Propriety

Propriety

<pro-pry-it-tee>

decency; morality; correctness;

behaving in a moral and acceptable way.

She lived a life of propriety. She was well respected.

Memory trick:
propriety reminds of proper

At work:
Your hard work and propriety will be rewarded. You are a good decent person.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Tacit

Tacit

<tah-sit>

implied; understood; unspoken;

assumed without being talked about.

He gave his tacit approval when he winked and smiled.

Memory trick:
tacit reminds of take
we take it for granted it will be done

At work:
It is tacit we will give free technical support. It's always provided in these cases.


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Truculent

Truculent

<truk-you-lent>

aggressive; brutal; combative;

quick to argue or fight.

The truculent dog became friendly after I gave him treats.

Memory trick:
truculent reminds of truck
a truck rolls over things

At work:
He was truculent until we made the deadline. He became happy and agreeable.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Coerce

Coerce

<ko-erse>

bully; intimidate; persuade;

to pressure someone to do something by using force or threats.

I used the broom to coerce the bug to fly out the window.

Memory trick:
coerce reminds of force

At work:
I don't need to coerce my employees because I pay them well.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Palatial

Palatial

<pah-lay-shul>

grand; lavish; deluxe;

something large and fancy.

The doghouse is palatial. Ten dogs can fit in there.

Memory trick:
palatial reminds of palace

At work:
The new conference room is palatial. The table is huge.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Salient

Salient

<say-lee-ent>

important; main; dominant;

the most prominent thing that stands out.

The big clock stands salient in the town.

Memory trick:
salient reminds of silent
big and silent

At work:
The sales numbers are salinent for this meeting.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Tortuous

Tortuous

<tor-chew-ess>

winding; twisting; crooked;

something that bends and turns.

The tortuous road turned into a long straight run.

Memory trick:
tortuous reminds of torture
it is torture to keep turning

At work:
The presentation was tortuous. It was confusing.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Juxtapose

Juxtapose

<jucks-tah-poze>

mix; connect; pair;

to put things close together to see the differences.

When you juxtapose the shirts I can see which is nicer.

Memory trick:
Just a pose

At work:
Juxtapose our report with theirs and they will see our report is better.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Risible

Risible

<riz-ah-bul>

absurd; funny; silly;

something that makes you laugh.

The boy wore a risible costume and everyone laughed.

Memory trick:
risible reminds of visible
imagine visible laughter

At work:
Your report cover is risible. Please make it more serious.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Sardonic

Sardonic

<sar-don-nik>

sarcastic; mocking; scathing;

being scornful in a funny but sneering way.

He was mean and insulting while he wore a sardonic smile.

Memory trick:
sardonic reminds of sadistic

At work:
Your report was too sardonic. Please rewrite it without the rude comments.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Reproof

Reproof

<ree-proof>

object; reprimand; criticize;

a statement that accuses someone.

The letter was a stern reproof of his bad deeds.

Memory trick:
reproof reminds of proof
we offer proof of their guilt

At work:
The bug report is a reproof the project was rushed. It's lucky we have time to fix it.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Potentate

Potentate

<poh-ten-tayte>

despot; ruler; monarch;

a person with great power and absolute authority.

He was a potentate but he soon became kind and generous.

Memory trick:
potentate reminds of potent

At work:
A good designer must be a potentate who eventually gives up control.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Finite

Finite

<feye-nyte>

fixed; definite; restricted;

something limited in number.

There is a finite number of answers. You might be able to guess.

Memory trick:
finite reminds of fin
fin reminds of finish
the number of possibilities finish

At work:
The Excel functions are finite. You can learn them all.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Impugn

Impugn

<iym-pewn>

question; challenge; dispute;

to verbally attack someone to prove dishonesty.

He will impugn your story because it is unbelievable.

Memory trick:
impugn reminds of "I'm pug"
imagine a pug dog barking at you

At work:
You can't impugn my skills because my projects are a success.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Callow

Callow

<kal-lo>

inexperienced; naive; immature;

being ignorant about the world because of youth.

The girl was callow when she started her business. She learned quickly and became a success.

Memory trick:
callow reminds of shallow
we are shallow when we are not informed

At work:
We are sending you for classes because you are callow. We know you are eager to learn.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Rectitude

Rectitude

goodness; honor; decency;

<rekt-it-tood>

thinking or being morally right.

