Make Your Point > Archived Issues > MYOPIC
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pronounce
MYOPIC:
Say it "my OPP ick."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
As I've mentioned before, in my family, for a second generation now, we've sung this silly grandiloquent version of "Three Blind Mice:"
Three myopic rodents, three myopic rodents.
Observe how they perambulate, observe how they perambulate.
They all circumnavigated the agriculturer's spouse.
She excised their extremities with a carving utensil.
Did you ever regard such an occurrence in your existence
As three myopic rodents?
And that's where I learned the word myopic, which we're checking out today.
It's from the Greek ōps, "eye." So, it belongs to the same family of words as optics, optometry, and p__opt____, meaning "a building or a design that lets you see everything (or everyone) at the same time." Can you recall that last one?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
Our word "myopic" has Greek roots that mean "near-sighted," or more literally "(with) eyes shut."
Literally speaking, myopic people are nearsighted or short-sighted: they have trouble seeing things that are far away.
And figuratively speaking, myopic people and things are too focused on only the things that are nearby (in space or time). That is, they do a bad job of understanding what's happening all around them, or predicting what will happen in the future; it's as if they've closed their eyes, refusing to look around.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "their myopic view;" "This analysis is myopic."
Other forms:
The adverb is "myopically."
And the noun is "myopia" ("my OH pee yuh"). (Or, rarely, "myopism," pronounced "MY oh pizz um.")
how to use it:
You might be literal and talk in a clinical setting about myopic people, or people with myopia, as in "Research doesn't suggest a clear link between screen usage and myopia in children (New York Times)."
But we'll focus on how to use "myopic" figuratively.
When you need to talk about how frustrating it is that people are acting stupid and obtuse, as if they can't see what's going on around them or what's going to happen soon, and when words like "stupid" and "obtuse" aren't quite specific enough--and when the word "short-sighted" isn't formal enough--then pick the word "myopic."
"Myopic" is formal, serious, semi-common, and highly critical.
You might talk about myopic people, or about myopic views, thinking, statements, arguments, perspectives, understandings, assessments, etc. "We're frustrated by her myopic focus on this." "Ugh, look at this myopic headline." "His conclusions are utterly myopic."
examples:
"Reducing a complex intelligence or the economy to numbers on a scale, whether I.Q. or GNP, is myopic at best and many times simply ludicrous."
— John Allen Paulos, Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, 1988
"Consumption is not intrinsically bad. Indeed, buying things is one of the joys and privileges of a modern capitalist economy. But most of us, myopic creatures that we are, need a little help balancing present consumption with future consumption."
— Richard Reeves, The Guardian, 3 July 2019
has this page helped you understand "myopic"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "myopic" without saying "not insightful" or "practically blind."
try it out:
In the New York Times, Maya Phillips wrote about how, as a kid, she loved the story and the characters in Rent but had only a myopic understanding of them:
"I admired la vie boheme but didn't think too hard about the characters' struggles to make a living, their addictions and the specter of the AIDS crisis."
Thinking back to when you were a kid, talk about a book or a show you enjoyed but understood only myopically. What did you like about the story or the characters? And, what broader or subtler social or historical facts, themes, or contexts were you blind to?
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 for January is "Find the Missing Link."
In each chain of words, find the one that's missing from the middle. This missing link, according to a thesaurus, is a synonym of each word on its left and right. But as you'll see, the words on the left and right are most definitely not synonyms!
For example, if I give you "special → _____ → typical," then you answer, "peculiar," because sometimes "peculiar" means "special, different, odd," but other times it means "typical of this, specific to this, distinctively this."
To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Your answer might be different from mine but just as good. Enjoy!
Try this one today:
nail → _____ → method
review this word:
A. FLABBY.
B. ENDEMIC.
C. PANORAMIC.
2. In our worst math classes, we're asked to focus myopically on _____ formulas instead of _____.
A. proving .. using them to practice computation
B. memorizing .. considering why they work or when we might need them
C. multiple .. learning the simplest, most effective one and sticking with it
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.
As I've mentioned before, in my family, for a second generation now, we've sung this silly grandiloquent version of "Three Blind Mice:"
Our word "myopic" has Greek roots that mean "near-sighted," or more literally "(with) eyes shut."
Part of speech:
You might be literal and talk in a clinical setting about myopic people, or people with myopia, as in "Research doesn't suggest a clear link between screen usage and myopia in children (New York Times)."
"Reducing a complex intelligence or the economy to numbers on a scale, whether I.Q. or GNP, is myopic at best and many times simply ludicrous."
Explain the meaning of "myopic" without saying "not insightful" or "practically blind."
In the New York Times, Maya Phillips wrote about how, as a kid, she loved the story and the characters in Rent but had only a myopic understanding of them:
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.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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