Make Your Point > Archived Issues > BALLETIC
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
pronounce
BALLETIC:
Say it "bal ED ick."
Or, if you prefer, "buh LED ick."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
I'm a collector of words, naturally.
I hope you'll join me today in collecting this kind of word: the kind that starts as a noun or a verb, then leaps and twists into a beautiful, graceful, gosh-darn useful adjective.
Like...
autumnal ("aw TUM null"),
embracive ("em BRAY siv"),
tangential ("tan JEN shull"),
tornadic ("tore NAD ick"),
and today's balletic ("bal ED ick").
All five have that same little leaping, balletic rhythm: "duh DUH duh." Can you think of others that do the same? And can you define those three underlined terms above: embracive, tangential, and tornadic?
definition:
From the New York City Ballet's Swan Lake:
Like it sounds, something balletic reminds you of a ballet--or a ballet dancer--because it's beautiful, graceful, and well-controlled.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
It's an adjective: "her balletic steps," " rising up and down on his toes...with balletic athleticism" (New York Times).
Other forms:
The adverb is "balletically."
how to use it:
Rare but crystal-clear, the word "balletic" helps you describe any kind of movement that strikes you with its grace, beauty, and control.
You might talk about balletic steps, gestures, or walks. Or, balletic game play on a football field. Or, balletic fight sequences in a film.
You might be a little more general, and talk about someone's balletic grace, beauty, control, movement, athleticism, etc.
Get figurative, if you like, and talk about balletic narration or storytelling, the balletic lines of a poem, or the balletic leaps of your thoughts or your heart when you're in love.
examples:
"Jelly Mario takes one of the most iconic video games and completely upends it by messing with the physics... instead of hopping around with balletic grace, Mario floats about like a confused jellyfish."
— Andrew Webster, The Verge, 9 April 2018
"The way [this deep-sea ctenophore] retracts its long feeding tentacles in reaction to the glare of the probe's lights is nothing short of balletic."
— Jennifer Frazer, Scientific American, 1 December 2017
has this page helped you understand "balletic"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "balletic" without saying "nimble" or "elegant."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) (does something) with balletic (ease, grace, or fluidity)."
Example 1: "Layla is too hefty to do much besides purr in laps, but Chloe, lithe and graceful, leaps onto countertops with balletic ease."
Example 2: "A professional basketball player's jump shot is a thing of beauty. They set their feet, square to the basket, and, in a split second, rise with balletic grace to the apex of their release."
— Nick Greene, Slate, 4 October 2019
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.
This month, our game is "Caption These!"
In each issue this month, caption the images below (A, B, and C) by matching them to the vocabulary words they illustrate (1, 2, and 3). Need a closer look? Give the images a click. And, if you can, explain the exact meaning of each word. I'll share the answers in the following issue. Good luck!
From the previous issue:
Answers:
A: pinchbeck, B: oblivious, C: mottled.
(To review a word, give it a click.)
Try these today:
1: triptych
2: Rorschach test
3: skunkworks
review this word:
A. HAM-HANDED.
B. HOWLING MAD.
C. HEAVY-HEARTED.
2. A writer for the Washington Post highlighted Jon Bostic's "balletic" voice, both "_____" and "_____."
A. soothing .. strong
B. metered .. muscular
C. gray .. full of gravitas
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.
I'm a collector of words, naturally.
From the New York City Ballet's Swan Lake:
Part of speech:
Rare but crystal-clear, the word "balletic" helps you describe any kind of movement that strikes you with its grace, beauty, and control.
"Jelly Mario takes one of the most iconic video games and completely upends it by messing with the physics... instead of hopping around with balletic grace, Mario floats about like a confused jellyfish."
Explain the meaning of "balletic" without saying "nimble" or "elegant."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) (does something) with balletic (ease, grace, or fluidity)."
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.
|
