To avoid something, like a dangerous or undesirable situation, is to keep clear of it or to prevent it from happening. The verb evade is a bit more cunning. To evade something is to get around it or to get out of it, usually by a degree of trickery or cleverness. This verb is most commonly used to talk about getting out of paying taxes, getting around legal consequences, or getting out of answering a question directly. This term’s earliest uses in English had to do with escaping literal pursuit or attack; while this specific sense has waned, the notion of escaping something undesirable remains a useful differentiator.

To call something poignant is to emphasize how deeply affecting or moving it is emotionally. This adjective conveys a sharpness of feeling that the more general adjective moving does not, a distinction that makes sense if you consider the full picture of the word: poignant entered English describing sensations that were painful or distressing and smells that were particularly pungent. Poignant has softened over time. Nowadays when we describe things as poignant we don’t mean they bring distress; we mean they are touching and often bittersweet.

The noun purview is used to refer to the range of operation, authority, or control of something or of someone in a particular function. Purview is most commonly used in locating responsibility or oversight for specified activities or projects. For example, in the U.S. government, disaster readiness falls under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security. You may also encounter this term used in reference to a particular range of insight or understanding. The noun scope, though also indicating extent, does not on its own suggest authority or responsibility. An investigation of wide scope is simply one that is far reaching.

The surefooted adjective unequivocal describes things that are unambiguous or have only one possible meaning or interpretation: unequivocal proof is proof that cannot be refuted or misinterpreted. Unequivocal also describes things that are absolute or not subject to conditions or exceptions. To have someone’s unequivocal support is to know that they will be there for you no matter what, no strings attached.

Something that is ancillary is additional or supplemental. The ancillary costs of something are those “extra” expenditures beyond the sticker price of a product or service. This sense of ancillary is closest to extra when the latter is used to refer to things that are additional or go beyond what is expected. But ancillary suggests a more defined relationship than extra, usually indicating a subordinate or subsidiary position. Used in a medical context, ancillary feels quite far from extra: in this context ancillary describes services or staff that provide essential support, as in a hospital. So remember, context is key!

The noun pinnacle is used to talk about the highest or culminating point of something, most commonly the time in one’s career when they are most successful or a specific achievement that caps one's career. In architecture, a pinnacle is a small, upright structure rising above the roof of a building or capping a tower. In nature, a pinnacle is a lofty peak of a mountain or a pointed, towering part of a rock formation. The theme of capping, crowning, or being positioned atop something is what threads these senses together. The more general word peak is the appropriate choice for talking about maximum prices (oil prices reached their peak) or maximum volume (traffic was at its peak).

To illuminate is to supply with light or to light up. But this verb is not used in exactly the same way as the much more general verb light. For instance, light is more appropriate to talk about the action of igniting or setting something to burn, as a candle. But illuminate is more appropriate for talking about what that lit candle will do: illuminate the room! Stars illuminate the night sky, just as festive lights illuminate residential streets during the holidays. To illuminate a path forward is to shed light on the best course of action—unless of course the path is a literal one from, say, the mailbox to the front door after sunset. In which case, a flashlight should do the trick! Illuminate can also refer to shedding light on a subject, as if to make it more clear or comprehensible.