
• Spanish magician Juan Mayoral had the audience agog with wonder at the
flame he transported to his buttonhole and at the red shoes that walked them-
selves to his door.
8. chicanery (shuh CAIN er ee) If someone uses chicanery on you, they’re
practicing dirty tricks, deceiving you.
• Miriam had trusted her financial adviser completely, so it was crushing, not
only financially but personally, to learn that his chicanery had taken away
half of her life savings.
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344 Fiske WordPower
• Ms. Bachelder had let the honor students have the key to her office “so we
can have a quiet place to study,” never realizing they hoped to find an
advance copy of the AP Biology exam—she had never dreamed of such chi-
canery in the young!
9. desuetude (DEZ wuh tood) A fancy word for a state of disuse or inactivity.
• Mrs. Chasuble had a dislike of giving gifts that were “merely useful,” as she
termed it; her occasional exceptions were always antiques—an old magnifying
glass, a wooden dish rack—as if their period of desuetude elevated them to a
higher standard.
• While the law punishing those who walk of the western sidewalk in Fort Lulu
remains on the books, its enforcement has, happily, fallen into desuetude.
10. palimpsest (PAL imp sest) This fascinating and complex word refers to
either (a) a literal manuscript, possibly on hide or parchment, that has
been written on, scraped, and written on again or (b) an object or place
that similarly reflects layers of its history.
• We’re accustomed to thinking of Rome as a palimpsest of classical,
medieval, Renaissance, and modern life, but Prof. Limerick’s lecture on
Tucson, Arizona, has helped me see that southwestern city with its layerings
of Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo life in a similar light.
• Dr. Ulanov was ecstatic when the vellum manuscript he purchased
inexpensively in an Athens marketplace turned out to be a palimpsest with
some recoverable diagrams by Archimedes on a lower layer: “Eureka!” he cried.
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We’re Out of Here
10 0
Words About Types of Leaving
Chapter
G
et going! Later, Alligator! Catch ya on the flip side! Ciao!
Have a good one! Toodle-oo! Twenty-three skidoo! Scram!
The many ways of departing are not limited to slang. Here are
ten ways of looking at a leaving.
1. usurp (u SURP) If you usurp someone’s place (or power), you seize it
unlawfully, you push them out.
• Modern day Christians disagree among themselves on whether the apostle
Paul’s statement that women ought not to usurp the authority of men should
be taken literally today.
• Prince Hamlet knew his uncle had usurped his father’s throne but heart-
break at the situation came sooner than the chance to speak up.
2. supplant (sup PLANT) This verb can be used as a synonym for “usurp,” but it
even more strongly suggests underhanded doings, trickery. How appropriate
for a word whose origin means “to put one’s foot under the sole of another’s
foot”; in short, “to trip up.”
• Although Lisa was friendly enough to her, Sara Jane knew she was scheming
to supplant her as division head.
• King Henry IV of England was himself a usurper, so when the old and ill
man sees his son, Prince Hal, trying on his crown, he recognizes, unhappily,
a young prince’s desire to supplant an older ruler.
3. slough (sluff) When a snake sheds its skin, it is sloughing it off. So, more
generally this verb refers to discarding something not regarded as desirable.
• “I know you’re second semester seniors,” said Mr. Krolik to his class, “but does
that make it right to slough off your homework during these final weeks?”
• Mr. Crist-Jones was the picture of respectability as long as he was in his
homeland, but the sunny climes of Spain and Portugal caused him to slough
off his native primness and astonish even the “locals” with the vivacity of his
flamenco technique.
4. secede (suh SEED) This verb refers to making a formal withdrawal of
membership. Its most common use is to the secession (suh SESH un) of
the Southern states from the Union at the time of the Civil War.
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346 Fiske WordPower
• Angered by his parents’ refusal to let him attend Fabula’s party, Dondre
irrationally proclaimed, “If there were a way to secede from this family, I’d
do it!”
• Who first said that if New York City tried to secede from New York State,
Staten Island should secede from New York City?
5. recede (re SEED) If something recedes, it goes to a position or condition
further back whether in time or in space.
• Denny has avoided “middle-aged spread,” but his receding hairline makes it
impossible for him to be mistaken for his twenty-year-old self.
• The real estate market has been flourishing for so long that experts predict a
recession of values must be in the fairly near future.
6. abdicate (AB dik ate) One who abdicates chooses to give up power, espe-
cially that of a throne—no usurper need apply. A verb similar in sound and
meaning is abnegate (AB neg ate)—the voluntary giving up of some right
or pleasure.
• Some monarchy-watchers believe that Queen Elizabeth II should abdicate
in favor of her son Charles.
• “I’m not into self-abnegation,” avowed Mame, helping herself to more foie
gras.
7. wane (rhymes with rain) This verb refers to the process of gradually growing
smaller. It’s often used in reference to the size of the visible moon along with
its companion opposite “to wax,” meaning to grow larger.
• Theo had once planned on majoring in math, but as his grades in the more
advanced courses fell, his interest waned.
• Prof. Burke stated her belief that the power of the legislative branch was
waning and thus the time-honored sense of checks and balances was
threatened.
8. valediction (val uh DIK shun) A rather formal statement is called a valediction.
Some schools still select a valedictorian, the student with the highest grades
in the class who gets the official right to make a “good-bye speech” at
graduation exercises.
• General Douglas MacArthur’s valedictory speech to Congress in April 1951
is remembered chiefly for his moving quotation from an old barracks ballad:
“Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.”
• John Keats, knowing of his imminent death from tuberculosis, attempts, with
sadness, to write, from Rome, a valediction to a friend in England, “I can
scarcely bid you goodbye even in a letter. I always made an awkward bow.”
