Wednesday Word: Opine

o·pine

ōˈpīn/

verb

formal

verb: opine; 3rd person present: opines; past tense: opined; past participle: opined; gerund or present participle: opining

1. hold and state as one's opinion.

   "“The man is a genius,” he opined"

   
   

I was part of a conference call the other day where someone used this word. She used it correctly, but it made me realize that there is a tendency to use this as a synonym for "lament":

la·ment

ləˈment/

noun

noun: lament; plural noun: laments

1. 1.

   a passionate expression of grief or sorrow.

Lament is a statement of one's opinion, but it is limited to grief or sorrow. You may also use it as "complaining", as in the song I sang in high school choir, "Alto's Lament", which is a song about an alto who longs to sing melody for a change from harmony.

Opine, on the other hand, is an expression of any opinion. "This pizza is wonderful!" he opined. "Her skirt is too short," she opined.

"We should use this word more often," she opined.