How to Flatter Your Friends

1. put the kettle on, Polly

They are friendly, happy, extroverted, and gregarious—the sort of people who will invite you out for a drink, who like to transact business around the lunch table, who put the coffee to perking as soon as company drops in. They’re sociable, genial, cordial, affable—and they like parties and all the eating and drinking that goes with them.

The adjective is: convivial

2. you can’t tire them

Arnold Bennett once pointed out that we all have the same amount of time—twenty-four hours a day. Strictly speaking, that’s as inconclusive an observation as Bennett ever made. It’s not time that counts, but energy—and of that wonderful quality we all have very different amounts, from the persons who wake up tired, no matter how much sleep they’ve had, to lucky, well-adjusted mortals who hardly ever need to sleep.

Energy comes from a healthy body, of course; it also comes from a psychological balance, a lack of conflicts and insecurities.

Some people apparently have boundless, illimitable energy—they’re on the go from morning to night, and often far into the night, working hard, playing hard, never tiring, never “pooped” or “bushed”—and getting twice as much done as any three other human beings.

The adjective is: indefatigable

3. no tricks, no secrets

They are pleasingly frank, utterly lacking in pretense or artificiality, in fact quite unable to hide their feelings or thoughts—and so honest and aboveboard that they can scarcely conceive of trickery, chicanery, or dissimulation in anyone. There is, then, about them the simple naturalness and unsophistication of a child.

The adjective is: ingenuous

4. sharp as a razor

They have minds like steel traps; their insight into problems that would confuse or mystify people of less keenness or discernment is just short of amazing.

The adjective is: perspicacious

5. no placating necessary

They are most generous about forgiving a slight, an insult, an injury. Never do they harbor resentment, store up petty grudges, or waste energy or thought on means of revenge or retaliation. How could they? They’re much too big-hearted.

The adjective is: magnanimous

6. one-person orchestras

The range of their aptitudes is truly formidable. If they are writers, they have professional facility in poetry, fiction, biography, criticism, essays—you just mention it and they’ve done it, and very competently. If they are musicians, they can play the oboe, the bassoon, the French horn, the bass viol, the piano, the celesta, the xylophone, even the clavichord if you can dig one up. If they are artists, they use oils, water colors, gouache, charcoal, pen and ink—they can do anything! Or maybe the range of their abilities cuts across all fields, as in the case of Michelangelo, who was an expert sculptor, painter, poet, architect, and inventor. In case you’re thinking “Jack of all trades…,” you’re wrong—they’re masters of all trades.

The adjective is: versatile

7. no grumbling

They bear their troubles bravely, never ask for sympathy, never yield to sorrow, never wince at pain. It sounds almost superhuman, but it’s true.

The adjective is: stoical

8. no fear

There is not, as the hackneyed phrase has it, a cowardly bone in their bodies. They are strangers to fear, they’re audacious, dauntless, contemptuous of danger and hardship.

The adjective is: intrepid

9. no dullness

They are witty, clever, delightful; and naturally, also, they are brilliant and entertaining conversationalists.

The adjective is: scintillating

10. city slickers

They are cultivated, poised, tactful, socially so experienced, sophisticated, and courteous that they’re at home in any group, at ease under all circumstances of social intercourse. You cannot help admiring (perhaps envying) their smoothness and self-assurance, their tact and congeniality.

The adjective is: urbane

1. eat, drink, and be merry

The Latin verb vivo, to live, and the noun vita, life, are the source of a number of important English words.

Convivo is the Latin verb to live together; from this, in Latin, was formed the noun convivium (don’t get impatient; we’ll be back to English directly), which meant a feast or banquet; and from convivium we get our English word convivial, an adjective that describes the kind of person who likes to attend feasts and banquets, enjoying (and supplying) the jovial good fellowship characteristic of such gatherings.

Using the suffix -ity can you write the noun form of the adjective convivial? __________________. (Can you pronounce it?)

