Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Querulous Meaning and Usage


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Adjective

- constantly complaining; peevish;
- inclined to find fault, whining
- expressing a complaint or grievance; grumbling
“a querulous voice”; “querulous comments”

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Derivatives:

Querulously – adverb
Querulousness – noun
Querulent - adjective


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Use querulous in a sentence:

1. Stay away from Celina today; she is in a very querulous mood.

2. The candidate, even though with reticent attitude, has managed any querulous critic which has allowed him to concentrate in his purpose.

3. Wiggins is such a querulous soul that he even whines about himself!

4. The querulous ninny criticizes everything his wife does for him when he should thank her for tolerating him.

5. Film critics are often accused by film makers to be querulous when it comes to modern films.

6. The old woman spoke in a very querulous manner, complaining about the weather, the prices, the government and everything she had contact with.

7. "Georgia, I'm tired of waiting," complained Grandfather in a querulous voice, his peevish expression revealing unmistakable irritation at the girl's dawdling.

8. He objected to almost all the television programs and sent querulous letters to the broadcasters telling them so.

9. People who work in the complaint department of a store must get used to dealing with lots of querulous customers.

10. Amy irritates me when she constantly speaks in her querulous voice.

11. The gardener finished trimming the roses and was waiting for the querulous Mr. Jones to inspect his work, knowing that the latter would find something wrong.

12. His voice was slightly querulous, but he strained to be gentle.

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Synonyms:
annoyed, bad-tempered, cantankerous, carping, censorious, choleric, complaining, crabbed, crabby, cranky, critical, criticizing, cross, crotchety, crusty, curmudgeonly, disagreeable, dyspeptic, fault-finding, finical, finicky, fractious, fretful, fussy, grouchy, grumbling, grumpy, hypercritical, irascible, irritable, murmuring, nasty, peevishly, perverse, petulant, piqued, quarrelsome, snappish, snappy, sour, splenetic, surly, testy, touchy, ugly, waspish, whiney, whining, whiny.


Antonym:
cheerful, easy-going, happy, uncomplaining

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Some more examples:

1. “I’m not sure I can climb the stairs,” Richard said, weakly querulous. “My fever may be too bad for me to do that.”

2. Nancy was so querulous that no hairstylist wanted to wait on her.

3. "Well, I hate dogs," said Eugene querulously.

4. "I have forgotten what I intended to say," he said querulously. "You have driven it out of my head."

5. She was a widow, who had been left with what she considered insufficient means, and her outlook on life was a compound of greed and querulousness.

6. "What do you want?" he said querulously. "What are you staring at me like that for?"

7. But he had never got on well with old Parry, that querulous, weak-kneed old man, Clarissa’s father, Justin Parry.

8. Nothing was stirring except a brindled, grey cat, which crept from the ashes, and saluted me with a querulous mew.

9. She talked in an even, querulous tone, as though she were recounting the injustices of fate, which had to be borne as part of the natural order of things.

10. The querulous, young kid was disdained by his classmates for his habit of complaining and cribbing about everything around him.

11. His querulousness often gets on my nerves. His whining is so intolerable.

12. It was a querulous crowd of dissatisfied employees asking their union representative why the massive cutbacks were happening.

13. “What? What is it? Who are you? What do you want?” he cried in a high-pitched, querulous voice, looking first at Hermione, then at Ron, and finally at Harry, upon which his mouth fell open in a perfect comical O.

14. Criticism should not be querulous and wasting, all knife and root-puller, but guiding, instructive, inspiring.

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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Desultory Meaning and Usage


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Adjective

- lacking connection; aimless; random; haphazard; “desultory conversation”; “a desultory remark”

- moving from one subject to another without logical connection; lacking in relevance; “a desultory speech”

- lacking in consistency; disconnected

- Having no set plan; haphazard or random. “a desultory thought”



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Derivatives:

Desultorious - Adjective
Desultoriness - Noun
Desultorily - Adverb


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Use Desultory in a sentence:

1. A few young women were walking along, pushing baby-carriages in pairs and talking desultorily, but the street was otherwise deserted.

2. The professor’s lecture seemed desultory, having no connection to anything the class was studying.

3. Diane had a desultory academic record; she had changed majors 12 times in 3 years.

4. She put the cat down. It walked slowly toward the hearth, where a late fire lazed, desultorily eating at a single log.

5. Mike's desultory ramblings worsened as his disease progressed.

6. They talked desultorily of unimportant things, and every minute found Freddie more convinced that Nelly was not as other girls. He felt that he must see more of her.

7. There were a few moments of desultory conversation, of the kind that usually follows an introduction.

8. Psmith, who had played cricket in a rather desultory way at the University, had not risen to the heights Mike had achieved.

9. He got tea ready, making desultory conversation the while, as if there were no particular reason why either of them should feel uncomfortable in the other's presence.

10. On the way into the little resort town, his mother driving with squinty-eyed concentration, Jack had seen only one person on the streets – a mad old man desultorily pushing an empty cart along the sidewalk.

