Make Your Point > Archived Issues > IMPECCABLE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce IMPECCABLE: Say it "im PECK uh bull." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: In Latin, peccare is "to sin," and pecado is "a sin." These influenced our English words peccant (meaning "sinful, corrupt, or offensive"); impeccable ("free from sin, totally perfect"); and pecc______ ("a small, unimportant sin or fault"). But not pecan, no matter how sinfully coated in maple sugar it is. That one's from an Algonquian word for "nut." (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)  definition: The word "peccable" has Latin bits meaning "able to sin," and it's been around in English since 1604 or so. But today we hardly ever use it unless we're jokingly comparing it to something impeccable. Impeccable things or people (literally "not able to sin, or not capable of sinning") are absolutely perfect: totally free from sins, faults, or mistakes. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Adjective: "Heidi has impeccable handwriting;" "Chad's comedic timing is impeccable." Other forms:  The only common one is the adverb, "impeccably," as in "They were dressed impeccably." For a noun, take your pick: "impeccableness;" "impeccancy;" or, my preference, "impeccability." And if you need them, feel free to use the rare forms "peccant," "peccantly," and "peccancy." how to use it: Pick the common, formal, highly positive word "impeccable" when you'd like to call extra attention to how perfect something is. When you say "impeccable" aloud, the "p" is a little punch or explosion of emphasis, kind of like a chef's kiss. (Okay, sure, the chef's kiss is a "M!" sound and not a "P!" sound, but they're both bilabial ones and... you know what I mean.) We often talk about the impeccable shape or condition of something, or about someone's impeccable taste, style, timing, manners, posture, technique, or grammar. But we can use the word for just about anything, including objects and creations ("an impeccable film"), people ("this impeccable conductor"), places ("an impeccable tourist destination"), and abstractions ("that impeccable plan"). examples: "Interior [of the Mercedes Benz GLK-350]: Fit and finish are impeccable, with heated leather seats, walnut wood trim and dual-zone climate control."    — Hannah Elliott, Forbes, 25 March 2010 "He's pretty much exclusively seen me in pajamas or a hospital gown, so he clearly isn't in this for my good looks and impeccable Fall 2018 Hospital Collection wardrobe."    — Rachael Lippincott, Five Feet Apart, 2018 has this page helped you understand "impeccable"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "impeccable" without saying "infallible" or "flawless." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) keeps (something) in impeccable shape, (doing specific things to keep it that way)." Example 1: "He keeps his car in impeccable shape, changing out the oil and filters, washing and waxing the exterior, even lovingly wiping down the dashboard with a clean Swiffer." Example 2: "Mr. Yang kept the house in impeccable shape, repairing leaky faucets, patching the front concrete, and coaxing the stamp-sized backyard into a lush garden."    — Celest Ng, Little Fires Everywhere, 2017 If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game this month is Subject Line Matching! Try matching each capitalized term below with the email subject line that introduced it. You can check your answers by scrolling all the way down. For an extra challenge, try recalling what each term means and how the subject line connects to it. Have fun! APOCRYPHAL: _____ INTROVERSION: _____ PLIGHT: _____ SOPHOMORIC: _____ TENABLE: _____ 5-out-of-10able I feel so seen. Now stop looking at me. outnumbered by spiders we call them "land sea lions" "yolo" --Thomas Jefferson review this word: 1. The precise opposite of IMPECCABLE is PECCABLE. But a pretty close opposite of IMPECCABLE is A. UGLY. B. TACKY. C. FLAWED. 2. Using what we know about the word "impeccable," we can infer that "to cry peccavi" is to _____. A. exaggerate your pain B. admit to your own wrongdoing C. pretend to have more power than your competitors Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B Answers to the game questions: APOCRYPHAL: "yolo" --Thomas Jefferson INTROVERSION: I feel so seen. Now stop looking at me. PLIGHT: outnumbered by spiders SOPHOMORIC: we call them "land sea lions" TENABLE: 5-out-of-10able a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.