2. living it up

Among many others, the following English words derive from Latin vivo, to live:

1. vivacious (vī-VAY′-shəs)—full of the joy of living; animated; peppy—a vivacious personality. Noun: vivacity (vī-VAS′-ə-tee). You can, as you know, also add -ness to any adjective to form a noun. Write the alternate noun form of vivacious: __________________.
2. vivid—possessing the freshness of life; strong; sharp—a vivid imagination; a vivid color. Add -ness to form the noun: __________________.
3. revive (rə-VĪV′)—bring back to life. In the 1960s, men’s fashions of the twenties were revived. Noun: revival (rə-VĪV′-əl).
4. vivisection (viv′-ə-SEK′-shən)—operating on a live animal. Sect- is from a Latin verb meaning to cut. Vivisection is the process of experimenting on live animals to discover causes and cures of disease. Antivivisectionists object to the procedure, though many of our most important medical discoveries were made through vivisection.
5. viviparous (vī-VIP′-ər-əs)—producing live babies. Human beings and most other mammals are viviparous. Viviparous is contrasted to oviparous (ō-VIP′-ər-əs), producing young from eggs. Most fish, fowl, and other lower forms of life are oviparous.

The combining root in both these adjectives is Latin pareo, to give birth (parent comes from the same root). In oviparous, the first two syllables derive from Latin ovum, egg.

Ovum, egg, is the source of oval and ovoid, egg-shaped; ovulate (Ō′-vyə-layt′), to release an egg from the ovary: ovum (Ō-vəm), the female germ cell which, when fertilized by a sperm, develops into an embryo, then into a fetus (FEE′-təs), and finally, in about 280 days in the case of humans, is born as an infant.

The adjective form of ovary is ovarian (ō-VAIR′-ee-ən); of fetus, fetal (FEE′-təl). Can you write the noun form of the verb ovulate? __________________.

Love, you may or may not be surprised to hear, also comes from ovum. No, not the kind of love you’re thinking of. Latin ovum became oeuf in French, or with “the” preceding the noun (the egg), l’oeuf, pronounced something like LŏŏF. Zero (picture it for a moment) is shaped like an egg (0), so if your score in tennis is fifteen, and your opponent’s is zero, you shout triumphantly, “Fifteen love! Let’s go!”

3. more about life

Latin vita, life, is the origin of:

1. vital (VĪ′-təl)—essential to life; of crucial importance—a vital matter; also full of life, strength, vigor, etc. Add the suffix -ity to form the noun: __________________. Add a verb suffix to construct the verb: __________________ (meaning: to give life to). Finally, write the noun derived from the verb you have constructed: __________________.
2. revitalize (ree-VĪ′-tə-līz′) is constructed from the prefix re-, again, back, the root vita, and the verb suffix. Meaning? __________________. Can you write the noun formed from this verb? __________________.
3. The prefix de- has a number of meanings, one of which is essentially negative, as in defrost, decompose, declassify, etc. Using this prefix, can you write a verb meaning to rob of life, to take life from? __________________. Now write the noun form of this verb: __________________.
4. vitamin—one of the many nutritional elements on which life is dependent. Good eyesight requires vitamin A (found, for example, in carrots); strong bones need vitamin D (found in sunlight and cod-liver oil); etc.

Vitalize, revitalize, and devitalize are used figuratively—for example, a program or plan is vitalized, revitalized, or devitalized, according to how it’s handled.

4. French life

Sometimes, instead of getting our English words directly from Latin, we work through one of the Latin-derived or Romance languages. (As you will recall, the Romance languages—French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian—are so called because they were originally dialects of the old Roman tongue. English, by the way, is not a Romance language, but a Teutonic one. Our tongue is a development of a German dialect imposed on the natives of Britain by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes of early English history. Though we have taken over into English more than 50 per cent of the Latin vocabulary and almost 30 per cent of the classical Greek vocabulary as roots and prefixes, our basic language is nevertheless German).

