Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DEWY
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Something dewy is as fresh and innocent as dew.
Something v____l is as fresh and innocent as the springtime.
make your point with...
"DEWY"
(Dew is that moisture you see on everything outside in the morning.)
Literally dewy things have dew on them (or seem to).
Figuratively dewy things remind you of dew because they're natural and refreshing, or because they're innocent and new to the world, or because they're appearing gently and/or vanishing quickly.
Pronunciation:
DO ee
(or "DYOO ee")
Part of speech:
Adjective.
(Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late."
They can be used in two ways:
1. Right before a noun, as in "a dewy thing" or "a dewy person."
2. After a linking verb, as in "It was dewy " or "He was dewy.")
Other forms:
dewily, dewiness, dewless
How to use it:
This word is very poetic. You might use it literally: a dewy mist, a dewy sunrise, dewy eyes and dewy skin, a dewy scent, etc.
We also use it abstractly: dewy sleep, dewy hope, dewy exhilaration, dewy brightness, dewy sounds and music and voices, dewy love.
Can you have dewy people? Sure: dewy children, dewy employees, a dewy actress playing the role of a dewy princess at the dewy age of 19. But then, "dewy" gets creepy fast; use caution.
You might say someone or something is dewy with something: "she was dewy with innocence," "it was dewy with energy."
examples:
Act 2, Scene 2 is all daydreaming and dewy promises, but the story soon gets violent.
Wesley Crusher first earns his spot on the ship's bridge as an acting ensign: dewy, wide-eyed, curious, incredibly annoying.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "dewy" means when you can explain it without saying "fresh" or "energizing."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "When (someone) was (a certain age), (his/her) (art, music, writing, work, voice, way of speaking, or way of thinking) had a charming dewiness."
Example: "When my sister was about five, her voice had a charming dewiness (and a southern twang)."
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.
Our game this month is called "Cousins or Strangers?"
Consider two pairs of similar-looking words, and figure out which pair are truly related, like cousins, and which pair are unrelated, like strangers. "Related," of course, is a relative concept (ha ha). We're interested in closeness: "compute" and "computer" are sisters, or variations of the same word; "vision" and "video" are cousins, sharing the same Latin root; but "compute" and "video" are strangers.
From our previous issue:
Pair A: LIGHT and DELIGHT. These are the strangers. "Delight" is unrelated to any meaning of "light" but rather traces back to the Latin delectare, meaning to charm or to please.
Pair B: PROMISE and COMPROMISE. These are the cousins. To compromise is, literally, to make a promise together. Both words come from the Latin promissum, a promise, which literally means "something sent (miss) forward (pro)."
Ready to check out two more pairs? Remember, one pair will be cousins; the other, strangers. Which is which?
Pair A: OPTICS and OPTIMISM
Pair B: FABLE and FABULOUS
review today's word:
1. A close opposite of DEWY is
A. HAGGARD
B. IDYLLIC
C. JOVIAL
2. Elton John was _____ when he recorded Empty Sky, his voice dewy with strength and clarity, singing, appropriately, "_____."
A. 22 .. Just let me wake up in the morning to the smell of new mown hay
B. 44 .. At night I lay upon my bench and stare towards the stars
C. 66 .. Now there's concrete and no clover
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. A
2. A
Something dewy is as fresh and innocent as dew.
"DEWY" (Dew is that moisture you see on everything outside in the morning.) Part of speech:
Act 2, Scene 2 is all daydreaming and dewy promises, but the story soon gets violent.
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "dewy" means when you can explain it without saying "fresh" or "energizing."
Fill in the blanks: "When (someone) was (a certain age), (his/her) (art, music, writing, work, voice, way of speaking, or way of thinking) had a charming dewiness."
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.
1. A close opposite of DEWY is
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com
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