Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SPARTAN
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pronounce
SPARTAN:
Say it "SPAR tun."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
As we check out the word spartan today, see if you can recall two other adjectives that also derive from the names of places in ancient Greece:
1. Residents of the whole area around Sparta were known for using very few words. They were la____c.
2. Residents of a certain rural district were known for being stupid or uncultured. They were B____t__n.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
Sparta was a city in ancient Greece, where the residents were known for their extremely disciplined lifestyle: they kept everything plain, simple, and frugal, without anything indulgent or luxurious.
So, for hundreds of years in English, we've referred to plain, simple, frugal, non-indulgent, non-luxurious things as spartan.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Adjective: "his spartan lifestyle;" "The meal was a bit spartan."
Other forms:
None are common, but you can use "spartanly" for the adverb, and "spartanism" or "spartanhood" for the noun for the idea. And you can refer to people as spartans.
Naturally, we capitalize this word if it's part of a name or title ("Spartan Stadium," "Spartan Ale House," American Spartan), or if it's in reference to something that has to do with Sparta more literally: "Leonidas, the great Spartan leader."
In older texts, you'll see "spartan" capitalized as a proper adjective, as in "the Spartan simplicity" (1770). The word has been in use for so long, though, that most of us treat it like a common adjective, leaving it lowercase.
how to use it:
Pick the formal, sophisticated, semi-common word "spartan" to describe art, literature, rooms, buildings, meals and so on that are especially basic, undecorated, and free from frills. You can also get figurative and describe things like lifestyles and philosophies as spartan.
The tone of the word is often positive, suggesting discipline, efficiency, sensibleness, and self-control: "Neat and spartan, with well-spaced tables and a counter facing the open kitchen" (New York Times).
But the tone can also be negative, suggesting drabness, bleakness, ugliness, harshness, discomfort, and deprivation: "He lives in a spartan cubbyhole of an apartment" (also the New York Times).
Wow, the New York Times loves this word, you guys. There's more from them! Keep scrolling!
examples:
"The new Broadway revival of 'A View From the Bridge'... features spartan production design, including a sharply minimalist set and actors in workaday clothes."
— Erik Piepenburg, New York Times, 10 November 2015
"Michelangelo in old age lived a spartan life, reluctantly accepting gifts of cheese and wine from worried friends who did not like to think of him brooding ascetically in his lonely house in Rome."
— Jonathan Jones, The Guardian, 19 December 2012
has this page helped you understand "spartan"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "spartan" without saying "austere" or "abstemious."
try it out:
From Southern Living, check out the before and after photos of this laundry room, touted as a transformation from "spartan" to "colorful."
Southern Living writes:
"If there could be anything more depressing than a sunny day spent doing laundry, it would be a sunny day spent doing laundry in this bleak basement. It had all the charm of a load of dingy whites. Leigh Anne Montgomery treated the spartan space like a canvas and liberally dabbed her own artistic touches throughout to create a laundry and project room."
Oh, boy. There's a lot of manipulation going on here in these photos. Regardless, let's use them to talk about spartan spaces.
Do you think the room was, in fact, spartan before the transformation? Do you agree that a spartan space is typically "depressing" or "bleak" or "[as charming as] a load of dingy whites"? Why or why not? Do you think the post-transformation room is better? Is there still anything spartan about it? Is the opposite of "spartan" just "cluttered" or "colorful," or something else? What would you have done with this room, if anything?
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 for August is "Heard it in Hamilton."
Check out a snippet of lyrics from Hamilton: An American Musical, and see if you can come up with the missing word. You can check your answer by scrolling all the way down.
Try this one today:
BURR:
I am the one thing in life I can control.
I am _____.
I am an original.
Definition of the missing word: "so excellent that it can never be copied by someone else."
Number of syllables: 5.
review this word:
A. SUMPTUOUS.
B. SPECTACULAR.
C. PARSIMONIOUS.
2.
In the New York Times, Teddy Wayne argued that "_____" is an act of "_____."
A. flipping open a spartan phone .. retro cool
B. buying an $800 spartan-riddled phone .. corporate submission
C. saving a spartanly submerged phone with a bowl of rice .. technomagical heroism
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.
As we check out the word spartan today, see if you can recall two other adjectives that also derive from the names of places in ancient Greece:
Sparta was a city in ancient Greece, where the residents were known for their extremely disciplined lifestyle: they kept everything plain, simple, and frugal, without anything indulgent or luxurious.
Part of speech:
Pick the formal, sophisticated, semi-common word "spartan" to describe art, literature, rooms, buildings, meals and so on that are especially basic, undecorated, and free from frills. You can also get figurative and describe things like lifestyles and philosophies as spartan.
"The new Broadway revival of 'A View From the Bridge'... features spartan production design, including a sharply minimalist set and actors in workaday clothes."
Explain the meaning of "spartan" without saying "austere" or "abstemious."
From Southern Living, check out the before and after photos of this laundry room, touted as a transformation from "spartan" to "colorful."
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.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
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