The French, using the same Latin root vivo, to live, formed two expressive phrases much used in English. French pronunciation is, of course, tricky, and if you are not at least superficially acquainted with that language, your pronunciation may sound a bit awkward to the sophisticated ear—but try it anyway. These phrases are:

1. joie de vivre—pronounced something like zhwahd′-VEEV′ (zh is identical in sound to the s of pleasure). Literally joy of living, this phrase describes an immense delight in being alive, an effervescent keenness for all the daily activities that human beings indulge in. People who possess joie de vivre are never moody, depressed, bored, or apathetic—on the contrary, they are full of sparkle, eager to engage in all group activities, and, most important, always seem to be having a good time, no matter what they are doing. Joie de vivre is precisely the opposite of ennui (this is also a word of French origin, but is easy to pronounce: AHN′-wee), which is a feeling of boredom, discontent, or weariness resulting sometimes from having a jaded, oversophisticated appetite, sometimes from just finding all of life tedious and unappetizing, and sometimes implying in addition physical lassitude and general inactivity. Young children and simple people rarely experience ennui—to them life is always exciting, always new.
2. bon vivant, pronounced something like BŌNG′-vee-VAHNG′—the -NG a muted nasal sound similar to the -ng in sing. A bon vivant is a person who lives luxuriously, especially in respect to rich food, good liquor, expensive theater parties, operas, and other accouterments of upper-class life. Bon vivant means, literally, a good liver; actually, a high liver, one who lives a luxurious life. The bon vivant is of course a convivial person—and also likely to be a gourmet (gŏŏr-MAY′), another word from French.

5. food and how to enjoy it

The gourmand (GŏŏR′-mənd) enjoys food with a sensual pleasure. To gourmands the high spots of the day are the times for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight supper; in short, they like to eat, but the eating must be good. The verb form, gormandize (GAWR′-mən-dīz′), however, has suffered a degeneration in meaning—it signifies to stuff oneself like a pig.

A gourmand is significantly different from a gourmet, who has also a keen interest in food and liquor, but is much more fastidious, is more of a connoisseur, has a most discerning palate for delicate tastes, flavors, and differences; goes in for rare delicacies (like hummingbirds’ tongues and other such absurdities); and approaches the whole business from a scientific, as well as a sensual, viewpoint. Gourmet is always a complimentary term, gourmand somewhat less so.

The person who eats voraciously, with no discernment whatever, but merely for the purpose of stuffing himself (“I know I haven’t had enough to eat till I feel sick”), is called a glutton (GLUT′-ən)—obviously a highly derogatory term. The verb gluttonize is stronger than gormandize; the adjective gluttonous (GLUT′-ə-nəs) is about the strongest epithet you can apply to someone whose voracious eating habits you find repulsive. Someone who has a voracious, insatiable appetite for money, sex, punishment, etc. is also called a glutton.

1. no fatigue

Indefatigable is a derived form of fatigue—in- is a negative prefix, the suffix -able means able to be; hence, literally, indefatigable means unable to be fatigued. The noun is indefatigability (in′-də-fat′-ə-gə-BIL′-ə-tee).

2. how simple can one be?

Ingenuous is a complimentary term, though its synonyms naïve, gullible, and credulous are faintly derogatory.

To call people ingenuous implies that they are frank, open, artless—in other words, not likely to try to put anything over on you, nor apt to hide feelings or thoughts that more sophisticated persons would consider it wise, tactful, or expedient to conceal.

Ingenuous should not be confused with ingenious (in-JEEN′-yəs)—note the slight difference in spelling—which on the contrary means shrewd, clever, inventive.

The noun form of ingenuous is ingenuousness; of ingenious, ingenuity (in′-jə-NŌŌ′-ə-tee) or ingeniousness.

To call people naïve (nah-EEV′) is to imply that they have not learned the ways of the world, and are therefore idealistic and trusting beyond the point of safety; such idealism and trust have probably come from ignorance or inexperience. The noun is naïveté (nah-eev-TAY′).