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We’re Out Of Here 347
9. tergiversate (ter JIV er sate) Literally, to turn one’s back (Latin
tergum
)
on—to leave—a cause formerly supported. It can also be used to refer to
speaking evasively, hoping to disguise one’s meaning. One linguist puts it
well in saying the word applies whether one is “ducking or weaving.”
• In Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities the unreliable character John Barsad fears he
will be apprehended in France despite “his utmost tergiversation.”
• Pres. George H. W. Bush is remembered for his clever phrase, “Read my lips.
No new taxes,” but not everyone remembers that he later tergiversated on
that issue.
10. ebb (rhymes with web) In our end is our beginning: we close our pres-
entation of a thousand words, as we began, with a three letter word:
ebb. It means to fall back, to recede, to go away.
• As the second millennium began to ebb, disputes arose as to whether the
proper time to celebrate was the year 2000 or the year 2001. Although
Stanley Kubrick had chosen the latter for his earlier film, the year 2000 won
out for the many celebrations.
• No matter how many hours they spent in challenging each other or in perusing
dictionaries, Margery’s and Jane’s pleasure in working together and their
interest in words never ebbed.
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348 Fiske WordPower
Quick Quiz #33
Chapters 97-100
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
1. ______ trickery, deceit
2. ______ environment
3. ______ accepted customs
4. ______ forceful remark
5. ______ temporary relief
6. ______ honesty
7. ______ formally withdraw
8. ______ without a conscience
9. ______ abruptly replace another
10. ______ new arrival in world of society
11. ______ voluntary giving up of a right
12. ______ really wicked
13. ______ relating to beauty
14. ______ period of disuse
15. ______ not harsh
16. ______ lack of sense of vitality
17. ______ seemingly everywhere
18. ______ found innocent
19. ______ excited, amazed
20. ______ become less, go away
A. abnegation
B. aesthetic
C. agog
D. amoral
E. chicanery
F. desuetude
G. ebb
H. effete
I. exonerate
J. lenient
K. milieu
L. mores
M. nefarious
N. parvenu
O. probity
P. reprieve
Q. secede
R. supplant
S. trenchant
T. ubiquitous
A. absolve
B. circumvent
C. condone
D. desuetude
E. faux
F. formidable
G. harrowing
H. itinerant
I. louche
J. mitigate
K. nefarious
L. pseudonym
M. pusillanimous
N. ravenous
O. sobriquet
P. stout
Q. svelte
R. ubiquitous
S. wanderlust
T. wane
Usage Test #11
Chapters 91-100
Directions: select a word from the list below that best fits the
blank in one of the sentences and place the letter in the blank.
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We’re Out Of Here 349
1. The ____farmworker hitchhiked from Oklahoma to California in search
of work.
2. Abigail’s ____crocodile handbag looked genuine, even to her friends
in the fashion business.
3. Leland tried to ____the principal’s office by entering through the middle
school entrance and crossing the school on the second floor.
4. Katie’s interest in basketball began to ____after the Knicks lost the
championship.
5. Coco satisfied her ____by spending her junior year in Vietnam.
6. The salesgirl told Alice that she was too ____to wear a mini-skirt and
a shirt that exposed her midriff.
7. At 5’10” and 125 pounds, Rosa was ____enough to be a fashion model.
8. After a full day of bike-riding, Michael was ____enough to eat a five-
course dinner.
9. George Orwell was the ____for the British writer whose real name
was Eric Blair.
10. My sister’s given name is Greta, but her ____is “Pickles” because
she’s always eating them.
11. Although he was afraid that he was ____, the lion in the
Wizard of Oz
was actually quite brave.
12. For someone who is claustrophobic, riding in an elevator to the top
of a skyscraper can be a ____experience.
13. Because of his speed and his strong serve, Stuart was a ____
opponent on the tennis court.
14. Ridden with guilt, Glenda went to confession in hopes that a priest
might ____her of her sins.
15. Betsy tried to ____her anger at Frank by going out to dinner with her
girlfriends.
16. “I cannot ____your rude behavior,” said Jerome’s mother. “Wearing
a hat at the dinner table is inexcusable.”
17. Lonely and depressed, Tobias began frequenting ____bars and hanging
out with unsavory characters.
18. The ____Jack the Ripper terrorized the women of London in the nine-
teenth century.
19. Cell phones are ____on the streets of every major city in the world.
20. Jonas was so exhausted after his last week of work that he spent his
weekend in a state of ____, barely getting out of bed.
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Final Exam 351
Final Exam
SECTION A.
Select the word in the left column that is most strongly suggested
by each definition on the right and place its letter in the blank.
SECTION B
Select a word from the list below that best fits the blank in one
of the sentences and place the letter in the blank.
1. A ____fan of the Beatles since the sixties, Holly owns all of their
records in their original vinyl format.
2. Jamie was so hurt by Andy’s ____remark about her sister that she
refused to speak to him for the rest of the school year.
3. Although Sam was a ____worker on the assembly line, he was fired
for trying to unionize the plant.
