Weekly Word: Nullify

It’s that time of week again where I share a word that I find interesting and a little story in which I use it.

This week’s Weekly Word is: nullify

Part of Speech

verb

Pronunciation

nʌlɪfaɪ / nuhl-uh-fahy

Word Forms

nullifies – 3rd person singular present tense
nullifying – present participle
nullified – past tense, past participle

Related Words

nullification – noun
nullifier – noun

Meaning

to declare a decision or procedure legally null and void; to invalidate
to render something useless or ineffective; to cancel out

Word Origin

First recorded use in the 16th Century: from Late Latin nullificāre, ‘to despise’, from Latin nullus, ‘of no account’ + facere, ‘to make’

Synonyms

annul, declare null and void, invalidate, quash, render invalid, render null and void, repeal, rescind, reverse, revoke, set aside, void
cancel out, counteract, make of no use or value, negate, neutralize, render ineffective,

Antonyms

confirm, ratify, sanction, validate
allow, approve, support

Use the Word

“We’ve done it!” Billie crowed as she danced around Jake, waving the letter, with its official letterhead and it’s long awaited ruling, in his face. ” Listen, ”We hereby nullify the prior decision to impose charges upon residents-‘ This is it. It’s been nullified, Jake. You know what this means?”

“That we can finally save some money?” As deadpan as he tried to be, Jake couldn’t hold back his grin. He wasn’t going to let his own weariness of the whole situation nullify his wife’s excitement.

She threw her arms around his middle and squeezed him tightly. His own arms slipped around her shoulders. Nope, no nullification here. She could celebrate as much as she wanted to.

“It means that we’ve won,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. She looked up at him with a gaze that was fiercely, passionately, triumphant, completely nullifying any disinterest he might have had. “We’ve won!”

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If you would like to join in with this activity in any way, feel free to do so. You could either share a Weekly Word of your own – this week beginning with the letter N – or you could use my word, or Millie Thom’s, as inspiration for a post. This could be a piece of poetry, flash fiction, or any form of prose that you choose. Just share a link in the comments so we can see what you’ve been up to!