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Kanou Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
undermine vs weaken
When do we use undermine instead of weaken?
For example why is it " The simplicity of the trick undermines a basic principle pf photography, that the camera cannot lie" and not "weakens a basic principle..."?
For example why is it " The simplicity of the trick undermines a basic principle pf photography, that the camera cannot lie" and not "weakens a basic principle..."?
Top answer
Undermine (if you visualize the purpose of the word) means to deliberately do something to weaken the support for a belief in something. Weaken, by itself, can be accomplished by distraction or diluting something. The effort that goes into the deception is therefore emphasized by the word undermine than by the basic word weaken.
- Undermine (if you visualize the purpose of the word) means to deliberately do something to weaken the support for a belief in something.
- Weaken, by itself, can be accomplished by distraction or diluting something.
- The effort that goes into the deception is therefore emphasized by the word undermine than by the basic word weaken.
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2 Answers
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Undermine (if you visualize the purpose of the word) means to deliberately do something to weaken the support for a belief in something. Weaken, by itself, can be accomplished by distraction or diluting something. The effort that goes into the deception is therefore emphasized by the word undermine than by the basic word weaken.
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Thank you very much for your reply, sometimes when I study vocabulary I have this kind of problems with similar words. You helped me a lot!
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