1. ______ really poor
2. ______ enormous strength
3. ______ scold
4. ______ dull, boring
5. ______ unpleasant sounds
6. ______ devoted to luxury
7. ______ shaky, quavering
8. ______ delaying, tardy
9. ______ evoking feeling
10. ______ unpleasant smell
11. ______ prod, urge
12. ______ persuade by “sweet talk”
13. ______ obscure, little known
14. ______ magic potion
15. ______ intensity of emotion
A. admonish
B. banal
C. cacophonous
D. dilatory
E. elixir
F. fervent
G. goad
H. herculean
I. indigent
J. noisome
K. pathos
L. recondite
M. sybarite
N. tremulous
O. wheedle
A. antipathy
B. beseech
C. caustic
D. destitute
E. ebullient
F. fulminate
G. garrulous
H. jaded
I. cryptic
J. nuance
K. panache
L. restive
M. sedulous
N. tenacity
O. zealous
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Final Exam 351
Final Exam
SECTION A.
Select the word in the left column that is most strongly suggested
by each definition on the right and place its letter in the blank.
SECTION B
Select a word from the list below that best fits the blank in one
of the sentences and place the letter in the blank.
1. A ____fan of the Beatles since the sixties, Holly owns all of their
records in their original vinyl format.
2. Jamie was so hurt by Andy’s ____remark about her sister that she
refused to speak to him for the rest of the school year.
3. Although Sam was a ____worker on the assembly line, he was fired
for trying to unionize the plant.
1. ______ really poor
2. ______ enormous strength
3. ______ scold
4. ______ dull, boring
5. ______ unpleasant sounds
6. ______ devoted to luxury
7. ______ shaky, quavering
8. ______ delaying, tardy
9. ______ evoking feeling
10. ______ unpleasant smell
11. ______ prod, urge
12. ______ persuade by “sweet talk”
13. ______ obscure, little known
14. ______ magic potion
15. ______ intensity of emotion
A. admonish
B. banal
C. cacophonous
D. dilatory
E. elixir
F. fervent
G. goad
H. herculean
I. indigent
J. noisome
K. pathos
L. recondite
M. sybarite
N. tremulous
O. wheedle
A. antipathy
B. beseech
C. caustic
D. destitute
E. ebullient
F. fulminate
G. garrulous
H. jaded
I. cryptic
J. nuance
K. panache
L. restive
M. sedulous
N. tenacity
O. zealous
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352 Fiske WordPower
4. Because the speaker was late for morning assembly, the students
grew ____and began to chatter noisily and stir in their seats.
5. Kate has so much ___that she can wear her mother’s old dresses, call
them “retro,” and look chic.
6. Ben knows Alexandra so well that he recognizes every small ____in
her moods.
7. Because the Bergmans had no homeowner’s insurance, the fire that
destroyed their house last weekend left them ____.
8. Chippy was ____when he saw that he got an A in calculus after prac-
tically failing the midterm exam.
9. Since Marcella has such a strong ____to Max, make sure you put them
at different tables for the reception on the lawn.
10. “I ____you, Winifred,” said Harley, getting down on one knee. “Marry
me. You won’t regret it.”
11. “I admire your____,” replied Winifred, “but I won’t marry you no mat-
ter how many times you ask. I’ve already told you I am in love with
your brother.”
12. After traveling around the world with her rich uncle, Caroline was
too ____to get excited about a trip to the Jersey shore.
13. In a ____mood, Simon chattered about his love life, his favorite
books, and his deepest fears, delighting Gwendolyn who was tired
of his brooding silences.
14. Bill began to _____about Sandra’s inability to control her children
when he saw her two boys trample through his vegetable garden.
15. Mattie could not figure out what Helen meant by the ____message
she left on her answering machine.
SECTION C
Select the letter of the word that best fits the definition and place
its letter in the blank.
_____ 1. to make impure by adding inferior ingredients
a. conciliate b. adulterate c. dissent d. satiate
_____ 2. vigor, vivacity
a. brio b. dollop c. murrain d. solace
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Final Exam 353
_____ 3. whimsical or unpredictable.
a. sonorous b. myopic c. smarmy d. capricious
_____ 4. morally instructive
a. didactic b. spurious c. compliant d. deranged
_____ 5. calm and peaceful, golden
a. abstemious b. mercurial c. halcyon d. lubricious
_____ 6. to catch sight of
a. abut b. espy c. entreat d. quell
_____ 7. cranky or unruly
a. evasive b. ominous c. obdurate d. fractious
_____ 8. generous, courageously noble in mind and heart
a. obsequious b. magnanimous c. officious d. adventitious
_____ 9. lowest point
a. apex b. apogee c. zenith d. nadir
_____ 10. prone to outbursts of temper
a. irascible b. affable c. acrid d. racy
_____ 11. destructive, deadly
a. acerbic b. pernicious c. adamant d. otiose
_____ 12. formidable, arousing fear or awe
a. redoubtable b. lugubrious c. querulous d. recondite
_____ 13. foolish disregard of danger, recklessness
a. succor b. antipathy c. temerity d. alacrity
_____ 14. fearless, resolutely courageous
a. amorphous b. indefatigable c. indolent d. undaunted
_____ 15. predominant influence—as of a state, region or group—over another
a. hegemony b. oligarchy c. fiat d. nepotism
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354 Fiske WordPower
SECTION D
Match each word in the left-hand column with the phrase on the
right that best suggests its meaning.
SECTION E
Select the word from the list below that best fits each of the
sentences and place the letter in the blank.
1. The lecturer offered to _____ her main points for any audience member
who had arrived late and thus missed the presentation of the three
themes she was presenting.
2. Although I am accustomed to dressing in grays and blacks, my fashion
consultant suggested I try a warmer tone such as ______.
3. Sylvia was tired of ____ meetings with her lover; she wanted the
world to know of their romance.
