BREAKDOWN: CO- (with) + OP- (abundance) + -IOUS (full of)

See also: cornucopia, opulent

“The richer and more copious one’s vocabulary and the greater one’s awareness of fine distinctions and subtle nuances of meaning, the more fertile and precise is likely to be one’s thinking. Knowledge of things and knowledge of the words for them grow together. If you do not know the words, you can hardly know the thing.” —Henry Hazlitt

• procrastination is the act or practice of putting off important tasks until the last minute or avoiding them entirely, regardless of the consequences

• a procrastinator is someone who habitually delays, defers, or postpones tasks until a later time

BREAKDOWN: The word procrastinate has Latin origins but not a definitive root. The Latin procrastinare meaning to put off until tomorrow comes from the common prefix PRO- (forward) and a root CRAS- thought to mean tomorrow. However, the origin of CRAS- is unknown and found in no other modern words.

“Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation. I have known talented people who procrastinate indefinitely rather than risk failure. Lost opportunities cause erosion of confidence, and the downward spiral begins.” —Charles Stanley

[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily derived from classical roots.]

BREAKDOWN: CALC- (pebble used for counting) + -ULUS (small)

• a calculus is also a stony concretion that forms in a body or on teeth (plural: calculi)

See also: calcify, recalcitrant

“We can’t exempt ourselves from the same moral calculus that we are willing to apply to others.” —Michael Eric Dyson

BREAKDOWN: VARI- (various) + IG- (drive) + -ATE (to do) + -ED (made)

• variegate means to make colorful or varied in appearance or; to give variety to

• variegation means displaying different colors on the same form

See also: ambiguous, mitigate, prevaricate, prodigal

“People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet.” —Saadi Shirazi

WORD MATCH
Match each number of each word to the matching phrase. One word has no matching phrase.

1. beguiling | 2. probity | 3. riparian | 4. livid | 5. lineage | 6. retort

_______ Uprightness or rectitude

_______ Ancestry or extraction

_______ Rejoinder or riposte

_______ Alluring or entrancing

_______ Incensed or ashen

QUOTE MATCH
Complete each quote using the words from the word bank.

1. retort | 2. riparian | 3. probity | 4. beguile | 5. livid

“Old loves turn up in dreams, still _______ at every slight.” —Tracy K. Smith

“Wine can of their wits the wise _______, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile” —Homer

“How dare you call me lazy? I’d come up with a scathing _______ but, meh, I’m just not motivated.” —Andy Weir

“When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of _______. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself.” —Theodore Dalrymple

The _______ doctrine had originated in temperate regions, where water was abundant and arable land almost always situated adjacent to a river. The rule granted the owner of land abutting a stream the right to use the water flowing past his property, on condition that his use did not interfere with the same right of landowners downstream. The river and its waters were inviolate, belonging as property to no one.” —Michael A. Hiltzik

ROOT QUIZ
For each of the following words, fill in the meaning of each prefix, suffix, and base. For bonus points, define the word and list other words with the same roots.

RE- (back) + TORT- (_______)

LINE- (_______) + -AGE (state of)

PROB- (_______) + -ITY (quality)

RIPAR- (bank of a river) + -IAN (_______)

BE- (to make) + GUILE- (_______) + -ING (act or state)

Scroll down for answers. But first, learn the roots associated with GEOGLYPHs…

Read more

BREAKDOWN: LAMENT- (wailing or moaning)

• a lament is an expression of sorrow

• lamentation is the act or expression of grief, regret, or mourning

“Cease to lament for that thou canst not help; and study help for that which thou lamentest.” —William Shakespeare

BREAKDOWN: RIPAR- (bank of a river) + -IAN (pertaining to)

• riparian as a noun refers to a person who owns property on a river bank

“Whatever the water touched was riparian: that moist layer of air and rich earth along the shore was an Eden for many forms of life. There was something riparian too about the people who spent most of their time on the water.” —Brian K. Friesen

[Fun Word Friday introduces more advanced or technical words that are based on word roots. Yes, these words may still be tested on standardized exams. Try to use this word in a sentence today!]

