BOOK OF BALDERDASH

Verb (intransitive) /diˈlɪtəˌreɪt/

Definition: To become less literate over time; to gradually lose the ability to read, write, or comprehend language due to disuse, neglect, or lack of exposure.

Morphological Breakdown:

De-: Latin prefix meaning "down from" or "reverse"

Liter-: From Latin littera, meaning “letter”

-ate: Suffix forming adjectives or verbs, here used to indicate possessing or relating to a condition (as in “literate”), and used to form verbs in “deliterate”
 

Example:

After years of relying solely on video content, she began to deliterate without realizing it.

Credit: Team SAYWORD! - 2025

Verb (transitive) /diˈlɪtəˌraɪz/

Definition: To cause someone or something to become less literate; to actively reduce or impair literacy in a person, population, or system.

Morphological Breakdown:

De-: Latin prefix meaning "down from" or "reverse"

Liter-: From Latin littera, meaning “letter”

-ate: Suffix indicating a state or condition (from “literate”)

-ize: Greek-derived suffix meaning "to make" or "to cause to become"

Example:

Decades of underfunded education policies have slowly deliterized entire communities.

Credit: Team SAYWORD! - 2025

(noun) /ˈdɪs.fɪk.ʃən/

Definition: A fabricated or distorted narrative that mixes truth with fiction to deceive, entertain, or confuse.

Morphological Breakdown:

dis- (Latin: “apart, not”)

fict (Latin fictio: “a shaping, a feigning”)

-ion (Latin: noun-forming suffix indicating action or result)

Example:

The biography was exposed as disfiction—more myth than memory.

Credit: M. Muñoz - Paterson, NJ

(verb) /ˈdɪs.kəˌnɛkt/

Definition: To be connected in an abnormal, grotesque, or absurd way; a disturbing or unnatural link between people, systems, or ideas.

Morphological Breakdown:

Dys-: Greek prefix meaning "bad," "difficult," or "ill"

Con-: Latin prefix meaning "together" or "with"

-nect: From the Latin root "nectere," meaning "to bind" or "to tie"

Example:

There’s a DYSconnect between their smiles and their words—like puppets saying sweet things through gritted teeth.

Credit: Team SAYWORD! - 2025

(adj.) /ˈflɛk.ʃu.əl/

Definition: Adaptable and responsive; able to shift fluidly in thought, form, or approach.

Morphological Breakdown:

flex (Latin flectere: “to bend”)

-ual (adjectival suffix)

Example:

She’s a flexual thinker—she bends without breaking in any situation.

Credit: Najavar Cooks-Wade - Paterson, NJ

(adj.) /fræɡˈmæt.ɪk/

Characterized by fragmented or conflicting thoughts; prone to broken patterns of reasoning or scattered thinking.

Morphological Breakdown:

frag- (Latin frangere, “to break”)

mat (from Latin mens, mentis, “mind, thought”)

-ic (Greek -ikos, “having to do with”)

Example:

His fragmatic explanation jumped from idea to idea without ever landing on a clear point.

Credit: Amara Decoure - Chicago, IL

(verb) /ˈɡræ.mə.laɪz/

Definition: To impose or invent grammar for language or communication, especially in informal or creative contexts.

Morphological Breakdown:

gram (Greek gramma, to write)

-ar (pertaining to)

-ize (Greek verb-forming suffix meaning “to make or do”)

Example:

Linguists love to grammalize the new slang before it fully settles.

Credit: Luna Valera - NY, NY

(noun) /ɪmˌpleɪ.mənˈteɪ.ʃən/

Definition: The act or result of implementing something through play; a playful approach to putting an idea into practice.

Morphological Breakdown:

im- (Latin: “into, in”)

play (Old English plegian: “to move rapidly, frolic”)

-ment (forming nouns denoting action or result)

-ate (Latin -atus: participial ending forming verbs meaning “to make, to act”)

-ion (forming nouns of action or condition)

 Example:

 The playground redesign wasn’t just planned—it was an implaymentation of student-led tinkering, testing, and fun.

Credit: Team SAYWORD! - 2025

(noun) /ɪmˈpɔːrtəl/

Definition: A portal or gateway through which goods, entities, or materials are brought into one dimension or realm from another.

Morphological Breakdown:

Im-: Prefix meaning "into" or "inward" (derived from Latin "in-," indicating movement toward or into something)

Port: Root from Latin "portare," meaning "to carry"

--al: Suffix forming a noun, indicating something related to or characterized by a particular action or thing (as in portal, a noun describing a doorway or entryway)

Example: "The explorers discovered an importal hidden deep within the cave, through which they brought back valuable artifacts from a distant universe."

Credit: L. S. - Fair Lawn, NJ - 2025