Make Your Point > Archived Issues > IMPLACABLE

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explore the archives: Inside today's "implacable" is "placate," meaning to soothe or make less intense. "Mitigate" has a similar meaning as "placate," so could you add a prefix and suffix to "mitigate" to come up with a synonym for "implacable"? It's "___________". make your point with... "IMPLACABLE" To placate people is to calm them down or make them less angry. So, when people are implacable, they're really upset, and it's impossible to make them any less upset. Pronunciation: im PLACK uh bull Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "an implacable enemy." 2. After a linking verb, as in "Their enemy is implacable.") Other forms: implacably, implacability How to use it: Talk about implacable people, implacable statements, implacable expressions and reactions, and implacable emotions (usually negative ones, like implacable anger). You can be more figurative and describe forces, movements, traditions, etc. as implacable, also. examples: On the subject of his favorite conspiracies, he's implacable. In her autobiography, Malala Yousafzai observes that revenge creates an implacable chain of violence. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "implacable" means when you can explain it without saying "can't be calmed down" or "impossible to make less angry." try it out: Think of something you will definitely never, ever do, and fill in the blank: "I'm implacably opposed to _____." Example: "I'm implacably opposed to opening more social media accounts for either personal or business use. No, just no." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game and quote below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Playing With Words:  Last month we played with clichés, examining the origins of some colorful ones. I gave you a cliché (some of which you might also call a proverb and/or an idiom) and posed a multiple-choice question about its origin.  Yesterday's question: Here’s the most beautiful cliché I know of: “hope springs eternal.” (Meaning: even the worst situation can’t make us lose hope.) Who wrote it: Mark Twain, Alexander Pope, or Fyodor Dostoevsky? Answer: It was Pope, in a poem kind of nestled inside an essay. Here’s the whole stanza: Hope humbly, then; with trembling pinions soar; Wait the great teacher Death; and God adore. What future bliss, He gives not thee to know, But gives that hope to be thy blessing now. Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest: The soul, uneasy and confined from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. Now, a new game for May! When it comes to word roots, everybody knows what some of them mean, like “ambi/amphi” (“both”) and “circum” (“around”) and “hetero” (“different”). This knowledge helps you explain why words like “automobile” and “autobiography” look similar—in this case, it’s because they both involve the concept of “self.” But what about some of the less obvious roots? Could you explain, for example, why “contain” looks so much like “sustain” by defining “tain”? This month, let’s explore the meanings underlying common words you know. You can usually figure these out by looking for an extremely basic concept common to all the words in each group. We’ll start with easier, more obvious roots and move on to trickier ones as the month goes on! Try this one today: In abstain, attain, contain, detain, maintain, retain, and sustain, what does “tain” mean?  A Point Well Made: Katherine Anne Porter: “Tomorrow was far away and there was nothing to trouble about. Things were finished somehow when the time came; thank God there was always a little margin over for peace: then a person could spread out the plan of life and tuck in the edges orderly.” review today's word: 1. One opposite of IMPLACABLE is A. RESOLVED B. APPEASED C. LIGHTENED 2.  He may not actually be the implacable _____ that he seems. A. villain B. nebbish C. volunteer Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and send your own message to readers of this list, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. A