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VERBAL ADVANTAGE
If you are accused of something but later the charge is dropped, then you
have been vindicated. You can vindicate your good name or your reputation by,
clearing it from blame or suspicion. You can also vindicate a claim of ownership or your right to something by defending or upholding the truth of it.
The corresponding noun is vindication: "In a civil lawsuit, the plaintiff seeks
restitution for an alleged wrong, and the defendant seeks vindication from the
charges."
To vindicate, to exonerate (eg- or ig-ZAHN-ur-ayt), and to acquit all mean
to free from blame. Acquit refers specifically to a judicial decision to release
someone from a charge. Exonerate implies removing the burden of guilt for a
wrongdoing that may or may not have been committed. Vindicate means to
clear from blame, criticism, or suspicion of guilt by bringing forth evidence and
proving the unfairness of the charge. Someone may be acquitted by a jury and
exonerated by his family and friends, but never vindicated in the eyes of the
community.
Level 6
231
The verb to ostracize, the corresponding noun ostracism (AHS-truh-siz-'m),
and the related word petalism (PET-'l-iz-'m) share an interesting history.
Ostracism and petalism were forms of banishment employed by the ancient
Greeks. Ostracize and ostracism come from the Greek ostrakon, a potsherd, a
piece of broken pottery. Ostracism was practiced by the ancient Athenians as a
way of removing from the city people considered dangerous or embarrassing to
the state. Citizens would vote by writing the name of the person to be expelled
on a potsherd (PAHT-shurd) or earthenware tablet. Banishment was for a period
often years, after which time the person was considered vindicated and free to
return.
Petalism was a similar mode of expulsion practiced in ancient Syracuse.
Petalism differed from ostracism only in the method of voting, which was done
by writing on an olive leaf instead of on a piece of clay, and in the length of the
exile, which was for five instead of ten years. The Century Dictionary (1914)
notes that petalism was eventually repealed "on account of its deterring the
best citizens from participating in public affairs."
Word 17: BUCOLIC (byoo-KAHL-ik)
Rural, rustic, of or pertaining to country life.
Synonyms of bucolic include pastoral (PAS-tur-ul, be sure to stress the
first syllable), provincial (pruh-VIN-shul), agrarian (uh-GRAIR-ee-in), idyllic (eye:
DIL-ik), and Arcadian (ahr-KAY-dee-in). Antonyms include urban, municipal,
civic, metropolitan, and cosmopolitan.
Bucolic comes from Latin and Greek words meaning a herdsman, shepherd, which in turn come from the Greek bous, an ox. Bucolic may mean either
pastoral, pertaining to shepherds, or rustic, pertaining to farming and country
life. Bucolic poetry is poetry about the country or country folk; bucolic scenery
is rural or rustic scenery. Sometimes bucolic is used in a depreciatory sense to
poke fun at people who live in the country. When supercilious city dwellers
speak of bucolic manners or bucolic customs, they mean to imply that those
manners or customs are crude or unsophisticated.
Word 18: OSTRACIZE (AHS-truh-syz)
To banish, send into exile, expel from a place; to bar, exclude, or reject from a
group or from acceptance by society: "His questionable conduct led to his
being ostracized by the other members of his profession"; "After the embarrassing incident her friends began to avoid her, and eventually they ostracized
her from their social life."
Word 19: PLETHORA (PLETH-uh-ruh)
An excess, surplus, overabundance, oversupply.
Synonyms of plethora include superabundance, profusion, superfluity
(SOO-pur-FLOO-i-tee), and surfeit (SUR-fit).
Antonyms of plethora include scarcity, insufficiency, dearth (word 12 of
Level 3), and paucity (PAW-si-tee): "The worst kind of boss is the one who offers a plethora of advice and a paucity of assistance."
Plethora comes from the Greek p/effte/n, to be full. In medicine the word is
used to mean an excess of blood in the body; in general usage plethora may
refer to any excess, surplus, or overabundance: "This report contains a
plethora of dull statistics." "Throughout her career she was blessed with a
plethora of opportunities." "American consumers no longer give the bulk of
their business to small, specialized retailers, but instead prefer to shop at superstores that offer a plethora of merchandise at discount prices."
Plethora is the noun; the corresponding adjective Is plethoric (ple-THOR-ik).
A plethoric harvest is an overabundant harvest, a bumper crop. Plethoric wealth
is excessive wealth. Plethoric writing is verbose, inflated writing; it overflows with
words or puffed-up self-importance. When used of language, plethoric is synonymous with the words bombastic (bahm-BAS-tik) and turgid (TUR-jid).
Plethora is sometimes mispronounced with the stress on the second syllable, plg-THOR-uh. Dictionaries do not recognize this variant. Be sure to stress
the first syllable: PLETH-uh-ruh.