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Amity is a peaceful friendship between two parties, particularly between two countries.
Candor is the quality of being honest and open in speech or action.
Something that is clandestine is hidden or kept a secret, often because it is illegal.
If you collude with people, you work secretly with them to do something dishonest.
A conclave is a meeting between a group of people who discuss something secretly.
Two people concordant with each other are in agreement or harmony.
To convoke a meeting or assembly is to bring people together for a formal gathering or ceremony of some kind.
Covert activities or situations are secret and hidden.
A situation or thing that is discordant does not fit in with other things; therefore, it is disagreeable, strange, or unpleasant.
Something that is divisive is likely to cause arguments between people.
Someone who is effusive expresses happiness, pleasure, admiration, praise, etc., in an extremely enthusiastic way.
A fete is a celebration or festival in honor of a special occasion.
If someone behaves in a furtive way, they do things sneakily and secretly in order to avoid being noticed.
An overt act is not hidden or secret but is done in an open and public way.
A patent situation is one that is wide open and unconcealed; it is both evident and obvious.
A schism causes a group or organization to divide into two groups as a result of differences in their aims and beliefs.
A surreptitious deed is done secretly to avoid bringing any attention to it.
A tryst is an appointment to meet at a specific time and place, made privately or secretly between two lovers.
If someone acts in an unobtrusive way, their actions are not easily noticed and do not stand out in any way.
The veracity of something is its truthfulness.
Noun
assignation
as-ig-NAY-shuhn
Context
You may remember that the character of the nurse in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet helped the young lovers arrange their secret meetings and assignations. She realized that Romeo and Juliet were hopelessly in love, so the kind nurse hid their assignations from the young lovers’ parents, who were sworn enemies. Romeo and Juliet wanted to be with each other all the time, so it was necessary to arrange assignations to hide them from the sharp eyes of their parents.
Quiz:Try again!
What couple is famous for their assignations?
Laverne and Shirley—television roommates who got into trouble together frequently.
Romeo and Juliet—lovers who were forced to meet in secret.
Bonnie and Clyde—criminals who committed multiple bank robberies.
Lover Gives Secret Signal Florentino told Fermina that he would give her asignat midnight if it was OK for her to meet with him in the garden for their hoped-for assignation.
Examples
In spirit she walks the city, traces its labyrinths, its dingy mazes: each assignation, each rendezvous, each door and stair and bed. What he said, what she said, what they did, what they did then.
— Margaret Atwood, Canadian writer, from _The Blind Assassin_
I saw a woman dart from a driveway and then reach around the tree with something in her hand. I wondered if it could be a secret assignation so, of course, I kept walking as if this sort of thing happened every day. But on the way back, I peered around the back side of the tree. There was the gnome, and his bro, the leprechaun, tucked into the 2-foot high tree cavity as if they were lounging around the pool at the country club.
—WCAI, NPR Radio for Cape Cod
Eston Kohver was lured to a meeting in a lonely woodland at 9am on a Friday. Lest the spy be thought foolish or naïve, he went to the assignation with a posse of bodyguards. Yet his erstwhile contact was accompanied by an armed snatch squad from Russia’s FSB intelligence service. Mr. Kohver’s escort was swiftly neutralized with stun grenades; for good measure, their communications were also jammed.
—The Telegraph
What does the socially distant reality of the coronavirus pandemic mean for that chemistry-dependent ritual, the first date? In the past months, as self-quarantine edicts and business closures have limited people’s ability to meet with new romantic prospects in person, we have seen a rise of purely virtual dating, bringing assignations that would have once taken place at a café or a restaurant onto video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom.
—The New Yorker
Lovers often use a silent “mark, sign, or seal towards” the purpose of setting up a secret meeting between themselves.
Word Theater
1984 An assignation set for Victory Square.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
