Difficult Words : Expatriate, Exonerate, Expedient, Expedite, Explicit and Extol





Difficult Words: Expatriate, Exonerate, Expedient, Expedite, Explicit and Extol

Exonerate (ig ZON uh RATE) v: to free completely from blame, to exculpate

The defendant, who had always claimed he wasn't guilty, expected to be exonerated by the testimony of his best friend.

Our dog was exonerated when we discovered that it was in fact the cat that had eaten all the chocolate chip cookies.




Expatriate (eks PAY tree ATE) v: to throw (someone) out of his or her native land, to move away from one's native land, to emigrate

The rebels were expatriated by the nervous general, who feared that they would cause trouble if they were allowed to remain in the country.

Hugo was fed up with his native country and so expatriated to America.

In doing so, Hugo became an expatriate.




Expedient (ik SPEE dee unt) adj: providing an immediate advantage, serving one's immediate self-interest, practical

Since the basement had nearly filled with water, the plumber felt it would be expedient to clear out the drain.

The candidate's position in favor of higher pay for teachers was an expedient one adopted for the national teachers' convention and abandoned shortly afterward.

Expedient can also be used as a noun. The car repairman did not have his tool kit handy, so he used chewing gum as an expedient to patch a hole.




Expedite (EK spi DITE) v: to speed up or ease the progress of

The post office expedited mail delivery by hiring more letter carriers.

The lawyer expedited the progress of our case through the courts by bribing a few judges.

Our wait for a table was expedited by a waiter who mistook Angela for a movie star.




Explicit (ik SPLIS it) adj: clearly and directly expressed

The sexually explicit movie received an x-rating.

The machine's instructions were explicit. They told us exactly what to do.

No one explicitly asked us to set the barn on fire, but we got the impression that that was what we were supposed to do.

Implicit means indirectly expressed or implied.

Gerry's dissatisfaction with our work was implicit in his expression, although he never criticized us directly.




Extol (ik STOHEL) v: to praise highly, to laud

The millionaire extolled the citizen who returned his gold watch, and then rewarded him with a heartfelt handshake.




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