A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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sessed of a large estate. That child is possessed of a sharp tongue. To indicate obsession or lack of self-control, use by or with: The prosecutor described him as a man possessed by (or with) an urge to kill.
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practicable / practical
It is easy to confuse these adjectives since they look so much alike and overlap in meaning. Practicable has only two meanings: “feasible” (as in Sharon came up with a practicable plan) and “usable for a specified purpose” (as in A new more practicable entrance was added to the house). Note that you cannot apply practicable to persons. Practical has at least eight meanings. These range from “acquired through practice rather than theory” (I have practical experience using a lathe) to “level-headed” (He has always been a practical guy) to “virtual” (The party was a practical disaster). It also has the sense “capable of being put into effect, useful,” wherein the confusion with practicable arises. But there is a subtle distinction between these words that is worth keeping. If you have a practical knowledge of French, you can order coffee in a cafe, though it may not be practicable to try to learn the language of every country you visit.
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practically
Practically has as its primary sense “in a way that is practical”: We planned the room practically so we can use it as a study as well as a den. The word has the extended meaning of “for all practical purposes,” as in After the accident the car was practically undrivable. Here the idea is that you can still drive the car, but it is no longer practical to do so. Language critics sometimes object when the notion of practicality is stripped from this word in its further extension to mean “all but, nearly,” as in He had practically finished his meal when I arrived. But this usage is widely used by reputable writers and must be considered acceptable.
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precipitate / precipitous
The adjective precipitate and the adverb precipitately were once applied to physical steepness but are now used primarily of rash, headlong actions: Their precipitate entry into the foreign markets led to disaster. He withdrew precipitately from the race. Precipitous currently means “steep” in both literal and figurative senses: the precipitous rapids of the upper river, a precipitous drop in commodity prices. But precipitous and precipitously are also frequently used to mean “abrupt, hasty,” which takes them into territory that would ordinarily belong to precipitate and precipitately: their precipitous decision to leave. Many people object to this usage out of a desire to keep precipitate and precipitous distinct, but the extension of meaning from “steep” to “abrupt” is perfectly natural. After all, a precipitous increase in reports of measles is also an abrupt or sudden event. Although this extended use of precipitous is well attested in the work of reputable writers, don’t be surprised if someone cites it as an error in your own writing.
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premiere
In entertainment contexts, the verb premiere has by now become the standard way of saying “to introduce to the public” or “to be introduced to the public.” Because it emphasizes the very first time something is presented to the public, premiere gets a lot of use. Thus a movie can premiere in selected
