transitive verb to take a possession or attribute away from; divest of.The hurricane deprived many residents of their homes.The factory’s closing deprived workers of their livelihoods. See the full entry
Wordsmyth
malign
transitive verb to speak badly of; defame; slander.The politician complained that she had been maligned by the press.Some parents maligned the teacher and tried to get him fired. adjective evil in intent,…
uncharacteristic
adjective combined form of characteristic.The boxing champion spoke of his win with uncharacteristic modesty. See the full entry
Word Parts III: Intermediate level suffixes
The suffixes in the following list are extremely common suffixes but some have fairly specialized meanings. The suffixes “-ish,” “-en,” and “-less” derive from Old or Middle English. The rest derive from…
Weekly Quiz
With the Wordsmyth Vocabulary Center activities, you can study these words, play games with them, and assess your knowledge of their meanings with a quiz. Go to the Vocabulary Center, the words…