Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CLARION
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pronounce
CLARION:
Say it "CLAIR ee un."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
A literal clarion is a kind of trumpet. And we most often use the word clarion in the phrase "clarion call," meaning "a very loud, very clear call for action--one that reminds you of a blast on a trumpet."
Speaking of trumpets, see if you can take the little word fanfare, meaning "a fancy blast on a trumpet or bugle," and turn it into a four-syllable noun meaning "a big show of bragging:" fanfar_____.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
In Latin, clarus means "clear," and clario means "a trumpet," which, of course, makes a clear sound.
In English, a clarion can be a kind of trumpet. But we use "clarion" most often as an adjective, meaning "loud and clear, very easy to hear, or very hard to ignore, like the blast of a trumpet."
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "a clarion call," "his clarion voice," "these clarion notes," "that clarion warning."
Other common forms:
None.
how to use it:
This word is great for emphasis, since it's a bit dramatic.
The tone is positive, suggesting exciting music that gathers and motivates people. (That's probably why "Clarion" is a popular name for places, companies, publications, and even characters, like Queen Clarion in the Tinker Bell universe.)
Most often we use "clarion" in the phrase "clarion call," meaning "a need or a demand that is extremely obvious." It makes a nice substitute for phrases like "wake-up call" and "call to arms."
You might talk about
a clarion call to some action or change,
a clarion call to do something,
a clarion call for something ("a clarion call for peace"),
a clarion call for a group of people,
a clarion call for people to do something,
or a clarion call to people that something might result, etc.
But what is the clarion call, exactly? Usually it's an announcement or a publication, like a post, an article, a report, a published study, etc. But a clarion call can also be an event or a result, especially one that seems disastrous.
Finally, if "clarion call" sounds clichéd to you, you can still talk about clarion notes, sounds, voices, warnings, and demands.
examples:
"[The book is] a clarion call for global, rational, long-term thinking."
— Barbara Kiser, reviewing the book On the Future by Martin Rees, Nature, 31 October 2018
"The clarion-notes of [John C. Calhoun's] fame resound among the distant hills and valleys of our land."
— M. Bates, The International Magazine of Literature, Art, and Science, 1851
has this page helped you understand "clarion"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "clarion" without saying "shrill" or "blaring."
try it out:
In the New Yorker, Peter Schjeldahl wrote about the artist Ellsworth Kelly, and how his paintings feature "clarion colors:"
"The paintings of Ellsworth Kelly... have the suddenness of miracles, and the improbability. Their emphatic shapes and clarion colors, in myriad formats, are unreasonably rational and ascetically luxuriant."
Below are some of Kelly's works as they appear on postage stamps. Check out all their clarion beauty:
With these "clarion colors" in mind as an example, get figurative.
Talk about some other thing in art, music, literature, or nature that seems so bright, riveting, beautiful, and inspiring that you just might call it clarion.
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.
Rhyming Puzzles!
I give you a description of something, and you name it in a rhyming phrase. For example, if I say, "This is an ideal environment for a large tree-dwelling lizard--one in which this creature is perfectly happy and peaceful," then you say, "That's iguana nirvana."
The answers will get longer and sillier as the month goes on. If you'd like to see the clue, click or mouse-over the link. I'll share each answer the following day. Enjoy!
From the previous issue: At the risk of making a grand, poetic, bombastic claim, I'll argue that Anne Frank's diary is not only beautifully clean, bright, and clear in its writing style but also everlasting and permanent in its contribution to the story of human life: it's a ___________ ______ _______. (Three words. The first word has four syllables, and the second and third words have two syllables each. Clue: use this word, as well as another Make Your Point word.)
Answer: sempiternal limpid journal.
Try this one today: As Christmas approaches--so it's said--an Elf on the Shelf roams its household at night, smashing things up and making other mischief, having a grand time, leaving its destruction proudly on display as if to clap for it. It's ____-__________ ___ _________. (Three words. The first word has four syllables and a hyphen. The second word has one syllable. And the last word has three syllables. Clue: use this word, as well as another Make Your Point word.)
review this word:
1. A near opposite of CLARION is
A. HUSHED.
B. MODIFIED.
C. BALANCED.
2. In a poem called "_____," Longfellow wrote about the "clarion blow" of a _____.
A. Becalmed .. breath
B. Daybreak .. rooster
C. Snow-Flakes .. snowfall
a final word:
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I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
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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.
A literal clarion is a kind of trumpet. And we most often use the word clarion in the phrase "clarion call," meaning "a very loud, very clear call for action--one that reminds you of a blast on a trumpet." In Latin, clarus means "clear," and clario means "a trumpet," which, of course, makes a clear sound.
Part of speech:
This word is great for emphasis, since it's a bit dramatic.
"[The book is] a clarion call for global, rational, long-term thinking."
Explain the meaning of "clarion" without saying "shrill" or "blaring."
In the New Yorker, Peter Schjeldahl wrote about the artist Ellsworth Kelly, and how his paintings feature "clarion colors:"
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of CLARION is
|