Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ANECDOTAL

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

connect this word to others: "Don't swallow the seeds. A watermelon will grow in your belly." "Really?" "Yeah, it happened to my cousin's friend." "Hmm, okay." If some belief or theory has only anecdotal support, we look askance at it: we question it, we give it a good poke with research or science. And for heaven's sakes, we make sure the theory is fal____ble in the first place, or testable: able to be proven wrong if, in fact, it is wrong. The watermelon theory is definitely fal____ble. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "ANECDOTAL" The word "anecdote" comes from a Greek one meaning "things unpublished." Inside "anecdote," you can see two Greek roots: an, "not," and ekdotos, "published," or more literally, "given out." So enjoy a good chuckle of irony whenever you see a publication titled "An Anecdotal History of Such-and-Such." ("Anecdote" looks a bit like the words "dose" and "antidote" because they all share that Greek root, didonai, "to give." A dose is literally a "giving," and an antidote is literally a "giving against.") To tell an anecdote is to tell a short little interesting story about some event in your life. By their nature, anecdotes are unreliable: we often lie, exaggerate, or misremember when we tell anecdotes; and, of course, the more times we access the memory we're describing, and the more times the description travels from one person to another, the more it warps. Something anecdotal, then, has anecdotes, is full of anecdotes, or is based on anecdotes. In other words, something anecdotal involves retellings of little events from people's lives--and therefore is unreliable, likely to be at least partly false. Pronunciation: ANN uck DOTE ull Part of speech: Adjective: "anecdotal accounts," "the evidence is anecdotal." Other forms worth knowing: anecdote(s), anecdotally How to use it: We might use this word in a positive or neutral way to talk about someone's anecdotal style or humor, about anecdotal records, documents, biographies and so on. Most often, though, this word has a cold, scientific, slightly doubtful or dismissive tone. Talk about anecdotal tests, cases, reports, accounts, experiences, testimony, recollections, information, proof, support, evidence, suggestions, and indications. examples: "There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence stating that CBD helps reduce pain, anxiety, and insomnia."    — Marketplace team, Salon, 12 March 2019 "There's a website of victims that says it’s 'in honor of the thousands of American citizens killed each year by Illegal Aliens.' There are entries as recently as January, but fewer than 300 people are listed even though entries date as far back as 1994. The anecdotal stories are moving, but one would expect a much longer list if thousands of people were really killed each year."    — Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post, 21 February 2019 has this page helped you understand "anecdotal"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "anecdotal" without saying "based on hearsay" or "not scientifically reliable." try it out: Fill in the blank: "Anecdotal evidence suggests that _____." Example: "Anecdotal evidence suggests that childbirth rarely goes as planned." If you like, use this space to draft your sentence. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) 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. Our game this month is "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, the game show Chain Reaction." In each issue, try filling in both puzzles—the easier one and the tougher one—by supplying the terms to complete the chains.  From the previous issue: An easier puzzle:    Inciting    C____    Theory A tougher puzzle:     Notorious    C_______    J______    League Answers:    Inciting    Chaos    Theory    Notorious    Criminal    Justice    League Give these a try today: An easier puzzle:    Tenuous    G____    Reflex A tougher puzzle:     Sanguine    A____    T___    Machine review this word: 1. A near opposite of ANECDOTAL is A. COMPLEX. B. CURATIVE. C. EMPIRICAL. 2. Indications of climate change are no longer merely anecdotal; they are thoroughly, and staggeringly, _____. A. urgent B. frightening C. documented 1. C 2. C a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my 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.