Everyone liked him because of his rectitude and loyalty.

Memory trick:
rectitude reminds of attitude
a good attitude comes from good behavior

At work:
Your rectitude makes you a reliable team leader.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Comport

Comport

<come-port>

conform; act; conduct;

behave in a certain manner- especially a good manner.

Students who comport well will be rewarded.

Memory trick:
comport reminds of comfort
it comforts others when we behave well

At work:
We are happy with the way you comport yourself. We are giving you a raise.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

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Ambulate

Ambulate

<am-bew-layte>

walk; ramble; step;

to move about from place to place.

I will ambulate across the entire country.

Memory trick:
ambulate reminds of ambulance

At work:
I will go ambulate and think about the deal.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Advent

Advent

<add-vent>

coming; appearance; entrance;

the arrival of someone or something important.

The advent of the electric guitar in 1931 changed music forever.

Memory trick:
advent reminds of vent
a vent is an air tunnel into a building
something comes out of a vent

At work:
Our sales zoomed with the advent of our new product.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Fallacious

Fallacious

<fah-lay-shis>

wrong; mistaken; inaccurate;

incorrectly believing something to be true.

Linus had a fallacious belief the Great Pumpkin would appear.

Memory trick:
fallacious reminds of false

At work:
It was a fallacious to predict the program would fail. It worked great.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Inimical

Inimical

<in-nym-mik-kul>

hostile; harmful; unfriendly;

something hostile and obstructing.

Birds can be inimical when there is a nest around.

Memory trick:
in reminds of not
imical reminds of comical
not comical

At work:
We should have a meeting to end the inimical feelings.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Delineate

Delineate

<de-lin-nee-ayte>

describe; depict; define;

to describe or detail something using an outline.

The artist liked to delineate with pencil before painting.

Memory trick:
de line ate reminds of "the line"

At work:
Let's delineate the project before we work on it. Let's design it on paper first.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Peripatetic

Peripatetic

<per-rah-pah-tet-tik>

nomadic; roving; wandering;

travelling to work in different places.

He lives a peripatetic life. He works in a different city every week.

Memory trick:
Peri reminds of periscope
a periscope allows us to see things above us
we look to see where we are going

At work:
A saleperson is peripatetic because there is constant travel.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Belabor

Belabor

<bee-lay-bor>

rehash; repeat; over explain;

to say something in a long and boring way.

She will always belabor her story. She will not stop talking.

Memory trick:
belabor reminds of labor
labor means work
we work too hard to listen

At work:
I belabor this because it is not resolved. We need to talk more.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Verbose

Verbose

<ver-bowse>

wordy; talky; chatty;

using a lot of extra words to explain something.

The boy told a verbose story and we were bored.

Memory trick:
verbose reminds of verb
a verb is a word describing an action

At work:
Your instructions are too simple. Please make them verbose.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Whimsical

Whimsical

<wim-sik-kal>

playful; funny; comical;

something appealing and amusing;

We laughed at the whimsical music and the funny costumes.

Remember:
whimsical reminds of whim
we do fun things on a whim

At work:
Your whimsical report cover had everyone laughing.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Gallivant

Gallivant

<gal-la-vant>

wander; roam; go about;

to go in search of something-  often pleasure.

You should buy a house and not gallivant around.

Memory trick:
gallivant reminds of gallant
gallant means brave

At work:
You're a good worker. You don't gallivant around.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Gambol

Gambol

<gam-bul>

frolic; prance; skip;

to jump in an excited manner;

The children will gambol after eating sweets.

Remember:
gambol reminds of game ball

At work:
Everyone began to gambol when they got the bonuses.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Unfettered

Unfettered

uhn-fet-terd>

<free; rampant; loose>

something uncontrolled with no sign of stopping.

The unfettered puppies ran all over the house.

Memory:
fetter reminds of tether
not tethered

At work:
Your ideas are unfettered. It's amazing how many you have.

Pronounced...


(c) 2015 E. Carruthers

Predatory

Predatory

<pred-ah-tore-ree>

greedy; exploiting; preying;

taking unfair advantage of others.

The loan was predatory so the judge declared it void.

Memory trick:
predatory reminds of predator

At work:
Their contract is predatory. We won't sign it.

(c) 2015 E. Carruthers