manhathan 8

deride

''6The verb deride means to speak to someone with contempt or show a low opinion of someone or something. A bully might constantly deride other kids in his class — which might lead to many afternoons spent in the principal's office. To "ride" people is to get on their case or give them a hard time, and to deride is to do the same with insulting language or poor treatment. Deride comes from the Latin root dērīdēre, meaning "to ridicule, to scorn," and it's often used to express dislike or even hatred. Criticizing something with words is a common way to deride, and politicians often deride each other in their speeches during election campaigns. 1-verb treat or speak of with contempt "He derided his student's attempt to solve the biggest problem in mathematics" examples 1-Support of civil rights legislation was derided by Southern conservatives as merely "rewarding lawbreakers." 2-Galton may have derided the "microscope" of experimental geneticists, but the tool was far more powerful than Galton had presumed, for it could penetrate the outer shell of heredity into the mechanism itself. 3-Judge de Wet looked to him to reply to Bram's argument, and instead of offering particulars he began to give what the judge derided as "a political speech." 4-How I blessed those stolid, flannelled figures, for in a few minutes his face had settled back into repose, the colour had returned, and he was deriding the Surrey bowling in healthy irritation

freewheeling

1-adjective free of restraints or rules 2-adjective cheerfully irresponsible examples 1-His classmates found him outgoing, freewheeling, handy with a joke, and fun to be around. 2-Buck Duke was a man seemingly created for his rough, freewheeling times. 3-Brought up in the wide-open, freewheeling society of Earth, I would never master the protocol, or the impassivity, so valued by Karhiders. 4-Spies tended to be freewheeling by nature, and they used many different systems to communicate.

debased

1-adjective mixed with impurities synonyms:adulterate, adulterated impurecombined with extraneous elements 2-adjective lowered in value "a debased currency" synonyms:degraded, devalued low examples 1-Turner thought about getting to work on conquering his debased self, but decided that could wait till morning. 2-His voice was soft, as though faded, and his accent less debased than that of the majority of proles. 3-"Goodness knows what debased fantasy he's having," Ignatius commented. 4-"He says the language is dying. He thinks words are being debased. So he tries to speak entirely in weird words and irony, so no one can simplify anything he says."

occlusive

1-adjective tending to occlude 2-noun a consonant produced by stopping the flow of air at some point and suddenly releasing it synonyms:plosive, plosive consonant, plosive speech sound, stop, stop consonant

double-dealing

1-noun acting in bad faith; deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another synonyms:duplicity 2-adjective marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another "a double-dealing double agent" synonyms:Janus-faced, ambidextrous, deceitful, double-faced, double-tongued, duplicitous, two-faced dishonest, dishonorable examples 1-And Washington, playing his role in the agent's double-dealing, supplied Hunter with such real tidbits as the actual strength of his army and the location of his supply dumps. 2-"That's a loaded question and you know it, sir! I'm so sick of this moral double-dealing I could—" He had stung her, and she had shown him she felt it. 3-'How could you suggest such double-dealing? For shame, Rabscuttle! We will guard the house.' 4-He had no reason to feel like a miserable double-dealing villain.

largess

1-noun liberality in bestowing gifts; extremely liberal and generous of spirit synonyms:largesse, magnanimity, munificence, openhandedness 2-noun a gift or money given (as for service or out of benevolence); usually given ostentatiously examples 1-The delay allowed Lawrence to exploit Groves's largess without competition: by the time Brookhaven was chartered, the foundations for Lawrence's three new accelerators already had been laid. 2-This largess moved my mother—tea, an act of humility. 3-Robin discovered, too, that Alan liked sweets, so he kept a good supply of honey cakes in his pocket for largess. 4-In any case, we may safely assume that Euergetes' largess did not begin to strain the resources of his supposedly dying kingdom.

covetousness

1-noun reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins) 2-noun extreme greed for material wealth 3-noun an envious eagerness to possess something examples 1-The world had caught him; pleasure, covetousness, idleness, and finally also that vice that he had always despised and scorned as the most foolish—acquisitiveness. 2-Sinful woman, she'll go to hell with her pride and her covetousness, and take that foot-butcher of a husband with her. 3-"Certainly. Go, dear, I forgot that you have any home but this," and Mrs. March pressed the white hand that wore the wedding ring, as if asking pardon for her maternal covetousness. 4-So much of the story of food in the past decade is the story of covetousness.

Desiccation

1-noun the process of extracting moisture synonyms:dehydration, drying up, evaporation 2-noun dryness resulting from the removal of water synonyms:dehydration examples 1-Might there not be an even more elaborate effort by an older and wiser species, courageously battling the advance of desiccation on the red planet? 2-Ahead, treeless desiccation beneath the big, blue sky. 3-In "A Sand Book," capitalism's parasitic effect on discourse mirrors its ransacking of the environment; Reines ties cultural and spiritual desiccation to literal desertification. 4-Valued evergreens such as camellias, hollies, southern magnolias and rhododendrons should be fully hydrated before the ground freezes to minimize winter kill related to desiccation.

evanescent

A beautiful sunset, a rainbow, a wonderful dream right before your alarm clock goes off — all of these could be described as evanescent, which means "fleeting" or "temporary." Evanescent comes from the Latin ex, meaning "out of," and vanescere, meaning "to vanish." When pronouncing this word, emphasize the third syllable and note that the c is silent. You might want to practice saying evanescent a few times right now; if you stumble over pronunciation when you need this word the most, whatever you're describing — be it a shooting star or a whiff of fragrant perfume — will be gone. 1-adjective tending to vanish like vapor "evanescent beauty" Synonyms:impermanent, temporary examples 1-If we were shrunk to the level of the neurons, we might witness elaborate, intricate, evanescent patterns. 2-They are not just tiny and swift but also often tantalizingly evanescent. 3-In the evanescent delicacy she felt something as profound as she'd felt close to the bear. 4-But first they were unmade, their edges fading like the evanescent white bird, Wraith, as it phased through the skin of the sky.

inept

A clumsy, incompetent person — or an ineffective action — is inept. When you're inept, you don't know what you're doing or just can't get it done. Someone inept is bumbling, clueless, and ineffective. Inept people are dumb or clueless; they don't understand things. More than that, inept people are bad at what they do. An inept lawyer always loses cases. An inept figure skater wipes out on the ice. An inept postal worker loses mail and puts it in the wrong box. An inept person is downright bad at something. The opposite of inept is competent. FROM LONGMAN: not good at doing something OPP capable, skilful 1-adjective generally incompetent and ineffectual "inept handling of the account" synonyms:feckless incompetentnot qualified or suited for a purpose 2-adjective revealing lack of perceptiveness or judgment or finesse "an inept remark" synonyms:tactless examples 1-He feels inept, clumsy, as he tastes and smells her there, and yet he hears her whispering his name, telling him it feels wonderful. 2-Babiki was so shy that she didn't talk much to begin with, and I was so inept with women that I didn't know how to talk to her. 3-I'm thinking of words like unkempt, inept, disgruntled, and uncouth. 4-I was inept at my new lessons, especially with die needle.

conflagration

A conflagration isn't just a few flames; it's an especially large and destructive fire that causes devastation. That tiny campfire that somehow turned into a raging forest inferno? You could call that intense, uncontrolled blaze a conflagration. Mrs. O'Leary's cow knew a thing or two about conflagrations: It was that unknowing animal that kicked over a kerosene lamp in the night, setting the O'Leary's barn on fire and sending four square miles of the Windy City into that blistering conflagration known as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. 1-noun a very intense and uncontrolled fire synonyms:inferno 2-noun a violent clash or conflict examples 1-Tally felt the heat still rising from the bed, the straw mattress and thick quilts fuel for the conflagration. 2-The grim blackness of the stones told by what fate the Hall had fallen—by conflagration: but how kindled? 3-The sun, in Anaximander's view, was not a spherical body, but a world-girdling wheel of fire; the bright orb we see in the sky is just a hole through which we glimpse the conflagration beyond. 4-From every side, the roar of conflagration; the air was mobile with sparks and gentle black ghosts of ash.

fabulist

A fabulist is a storyteller. Your uncle who spends holiday gatherings telling stories that end with clear morals is a fabulist, and so is your cousin who invents long, complicated excuses for being late to school every morning. Someone who writes or recites fables — moralistic tales that often feature animals as characters — is one kind of fabulist. The ancient Greek fabulist Aesop, for example, composed many stories about talking animals that ended with important moral lessons. Another kind of fabulist is a person who tells tall tales, or who lies. The root of fabulist is the Old French fable, "lie or pretense," from the Latin fabula, "story, play, or tale," or literally, "that which is told." Definitions of fabulist 1-noun a person who tells or invents fables examples 1-This slyly fabulist story inhabits the point of view of a sickly goat taken in by a poor Indian family. 2-The writer and director Kim Nguyen's film is in a distinctly fabulist mode that becomes more pronounced as it goes on. 3-And of course the most inspired creation within "Henry IV" is one of the great fabulists of Western literature. 4-What follows all rings true, like anything told by a really good fabulist

panegyric

A formal, high-minded speech can be described with a formal, high-minded word — the word panegyric, which is a very elaborate tribute to someone. You could consider most eulogies as panegyrics. It stands to reason that the original use of the word panegyris, from which panegyric derives, was to describe a public gathering in honor of a Greek god. The Latin, L. panegyricus, altered slightly to mean "public eulogy," which around the 16th Century shifted to the French panégyrique, which meant "laudation." In any case, the word today stands for high praise given in a speech or tribute as highfalutin as the word itself sounds. 1-adjective formally expressing praise examples 1-After having made a few preparatory experiments, he concluded with a panegyric upon modern chemistry, the terms of which I shall never forget: 2-Yet in your book you deplore the panegyric as much as the unillumined attack. 3-Obama's State of the Union speech in 2012 began and ended with panegyrics to the troops, which Jonah Goldberg of National Review called "disgusting" and reminiscent of North Korea. 4-Tarantino's nostalgic panegyric to Los Angeles, the internal combustion engine and old-school masculine cool is a dream of a movie.

frisson

A frisson is a thrilling shiver. Some people love roller coasters so much that they feel a frisson of excitement just looking at one. You're just as likely to feel a frisson whether you're scared or excited; its meaning lies directly between thrill and fear. When you hear a scary sound in the basement late at night, and open the door to investigate, you might feel a frisson of fear as you start to descend the steps. The Latin root is frigere, "to be cold," and while a frisson is certainly shivery, its source is a thrill rather than a chill. 1-noun an almost pleasurable sensation of fright "a frisson of surprise shot through him" examples 1-The barest frisson of tension tinges Helene's voice, and I clear my throat. 2-There was, first, a reception in the parlor, animated with the same frisson of excitement that accompanies the tumbling of acrobats in high spaces. 3-This time, too, there was no small, endearingly innocent pulse of excitement, that keen and eager frisson that comes with venturing into the unknown with gleaming, untried equipment. 4-The process frequently sent a frisson of excitement up Dimple's spine.

mascot

A mascot is an animal or character that represents a group. If your high school soccer team is called "the weasels," it means that a weasel must be your school's mascot. Some mascots supposedly bring luck to an organization or club, and others are used as marketing for a team or brand. Smokey the Bear is the mascot of the U.S. Forest Service and stars in commercials urging the public to help prevent forest fires. Tony the Tiger is also a mascot of sorts, for Frosted Flakes cereal. Sports team mascots actually appear at games and matches, dancing around between innings and high-fiving little kids in the stands. 1-noun a person or animal that is adopted by a team or other group as a symbolic figure

militant

A militant is someone who is engaged in a war or who acts aggressively for their cause. If you are militant in your beliefs, you do not question them any more than a soldier questions his orders. In the context of undeclared or guerrilla warfare, enemy fighters are often referred to not as soldiers but as militants, because they are not members of a formal army. As an adjective, militant often has a negative feel — people on one side of a debate will often try to cast those on the other side as militants FROM LONGMAN: a militant organization or person is willing to use strong or violent action in order to achieve political or social change 1-adjective engaged in war 2-adjective disposed to warfare or hard-line policies "militant nations" 3-adjective showing a fighting disposition "militant in fighting for better wages for workers" examples 1-At a visit with Winnie a few months before, she had managed to tell me through our coded conversation that there was a rising class of discontented youth who were militant and Africanist in orientation. 2-Like "I once told my militant black daddy about my white boyfriend" kinda boldness. 3-nstead of fixing things for the Negro race, Richard Nixon would win the war in Vietnam, clean up the country of its long-haired, drug-smoking hippies, and get those black militants and bean-pie-selling "Mooslims" in line. 4-And the threats from the militants to stop associating with white people hadn't ceased.

murmur

A murmur is a quiet, blurred sound often heard from a distance. It can be comforting when you're little to fall asleep listening to the murmur of your parents talking downstairs. Murmur can also be a verb that means the same as mutter: you say something so quietly that your words can't be understood. You might be complaining about something — a murmur is often a sign that someone's not pleased. A heart murmur is an abnormal heart sound that can only be detected by a doctor with a stethoscope, it's so low and soft. 1-noun a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech 2-verb speak softly or indistinctly "She murmured softly to the baby in her arms" examples 1-On another sat Nivea in her slip, head bowed, murmuring over a rosary as if she were finding fault with the beads that dangled between her knees. 2-"They're in there. My kids are in there," he murmured to himself. 3-He turned out the light, murmuring his brief praise of darkness; we burrowed down into our bags, and within a minute or two he was sliding into sleep as a swimmer slides into dark water. 4-What started as a low murmur gradually swelled to a chorus of terrified voices.

penchant

A penchant is a strong preference or tendency. If you have a penchant for pizza, you either eat it daily or wish you did. Penchant borrows from French, in which penchant literally means inclined. It goes back to the Latin pendere, for hanging, which is also the source of pendant. In both French and English, speakers have long used the idea of inclination metaphorically: a hillside can be inclined in one direction or another, and so can a person's thoughts. But in English, penchant is only for desires. 1-noun a strong liking synonyms:predilection, preference, taste examples 1-Dimple wasn't sure she cared anymore for his penchant for finding humor in every situation. 2-The regent believed Justice and I brought out the worst in each other, or at least Justice's penchant for adventures and high-jinks influenced my more conservative disposition. 3-So far, the only blemish on Parker's record while serving the president is a penchant for tardiness, as Crook knows all too well. 4-Ridgeway's penchant for violence and odd fixations had made it hard to find men willing to ride with him.

shrub

A shrub is a short, tree-like plant with many stems or branches. If you want to tastefully spruce up your front yard, you might plant a flowering shrub or two — or maybe you're the type who would prefer some plastic garden gnomes. Shrubs are similar to trees with two exceptions: they are shorter and have more individual stems, rather than a wide, thick trunk. Some plants, like a hazelnut, can grow into either a shrub or a tree. You can also call a shrub a bush. The origin of shrub is a bit uncertain, but some experts believe it shares a Scandinavian root with the Norwegian skrubba, "dwarf tree." 1-noun a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems synonyms:bush

strand

A single hair, a noodle, even a line of thought — any of these things could be called a strand, a long thin length of something. The noun strand describes things that are long and thin like a rope, or a strand of spaghetti, hair, or thread. Strands are often twisted together to form thicker, stronger things like cables. As a verb, the meaning is very different: "to leave helpless," like unreliable cars that strand their drivers, or a snowstorm that strands people at airports. 1-noun line consisting of a complex of fibers or filaments that are twisted together to form a thread or a rope or a cable examples 1-They circled round and round the stranded steamer chatting excitedly. 2-Her hair falls into her lap, swirling into a pile of ringlets, and her tiny teacup monkey plays hide-and-seek within the strands. 3-They surround a single strand of rna, which is the virus's genetic code. 4-"Here, I stole a macaroon for you. It's so sticky you'll be tasting it all day; I must have six strands of coconut between my upper molars."

virtuoso

A virtuoso is an incredibly talented musician. You can also be a virtuoso in non-musical fields. A politician who helps pass a lot of bills might be called a legislative virtuoso. A baseball player who hits a lot of home runs is a slugging virtuoso. Usually, this word applies to music. It's very common for a talented pianist or guitarist to be called a virtuoso. Whatever your talent, it's a huge compliment to be called a virtuoso. 1-noun someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field 2-adjective having or revealing supreme mastery or skill examples 1-In order to emulate a whole band - bass, accompanying chords and tune - the solo pianist had to leap about the keys frantically, resulting in a rather virtuoso left-hand motion from bass to chord and back. 2-Some of the time he seems to be practicing, like a virtuoso in his apartment. 3-She had flirted with the New World's great virtuosi. 4-Greater shape and clarity, of course, was what the fledgling record industry preferred to long-winded periods of virtuoso meandering.

egalitarian

An egalitarian is a person who believes in the equality of all people, and an egalitarian society gives everyone equal rights This is a word that means something close to equality and has to do with fairness. If you believe that everyone deserves a chance to vote, go to school, get good jobs, and participate in society, then you are an egalitarian. When laws make life fairer, the law is getting more egalitarian. The opposite of an egalitarian system could be a fascist society or dictatorship. Monarchies are not egalitarian. When you see this word, think about equality and freedom. 1-adjective favoring social equality examples 1-In fact, acceptance of cognitive egalitarianism means they cannot think historically, for a cognitive egalitarian cannot explain why, to take but one example, we no longer believe that swallows overwinter in ponds. 2-Tribes still have an informal, "egalitarian" system of government. 3-In the absence of a truly egalitarian racial consensus, these predictable cycles inevitably give rise to new, extraordinarily comprehensive systems of racialized social control. 4-There is something inherently egalitarian and liberating about the new inter-related worlds of the book and of the fact.

incendiary

An incendiary device is a bomb. An incendiary statement is, "You're ugly and stupid." Both are likely to produce an explosion of one kind or another. Incendiary means more than flammable. It means explosive, in both a literal and figurative way. If you're a radical who changes the world by exciting people and makes as many enemies as followers, you're an incendiary figure. The speeches you give that rile people up are incendiary. The fires you set are also incendiary, and by setting them you are also likely to be called an incendiary — someone who burns things, more commonly known as an arsonist. 1-adjective capable of catching fire spontaneously or causing fires or burning readily "an incendiary agent" "incendiary bombs" Synonyms:combustible 2-adjective involving deliberate burning of property "an incendiary fire" examples 1-Laleh had acquired a bag of Sour Patch Kids while she browsed Terminal 4, and the combination of sugar and temporal distortion proved an incendiary one. 2-It is an incendiary device: who knows what we'd make of it, if we ever got our hands on it? 3-They were fortified with drink and incendiary slander. 4-They brought destruction at close range with incendiary bombs, and they released annihilation—and a new, modern fear—with the atomic bombs they delivered.

utterance

An utterance is a bit of spoken language. It could be anything from "Ugh!" to a full sentence. To utter means "to say." So when you're saying something, you're making utterances. Saying "24" in math class is an utterance. A police officer yelling "Stop!" is an utterance. Saying "Good boy!" to your dog is an utterance. Even a long speech by the President is an utterance. If you can't hear it, it's not an utterance. 1-noun the use of uttered sounds for auditory communication examples 1-What made this or that utterance from the slave catcher worthy of inclusion, Cora could not discern. 2-Of course this aria would be written by someone with this name, the very utterance of which slays me—the trilled rr and knife-blade-between-the-teeth ss in his name. 3-For example, they had to figure out how to decompose a continuous utterance into speech units, regardless of whether those units were taken as words, syllables, or phonemes. 4-The Warden was a blond and brachycephalic Alpha- Minus, short, red, moon-faced, and broad-shouldered, with a loud booming voice, very well adapted to the utterance of hypnopxdic wisdom.

brook (a verb)

As a verb, brook is a rather stuffy word for "put up with." The lord of the manor might say, "I will brook no trespassing on my land." 1-verb put up with something or somebody unpleasant synonyms:abide, bear, digest, endure, put up, stand, stick out, stomach, suffer, support, tolerate

beset

Beset means to attack from all sides — an invading army will beset a castle, or you might find yourself beset by a devastating storm. Beset also has a very different meaning: to decorate or encrust with jewels or other ornamentation. If you are attending a ball, you may choose a gown that is beset with silver sequins, just be careful that you don't end up looking like a giant disco ball. 1-verb assail or attack on all sides 2-verb annoy continually or chronically examples 1-On top of panic that I'd lost my friend, I was suddenly beset by worries about my reputation. 2-The journey is supposed to take fifty-four minutes, but it rarely does: this section of the track is ancient, decrepit, beset with signalling problems and never-ending engineering works. 3-She seemed suddenly beset upon by some frantic animation. 4-She is especially beset by Leah's and my status as exceptional children.

consternation

Consternation is a noun that can stop you in your tracks because it means "a sudden, alarming amazement or dread that results in utter confusion; dismay." If you have a sense of consternation you have become afraid, disoriented, or completely befuddled. It comes from the Latin roots con- and -sternare, which means "spread out." Picture all of your thoughts strewn about, nothing makes sense and you might experience a state of consternation. Like the nightmare about the class you forgot to go to in high school and now you have to take the final exam! 1-noun fear resulting from the awareness of danger examples 1-Sure enough, every so often, out of the corner of her eye, Reyna would spot glowing white spirits in Roman clothes flitting among the ruins, frowning at the statue in consternation. 2-After the Pilgrims landed the other son ran off to live with some nearby Indians, leading to great consternation and an expedition to fetch him back. 3-The wonder and consternation with which Joe stopped on the threshold of his bite and stared at me, were too evident to escape my sister's observation. 4-To Big Ma's consternation, Mr. Lucas stepped out on his porch and called out, "Ophelia! Ophelia!" like her name was a song.

replicate

Did you just figure out how to make that excellent pizza you had in Philadelphia? Then what you've done is replicate it, meaning you've been able to reproduce it. The word replicate carries different shades of meaning, but it generally involves repeating something. Students of biology will know that the word is often used to indicate that an exact duplicate has been made, such as chromosomes that replicate themselves. It can also be used in an unscientific sense to mean that something has been done again to match or repeat an earlier outcome, such as a political group that works to replicate a successful campaign. 1-verb reproduce or make an exact copy of "replicate the cell" synonyms:copy 2-verb make or do or perform again "He could never replicate his brilliant performance of the magic trick" synonyms:double, duplicate, reduplicate, repeat examples 1-Sometimes they live inside each other; the Bdellovibrio penetrate the walls of other bacteria, tuck themselves up inside, replicate, and burst out again as though they thought themselves phages. 2-They will be available to her from restaurants, brought up to the flat by servants, bearing a taste that after all these years she has still not quite managed, to her entire satisfaction, to replicate. 3-Cancer, perhaps, is an ultimate perversion of genetics—a genome that becomes pathologically obsessed with replicating itself. 4-No one knew what had killed the nun, but clearly it was a replicating agent, and the signs and symptoms of the disease were not easy to consider with a calm mind.

Credulity

Did you know that if you say credulity ten times fast it starts to sound like orange? If you believe that, then you have a lot of credulity. Credulity means gullibility, or a willingness to believe anything. Credulity is a tendency to believe in things too easily and without evidence. If a swindler is trying to sell you fake medicine, then he is "preying on your credulity." This noun is associated with being naïve, gullible or innocent. It shouldn't be confused with credibility, which means "believability," although it is often misused in this way. You might hear someone say, "the farfetched plot of that movie strained credulity," but what he or she really means is "believability," or "credibility." 1-noun tendency to believe readily examples 1-For more about convince and persuade, see page 61. credibility/credulity. 2-It is, in intention, a public mockery of our credulity, our gullibility, our stupidity—engineered, with incredible impudence, by this person who stands here before us today. 3-"Are we still in my credulity? Because if we are, you owe me for this meal." 4-As our credulity switched back to her she leaned forward with enthusiasm.

unremitting

During a heat wave, it's not always the temperature itself that's a problem. It's that the heat is unremitting--you don't get a break from it. It's sweltering hot day after day after day. You'd think the word unremitting would be connected to the word remit, but that's true in only a loose way. Remit means to send back--but if you remit a debt, you forgive it, or lift it. Unremitting describes something that is never lifted or sent back. Like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps coming and coming and coming. 1-adjective uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing "unremitting demands of hunger" examples 1-Viroids can be so small and still thrive because they are thoroughgoing, unremitting parasites. 2-It was a building unremittingly unrevealing of what it held inside, with thick, featureless walls pale blue in colour and high, narrow windows impossible to look in through. 3-Managers may truly believe that, without their unremitting efforts, all work would quickly grind to a halt. 4-In such a system, the outcome is a chancy kind of order, always on the verge of descending into chaos, held taut against probability by the unremitting, constant surge of energy from the sun.

canard

During a political campaign, you will often hear on TV commercials some canard about the opponent. This is a false, deluding statement designed to confuse the voters, as it presents the other candidate in a bad light by spreading an untruth. The Old French word quanart, "duck," morphed into canard, as in "vendre un canard à moitié," which refers to "half-selling" a duck, or cheating someone, and the word came to mean something meant to fool someone deliberately. Poet James Whitcomb Riley said, "When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck." Not always the case with canard. 1-noun a deliberately misleading fabrication examples 1-The prevalence of this kind of comedy contributed to the rise of the canard — "meme" is too dignified a word — that women are not as funny as men. 2-There is something tiresome and incurious about the film's romanticism, which rests on the canard that girls aren't really into music. 3-It is an unthinking canard that Arendt was duped by Eichmann's act and underestimated his commitment to National Socialism. 4-Of course you could take a stab at some of her more complicated multistep stunners, like canard a l'orange or her souffle, I'm a big fan of her more simple recipes.

elude

Elude means "evade or escape," like the way you might elude the other kids during a game of hide-and-seek. This word can also mean "to be hard to understand." No matter how hard you try, the finer points of quantum physics might elude you Elude has a slippery feeling to it. You elude the police, math can elude you — and that yak you went to see on safari but never got a glimpse of, you might say that he has eluded you as well. Delude means "to deceive," and there are times when someone can both delude and elude you — like when the conman took your money and then escaped out the back door. 1-verb escape, either physically or mentally "The thief eluded the police" 2-verb avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues) 3-verb be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by "What you are seeing in him eludes me" synonyms:escape examples 1-Having paid princely sums to be escorted up Everest, some climbers have then sued their guides when the summit eluded them. 2-At first even the cook's huge fat kitchen cat had been able to elude her, but Syrio had kept her at it day and night. 3-Eventually, the county prosecutor decided to look again for the bullet that had eluded investigators during Anna's autopsy. 4-It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.

sleight of hand

FROM LONGMAN: the use of quick and skilful movements with your hands when doing a magic trick, so that people cannot understand how you did the trick noun manual dexterity in the execution of tricks examples 1-He'd learned sleight of hand from the cardsharps and monte runners on East Stave, and spent hours practicing it in front of a muddy mirror he'd bought with his first week's pay. 2-But what seem to be supernatural events are really sleight of hand. 3-Satan, in a classic rhetorical sleight of hand, doesn't directly ask the question his speech hopes to answer. 4-Hazel passed a diamond between her fingers in a sleight of hand.

wheedling

FROM LONGMAN: to persuade someone to do or give you something, for example by saying nice things to them that you do not mean - used to show disapproval 1-noun the act of urging by means of teasing or flattery examples 1-Their voices are wheedling and false; I can tell they don't mean it, each one thinks her own lady on her own page is good. 2-"Come, my pretty—" But Ellen got no further with her wheedling. 3-She had a face like a dinner roll and blancmange-colored skin, and ruled by wheedling 4-Since the moment school let out, they had been wheedling and prodding for stories about their mother.

fortitude

Fortitude refers to strength in the face of adversity or difficulty. Eating fried worms might require a lot of intestinal fortitude When someone has fortitude it means that they have emotional power or reserves and the ability to withstand adversity. People who have fortitude are described in an admiring way for their courage and this word comes from the Latin word fortitudo, meaning "strength." Jacueline Bisset, someone who knows about beauty, said, "Character contributes to beauty. It fortifies a woman as her youth fades. A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline, fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful." FROM LONGMAN: courage shown when you are in great pain or experiencing a lot of trouble SYN strength 1-noun strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage examples 1-Even clad in his nightwear he radiated calm and fortitude. 2-Then I stand up, force fortitude to my legs, and begin negotiations. 3-could sense the happiness of couples holding first babies and the fortitude of Catholics accepting their ninth. 4-Here is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy.'"

belligerent

If someone is belligerent, they're eager to fight. It's a good idea to avoid hardcore hockey fans after their team loses — they tend to be belligerent. Belligerent comes from the Latin word bellum, for "war." You can use it to talk about actual wars — the nations taking part in a war are called belligerents — but usually belligerent describes a psychological disposition. If you're running a school for aggressive boys, do plenty of arts and crafts to prevent them from becoming too belligerent. The stress is on the second syllable: bə-LIJ-ə-rənt. 1-adjective characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight "a belligerent tone" 2-adjective engaged in war "belligerent (or warring) nations" 3-noun someone who fights (or is fighting) synonyms:battler, combatant, fighter, scrapper examples 1-When the Welsh got belligerent, you brought in Irish. 2-The white brothers looked uncomfortable and some of the Harlem brothers belligerent. 3-The facts were clear to all belligerents: the final conquest would come from the sky. 4-"Noun. A person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as a belligerent."

recalcitrant

If someone is so pig-headed that he won't budge on an issue, call him recalcitrant. Not that it will make a difference... Recalcitrant is from Latin calcitrare, meaning "to kick," so someone who is recalcitrant is kicking back against what's wanted of them. Synonyms are unruly, intractable, and refractory, all referring to what is difficult to manage or control. Writers are frequently referring to recalcitrant Democrats and Republicans, since many people are stubbornly loyal to their political parties and unwilling to change. 1-adjective stubbornly resistant to authority or control synonyms:fractious, refractory disobedient 2-adjective marked by stubborn resistance to authority "the University suspended the most recalcitrant demonstrators" examples 1-This "irritant dust" was most likely to be used in small situations with one or two recalcitrant inmates. 2-Like a recalcitrant child, however, color in art refuses to be governed by any rules. 3-New York and New Jersey, which contained the largest slave populations north of the Chesapeake, proved more recalcitrant for that very reason. 4-"Mr. McNamara, is this child your main offender, your chief suspect, or a recalcitrant informer?"

inane

If something is inane, it's silly or senseless. If you just want to space out, you won't mind the inane chatter on TV, as long as it's on. Inane comes from the Latin inanis, for empty, and you can think of it as empty-headed. We call something inane if it states the obvious, or is really silly in a way that seems unintelligent. If you give your boss a presentation in a bunny suit and sing a song about being happy, she might say, "Get out of here with your inane bunny act!" Other synonyms are stupid, vacuous, ridiculous, pointless. 1-adjective devoid of intelligence asinine, fatuous, mindless, vacuous foolish devoid of good sense or judgment examples 1-I wanted to run on ahead, leaving Lula and Travis to their inane conversation, but I feared he would be fallen upon by thugs along the road. 2-If I didn't need a scholarship to even think about attending college, I'd quit these inane games! 3-Maybe he's remembering when I used to tag along after him and Metias, asking them inane questions about how the military worked. 4-The copies of my poems Rudy handed back had on them brief, inane remarks I read and reread for double meaning.

truculence

If you get into fights all of the time, you might be accused of truculence and sent for anger management classes. Truculence is showing a fierce kind of aggression. If your basketball team wins a game by sheer truculence, it means that they win not by skill or talent, but by playing with ferocious aggression. It would be a dirty win, one with lots of fouls and thrown elbows. Truculence comes from the Latin word for trux meaning "fierce or wild." 1-noun obstreperous and defiant aggressiveness examples 1-Instead of returning the salute, Bull stopped the car completely and stared with visible truculence at the guard who held his salute as rigidly as some umpires who call strikes on batters with exaggerated formality. 2-A hundred expressions chased each other across Loki's face: cunning and shiftiness, truculence and confusion. 3-The truculence went out of the boy and a magnanimity took its place 4-The girl, indignant, gathers up the clothes and stalks away; there's a genuine truculence in her step.

counterpart

If you leap tall buildings in a single bound for the Des Moines branch of your corporation, then your Metropolis counterpart might be Superman. That means you and Superman do similar jobs, but in different locations. The noun counterpart comes from the French word countre part, meaning "duplicate of a legal document." In legal circles counterpart still means "a duplicate document," but today it is more likely to describe people. Counterparts aren't duplicates, of course, but they have similar skills and responsibilities. If you play soccer, your counterpart is the player on the other team who plays the same position. 1-noun a person or thing having the same function or characteristics as another examples 1-As I wrote, for some reason or other, one image, symbol, character, scene, mood, feeling evoked its opposite, its parallel, its complementary, and its ironic counterpart. 2-While couching their views in the honeyed language of Southern progressivism, the men who ruled Durham were as opposed to integration as their less cultured counterparts throughout the state. 3-According to him, a majority of the cancer victims who'd been prayed for were out whooping it up on the town, while their counterparts in the control group had shriveled up and died. 4-The Americas had two empires, those of the Aztecs and Incas, which resembled their Eurasian counterparts in size, population, polyglot makeup, official religions, and origins in the conquest of smaller states

probe

If you probe something, you investigate it thoroughly. If you go into business with someone, you might probe her finances to make sure that she has a good track record. Although it is usually used as a verb — "the police probed the man's disappearance" — it can also be used as a noun to describe an information-gathering device. In 1979 the United States launched the world's first space probe into outer space. It was a spacecraft rigged with cameras, which were used to photograph Jupiter and Saturn. 1-noun an exploratory action or expedition 2-noun an investigation conducted using a flexible surgical instrument to explore an injury or a body cavity 3-noun a flexible slender surgical instrument with a blunt end that is used to explore wounds or body cavities 4-noun an inquiry into unfamiliar or questionable activities 5-verb examine physically with or as if with a probe 6-verb question or examine thoroughly and closely examples 1-All of us—who might have probed space, or cured cancer, or built industries—were, instead, black victims of the white man's American social system. 2-"I don't think the gods ever gave rectal probes," said Shadow. 3-"Is the fruit alive or dead?" he probes. 4-"We have until Sol 584 to get a probe to Mars. That's four hundred and sixty-two sols, which is four hundred and seventy-five days."

equanimity

If you take the news of your parakeet's death with equanimity, it means you take it calmly without breaking down. Equanimity refers to emotional calmness and balance in times of stress. If equanimity reminds you of equal, that's because the words have a lot in common. The noun equanimity was borrowed from Latin aequanimitās, from aequanimus, "even-tempered, fair," formed from aequus, "even, level, equal," plus animus, "mind." The archaic phrase to bear with equal mind means "to bear with a calm mind," and is a translation from the Latin. The phrase a level mind also refers to calmness. A near synonym is composure. 1-noun steadiness of mind under stress examples 1-This really was grave—a serious challenge, apart from anything else, to his promised equanimity. 2-Inside cells, ribosomes seemed to stay glued together with absolute equanimity. 3-It was a paradox, and Bull Meecham could take anything with more equanimity than paradox. 4-Once Y-12 was operational, their equanimity made them superb operators.

genial

If you're friendly and outgoing, you're genial. You can be a genial host or a genial guest. This is mainly a word for pleasant kindness. Besides people or animals, climates and weather can be genial, which means they too are warm and sunny — good for growing things. In older literature, genial might have something to do with marriage and family, and sometimes brilliance, as in genius. Those uses are very rare nowadays, as is the sense of genial as having to do with the jaw. These days, warmth and friendliness are the main meanings. 1-adjective diffusing warmth and friendliness "a genial host" affable, amiable, cordial friendly 2-adjective agreeable; conducive to comfort "the genial sunshine" examples 1-To understand why, we must travel north to Scotland and begin with a brilliant and genial man, of whom few have ever heard, who had just invented a new science called geology. 2-Secretary LaHood, tall and genial, a former Illinois congressman, had begun focusing himself, and his agency, on the issue of preventable traffic fatalities, especially those caused by use of technology by drivers. 3-Summoning a host of reporters to the hotel lobby, he lost his ever- genial composure for the first and only time in his public life. 4-With that, Mr Lewis sat back in his chair again, the genial smile returning fully to his face.

plutocracy

In a plutocracy, the people are ruled by the wealthy few. A plutocracy is very different from a democracy, in which in person's vote counts equally. Whenever you see the suffix -cracy, you know you're dealing with a form of rulership or government. The first part of the word comes from the Greek ploutos, meaning wealth. Put them together, and you get plutocracy, a government ruled by the rich. How does this differ from, say, an aristocracy? Well, the truth is that it isn't very different. Members of the aristocracy tend to be rich, but their money tends to be "old money." In a pure plutocracy, even the overnight billionaire can be a ruler. 1-noun a political system governed by the wealthy people examples 1-"It's about the difference between National Socialism and a plutocracy." 2-Labor unions, an avenue for upward mobility for Northern workers, had been rendered ineffectual or were demolished altogether by the Dixie plutocracy. 3-He focuses especially on the Gilded Age that followed the Civil War, when the plutocracy was challenged regularly and revolt was in the air. 4-Thereafter, he shows, the authoritarian strain mutated into numerous deplorable appeals and movements that incited white racism, demonized immigrants and promoted plutocracy.

cunning

In fairy tales, always watch out for the cunning fox or the cunning witch. Cunning means clever, in the sense of trickery. A cunning plan might involve setting traps for the innocent and pure at heart to fall into. This adjective goes back to the 14th-century English verb cunnen, which meant "to know," and is actually related to our English verb know. In earlier times, the noun was used to mean a high level of skill in using the hands. You can be cunning, but you can also use your cunning to figure out a very clever and tricky plan. 1-adjective showing inventiveness and skill "the cunning maneuvers leading to his success 2-adjective marked by skill in deception "cunning men often pass for wise" examples 1-Since the nobles are more perceptive and cunning, they always have time to save themselves, seeking the favours of the side they believe will prevail. 2-There was a stove nearly as big as Chrissie's, and water was steaming away in a cunning tub at the side which Mother said was called a "reservoir." 3-But whatever it was he scented or imagined showed equal cunning, and never appeared. 4-She delighted in his wily mind, his shrewdness and his cunning; she was always forward to help him.

