This week we continue our vocabulary-building series, “The Closing Word.” Each week we provide a new word to help build your vocabulary and show you an example of how to use it.
This week’s closing word:
mephitic
Pronounced: (muh-FIT-ick)
Adjective:
of noxious stench from atmospheric pollution
From Vocabulary.com: “Mephitic comes from the Latin word mephitis, which means noxious vapor or exhalation. Mephitis was also the name of the Roman goddess of foul-smelling gases from volcanoes and swampy areas. She loans her name to the very common North American striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis. If you can remember the Latin name for skunk, you’ll have no trouble remembering that mephitic describes air that smells terrible.”
Example:
“The first order of business when preparing a home for sale is tackling any mephiticodors leaking from closets, carpets, basements, and bathrooms.”
