Make Your Point > Archived Issues > PALATIAL

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connect today's word to others: The trendy phrase "wow factor" seems tacky to me, so if I had to write descriptions of fancy houses for Zillow, I'd use the word palatial a lot. (It means "like a palace.") For example, let's envision a palatial home in New York City, the kind with gilt and marble everywhere, towering ceilings, servants' quarters, and 13 bathrooms. That's palatial. It's also opulent, imperial, and undeniably ostentatious. Could you explain how those three words are slightly different from each other, and slightly different from palatial? make your point with... "PALATIAL" Something palatial reminds you of a palace, or seems to belong in a palace, usually because it's spacious and magnificent. Pronunciation: puh LAY shull 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 palatial thing." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was palatial.") Other forms: palatially, palatialness/palatiality How to use it: "Palatial" is one of those easy, simple, colorful adjectives that we should use more often. Plus, it's fun to say. Talk about palatial rooms and halls in palatial homes and hotels, palatial parks and gardens, palatial stadiums and theaters, palatial churches and museums, and, more generally, palatial settings and surroundings. You can also call things palatial when they're fit for a palace: palatial fireplaces, palatial bookshelves, palatial staircases, palatial marble floors. You can also talk about palatial splendor, palatial luxury, palatial ease, palatial peace, and so on, or even palatial lifestyles or standards. examples: I imagine the palatial library in Beauty and the Beast inspired Jennifer Donnelly's Lost in a Book. He could afford to live palatially; instead, he gives most of his income to charity. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "palatial" means when you can explain it without saying "grand" or "sumptuous." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "I had to step backwards to admire the (building)'s palatial (feature)." Example: "I had to step backwards to admire the Jefferson Hotel's palatial rotunda." 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. Our game this month is called "Quirky Keepers."  We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.) Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it. We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies. See if you can recall the word from the previous issue: My daughter is almost four and loves asking why. "Why are you doing that?" "Why are we going here?" "Why is there a sparkle right there?" What adjective should we use to describe her? (It's three syllables.) See the answer by scrolling all the way down. Today, let’s check out the word "asteism." An asteism is a witty, polite insult. Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you an example of an asteism, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory. review today's word: 1. The opposite of PALATIAL is A. AGRARIAN. B. HUMBLE. C. DARK. 2. When I delivered pizzas, this surprised me at first: the more palatial the _____, the more _____ the tip. A. customer .. generous B. order .. inconsistent C. home .. stingy 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. Answer to the game question: She's pysmatic. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. C