⧠ embellish (v) bellus beautiful
to make a story more interesting by fabricating or exaggerating entertaining details; to decorate; Paul always embellishes his stories with false intrigue.
Form: embellishment = a decorative detail; a detail added to a story to make it more entertaining Synonyms: festoon, gild, embroider
⧠ eradicate (v) e- out + radix root
to eliminate completely : By the 1960s, the Polk vaccine had virtually eradicated polio in North America.
Form: eradicable = capable of being completely destroyed
Root family: [radic] radical (affecting fundamental change), radish (a pungent edible root) Synonyms: annihilate, abolish
⧠ hyperbole (n) hyper above, beyond
exaggeration for persuasive effect: The author’s claim that there was a “literacy crisis” in America was dismissed as hyperbole.
Form: hyperbolic = exaggerated
Root family: [hyper] hyperactive (excessively active), hyperventilate (to breathe too quickly) Don’t confuse with: hyperbola (a two-part geometric curve).
Mnemonic: It’s interesting to note that three of the “conic sections” you may have studied in math class—the ellipse, the hyperbola, and the parabola—correspond to three literary terms:
• ellipsis (elleipein to leave out) = the omission of language from a quotation or of words that are implied in a sentence, or the symbol (…) indicating such an omission
• hyperbole (huperbole excess) = exaggerated comments
• parable (parabola comparison) = a story used to illustrate a moral lesson
The names of the curves are derived from their “eccentricities”: a conic with an eccentricity less than 1 is “deficient,” hence the name “ellipse”; a conic with an eccentricity greater than 1 is “excessive,” hence the name “hyperbola”; and a conic with an eccentricity of exactly 1 is “comparable,” hence the name “parabola.”
⧠ indulgent (adj)
excessively generous or lenient : Her mother was strict, but her grandmother was indulgent.
Forms: indulge (in) = allow oneself to enjoy the pleasure of, indulgence = an act of indulging Don’t confuse with: indolent (lazy)
⧠ superfluous (adj) super above + fluere to flow
unnecessary, excessive : After a week of celebrations, the anniversary ball seemed superfluous.
Form: superfluity = an excessive amount
Root family: [super] insuperable (impossible to overcome), superlative (of the highest degree or quality), superficial (on the surface only), supercilious (haughty and pompous)
Root family: [flu] fluent (able to flow freely; easily conversant in a language or field), affluent (wealthy), confluence (a place where two things flow together)
⧠ unstinting (adj)
without reservations; given liberally : She was unstinting in her support for animal rights.
Form: stint = to give only sparingly
Synonyms: unsparing, magnanimous, munificent, profuse
Mnemonic: The verbs stint, stump and stunt (to retard the progress of, as in Smoking stunts your growth.) derive from the same
Don’t confuse with: emancipate (to free from bondage) Usage: See usage note at mitigate in section 17.
Mnemonic: Imagine Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh who finally gets a cake after he thinks everyone has forgotten his birthday. The cake is a meal Eeyore ate which ameliorated his depression.
⧠ assuage (v)
to make something unpleasant less intense : The news story was intended to sensationalize the epidemic rather than assuage people’s fears about it.
Synonyms: mitigate, palliate, attenuate, allay, ameliorate
Don’t confuse with: dissuade (to persuade someone not to do something) Usage: See usage note at mitigate in section 17.
⧠ curtail (v) curtus short
to cut back; to impose a restriction on an activity : The library committee decided to curtail its expenses until it balanced its budget.
Synonyms: pare, retrench, curb Root family: [curt] curt (rudely abrupt)
Mnemonic: If you cut off the tail of a beaver, it will really curtail its abilities.
⧠ equanimity (n) equa same + anima spirit, mind
evenness of temper : During the lockdown drill, our teacher’s equanimity helped assuage the fears of several students.
Synonyms: composure, imperturbability, sangfroid, equability
Root family: [equa, equi-] equilateral (having equal sides), equilibrium (a state of balance between opposing forces or trends)
Root family: [anim] magnanimous (generous), pusillanimous (cowardly) Don’t confuse with: equity (fairness)
⧠ fastidious (adj)
showing great attention to details, particularly in matters of cleanliness : Julia is fastidious about her food, making sure that the vegetables never touch the meat on her plate.
