Make Your Point > Archived Issues > JOCUND

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connect today's word to others: What makes you feel jocund? Going to dinner with your friends and laughing until your face hurts? Sitting around with your family retelling hilarious stories from when you were kids? Brown paper packages tied up with strings? Your favorite things also make you feel j__ial (in a good mood and having a great time) and s___uine (hopeful, optimistic, cheerful, and confident). (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "JOCUND" Someone or something jocund is happy and cheerful. Pronunciation: Pick either "JOCK und" or "JOE kund." 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 "a jocund thing" or "a jocund person." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was jocund" or "He was jocund.") Other forms: jocundly, jocundity/jocundness How to use it: "Jocund" is a poetic, literary word, so it's best to save it for your more formal talks and compositions. Talk about jocund people and personalities, jocund moods and tempers, jocund faces and smiles, jocund voices and laughter and shouts, jocund music and stories, even jocund days, mornings, seasons, etc. Or say that the air (or a place) is jocund with the sound of something: "the air was jocund with bird songs," "the room is jocund with laughter." To be especially poetic, use "jocund" to personify things: "this jocund sunshine," "the jocund landscape," "a jocund Ferris wheel," "the jocund heart of the city." examples: The choir room is filled with the jocund notes of "Shepherd, Shepherd, May Invites You." Compared to his other work, Poe's "Sonnet— To Science" is practically jocund; he seems to relish the act of blaming his disillusionment on scientific progress, in the abstract. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "jocund" means when you can explain it without saying "jolly" or "merry." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) (does something cheerful), (his/her) eyes shining, (his/her) face jocund." Example: "He waits for the moment I discover his prank, his eyes shining, his face jocund." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Subject Line Redux! You know how I fill the subject line of each Make Your Point email with a little comment about the word? Let's revisit some of those subject lines; they make a good study tool. That is, you'll improve your chances of recalling our words when you need them later if you do this now: look at the little comment from the subject line and use that to recall the word, its meaning, and how it connects to the little comment. (For more on active recall and how you can employ it to strengthen your vocabulary, please go here.) In each issue this month, I'll share a puzzle or other activity that prompts you to recall 5 previous words based on their subject lines. (To make your own activities like these, check out the fun and useful Vocabulary Worksheet Factory.) And I'll share the answers in the following issue. From our previous issue:  Answers: Try this today: review today's word: 1. One opposite of JOCUND is A. GLUTTED. B. PENSIVE. C. TONY. 2. He remembered only the jocundity of that summer, ____. A. the week the apartment smelled like dead roses B. humidity curling up the corners of his papers C. late nights with endless music and laughter Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's 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. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C