Make Your Point > Archived Issues > APOGEE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce APOGEE: Say it "APP oh jee." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: As we'll see in a second, the word apogee literally means "away from the earth." Can you recall a similar term that literally means "away from the sun"? It's a_hel___.  (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: The word "apogee" has Greek roots that mean "away from the earth." Below, on the right, is the moon in apogee: (The image is from one of NASA's educational sites.) Literally speaking, when the moon is in apogee, or at its apogee, it's at its furthest point away from the Earth. (And when the moon is in perigee, or at its perigee, it's at its closest point to the Earth.) From our view down here, apogee is when the moon is at its highest point. And so, figuratively speaking, the apogee of something is its best, highest, most exciting, or most well-developed part or time period. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Noun, usually the uncountable kind: "The moon is in apogee;" "He's at the apogee of his musical career." Other forms:  The exact opposite is "perigee," which has a couple adjectives: "perigeal" and "perigean." If you need an adjective for "apogee," I recommend "apogean," pronounced "app OH jee un." Here are the other forms:    1. "Apogeal," pronounced "app oh JEE ull."    2. "Apogaeic" or "apogaic," pronounced either "APP oh JEE ick" or "APP oh GAY ick." how to use it: Pick the word "apogee" when you need a fun, semi-common, semi-dramatic synonym for "peak," "tip-top," or "high point." Of course, you could go with either "acme" or "zenith" instead, which are more common. But "apogee," being slightly rarer, gives your description a little more emphasis and originality. And just as much celestiality! Talk about things and people that approach or reach their apogee. Or say they're at their apogee. When you do, you're gracefully comparing those things or people to the moon--or to any other satellite. You might also say that something is the apogee of something: "Do you think the White Album was the apogee of the Beatles' output?" "The Muromachi Period (1392-1573) is regarded as the apogee of the stone garden design" (Japan Times). examples: "'Tookah,' [Emiliana Torrini's] extremely poised new album, reaches its synthpop apogee with a track called 'Speed of Dark,' which starts as a breakup song and ends as an invitation to run away together."    — Jon Caramanica, Jon Pareles, Ben Ratliff, and Nate Chinen, New York Times, 9 September 2013 "The sense of standing at the crossroads of the world captures the way Turkish foods blend Mediterranean staples—olive oil, lamb, eggplant, fresh fish, honey and almonds—with the warm spices of the Orient—cumin, cloves, chiles, and cinnamon. It reaches its apogee in Bodrum, since nowhere in Turkey is the produce and seafood fresher or more abundant."    — Sophie Menin, The Daily Beast, 14 July 2017 has this page helped you understand "apogee"? 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 "apogee" without saying "acme" or "zenith." try it out: In his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, after acknowledging that money is widely believed to be the root of all evil, Yuval N. Harari argues this: "Money is also the apogee of human tolerance." How? He explains: "Money is more open-minded than language, state laws, cultural codes, religious beliefs and social habits. Money is the only trust system created by humans that can bridge almost any cultural gap, and that does not discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, race, age or sexual orientation. Thanks to money, even people who don't know each other and don't trust each other can nevertheless cooperate effectively." Do you agree? Is money the apogee of human tolerance? If not, what is? If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for March is "Yup, that's a real word." Check out the definition of a silly-sounding word--yes, a real one, from the Oxford English Dictionary--and see if you can come up with the word itself. To see the answer, scroll all the way down. Here's an example: "This three-syllable noun ending in the -ship suffix (as in 'friendship' and 'fellowship') means 'skill in traversing snow.'" The answer is "snowmanship." (Yup, that’s a real word!) Try this one today: Four syllables long, and hyphenated, it sounds like it might mean "someone trying to sell castles in a busy marketplace." But, much more reasonably, it means "someone who owns or builds castles." review this word: 1. The precise opposite of APOGEE is PERIGEE, meaning A. POINT OF THE ANGLE. B. POINT NEAREST THE EARTH. C. POINT FURTHEST FROM THE SUN. 2. In botany, an apogeotropic leaf is one that turns _____. A. toward the earth B. away from the earth C. away from moisture Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. B Answer to the game question: Castle-monger. Between the fishmonger and the cheesemonger, right? 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.