Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ADUMBRATE

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explore the archives: To adumbrate something is to hint toward it or to describe it very generally, so you can see why the word is based on the Latin umbrare, meaning "to cast in shadow." Umbrella comes from the same root--again, the connection there is obvious. Less obvious is why umbr___ is also based on that root. When you take umbr___ at something, it irks you: you feel offended, angry, and annoyed. Stick with me: that word once meant "a shadow of doubt cast on someone," and from there it came to mean "a feeling of offense." (Does that seem like an iffy leap in logic to you, too?) make your point with... "ADUMBRATE" To adumbrate something is either to foreshadow it (to hint in advance about what it will be) or to give a short, basic, general explanation of it. Pronunciation: ADD um brate Part of speech: Transitive verb. (Like "eat," "try," and "want," all transitive verbs do something to an object. You eat a banana, try a game, and want a new phone. Likewise, something adumbrates something else, or someone adumbrates something.) Other forms: The common ones are adumbrated, adumbrating, & adumbration. Adjective forms are rare: adumbrant & adumbrative. There's an adverb, but gosh, it's ugly: adumbratively. How to use it: "Adumbrate" is a formal word that you pick to fit a serious context (instead of something simpler like "foretell" or "explain vaguely"). For the first meaning, "to reveal an early sign of something," talk about one thing or event that adumbrates an upcoming thing or event: "Long years of unrest adumbrated the war." If you need to focus more on the newer event, just flip that around and talk about something that was adumbrated by a previous thing: "The war was adumbrated by long years of unrest." These days, the more common meaning is the second one: "to explain something in a vague, shadowy, general way." Talk about people adumbrating things: "they only adumbrated my job description," "he never came out and explained it in detail, but he adumbrated it again and again, "the article only adumbrates the possible risks," "she adumbrated her plans, leaving us with plenty of questions about them." examples: When I couldn't capture it well with my camera and tried to describe aloud the sunbeams streaming through the rain and the leaves, I could only adumbrate the beauty of the scene. Their instructions for the project never went beyond adumbration; I had to ask, over and over, what outcomes and products they actually wanted. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "adumbrate" means when you can explain it without saying "foreshadow" or "represent in a shadowy way." try it out: Think of someone or something that didn't give you enough details. Fill in the blanks: "(Someone or something) only adumbrated _____, leaving me to wonder _____." Example: "The child's teacher only adumbrated the essay requirements, leaving me to wonder what she expected." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. This month, we're playing with rhyming puzzles as we review previous words.  Examples: Someone who belts out songs in church with great gusto has ____ ___. Answer: hymn vim. And the barbecue place where you always meet up with your friends from Dallas and Houston is your _____ _____. Answer: Texas nexus. The puzzles, and their answers, will get longer and sillier as the month goes on. Click or mouse-over the link to the clue if you need it, and see each answer the following day. Enjoy! From yesterday: As you take a few bites of your friend's fried rice, you realize there's way too much soy sauce on it. In fact, there's a whole salty ocean of soy sauce in that bowl. It's terrible for you and absolutely delicious. Mentally, you hop on a surfboard and go for a ___ ____ _______. (Three words: the first and second have one syllable each; the third word has two syllables. Clue: use this word.) Answer: soy tide joyride. Try this today: To make space for a new exhibit, a science museum needs to get rid of an existing one. The prime target is a cute but educationally useless life-sized display of a guy frolicking with sea otters. That exhibit is the ___ ___ _____ ______ ______. (Five words: the first two words have one syllable each, and the last three words have two syllables each. Clue: use this term.) review today's word: 1. One opposite of ADUMBRATE is A. FORESTALL B. EXAGGERATE C. DELINEATE 2. The investigators adumbrated their methods in the article, making it _____ for others to replicate the study precisely. A. unnecessary B. time-consuming C. impossible Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. C