BREAKDOWN: PROB- (worth, good) + -ITY (quality)

• improbity describes dishonest or unscrupulous behavior

See also: reprobate

“True heroism is minutes, hours, weeks, year upon year of the quiet, precise, judicious exercise of probity and care—with no one there to see or cheer.” —David Foster Wallace

• lividity is a state of fury or pallor (also lividness)

• lividity can also describe the bluish-purple discoloration of skin after death (also livor mortis)

BREAKDOWN: The word livid derives from a classical root that basically only applies to itself, traced from the Middle French lividité and Medieval Latin līviditās to the Latin līvidus meaning black and blue. The original meaning focused on the color of bruising but somehow picked up connotations of both wrath and paleness over time.

“What a bore, someone who doesn’t deign to make an impression. Vain people are almost always annoying, but they make an effort, they take the trouble. On the other hand, we turn livid with fury in the presence of someone who pays no attention whatever to the effect he makes. What are we to say to him, and what are we to expect from him?” —Emil M. Cioran

[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily derived from classical roots.]

BREAKDOWN: LINE- (line) + -AGE (state of)

• linage is the number of lines in a piece of text

See also: delineate

“You are in charge of your own attitude whatever others do or circumstances you face. The only person you can control is yourself... worry more about your attitude than your aptitude or lineage.” —Marian Wright Edelman

BREAKDOWN: BE- (to make) + GUILE- (deceit, trickery) + -ING (act or state)

• beguile means to to charm, enchant, or lead astray; to pass time idly or pleasantly

“Far more beguiling than the idea that evil can be destroyed by throwing a piece of expensive jewelry into a volcano is the possibility that evil can be defused by talking. The fantasy of justice is more interesting than the fantasy of fairies, and more truly fantastic.” —Terry Pratchett

WORD MATCH

Match each number of each word to the matching phrase. One word has no matching phrase.

1. incarnation | 2. plyometric | 3. dwindle | 4. tremulous | 5. extirpate | 6. latitude

_______ To decline or diminish

_______ Epitome or embodiment

_______ To eliminate or eradicate

_______ Shivery or shy

_______ License or location

QUOTE MATCH

Complete each quote using the words from the word bank.

1. tremulation | 2. extirpation | 3. dwindling | 4. latitude | 5. incarnate

“The teller of a mirthful tale has _______ allowed him. We are content with less than absolute truth.” —Charles Lamb

“The ultimate _______ resource in the human arrangement isn’t cheap oil or potable water or even common sense, but mercy.” —Cheryl Strayed

“Extinction wipes out, point by point, the clues to the code of existence; _______ is the great, sucking retreat of the tide of life.” —J.B. MacKinnon

“The sea is emotion _______. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can’t.” —Christopher Paolini

“The novel is the one bright book of life. Books are not life. They are only _______(s) on the ether. But the novel as a _______ can make the whole man alive tremble.” —D. H. Lawrence

ROOT QUIZ

For each of the following words, fill in the meaning of each prefix, suffix, and base. For bonus points, define the word and list other words with the same roots.

LAT- (_______) + -TUDE (state of)

IN- (in) + CARN- (_______) + -ATION (action)

TREM- (_______) + -ULOUS (full of)

PLIO- (more) + METR- (_______) + -ICS (discipline)

EX- (_______) + STIRP- (root, stem, or stalk) + -ATE (_______)

Scroll down for answers. But first, find out why GROUSE is a welcome word for nature lovers and bad for everyone else…

Read more

BREAKDOWN: RE- (back) + TORT- (twist)

• a retort is a witty or retaliatory reply

See also: extortionate, tortuous

“There are many who consider as an injury to themselves any conduct which they have a distaste for, and resent it as an outrage to their feelings; as a religious bigot, when charged with disregarding the religious feelings of others, has been known to retort that they disregard his feelings, by persisting in their abominable worship or creed. But there is no parity between the feeling of a person for his own opinion, and the feeling of another who is offended at his holding it; no more than between the desire of a thief to take a purse, and the desire of the right owner to keep it.” —John Stuart Mill

1. Inspiring dismay, horror, or astonishment:
(A) aggrieved (B) measly (C) evanescent (D) dwindling (E) appalling

2. A lack of agreement, consistency, or compatibility:
(A) incarnation (B) discrepancy (C) attrition (D) narcissism (E) latitude

