A Word to the Wise
354 articles filed under A Word to the Wise.
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A Word to the Wise
tautology (noun)
Tautology (taw-TAH-luh-jee) is saying the same thing in different ways; the needless repetition of an idea. As I used it today: “I have no doubt that listening to sad music moves people in positive ways. But……
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A Word to the Wise
sagacity (noun)
Sagacity (suh-GAS-ih-tee) is the quality of being discerning, having the ability to make good judgments. As I used it today: “He’s a good writer. His stories are compelling. But I’ve always wondered if he…
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A Word to the Wise
purview (noun)
Purview (PUR-vyoo) is the range or limit of authority, competence, responsibility, concern, or intentions. As used by Uzodinma Iweala: “Around the world, our cities are not the idealized open, accessible, and…
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A Word to the Wise
redoubtable (adjective)
Redoubtable (rih-DOW-tuh-bul) means formidable, fearsome. As used by James Gleick: “Encyclopedias are finished. All encyclopedias combined, including the redoubtable Britannica, have already been surpassed by…
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A Word to the Wise
denigrate (verb)
To denigrate (DEN-ih-grate) is to belittle, disparage; criticize in a derogatory way. As I used it today: “Looking back on conversations that went south, I can usually spot a freshman communications error…
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A Word to the Wise
laudable (adjective)
Laudable (LAW-duh-bul), usually applied to an action, idea, or goal, means deserving of praise and commendation. As I used it today: “I remember thinking that Mugabe’s vision for Zimbabwe was laudable. Along…
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A Word to the Wise
motley (adjective)
Motley (MAHT-lee) describes something that is incongruously varied in appearance or character. As used by Robert E. Howard in The People of the Black Circle: “Along that gorge rode a motley throng – bearded…
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A Word to the Wise
impetus (noun)
Impetus (IM-puh-tus) is a driving force; the incentive or stimulus to make something happen or happen more quickly. As used by Max Carver: “Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking…
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A Word to the Wise
fecund (adjective)
Fecund (FEK-und) means fertile, productive. As used by Sue Hubbell: “You have to take springtime on its own terms in the Ozarks: There is no other way. It can’t be predicted. It is unsteady, full of promise, a…
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A Word to the Wise
solecism (noun)
A solecism (SAHL-siz’m) is a minor grammatical error – a word or phrase that is used incorrectly or in a non-standard way. Examples: between you and me… whom shall I say is calling… the woman, she is here… he…
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A Word to the Wise
salvific (adjective)
Something that’s salvific (sal-VIH-fik) has the intention or power to save or redeem. As used by Michelle Huneven: “For many years now, my source for salvific chicken soup has been the Sanamluang Café on the…
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A Word to the Wise
burgeon (verb)
To burgeon (BUR-jun) is to flourish, to grow or develop quickly. As used by Ellis Peters: “Truth, like the burgeoning of a bulb under the soil, however deeply sown, will make its way to the light.”
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A Word to the Wise
synecdoche (noun)
Synecdoche (sih-NEK-duh-kee) is a figure of speech in which the part is used for the whole. A few examples: the head for cattle, wheels for the car, hands for individuals, suits for businessmen.
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A Word to the Wise
encroach (verb)
To encroach (en-KROHCH) is to advance beyond the usual or proper limits. As used by Pasquier Quesnel: “Zeal is very blind, or badly regulated, when it encroaches upon the rights of others.”
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A Word to the Wise
sedulous (adjective)
Sedulous (SEJ-uh-lus) means diligent, with careful perseverance. As used by President John Tyler: “So far as it depends on the course of this government, our relations of good will and friendship will be…
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A Word to the Wise
voluble (adjective)
Voluble (VOL-yuh-buhl) refers to a ready and continuous flow of words; spoken language that is fluent and glib. As used by Derek Walcott: “You would hear people talking in Barbados in the exact melody as a…
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A Word to the Wise
assiduous (adjective) — August 16, 2019
Assiduous (uh-SIJ-oo-us) means constant, unremitting. As I used it today: “This proposal is very well done from an outside perspective. It’s logical. It addresses all the usual subjects. It evinces assiduous…
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A Word to the Wise
insipience (noun)
Insipience (in-SIP-ee-uns) is lack of wisdom; foolishness. As used by Richard Hellman in an article in The Courier: “It has to be frustrating to know that you’re surrounded by intelligent, earnest individuals…
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A Word to the Wise
hapless (adjective)
Hapless (HAP-lis) means unfortunate; unlucky and deserving of pity. As used by Carroll O’Connor: “The reviewer is a singularly detested enemy because he is, unlike the hapless artist, invulnerable.”