Credulous (KREJ′-ə-ləs) implies a willingness to believe almost anything, no matter how fantastic. Credulity (krə-JŌŌ′-lə-tee), like naïveté, usually results, again, from ignorance or inexperience, or perhaps from an inability to believe that human beings are capable of lying.

Gullible (GUL′-ə-bəl) means easily tricked, easily fooled, easily imposed on. It is a stronger word than credulous and is more derogatory. Gullibility (gul′-ə-BIL′-ə-tee) results more from stupidity than from ignorance or inexperience.

These four synonyms, ingenuous, naïve, credulous, and gullible, are fairly close, but they contain areas of distinction worth remembering. Let’s review them:

1. ingenuous—frank, not given to concealment
2. naïve—inexperienced, unsophisticated, trusting
3. credulous—willing to believe; not suspicious or skeptical
4. gullible—easily tricked

3. belief and disbelief

Credulous comes from Latin credo, to believe, the same root found in credit (if people believe in your honesty, they will extend credit to you; they will credit what you say). -Ous is an adjective suffix that usually signifies full of. So, strictly, credulous means full of believingness.

Do not confuse credulous with credible. (KRED′-ə-bəl). In the latter word we see combined the root credo, believe, with -ible, a suffix meaning can be. Something credible can be believed.

Let’s chart some differences:

• Credulous listeners—those who fully believe what they hear
• A credible story—one that can be believed
• An incredulous (in-KREJ′-ə-ləs) attitude—an attitude of skepticism, of non-belief
• An incredible (in-KRED′-ə-bəl) story—one that cannot be believed
• Incredible characters—persons who are so unique that you can scarcely believe they exist.

Nouns are formed as follows:

• credulous—credulity (krə-JŌŌ′-lə-tee)
• incredulous—incredulity (in-krə-JŌŌ′-lə-tee)
• credible—credibility (kred′-ə-BIL′-ə-tee)
• incredible—incredibility (in-kred′-ə-BIL′-ə-tee)

To check your understanding of these distinctions, try the next test.

Can you use these words correctly?

Use credulous, credible, or corresponding negative or noun forms in the following sentences:

1. 1. She listened __________________ly to her husband’s confession of his frequent infidelity, for she had always considered him a paragon of moral uprightness.

   Check

2. 2. He told his audience an __________________ and fantastic story of his narrow escapes.

   Check

3. 3. He’ll believe you—he’s very __________________.

   Check

4. 4. Make your characters more __________________ if you want your readers to believe in them.

   Check

5. 5. We listened dumb-struck, full of __________________, to the shocking details of corruption and vice.

   Check

6. 6. He has the most __________________ good luck.

   Check

7. 7. The __________________ of it! How can such things happen?

   Check

8. 8. Naïve people accept with complete __________________, whatever anyone tells them.

   Check

9. 9. “Do you believe me?” “Sure—your story is __________________ enough.”

   Check

10. 10. I’m not objecting to the total __________________ of your story, but only to your thinking that I’m __________________ enough to believe it!

    Check

4. what people believe in

Credo, to believe, is the origin of four other useful English words.

1. credo (KREE′-dō)—personal belief, code of ethics; the principles by which people guide their actions.
2. creed—a close synonym of credo; in addition, a religious belief, such as Catholicism, Judaism, Protestantism, Hinduism, etc.
3. credence (KREE′-dəns)—belief, as in, “I place no credence in his stories.” or “Why should I give any credence to what you say?”
4. credentials (krə-DEN′-shəls)—a document or documents proving a person’s right to a title or privilege (i.e., a right to be believed), as in, “The new ambassador presented his credentials to the State Department.”

5. heads and tails

We can hardly close our book on the words suggested by ingenuous without looking at the other side of the coin. If ingenuous means frank, open, then disingenuous (dis-in-JEN′-yŌŌ-əs) should mean not frank or open.

