Make Your Point > Archived Issues > TURBID
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connect today's word to others:
The word turbid looks a bit like disturb, turbine, and turbulence because all four come from the Latin word turba, meaning "a crowd, or turmoil."
Turbid things, especially liquids, are muddy, muddled, crowded, clouded, or thick with impurities.
See if you can recall these five synonyms of turbid:
1. _p_q__
2. n_b_l__s
3. t_n_br__s
4. _bf_sc_ted
5. c_l_g_n__s
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"TURBID"
Turbid things (often liquids) are dark, thick, unclear, clouded, or hard to understand.
Pronunciation:
TUR bid
Part of speech:
Adjective: "a turbid lake," "it's so turbid."
Other forms:
turbidly, turbidness or turbidity
How to use it:
This word is serious and sophisticated.
To use it literally, talk about turbid air, skies, clouds, or liquids, or more specifically, turbid bays, ponds, lakes, rivers, floods, etc. Colors, too, can be called turbid: a turbid brown, this turbid gray.
Because "turbid" often describes muddy, unclean waters, it's great for comparing some sphere or situation to a nasty, polluted river. That is, we can talk about a turbid substance of some abstract thing: "a turbid sea of sitcom mediocrity" (Salon), "the turbid rubbish of the Red bookshop" (John Maynard Keynes).
To be more directly figurative, we talk about turbid tasks, sleep, minds, intellects, thinking, memories, impressions, understandings, relationships, politics, and so on--even turbid music and recordings, turbid layers and backgrounds, and turbid confusion and indefiniteness.
examples:
In the waiting room, a customer flicks quickly through the channels on the blaring television, and I try to ignore the turbid rush of sounds.
"But much of [Titanic's] first half is turbid, naive and dead-serious, an awkward collection of clichés from pulp fiction, ladies' division."
— Richard Corliss, Time, 4 April 2012
study it:
Explain the meaning of "turbid" without saying "murky" or "polluted."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "From the turbid river of _____, _____ (has/have) surfaced, clean and clear."
Example: "From the turbid river of self-published fantasy novels, Hocking's have surfaced, clean and clear."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game this month is "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, Jeopardy!"
In each issue, I'll create three "answers" for you, and you supply the "questions." (That is, you'll respond in the form of a question, like "What is...?" or "Who is...?")
From the previous issue:
1. Category: Ditloids.
Answer: "Forever invisible save to him that wore the Ruling Ring" (Tolkien): T 9 R.
Question: What are The Nine Ringwraiths or The Nine Riders?
2. Category: WWW.
Answer: To some Native Americans, it's a conference or a spiritual ceremony.
Question: What is a powwow?
3. Category: Rhyme Three Times.
Answer: It's when the winter frosts have stiffened all your flowers and plants, but you forgive them.
Question: What is a garden harden pardon?
Try this last set today:
1. Category: WWW.
Answer: First seen in print in 1842, it's a sailor's term for a sudden, violent storm.
2. Category: Rhyme Three Times.
Answer: It's a zippy abbreviation for a course titled "Modern Foreign Governments."
3. Category: Homophone Pairs.
Answer: Utilize the coniferous trees known as Taxus baccata.
review today's word:
1. The opposite of TURBIDITY is
A. WIT.
B. CLARITY.
C. ORIGINALITY.
2. Valjean's mind _____ in a turbid _____ as he realizes he should turn himself in for his crimes.
A. proceeds .. line
B. writhes .. despair
C. clears .. epiphany
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. B
2. B
The word turbid looks a bit like disturb, turbine, and turbulence because all four come from the Latin word turba, meaning "a crowd, or turmoil."
"TURBID" Turbid things (often liquids) are dark, thick, unclear, clouded, or hard to understand.
In the waiting room, a customer flicks quickly through the channels on the blaring television, and I try to ignore the turbid rush of sounds.
Explain the meaning of "turbid" without saying "murky" or "polluted."
Fill in the blanks: "From the turbid river of _____, _____ (has/have) surfaced, clean and clear."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. The opposite of TURBIDITY 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. |