Make Your Point > Archived Issues > TURPITUDE
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connect today's word to others:
Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? Try reading through the text of some state constitutions.
If you're not instantly lulled to sleep, you'll notice that many of them declare how felons are barred from voting, and how politicians may be impeached if they commit acts of moral turpitude.
This awful-sounding word turpitude is a synonym of vice, evil, corruption, wickedness, depravity, and ne____ousness.
Can you recall that last one? Hint: it resembles the name of one of the villains in the first Despicable Me movie.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"TURPITUDE"
From the Latin turpis, meaning "base, foul, or vile," the word "turpitude" means behavior that's evil, wicked, or terrible. (Turpitude includes things like arson, abuse, and murder.)
Pronunciation:
TUR pih tood
Part of speech:
Noun, usually the uncountable kind ("such turpitude," "crimes of turpitude")
and occasionally the countable kind ("a turpitude," "their turpitudes").
Other forms:
The plural is "turpitudes."
The adjective is "turpitudinous."
How to use it:
Pick the formal, serious word "turpitude" to describe actions, decisions, and behaviors (usually crimes) that are highly corrupt, deeply wrong, or truly shocking.
You might talk about someone's turpitude (or the turpitude of someone or some group), someone's reputation for turpitude, crimes of turpitude, evidence of turpitude, accusing someone of turpitude, etc.
Although "turpitude" already means "morally terrible actions," we almost always use the phrase "moral turpitude." Yes, that's redundant, but it's a kind of redundancy traditionally found in other legal and political phrases, like "aid and abet" and "null and void."
examples:
R Kelly has furiously denied the accusations of turpitude, saying he never abused the girls or held them hostage.
"MacBeth. Where to begin with this steaming pile of turpitude? MacBeth is William Shakespeare's murder-happy nobleman, who, with the egging on of his wife, Lady MacBeth, kills the King of Scotland, takes his job and then gets around to mercilessly slaughtering anyone who might be suspicious of him..."
— Carolina A. Miranda, The Los Angeles Times, 26 August 2015
study it:
Explain the meaning of "turpitude" without saying "vile actions" or "reprehensible crimes."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) acts shocked, as if _____ were a crime of moral turpitude."
Example: "His mother acts shocked, as if bringing home a B+ on a test were a crime of moral turpitude."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Tidbits and Titles!
I provide the tidbits; you provide the title.
From our previous issue:
Here's a quote from a book: "Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song."
And here are some terms and phrases that often appear in that book: agriculture, animals, carcinogen, chlorinated hydrocarbons, damage, death, destruction, environmental, gypsy moth, human, insect control, streams, toxic.
What's the book's title?
Answer: Silent Spring.
Try this today:
Here's a quote from a book: "Life for both sexes—and I look at them, shouldering their way along the pavement—is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion that we are, it calls for confidence in oneself."
And here are some terms and phrases that often appear in that book: criticism, emotion, Emily Brontë, heart, imagination, London, luncheon parties, Oxbridge, poetry, sentence, sitting-room, women and fiction, write.
What's the book's title?
review today's word:
1. A close opposite of TURPITUDE is
A. VIM.
B. VIRTUE.
C. VOLUME.
2. The author's apparent view of human nature is rather _____: that we're all _____ turpitude.
A. sweet .. one big
B. bleak .. inclined to
C. optimistic .. capable of
Answers are below.
a final word:
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From Liesl's 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.
Answers to review questions:
1. B
2. B
Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? Try reading through the text of some state constitutions.
"TURPITUDE" From the Latin turpis, meaning "base, foul, or vile," the word "turpitude" means behavior that's evil, wicked, or terrible. (Turpitude includes things like arson, abuse, and murder.)
R Kelly has furiously denied the accusations of turpitude, saying he never abused the girls or held them hostage.
Explain the meaning of "turpitude" without saying "vile actions" or "reprehensible crimes."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) acts shocked, as if _____ were a crime of moral turpitude."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A close opposite of TURPITUDE is
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |