Make Your Point > Archived Issues > EFFERVESCENT
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pronounce
EFFERVESCENT:
Say it "EFF er VESS unt."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Inside the word effervescent, you can almost see the Latin fervescere, "beginning to boil," and inside that, fervere, "to boil, to glow, or to be hot."
Fervere also gave us the words fervor, ferment, and fer___cy, meaning "an intense feeling of eagerness or enthusiasm." Can you recall that one?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
Our word "effervescent" has Latin roots that literally mean "beginning to boil out."
Effervescent people and things are bubbly, meaning they either literally give off bubbles--or they're full of energy, excitement, and happiness.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "her effervescent personality," "his praise was effervescent."
Other forms:
Effervescently, effervescence.
The verb is "effervesce," and it's the intransitive kind: "She effervesced;" "He effervesces with pride;" "He effervesced about his favorite game;" "Bluegrass music effervesces with harmonies."
how to use it:
When the word "bubbly" is a little too casual, pick the more formal, sophisticated word "effervescent."
The tone is very positive.
And it's a semi-common word, so most everyone understands it. If you need a rarer, more emphatic word, pick "ebullient" instead, which means the exact same thing.
You might be literal and talk about effervescent food or beverages. Here's the Washington Post: "Töst, a dry, effervescent drink made of white tea, cranberry and ginger."
But most of the time, you'll use this word figuratively. Talk about effervescent people and personalities; effervescent outlooks and points of view; effervescent songs, stories, and music; effervescent humor and excitement, etc.
Or, say that someone is effervescent with something: "She's effervescent with energy;" "He's effervescent with the joy of first love."
examples:
"Her laugh is so easy and contagious. She is effervescent and finds joy in the smallest places."
— Cheryle St. Onge, New York Times, 25 June 2020
"Forbes was in a champagne humor; his soul seemed to be effervescent with little bubbles of joy."
— Rupert Hughes, What Will People Say?, 1914
has this page helped you understand "effervescent"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "effervescent" without saying "vivacious" or "ebullient."
try it out:
In the Associated Press, Jake Coyle made this observation:
"The Depression spawned some of the most effervescent movies ever made. Moviegoers, yearning for escape, flocked to lavish musicals, delirious screwball comedies and shadowy film noirs."
Isn't that fantastic? Even as the world seems to be falling apart, we make effervescent art to comfort and distract ourselves.
With this thought in mind, talk about one particular movie that's effervescent enough to pull you out of any dark mood. How does this movie effervesce with music, humor, or excitement?
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 "Faces & Feelings."
If the word you're studying were a facial expression, what would it look like? Maybe one of the seven universal facial expressions, the ones identified by the psychologist Paul Ekman.
In each issue, take a handful of words and assign each to an emotion it inspires. I'll list my answers at the bottom of each issue. Yours might be different from mine, which is okay--words, and emotions, are complex and personal! The goal here is just to interact with our words, to tie them more securely into memory by connecting them to emotion and to the face.
Try this set today. Match each face on the left to a term on the right:
Kafkaesque
kibitz
kindle
kinetic
knell
lambaste
litany
review this word:
1. A near opposite of EFFERVESCENT is
A. SILENT.
B. TRANSFIXED.
C. MELANCHOLY.
2. She's effervescent 24/7. She's basically the human equivalent of a _____.
A. backhoe
B. jukebox
C. Jacuzzi
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.
Say it "EFF er VESS unt."
Inside the word effervescent, you can almost see the Latin fervescere, "beginning to boil," and inside that, fervere, "to boil, to glow, or to be hot."
Our word "effervescent" has Latin roots that literally mean "beginning to boil out."
Part of speech:
When the word "bubbly" is a little too casual, pick the more formal, sophisticated word "effervescent."
"Her laugh is so easy and contagious. She is effervescent and finds joy in the smallest places."
Explain the meaning of "effervescent" without saying "vivacious" or "ebullient."
In the Associated Press, Jake Coyle made this observation:
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.
1. A near opposite of EFFERVESCENT is
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