All 3 Uses of
discriminate
in
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
- He was a Harvard graduate and in spite of a broad "a" which he used indiscriminately, his speech was plain and his vocabulary less affected than those of the readers, most of whom had graduated from high school and had picked up an extensive vocabulary from years of reading.†
Chpt 44indiscriminately = done without recognition of differencesstandard prefix: The prefix "in-" in indiscriminately means not and reverses the meaning of discriminately. This is the same pattern you see in words like invisible, incomplete, and insecure.
- You'd think she understood—the way she acted so pleased, flashing her two-toothed smile about indiscriminately.†
Chpt 45 *
- One of the reasons was that when a little girl was attacked, the parents kept it secret so that no one would know and discriminate against the child and look on her as a thing apart and make it impossible for her to resume a normal childhood with her playmates.†
Chpt 33 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(discriminate as in: suffered discrimination) to treat people of different groups differently -- especially unfair treatment due to race, religion or gender
-
(2)
(discriminate as in: discriminating taste) to recognize or perceive differences -- especially fine distinctions