Make Your Point: EVEN-KEELED

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pronounce EVEN-KEELED:

EE ven KEELD

connect this word to others:

As we explore the lovely word even-keeled, meaning "steady and unwavering, like an upright ship," see if you can recall these related terms:

1.From the Latin carina, meaning "the keel of a ship," to c____n is to travel quickly and dangerously, moving side to side.

2. Literally "to punish by dragging beneath a ship's keel," to k___h__l someone is to express extremely harsh disapproval of them.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

(Source)

When a ship is even-keeled, its keel is perfectly level or straight, so it sails in a smooth, stable way.

And when people are even-keeled, they remind you of smooth, stable ships because their behavior is calm, steady, and stable.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "The game grew chaotic, but the players remained even-keeled."

Other forms:

None are common.

But pluck off the "even-" and the "-ed," and you get the verb "keel," meaning "to tip over, like a ship getting knocked on its side," as in "I laughed so hard that I keeled over."

how to use it:

Pick the rare but easily understood word "even-keeled" when you want to describe someone who gets things done in a way that's smooth, calm, steady, and effective.

Talk about even-keeled people and their even-keeled minds, outlooks, attitudes, approaches, and relationships. You could also refer to a story or a process as even-keeled if it seems to sail along smoothly.

Keep in mind that the metaphor behind "even-keeled" is always a steady ship. You could even talk literally about an even-keeled boat, ship, or vessel.

examples:

"Wielding his Everyman insider shtick as comfortably as he does on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!', Kimmel's even-keeled demeanor lent a relaxed accessibility to the festivities [at the Emmy Awards]."
— Melanie McFarland, Salon, 19 September 2016

"Trump's campaign was rocked by repeated shakeups. And the Trump White House is expected to be no different, where staffers of even the most even-keeled presidents are prone to burn out after only a few years."
— Sabrina Siddiqui and Ben Jacobs, The Guardian, 4 February 2017

has this page helped you understand "even-keeled"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

study it:

Explain the meaning of "even-keeled" without saying "unswerving" or "equanimous."

try it out:

Would you rather be thought of as "even-keeled" or "freewheeling"? Why?

Does it depend on the situation? If so, how?

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 this month is Subject Line Matching!

Try matching each capitalized term below with the email subject line that I used to introduce it. For an extra challenge, try recalling what each term means and how the subject line connects to it.

Try these today:

DAEDALIAN: _____________
DÉCLASSÉ: _____________
MACHIAVELLIAN: _____________
OBSCURE: _____________
SADDLED: _____________

lesser-known Prussian kings
making it hard to mosey
strap in! After you read the manual, for Gods' sake
when you're A-OK with shoving people off cliffs
[wrinkles nose in French]

To see the correct answers, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. One opposite of EVEN-KEELED is

A. AKIMBO: wild and disorderly.
B. BRUSQUE: blunt and harsh.
C. CONCUPISCENT: distastefully lustful.

2. A headline from the New York Times read, "LSU QB Jayden Daniels remains even-keeled through his roller-coaster career." There's a mixed metaphor in there; if you'd like to correct it, you could swap out "roller-coaster career" for "_____ career."

A. dark-forest
B. stormy-sea
C. wild-goose-chase

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:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A 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.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > EVEN-KEELED

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