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Level 5
VERBAL ADVANTAGE
humor; a droll expression is an oddly comical expression; a droll remark is humorous in an offbeat way.
The corresponding noun is drollery (DROH-iur-ee), which may denote either an oddly amusing quality or something said or done in a slightly outrageous and amusing way.
Word 37: INSATIABLE (in-SAY-shuh-bul orin-SAY-sheeuh-bul)
Greedy, hungry, unable to be satisfied or appeased.
Synonyms of insatiable include ravenous, voracious (vor-RAY-shus), unquenchable, and unappeasable. The direct antonym is satiable, capable of
being satisfied.
From the Latin safe, which means "enough, sufficient," English has inher- i
ited the antonyms insatiable and satiable, the verbs to satisfy and to satiate
(SAY-shee-ayt), and the challenging noun satiety (suh-TY-j-tee).
To satiate means to satisfy completely or somewhat to excess. When you
fill your hungry belly with a hearty meal, you are satiated with food. If you occasionally feel that Verbal Advantage is stuffing your brain with more words than it
can comfortably contain, then you're feeling satiated with words. But don't I
worry. 1 don't think you'll reach the point of satiety. The noun satiety means a
state of excessive gratification, satisfaction beyond what one normally desires. ;|
Our keyword, insatiable, means incapable of being satiated, not able to
achieve satiety, unable to be satisfied or appeased— in short, greedy, hungry,,]
ravenous.
The human animal can be insatiable in many ways. You can have an insatiabte appetite for food, or drink, or sex; you can have an insatiable desire to
make money or achieve fame; you can have an insatiable hunger for attention;
you can have an insatiable longing for the way things were; and you can have
an insatiable thirst for knowledge or for learning new words.
Word 38: BEGUILE (be-GYL)
To deceive, delude, or mislead; also, to charm, amuse, or delight, !f|
Synonyms of beguile in the sense of "deceive, delude, or mislead" includ^
dupe and gull, which were discussed in word 11 of Level 2, and also hoodwink, swindle, bamboozle, ensnare, and cozen (KUZ-'n, like cousin);'1
Synonyms of beguile in the sense of "charm, amuse, or delight" include en-;'1
chant, enrapture, enthrall (en-THRAWL), and ensorcel (en-SOR-sul), also
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spelled ensorcel/, a poetic word that by derivation means to practice sorcery
upon.
The word guile (rhymes with mile) comes to us through Old French, probably from an Old English word meaning sorcery or divination. The notion that
the practitioners of sorcery are evil wizards has led to the modern meaning of
guile: deceitful craftiness, treacherous cunning.
The prefix be- at the beginning of the verb to beguile is an intensifier
meaning "completely, thoroughly." You can see this intensifying prefix be- in the
words besmirch, to smirch or stain thoroughly; befuddle, to completely fuddle
or confuse; and beware, to be completely wary of, to be thoroughly on one's
guard.
In its original sense the verb to beguile means to deceive completely by
means of guile, crafty, treacherous cunning. In Genesis, the first book of the
Old Testament, Eve tells God, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Since
Shakespeare's time beguile has also been used in a far less sinister way to
mean to completely capture the attention of, to thoroughly divert or distract,
and so to charm, amuse, or delight.
Depending on the motives of the beguiler, when you are beguiled you may
either be thoroughly charmed and enraptured or completely distracted and deceived. Beguiling eyes are captivating, fascinating eyes; beguiling words are
crafty, deceptive, misleading words.
Word 39: VINDICTIVE (vin-DiK-tiv)
Seeking or wanting revenge, vengeful, characterized by a desire to get even.
Vengeful and vindictive are close in meaning, and both words are used of
people who have a strong desire for revenge or retribution. (Retribution means
repayment—specifically, repayment in the form of punishment in return for a
wrong.)
Jhe vengeful person wants to inflict an equivalent degree of suffering upon
the/wrongdoer in accordance with the famous code of Hammurabi (HAHmuu-RAH-bee), the ancient Babylonian king, which stipulated "an eye for an
eye, a tooth for a tooth."
/The vindictive person is less rational and more fervent. When a vindictive
person feels'.wronged he is driven to retaliate at all costs. Consequently, vindictive often suggests gratuitous or unjustified retaliation for an offense that is
imagined rather than actual.