Words2
06 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in words
Some of the words spell or sound same.So it is difficult to remember them. And some words though simple in their meaning escape my mind as I don’t use them in my regular speech. This is a set of words of that kind: factious, fatuous, fictitious, fractious and factitious
Factious
Factious: of or relating to faction: caused by faction.
It means quarrelsome, dissenting with majority’s opinion, conflicting.
Ex: Factious quarrel, factious group, factious situation etc.
Fatuous
Fatuous: Foolish, silly; stupid, brainless; not carefully thought about.
Ex: fatuous vendor, fatuous prank, fatuous remark.
Fictitious
Fictitious: Characterized by fiction, made up, untrue; intending to deceive.
Ex: Fictitious names, fictitious hero, fictitious character, fictitious behavior.
Factitious
Factitious: Lacking authenticity or genuineness; bogus; something that is not natural, made up
Ex: Factitious laughter, factitious enthusiasm, factitious excitement (made up).
In many cases factitious and fictitious can be used with a slight difference in meaning. For example factitious excitement would mean made up and basically that it is not natural. Fictitious also gives the same meaning that it is artificial but can also mean that the person who is displaying it could have ulterior motto in mind.
Fractious
Fractious: unruly, irritable; quarrelsome; resistant to control; unpredictable.
Ex: Fractious young man, fractious animal.
Fractious and factious have a similarity in meaning but degree of the words is different.
The collector made a “factious” (quarrelsome) remark to the “fatuous” (silly, inane) shopkeeper who tried to sell her a “factitious” (lacking authenticity) antique with a “fictitious” (invented) history. ( http://www.answers.com/factious).
Above statement is an excellent usage of the words. Hope I remember J
Words1
01 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in words
While reading an article I came across the word ‘peter’. I was surprised to see the word being used as a verb. It means to diminish slowly and come to an end. So we say: My curiosity soon petered out. It is used with ‘out’.
I was doing an English section wherein I had to fill a blank by the word ‘phish’ or ‘spoof’. The sentence was talking about some bank robbery done over internet. I marked the answer as ‘spoof’ as I know its meaning and seemed appropriate. I dint know the meaning of ‘phish’.The answer turned out to be ‘phish’. Like spoofing it is an internet scam wherein the recipient in lured to open attachments which when installed retrieve data by different methods. So the more appropriate word is ‘phish’ and not ‘spoof’.
And the next one!!!
Defenestrate: to throw something or somebody out of the window.
When I first came across this word I thought it means killing or mutating. It turned out to be something that made me laugh, as I imagined using it to tell my friend that I want to kick him outJ. Do we really need a word to express this?
Check the origin of the word: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/defenestration
This word can be used to mean expulsion, riddance etc.
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