Question

adumbrate verb You aren't likely to find adumbrate in children's stories or on the sports pages. That's not because this shady word is somehow off-color, but rather because it tends to show up most often in academic or political writing. In fact, some usage commentators find it too hard for "ordinary" use (although they are hard-pressed to define "ordinary"). Art and literary critics have long found it useful, and it's a definite candidate for those oft-published "lists of words you should know" (especially for vocabulary tests). You might remember adumbrate better if you know that it developed from the Latin verb adumbrare, which in turn comes from umbra, the Latin word for "shadow." To adumbrate, then, is to offer a shadowy view of something. 1 : to foreshadow vaguely : intimate2 : to suggest, disclose, or outline partially3 : overshadow, obscure

Accepted Answer

June 5, 2017 AD-um-brayt "The opening scenes not only set forth the locale, the leading characters, and the first stage of the plot, but also adumbrate everything to come." — Richard Alleva, The Commonweal, 11 Sept. 2015"His temper and tendency to violence, adumbrated in the first part of the book, lead not only to his decline as a journalist but also his inability to maintain relationships with the various women he encounters." — Gerald Early, The Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2015

Word	adumbrate
Date	June 5, 2017
Type	verb
Syllables	AD-um-brayt
Etymology	You aren't likely to find adumbrate in children's stories or on the sports pages. That's not because this shady word is somehow off-color, but rather because it tends to show up most often in academic or political writing. In fact, some usage commentators find it too hard for "ordinary" use (although they are hard-pressed to define "ordinary"). Art and literary critics have long found it useful, and it's a definite candidate for those oft-published "lists of words you should know" (especially for vocabulary tests). You might remember adumbrate better if you know that it developed from the Latin verb adumbrare, which in turn comes from umbra, the Latin word for "shadow." To adumbrate, then, is to offer a shadowy view of something.
Examples	"The opening scenes not only set forth the locale, the leading characters, and the first stage of the plot, but also adumbrate everything to come." — Richard Alleva, The Commonweal, 11 Sept. 2015 "His temper and tendency to violence, adumbrated in the first part of the book, lead not only to his decline as a journalist but also his inability to maintain relationships with the various women he encounters." — Gerald Early, The Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2015
Definition	1 : to foreshadow vaguely : intimate 2 : to suggest, disclose, or outline partially 3 : overshadow, obscure

Adumbrate Verb Find Word Latin June Ad Um Brayt Children's