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A Word to the Wise
animus (noun)
Animus (AN-ih-mus) is strong dislike; hostility. As used by Ben Domenech: “One of the things I endeavor to remind people of consistently when I am asked to speak to groups around the country is to consider the…
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A Word to the Wise
asseverate (verb)
To asseverate (uh-SEH-ver-ate) is to declare or state solemnly or emphatically. As used in The Atlantic Monthly: “When one begins to asseverate his honesty, his hearers begin to question it.”
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A Word to the Wise
labyrinthine (adjective)
Something that is labyrinthine (lab-uh-RIN-thin or lab-uh-RIN-then) is complicated; tortuous. As used by Zane Grey in Tales of Fishes: “Millions of marine creatures swarmed in the labyrinthine waterways.”
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A Word to the Wise
veritable (adjective)
Something that is veritable (VER-is-uh-buhl) is true, or at least feels that way. The word is used as an intensifier, usually to qualify a metaphor. Example by Hanya Yanagihara: “Between their rise in the…
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A Word to the Wise
equivocal (adjective)
Equivocal (ih-KWIV-uh-kuhl) means ambiguous, open to more than one interpretation. As used by Italo Calvino: “A tale is born from an image, and the image extends and creates a network of meanings that are…
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A Word to the Wise
assuage (verb)
To assuage (uh-SWAYZH) is to make milder or less severe; to relieve, ease, mitigate. As used by Arthur Schopenhauer: “I’ve never known any trouble that an hour’s reading didn’t assuage.”
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A Word to the Wise
aberrant (adjective)
Something that’s aberrant (AB-er-unt) deviates substantially from the accepted standard. As I used it today: “If you are my age, you are worried. You are worrying about exposure. You know what I’m talking…
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A Word to the Wise
gregarious (adjective)
A person who is gregarious (gruh-GARE-ee-us) is fond of company; sociable. As I used it today: “I am rich in friendships. Not because I’m a gregarious person. I’m not. But I do have an irrepressible curiosity…
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A Word to the Wise
integrity (noun)
Integrity (in-TEH-grih-tee) is adherence to moral and ethical standards. As used by Dwight David Eisenhower: “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is…
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A Word to the Wise
facultative (adjective)
Facultative (FAK-uhl-tay-tiv) means optional; left to one’s choice. As used by Frederic Austin Ogg in The Governments of Europe: “In some cantons the referendum is obligatory, in others it is ‘facultative,’ or…
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A Word to the Wise
apotheosis (noun)
Apotheosis (uh-poth-ee-OH-sis) is the perfect example of something; a glorified ideal. As used by Katie Baker (“The Queen of the French Kitchen”): “If life has such a thing as an apotheosis, it surely involves…
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A Word to the Wise
insuperable (adjective)
Something that is insuperable (in-SOO-puh-ruh-bul) cannot be surmounted or overcome. As used by J.R.R. Tolkien: “The original ‘Hobbit’ was never intended to have a sequel – Bilbo ‘remained very happy to the…
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A Word to the Wise
parvenu (noun)
A parvenu (PAR-vuh-noo) is someone who has suddenly gained wealth, influence, or celebrity but does not yet have the prestige, dignity, or manner associated with it. As I used it today: “I don’t like this…
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A Word to the Wise
entropy (noun)
Entropy (EN-truh-pee) is the gradual, inevitable decline from order to disorder. As I used it today: “Entropy operates at every level and in every part of every business: customer service, production…
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A Word to the Wise
assiduous (adjective)
Assiduous (uh-SIJ-oo-us) means constant, persevering, industrious, attentive. As used by William Hurt: “Great risks come in long term, tremendously assiduous, very courageous study.”
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A Word to the Wise
balletomane (noun)
A balletomane (bah-LET-uh-mane) is a ballet enthusiast. Example from A Feather on the Breath of Godby Sigrid Nunez: “Balletomanes tend to be critical, their hates are as strong as their loves, and at…
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A Word to the Wise
flâneur (noun)
A flâneur (flah-NUR) is an idle man-about-town; a casual wanderer and observer of street life. Example from the Norton Museum of Art website: “From the 19th-century flâneur… to today’s social media networkers…
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A Word to the Wise
vertiginous (adjective)
Something that’s vertiginous (ver-TIH-jih-nus) is unstable – marked by change that is so quick and/or frequent that it gives one the feeling of being disoriented, dizzy. As used by Rebecca Makkai in a NYT…
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A Word to the Wise
audacious (adjective)
Audacious (aw-DAY-shus) means bold, daring, fearless. As I used it today: “I pick an audacious title – one that is likely to attract attention. Then I challenge myself to write something that measures up to it…
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A Word to the Wise
sine qua non
Sine qua non (sih-NAY kwah NOWN) is Latin for “without which, not.” We use the term for something that is absolutely indispensable or essential. As I used it today: “The first of [life’s three essential…
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A Word to the Wise
galumph (verb)
To galumph (guh-LUMF) – may be a blend of “gallop” and “triumph” – is to prance about in a clumsy, self-satisfied manner. This is one of many words coined by Lewis Carroll in the nonsense poem “Jabberwocky.”…
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A Word to the Wise
feculent (adjective)
Something that’s feculent (FEK-yuh-lunt) is disgusting, full of fetid, rotting, or putrid matter. As used in The New York Times to describe the play Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus: “Taylor Mac’s filthy…
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A Word to the Wise
wellspring (noun)
A wellspring (WEL-spring) is a source or supply of anything, especially when it is inexhaustible. As used by Nikos Kazantzakis: “My principal anguish, and the wellspring of all my joys and sorrows, has been…
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A Word to the Wise
decoct (verb)
To decoct (dih-KAHKT) is to extract the essence of something by boiling it down, concentrating it. As used by William F. Buckley, Jr.: “Norman Mailer decocts matters of the first philosophical magnitude from…
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A Word to the Wise
10-bagger (noun)
A “10-bagger,” a term coined by Peter Lynch in his book One Up On Wall Street, is an investment that has the potential to return tenfold, if not more. As I used it today: “The coveted ‘10-bagger.’ What…
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A Word to the Wise
gadabout (noun)
A gadabout (GAD-uh-bout) is a person who frequently travels from place to place, especially for pleasure. As used by Leopold Throckmorton: “Author: A common gadabout who freely wanders over the landscape with…
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A Word to the Wise
rutilant (adjective)
Rutilant (ROOT-l-unt) means glowing or glittering with a reddish or golden light. As used by Ben Hecht in Fantazius Mallare: “Standing against the wall and blinking at the rutilant glare of the room, Goliath…
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A Word to the Wise
volition (noun)
Volition (voh-LIH-shun) is the act of making a conscious, deliberate decision regarding an action that you intend to take. As I used it in my mini-review of Slaughterhouse Five, above: “Ultimately, it’s an…
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A Word to the Wise
gormless (adjective)
Gormless (GAWRM-lis), an informal British term, means stupid, dull, or clumsy; lacking in vitality or intelligence. As used in a column by the journalist Drew Middleton: “‘They’re a poor, gormless lot down…
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A Word to the Wise
mettlesome (adjective)
Mettlesome(MET-l-sum) means spirited, courageous, full of vigor. As used by Eugene P. Lyle in The Missourian: “And being a mettlesome young man into the bargain, he rose by unanimous consent to command a…
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A Word to the Wise
the fantods (noun)
The fantods (FAN-tahds) – a.k.a. the fidgets or the willies – is a state of extreme agitation or restlessness. As used by Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn: “They was all nice pictures, I reckon, but I didn’t…
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