11. The man's desultory attempts at finding employment wasted his time.

12. In a desultory way he had read a good deal of philosophy, and he looked forward with delight to the leisure of the next few months.


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Synonyms:
aimless, chance, chaotic, cursory, devious, digressing, disconnected, discursive, disorderly, disorganized, erratic, fitful, haphazard, inconsistent, inconstant, indiscriminate, irregular, loose, maundering, objectless, pointless, purposeless, rambling, random, shifting, shifty, spasmodic, spot, stray, superficial, unconsidered, unorganized, unplanned, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, unsystematic, vague, wavering

Antonyms:
Concentrated, Methodical, Firm, Steady, Constant, Regular, Stable, Fixed, Determined, Immovable, Rooted, Anchored, Steadfast, Unyielding, Strict

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Origin:

Often Roman soldiers would go into battle with two horses so that when one horse tired, the soldier could leap to the second horse striding alongside. This person became known as a desultor, or leaper. The term evolved since this leaper only stayed on one horse for a short amount of time before becoming disconnected and jumping to the other horse.

The Latin adjective "desultorius," the parent of "desultory," was also by the ancients to refer to a circus performer (called a "desultor") whose trick was to leap from horse to horse without stopping. It makes sense, therefore, that someone or something "desultory" jumps from one thing to another. ("Desultor" and "desultorius" are derived from the Latin verb "salire," which means "to leap.")

A desultory conversation leaps from one topic to another, and doesn't have a distinct point or direction. A desultory student skips from one subject to another without applying serious effort to anyone. A desultory comment is a digressive one that jumps away from the topic at hand. And a desultory performance is one resulting from an implied lack of steady, focused effort.

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Some more examples:

1. Philip saw several fellows with a desultory, timid look dawdling around, and surmised that, like himself, they were there for the first time.

2. He made no more than a desultory effort to stop smoking.

3. Psmith, leaning against the mantlepiece, discoursed in a desultory way on the day's happenings.

4. The countries engaged in intermittent, desultory warfare for decades.

5. The thefts were occurring in a desultory manner making them difficult to track.

6. After a desultory year at Cabrillo College near Santa Cruz, McCarthy joined the Army in May.

7. He wandered round, cleaning up in a desultory way.

8. His studies are very desultory and eccentric, but he has amassed a lot of out-of-the-way knowledge which would astonish his professors

9. The day was so hot that everyone went about their chores in a desultory fashion.

10. “I trust I may be excused for desiring an interval of complete freedom from such distractions as have been hitherto inevitable, and especially from guests whose desultory vivacity makes their presence a fatigue.”

11. “In the afternoon it grew very hot. Work did not proceed so actively and conversation halted. The incessant chatter of the morning dwindled now to desultory remarks.”

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Monday, July 27, 2009

Reticent Meaning and Usage


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Meaning:

Adjective:


- Inclined to keep one's thoughts, feelings, and personal affairs to oneself.

- Restrained or reserved in style.
- Reluctant to speak

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Derivatives:

Reticency - Noun
Reticence - Noun
Reticently - Adverb

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Synonyms:
aloof, close, distant, incommunicable, mum offish, quiet, remote, reserved, restrained, retiring, secretive, silent, solitary, standoffish, taciturn, unapproachable, unassertive, uncommunicative, undemonstrative, unemotional, withdrawn.

Antonyms:
communicative, expansive, forward, unrestrained, garrulous, loquacious, voluble

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Use reticent in a sentence:

1. Bill was understandably reticent about the lipstick on his collar.

2. Hillary became abruptly reticent when asked about the box of chocolates under the couch.

3. The student was reticent to express his opinions and ideas in class discussions.

4. Like most tightfisted men, he was exceedingly reticent about his will.

5. That evening he was surprisingly reticent about his war experiences.

6. Physically small and reticent in her speech, Joan Didion often went unnoticed by those upon whom she was reporting.

7. A lawyer must have great reticence in discussing matters that could violate his client's rights.

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Do you know:

In its traditional sense, reticent means unwilling to communicate. Thus it is more nearly a synonym for silent than it is for reluctant: It is, however, increasingly seen in contexts in which it conveys other kinds of reluctance. Many regard this as a misuse, and in fact such usages tend to convey nothing that reluctant would not convey better.


If a person is reluctant, he’s unwilling to do something; if reticent, he’s unwilling to speak. Reticent refers to a subset of the meaning of reluctant. Compare “He’s reluctant to talk about that issue” with “He’s reticent on that issue”. The result is the same either way. If you’re reticent, you can very easily also give the impression of being reluctant to act or hesitant about doing so.


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Some more examples:

1. He was never reticent about wanting the job.

2. The girls' reticence made it difficult to determine what she was feeling.

3. As the days went by, he became more reticent than ever.

4. While his acquaintances continually vociferated opinions, scandals, experiences, or anecdotes, he remained imperturbably reticent and subdued.

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Sunday, July 26, 2009

Garrulous Meaning and Usage


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Meaning:

Adjective
- talking too much about generally insignificant things;
- annoyingly talkative;
- rambling talk; tiresomely talkative. “a garrulous speech.”