1. ______ overly sentimental
2. ______ bear-like
3. ______ not harmonious
4. ______ peevish, complaining
5. ______ willingness to show mercy
6. ______ very hot
7. ______ to get with great effort
8. ______ warlike
9. ______ meticulous
10. ______ gloomy
11. ______ servile
12. ______ to displace, usurp
13. ______ intricately structured
14. ______ vicious woman
15. ______ despot
A. autocrat
B. bellicose
C. clemency
D. dissonant
E. eke
F. fastidious
G. harridan
H. labyrinthine
I. lugubrious
J. maudlin
K. obsequious
L. querulous
M. supplant
N. torrid
O. ursine
A. acoustics
B. affluent
C. blandishment
D. clandestine
E. duplicitous
F. exacerbate
G. formidable
H. indefatigable
I. jocular
J. minion
K. otiose
L. recapitulate
M. senescence
N. tyro
O. vermilion
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Final Exam 355
4. Mr. and Mrs. Garten, both around sixty years old, are moving to
Florida soon, saying wittily they want to act in their _____, not their
senility.
5. The family was ____ enough to send Ruby to summer camp but lacked
the means for her to go to private school.
6. The ____ was assigned a mentor who could help him learn the
customs at his new job.
7. Ellen had enormous energy but was not _____; after five miles of brisk
walking she requested a brief pause.
8. While he has been known to be ____ to the extent of telling a few
social untruths, he would never lie under oath.
9. Ms. Biscotti was in a ____ frame of mind, kidding around before class
with all her students.
10. Withers was a _____ presence in the board room; junior associates
had been known to down antianxiety medication before meetings.
11. The ____ in the new auditorium are far from ideal; music played there
sounds harsh and tinny.
12. It’s hard to resist William’s ______; he knows just what to say to make
you feel good.
13. Wouldn’t you like to be a top executive and be able to ask a ____ to
get coffee for you?
14. Don’t let Sarah pull you into a fight; remember you want to lessen
the tension in your relationship, not _____ it.
15. When have I ever been so _____? June and July have gone by with-
out my accomplishing any of the projects I’d planed.
SECTION F
Select the letter of the word that best fits each definition and
place its letter in the blank.
_____ l. rather boring, perhaps because of its regular occurrence
a. quiescent b. acerbic c. quotidian d. rancid
_____ 2. a skilled teller of anecdotes, stories
a. raconteur b. pundit c. toady d. scion
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356 Fiske WordPower
_____ 3. to show not guilty, to remove blame
a. exonerate b. abnegate c. fulminate d. vacillate
_____ 4. a confusing entanglement
a. folio b. farrago c. bravado d. imbroglio
_____ 5. native to a region
a. adventitious b. treacly c. vacuous d. indigenous
_____ 6. to say again, to repeat
a. implore b. reiterate c. gad d. fluctuate
_____ 7. friendly, easy to get along with
a. dissolute b. affable c. draconian d. euphonious
_____ 8. relating to the concept of beauty
a. flaneur b. ribaldry c. aesthetics d. tenebrous
_____ 9. excited, amazed
a. agog b. athwart c. venial d. unctuous
_____ 10. energy, life
a. caucus b. catharsis c. riposte d. verve
_____ 11. to bully or force into action
a. leaven b. barter c. hector d. indict
_____ 12. a bad start, bad omen for the future
a. inexorable b. unremitting c. propitious d. inauspicious
_____ 13. to make a very specific condition
a. vie b. stipulate c. adjure d. absolve
_____ 14. sly, indirect critical remark
a. innuendo b. jeremiad c. hiatus d. incubus
_____ 15. a trial, a hardship
a. gloaming b. gorgon c. tribulation d. invective
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 356
Final Exam 357
SECTION G
Now for something a little different. These questions require not
just rote memory but a little thinking. As you’ll see from the
answer key, some of these have several possible answers. The
important point is that you’ve been able to apply your knowledge
of the vocabulary words.
EXAMPLE: The book may represent the zeitgeist of the 1930s, but
you have to admit it’s rather soporific. Explain the meaning of
this sentence to someone who lacks your skill with words.
Answer to example: The book gets the feeling of the times in the
1930s, but it’s also pretty boring since it tends to make you fall
asleep.
1. Mary asked an oenologist to recommend something potable for those
who are frugal. In simple terms, what has Mary done?
2. Jim’s hat is askew and people on the street are looking askance at
him. Explain.
3. Prof. Norris told Eileen not to change one iota of her poem before
submitting it for publication. What does he think of her poem?
4. What might a lepidopterist put in his highboy?
5. Jocelyn sits down at the table with a libation and a libretto. Where
might she be?
6. (a) For those attracted to women: Do you think you’d like to keep com-
pany with a frenetic fishwife?
(b) For those attracted to men: I’d like to fix you up for a date with a
rotund roué—okay?
7. The henchman contemplated his diurnal tasks. What’s he doing?
8. Van regarded it as a filial duty not to be disheveled at dinner. What can
we deduce about Van’s parents? Or about Van?
9. If your sibling started in on a harangue, how might you respond?
10. The docent was delivering a panegyric about the current exhibit.
Who’s doing what?
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Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 358
Postscript
More Practice
You saw this format before, at the end of the Final Exam. You are
asked to form a mental response that uses your knowledge of
your new words. As the Key indicates, varying answers are pos-
sible for many questions.
Set #1
1. If you asked a laconic herpetologist why he or she chose that line of
work, what might the person reply?
2. Do you find ribaldry risible? Why or why not?
3. A pedagogue is planning an evening with the divan and the ottoman.
Can you picture him?
4. Give an example of someone aping an eminent person.
5. Do you consider vituperating a relative a venial offense?
6. Mr. Hatcher was often captious in his comments on student papers,
but his tone was never virulent. Describe his style of grading essays.