ingenuity

Ingenuity is the ability to think creatively about a situation or to solve problems in a clever way. If you want to build a boat out of toothpicks and yarn, you'll need a lot of ingenuity. The Latin word for "mind, intellect" is a root of ingenuity, and it takes a bright and fast-thinking intellect to use ingenuity in a situation. Athletes show ingenuity all the time, finding exciting ways to outwit their opponents and to achieve victory. Master criminals rely on their ingenuity in order to evade the law when they are chased. Ingenuity is all about imagination, and an imaginative mind knows that every obstacle can be overcome with a little ingenuity. 1-noun the power of creative imagination synonyms:cleverness, ingeniousness, inventiveness 2-noun the property of being ingenious "a plot of great ingenuity" synonyms:cleverness, ingeniousness examples 1-But if you have all three advantages — on top of a good dose of ingenuity and drive—then that's an unstoppable combination. 2-He would, however, rely on the ingenuity of the Vigilance Committee to take care of the matter after the merchandise reached Baltimore. 3-The program began, with the current mayor telling a very long and very boring story about her grandmother's bravery and ingenuity 4-I laugh at the ingenuity of my poor, trapped countryman.

intransigent

Intransigent means inflexible, stubborn, entrenched. Argue all you like with an intransigent three-year-old. He will never back down from the position that he wants the lollipop NOW. Trans has to do with movement — think transportation, or a package in transit, i.e. "on the way." The in- of intransigent means "not," so something or someone who is intransigent is not moving. If one political party wants to raise funds to improve schools but the other is intransigent on the subject of higher taxes, the debate will get nowhere. 1-adjective impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason synonyms:adamant, adamantine, inexorable inflexible examples 1-Virginia's resistance to the ruling would, over time, be more intransigent and longer lasting than that of any other state. 2-In refusing to do so he was simply being greedy, intransigent and ruled by unfounded fears and mistaken beliefs. 3-If I understood the talk, an officer could "mistakenly" deadlock the cell of an intransigent inmate just long enough to make him miss his morning or afternoon recreation. 4-However, Virginia's legacy as the birthplace of humanity's first step into the heavens would have to compete with the notoriety it was gaining as the country's most intransigent foe of integrated schools.

scintilla

It might take more than a scintilla of English vocabulary knowledge to know that scintilla means a tiny bit of something. Scintilla is a long word for describing a tiny thing. It comes sandwiched between the words a and of in phrases like "a scintilla of doubt" or "not a single scintilla of evidence." If you're uncertain of the pronunciation, remember: it rhymes with chinchilla and the c is silent, just like in science. Similar words you can use to talk about tiny bits of something are iota, smidgen, speck, and whit. 1-noun a tiny or scarcely detectable amount synonyms:iota, shred, smidge, smidgen, smidgeon, smidgin, tittle, whit examples 1-The stars were white and sharp beyond the flesh of the Martian, and they were sewn into his flesh like scintillas swallowed into the thin, phosphorescent membrane of a gelatinous sea fish. 2-The medical answer was what I expected to hear: Dad had suffocated, the macroscopic coal and rock dust that clogged his lungs finally denying him even a scintilla of air. 3-The dinner, boiled cod and a few unsalted potatoes washed down with water, would have been an appropriately Lenten affair, its conversation unleavened by any scintilla of humor. 4-Matt Willis plays her love interest, without a scintilla of charm.

Kinship

Kinship is a family relationship. You might describe the wonderful, close kinship you have with your favorite cousin. Your kin is your family, so it's easy to see that kinship describes family bonds, like the kinship between members of the same Scottish clan or the kinship an uncle feels in the midst of a dozen crazy nieces and nephews. Kinship can also describe a close family-like relationship, like the kinship of the teachers at your school who have worked together for many years and who all care deeply about students and learning. 1-noun (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption synonyms:family relationship, relationship 2-noun a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character "felt a deep kinship with the other students" "anthropology's kinship with the humanities"

repartee

Late night talk show hosts are known for being experts at repartee, or clever conversation, with their celebrity guests. Repartee comes from the French word repartire, which is a fencing term meaning "an answering thrust with a sword." When you are engaging in repartee, you don't literally stab someone, but you come back with a quick verbal blow. Most of us aren't as quick as we'd like to be. Mark Twain defined repartee as, "something we think of 24 hours too late." 1-noun adroitness and cleverness in reply examples 1-He's looking at me as though we're going to share some kind of witty repartee, but I am not sure what to say. 2-The human was trying to engage a troll in macho repartee! 3-"Don't be a pain" and "Takes one to know one" are standard repartee among girls, but I go much farther than that. 4-"Me too. You wouldn't believe the things I believe in," I interject, sounding frantic, wanting to join in their repartee so I don't stare at it.

Latency

Latency is a noun referring to something inactive, dormant, or lying in wait. It's the state of not being visibly active yet — like when you're hiding out and waiting to jump up and yell "Surprise!" Perhaps a little late, perhaps right on time, latency will wake up from its nap eventually. For a characteristic or skill to be in a period of latency, it does have to exist. So you should only use latency to describe your pitching ability if there is a fastball in you somewhere - otherwise, just admit you can't pitch. If you're in the lab, latency is also used to describe the period between a stimulus and a response. 1-noun the state of being not yet evident or active 2-noun the time that elapses between a stimulus and the response to it synonyms:latent period, reaction time, response time examples 1-There is, however, one presently known exception to the fact that a long period of latency is common to most malignancies. 2-The controllers monitored everything and were ready to help in any way they could, but the communication latency between Hermes and Earth rendered them powerless to do anything but watch. 3-So does what is known as latency, the period of time that lapses between the moment one speaker stops talking and the moment the other speaker begins. 4-Perhaps environmental pollution has triggered this bioelectrogenetic organ in girls, or maybe it's a physiological ability reasserting itself after millennia of latency.