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Derivatives:
Garrulously - adverb
Garrulousness - noun
Garrulity - noun

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Use garrulous in a sentence:

1. Teenaged girls tend to be more garrulous than their male counterparts.

2. Most company sales meetings are dominated by garrulous persons who love to hear themselves speak.

3. Claude pretended to be asleep so he could avoid his garrulous seatmate, a self-proclaimed expert on bonsai cultivation.

4. The game was over. "Great Scott! What a fluke!" cried the silent one, becoming quite garrulous at the miracle.

5. The pawnbroker’s widow was a garrulous old woman who loved to gossip and hear herself talk.

6. Shania is so garrulous she could talk a politician into taking truth serum.

7. She was unable to sleep on the flight because of the garrulous passenger sitting beside her.

8. The garrulous old man repeatedly described his daring, youthful escapades.

9. Polonius is portrayed as a foolish, garrulous old man.

10. The garrulous parakeet distracted its owner with its continuous talking.

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Synonyms:
babbling, chattering, chatty, conversational, diffuse, discursive, effusive, gabby, gossiping, gossipy, gushing, lengthy, long-winded, loquacious, mouthy, overlong, prolix, prosy rambling, talkative, talky, verbose, voluble, windy, wordy.

Antonyms:
taciturn, concise, mum, quiet, reserved, silent, still

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Know more:

This word has many near synonyms: talkative (tending to talk a lot), loquacious ("talkative" with a Latin stem), prolix (wordy in speaking or writing), voluble (characterized by rapid speech), glib (speaking or writing with ease, perhaps superficially), verbose (wordy, implying dullness).

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Some more examples:

1. He was so garrulous that he repeated everything many times.

2. Aunt Midge is as garrulous as they come, so be prepared to listen for hours.

3. Myna Bird and her assistant are so garrulous we seldom accomplish anything during office conferences.

4. No one wanted to speak with the garrulous man for fear of being stuck in a long, one-sided conversation.

5. The speech was so garrulous it went over everyone's head

6. His garrulity leads him to frequently misspeak himself.

7. His garrulous nature made me reluctant to answer the phone when he called.

8. The entire Senate fell into a deep slumber as the Senator from Idaho continued his unrelenting, garrulous diatribe on the evils of cow tipping.

9. Students sometimes get in trouble for being garrulous in class and distracting others from the lesson.

10. With a few judicious revisions, a good editor can often transform garrulous writing into elegant prose.


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A garrulous person indulges in long, prosy talk, with frequent repetitions and lengthened details; talkative implies simply a great desire to talk; and loquacious a great flow of words at command. A child is talkative; a lively woman is loquacious; an old man in his dotage is garrulous.

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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Voluble Meaning and Usage


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Meaning
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Adjective

- Easily rolling or turning; easily set in motion; apt to roll; rotating;
"voluble particles of matter"


- Moving with ease and smoothness in uttering words;
of rapid speech; nimble in speaking; glib;


- Marked by a ready flow of speech; fluent; ability to use words easily, glib;
“a voluble spokesman for the cause.”


- Botany. Twining or twisting; "a voluble vine
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Derivatives:

volubility - noun

volubleness - noun
volubly - adverb

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Synonyms:
articulate, articulateness, bombastic, candid, chatty, communicative, conversational, effusive, expansive, exuberant, flip, fluency, fluent, forthcoming, frank, gabby, garrulous, gassy, glib, gossipy, gregarious, gushy, loquacious, multiloquent, multiloquious, newsy, overtalkative, profuse, prolix, silver-tongued, smooth, sociable, talkative, talky, verbose, vocative, windy, wordy.



Antonyms:
mute, taciturn, uncommunicative, reticent


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Use Voluble in a sentence:

1. She is an extremely voluble young woman who engages in soliloquies not conversations.

2. Clarissa was extremely voluble on the subject of good manners.

3. The young man proved to be a voluble informer who would tell stories of bookies, smugglers, and hit men to the detectives for hours.

4. While attending a recent rally, the audience was quite annoyed with the voluble speech that was given by one of the presenters. It kept droning on endlessly.

5. A disc jockey needs to be a voluble speaker.

6. A lively, voluble man, Spencer was sometimes daunting in his reckless energy.

7. She had wondered whether he would be cold and distant, or voluble and heated.

8. Although the town councilman had a reputation for reserve, at the information session that night he was so voluble that everyone received a great deal of information about the proposed tax increase.

9. Philip in his voluble anger stopped suddenly at the sound of her voice. It was heart-broken. He had not realized what bitter things he was saying.

10. The boarding-house to which they had been directed was kept by a bustling maiden lady, with shrewd eyes and voluble speech.

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Origin:

1575, "liable to constant change," from Fr. voluble, from L. volubilis "that turns around, rolling, flowing, fluent" (of speech), from volvere "to turn around, roll" Meaning "fluent, talkative" first recorded 1588.