Forms: fastidiousness = the quality of being fastidious Synonyms: scrupulous, meticulous, punctilious Usage: See usage note at scrupulous in this section.
⧠ impassive (adj) in- not + passivus suffered
unemotional; calm : Despite all the turmoil, Randall was able to remain impassive.
Form: impassivity = a state of calmness and restraint from emotion Synonyms: stoic, dispassionate, forbearing, phlegmatic, stolid
⧠ nonchalant (adj)
calm and unconcerned, often inappropriately so : My lab partner took a nonchalant approach to the experiment and almost caused a dangerous explosion.
Form: nonchalance = lack of concern or enthusiasm
Synonyms: blithe, blasé, dispassionate, apathetic, indifferent, insouciant
Usage: A nonchalant person is usually putting on airs, but a blithe person is innocently unself-conscious. One who is blasé has usually become jaded to the point of indifference. One who is dispassionate is adopting a neutral attitude in order to render an objective judgment. One who is apathetic typically has neither airs, innocence, nor judicious motive.
⧠ parsimony (n) parcere to be sparing
extreme reluctance to spend money, use unnecessary language, or expend resources : Mastering the art of haiku requires mastering the art of parsimony.
Form: parsimonious (adj) = extremely reluctant to spend money, use unnecessary language, or expend resources
⧠ placid (adj) placere to please
[1] (of a person or animal) calm and unexcitable : I chose to ride the most placid horse.
[2] (of a place) calm and peaceful : The chateau was a placid retreat from the city.
Forms: placidity (n) = calmness; peacefulness
Root family: [plac] placate, implacable (unable to be pleased), complacent
Don’t confuse with: passive (permitting things to happen without resistance or involvement), platitude (a trite proverb)
⧠ refurbish (v)
to renovate; to restore to good condition : David studied for weeks to refurbish his conversational Italian before traveling to Rome.
Don’t confuse with: refurnish (to restock with furniture)
⧠ rejuvenate (v) juvenis young
to restore the vitality of : She felt rejuvenated after her trip to the mountains.
Synonym: revitalize
Root family: [juven] juvenile (immature)
⧠ reticent (adj) re- (intensive) + tacere to be silent
unwilling to speak or express one’s feelings : When the conversation turned to her college years, Sheila became uncharacteristi- cally reticent.
Forms: reticence = unwillingness to speak or reveal one’s feelings or thoughts
Root family: [tice, tace] tacit (unspoken, but understood, as a tacit agreement), taciturn (quiet and reserved)
Usage: Do not confuse reticent with reluctant. For instance, He was reticent to talk about his experiences is redundant.
The correct phrasing is He was reluctant to talk about his experiences or He was reticent about his experiences.
⧠ scrupulous (adj)
[1] diligent and attentive to details : George is a scrupulous researcher.
Synonyms: meticulous, fastidious
[2] concerned with moral correctness : He is too scrupulous to consider cheating on his taxes.
Forms: scruples = concerns about moral rectitude, unscrupulous = lacking in moral character Don’t confuse with: scrutinize (to examine closely)
Usage: Scrupulous, meticulous, fastidious, and punctilious are nearly synonymous, but each offers a different shade of mean-
Forms: sedate (v) = to calm or put to sleep with drugs, sedative = a drug used to sedate
Root family: [sed, sid] sedentary, dissident (one who opposes official policy), assiduous (hardworking), insidious (subtly dan- gerous), preside (to sit in a position of authority), reside (to live in a particular location), sediment (material that settles to the bottom of a liquid or body of water, particularly a river)
Don’t confuse with: sedition (incitement to rebellion)
⧠ stoic (adj)
enduring hardship without complaint : William remained stoic throughout the funeral.
Form: stoicism = the belief that emotions are the enemy of reason Synonyms: dispassionate, forbearing, phlegmatic, stolid, impassive
Don’t confuse stoicism with solecism (an error in grammar or usage, particularly a tactless one) or solipsism (the belief that nothing exists except for oneself)
Mnemonic: Stoicism was a Hellenic school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium (and which met at the “painted porch”—
Stoa Poikile—from which the school got its name) who taught that emotions were incompatible with reasoning and so cultivated a systematic detachment.
⧠ succinct (adj) cingere to cinch, as with a belt
expressed clearly and concisely : The documentary was prefaced with a succinct description of the 15-year study it chronicled.
