Difficult Words : Condone, Conducive, Confluence, Congenial, Congenital and Conjecture





Difficult Words: Condone, Conducive, Confluence, Congenial, Congenital and Conjecture

Condone (kun DOHN) u: to overlook; to permit to happen

To condone what someone has does is to look the other way while it happens or to permit it to happen by not doing anything about it.

The Principal condoned the hood's smoking in the bathroom. He simply ignored it.

____________________________________________________________________

Conducive (kun DOO siv) adj: promoting

The chairs in the library are conducive to sleep. If you sit in them to study, you will fall asleep.

The foul weather was not conducive to our having a picnic.

The teacher's easygoing manner was conducive to chaos in the class- room.

____________________________________________________________________

Confluence (KON floo uns) n: a flowing together, especially of rivers; the place where they begin to flow together

The confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers is at St. Louis. That's the place where they join together.

There is a remarkable confluence in our thoughts: we think the same way about almost everything.

A Confluence of many factors (no ice, bad food, terrible music) made it inevitable that the party would be a big flop.

____________________________________________________________________

Congenial (kun JEEN yul) adj: agreeably suitable; pleasant

The little cabin in the woods was congenial to the writer. He was able to get a lot of writing done there.

The new restaurant has a congenial atmosphere. We enjoy just sitting there playing with the ice in our water glasses.

When people get along together at a restaurant, and don't throw food at one another, they are being congenial.

Genial and congenial share similar meanings. Genial means pleasing, kind, sympathetic or helpful. You can be pleased by a genial manner or by a genial climate.

____________________________________________________________________

Congenital (kun JEN I tul adj: a trait or condition acquired between conception and birth: innate

A congenital birth defect is one that is present at birth but was not caused by one's genes.

The word is also used more loosely to describe any (usually bad) trait or behavior that is so firmly fixed. It seems to be a part of a person's nature.

A congenital liar is a natural liar, a person who can't help but lie.

____________________________________________________________________

Conjecture (kum JEK chur) v: to goes; to deduce or infer on slight evidence If forced to conjecture, I would say the volcano will erupt in twenty-four hours.

Conjecture can also be a noun. The divorce lawyer for Mr. Davis argued that the putative cause of the lipstick on his collar was mere conjecture.

A Conjecture is conjectural.

Go to The Difficult Words Index


Letter of Invitation| Letter of Condolence| Business Letters


Synonyms and Antonyms


Vocabulary| English Teacher| Etymology| Longest Word | Letter Writing


Proverbs| Misspelled Words| Contractions



From Conducive to HOME PAGE