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turbid: msg#00005

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: turbid

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The Word of the Day for August 6 is:

turbid \TER-bid\ adjective
1 *a : thick or opaque with or as if with roiled sediment b : heavy with
smoke or mist
2 a : deficient in clarity or purity : foul, muddy b : characterized by
or producing obscurity (as of mind or emotions)

Example sentence:
With alarm and dismay, Evelyn saw that the turbid floodwaters had started
seeping into her kitchen.

Did you know?
"Turbid" and "turgid" (which means "swollen or distended" or "overblown,
pompous, or bombastic") are frequently mistaken for one another, and it?s no
wonder. Not only do the two words differ by only a letter, they are often used
in contexts where either word could fit. For example, a flooded stream can be
simultaneously cloudy and swollen, and badly written prose might be both
unclear and grandiloquent. Nevertheless, the distinction between these two
words, however fine, is an important one for conveying exact shades of meaning,
so it's a good idea to keep them straight.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





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