7. Which of the following is a canonical work?
Macbeth, How to Retire
Early, One Hundred Amazing Buffoons
8. Is a munificent person likely to become a pariah? Why or why not?
9. A character in a Poe story has a family motto “No one challenges me
with impunity.” What is his probable response to an insult?
10. Can you name a story or novel with a pubescent protagonist?
Set #2
1 Which of the following superheroes might be seen as a virago? Explain.
Spider Man Wonder Woman Batman
2. If a lupine creature were an interloper in your backyard, what might
be your response?
3. Would you rather hang around an autodidact or a demagogue? Why?
4. What kind of gaffe might a voracious person commit?
5. Would you prefer to be spoken to in a stentorian tone or a sonorous
tone? Explain.
Postscript 359
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 359
360 Fiske WordPower
6. Is there any situation in which you could imagine yourself being obse-
quious to your nemesis?
7. Is a caryatid likely to be amorous?
8. Everything on the table in front of you is palatable or potable. What
are most likely getting ready to do?
9. Jenny says her grandmother is fervent about protocol. What does she
mean by that?
10. Your new neighbors are raucous on the first night they are in the
house. Do you consider this propitious?
Set #3
1. If your younger sibling is embarrassing you by being fractious at a
social gathering, which of the following will probably be most helpful
to you in dealing with the situation? Herculean strength? Manic
temerity? Savoir faire?
2. Would you engage in half an hour of angst or half an hour of repartee?
3. Bathos or pathos? Which do you prefer in literature?
4. You’re painting a scene of carnage. What color of paint will you need
a lot of?
5. Your family has undergone quite a diaspora since the first ancestor came
to these shores. How hard will be it be to arrange a family reunion?
6. Would you rather have a boon or a boor come into your existence soon?
7. You can have a cup of coffee this afternoon with a slatternly person or
a smarmy person. Which do you choose and why?
8. Does anyone have a sobriquet for you? If so, what? If not, would you
like to have one?
9. Do you enjoy it when friends are inscrutable? Why or why not?
10. Frank Vesser is an itinerant numismatist. What might we find Mr.
Vesser doing?
Set #4
1. What might an epicurean be sedulous about?
2. Would you consider me gauche if I offered you an honorarium for
what you did yesterday?
3. Describe a time when you have felt beleaguered.
4. You dream that you have encountered a dolorous doppelganger. What
kind of person have you met?
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 360
Postscript 361
5. In what season might a woman be most likely to wear something
diaphanous?
6. The atmosphere at a meeting with some acquaintances is tense. What
might leaven it? What might exacerbate it?
7. Is an iconoclast more likely to have audacity or meticulousness?
8. Does your name have an easily formed diminutive? Explain.
9. Can you think of any kinds of situations that usually make you skittish?
Explain.
10. Do bovine creatures play a central or tangential role in your life?
Might anyone declare such creatures to be nugatory in his or her
existence?
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Answer Key 363
Answer Key
INTRO QUIZ
1. C
2. A
3. B
4. B
5. C
6. D
7. D
8. C
9. C
10. A
11. A
12. C
13. D
14. B
15. B
16. D
17. B
18. C
19. C
20. A
21. B
22. A
23. D
24. B
QUICK QUIZ #1
1. G
2. H
3. D
4. R
5. P
6. S
7. B
8. N
9. E
10. L
11. Q
12. A
13. F
14. T
15. K
16. O
17. I
18. M
19. J
20. C
QUICK QUIZ #2
1. K
2. A
3. I
4. M
5. G
6. O
7. N
8. L
9. E
10. J
11. C
12. F
13. H
14. B
15. D
QUICK QUIZ #3
1. Q
2. O
3. K
4. B
5. G
6. A
7. M
8. N
9. H
10. S
11. D
12. F
13. P
14. I
15. R
16. E
17. L
18. J
19. T
20. C
USAGE TEST #1
1. K
2. A
3. T
4. J
5. H
6. Q
7. I
8. B
9. D
10. S
11. G
12. E
13. M
14. R
15. L
16. P
17. C
18. F
19. O
20. N
QUICK QUIZ #4
1. M
2. Q
3. O
4. J
5. P
6. C
7. G
8. B
9. I
10. H
11. E
12. K
13. A
14. D
15. N
16. L
17. F
QUICK QUIZ #5
1. D
2. G
3. B
4. L
5. P
6. O
7. I
8. E
9. H
10. K
11. J
12. Q
13. C
14. N
15. M
16. A
17. F
QUICK QUIZ #6
1. L
2. B
3. D
4. E
5. K
6. P
7. O
8. S
9. N
10. F
11. H
12. R
13. J
14. M
15. A
16. Q
17. I
18. G
USAGE TEST #2
1. Q
2. G
3. A
4. S
5. M
6. N
7. K
