Latinate words have many legitimate uses, but they can also overwhelm and obscure meaning. They are quite common in bureaucratic and academic writing, much of which aims to impress the reader by conveying authority and complexity rather than to illuminate and inform. The careful writer will keep a sharp lookout for such words and question whether they are needed. When they appear in great abundance the reader should question the writer's purpose.
Many Latinate words can be recognized by their suffixes; watch for the ones listed below.
-age
-ality
-ance
-ation
-ence
-ific
-ity
-ist
-ization
-ize
-ocentrism
-ous
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