Did you know?
English has many terms for gabby types, but it's important to choose the right word to get across what kind of chatterbox you mean. "Talkative" usually implies a readiness to engage in talk or a disposition to enjoy conversation." "Loquacious" generally suggests the power to express oneself fluently, articulately, or glibly, but it can also mean "talking excesively." "Garrulous" is even stronger in its suggestion of excessive talkativeness; it is most often used for tedious, rambling talkers. "Voluble" describes an individual who speaks easily and often.

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Some more examples:


1. “That sound . . . that, and the screams of wounded men and horses . . . for once in his life, even the normally voluble Cuthbert had been struck silent.”

2. He is the House of Commons' most voluble advocate of capital punishment.

3. The owner, 42-year-old Christian Mittermeier, is a voluble, bear-like man who apprenticed as a butcher as a teenager, before managing a small hotel just outside of town.

4. The days passed somehow, and finally there came the morning when, accompanied by Uncle Chris--voluble and explanatory about the details of what he called "getting everything settled"--she rode in a taxi to take the train for Southampton.

5. That certainly rules this Federation out as only the more voluble consumer groups will have the financial means to fund air fares to Italy.

7. Even the normally voluble Lembit was reduced to saying Oaten should be given "space".

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Loquacious Meaning and Usage


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Meaning:

Adjective

- speaking; expressive; “easily the most loquacious play of the season.”
- apt to blab and disclose secrets.
- given to continual talking; talkative; garrulous; “a loquacious dinner guest.”

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Derivatives:

loquaciously - adverb
loquaciousness – noun
loquacity – noun
loquent - adjective

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Synonyms:
voluble, gabby, talkative, talky, babbling, chattering, chatty, fluent, garrulous, gossipy, jabbering, long-winded, loose-lipped, motormouth, multiloquent, prolix, verbose, wordy, yacking

Antonyms:
quiet, restrained, reticent, silent, subdued, taciturn

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Some examples:

1. The twins are quite different: one is taciturn and the other is loquacious.

2. We want to keep today's meeting short, so I may interrupt anyone who becomes too loquacious.

3. 'When I was young,' she continued loquaciously, 'I used to do all sorts of naughty things'

4. She was having difficulty ending the conversation with her loquacious neighbor.

5. The meeting went on for hours, accommodating loquacious bores who were each allowed their say.

6. One of the students is very loquacious that she's disrupting the class, so she got detention.

7. Molly was such a reticent child but since starting school she has become positively loquacious.

8. Girls are often more loquacious than guys; they really love talking!

9. Though she was normally vivacious, her grief made the woman oddly silent and self-contained, hardly her usual loquacious self.

10. The staff knew the meeting would be long because the administrator was in a loquacious mood.

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Did you know?
The source of this word is "loqui," a Latin verb meaning "to speak." Other words descended from "loqui" include "colloquial," "eloquent," "soliloquy," and "ventriloquism."

loquacious means very talkative or full of trivial conversation; articulate means expressing yourself easily or characterized by clear expressive language

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Some more examples:

1. She was naturally loquacious, which was a problem in situations in which listening was more important than talking.

2. My blind date last night didn’t go very well; she was quite loquacious and wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise.

3. The doctor was really loquacious and wouldn't let me ask a question, so I ended up not knowing what the problem was.

4. She is very loquacious and can speak on the phone for hours.

5. Instead of being her normal, loquacious self, Sheila barely spoke to anyone at dinner.

6. Avoid becoming involved with loquacious politicians lest you get caught in a discourse from which you have difficulty extricating yourself.

7. He was not effusive, loquacious, and bibulous like his brother, Mark.

8. Peter’s loquacious good-humour infected everyone.

9. The students were quite loquacious after the music program.

10. Bob is a loquacious spokesman for his company, an easygoing speaker with a tendency to ramble on for about ten minutes longer than his audience wants to listen.

11. Siamese cats are known for their loquacity, even though what they say is not said in words.

12. A group of hens exhibits loquacity by almost constant clucking.

13. "To the Dark Tower?” Roland asked. Susannah realized it was the first time the gunslinger had actually spoken to the loquacious ghost in the machine below Lud.

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Laconic Meaning and Usage



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Meaning

Adjective

- Brevity of speech

- Brief and to the point
- Effectively cut short, terse
- Curt, almost to the point of rudeness.

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Derivatives:

Laconian - noun
Laconical - adjective
Laconically - adverb
Laconicism - noun
Laconism - noun

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Some examples:

1. His laconic reply made her worry that he was angry about something.

2. She didn't like to talk on the phone, so if she did have to call someone, she kept her conversations laconic.

3. We don't have time for a long meeting, so please keep your comments laconic.

4. The laconic cowboy raised an eyebrow and just grinned when the girl finished her tirade.

5. The graduates cheered at the Valedictorian's laconic speech.

6. His answer was so laconic that the customer was offended.

7. All I received in response to my request was the laconic reply "Wait."

8. After a laconic introduction the program began.

9. His laconic responses indicated his disdain for those around him.

10. After the loss, the coach's remarks were laconic.

11. Mark’s laconic reply made it clear that he did not want to discuss the matter any further.

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Synonyms: abrupt, aphoristic, blunt, brief, brusque, clipped, compact, compendious, concise, crisp, curt, economical, elliptical, epigrammatic, gnomic, gruff, incisive, monosyllabic, pithy, pointed, quiet, reserved, reticent, sententious, sharp, short, silent, speechless, succinct, summary, tart, terse, to the point.