3. To completely remove, destroy, or uproot:
(A) enjoin (B) extirpate (C) corroborate (D) revel (E) interdict

4. Excessive pride or arrogance that can lead to ruin:
(A) caesura (B) penchant (C) hubris (D) syncretism (E) qualia

5. Anxious about or concerned for someone; desirous or eager:
(A) obstreperous (B) fecund (C) motley (D) tremulous (E) solicitous

ANSWERS: 1.E 2.B 3.B 4.C 5.E
—If you didn’t get 5 out of 5, go back and review last month’s words!—

BREAKDOWN: PLIO- (more) + METR- (measure) + -ICS (discipline)

See also: complement vs. compliment, isometrics, plethora

“Most people don’t think about plyometrics when they think about powerful strength. But I do lots of them to build mine.” —Allyson Felix

[Fun Word Friday introduces more advanced or technical words that are based on word roots. Yes, these words may still be tested on standardized exams. Try to use this word in a sentence today!]

BREAKDOWN: LAT- (wide) + -TUDE (state of)

• latitudinal means of or pertaining to the measurement, in degrees, of a place’s distance north or south of the equator

“Liberty is so much latitude as the powerful choose to accord to the weak.” —Learned Hand

• dwindling means gradually becoming smaller and smaller

BREAKDOWN: Shakespeare can be thanked for a great many things, not the least of which is the introduction of the word dwindle to the English language. Dwindle is derived from the verb dwine, confined mainly to Scots and related dialects, meaning to waste away. Both can be traced to the Middle English dwinen and ultimately to the root DIE- meaning to cease to live.

“Like musicians, like mathematicians, like elite athletes, scientists peak early and dwindle fast. It isn’t creativity that fades, but stamina: science is an endurance sport.” —Siddhartha Mukherjee

[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily derived from classical roots.]

BREAKDOWN: TREM- (to tremble or quake) + -ULOUS (full of)

• tremulation is the act or condition of trembling or vibrating, often from fear, anxiety, or uncertainty

See also: trepidation

“When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark,
And will talk in contemptuous tones of the Shark:
But, when the tide rises and sharks are around,
His voice has a timid and tremulous sound.” ―Lewis Carroll

BREAKDOWN: IN- (in) + CARN- (flesh) + -ATION (action)

• incarnate as an adjective means manifested or personified in flesh or physical form

• incarnate as a verb means to embody a spirit, idea, or quality

“When writers die they become books, which is, after all, not too bad an incarnation.” —Jorge Luis Borges

WORD MATCH
Match each number of each word to the matching phrase. One word has no matching phrase.

1. measly | 2. appall | 3. attrition | 4. qualia | 5. enjoin | 6. solicitous

_______ Attentive or anxious

_______ Erosion or exhaustion

_______ To daunt or dismay

_______ Pitiful, piddling, or paltry

_______ To admonish, appoint, or inhibit

QUOTE MATCH
Complete each quote using the words from the word bank.

1. attrition | 2. qualia | 3. solicitude | 4. measly | 5. appalling

“Lack of insight into each other’s private _______ of God, results in a never-ending argument between two people with vastly different conceptions of the term God.” —Abhijit Naskar

“The mind that is cheerful in its present state, will be averse to all _______ as to the future, and will meet the bitter occurrences of life with a placid smile.” —Horace

“Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an _______ waste of energy; you can’t build on it. It’s only good for wallowing in.” —Katherine Mansfield

“Have you ever noticed how pretty and beautiful words can be? How easy it is to say the things you think someone wants to hear. How you can affect a person’s entire day with just a few _______ sentences?” —J. Sterling

“One thing in our favor: some of this ‘becoming kinder’ happens naturally, with age. It might be a simple matter of _______: as we get older, we come to see how useless it is to be selfish — how illogical, really.” —George Saunders

ROOT QUIZ
For each of the following words, fill in the meaning of each prefix, suffix, and base. For bonus points, define the word and list other words with the same roots.

A- (to) + PALL- (_______)

EN- (on) + JOIN- (t_______)

QUA[L]- (_______) + -IA (state of)

A- (to) + TRIT- (_______) + -TION (act or state)

SOLIC- (_______) + CIT- (to set in motion) + -OUS (full of)

Scroll down for answers. But first, learn what Sri Lankan princes have to do with the word SERENDIPITY…

Read more