Make Your Point > Archived Issues > REPUDIATE

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connect today's word to others: Today, repudiate means "to deny, to cast off, or to reject," but originally it meant "to divorce." Now, they may be making wild guesses here, but some etymologists believe that the "pud" in repudiate could mean "foot." If so, then the act of repudiating people is like kicking them away from you. And if that guess is correct, then repudiate is related to all kinds of words that involve feet, including...    __ped_menta, which are metaphorical shackles for the feet: things or situations that slow you down or make it hard for you to move forward;    ped____ian, which is someone who goes on foot, or an adjective meaning "dull, common, boring, and ordinary;"    and ______pedalian, which means "a foot and a half long," or full of unnecessarily long words.   (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "REPUDIATE" This word has several meanings. We'll stick to the most common one. To repudiate something is to reject it: to refuse to accept it, usually because it's untrue, unfair, or otherwise just bad. Pronunciation: ruh PYOO dee ate (or "ree PYOO dee ATE") Part of speech: Transitive verb. (Like "eat," "try," and "want," all transitive verbs do something to an object. You eat a banana, try a game, and want a new phone. Likewise, you repudiate something or someone.) Other common forms: repudiated, repudiating; repudiation How to use it: This is a formal word with a strong negative tone. Talk about people repudiating something they think is bad: "We repudiate her candidacy," "They repudiated the scientists' faulty conclusions," "The public has repudiated this unwise policy," "She repudiated their crude remarks," "He repudiates violence in all forms," "We repudiate hatred and bigotry." You can also talk about people repudiating a person, often for doing something bad: "They repudiated the lawmaker for taking bribes." You can even repudiate things that you yourself used to do or used to believe: "She repudiated her earlier claims," "He now repudiates his adolescent thoughts on religion," "They later repudiated their findings." examples: After what should have been a peaceful protest, its organizers repudiated the two attendees who threw rocks toward the Congressman's office windows. He chose each word with care, explaining why he objected to the policy without outright repudiating it. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "repudiate" means when you can explain it without saying "reject" or "spurn." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(At a certain place, or within a certain group of people), we will always repudiate _____." Example: "At this school, we will always repudiate bullying." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is called "Quirky Keepers."  We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.) Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it. We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies. See if you can recall the word from the previous issue: Winston Churchill once said, "Mr. Chamberlain loves the working man, he loves to see him work." Ha ha, burn! What noun describes what Churchill said? (It's four syllables.) See the answer by scrolling all the way down. Today, let’s check out the word "criticaster." A criticaster is a critic who's petty and mean...and unimportant. Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you an example of a criticaster, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory. review today's word: 1. The opposite of REPUDIATE is A. CONTRACT. B. EMBRACE. C. CATCH. 2. Student representatives on the board voted _____ the proposed revision to the dress code, a clear repudiation of that proposal. A. unanimously in favor of B. 11-15 against C. unanimously against 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. Answer to the game question: It's an asteism. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C