Antonyms: verbose, long-winded, loquacious, wordy, voluble


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Origin: Laconia was an ancient country in southern Greece, bordering on the Aegean and the Mediterranean seas. Its capital city was Sparta, and the Spartans were famous for their terseness of speech. "Laconic" comes to us by way of Latin from the Greek "Lakonikos," which is derived from "Lakon," meaning "native of Laconia." It has been with us since the 16th century and has sometimes been used with the basic meaning "of or relating to Laconia or its inhabitants" (though we're more apt to use "Laconian" for this meaning today). In current use, "laconic" means "terse" or "concise," and thus recalls the Spartan tendency to use the fewest words possible.

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Some interesting stories about Spartans’ Laconism:

King Phillip of Greece wanted to conquer Sparta. He sent a message to the Spartans saying,
“ If I invade your country, I will destroy your great city”

The answer that was taken back to him was short and sweet,
“If”


Before the historic battle against Persia the Spartans were told that they were to face 250,000 soldiers, and they had so many archers that their arrows would block out the sun.
The Spartan General commented "Good, then we will fight in the shade"


Tips:
A statement that is laconic is brief and to the point. It is cut short so as not to be verbose. Laconic is somewhere in between curt (short and rude) and succinct (short and to the point, pithy). When used as a critique, laconic refers to being short in a rude and almost mysterious way. When used as a compliment, laconic describes being short in order to be polite and not overly verbose.

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Some more examples:

1. She was a laconic poet who built her reputation on using words as sparingly as possible.

2. His political opponents considered Coolidge taciturn; his friends praised him for being laconic.

3. Calvin Coolidge was a very laconic president, rarely wasting words.

4. Most people prefer not to be laconic for fear of hurting others’ feelings.

5. Though the speech was laconic in nature, it told worlds about why it is important to follow directions

6. A full and suitably laconic report of events will follow in March.

7. The strong, laconic hero seen in many of today's action films is a convention that has its roots in the old Hollywood Western.

8. The people enjoyed the public addresses of the laconic queen.

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Truculent Meaning and Usage

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Meaning:
adjective

1. Disposed to fight; pugnacious, bellicose; warlike;
2. Expressing bitter opposition; scathing: a truculent speech against the new government.
3. Disposed to or exhibiting violence or destructiveness; cruel; fierce; savage; heinous, ferocious.
4. rude; mean;

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Derivatives:
truculence - noun
truculently - adverb


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Some examples:

1. Truculent fighting broke out in the war-torn country.

2. The truculent beast approached the crowd with wild eyes and sharpened claws.

3. Your truculent reply to my offer does not bode well for an amicable settlement of the issue.

4. Edward's truculent attitude toward his girlfriends is the reason why they are apart today.

5. The Cameroons are already bad-mouthing the truculent local party for conducting a dire campaign.

6. The leader of the party gave a truculent speech against the opposition.

7. One of my superiors was a truculent fellow who would have loved being a storm trooper under Hitler.


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Synonyms:
abusive, acerbic, acid, acidic, acrid, aggressive, antagonistic, astringent, bad-tempered, barbarous, bellicose, belligerent, bestial, biting, browbeating, brutal, bullying, caustic, combative, contentious, contumelious, corrosive, cowing, cross, cruel, cutting, defiant, feral, ferocious, fierce, frightening, harsh, hostile, ill-tempered, inhumane, intimidating, invective, mean, militant, mordacious, mordant, obstreperous, opprobrious, pugnacious, pungent, quarrelsome, rude, savage, scathing, scrappy, scurrilous, sharp, slashing, stinging, sullen, terrifying, terrorizing, trenchant, vicious, violent, vitriolic, vituperative, vituperous, warlike, wolfish.

Antonyms: cooperative, gentle, mild, nice, tame, amiable


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Some more examples:

1. I don't care enough for this job to endure the boss's truculent attitude a moment longer.

2. Genghis Khan took a truculent attitude toward nearly everyone but his wife, Sylvia.

3. The North Koreans have been truculent toward those in the South since shortly after World War II.

4. He was still clutching the sword of Gryffindor, and wore a strange look: half truculent, half intrigued.


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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Tacit Taciturn Meaning and Usage


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Meaning:

adjective

done without using words

understood, silent, not spoken, implicit

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Derivatives:

tacitly - adverb
tacitness - noun
taciturn - adjective
taciturnity - noun
taciturnly
- adverb

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Taciturn:

Meaning:
adjective

silent, not talkative
quiet, not verbose

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Let’s look at some examples:


1. The clerk's taciturn earned him the nickname "Silent Bob."

2. Indeed, they had all seemed remarkably taciturn, and when they did speak, endowed with very uncanny voices.

3. He was a young man of about four and twenty, remarkably unsociable and taciturn.

4. Tacitly, she acquiesced in what he felt.

5. Mark is an honest man, if one could look behind his taciturnity.

6. They exchanged a few words and made no reference to the vital subject, as though they were tacitly agreed not to speak of it for a time.

