apposite means strikingly appropriate or relevant; well suited to the circumstance or in relation to something. It carries an Arena rating of 1640, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, apposite ranks #2,338 of 14,361 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,517 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,580 of 14,456 for The Improbable, #3,931 of 14,297 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
apposite is pronounced /ˈæp.ə.zɪt/.
Why “apposite” is a great word
Fitting with a pointed and deliberate suitability to the immediate context. From Latin *appositus*, past participle of *appōnere* ("to place near"), from *ad-* ("to, near") + *pōnere* ("to put, place"). Unlike "germane," which implies a natural kinship within a logical framework, or "apropos," which often denotes an opportune or tangential remark, *apposite* describes a fitness so precise it seems almost placed there by design. It is the single anecdote that illuminates the entire argument, the quiet gesture that resolves a fraught silence, or the shade of paint discovered to match the weathered brick exactly—the quiet triumph of finding the thing that belongs exactly where it is, fused to the circumstance by an invisible necessity.
Etymology
From Latin appositus, past participle of adponere, from ad- + ponere (“to put, place”). See apposition.
adj
- Strikingly appropriate or relevant; well suited to the circumstance or in relation to something.“c. 1833–1856, Andrew Carrick, John Addington Symonds (editors), Medical Topography of Bristol, in Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association/Volume 2/3,
Medical Topography would be the most apposite title, since it comprehends the principal objects of investigation; ….”
- Positioned at rest in respect to another, be it side-to-side, front-to-front, back-to-back, or even three-dimensionally: in apposition.“In other words, they are used to name, rather than to describe. They are apposite nouns and not adjectives.”
- Related, homologous.“If the shift in theatrical setting and the shift in dramaturgy are at all related, they are apposite developments, independent yet homologous signs of a changing political and cultural climate.”
noun
- That which is apposite; something suitable.“Hugh gave the boy apples or other small apposites[…], but the child was too interested in the bishop to notice the gifts.”
Words closest in meaning
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