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May 8, 2012
This week's theme
Miscellaneous words

This week's words
tenable
casuistry
discrepant
consuetudinary
unavailing

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

casuistry

PRONUNCIATION:
(KAZ-oo-i-stree)

MEANING:
noun: Deceptive or excessively subtle reasoning, especially on moral issues.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin casus (case, fall, chance), past participle of cadere (to fall). Ultimately from the Indo-European root kad- (to fall) that is also the source of cadence, cascade, casualty, cadaver, chance, chute, accident, occident, decay, and recidivism. Earliest documented use: 1712.

USAGE:
"We were once a brutally honest people, but we've become too much given to casuistry."
Gabriel Anda; Scissors, Rock, and Paper Doll; Xlibris; 2011.

See more usage examples of casuistry in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Useless laws weaken the necessary laws. -Charles de Montesquieu, philosopher and writer (1689-1755)

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