7. A second baseman and a shortstop have a tacit understanding of who is to cover second base in case of a ground ball.

8. It is illegal for a politician to accept money in exchange for a political favor, but it’s hard to prove guilt when the agreement is tacit.

9. We have a tacit agreement that the goods are delivered only after payment is made.

10. Although not a word had been said, everyone in the room knew that a tacit had been made about which course of action to take.

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Synonyms (Tacit):
Implicit, understood, implied, inferred, hinted, suggested, insinuated, unspoken, unstated, undeclared, unsaid, unexpressed, unmentioned, unvoiced, silent, mute, wordless.

Antonyms (Tacit):
Explicit, stated.


Synonyms (Taciturn):
reserved, reticent, quiet, secretive, silent, mute, inarticulate, withdrawn, introverted, retiring, unsociable, distant, aloof, detached, sullen.

Antonym (Taciturn):
loquacious; talkative

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Some more examples:

1. Clutton, more taciturn than ever, did not answer, but he looked at Lawson with a sardonic air.

2. Externally, Grigory was cold, dignified and taciturn, and spoke, weighing his words, without frivolity.

3. But although he and the prince were intimate, in a sense, and although the latter had placed the Burdovsky affair in his hands-and this was not the only mark of confidence he had received—it seemed curious how many matters there were that were tacitly avoided in their conversations.


4. He was the gaunt, taciturn individual we had seen at the wheel. Apparently he was in an evil temper with Montgomery.

5. Elizabeth replied, “We are each of an unsocial, taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak, unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the eclat of a proverb.”

6. Philip desired popularity but could bring himself to make no advances to others. A fear of rebuff prevented him from affability, and he concealed his shyness, which was still intense, under a frigid taciturnity.





Saturday, July 18, 2009

Terse Meaning and Usage


Terse:

concise; abrupt; succinct;

curt, brief, free of extra words.


Derivatives :

tersely – adverb
terseness - noun


Let’s look at some examples:

1. Her terse style of writing was widely praised for coming directly to the point.

2. The president gave a terse statement dismissing the charges of the opposing party.

3. “You have no idea,” he said in a terse, strained voice.

4. She was tremblingly delivering her message and answering the doctor’s terse, pertinent questions.

5. He gave a terse account of what had happened.

6. The editor, preferring a more terse writing style, cut 500 words from the 2,000-word article.

7. She believed in getting to the point, so she always gave terse answers.

8. The comments were rather terse; what I wanted to know was whether it worked well enough to even bother with.


Synonyms:
Attic, Ciceronian, Spartan, abbreviated, abridged, abrupt, aphoristic; aposiopestic, axiomatic, blunt, breviloquent, brief, brusque, chaste, classic, clear, clipped, close, closemouthed, compact, compendiary, compendious, compressed, concentrated, concise, condensed, contracted, crisp, cryptic, curt, cut, direct, distilled, docked, dumb, easy, elegant, elliptic, epigrammatic, exact, finished, formulaic, formulistic, gnomic, graceful, gracile, gruff, incisive, laconic, lean, limpid, lucid, monosyllabic, mum, mute, natural, neat, pellucid, perspicuous, petulant, pithy, plain, platitudinous, pointed, polished, precise, proverbial, pruned, pungent, pure, quiet, refined, reserved, restrained, round, rude, sententious, short, shortened, silent, simple, snappy, snug, speechless, straightforward, succinct, summary, synopsized, taciturn, tart, tasteful, taut, tight, trenchant, trim, truncated, unaffected, ungracious, unlabored, unloquacious, untalkative, word-bound, wordless,



Antonym:
lengthy, long-winded, prolix, wordy


Some more examples:

1. By the time he came to write this account, he was crippled by arthritis, and his style had become necessarily terse.

2. Derek's terse reply ended the conversation.

3. The teacher's instructions were very terse after the class' disruptive behavior.

4. The waitress was very terse with the patrons after repeated requests for additional service.

5. His response as usual was terse, sounding rude and not even informative.

Trenchant Meaning and Usage



Trenchant:

Adjective

- Forceful, effective, and vigorous: “a trenchant argument”
- Caustic; cutting: “trenchant criticism”
- Distinct; clear-cut.
- Keen or incisive: “a trenchant screenplay”
- So sharp as to cause mental pain



Derivatives:

trenchancy - noun
trenchantly - adverb


Let’s look at some examples:

1. My sister had a trenchant way of cutting our bread and butter for us that never varied.

2. She made a number of trenchant observations concerning life in Britain today.

3. The critics dismissed the play with a few trenchant remarks.

4. Not even in the Bowery, full as it was of candid friends, had he listened to such a trenchant summing-up of his mental and moral deficiencies.

