Confidant

Confidant

buddy; pal; friend

A person you can trust with secrets.

He is my confidant and I tell him things I won't tell to other people.

Memory trick: We have confidence in a confidant.

A confidant is male and a confidante is a female.

Use at work:
You're my confidant so I can tell you we are all getting raises.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Pique

Pique

<peek>

excite; stimulate; arouse

Creating an interest in something.

You pique my curiosity when you show me the gold coins you found.

Pique sounds like peek. 
Memory trick: We peek and take a look at something interesting.

Used at work:
We will pique their interest when we show them the new demo.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Criterion

Criterion
<Kry-teer-ree-on>

gauge; test; precedent

A rule applied as a standard for evaluating something.

Finding Pretty shells is a criterion for making a nice necklace.

It is level of proof that must be met for a thing to be accepted.

A criterion for his viewing pleasure is that the movie must have a clown in it.

Criterion reminds us of critical.
You look at it in a critical way to decide if it is good enough.

Used at work:
A criterion is that you must work for the company to be eligible for the contest.

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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Overt

Overt

<oh-virt>

open; obvious; clear

Done in an unhidden or obvious way.

It was an overt act of contempt when he stuck his tongue out at me.

Think of... doing something and not caring who sees.

Doing something that all can observe.

Overt reminds of over.
Something that is over us is something that everyone can see.

Used at work:
It was an overt admission when he confessed in an email sent to the entire company.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Stoical

Stoical

<sto-ick-kal>

patient; calm; uncomplaining

Enduring pain or pleasure without reacting.

The stoical boy made no sound when the thorn was removed from his foot.

Origin: The ancient Stoics believed all was in Gods hands so all should be tolerated and accepted.

Remember: Sto sounds like stow.
Stow means to put something away.
We stow away our feelings in the face of adversity.

Used at work:
His stoical attitude calmed use and we made the deadline.



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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Insular

Insular

<in-soo-lar>

isolated; petty; prejudiced; separate

Closed off from other people.

Narrow minded and uninterested in others.

Comes from the Latin word "insula" - meaning “island".

An insular people live on the island.

The insular boy never played with the other children. He like to be alone.

Remember: Insular reminds us of insulate. We insulate a house to keep out the cold.

We keep the cold away from us.

Used at work:

The team must be insular from the testing department so they will not change the results of the tests.


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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers

Xenophobia

Xenophobia

<zen-oh-fo-be-ya>

bias; bigotry; animosity

An unreasonable fear of people from other places or country.

His xenophobia stopped him from travelling because he was afraid of foreigners.

Xénos is the Greek word for stranger.

Phobia means: "fear of"

Remember "stranger fear"

We are afraid of people from the planet xeno but we never met one.

Used at work:

His xenophobia limits the good people we can hire.

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(c) 2014 E. Carruthers