Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DISSIPATE
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pronounce
DISSIPATE:
Say it "DISS ih pate."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
When clouds dissipate, we have clear skies.
When the noise of city traffic dissipates, we have peace.
And when fears and tensions dissipate, we have confidence and relaxation.
As you can tell, the word dissipate often carries a peaceful, calming tone, because the things that dissipate--ease off, go away--are often things we're glad to see go. Like wicked witches.
So to all the fears, tensions, and other stressors in your life that remind you of wicked witches, say:
"Be gone."
"Dissipate."
"Scatter."
"Melt away."
"A__t_." (Hint: this one is related to combat and battle.)
"D_sp_rs_." (Hint: it's related to sparse and intersperse.)
Or, "E__n_sc_." (Hint: it's related to vanish.)
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
"Dissipate" has Latin roots that literally mean "to throw apart" or "to scatter apart."
When something dissipates, it eases off, goes away, or disappears, as if its parts are moving off and away in different directions.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech: verb, usually the intransitive kind: "the clouds dissipate;" "our worries dissipated with the sunrise."
Other common forms: dissipated, dissipating, dissipation.
how to use it:
The word "dissipate" is formal but common. It often has a positive tone.
Talk about things that dissipate, often to the relief of whoever is involved.
What kind of thing dissipates?
It could be something physical, like gas, clouds, sounds, smells, heat, light, darkness, or crowds of people.
Or it could be something abstract, like hope, energy, tension, anxiety, memories, desires, hungers, reasons, movements, protests, demands, promises, conflicts, or issues. The impact or effects of something might dissipate, someone's authority might dissipate, and even a tradition or a belief might dissipate.
examples:
"The depth of marine layer clouds usually peaks around sunrise, then the clouds dissipate as the day progresses and the sun rises higher in the sky."
— Paul Duginski, Los Angeles Times, 27 January 2020
"'I'll swim you in,' he said, reassuringly, and stayed with me as I swam, my anxiety dissipating with each stroke."
— Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 20 January 2020
has this page helped you understand "dissipate"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "dissipate" without saying "evaporate" or "disperse."
try it out:
In a piece for the Guardian, David Robert Grimes reminds us of how things tend to dissipate from our minds unless we keep seeing more examples of them:
"We tend to skew our judgments...biasing our opinions towards the latest news or most easily accessed example," he says. And, "as examples become less vivid and recent they dissipate from our collective consciousness."
Talk about what he means. What's an example of an important fact, event, or principle that seems to have dissipated from the mind of the public? Or, what's an important event--good or bad--that will never dissipate from the mind of the public, because we see it happen over and over?
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 this month is Lightning Rhyming Recall!
In each issue this month, see how fast you can recall three words. They’re unrelated in meaning--probably--but they rhyme. To check your answers, scroll to the bottom of the issue. We’ll start out easy and ramp up the difficulty as the month goes on. Enjoy!
Each word below rhymes with SAUCE:
A. (3 syllables, noun) When you've neatly laid out all of your tools or ingredients, you've completed your...
B. (3 syllables, noun) A problem both burdensome and shameful can be called an...
C. (2 syllables, noun) A more formal synonym of "180" and "about-face" is...
review this word:
A. RECTIFY.
B. INTENSIFY.
C. DECONSTRUCT.
2. Describing a lounge pianist perform, the Washington Post wrote that his chords "dissipated like _____."
A. the crash of a gong
B. expensive puffs of perfume
C. dense filling in a chocolate pastry
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.
When clouds dissipate, we have clear skies.
So to all the fears, tensions, and other stressors in your life that remind you of wicked witches, say: "Dissipate" has Latin roots that literally mean "to throw apart" or "to scatter apart."
Part of speech: verb, usually the intransitive kind: "the clouds dissipate;" "our worries dissipated with the sunrise."
The word "dissipate" is formal but common. It often has a positive tone.
"The depth of marine layer clouds usually peaks around sunrise, then the clouds dissipate as the day progresses and the sun rises higher in the sky."
Explain the meaning of "dissipate" without saying "evaporate" or "disperse."
In a piece for the Guardian, David Robert Grimes reminds us of how things tend to dissipate from our minds unless we keep seeing more examples of them:
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.
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