perspicuous

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

26-06-2017 • 1 min

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 26, 2017 is: perspicuous \per-SPIK-yuh-wus\ adjective : plain to the understanding especially because of clarity and precision of presentation Examples: The author's perspicuous prose helps even the simple layman to follow his explanations of this complicated topic. "The whole is less than the sum of its parts and does not add up to either a perspicuous account or a judicious analysis." — Steven Marcus, The New York Times Book Review, 31 Mar. 1996 Did you know? Perspicuous is based on Latin perspicere, meaning "to see through," so that which is perspicuous is clear and understandable. Perspicuous has a close cousin, perspicacious, which is used of a person with astute insight. Both words come directly from Latin adjectives that mean the same thing they do: perspicuous from perspicuus, and perspicacious from perspicax. Needless to say, it's possible to confuse the two. One easy way to keep out of trouble is to think of perspicUous as the "U" word, and remember that it means "Understandable"—in contrast to the "A" word, perspicAcious, which means "Astute." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You Might Like

Myths and Legends
Myths and Legends
Jason Weiser, Carissa Weiser, Nextpod
McCartney: A Life in Lyrics
McCartney: A Life in Lyrics
iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin Industries
99% Invisible
99% Invisible
Roman Mars
Nothing To Wear
Nothing To Wear
Mamamia Podcasts
Audiobooks 🎧
Audiobooks 🎧
Best Audiobooks by The Book Guide®
The Moth
The Moth
The Moth
Free Audiobooks
Free Audiobooks
Appbly.com
You Beauty
You Beauty
Mamamia Podcasts
Yowie Central
Yowie Central
Sarah Bignell
Fantasy Fangirls
Fantasy Fangirls
Fantasy Fangirls