TEMPORAL (TEM pur ul) adj pertaining to time; pertaining to life or earthly existence; non-
eternal; short-lived
- Jet lag is a kind of temporal disorientation; rapid travel across several time zones can
throw off a traveler’s sense of time. - Why is it that temporal pleasures seem so much more fun than eternal ones? I’d rather
eat a hot-fudge sundae than sit on a cloud playing a harp. - As the rich old man approached ninety, he grew less concerned with temporal matters
and devoted more and more energy to deciding which of his children should be left out of
his will.
TEMPORIZE (TEM puh ryze) v to stall; to cause delay through indecision
- An important skill required of television newscasters is an ability to temporize during
technical difficulties so that viewers don’t become bored and switch channels. - The co-op board was afraid to tell the actress flat out that they didn’t want her to buy an
apartment in their building, so they temporized by saying they had to look into some
building restrictions first. - “All right, all right, I’ll open the safe for you,” Clarence temporized, hoping that the police
would arrive soon. “But in order to do it, I’ll need lots of hot water and some birthday
candles.”
VERACITY (vuh RAS uh tee) n truthfulness
- The veracity of the story of young George Washington chopping down the cherry tree is
questioned by serious historians.
Veracious (vuh RAY shus) means truthful.
VERISIMILITUDE (ver uh si MIL uh tood) n similarity to reality; the appearance of truth;
looking like the real thing
- They used pinecones and old truck tires to make statues of Hollywood celebrities that
were remarkable for their verisimilitude. - The verisimilitude of counterfeit eleven-dollar bills did not fool the eagle-eyed treasury
officer, who recognized them immediately for what they were.
VERITY (VER uh tee) n the quality of being true; something true
- You could hardly doubt the verity of her story, especially when she had documents to
prove her point.
Many truth-related words derive from the Latin root verus, which means “true.” Verisimilar (ver
i SIM uh lur) means having the appearance of truth, and verisimilitude (ver i si MIL uh tood) is
the quality of being verisimilar.
- The plastics company had found a way to make fake leather of shocking verisimilitude.
Veracious (vur AY shus) means habitually truthful.