But disingenuous people are far more than simply not ingenuous. They are crafty, cunning, dishonest, artful, insincere, untrustworthy—and they are all of these while making a pretense of being simple, frank, and aboveboard. You are thinking of a wolf in sheep’s clothing? It’s a good analogy.

Similarly, a remark may be disingenuous, as may also a statement, an attitude, a confession, etc.

Add -ness to form the noun derived from disingenuous: __________________.

1. how to look

The Latin root specto, to look, is the source of a host of common English words: spectacle, spectator, inspect, retrospect (a looking back), prospect (a looking ahead), etc. In a variant spelling, spic-, the root is found in conspicuous (easily seen or looked at), perspicacious, and perspicuous.

A perspicacious (pur′-spə-KAY′-shəs) person is keen-minded, mentally sharp, astute. Per- is a prefix meaning through; so the word etymologically means looking through (matters, etc.) keenly, intelligently. The noun: perspicacity (pur′-spə-KAS′-ə-tee). Write an alternate noun ending in -ness: perspicaciousness.

Perspicacity is a synonym of acumen (AK′-yoo′-mən), mental keenness, sharpness, quickness; keen insight. The root is Latin acuo, to sharpen.

2. sharpness

From acuo, to sharpen, come such words as acute, sharp, sudden, as acute pain, an acute attack of appendicitis, acute reasoning, etc; and acupuncture (AK′-yoo-punk′-chər), the insertion of a (sharp) needle into the body for medical purposes. The noun form of acute, referring to the mind or thinking, is acuteness or acuity (ə-KY-oo′-ə-tee); in other contexts, acuteness only.

Acupuncture combines acuo, to sharpen, with punctus, point. When you punctuate a sentence, you put various points (periods, commas, etc.) where needed; when lightning punctuates the storm, or when the silence is punctuated by the wailing of police sirens, again points, etymologically speaking, interrupt the atmosphere, the quiet, etc.

If you are punctual, you’re right on the point of time (noun: punctuality); if you’re punctilious (punk-TIL′-ee-əs), you are exact, scrupulous, very careful to observe the proper points of behavior, procedure, etc. (noun: punctiliousness). And to puncture something, of course, is to make a hole in it with a sharp point—as to puncture someone’s tire, or figuratively, illusions, fantasies, or ego. Pungent (PUN′-jənt) comes from another form of the root punctus (pungo, to pierce sharply), so a pungent smell or taste is sharp, spicy, pricking the nose or taste buds, so to speak; and a pungent wit sharply pierces one’s sense of humor. Can you write the noun forms of this adjective? pungence or pungency.

3. some more looking

Perspicacious should not be confused with perspicuous (pər-SPIK′-yoo-əs).

Here is the important distinction:

Perspicacious means smart, sharp, able to look through and understand quickly. This adjective applies to persons, their reasoning, minds, etc.

Perspicuous is the obverse side of the coin—it means easily understood from one look, and applies to writing, style, books, and like things that have to be understood. Hence it is a synonym of clear, simple, lucid. If you write with perspicuous style, your language is clear, easy to understand. If you are perspicacious, you understand quickly, easily.

The noun form of perspicuous is perspicuity (pur′-spə-KY-oo′-ə-tee), or, of course, perspicuousness.

A spectacle is something to look at; spectacles (eyeglasses) are the means by which you get a comfortable and accurate look at the world. Anything spectacular is, etymologically, worth looking at.

A spectator is one who looks at what’s happening.

To inspect is to look into something.

Retrospect (RET′-rə-spekt′) is a backward look—generally the word is preceded by the preposition in, for instance, “His life in retrospect seemed dreary and dull,” or “Most experiences seem more enjoyable in retrospect than in actuality” (retro-, backward).

Prospect (PROS′-pekt′) is a forward look; prospective (prə-SPEK′-tiv) is the adjective. What’s the prospect for inflation, for world peace, for the domestic energy supply? Your prospective mother-in-law is the one you can look forward to if you marry a certain person; similarly, your prospective bride, groom, child, job, vacation, etc. is the person, thing, or activity in the future that you look forward to. (The prefix is pro-, forward, ahead, before.)

