Set 10 Flashcards
(12 cards)
beneficent
Beneficent is the type of act that helps others. If you’re a beneficent person, you probably spend a lot of your time volunteering at soup kitchens or homeless shelters, helping people who are less fortunate than you are.Beneficent shares the same root and sentiment with its fellow adjective, benevolent, which also means something that is good. The two words are so closely related that they also share the same Latin origin. Another related word, benefactor, is someone who gives support to an organization or institution or someone who takes care of another person. Kind, generous, and giving are all synonyms of beneficent.
bonhomie
Want to compliment your girlfriend while looking smart at the same time? Try saying she she has a callipygian figure. It means she has a shapely rear end. Then again, you might just want to stick to saying she has beautiful eyes.Callipygian comes from the combination of the two ancient Greek words for “beauty” and “buttocks” and was famously used to name a naked statue of the Greek Goddess of Love, the Aphrodite Kallipygos, who fetchingly raises her robe to reveal her charms beneath. True linguists among you might wish to travel to the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, to view the Roman copy of the original.
denude
lay bare; “denude a forest”
entourage
You know that group of people — friends, assistants, bodyguards — that are always surrounding you everywhere you go? That’s your entourage!Entourage comes from the French word entourer, meaning “to surround,” and means “the people who surround someone.” It’s also pronounced like a French word, ending with the soft sound “razh” (not “rage”): “ON-too-razh.” The size of a pop star’s entourage might grow with every hit record she releases. You know you’ve really made it when your entourage won’t fit in one limo.
fatuous
Fatuous means lacking intelligence. When your mother outlaws calling your brother stupid, use fatuous instead.Fatuous derives from the Latin fatuus meaning “foolish.” It sounds like it should have something to do with being fat, but it actually has no relation to size. Back in Old English times, when the word fat was emerging, food was a lot more scarce than it is today, and the word fat meant simply plump or well-fed. Times have changed, and now that we have more food than we know what to do with, fat people are thought to lack self control, which makes them seem foolish, or even fatuous, which is hardly the case.
patently
unmistakably (plain' is often used informally for plainly’)
repute
A person of great or fine repute is someone who’s widely known and highly respected. The word has a stuffy feel, so you’re better off describing a cellist as being of great repute than, say, a rapper or comedian.Like the words reputation and putative, repute comes from the Latin word putare, which means “consider.” And the re? Let’s say that the cellist Yo-Yo Ma is widely respected. That means a lot of people consider him to be great. He’s considered great not just once but again (and again and again).
rogue
A rogue is a sneaky person who has tricks up their sleeves, not like a magician, but like someone who would steal your wallet or cheat at cards.Dishonesty won’t get you far in life, unless you are a rogue who survives by lying and exploiting others. The word comes from the Latin rogare, which means “beg,” and while some rogues dress like beggars to get your money, anyone who deceives is a rogue, like the presidents of corrupt corporations who steal from their employees, or that rogue Uncle Marvin who promises you chocolate for washing his car, but afterward tells you he has no chocolate. That rogue!
sally
a military action in which besieged troops burst forth from their position; witty remark; a venture off the beaten path
seminal
Call something seminal when it’s so original, so groundbreaking and awesome that it will influence everything that comes after it. Picasso probably produced more than a few seminal works of art, for example.Technically, seminal means something related to semen or seeds. But these days people more often use the word to describe something that plants the seed for creative growth. An innovative piece of music or literature, a fresh new idea, or an invention that changes everything could each be called seminal. Synonyms include critical, fundamental, original, and primary.
touchstone
Use the noun touchstone to describe a basis for comparison. For example, a filmmaker’s touchstone might be her all-time favorite movie; she wants her movie to be that good or similar to it in some way.Touchstone as it is defined today comes from an actual stone. In the late 15th century, gold and silver was rubbed, or touched against black quartz — the touchstone — to determine the purity of the metals. This was done by looking at the color of the streaks left on the stone. This is why a touchstone, in the figurative sense as it is used today, is a measuring tool.
vet
“to carefully examine beforehand.” For example, your boss might ask you to vet people’s applications before calling them for interviews, just to make sure they have the right experience for the job.