Form: succinctness = the quality of being brief and to the point
Root family: [cinc] cinch (to gird with a belt), precinct (an administrative district)
Mnemonic: The connection between succinct and precinct comes in the idea of “cinching” or “encircling” (cingere = to cinch or encircle). When you make something more succinct, you make it “smaller and tighter” much as cinching a girdle around your waist would make you smaller and tighter. A precinct is a well-defined (or well “encircled”) district.
⧠ temperance (n) temperare to restrain
self-control with regard to consumption : After years of gluttonous behavior, he has learned remarkable temperance.
Forms: temper = to moderate or act as a moderating force, temperate = showing moderation, intemperate = lacking self-control
Root family: [temper] temperature (degree of heat), temperament (disposition or degree of personal restraint)
Don’t confuse the tempe- words that derive from temperare (to restrain) with the tempo- words that derive from tempus (time), like extemporaneous, temporize (to delay making a decision), and contemporary ((adj) modern; (n) one who lives during the same time period as another).
Mnemonic: The Temperance Movement in the 19th century was designed to curb excessive consumption of alcohol and ultimately led to the Prohibition Era.
To avoid confusing the cognate words temperance, temperament, and temperature, notice how they are all related to the root word temperare (to restrain): temperance is essentially one’s “ability to restrain oneself”; temperament refers to much the same thing but has been generalized to encompass emotional dispositions in general; temperature was originally a synonym of temperament but lent its sense of “degree of emotional heat” to the scientific term for “degree of physical heat.”
Forms: anarchy = = the belief in freedom from government, anarchic = systematic government
Root family: [arch] monarchy (government ruled by a king or queen), autarchy (government ruled by an individual with absolute power), matriarchy (social order in which the female line of descent is predominant), hierarchy (a ranked system of organization)
Don’t confuse anarchic (lacking government) with archaic (old and outdated)
Usage: Don’t use anarchy to mean chaos unless it refers to chaos that results directly from a rejection of authority.
⧠ capricious (adj)
prone to unpredictable behavior : Her decisions seemed more capricious than reasoned.
Forms: capriciousness = unpredictability of mood or behavior, caprice = a sudden and unaccountable change of behavior Synonyms: fickle, volatile, whimsical, arbitrary
Don’t confuse with: capris (close-fitting calf-length pants), capiche ((from Italian capisci) slang for “do you understand?”)
⧠ emancipate (v)
to free from bondage : The prisoners of war were finally emancipated by the liberating army.
Form: emancipation = the act of freeing those in bondage, emancipator = one who sets prisoners free Synonyms: unfetter, liberate
Don’t confuse with: emaciate (to make abnormally thin and weak)
⧠ extemporaneous (adj) ex- out of + tempor time
improvised; performed without preparation : The senator’s extemporaneous speech was surprisingly coherent and very well received.
Form: extemporize (v) = to improvise
Root family: [tempor] temporize (to delay making a decision), contemporary ((adj) modern; (n) one who lives during the same time period as another)
Don’t confuse with: temporize (to delay making a decision), contemporaneous (occurring or existing at the same time) Mnemonic: If you must make a speech but you are out of time (ex tempor) to plan it, you must extemporize.
⧠ extricate (v) ex- out + tricae perplexities
to free from a constraint or difficult situation : We found it difficult to extricate ourselves from our duties.
Synonyms: disentangle, extract
Root family: [tric] intricate (complex), trick
Don’t confuse with: explicate (to analyze and develop (an idea) in detail)
⧠ impetuous (adj) im- toward + petere to drive
done without careful thought or planning; spontaneous : David’s jocular and impetuous nature made him the most popular player in the locker room, but it often caused problems on the field.
Form: impetuousness = tendency to be impetuous Synonyms: whimsical, impulsive, capricious
Root family: [im-] impugn (to call into question), impetus (energizing force), impute (to attribute something to someone) Root family: [pet] impetus (driving force), perpetuate (to help continue for an extended period), petulant (childishly ill- tempered)
Don’t confuse with: impetus (driving force), petulant (childishly ill-tempered)
⧠ mercurial (adj)
inclined to unpredictable mood swings : He was a brilliant but mercurial composer, susceptible to manic bouts of productivity and debilitating depression.
Synonyms: volatile, capricious, temperamental