arbiter (n.) – one who is selected to judge in settling a dispute; a
referee.
“David’s father was a perfect
arbiter for our disagreement, because David himself had not been a party to the dispute in the Scrabble game.”
biased (adj.) – characterized by prejudice, favoritism, or
predisposition. ‘bias’ is often used in
connection with the pronouns ‘toward’ or ‘against’, as in “The coach showed his
bias against female referees by refusing to hire any for the coming season.”
exculpate (v.), and exculpatory (adj.) -- to exculpate means to clear someone, making
him free of a charge of guilt or shame. “By
establishing that Tom Robinson’s right arm was lame, Atticus brought
exculpatory evidence: clear proof that Tom
was innocent of wrongdoing.” “Video
cameras can sometimes exculpate people, but they can also incriminate people.”
impartial (adj.) – unbiased, neutral, objective, fair. “It’s very important that the moderator at
the speech contest remain impartial, allowing the judges to come to their own
conclusions.”
incontrovertible (adj.) – absolute, final, unable to be changed. (Often used with the words ‘evidence’ or ‘knowledge’.) “Despite the incontrovertible facts that
Atticus had raised throughout the case, the jury declared Tom guilty.”
integrity (n.) – adherence to
ethical values; honesty; soundness of moral character. “The young man’s well-documented personal integrity
made him seem like a good candidate to train for the ministry.”
(The word ‘integrity’ can also refer to the
wholeness or soundness of a structure – e.g., “the integrity of the ship’s hull.” or "the integrity of the space capsule's infrastructure.")
objectivity (n.) – fairness; impartiality; the condition of being
unbiased.
plausible (adj.) – believable, credible, especially in connection with
hypothetical or unconfirmed circumstances.
“His alibi seemed plausible, especially because eye-witnesses could
confirm that he was miles away when the crime was committed.” “The fact that weather professionals had predicted
twenty-two-degree-below-zero temperatures was a plausible reason for district officials to cancel school.”
substantiate (v.) – to prove a claim using facts and evidence. (An unsubstantiated claim is a claim that has
yet to be proved true using facts and evidence.)
vindicate(-d) – to establish, against opposition, that a claim or a
cause is correct and justifiable. “The
outcome of the American Revolution vindicated the rights set forth in the
Declaration of Independence.”
acquired (participial adj., as in ‘an acquired tasted’) – ‘acquired’,
in this sense, means learned deliberately (as opposed to learned automatically,
by nature or intuition). “His taste for
cigars was an acquired taste – as a child he had hated the smell.” “His understanding of chess openings wasn’t intuitive,
it was an acquired skill: he had studied
the moves for years.”
conviction (n.) -- in this context: heartfelt belief; certainty. "Mormon evangelists are well known for their friendly and unshakable conviction regarding Mormon history and values."
dogmatic (adj.) -- adhering to strict principle or dogma; "by the books." "I wish you wouldn't be so dogmatic about the rules & procedures when we play tennis -- it's just a friendly game!"
enlightening (participial adj.) -- educational, inspiring, enlivening. "The jury found the expert witness's testimony to be enlightening." "My philosophy professor gave an enlightening lecture on Neitsche last week."
impression (n.) -- an intuitive or incomplete sense about a concrete experience. "I had the impression that it was you behind the wheel, but I couldn't tell for sure." (impression can also mean a memorable example, as in "You made a good impression on my mother." In show business, an 'impression' is an impersonation, as in "Tina Fey does a funny impression of Sarah Palin.")
misconception (n.) -- the wrong idea; a view that is incorrect based on faulty reasoning. "Leonid Fridman flaunts the misconception that young American intellectuals are nerds and geeks, rising above anti-intellectual prejudice in 1990, bravely reminding New York Times readers that in our brightest students reside the highest hopes of our nation to compete and thrive in the international marketplace."
