I don't understand how to properly use the word "Infidelity".

I've always felt that "utilize" is properly used to express the situation where something previously or otherwise useless or unused is put into use. When I hunt for a dictionary definition, I get "to be _put to use_, especially _to find_ a practical or profitable use for" (my emphasis).

So you "use" a hoe to weed the garden, but you might "utilize" the resulting cut-off weeds to feed your turtles. But once you've gone through the "utilizing" process and that use becomes habitual, then you're just "using" the weeds to feed the turtles.

Unfortunately, the word has been misused as a "fancier" version of "use" for so long, that it may just be dead.

ChickenFreak

 

I don't know what dictionary you're using, but when in doubt, I turn to Google's "define:" feature.

It is very literally interchangeable with "use", and I'm not just saying that because Google says so. Use is SLIGHTLY more general than utilise, and that's about the extent of any difference.

 

That one came out of the "free online dictionary". Googling the phrase "use versus utilize" produces a lot of sites discussing the distinction.

However, I would rarely use the word, because the distinction is becoming less and less well known.

ChickenFreak

 

I think you need to brush up on what constitutes "passive voice".

Yes it is. It's just that passive isn't the only voice you should use in academic/professional settings, and you've given one example where active is better.

I'd suggest that "very sad" is not as sad as "tragic", and if you start using "tragic" as a synonym for "very sad" you will devalue "tragic". I'd also point out that both are telling rather than showing, so are probably best avoided except in dialog.

The original -- better -- advice is to prefer showing to telling. If you never tell then the writing is just as unreadable as if you always tell. Novice writers rarely fall into the former trap -- until they're told to "show, not tell" and writing tutors strike through all their telling.

 

The subject of this thread is understanding the meaning of the word infidelity, and how to find the answer to that and similar questions.

Given that it has degenerated into an argument that has little bearing on the original question, I am closing the thread.