8. L
9. R
10. T
11. D
12. F
13. H
14. B
15. J
16. P
17. E
18. O
19. C
20. I
QUICK QUIZ #7
1. O
2. G
3. F
4. A
5. K
6. B
7. J
8. C
9. H
10. M
11. D
12. E
13. N
14. P
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 363
364 Fiske WordPower
15. I
16. L
QUICK QUIZ #8
1. F
2. A
3. O
4. D
5. Q
6. G
7. J
8. C
9. S
10. R
11. N
12. M
13. E
14. B
15. P
16. H
17. L
18. I
19. K
QUICK QUIZ #9
1. G
2. N
3. L
4. K
5. C
6. O
7. B
8. J
9. P
10. E
11. D
12. A
13. I
14. F
15. H
16. M
USAGE TEST #3
1. S
2. C
3. F
4. K
5. P
6. A
7. H
8. L
9. M
10. D
11. N
12. R
13. T
14. J
15. B
16. G
17. O
18. Q
19. I
20. E
QUICK QUIZ #10
1. K
2. P
3. I
4. B
5. N
6. M
7. C
8. E
9. L
10. A
11. D
12. F
13. G
14. O
15. H
16. J
QUICK QUIZ #11
1. H
2. I
3. E
4. P
5. K
6. M
7. D
8. N
9. A
10. G
11. C
12. B
13. O
14. J
15. L
16. F
QUICK QUIZ #12
1. I
2. L
3. K
4. P
5. B
6. A
7. J
8. F
9. G
10. M
11. D
12. N
13. H
14. E
15. Q
16. C
17. O
USAGE TEST #4
1. D
2. J
3. M
4. B
5. P
6. K
7. R
8. Q
9. T
10. G
11. I
12. E
13. A
14. N
15. L
16. O
17. F
18. S
19. C
20. H
QUICK QUIZ #13
1. M
2. O
3. K
4. A
5. B
6. N
7. J
8. G
9. I
10. L
11. E
12. F
13. C
14. D
15. H
QUICK QUIZ #14
1. F
2. M
3. K
4. E
5. B
6. J
7. N
8. C
9. G
10. D
11. P
12. H
13. A
14. O
15. I
16. L
QUICK QUIZ #15
1. F
2. E
3. G
4. A
5. P
6. L
7. O
8. I
9. H
10. M
11. B
12. K
13. N
14. D
15. J
16. C
USAGE TEST #5
1. R
2. I
3. K
4. G
5. Q
6. A
7. N
8. M
9. E
10. P
11. J
12. D
13. S
14. C
15. O
16. F
17. H
18. B
19. L
20. T
QUICK QUIZ #16
1. F
2. E
3. D
4. B
5. I
6. A
7. C
8. O
9. J
10. H
11. N
12. M
13. L
14. K
15. G
QUICK QUIZ #17
1. J
2. O
3. I
4. G
5. A
6. E
7. N
8. P
9. M
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 364
Answer Key 365
10. D
11. C
12. H
13. F
14. K
15. B
16. L
QUICK QUIZ #18
1. L
2. C
3. G
4. O
5. I
6. K
7. P
8. J
9. A
10. N
11. H
12. F
13. B
14. E
15. M
16. D
USAGE TEST #6
1. I
2. L
3. M
4. C
5. O
6. S
7. H
8. T
9. G
10. N
11. D
12. F
13. P
14. A
15. K
16. E
17. B
18. J
19. R
20. Q
QUICK QUIZ #19
1. M
2. F
3. R
4. K
5. B
6. G
7. C
8. D
9. N
10. J
11. L
12. H
13. Q
14. P
15. O
16. E
17. I
18. A
QUICK QUIZ #20
1. L
2. A
3. E
4. N
5. C
6. M
7. G
8. I
9. D
10. B
11. H
12. O
13. J
14. F
15. K
QUICK QUIZ #21
1. J
2. K
3. I
4. E
5. C
6. D
7. O
8. P
9. B
10. A
11. F
12. H
13. L
14. Q
15. G
16. M
17. N
USAGE TEST #7
1. R
2. H
3. K
4. A
5. D
6. N
7. I
8. B
9. J
10. S
11. G
12. Q
13. P
14. O
15. C
16. E
17. T
18. M
19. F
20. L
QUICK QUIZ #22
1. C
2. H
3. P
4. L
5. D
6. B
7. N
8. O
9. F
10. I
11. G
12. A
13. E
14. K
15. J
16. Q
17. M
QUICK QUIZ #23
1. G
2. J
3. L
4. M
5. A
6. C
7. K
8. D
9. E
10. O
11. H
12. N
13. I
14. B
15. F
QUICK QUIZ #24
1. M
2. G
3. H
4. K
5. P
6. A
7. B
8. L
9. F
10. Q
11. R
12. I
13. E
14. O
15. C
16. D
17. J
18. N
USAGE TEST #8
1. L
2. M
3. B
4. S
5. R
6. A
7. H
8. G
9. P
10. I
11. J
12. C
13. Q
14. K
15. E
16. F
17. O
18. T
19. N
20. D
QUICK QUIZ #25
1. H
2. I
3. K
4. A
5. O
6. Q
7. L
8. D
9. N
10. B
11. E
12. P
13. J
14. M
15. C
16. G
17. F
QUICK QUIZ #26
1. L
2. G
3. P
4. Q
5. I
6. A
7. M
8. B
9. N
10. F
11. H
12. O
13. R
14. K
15. E
16. D
17. C
18. J
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366 Fiske WordPower
QUICK QUIZ #27
1. I
2. J
3. A
4. N
5. L
6. C
7. H
8. E
9. D
10. B
11. M
12. K
13. O
14. G
15. F
USAGE TEST #9
1. Q
2. L
3. J
4. P
5. A
6. G
7. B
8. I
9. H
10. O
11. K
12. C
13. S
14. F
15. D
16. N
17. R
18. M
19. E
20. T
QUICK QUIZ #28
1. E
2. B
3. L
4. J
5. M
6. H
7. O
8. I
9. D
10. C
11. A
12. F
13. G
14. K
15. N
QUICK QUIZ #29
1. D
2. E
3. C
4. F
5. K
6. H
7. I
8. B
9. J
10. L
11. M
12. N
13. G
14. A
15. O
QUICK QUIZ #30
1. F
2. E
3. B
4. H
5. C
6. I
7. A
8. P
9. G
10. D
11. O
12. K
13. M
14. N
15. J
16. L
USAGE TEST #10
1. I
2. N
3. L
4. E
5. H
6. T
7. C
8. S
9. K
10. M
11. P
12. J
13. A
14. G
15. D
16. R
17. B
18. O
19. F
20. Q
QUICK QUIZ #31
1. Q
2. P
3. G
4. M
5. N
6. E
7. I
8. C
9. J
10. K
11. L
12. H
13. F
14. A
15. D
16. B
17. O
QUICK QUIZ #32
1. N
2. C
3. J
4. B
5. O
6. I
7. A
8. E
9. K
10. F
11. D
12. G
13. L
14. M
15. H
QUICK QUIZ #33
1. E
2. K
3. L
4. S
5. P
6. O
7. Q
8. D
9. R
10. N
11. A
12. M
13. B
14. F
15. J
16. H
17. T
18. I
19. C
20. G
USAGE TEST #11
1. H
2. E
3. B
4. T
5. S
6. P
7. Q
8. N
9. L
10. O
11. M
12. G
13. F
14. A
15. J
16. C
17. I
18. K
19. R
20. D
FINAL EXAM:
SECTION A
1. I
2. H
3. A
4. B
5. C
6. M
7. N
8. D
9. K
10. J
11. G
12. O
13. L
