new words 1 (1-4) - 2 Flashcards
ambivalence
Someone who shows ambivalence about a person or thing has conflicting feelings. If you love your mom but find her totally embarrassing you might feel ambivalent about having her give a presentation at your school.
Originally a psychological term, ambivalence was borrowed from the German word Ambivalenz, coined in 1910 by the Swiss psychologist Eugen Bleuler. The German word was formed from the Latin prefix ambi- “in two ways” plus Latin valentia “vigor, strength.”
apoplectic
Someone who is apoplectic is not just mad — they’re so filled with rage, they can barely communicate. If your mother is apoplectic, you better hope it isn’t over something you did.
Apoplectic comes from a Greek word that means to “disable by a stroke.” What is a stroke? The sudden loss of consciousness or control caused when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures or becomes blocked. When this happens, a person becomes apoplectic. This word also applies to someone who acts so upset, it is like he or she is having a stroke.
apposite
Something apposite is fitting or relevant. It is apposite that radio stations play Christmas carols on Christmas Eve, and that your tax accountant takes vacation after April 15th. It all makes sense.
The adjective apposite is derived from the Latin terms appositus and apponere. Ponere means to place, and thus apponere is “well-placed or well-put.” Don’t confuse apposite with opposite; they have almost opposite meanings!
disingenuous
Use the adjective disingenuous to describe behavior that’s not totally honest or sincere. It’s disingenuous when people pretend to know less about something than they really do.
Disingenuous combines dis-, meaning not, with ingenuous (from the Latin gen-, meaning born) which was originally used to distinguish free-born Romans from slaves, and later came to mean honest or straightforward. So disingenuous means dishonest. Ingenuous is less common now than disingenuous, but we still use it for someone who is sincere to the point of naiveté. A good synonym is insincere.
militate
Your father’s loss of his job may militate against the big family vacation your parents had been planning. To militate is to be a deciding factor for or against.
The word militate descends from the same Latin word as military. Imagine armed soldiers at a check point. Their presence might militate against your plan of crossing the border, or it might militate for their bringing you in for questioning. When you are young, sometimes your age works for you, and sometimes it militates against you.
simper
To simper means to smile in an artificial, coy or self-conscious way. If you hope to please someone by simpering, you may wind up annoying him or her.
The origin of the word simper is not clear, but it is probably Germanic as there are similar words in Danish as well as Middle Dutch. What is clear is that a simper is not attractive to those observing it. Watching your colleague simper and giggle as the boss tells a not-very-funny joke, you can be sure that she is angling for that promotion.
supine
One can be described as supine when lying face up (“his favorite yoga poses were always the supine ones”); or, if one is very passive or lethargic (“supine in the face of their threats and insults”).
The adjective supine comes from a Latin word, supinus, which means “thrown backwards” or “inactive.” Whenever a person or animal is lying on its back, belly-up, it is supine. When your hand is open, palm-up, it is also supine. Supine can even describe a person who gives insufficient resistance, or who is lazy and ineffectual. “When Jack refused to object to the landlord’s repeated — and gouging — rent increases, he was supine.”
temerity
Use the noun temerity to mean the quality of being unafraid of danger or punishment. If you have the temerity to jump off the bridge even after hearing about the risk of instant death, you truly are a nutcase.
Someone who has the temerity to do something is usually considered to be bold in a foolish way. Near synonyms are audacity and recklessness. Temerity is from Middle English temeryte, from Latin temeritas, from temere “by chance, rashly.”
allege
If you accuse someone of committing a crime but the proof of the wrongdoing isn’t yet found, use the verb allege. You might allege that your sister broke a vase, just because no one else was home when you heard the crash.
If you ever watch news programs, you often hear the verb allege. A reporter might say that detectives allege that a certain person, who is now being held without bail, set a fire. This can be confusing: If the person is in jail, then he or she must have set that fire, right? In reality, the person is a suspect, awaiting trial. In our country, people are assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. That’s why we used allege until we know for sure.
androgynous
Was that a he or a she? If someone has an androgynous look, it is hard to tell whether he or she is male or female.
You can see the meaning of androgynous in its parts: In Greek, andros means “male” and gyn means “female.” Someone who is androgynous has both male and female characteristics, and therefore may be mistaken for being a member of the opposite gender. Don’t confuse androgynous with unisex, which describes objects or places used by both males and females, like a unisex restroom.
discursive
If people accuse you of rambling from topic to topic in your speech or writing, they may say you have a discursive style — with changes in subject that are hard to follow. But it’s okay because unicorns are shiny.
The adjective discursive is often used to describe speech or writing that tends to stray from the main point, but the word can also have almost the opposite meaning. Discursive can also be used to describe an argument based on reason instead of intuition: “Her discursive dissertation on Colonial American women was well-argued and well-reasoned. Her professors were most impressed with her work.”
If people accuse you of rambling from topic to topic in your speech or writing, they may say you have a discursive style — with changes in subject that are hard to follow. But it’s okay because unicorns are shiny.
The adjective discursive is often used to describe speech or writing that tends to stray from the main point, but the word can also have almost the opposite meaning. Discursive can also be used to describe an argument based on reason instead of intuition: “Her discursive dissertation on Colonial American women was well-argued and well-reasoned. Her professors were most impressed with her work.”
enjoin
To enjoin is to issue an urgent and official order. If the government tells loggers to stop cutting down trees, they are enjoining the loggers to stop.
Enjoin looks like it should mean bring together, and at one time, it did have that meaning. But in current usage, the only thing enjoin brings together is a command and the person on the receiving end of that order. If your doctor enjoins you to stop smoking, he is suggesting strongly that you quit.