5. The trenchant words hurt the man deeply.

6. Determine what specific goal you want to achieve. Then dedicate yourself to its attainment with unswerving singleness of purpose, the trenchant zeal of a crusader

7. Without a trenchant tool, they would have to break the branches rather than cut them.

8. Many are calling for trenchant measures to stem the tide of illegal migrant workers in the US.

9. The great detective solved his cases by means of trenchant observation and reasoning, and every once in a while by means of plain old luck.

10. Some have been subject to trenchant media criticisms far beyond what they ever should have had to bear.

11. Many of the most trenchant critics failed to engage with the pragmatic compromises involved in doing anything in such an environment.

12. As part of his work James produced a journal full of exquisite drawings and trenchant observations.


Origin:

The word "trenchant" comes from the Anglo-French verb "trencher," meaning "to cut," and may ultimately derive from the Vulgar Latin "trinicare," meaning "to cut in three."
Hence, a trenchant sword is one with a keen edge; a trenchant remark is one that cuts deep; and a trenchant observation is one that cuts to the heart of the matter. Relatives
of "trenchant" in English include the noun "trench" ("a long ditch cut into the ground") and the verb "retrench" ("to cut down or pare away" or "to cut down expenses").


Synonyms:

acerbic, acid, acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, acute, astringent, biting, bitter, caustic, clear, corrosive, crisp, critical, crushing, cutting, distinct, driving, dynamic, effective, effectual, emphatic, energetic, explicit, forceful, forcible, graphic, hurtful, impressive, incisive, intense, keen, mordacious, mordant, penetrating, perceptive, piquant, poignant, pointed, potent, powerful, probing, pungent, salient, salty, sarcastic, sardonic, scathing, sensitive, sententious, severe, sharp, significant, slashing, stinging, strong, tart, truculent, unequivocal, unsparing, vigorous, vitriolic, weighty.


Antonyms:

frivolous, gentle, impotent, kind, nice, weak


Some more examples:

1. It indulges in some fairly trenchant analysis on where the industry is heading.

2. The ' heritage movement ' has not escaped scrutiny, and museums have come in for particularly trenchant criticism.

3. His diverse experience, combined with his exuberant personality, erudition and often trenchant views make him a compelling and entertaining speaker.

4. Intellectually trenchant and emotionally brutal, the film is also a feast of outstanding acting.

5. Professor Davis is equally trenchant about her experiences of the political process in the United States.

6. Her insistence that women's rights should be upheld universally, notwithstanding concerns about cultural diversity, led some to criticise her for being too narrowly entrenched within western liberalism, while others celebrated her trenchant defence of egalitarianism.

7. His revolutionary music, abrasive personality and trenchant writings about art and life divided the city into warring factions.

8. The trenchant divisions between right and wrong, honest and dishonest, respectable and the reverse, had left so little scope for the unforseen.

9. The vase's detail was so trenchant that it was the first thing i saw when i walked in the door.

10. His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold, and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe.






Sunday, July 5, 2009

Veracity Meaning and Usage

Veracity
noun
1. Adherence to the truth; truthfulness.
2. Conformity to fact or truth; accuracy or precision: a report of doubtful veracity.
3. Something that is true.


Derivatives:
Veracious - adjective



Let’s look at some examples:

1. He is not alone in doubting the scientific veracity of global warming claims.

2. The world is upheld by the veracity of good men: they make the earth wholesome.

3. The veracity of the claim can be tested against the findings of archaeology.

4. The faith must show itself in actions which prove the veracity, honesty and sincerity of the words.

5. There should be a presumption in favor of allowing juries to assess the veracity of evidence.

6. Veracity is the heart of morality.

7. I am not able to ascertain the veracity of this story.

8. The geology of the earth actually is a beautiful mosaic of rock formations that confirm the historical veracity of Noah's Flood.

9. The veracity of young George Washington is legendary, but it may be apocryphal.


Synonyms: accuracy, actuality, artlessness, authenticity, authoritativeness, candor, conformity, correctness, credibility, exactitude, exactness, fairness, fidelity, frankness, genuineness, honesty, honor, impartiality, ingenuousness, integrity, precision, probity, reality, rectitude, rightness, sincerity, trueness, trustworthiness, truth, truthfulness, uprightness, veraciousness, veridicality, verisimilitude, veritableness, verity.

Antonyms: falsehood, falsity, mendacity, error, inaccuracy, fallacy, dishonesty, insincerity.


Some more examples:

1. And why should we even be concerned about the veracity of these allegations?

2. Konrad referred to the problem of how to verify the veracity of the information presented on the Web.

3. By simply denying the historical veracity of these reports, of course!

4. Any member, who wishes to check the veracity of this, should visit the place in question.

5. I have more personal vanity than modesty, and twice as much veracity as the two put together.
6. To the Layman, this argument seems of dubious veracity because there have not been any cases of bits falling off.

7. He felt, in the face of distrust of divine veracity or of the divine goodness, an emotion of simple amazement.

8. He was not noted for his veracity.




Friday, July 3, 2009

Recalcitrant Meaning and Usage


Recalcitrant:

adjective
- Marked by defiance; Not submitting to discipline or control.
- hard to deal with, manage, or operate.

noun
- A recalcitrant person.


