Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SCUMBLE
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pronounce
SCUMBLE:
Say it "SKUM bull." (Rhyme it with "bumble" and "rumble.")
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
When you think of the word scum, you probably wrinkle your nose as you think of scumbags, pond scum, and the scum of the earth.
But the word scum has another meaning, an old one that it shares with the word skim: "to clear away the impure bits from a surface."
And it's that nicer, cleaner, skimming, smoothing, purifying meaning of scum that (probably) gave rise to its frequentative form--that is, the form of the word that expresses frequent action, or skimming over and over--which is scumble.
To scumble a color, or to scumble a painting, is to make it lighter or softer, or to blend the colors together, often by adding a thin layer of paint. Claude Monet is known for his scumbling:
So you can imagine how scumbling is like skimming, again and again, until the whole painting has been beautifully softened.
Scum and scumble, then, are probably a frequentative pair. And so are these:*
1. Fl__ ("to move in a quick, light way") & flutter.
2. Dab & da____ ("to get involved just a little bit").
3. Climb & cla__er ("to climb awkwardly, as if with hands and feet").
4. Scud ("to move quickly") & scu___e ("to move along with lots of quick little steps").
Could you recall each blank term above?
*Again, these are probably frequentative pairs. Etymology is a murky, scum-filled, scumbled-over business sometimes.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
Concretely speaking, scumbling is something that artists do. To scumble a color, or a painting, is to make it look lighter, softer, more blended, or more dimensional. If you'd like to see some scumbling, here's a video from Dianne Mize, an art teacher.
More abstractly speaking, to scumble something is to tone it down, to make it more mellow, or to add a beautiful layer to it, as if you're softening, blending, or enriching its colors.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
It's both a verb ("they scumbled the colors") and a noun ("they used a scumble;" "the top layer is scumble").
Other forms:
Scumbles; scumbled, scumbling.
how to use it:
"Scumble" is a rich, colorful, interesting choice of word with a decidedly artistic tone. If we pull it into our general speech and conversation, we're getting metaphorical, suggesting that life is art and that people and things are artists, adding their own depth and richness to the way things look, sound, or feel.
But outside the world of art, "scumble" is still rare. So if you pick it, make sure your context reveals its meaning.
To use "scumble" as a verb, you might talk about things that scumble a feeling, a desire, a mental image, a memory, a representation of something, an understanding of something, the distinctions or boundary lines between things, etc. Here's Justin Huntly McCarthy: "More frequent clouds now scumbled the sky."
And to use "scumble" as a noun, you might talk about one thing putting, adding, or layering a scumble onto something else--or about something being a scumble, or a scumble of something. Here's Harper's Magazine: "A golden scumble of October haze."
examples:
"Poppies scumble their colour onto the air,
now and there, here, then and again."
— Carol Ann Duffy, "Lessons in the Orchard," The Guardian, 17 May 2014
"Germaine Greer proposed 'we should stop teaching art,' because 'people get an idea of what is the right and the wrong way to do it.' 'I don’t think you can do art at school,' she says. 'You do art at home.' Her pronouncements are fresh scumble on the rotting canard that art's too subjective to teach, as if subjectivity isn't a fundamental part of the human experience."
— Dan Fox, Frieze, 5 July 2018
has this page helped you understand "scumble"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "scumble" without saying "blur" or "subdue."
try it out:
Think of something so beautiful it could be a painting.
Try describing it like this: "(Something) scumbles (something else)."
Example: "As she swings, the breeze and the sunlight scumble her wild curly hair."
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 "Polygon of Predestination!"
With a high five to TheWordFinder.com for its puzzle generator, I'm Pat-Sajacking that spin-the-wheel game from TV. Apply your alliterative acumen to solve the puzzle. The category all month long is: "Beastly Blunders and Criminal Capers."
From the previous issue:
The phrase "book burning" dates back at least 1722, when the philosopher John Toland wrote: "This Book-burning and Letter-murdring humor, tho far from being commanded by Christ, has prevail'd in Christianity from the beginning."
Try this one today:
Not sure yet? Need to see a bit more? Click here.
review this word:
A. SHAPE.
B. SHORTEN.
C. SHARPEN.
2. In Ingrid Law's novel Scumble, the thirteen-year-old Ledge works to _____ his _____ magical power.
A. tame .. wild
B. invoke .. hidden
C. understand .. morally murky
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.
When you think of the word scum, you probably wrinkle your nose as you think of scumbags, pond scum, and the scum of the earth.
Concretely speaking, scumbling is something that artists do. To scumble a color, or a painting, is to make it look lighter, softer, more blended, or more dimensional. If you'd like to see some scumbling, here's a video from Dianne Mize, an art teacher.
Part of speech:
"Scumble" is a rich, colorful, interesting choice of word with a decidedly artistic tone. If we pull it into our general speech and conversation, we're getting metaphorical, suggesting that life is art and that people and things are artists, adding their own depth and richness to the way things look, sound, or feel.
"Poppies scumble their colour onto the air,
Explain the meaning of "scumble" without saying "blur" or "subdue."
Think of something so beautiful it could be a painting.
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.
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