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Literally, a recrudescence, or something recrudescent, is a re-opened wound or a medical condition making an unwelcome return. Yikes. And figuratively, something recrudescent is breaking out again, or being new, fresh, or "raw" again. Check out the roots:

1. re: again
2. crude: raw
3. escent: becoming

That "-escent" is pretty familiar to us: an adolescent, for example, is becoming an adult, and something evanescent is beginning to disappear.

Hey, we've checked out a lot of words before with that same suffix! See how many you can recall:

1. ac_escent: starting to give in: to accept something (or do something) even though you don't want to.
2. effeescent: becoming excited in a bubbly, lively way.
3. efflescent: growing and developing in a robust way.
4. in_descent: becoming so excited or angry that it seems warm and glowing.
5. ju___escent: seeming to become more and more youthful.
6. n_scent: just now beginning to develop.
7. ob_escent: becoming outdated.
8. quscent: (becoming) still and quiet.

Kudos if you can explain the similarity and difference between #1 and #8.

make your point with...

"RECRUDESCENT"

Something recrudescent is returning now after being gone for a while.

Pronunciation:
REE kroo DESS unt

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 recrudescent thing."
2. After a linking verb, as in "It was recrudescent.")

Other forms:
recrudescence, recrudesce, recrudescing

How to use it:

All kinds of concrete and abstract things that go away, then come back, can be called recrudescent. You might talk about recrudescent symptoms and medical conditions, recrudescent trends and fashions, recrudescent conflicts and struggles, recrudescent public interest in (or zeal for) a certain thing, or recrudescent philosophies or ways of thinking.

To use the noun, talk about a recrudescence of something. It might be a positive thing ("a recrudescence of devotion to the cause," "the recrudescence of their love for each other") or a negative thing ("a recrudescence of the persecution of religious minorities"). Leave out the "of" if your meaning is clear: "The training stopped bullying immediately and prevented any recrudescence."

For the verb, talk about something that recrudesces: "Fascism recrudesced that year," "the old dream is recrudescing," "I doubt the Beanie Baby craze will recrudesce."

The important point to consider is that, when you pick any form of "recrudescence" instead of a word like "recurrence," "relapse," "renaissance," "rebirth," or "revival," you're comparing your re-appearing subject to a wound that had healed but is now opening back up. Then why, you might ask, do we talk about positive recrudescent things? Probably because people hearing the word figured out from the context that it meant "making a comeback" and started applying it more generally to good things, like in these first known positive examples: "recrudescent merriment" (from 1833) and "a recrudescence of zeal" (1877).

examples:

In times of stress, grief recrudesces.

Since the announcement that a movie version was in the works, the book has enjoyed a recrudescence of public interest.

study it now:

Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "recrudescent" means when you can explain it without saying "returning" or "relapsing."

try it out:

Think of something that filled you with excitement after you'd forgotten about it for a while. Fill in the blank: "With recrudescent zeal, I (did something)."

Example: "With recrudescent zeal, I fiddled with the outline for the book."

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.

This month, we're playing with rhyming puzzles as we review previous words.

Examples: Someone who belts out songs in church with great gusto has __ _. Answer: hymn vim. And the barbecue place where you always meet up with your friends from Dallas and Houston is your ___ _. Answer: Texas nexus. The puzzles, and their answers, will get longer and sillier as the month goes on. Click or mouse-over the link to the clue if you need it, and see each answer the following day. Enjoy!

From yesterday: Often misattributed to Dr. Seuss, the following observation was made by Robert Fulghum: "We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love." If you're lucky, this has happened to you. Your own weird, odd, atypical habits have fallen into a perfect rhythm with someone else's. You've achieved ____ _. (Two words of five syllables each. Clue: use this word.)

Answer: eccentricity synchronicity.

Try this today: In an effort to quit putting things off for later, we've made a detailed list of reasons and excuses we won't use anymore. That list is our ___ _. (Two words of five syllables each. Clue: use a form of this word.)

review today's word:

1. One opposite of RECRUDESCENT is

A. AFLAME
B. EXTINCT
C. HIDDEN

2. We must do everything we can to _ this recrudescent hatred.

A. heal
B. root out
C. stamp out

Answers are below.

a final word:

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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

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