Dilettante

Dilettante

<dil-leh-tont>

dabbler; rookie; amateur;

someone does an activity without becoming an expert.

I play the guitar but I am a dilettante. I can only play simple songs.

Memory trick:
dil reminds of dil
A dill pickle takes no expertise to serve

At work:
You would be a better salesperson if you were not a dilettante. You should learn about making sales.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Usurp

Usurp

<yew-serp>

wrest; commendeer; seize;

to take something by power or force.

The knight was able to usurp the king by rallying the people. He then became king.

Remember:
usurp reminds of You Slurp
you slurp someone elses drink

At work:
I don't want to usurp his authority. You need to ask him what to do..

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Circuitous

Circuitous

<sear-qew-it-tis>

meandering; tortuous; winding;

a road or route with many twists and turns.

The circuitous river made the journey take longer.

Remember:
circuitous reminds of circuit such as a race track

At work:
The instructions are circuitous. Please make them simple.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Arrogate

Arrogate

<ah-rah-gayte>

seize; take; claim;

to take something not belonging to you.

The cat will arrogate your fish given the chance.

Remember:
arrogate reminds of arrogant
it is arrogant to take something not given

At work:
You have no right to arrogate my stapler. Please give it back.

(c) 2015 Carruthers

Autonomous

Autonomous

<awe-tonn-no-mus>

independent; free; self-ruling;

being without control from someone or something else.

The writer enjoyed autonomous freedom and wrote what he desired.

Remember:
autonomous reminds of auto
we go where we want in an auto

At work:
You will be autonomous on this project and make all decisions.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Mercenary

Mercenary

<mer-sen-nair-ree>

greedy; selfish; materialistic;

being a person who wants money above all else.

The mercenary man sold all he owned because he loved money.

Memory trick:
Mercenary reminds of monetary

At work:
We should be less mercenay and lower our prices.

(c) E. Carruthers

Peccadillo

Peccadillo

<pek-kah-dil-low>

small offense; misdeed; indiscretion;

a small and unimportant misdeed;

Don't worry. Your traffic ticket is a pecadillo. It will be a tiny fine.

Memory trick:
Peccadillo reminds of armadillo
an armadillo is a small animal

At work:
Being late for the meeting is only a peccadillo because your presentation was awesome.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Contrition

Contrition

<kon-trich-shun>

guilt; remorse; sorrow;

feeling shame and sadness about something bad you did.

The contrition of the boy made everyone want to forgive him.

Memory trick
contrition reminds of condition
we are in a sad contrition when we feel guilt

At work:
He never showed contrition about accidently deleting the file.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Pilfer

Pilfer

<pil-fur>

steal; loot; swipe;

to take something that does not belong to you.

The dog will pilfer the steak if you leave it on the table.

Memory trick:
A pill hides something

At work:
You have to hide your stapler or someone will pilfer it.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Furtive

Furtive

<fur-tiv>

secret; hidden; covert;

doing something in a sneaky way so you don't get caught.

She gave him a furtive glance and he knew what she was thinking.

Remember:
Furtive reminds of secretive

At work:
He took furtive notes so I know he is interested in the deal.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Consummate

Consummate

<kon-soom-mayte>

gifted; talented; skilled;

having the ability of an expert or a master.

She was a consummate pianst and played each note perfectly.

Remember:
Consummate reminds of consume
We are consumed when we get good at something

At work:
Let's give the project to her. She is a consummate project manager.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Discern

Discern

<dis-sern>

observe; identify; detect;

too see something or someone standing out from others.

I was able to discern the gold coin among the pebbles.

Memory trick:
disc reminds of discriminate

At work:
We want them to discern the important points by making them yellow.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Genre

Genre

<jon-rah>

category; class; style;

a form of artistic work belonging to a classification.

I like the comedy genre because it's fun to laugh.

Remember:
genre reminds of gene
a gene is a building block of living things

At work:
Our product is in the wrong genre. We will sell more if we market it differently.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Venal

Venal

<vee-nal>

corrupt; crooked; dishonest;

being easy to bribe

The venal boy was bribed with candy and he mowed the lawn.

Remember:
venal reminds of vain
a vain person thinks they deserve money

At work:
The auditor was not venal and his honesty was well known.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Gibber

Gibber

<jib-bur>

blab; blurt; chatter;

to talk fast while saying nonsense.

My cats start to gibber when they see a bird.

Memory trick:
imaqgine saying "gib gib gib"

At Work:
He began to gibber when they asked him the price.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Commandeer

Commandeer

<kom-men-deer>

hijack; take; confiscate;

to use authority to take control of something.

The police needed to commandeer my car to get the lady to the hospital.

Remember:
commandeer reminds of command

At work:
I need to commandeer your stapler because I lost mine.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Engender

Engender

<enn-jen-der>

cause; generate; incite;

To cause a reaction in something or someone.

The flowers did engender her to him. Her feelings grew stronger.

Remember:
engineer a feeling in others

At work:
Good artwork will engender confidence in the product.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Circumlocution

Circumlocution

<sir-kom-low-qew-shun>

redundancy; verbage; wordiness;

saying many words to confuse the listener on purpose.

The boy used circumlocution to confuse his teacher.

Memory trick:
We get out of a circumstance with locomotion.

At work:
I used circumlocution because I did not remember my notes.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Flout

Flout

<rhymes with out>

defy; mock; disobey;

To break a law with disregard.

If you continue to flout the law you will get in trouble.

Remember:
You go OUT of bounds when you cheat.

At work:
You can't flout the rules. You have to fill out a request to get office supplies.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Vindicate

Vindicate

<vin-dee-kayte>

prove innocent; absolve from guilt; acquit;

to clear someone of an accusation.

The video did vindicate you. It proved you did not steal the money.

Remember:
The evidence indicates you are innocent.

At work:
Your new program will vindicate the accusations you are not good.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Censure

Censure

<sen-shur>

condemnation;  criticize; disapprove;

To submit a formal complaint in response to an act.

The town decided to censure the building of a new store.

Memory trick:
censure sounds like censor
a censor blocks bad things in movies

At work:
The board decide to censure the CEO for selling his shares.

(c)  2015 E. Carruthers

Instigator

Instigator

<in-stee-gate-tor>

troublemaker; agitator; initiator;

a mastermind who motivates other people to do things.

Don't be an instigator and encourage them to break the windows.

Memory trick:
Instigator reminds of aligator
an aligator is aggressive animal

At work:
Don't invite him to the meeting. He is an instigator and he will make everyone argue.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Equitable

Equitable

<ek-qwit-ah-bul>

honest; fair; just;

an exchange where something given is equal to something gotten.

Take my vegetables and give me your shrimp. It's equitable because you are a vegetarian.

Memory trick:
Equitable reminds of equal

At work:
The deal is equitable. We can sign the contract.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers