| front |
back |
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history |
| brummagem |
brummagem \BRUHM-uh-juhm\, adjective:
Cheap and showy, tawdry; also, spurious, counterfeit.
But demanding that publishers replace their brummagem wares with books which embody Kunin's "high standards of excellence" would be a promising -- and cost-free -- way to begin.
-- Betty McCollister, "A Conspiracy of Good Intentions: America's Textbook Fiasco", Humanist, November-December, 1993 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:49:39 GMT |
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| obeisance |
obeisance \oh-BEE-suhn(t)s; oh-BAY-suhn(t)s\, noun:
1. An expression of deference or respect, such as a bow or curtsy.
2. Deference, homage.
They made obeisance right to the floor, coiling like bright snakes from the arms of their astonished handlers.
-- Ann Wroe, Pontius Pilate |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:49:38 GMT |
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| vituperate |
vituperate \vy-TOO-puh-rate, -TYOO-, vi-\, verb:
To find fault with; to scold; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.
There are moments in life when true invective is called for, when it becomes an absolute necessity, out of a deep sense of justice, to denounce, mock, vituperate, lash out, in the strongest possible language.
-- Charles Simic, quoted in "The argument culture", Irish Times, December 17, 1998 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:49:38 GMT |
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| spoony |
spoony \SPOO-nee\, adjective:
1. Foolish; silly; excessively sentimental.
2. Foolishly or sentimentally in love.
Nevertheless, because we're spoony old things at heart, we like to believe that some showbiz marriages are different.
-- Julie Burchill, "Cut!", The Guardian, February 7, 2001 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:49:38 GMT |
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| tittle-tattle |
tittle-tattle \TIT-uhl TAT-uhl\, noun:
1. Idle, trifling talk; empty prattle.
2. An idle, trifling talker; a gossip.
3. to talk idly; to prate.
The literary tittle-tattle of the age.
-- Edinburgh Review, 1820 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:47:13 GMT |
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| Knell |
knell \NEL\, verb:
1. The stoke of a bell tolled at a funeral or at the death of a person; a death signal;
2. to sound as a warning or evil omen.
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
-- Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
The Bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a Knell, That summons thee to Heaven, or to Hell.
-- Shakespeare, Macbeth |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:47:13 GMT |
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| aestival |
aestival \ES-tuh-vuhl\, adjective:
Of or belonging to the summer; as, aestival diseases. [Spelled also estival.]
Far to the north and hemmed in against the Russian Bear, it is easy to overlook this land of lakes, forests, and aestival white nights.
-- [i.e. Finland]
You generally get true summer in August: this year it has been unusually æstival.
-- M. Collins |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:47:12 GMT |
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| juju |
juju \JOO-joo\, noun:
1. An object superstitiously believed to embody magical powers.
2. The power associated with a juju.
[David] Robinson, sounding confident and sure, said that the time for juju and magic dust had passed. 'To be honest with you, I think it's beyond that', he said. 'It's very hard to come up with magic at the end'.
-- "Knicks Find There's No Place Like Home", New York Times, June 22, 1999 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:47:12 GMT |
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| supernumerary |
\soo-puhr-NOO-muh-rair-ee; -NYOO-\, adjective:
1. Exceeding the stated, standard, or prescribed number.
2. Exceeding what is necessary or desired; superfluous.
3. A supernumerary person or thing.
4. An actor without a speaking part, as a walk-on or an extra in a crowd scene.
The Justice Department contractor, the Biogenics Corporation, of Houston, studied blood samples from thirty-six residents and concluded that eight of the people had a rare aberration it called "supernumerary acentric fragments," or extra pieces of genetic material.
-- Michael H. Brown, "A Toxic Ghost Town", The Atlantic, July 1989 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:51:42 GMT |
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| insensate |
\in-SEN-sayt; -sit\, adjective:
1. Lacking sensation or awareness; inanimate.
2. Lacking human feeling or sensitivity; brutal; cruel.
3. Lacking sense; stupid; foolish.
The religion of primeval humans, he suggested, held that souls inhabited not only human beings but also animals, trees, plants--even rocks, rivers, and other natural features we regard as insensate.
-- Bill Strubbe, "The world as self, the self as world", The World & I, June 1, 1997 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:51:42 GMT |
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| tatterdemalion |
\tat-uhr-dih-MAYL-yuhn; -MAY-lee-uhn\, noun:
1. A person dressed in tattered or ragged clothing; a ragamuffin.
2. Tattered; ragged.
Last time peasant blouses surfaced, in the 1960s and '70s, they were part of an epidemic of Indian bedspread dresses, homemade blue-jean skirts, Army surplus jackets, Greek bookbag purses and love beads, the whole eclectic tatterdemalion mix meant to express egalitarian sentiments and countercultural solidarity with underdogs everywhere.
-- Patricia McLaughlin, "The peasant look", Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, April 25, 1999 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:50:44 GMT |
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| anodyne |
\AN-uh-dyn\, adjective:
1. Serving to relieve pain; soothing.
2. Not likely to offend; bland; innocuous.
3. A medicine that relieves pain.
4. Anything that calms, comforts, or soothes disturbed feelings.
But for the most part the British charts were clogged with anodyne ballads.
-- Nigel Williamson, "Here's a little story, to tell it is a must", Times (London), January 11, 2000 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:50:44 GMT |
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| mephitic |
\muh-FIT-ik\, adjective:
1. Offensive to the smell; as, mephitic odors.
2. Poisonous; noxious.
The mephitic stench from the bilge became overpowering.
-- Richard Holmes, Coleridge: Darker Reflections, 1804-1834 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:50:43 GMT |
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| fiduciary |
\fih-DOO-shee-air-ee\, adjective:
1. Relating to the holding of something in trust for another.
2. Someone who stands in a special relation of trust, confidence, or responsibility in certain obligations to others; a trustee.
American capitalism relies heavily on the fiduciary duty concept to protect those who entrust their money to large and often distant corporations.
-- Senator Susan Collins, Congressional Record, July 11, 2002 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:50:43 GMT |
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| antediluvian |
\an-tih-duh-LOO-vee-uhn\, adjective:
1. Of or relating to the period before the Biblical flood.
2. Antiquated; from or belonging to a much earlier time.
3. One who lived before the Biblical flood.
4. A very old (or old-fashioned) person.
The other thing that almost always goes with these myths is the notion of an antediluvian civilisation -- something which existed before the flood and was destroyed by it.
-- Graham Hancock, "Castles in the sea", The Guardian, February 6, 2002
. . .a dinosaur garden that is full of such antediluvian plants as mosses and ferns.
-- Barbara Hall, "Cultivating Minds", Washington Post, July 25, 1999
Customs like fox hunting or men's clubs are denounced as barbaric, patriarchal, and antediluvian throwbacks, whereas the truly barbaric, patriarchal, and antediluvian traditions of various stagnant indigenous cultures are viewed with reverence, nostalgia, and envy.
-- Jonah Goldberg, "Who Are We to Judge?", National Review, September 21, 2001 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:38:23 GMT |
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| gustatory |
\GUS-tuh-tor-ee\, adjective:
Of or pertaining to the sense of taste.
In a land of ice and chains and endemic suffering, caviar provided gustatory salvation from grief and black days, a sensual escape from temporal woes.
-- Jeffrey Tayler, "The Caviar Thugs", The Atlantic, June 2001 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:37:26 GMT |
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| emolument |
\ih-MOL-yuh-muhnt\, noun:
The wages or perquisites arising from office, employment, or labor; gain; compensation.
The record indicates that few grandees who pleaded poverty to avoid service were left without substantial maintenance grants and emoluments and that the Crown gladly financed their luxurious military lifestyles.
-- Fernando Gonzales de Leon, "Aristocratic draft-dodgers in 17th-century Spain", History Today, 7/1 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:37:02 GMT |
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| palaver |
\puh-LAV-uhr; puh-LAH-vur\, noun:
1. Idle talk
2. Talk intended to beguile or deceive.
3. A parley usually between persons of different backgrounds or cultures or levels of sophistication; a talk; hence, a public conference and deliberation.
4. To talk idly.
5. To flatter; to cajole.
The spaceship crew settles down for a long bout of philosophical discourse that sounds suspiciously like teatime palaver in an Oxford University common room: "
-- Gerald Jonas, "Science Fiction", New York Times, July 8, 1990 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:36:25 GMT |
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| contemn |
contemn \kuhn-TEM\, transitive verb:
To regard or treat with disdain or contempt; to scorn; to despise.
Nor, despite his seeming Jansenist severity, would Pascal contemn such pleasures. Even he, the least therapeutic writer imaginable, admits that diversions can help to heal the beset soul.
-- Edward T. Oakes, "Pascal: The First Modern Christian", First Things, August 1, 1999 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:36:25 GMT |
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| troglodyte |
\TROG-luh-dyt\, noun:
1. A member of a primitive people that lived in caves, dens, or holes; a cave dweller.
2. One who is regarded as reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.
When the survivalists emerged blinking into the sunlight to restock their caves after the terror, my first reaction was to say, "Bless their dotty, troglodyte hearts."
-- Judy Mann, "Survivalists Flee |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:36:25 GMT |
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| cupidity |
\kyoo-PID-uh-tee\, noun:
Eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth; greed; avarice.
Curiosity was a form of lust, a wandering cupidity of the eye and the mind.
-- John Crowley, "Of Marvels And Monsters", Washington Post, October 18, 1998 |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:36:25 GMT |
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| pugilist |
a person who fights with the fists; a boxer, usually a professional. |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:12:53 GMT |
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| impresario |
1. a person who organizes or manages public entertainments, esp. operas, ballets, or concerts.
2. any manager, director, or the like. |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:58:25 GMT |
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| trepidation |
1. tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation.
2. trembling or quivering movement; tremor. |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:47:10 GMT |
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| Laconic |
–adjective
using few words; expressing much in few words; concise: a laconic reply.
[Origin: Gk Lakōnikós Laconian, equiv. to Lákōn a Laconian + -ikos -ic] |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:45:28 GMT |
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| Pedantic |
1. ostentatious in one's learning.
2. overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, esp. in teaching.
[etymological root: ancient Greek Paidós (child, kid)] |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:40:09 GMT |
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| pedant |
1. a person who makes an excessive or inappropriate display of learning.
2. a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details.
3. a person who adheres rigidly to book knowledge without regard to common sense.
4. Obsolete. a schoolmaster. |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:40:09 GMT |
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| Centrifuge |
an apparatus that rotates at high speed and by centrifugal force separates substances of different densities, as milk and cream. |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:27:27 GMT |
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| assay |
1. to examine or analyze: to assay a situation; to assay an event.
4. to judge the quality of; assess; evaluate: to assay someone's efforts.
5. to try or test; put to trial: to assay one's strength; to assay one's debating abilities. |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:16:12 GMT |
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| refuse |
–noun
1. something that is discarded as worthless or useless; rubbish; trash; garbage.
–adjective
2. rejected as worthless; discarded: refuse matter. |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:12:19 GMT |
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| Aver |
1. to assert or affirm with confidence; declare in a positive or peremptory manner.
2. Law. to allege as a fact. |
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chasingafterdear Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:24:14 GMT |
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| Penury |
1. extreme poverty; destitution.
2. scarcity; dearth; inadequacy; insufficiency. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:42:19 GMT |
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| odium |
contempt |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:42:19 GMT |
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| flout |
scorn
syn: chaff |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:42:19 GMT |
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| Chaff |
worthless matter; refuse.
syn: flout |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:41:36 GMT |
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| divestiture |
giving up, getting rid of something |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:41:36 GMT |
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| epigram |
witty saying |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:41:36 GMT |
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| Eddy |
Circular movement
ant: flow (a straight movement) |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:41:36 GMT |
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| repudiate |
1. to reject as having no authority or binding force: to repudiate a claim.
2. to cast off or disown: to repudiate a son.
3. to reject with disapproval or condemnation: to repudiate a new doctrine.
4. to reject with denial: to repudiate a charge as untrue.
5. to refuse to acknowledge and pay (a debt), as a state, municipality, etc. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:39:32 GMT |
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| Volubility |
fluency of language |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:39:32 GMT |
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| Tommyrot |
nonsense |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:39:32 GMT |
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| Extricate (Extricable) |
1. to free or release from entanglement; disengage: to extricate someone from a dangerous situation.
2. to liberate (gas) from combination, as in a chemical process. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:39:32 GMT |
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| avid |
enthusiastic; ardent; dedicated; keen, eager: an avid moviegoer. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:36:31 GMT |
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| perspicacity |
1. keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.
2. Archaic. keen vision.
Even in old age, his perspicacity kept him an avid and formidable scrabble opponent. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:36:31 GMT |
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| reticent |
1. disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reserved.
2. reluctant or restrained.
syn: taciturn
ant: garrulous, loquacious |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:36:31 GMT |
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| Garrulous |
talkative, wordy
Syn: loquacious
Ant: taciturn, reticent |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:36:31 GMT |
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| Moribund |
near death |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:24:53 GMT |
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| Fractious |
irritable |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:24:43 GMT |
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| opaque |
hidden, foggy, dark, dull, hindering light.
ant: limpid, obvious |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:24:43 GMT |
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| Somniferous |
bringing or inducing sleep, as drugs or influences. soporific. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:22:57 GMT |
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| pellucid |
limpid, allowing the maximum passage of light, as glass; translucent. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:21:53 GMT |
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| Limpid |
clear, transparent, or pellucid, as water, crystal, or air: We could see to the very bottom of the limpid pond.
2. free from obscurity; lucid; clear: a limpid style; limpid prose.
3. completely calm; without distress or worry: a limpid, emotionless existence. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:21:02 GMT |
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| ornery |
ugly and unpleasant in disposition or temper, low or vile. inferior or common; ordinary, stubborn: I can't do a thing with that ornery mule. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:21:02 GMT |
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| Intrasigent |
uncompromising, inflexible |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:21:02 GMT |
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| Soporific |
sleep inducing, heavy
ant: animated |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:21:02 GMT |
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| Epicurean |
devoted to pleasure |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:08:12 GMT |
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| Imbroglio |
means a complicated and embarrassing situation. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:08:12 GMT |
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| Mordant |
biting, caustic, sarcastic
from the french word "mordre"--to bite. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:08:12 GMT |
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| Ennui |
a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom:
The endless lecture produced an unbearable ennui in the bored students. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:08:12 GMT |
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| Despotic |
autocratic; tyrannical, imperious |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:05:13 GMT |
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| Imperious |
1. domineering in a haughty manner; dictatorial; overbearing: an imperious manner; an imperious person.
2. urgent; imperative: imperious need.
Ant: servile
syn: despotic |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:04:53 GMT |
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| Fringe |
the edge of something |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:04:53 GMT |
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| epitome |
brief summary |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:04:53 GMT |
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| Churl |
bad tempered person |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:02:46 GMT |
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| lacuna |
a gap or missing part, as in a manuscript, series, or logical argument; hiatus.
2. Anatomy. one of the numerous minute cavities in the substance of bone, supposed to contain nucleate cells.
3. Botany. an air space in the cellular tissue of plants. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:02:46 GMT |
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| Hiatus |
a break or interruption; opening; gap or lacuna: Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.
he put a hiatus on the work. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:02:46 GMT |
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| Disinter |
1. to take out of the place of interment; exhume; unearth.
2. to bring from obscurity into view: The actor's autobiography disinterred a past era. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:02:46 GMT |
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| Dubious |
doubtful; questionable; an uncertain outcome: in dubious battle. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:54:14 GMT |
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| ineludible |
not eludible; inescapable
syn: ineluctable |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:54:14 GMT |
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| Ineluctable |
incapable of being evaded; inescapable: an ineluctable destiny.
Ant: Dubious (as in doubtful, not sinister)
syn: ineludible |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:54:14 GMT |
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| Inculcated |
1. to implant by repeated statement or admonition; propaganda: Socrates inculcated his pupils with the love of truth.
syn: infuse, indoctrine |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:54:14 GMT |
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| Posit |
suggest |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:48:21 GMT |
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| Wanderlust |
a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:48:21 GMT |
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| Itinerate |
to travel from place to place, esp. in a regular circuit, as a preacher or judge.
syn: route |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:48:21 GMT |
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| Vitiate |
to weaken or dilute; debase, corrupt, pollute.
ant: reinforce, purify |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:48:21 GMT |
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| palatial |
1. resembling a palace: a palatial home.
2. stately; magnificent: a palatial tapestry. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:45:13 GMT |
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| veracity |
1. truthfulness, accuracy: he was not known for his veracity.
2. something veracious; a truth.
(a derivative from french for truth: vérité) |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:45:13 GMT |
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| castigation |
1. to criticize or reprimand severely.
2. to punish in order to correct. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:45:13 GMT |
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| Fracas |
a noisy, disorderly disturbance or fight; riotous brawl; uproar. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:45:13 GMT |
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| Brook |
To put up with; tolerate; bear; suffer; tolerate:
I will brook no interference.
We will brook no further argument. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:39:25 GMT |
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| Augmenting |
to make (something already developed) greater, as in size, extent, or quantity; Growth: Continuing rains augmented the floodwaters. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:39:25 GMT |
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| Impetuousness |
1. sudden or rash action, emotion, etc.; impulsive: an impetuous decision; an impetuous person.
2. having great impetus; moving with great force; violent: the impetuous winds. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:39:25 GMT |
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| Predilection |
a tendency to think favorably of something in particular; partiality; preference: a predilection for Bach.
Ant: Disinclination |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:39:25 GMT |
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| Stymie |
1. a situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.
2. Golf. (on a putting green) ball's lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:27:45 GMT |
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| dipsomaniac |
a person with an irresistible craving for alcoholic drink
ant: teetotaler |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:27:45 GMT |
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| Teetotaler |
a person who abstains totally from intoxicating drink.
ant: dipsomaniac
syn: abstainer |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:27:45 GMT |
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| denunciation |
public censure or condemnation. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:24:26 GMT |
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| Obloquy |
censure, blame, or abusive language aimed at a person or thing, esp. by numerous persons or by the general public.
discredit, disgrace, denunciation. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:24:26 GMT |
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| Interdict |
to forbid, prohibit |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:24:26 GMT |
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| inimical |
1. adverse, unfavorable, or harmful: a climate inimical to health.
2. unfriendly; hostile: a cold, inimical gaze. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:24:26 GMT |
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| Fledged |
able to fly, having characteristics of maturity. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:21:36 GMT |
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| Evince |
to show clearly; make evident or manifest; prove.
to reveal the possession of (a quality, trait, etc.). |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:21:36 GMT |
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| Preclude |
to prevent, exclude, or stop.
Prevent: The insufficiency of the evidence precludes a conviction.
Exclude: His physical disability precludes an athletic career for him. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:21:36 GMT |
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| Verdent |
1. green with vegetation; covered with growing plants or grass, fresh: a verdant oasis.
2. of the color green: a verdant lawn.
3. inexperienced; unsophisticated: verdant college freshmen.
Ant: Autumnal, old, dry, dying |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:21:35 GMT |
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| Insipid |
without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid: an insipid personality. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:33 GMT |
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| Autumnal |
1. belonging to or suggestive of autumn; produced or gathered in autumn: autumnal colors.
2. past maturity or middle life. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:33 GMT |
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| Nexus |
1. a means of connection; tie; link.
2. a connected series or group.
3. the core or center, as of a matter or situation. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:33 GMT |
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| Seminal |
having possibilities of future development.
highly original and influencing the development of future events: a seminal artist; seminal ideas. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:33 GMT |
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| Perfidious |
deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful: a perfidious lover. |
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chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:33 GMT |
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| Nugatory |
1. of no real value; trifling; worthless.
2. of no force or effect; ineffective; futile; vain. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:33 GMT |
|
| Occluded |
to close, shut, or stop up (a passage, opening, etc.). |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:33 GMT |
|
| Minatory |
menacing; threatening. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:13:33 GMT |
|
| Slovenly |
. untidy or unclean in appearance or habits.
2. characteristic of a sloven; slipshod: slovenly work.
3. in an untidy, careless, or slipshod manner. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:07:47 GMT |
|
| Ingress |
1. the act of going in or entering.
2. the right to enter.
3. a means or place of entering; entryway.
Ant: digress |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:07:47 GMT |
|
| eschew |
to abstain or keep away from; shun; avoid: to eschew evil. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:07:47 GMT |
|
| Niggling |
1. petty; trivial; inconsequential: to quibble about a niggling difference in terminology.
2. demanding too much care, attention, time, etc.: niggling chores about the house. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:07:47 GMT |
|
| Halcyon |
1. calm; peaceful; tranquil: halcyon weather.
2. rich; wealthy; prosperous: halcyon times of peace.
3. happy; joyful; carefree: halcyon days of youth.
4. a mythical bird, usually identified with the kingfisher, said to breed about the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea, and to have the power of charming winds and waves into calmness. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:05:14 GMT |
|
| Luminary |
1. a celestial body, as the sun or moon or a body, object, etc., that gives light.
2. a person who has attained eminence in his or her field or is an inspiration to others: one of the luminaries in the field of medical science. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:05:14 GMT |
|
| amorphous |
1. lacking definite form; having no specific shape; formless: the amorphous clouds.
2. of no particular kind or character; indeterminate; having no pattern or structure; unorganized: an amorphous style; an amorphous personality. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:03:26 GMT |
|
| Mercurial |
1. changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic: a mercurial nature.
2. animated; lively; sprightly; quick-witted.
Syn: adroit, quick-witted, changeable, amorphous |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:03:26 GMT |
|
| gauche |
lacking social grace, sensitivity, or acuteness; awkward; crude; tactless: Their exquisite manners always make me feel gauche.
(french: "left") |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:00:49 GMT |
|
| adroit |
1. expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body.
2. cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious: an adroit debater.
(french "to the right) |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:00:49 GMT |
|
| Bourgois |
a negative term for a member of the middle class--dominated or characterized by materialistic, philistine pursuits. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:00:49 GMT |
|
| Petrous |
1. Anatomy. noting or pertaining to the hard dense portion of the temporal bone, containing the internal auditory organs; petrosal.
2. like stone, esp. in hardness; stony; rocky. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:52:15 GMT |
|
| Morose |
Unsocial, dejected, melancholy attitude or disposition. Excessively gloomy. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:52:15 GMT |
|
| equipoise |
1. an equal distribution of weight; even balance; equilibrium.
2. a counterpoise
(equi = equal, think equidistant) |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:52:15 GMT |
|
| equivocal |
having a double, unclear meaning. intent to deceive or misguide; deliberately ambiguous: an equivocal answer.
Ant: unequivocal, evident, obvious, explicit. |
1 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:52:39 GMT |
|
| Licentious |
1. sexually unrestrained; lascivious; libertine; lewd.
2. unrestrained by law or general morality; lawless; immoral.
3. going beyond customary or proper bounds or limits; disregarding rules.
ant: scrupulous |
1 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:47:28 GMT |
|
| Hubris |
excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance. Deeming oneself better/higher/more powerful than God. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:46:10 GMT |
|
| extempore |
1. on the spur of the moment; without premeditation or preparation; offhand: Questions were asked extempore from the floor.
2. (of musical performance) by improvisation. impromptu. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:46:10 GMT |
|
| Diffident (or diffidence) |
1. lacking confidence in one's own ability, worth, or fitness; timid; shy.
2. restrained or reserved in manner, conduct, shy.
ant: Audacious |
1 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:46:47 GMT |
|
| cornucopia |
1. Classical Mythology. a horn containing food, drink, etc., in endless supply, said to have been a horn of the goat Amalthaea.
2. a representation of this horn, used as a symbol of abundance.
3. an abundant, overflowing supply.
4. a horn-shaped or conical receptacle or ornament. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:42:18 GMT |
|
| Petulant |
moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, esp. over some trifling annoyance: a petulant toss of the head.
Syn: querulous |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:42:18 GMT |
|
| altercate |
to argue or quarrel with zeal, heat, or anger; wrangle. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:42:18 GMT |
|
querulous
(or querulously or querulousness) |
1. full of complaints; complaining.
2. characterized by or uttered in complaint; peevish: a querulous tone; constant querulous reminders of things to be done. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:42:18 GMT |
|
| epicure |
a person who cultivates a refined taste, esp. in food and wine; connoisseur. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:38:16 GMT |
|
| gormandize |
1. to eat greedily or ravenously.
(related to the word "gourmand"--a person who is fond of good eating, often indiscriminatingly and to excess.) |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:38:16 GMT |
|
| Satiety |
The condition of being full to or beyond satisfaction. surfeit. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:38:16 GMT |
|
| Glut |
1. to feed or fill to satiety; sate: feeding to excess/overfeeding: to glut the appetite.
2. to flood (the market) with a particular item or service so that the supply greatly exceeds the demand.
4. to choke up: to glut a channel. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:38:16 GMT |
|
| Pathos |
1. the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.
2. pity.
3.(Emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:37:31 GMT |
|
| Ethos |
: the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution;
2. (Credibility), ethical appeal, or an appeal to a higher athority |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:37:31 GMT |
|
| Logos |
an argument aimed at evoking a logical, rational response
1. (often initial capital letter) Philosophy. the rational principle that governs and develops the universe.
2. Theology. the divine word or reason incarnate in Jesus Christ. John 1:1–14. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:37:31 GMT |
|
| Prosody |
1. the science or study of poetic meters and versification.
2. a particular or distinctive system of metrics and versification: Milton's prosody.
3. Linguistics. the stress and intonation patterns of an utterance. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:37:31 GMT |
|
| stave |
1. one of the thin, narrow, shaped pieces of wood that form the sides of a cask, tub, or similar vessel.
2. a stick, rod, pole, or the like.
3. a rung of a ladder, chair, etc.
4. Prosody.
a. a verse or stanza of a poem or song.
b. the alliterating sound in a line of verse, as the w-sound in wind in the willows. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:29:57 GMT |
|
| accolade |
1. any award, honor, or laudatory notice: The play received accolades from the press.
2. a light touch on the shoulder with the flat side of the sword or formerly by an embrace, done in the ceremony of conferring knighthood.
4. Music. a brace joining several staves.
5. Architecture.
a. an archivolt or hood molding having more or less the form of an ogee arch.
b. a decoration having more or less the form of an ogee arch, cut into a lintel or flat arch. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:29:57 GMT |
|
| acarpous |
not producing fruit; sterile; barren.
The acarpous federal program was cut after proving to be a useless burden on the state. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:29:57 GMT |
|
| abrogate |
1. to abolish by formal or official means; annul by an authoritative act; repeal: to abrogate a law.
2. to put aside; put an end to. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:29:57 GMT |
|
| stygian |
1. of or pertaining to the river Styx or to Hades.
2. extremely dark or gloomy.
3. infernal; hellish. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:26:49 GMT |
|
| juxtapose |
to place close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast.
Her speech juxtaposed to mine made me sound verdant, nascent, and idiotic. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:26:49 GMT |
|
| abut |
lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
"Canada abuts the U.S." |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:26:49 GMT |
|
| abstruse |
1. hard to understand; recondite; esoteric: abstruse theories.
2. Obsolete. secret; hidden. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:26:49 GMT |
|
| abscond |
to depart in a sudden and secret manner, esp. to avoid capture and legal prosecution: The cashier absconded with the money. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:22:35 GMT |
|
| abjure |
1. to renounce, repudiate, or retract, esp. with formal solemnity; recant: to abjure one's errors.
2. to renounce or give up under oath; forswear: to abjure allegiance.
3. to avoid or shun. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:22:35 GMT |
|
| aberrant |
differing from the normal or accepted way, esp. in behavior
The kids aberrant behavior in the film worried parents. |
1 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:55:27 GMT |
|
| aberration |
1. the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course.
2. the act of deviating from the ordinary, usual, or normal type.
3. deviation from truth or moral rectitude.
4. mental irregularity or disorder, esp. of a minor or temporary nature; lapse from a sound mental state.
5. Astronomy. apparent displacement of a heavenly body, owing to the motion of the earth in its orbit.
6. Optics. any disturbance of the rays of a pencil of light such that they can no longer be brought to a sharp focus or form a clear image.
7. Photography. a defect in a camera lens or lens system, due to flaws in design, material, or construction, that can distort the image. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:22:35 GMT |
|
| abeyance |
1. temporary inactivity, cessation, or suspension: Let's hold that problem in abeyance for a while.
2. Law. a state or condition of real property in which title is not as yet vested in a known titleholder: an estate in abeyance. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:19:39 GMT |
|
| abdication |
renunciation.
A giving up of a possession, claim, or right. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:19:39 GMT |
|
| abet |
to encourage, support, or countenance by aid or approval, usually in wrongdoing: to abet a swindler; to abet a crime.
(often used legally as "aided and abetted" |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:19:39 GMT |
|
| abate |
become less in amount of intensity. "the storm abated." |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:19:39 GMT |
|
| Penurious |
1. extremely stingy; parsimonious; miserly.
2. extremely poor; destitute; indigent.
3. poorly or inadequately supplied; lacking in means or resources.
syn: dearth, paucity, |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:17:09 GMT |
|
| Capacious |
capable of holding much; spacious or roomy: a capacious storage |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:17:09 GMT |
|
| Malediction |
1. a curse; imprecation.
2. the utterance of a curse.
Syn: imprecate, execrate, curse |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:17:09 GMT |
|
| Adumbrate |
1. to produce a faint image or resemblance of; to outline or sketch.
2. to foreshadow; prefigure.
3. to darken or conceal partially; overshadow.
"For crisp business writing, adumbrating costs is indispensable, because corporations seldom if ever disclose information fully and openly." |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:17:09 GMT |
|
| Parsimonious |
characterized by or showing parsimony; frugal or stingy.
-tight, close, miserly, covetous. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:11:47 GMT |
|
| imprecate |
to invoke or call down (evil or curses), as upon a person.
"You should not swear, aver or impricate by or in the name of God" |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:11:47 GMT |
|
| truculent |
1. fierce; cruel; savagely brutal.
2. brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing: his truculent criticism of her work crushed her.
3.aggressively hostile; belligerent.
Attila the Hun's truculent stare terrified all. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:11:47 GMT |
|
| Capacious |
capable of holding much; spacious or roomy: a capacious storage |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:11:47 GMT |
|
| mitigate |
1. to lessen in force or intensity, as wrath, grief, harshness, or pain; moderate.
2. to make less severe: to mitigate a punishment.
3. to make (a person, one's state of mind, disposition, etc.) milder or more gentle; mollify; appease.
