The word peripatetic refers to a specific type of travel or movement with interruptions or pauses along the way. This might be true of military service, where there are short-duration assignments to different military posts during a career.
Peripatetic is a versatile term that can be used as both an adjective and a noun. As an adjective, it describes travel from place to place, while as a noun, it describes a person or group with a mobile or temporary work status.
“John never seemed to settle in one place because he experienced such a peripatetic lifestyle while serving in the military.”
“Jill loved the peripatetic nature of her job as a traveling nurse.”
In the noun form, the word describes a person or group of people with a mobile or temporary work status.
“The management knew it needed to reduce costs and decided it needed to use fewer peripatetics and more permanent staff.”
“Peripatetics often love their jobs because of the variety of assignments.”
There is a second, more obscure, noun use of the word that is always capitalized, “Peripatetic,” which refers to followers of Aristotle and his philosophy.
Vituperative is an obscure word in most discussions. It describes verbal abuse, often in the form of foul or obscene language. Vituperative is an adjective, and its use can be best understood in some examples.
“The newspaper article about the new liquor store near the elementary school brought vituperative threats to many on the town council.”
“Corporate managers avoid vituperative speech in motivational discussions because it encourages dissent and suppresses achievement.”
“Social media has encouraged short, vituperative discussions that are disingenuous in meaning and counterproductive.”
“We do not allow direct comments on this website because they are often poorly researched and vituperative in form.”
“The two candidates for the new management job decided to avoid any vituperative comments and seek the job on their personal merits.”
By combining these two in a single sentence, we get the following:
“Despite her peripatetic lifestyle, moving from one city to another, she could not escape the vituperative comments from her peers.”
“His peripatetic career as a diplomat brought him in contact with many cultures, but he often faced vituperative criticism from those who disagreed with his positions on their economy.”
