Difficult Words : Mandate, Malleable, Manifest, Manifesto, Marshal and MartialMalleable (MAL ee uh bul) adj: easy to shape or bend Modeling clay is very malleable. So is Stuart. We can make him do whatever we want him to do. Manifest (MAN uh FEST) adj: visible, evident Daryl's anger at us was manifest: you could see it in his expression and hear it in his voice. There is manifest danger in riding a pogo stick along the edge of a cliff. Manifest can also be a verb in which case it means to show, to make visible or to make evident. Rusty has been sick for a very long time, but it was only recently that he began to manifest symptoms. Rebecca manifested alarm when we told her that the end of her ponytail was on fire, but she didn't do anything to put it out. A visible sign of something is called manifestation of it. A lack of comfort and luxury is the most obvious manifestation of poverty. Mandate (MAN date) n: a command or authorization to do something, the will of the voters as expressed by the results of an election Our mandate from the executive committee was to find the answer to the problem as quickly as possible. The newly elected president felt that the landslide vote had given him a mandate to do whatever he wanted to do. Mandate can also be a verb. To mandate something is to command or require it. A closely related word is mandatory which means required or obligatory. Manifesto (MAN uh FES toh) n: a public declaration of beliefs or principles, usually political ones The Communist Manifesto was a document that spelled out Karl Marx’s vision of a Communist world. Jim's article about the election was less a piece of reporting than a manifesto of his political views. Marshal (MAHR shul) v: to arrange in order, to gather together for the purpose of doing something The statistician marshaled his facts before making his presentation. The general marshaled his troops in anticipation of making an attack on the enemy fortress. We marshaled half a dozen local groups in opposition to the city council's plan to bulldoze our neighborhood. Martial (MAHR shul) adj: warlike, having to do with combat Martial is often confused with marital which means having to do with marriage. Marriages are sometimes martial, but don't confuse these words. Karate and judo are often referred to as martial arts. The parade of soldiers was martial in tone. The soldiers carried rifles and were followed by a formation of tanks. The school principal declared martial law when food riots erupted in the cafeteria.
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