–verb (used without object)
4. to become milder; lessen in severity. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:07:24 GMT |
|
| execrate |
1. to detest utterly; abhor; abominate.
2. to curse; imprecate evil upon; damn; denounce: He execrated all who opposed him.
3. to utter curses. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:07:24 GMT |
|
| Cloture |
1. a method of closing a debate and causing an immediate vote to be taken on the question.
2. to close (a debate) by cloture. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:07:24 GMT |
|
| Dyshemism |
an extremely negative word choice for something less negative or even positive.
"She kicked the bucket." "They gave me the axe." |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:07:24 GMT |
|
| Ephemism |
Positive alternative word choice for a negative topic:
"I've been let go" or "She passed away" |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:03:29 GMT |
|
| inchoate |
1. not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.
2. just begun; incipient.
3. not organized; lacking order: an inchoate mass of ideas on the subject.
Ant: obvious, finished, evident.
Syn: amorphous, incipient, vague, unshaped. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:03:29 GMT |
|
| Avaricious |
characterized by avarice; greedy; covetous. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:03:29 GMT |
|
| Parse |
1. to analyze (a sentence) in terms of grammatical constituents, identifying the parts of speech, syntactic relations, etc.
grammar.
2. To examine closely or subject to detailed analysis, especially by breaking up into components: "What are we missing by parsing the behavior of chimpanzees into the conventional categories recognized largely from our own behavior?" (Stephen Jay Gould).
3. To make sense of; comprehend: I simply couldn't parse what you just said. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:03:29 GMT |
|
| incipient (adj.) |
beginning to exist or appear; in an initial stage: an incipient cold.
syn: beginning, budding, developing, inceptive, inchoate, initial, nascent |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:52:24 GMT |
|
| ameliorate |
to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve; meliorate.
No matter how much cream she put on, the cut would not ameliorate in the least. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:52:24 GMT |
|
| oeuvre(s) |
the works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole. (french) |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:52:24 GMT |
|
| commiserate |
1. to feel or express sorrow or sympathy for; empathize with; pity.
–verb (used without object)
2. to sympathize (usually fol. by with): They commiserated with him over the loss of his job. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:52:24 GMT |
|
| homophonic |
1. having the same sound.
2. Music. having one part or melody predominating |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:48:18 GMT |
|
| polyphonic |
1. consisting of many voices or sounds.
2. Music.
a. having two or more voices or parts, each with an independent melody, but all harmonizing; contrapuntal (opposed to homophonic).
2. capable of playing more than one tone at a time, such as an organ or a harp. (complex music) |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:48:18 GMT |
|
| evince |
1. to show clearly; make evident or manifest; prove.
2. to reveal the possession of (a quality, trait, etc.). |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:48:18 GMT |
|
| espouse |
1. to make one's own; adopt or embrace, as a cause.
2. to marry.
3. to give (a woman) in marriage.
He espoused the cause without a moments thought. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:48:18 GMT |
|
| fomented (fomenter) V. |
1. To promote the growth of; incite.
2. One who agitates, especially politically: agitator, inciter, instigator.
3. To treat (the skin, for example) by fomentation.
Jack the Pirate, the fomenter of terror on the seven seas, evaded the authorities yet again. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:41:56 GMT |
|
| chitinous (or chiton) n. |
a principal constituent of the exoskeleton, or outer covering, of insects, crustaceans, and arachnids. (think beatle) |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:41:56 GMT |
|
| arthropod n. |
any invertebrate of the phylum ,ving a segmented body, jointed limbs, and usually a chitinous shell that undergoes moltings, including the insects, spiders and other arachnids, crustaceans, and myriapods. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:41:56 GMT |
|
| anthropoid n. |
1. Resembling a human, especially in shape or outward appearance.
2. Resembling or characteristic of an ape; apelike. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:41:56 GMT |
|
| allegory |
1. a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
2. a symbolical narrative: the allegory of Piers Plowman. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:33:56 GMT |
|
| alloy |
1. to reduce in value/purity by an admixture of a less costly metal.
8. to debase, impair, or reduce by admixture; adulterate. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:33:56 GMT |
|
| amalgam |
1. a rare mineral, an alloy of silver and mercury: silver-white crystals or grains.
2. a mixture/combination: His character is a strange amalgam of contradictory traits. |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:33:56 GMT |
|
| Approbation |
1. approval; commendation.
2. official approval or sanction.
Syn: admiration, applause, support, compliment, esteem, favor, |
0 |
chasingafterdear Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:33:56 GMT |
|