14. E
15. F
FINAL EXAM:
SECTION B
1. O
2 C
3. M
4. L
5. K
6. J
7. D
8. E
9. A
10. B
11. N
12. H
13. G
14. F
15. I
FINAL EXAM:
SECTION C
1. B
2. A
3. D
4. A
5. C
6. B
7. D
8. B
9. D
10. A
11. B
12. A
13. C
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 366
14. D
15. A
FINAL EXAM:
SECTION D
1. J
2. O
3. D
4. L
5. C
6. N
7. E
8. B
9. F
10. I
11. K
12. M
13. H
14. G
15. A
FINAL EXAM:
SECTION E
1. L
2. O
3. D
4. M
5. B
6. N
7. H
8. E
9. I
10. G
11. A
12. C
13. J
14. F
15. K
FINAL EXAM:
SECTION F
1. C
2. A
3. A
4. D
5. D
6. B
7. B
8. C
9. A
10. D
11. C
12. D
13. B
14. A
15. C
Final Exam: Section G
1. In simple terms, Mary has asked a wine expert (oenologist) to recom-
mend an inexpensive but drinkable wine.
2. Jim’s hat is on at a funny angle and people are giving him slightly
funny looks.
3. Prof. Norris must really like Eileen’s poem. An iota is the tiniest little
detail, and he doesn’t want her to change even that.
4. A lepidopterist is an expert on butterflies and a highboy is a tall chest of
drawers, so maybe he’s placing his butterfly net in a drawer or possibly
some mounted specimens of butterflies.
5. Jocelyn has a drink (a libation) and the text of an opera (libretto) in
front of her. So maybe it’s intermission at an opera performance. Or
maybe she’s having a drink while listening to an opera at home.
6. a. It’s a rare taste that would like a woman who’s not only frenzied but
also coarse and abusive.
b. Similarly, few people seek out an overweight lecher.
7. Here we have some kind of person in a subordinate position to a
powerful person (henchman) looking at his daily (diurnal) tasks. You
can write the script of what kinds of things his boss asks him to do on
a daily basis.
8. Obviously, Van’s parents like for him to have a neat and orderly
appearance (not disheveled) at dinner, and Van is respectful enough
to follow their wishes.
9. A harangue is a speech characterized by strong emotion, often anger
or annoyance. Depending on you and your relationship with your
sibling, you might get angry that you have to listen to this or you
might feel sympathetic (if you haven’t heard it too often before).
Answer Key 367
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 367
10. Since a docent is a speaker or tour guide in an institution such as a
museum and a panegyric is a speech of enormous praise, we can
assume this person is raving with delight about the current exhibit.
POSTSCRIPT KEY
Set #1
1. A herpetologist is an expert on reptiles and amphibians and a laconic
person speaks in few words, so a laconic herpetologist might say,
“Snakes are interesting” or “I like snakes”—something very brief.
2. Ribaldry refers to humor that is at least mildly sexual in its nature. If
you’re offended by this kind of joking, your answer would be “no,” but
if you usually laugh at it, then you do find it risible because that word
means “worth laughing at.”
3. A pedagogue is a teacher, a divan is a sort of sofa, and an ottoman is
a footstool. So we picture this person slouched on the couch with his
feet on a footstool…maybe grading papers or preparing a lesson?
4. “Aping” refers to imitating and “eminent” means famous, so if you’re
aping Eminem, you’re trying to be a hip-hop artist; if you’re aping
Jimmy Carter, you’re volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Et cetera.
5. If you’re vituperating someone, you’re harshly rebuking them. A
“venial” offense is a small, easily forgivable one. So your answer
would vary, depending on how you get along with your relatives,
whether they easily forgive you, and the like.
6. Mr. Hatcher has exacting, maybe even “picky,” standards because
“captious” means “pointing out even trivial faults.” But since his tone
is never bitterly hostile (“virulent”), maybe his students don’t mind.
7. A no-brainer here. Macbeth is the only one of these three that is com-
pletely accepted by those who set the standards for literature.
8. Since a munificent person is a very generous one, he or she is not
likely to become a pariah, an outcast.
9. If he lives up to his family motto (and he does), he doesn’t let people
challenge him without being punished, so he would do something to
get revenge on the person who harmed him. (In the case of this story
“The Cask of Amontillado,” he walls the offender up into a niche in the
basement.)