If you enjoy looking at yourself, figuratively speaking, then you like to examine your mental processes and emotional reactions, in the intense way characteristic of the introvert. Your mind’s eye turns inward, and you spend a good deal of time analyzing yourself, your character, your personality, your actions. Hence, since you look inward, you are introspective (in′-trə-SPEK′-tiv)—the prefix is intro-, inside, within. If you introspect (in′-trə-SPEKT′), you look inward and examine your inner reactions. Too much introspection (in′-trə-SPEK′-shən) or introspectiveness may lead to unhappiness or to depressing thoughts or feelings of anxiety—few people have the courage to see themselves as they really are.

There are times when you have to look around most carefully; you must then be circumspect (SUR′-kəm-spekt′)—watchful, cautious, alert (circum-, around).

The noun is circumspection (sur′-kəm-SPEK′-shən) or circumspectness.

If something looks good or sensible, but actually is not, we call it specious (SPEE′-shəs). A specious argument sounds plausible, but in reality is based on an error, a fallacy, or an untruth. The noun is speciousness.

1. the great and the small

You are familiar with Latin animus, mind. Animus and a related root, anima, life principle, soul, spirit (in a sense, these meanings are all very similar), are the source of such words as animal, animate and inanimate, animated, and animation; knowing the meaning of the roots, you have a better understanding of any word built on them.

Magnanimous contains, in addition to animus, mind, the root magnus, large, great, which you recall from magniloquent. Magnanimous people have such great, noble minds or souls that they are beyond seeking petty revenge.

The noun is magnanimity (mag′-nə-NIM′-ə-tee).

On the other hand, people who have tiny, tiny minds or souls are pusillanimous (pyoo′-sə-LAN′-ə-məs)—Latin pusillus, tiny. Hence, they are contemptibly petty and mean. The noun is pusillanimity (pyoo′-sə-lə-NIM′-ə-tee).

Other words built on animus, mind:

1. unanimous (yoo-NAN′-ə-məs)—of one mind. If the Supreme Court hands down a unanimous opinion, all the judges are of one mind (Latin unus, one). The noun is unanimity (yoo′-nə-NIM′-ə-tee).

2. equanimity (ee′-kwə-NIM′-ə-tee or ek′-wə-NIM′-ə-tee)—etymologically, “equal (or balanced) mind.” Hence, evenness or calmness of mind; composure. If you preserve your equanimity under trying circumstances, you keep your temper, you do not get confused, you remain calm (Latin aequus, equal).

3. animus (AN′-ə-məs)—hostility, ill will, malevolence. Etymologically, animus is simply mind, but has degenerated, as words often do, to mean unfriendly mind. The word is most often used in a pattern like, “I bear you no animus, even though you have tried to destroy me.” (Such a statement shows real magnanimity!)

4. animosity (an′-ə-MOS′-ə-tee)—ill will, hostility. An exact synonym of animus, and a more common word. It is used in patterns like, “You feel a good deal of animosity, don’t you?”, “There is real animosity between Bill and Ernie,” “If you bear me no animosity, why do you treat me so badly?”

2. turning

Versatile comes from verto, versus, to turn—versatile people can turn their hand to many things successfully. The noun is versatility (vur′-sə-TIL′-ə-tee).

3. Zeno and the front porch

Centuries ago, in ancient Greece, the philosopher Zeno lectured on a topic that still piques the human mind, to wit: “How to Live a Happy Life.” Zeno would stand on a porch (the Greek word for which is stoa) and hold forth somewhat as follows: people should free themselves from intense emotion, be unmoved by both joy and sorrow, and submit without complaint to unavoidable necessity.

Today, psychologists suggest pretty much the exact opposite—let your emotions flow freely, express your love or animosity, don’t bottle up your feelings. But in the fourth century B.C., when Zeno was expounding his credo, his philosophy of control of the passions fell on receptive ears. His followers were called Stoics, after the stoa, or porch, from which the master lectured.

