A.Word.A.Day --vitiate

A.Word.A.Day

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Nov 8, 2010

This week's theme
Miscellaneous words

This week's words
vitiate
parsimonious
miry
majordomo
fatuous

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Short story writer Guy de Maupassant once wrote, "Whatever you want to say, there is only one noun to express it, one verb to animate it, and one adjective to qualify it." As a master of the short story, Maupassant knew something about finding the right word.

While a word has many synonyms, each synonym has its own shade of meaning. A good writer picks just the right shade to paint a picture with words. Add more color to your verbal palette with this week's assorted words.

vitiate

PRONUNCIATION:

(VISH-ee-ayt)

MEANING:

verb tr.:
1. To impair or spoil the effectiveness of.
2. To corrupt.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin vitiare (to spoil, injure), from vitium (blemish). Earliest recorded use: 1534.

USAGE:

"The peaceful atmosphere at the school was vitiated as a police constable in an inebriated condition created a scene there."
Alok Mishra; Women, Girls Outnumber Men in Gopalganj, Siwan; The Times of India (New Delhi); Oct 29, 2010.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you. -Mortimer J. Adler, philosopher, educator and author (1902-2001)

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