What does undulate mean?
Word: Undulate
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Undulate means to move or lie in gentle rises and falls, the way waves do.
Synonyms: roll
How do you spell undulate?
Syllables: un - du - late
Tricky part: The second vowel is the weak spot. Students write undalate or undilate because that sound is so light, but it is a u, like the first vowel.
Watch out for: undalate, undilate
Memory tip: Think of the dip in a wave as the shape of the letter u. The word dips twice, with a u in each of its first two syllables.
Undulate in a sentence
Example 1: The land begins to undulate as you leave the plains behind.
Example 2: Sand dunes undulate for miles across the Thar Desert.
Example 3: We watched the long silk banner undulate above the school gate.
Fun Fact
Latin unda, 'a wave', lies behind this verb. The same Latin word gave English inundate, which means to flood.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
From the top of the tower we watched the green paddy fields undulait in the breeze like a slow and silent ocean.
a) tower
b) paddy
c) undulait
d) ocean
Show answer
c) undulait. The last syllable is spelt like the word for behind time.
Mingle-Mangle
Choose the word that the jumbled letters in the sentence make:
Seen from the road, the tea gardens of Munnar tladunue towards the blue hills.
a) undertake
b) undulate
c) unduly
d) underrate
Show answer
b) undulate. Two u's and an l but no r, k or y: the other words cannot be made from these letters.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word undulate as used in the sentence:
Wind made the long grass undulate across the whole hillside.
a) ripple
b) flatten
c) crack
d) fade
Show answer
a) ripple. Grass moving in small waves ripples across the slope.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the meaning of the word that is spelt wrongly.
1. unndulate 2. equanimity 3. parsimonious 4. magnanimous
a) generous and forgiving in spirit
b) extremely unwilling to spend money
c) calmness in a difficult situation
d) to swell and sink in a smooth rhythm
Show answer
d) to swell and sink in a smooth rhythm. The verb with two n's at the start is the slip, and it describes movement like that of waves.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these would you most expect to undulate?
a) a steel ruler on a desk
b) a stone step at the door
c) a brick wall beside the road
d) a silk scarf in a soft breeze
Show answer
d) a silk scarf in a soft breeze
2. A cyclist on an undulating road should expect ____.
a) a track with no surface to ride on
b) a long, straight and perfectly flat stretch
c) a series of small climbs and descents
d) one very steep mountain pass to cross
Show answer
c) a series of small climbs and descents
