Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DILAPIDATE
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connect today's word to others:
Today's dilapidate is based on the Latin word for "stone," lapis. When something dilapidates, it's falling into ruin, as if it's being pelted with stones, or as if it's scattering like a bunch of stones.
Lapis also gave us lapidate, which means "to throw stones," and lapidary, which literally means "related to stones"--and can you recall its figurative meanings? Here's an example to give you a hint: "The biography, lapidary in tone from start to finish, opens with a solemn description of his childhood."
make your point with...
"DILAPIDATE"
When something dilapidates, it decays or falls into ruin.
And to dilapidate something is to let it decay, or to make it fall into ruin.
(To dilapidate something can also mean to spend it wastefully, but we rarely use that meaning.)
Pronunciation:
dih LAP ih date
Part of speech:
Verb.
It’s both transitive (someone or something dilapidates something)
and intransitive (something dilapidates on its own).
Other forms:
dilapidate, dilapidating, dilapidation
How to use it:
Most of the time we turn this word into an adjective, "dilapidated," and use it concretely to talk about dilapidated buildings and other structures: dilapidated homes and apartment complexes, dilapidated shops and schools, dilapidated warehouses and airports, dilapidated bridges and billboards, etc. Other concrete things we might call dilapidated include farms, vehicles, and large pieces of equipment or furniture.
And we can say that something is in a dilapidated state, or that an entire neighborhood, city, state, or nation is dilapidated.
We can get abstract, too, and talk about dilapidated groups and departments, dilapidated processes and systems, a dilapidated economy and so on. Anything that reminds you of an old, run-down, decaying, neglected building can be called dilapidated.
And to use the verb, "dilapidate," we can talk about houses and other things dilapidating, or about people who dilapidate those things (often because of their negligence).
examples:
Darkening the corner of Kinoole Street and Waianeuneu Avenue is the dilapidated Hilo Hotel, its windows cracked, its walls dripping with black mold.
The town's residents deplored the newly constructed bypass, which had choked off the flow of tourists and dilapidated the businesses along Main Street.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "dilapidate" means when you can explain it without saying "deteriorate" or "fall into disrepair."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(In a particular place) sagged a dilapidated _____."
Concrete example: "Along the dustiest wall of the bedroom sagged a dilapidated armoire."
Abstract example: "In the furthest corner of his mind sagged a dilapidated wish."
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 DILAPIDATE is
A. REJUVENATE.
B. OBSOLESCE.
C. UNDERGIRD.
2. The Bamboo Club continued to dilapidate that year, with membership _____.
A. fracturing across the issue of sustainability
B. expanding along with the plants' popularity
C. dwindling to less than a dozen
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. A
2. C
Today's dilapidate is based on the Latin word for "stone," lapis. When something dilapidates, it's falling into ruin, as if it's being pelted with stones, or as if it's scattering like a bunch of stones.
"DILAPIDATE" When something dilapidates, it decays or falls into ruin. Part of speech: Other forms:
Darkening the corner of Kinoole Street and Waianeuneu Avenue is the dilapidated Hilo Hotel, its windows cracked, its walls dripping with black mold.
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "dilapidate" means when you can explain it without saying "deteriorate" or "fall into disrepair."
Fill in the blanks: "(In a particular place) sagged a dilapidated _____."
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. Answers:
Try this today:
1. One opposite of DILAPIDATE is
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. |