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Jun 24, 2009
This week's theme
Miscellaneous words

This week's words
eleemosynary
obloquy
palliate
countervail
excoriate

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

palliate

PRONUNCIATION:
(PAL-ee-ayt)

MEANING:
verb tr.:
1. To ease the symptoms of a problem without fixing its cause.
2. To make an offense appear less severe by excuses or apologies; extenuate.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin palliare (to cover), from pallium (cloak).

USAGE:
"When success came it palliated his sense of loss for a while."
Frank Carrigan; John Lennon: The Life; Brisbane Times (Australia); Jan 9, 2009.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way. -Edgar Guest, poet (1881-1959)

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