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Spanish Word of the Day Archive
Friday February 22, 2008
cabal, adjective:
upright, fine; full, clear
Cabal is a slightly formal word you may come across in newspapers or books. It has two rather different meanings. Applied to people, it means fine and upright:
Era hombre cabal y trabajador como ninguno.
He was a fine man and a hard worker.
persona cabal y buen político
a fine person and a good politician
When referring to an idea or a picture of something, it means full or clear:
No resulta fácil hacerse una idea cabal de cuál es la verdadera situación.
It isn’t easy to get a clear idea of what the real situation is.
If you want to stress how honest somebody is, you use the next phrase:
Es honrado a carta cabal.
He’s completely and utterly honest.
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