If we call people stoical, we mean that they bear their pain or sorrow without complaint, they meet adversity with unflinching fortitude. This sounds very noble, you will admit—actually, according to modern psychological belief, it is healthier not to be so stoical. Stoicism (STŌ′-ə-siz-əm) may be an admirable virtue (mainly because we do not then have to listen to the stoic’s troubles), but it can be overdone.

4. fear and trembling

Intrepid is from Latin trepido, to tremble. Intrepid people exhibit courage and fearlessness (and not a single tremble!) when confronted by dangers from which you and I would run like the cowards we are. (You recognize the negative prefix in-.)

The noun: intrepidity (in′-trə-PID′-ə-tee), or, of course, intrepidness.

Trepido is the source also of trepidation (trep′-ə-DAY′-shən)—great fear, trembling, or alarm.

5. quick flash

Scintilla, in Latin, is a quick, bright spark; in English the word scintilla (sin-TIL′-ə) may also mean a spark, but more commonly refers to a very small particle (which, in a sense, a spark is), as in, “There was not a scintilla of evidence against him.”

In the verb scintillate (SIN′-tə-layt′), the idea of the spark remains; someone who scintillates sparkles with charm and wit, flashes brightly with humor. The noun is scintillation (sin′-tə-LAY′-shən).

6. city and country

People who live in the big city go to theaters, attend the opera, visit museums and picture galleries, browse in bookstores, and shop at Robinson’s, Bloomingdale’s, Marshall Field, or other large department stores.

These activities fill them with culture and sophistication.

Also, they crowd into jammed subway trains or buses, squeeze into packed elevators, cross the street in competition with high-powered motorcars, patiently stand in line outside of movie houses, and then wait again in the lobby for seats to be vacated.

Also, they have the privilege of spending two hours a day going to and coming from work.

As a result, city-dwellers are refined, polished, courteous—or so the etymology of urbane (from Latin urbs, city) tells us. (And you must be absurdly credulous, if not downright gullible, to believe it.) The noun is urbanity (ur-BAN′-ə-tee).

So urbane people are gracious, affable, cultivated, suave, tactful—add any similar adjectives you can think of.

Urban (UR′-bən) as an adjective simply refers to cities—urban affairs, urban areas, urban populations, urban life, urban development, etc.

Consider some prefixes: sub-, near; inter-, between; intra-, inside, within; ex-, out.

The suburbs are residential sections, or small communities, close to a large city. Suburbia (sə-BUR′-bee-ə) may designate suburbs as a group; suburban residents, or suburbanites (sə-BUR′-bə-nīts′), as a group; or the typical manners, modes of living, customs, etc. of suburban residents.

An interurban bus travels between cities, an intraurban bus within a single city.

An exurb (EKS′-urb) lies well beyond, way outside, a large city, and generally refers to a region inhabited by well-to-do families. Exurb has derived forms corresponding to those of suburb: exurbs, exurban, exurbanite, exurbia.

Urbs is the city; Latin rus, ruris is the country, i.e., farmland, fields, etc. So rural (ROOR′-əl) refers to country or farm regions, agriculture, etc.

Rustic (RUS′-tik) as an adjective may describe furniture or dwellings made of roughhewn wood, or furnishings suitable to a farmhouse; or, when applied to a person, is an antonym of urbane—unsophisticated, boorish, lacking in social graces, uncultured. Noun: rusticity (rus-TIS′-ə-tee). Rustic is also a noun designating a person with such characteristics, as in, “He was considered a rustic by his classmates, all of whom came from cultured and wealthy backgrounds.”

Urbane and rustic, when applied to people, are emotionally charged words. Urbane is complimentary, rustic derogatory.

To rusticate (RUS′-tə-kayt′) is to spend time in the country, away from the turmoil and tensions of big-city life. The noun: rustication (rus′-tə-KAY′-shən).