Derivatives:

recalcitrance - adjective
recalcitrancy - adjective
recalcitrantly - adverb
recalcitration - noun



Let’s look at some examples:

1. If they lingered too long, Clarice hurried them along in the same annoyed way she rushed recalcitrant goats through the gate.

2. The University suspended the most recalcitrant demonstrators

3. There was something in her manner so reminiscent of the school teacher reprimanding a recalcitrant pupil that Mr. Snyder's sense of humor came to his rescue. "We do our best, Mrs. Pickett," he said. "But you mustn't forget that we are only human and cannot guarantee results."

4. Most of today’s criminals started out as yesterday’s recalcitrant children.

5. Recalcitrant Israelites rebelled against Rome in A.D. 67.

6. Many a recalcitrant has been sent to the principal’s office.

7. The recalcitrant cancer continued to spread through the patient’s body despite every therapy and treatments the doctors could think to try.

8. The country was in a turmoil, but the recalcitrant dictator refused to even listen to the pleas of the international representatives.



Synonyms: adamant, contrary, contumacious, defiant, disobedient, disorderly, firm fractious, headstrong, immovable, indocile, inflexible, insubordinate, intractable, lawless, mutinous, noncompliant, obstinate, obstreperous, perverse, rebellious, refractory, stiff, stubborn, unbending, uncontrollable, undisciplined, ungovernable, unmanageable, unruly, untoward, unwilling, unyielding, wayward, wild, wilful,

Antonyms: amenable, compliant, docile, obedient, passive


Some more examples:

1. Recalcitrant students who refuse to obey the rules risk expulsion.

2. Recalcitrant students are usually tardy, do not complete class assignments, and disrupt class.

3. Similarly, the recalcitrant employer might seek to argue that the union does not come with clean hands.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Vilify Meaning and Usage

Vilify
verb
1. To make vicious and defamatory statements about; to say vile things about
2. criticize very harshly


Vilification
noun
1. The act of vilifying or defaming; slanderous defamation; spread negative information about; vituperate; rail
2. a rude expression intended to offend or hurt

Vilifier
noun
1. the one who vilifies.


Let’s look at some examples:

1. Only those who hold such a ridiculously pedantic view could vilify the Irish rebellion by calling it a ' putsch’.
2. You can't vilify the music companies for seeking to profit from their intellectual property that is just good business practice.

3. In a statement, Heather's legal representatives said she had been vilified in the media and was now being stalked by photographers.

4. Why are you vilifying me? I told you that the dog took the keys and locked himself in the car.

5. I see nothing wrong in vilifying that vile Martha Sviniard; her gossip has destroyed far too many good reputations.


6. The professor is mad because the student's comments vilified her reputation.

7. Janet's angry letter chastised members of the media for attempting to vilify her brother, the disgraced ex-councilman.

8. The teacher was reprimanded for vilifying the slow student in front of the rest of the class.

9. Our taxi driver paused briefly on the way to the airport in order to vilify the driver of the car that had nearly forced him off the road.

10. The political debate was less of a debate than a vilification contest.

11. They were vilified by the press as “international terrorists”.



Synonyms (Vilify): abuse, asperse, assail, attack, backbite, belittle, berate, blister, calumniate, censure, condemn, criticize, curse, cuss, damn, debase, decry, defame, denigrate, denounce, derogate, discredit, disparage, impugn, jinx, lambaste, libel, malign, mistreat, pillory, rail, rap, revile, roast, scorch, slam, slander, slight, slur, smear, stigmatize, traduce, vilipend, vituperate.


Synonyms (Vilification): abuse, animadversion, aspersion, aspersions, attack, billingsgate, calumniation, calumny, castigation, censure, character assassination, condemnation, contumely, criticism, defamation, denigration, denunciation, derogation, detraction, discourtesy, disparagement, disrespect, execration, flak, insults, invective, lambasting, libel, lying, malicious, malignment, mudslinging, objurgation. obloquy, opprobrium, revilement, reviling, scandal, scurrility, slander, smear, traducement, upbraiding, vitriol, vituperation.


Antonyms (Vilify) : compliment, praise, commend, adore, commend, esteem, exalt, glorify, honour, praise, revere, venerate


Did you know?

"Vilify" came to English by way of the Middle English "vilifien" and the Late Latin "vilificare" from the Latin adjective "vilis," meaning "cheap" or "vile." It first appeared in English in the 15th century. Also debuting during that time was another verb that derives from "vilis" and has a similar meaning: "vilipend." When they were first used in English, both "vilify" and "vilipend" meant to regard someone or something as being of little worth or importance. "Vilipend" now carries an additional meaning of "to express a low opinion of somebody," while "vilify" means, more specifically, to express such an opinion publicly in a way that intends to embarrass a person or ruin his or her reputation.



Some more examples:

1. They were outcasts: ' new age ' travellers vilified by the press, looked on suspiciously by some of the locals.

2. Gregory Maguire wondered why she had been so vilified.

3. The Nazi propaganda vilified the Jews.

4. The media vilified several of the election candidates.

5. You should not vilify that respected businessman, lest you soil his hard-earned reputation.