To impede is to make difficult the movement or progress of something, such as an investigation, by interfering with its proper functioning. To stymie is to hinder, block, or thwart something or someone. The vexing nature of the word comes into greater focus when we look at its origins: Before people and projects were being stymied in boardrooms and halls of government, golfers were being stymied on the putting green. A stymie, used as a noun, is an instance of a ball’s lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt. It didn’t take long before English speakers were using the term as a verb to talk about this irksome scenario, and the figurative extension (how the word is most commonly used today) emerged shortly after.

Someone who is fashionable is observant or conforming to the prevailing custom of dress. This adjective is generally positive, though it may not be a glowing compliment to be called fashionable if the person using the term finds the fashion of the day unappealing. The adjective chic also means “stylish,” but it skews more complimentary, suggesting attractiveness and sophistication. Chic is used of individuals and their dress, but also of places, such as restaurants, hotels, and boutiques, that exude sophistication and style with their décor. The descriptor shabby chic is used of a cottage-inspired interior design style that is marked by a worn-in, vintage look, even if most of the décor is brand new.

Parry and dodge refer to moving quickly or cleverly to avoid a physical blow, a verbal attack, or some other aggression or demand. To dodge a blow is to avoid being struck by moving out of the way or behind something. To parry a thrust in fencing is to meet it with a deflecting move and, ideally, open a space for one’s counterattack. These two maneuvers, when transferred to more figurative contexts, have contrasting connotations. Long before the term draft dodger was coined, dodging was often associated with the shifty, evasive side of cleverness. Dodging the question in verbal exchanges, as politicians often do, is effective but not necessarily admirable. To parry a question or parry criticism is not to avoid it, but to skillfully fend it off while turning it to one’s advantage.