10. Here you’re looking for a tale with a main character on the verge of
adolescence. Holden Caulfield of
The Catcher in the Rye
is just a little
368 Fiske WordPower
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 368
too old, and Scout in
To Kill a Mockingbird
is just a little too young,
but you get the idea.
Set #2
1. Wonder Woman is the only candidate because a virago, by definition,
is female.
2. Maybe you’d try to lure it into a cage or maybe you’d scream to
frighten it or maybe you’d call animal control: you know best how
you’d respond to a wolf as an unwanted visitor in the yard.
3. Most people would pick an autodidact (one who has done much of his
or her learning without formal teaching) over a demagogue (one who
seeks power through manipulation of the people), but you may have
your own reasons for making the opposite choice.
4. A voracious person is really really hungry, so the social error (gaffe)
he or she might make would probably have to do with food—maybe
grabbing a sandwich out of someone else’s hand or trying to talk
while gobbling away.
5. Unless you have a special reason for preferring a loud, commanding
tone of voice to a pleasing one, you’re likely to pick “sonorous.”
6. Your nemesis is your perpetual enemy. You might be obsequious
(exaggerated in your agreement to follow that person’s wishes) only
if he or she had you cornered. But maybe not even then!
7. A caryatid is a stone statue (the figure of a maiden as a column), so
she’s unlikely to have any warm, romantic feelings.
8. If it’s palatable, you can eat it; if it’s potable, you can drink it, so you’re
probably at the dinner table.
9. Jenny’s grandmother really believes in following accepted social
standards, so she might get upset when Jenny sends a thank you
note by email rather than on “proper” stationery.
10. I wouldn’t consider it a good sign for the future (“propitious”) if my
neighbors were raucous (noisy) on their first night in my neighbor-
hood.
Set #3
1. Savoir faire is definitely what you need here; you need some suave
way to control your cranky sibling, and physical force or frenzied
boldness probably aren’t going to do the trick.
2. For us, a half an hour of lively back-and-forth conversation (repartee)
sounds infinitely preferable to half an hour of anxiety.
3. Pathos, hands down. It refers to the quality of evoking feeling in a
reader whereas bathos suggests triteness or sentimentality.
Answer Key 369
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 369
370 Fiske WordPower
4. Red, you’ll need red. “Carnage” is slaughter, bloodshed.
5. A “diaspora” is a scattering, so your family reunion will need lots of
organization to locate and contact relatives in many states.
6. We think everyone would prefer a timely benefit (boon) to an unman-
nerly oaf (boor), no?
7. This one is a tougher call. A slatternly person is dirty and untidy, and
a smarmy person is hypocritical, maybe possessing phony charm.
Unless you’re desperate to be flattered, hope that the messy person is
a great conversationalist.
8. A sobriquet is a nickname, so you know if you have one and if you see
it as affectionate and chummy or, as in some cases, rude and insulting.
9. “Inscrutable” means “hard to figure out,” not a highly desirable qual-
ity in a friend, unless you enjoy the complexity and challenge of it.
10. Mr. Vesser is an expert in coins (numismatist) and since he’s itinerant,
he’s on the road a lot. Perhaps he visits coin shops and museums.
Set #4
1. An epicurean cares a lot about food and drink, so he or she might be
sedulous (attentive, hard-working) about tracking down some special
ingredients or preparing a dish a certain way.
2. Only you know what you did yesterday, but an honorarium is a sum
of money, so you probably wouldn’t consider me tacky and inappro-
priate if I offered it to you.
3. You have just described a time when you felt besieged, surrounded,
by problems, possibly by overwork.
4. Your dream featured a sad, grieving “double” of yourself.
5. A diaphanous garment is a flimsy, lightweight one, so “summer”
would be the most obvious answer.
6. Telling a joke might leaven (“lighten”) a tense atmosphere while
insulting one of your acquaintances (or doing something similar)
would exacerbate it—make it worse.
7. An iconoclast, by definition, needs daring (audacity), since he or she
likes to smash things held dear by society. Some iconoclasts may also
be meticulous (tending carefully to small details), and some not.
8. If you’re named “Will,” you could easily be “Willie,” and if your “Rose,”
you can easily be “Rosie” or “Rosetta.” But “Clark” and “Gretchen” may
be less likely to have an affectionate (or contemptuous) alternative
form of their names.
9. If you’re skittish, you’re nervous, eager to get away from the stimulus
that makes you feel that way. It might be a certain type of family gath-
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 370
Answer Key 371
ering, a challenging situation behind the steering wheel, or many
other kinds of things.
10. Bovine creatures are cows and relatives such as oxen and buffalo. If
you live on a dairy farm, they’re central to your life. For others who
drink milk, eat ice cream, wear leather shoes, they’re certainly tan-
gential—touching your existence in an indirect way. Only the lactose
intolerant who always choose synthetics for shoes and belts could
call them of absolutely no value (nugatory) in their lives.
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 371
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 372
About the Authors
Edward B. Fiske served for seventeen years as Education Editor of the
New York Times, where he realized that college-bound students and their
families needed better information on which to base their educational
choices. He is also the author of The Fiske Guide to Colleges.
Jane Mallison has more than twenty years of experience teaching
English and has been a member of the College Board SAT committee.
Margery Mandell has an MA in English from Columbia and is the
coauthor of Million Dollar Words.
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 373
Fiske WordPower_Internals 4/21/06 3:46 PM Page 374
POWER
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New_Fiske Final 5/10/06 9:14 AM Page 1
