A.Word.A.Day --dogmatic

A.Word.A.Day

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Dec 17, 2018

This week’s theme
Words that aren’t what they appear to be

This week’s words
dogmatic
lustrate
tourbillion
antigodlin
aggrate

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

To include is the opposite of exclude, but intend is not the opposite of extend. Neither is inosculate the opposite of osculate.

To delist is to remove from a list, but to delight is not to remove from light (it’s a respelling of Old French delitier: to charm).

Patterns help us make sense of the world and words, but sometimes they lead us onto the wrong trail. This week’s words are somewhat like that. For example, a dogmatic is not the latest gizmo for your favorite canine.

dogmatic

PRONUNCIATION:

(dog-MA-tik)

MEANING:

adjective: Expressing beliefs or opinions forcefully or positively as if they were true.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin dogma (tenet), from Greek dogma (opinion), from dokein (to seem good, think). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dek- (to take, accept), which also gave us dignity, discipline, doctor, decorate, docile, deign, condign, doxy, heterodox, and philodox. Earliest documented use: 1605.

USAGE:

“A dogmatic conservative, Mr Ryan has often used the budget process to score ideological points.”
The Speaker’s Shoes; The Economist (London, UK); Oct 24, 2015.

See more usage examples of dogmatic in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. -Chelsea Manning, activist and whistleblower (b. 17 Dec 1987)

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