| Back | adumbrate \A-dem-brate\ |
|---|---|
| Front | transitive verb 1. To foreshadow vaguely; intimate. 2. To suggest, disclose, or outline partially. <adumbrate a plan> 3. Overshadow, obscure. [From Latin umbra (shade, shadow), which also gave us the words umbrella, umbrage, and somber. Earliest documented use: 1599.] "Mr Cameron should adumbrate painful decisions; he should sketch out the principles that will inform them; but he should not be drawn into spelling out what exactly they will be." - Coming Clean; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 26, 2009. "To create her three-dimensional composition, Robin Osler variedly manipulated floor and ceiling planes so as to adumbrate virtual spaces." - Monica Geran; Shadow Play; Interior Design (New York); Apr 2000. "And I enjoyed seeing my laborious joke cleverly adumbrated in yet another of your witty, wide-ranging, and inexhaustibly erudite columns." - Paul Theroux |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Droll /drōl adjective amusing odd dignified presence decorated droll
Previous card: Tutelary noun tutelarius tutela too-tuh-lair-ee adjective guardianship person
Up to card list: Hard English Vocabulary