droll

Need a mental picture for the word droll? Think of one of those cute-homely troll dolls — blend those two words together — "doll" and "troll" — and you get droll, a description of a figure that is adorably strange and whimsically cute. The word droll comes from the archaic French word drolle, referring to a jolly good fellow. The French word comes perhaps from the Middle Dutch drolle, or "imp." The word came into English as both noun ("funny person, buffoon") and adjective ("funny, quaint, strange") in the 17th century. FROM LONGMAN: amusing in an unusual way 1-adjective comical in an odd or whimsical manner "a droll little man with a quiet tongue-in-cheek kind of humor" examples 1-Miss Palma gave me an A on the journal entry — she called it "droll" — so I guess I actually managed to get some use out of Jeffrey's antics before the chaos of this year started 2-"Do I know any West—oh, Farm Boy, it's you, how droll!" 3-Eventually, though, Padre Sinkovich undermined the very foundations of his church, which collapsed on top of him, writing finis to another droll chapter in Milagro's history. 4-They were fuzzy, droll little creatures who grew at a tremendous rate.

occlude

Occlude means to obstruct, as with an opening. You hear this a lot in a medical context. Heart surgeons are looking for occlusions in blood vessels — things that occlude the flow of blood. Occlude does not exist only in a medical context. If you close the bathroom door so your little brother won't come in while you're trying out makeup with your friends, you're occluding the bathroom. Meanwhile, your makeup occludes your pores. 1-verb block passage through synonyms: block, close up, impede, jam, obstruct, obturate examples 1-But deep in the fields the brownish stalks rise from the earth to more than twice her height, occluding her vision. 2-I wished still to cry, and attempted it again; and once again, my effort failed, all tears occluded. 3-Leukocytes become more actively phagocytic, release lysosomal enzymes, turn sticky, and aggregate together in dense masses, occluding capillaries and shutting off the blood supply. 4-It occludes the far subtler and more interesting insights that a genius can provoke, and too confidently pigeonholes an individual who knowingly rejected the stifling limitations of his country's artificial racial binary for a dupe.

pallet

Pallet is a busy noun, but it's mainly a slab or framework of wood used for carrying things. The most common type of pallet is the kind used to move cargo. After the earthquake in Haiti, hundreds of pallets of food, medicine, and bottles of fresh water were delivered to Port-au-Prince by air. Many pallets are designed with slots at the bottom to accept a forklift's forks. If you're a talented carpenter, you might be able to turn the wood from a used pallet into a table, a chest of drawers, a tree house, or perhaps a little bed to lie down on after all that hard work. 1-noun a hand tool with a flat blade used by potters for mixing and shaping clay 2-noun a portable platform for storing or moving goods that are stacked on it examples 1-I stepped over them to go to my pallet near the kitchen door and lay down fully dressed. 2-It was hard to move quickly that way, but he tried as best he could, hopping and clanking from his pallet. 3-He chose a pallet at last and lay down, but all night long he lay with open eyes there in the raftered hall among the sleep of strangers. 4-The broken tables had been replaced, even if they were just wooden pallets resting on the tops of plastic barrels.

pernicious

Pernicious means harmful and subtle, such as a poison gas that causes illness in those exposed to it over the course of years. Pernicious comes from the Latin perniciosus, "destructive," which in turn comes from pernicies, "death" or "ruin." You might have heard your parents and teachers talk about the pernicious effects of watching too much TV and playing video games all day — they'll turn your brain to mush (allegedly). 1-adjective exceedingly harmful synonyms:baneful, deadly, pestilent noxious 2-adjective working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way synonyms:insidious, subtle harmful examples 1-California searches vehicles for vegetables and fruits which might carry pernicious insects and diseases, and regulations of these are enforced with almost religious intensity. 2-Citra was at the dining room table, slaving over a particularly difficult algebra problem, shuffling variables, unable to solve for X or Y, when this new and far more pernicious variable entered her life's equation. 3-The reasoning behind the rule is not pernicious: the lawmakers presumed that a prison visit would negatively affect the sensitive psyches of children. 4-Girard had condemned the extreme bleeding and purging as a "pernicious treatment" that "sent many of our citizens to another world."

pith

Pith is the central idea or essence of something. If you're in danger, you could exclaim, "I would greatly appreciate it if someone would provide assistance." Or, you could get right to the pith of your point by shouting, "Help!" In botanical terminology, pith refers to a spongy, central cylinder of tissue found inside the stems of most flowering plants. If you know a lot about plants, that fact should help you remember the primary definition of pith. If not, just take our word for it. You can think about the pith of an argument like the pith of a plant: both lie at the heart or core of something. 1-noun soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants 2-noun the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience 3-verb remove the pith from (a plant) examples 1-No pith was in him, and no nerve, huge as he looked. 2-What was the gallant grace of the Lynns, the languid elegance of Lord Ingram,—even the military distinction of Colonel Dent, contrasted with his look of native pith and genuine power? 3-I sucked on that and spit out the pith and watched the soldier pass up and down past a freight-car outside and after a while the train gave a jerk and started. 4-The word code, I wrote before, comes from caudex—the pith of the tree that was used to scratch out early manuscripts.

potent

Potent means really strong, but not like a body builder. Use potent instead to describe things like intense smells, powerful magic potions, and very influential people. From the Latin potentum, meaning "powerful," potent is just that: having tremendous strength or influence in either a moral or physical sense. A potent question gets to the heart of the matter and sparks serious discussion. Really stiff drinks can be potent, as can your breath after a garlicky meal. And as the composer Igor Stravinsky once asked, "What force is more potent than love?" 1-adjective having or wielding force or authority "providing the ground soldier with increasingly potent weapons" synonyms:strong powerful 2-adjective having great influence synonyms:powerful influential 3-adjective having a strong physiological or chemical effect "a potent toxin" ""a potent cup of tea", "a stiff drink" synonyms:stiff, strong effective, effectual, efficacious examples 1-Perhaps Mama was performing the preliminary protections now that Olanna was in London and would bury the medicine in the yard to keep it potent until Olanna came back. 2-His eyes are my mother's eyes—a dull green, almost gray, though his blue shirt makes their color appear more potent. 3-This made me think that maybe the drink wasn't as potent as I'd initially thought, so I poured myself another glass. 4-In Eregion long ago many Elven-rings were made, magic rings as you call them, and they were, of course, of various kinds: some more potent and some less.

raconteur

Raconteurs are gifted storytellers, able to spin amusing tales from everyday life. Who is the biggest raconteur in your group? He or she's the one who always tells the best stories — or jumps in when another storyteller isn't being vivid enough. Do you make going to the store to buy groceries a fascinating experience? Do you offer witty observations of the people you pass on the street? If so, you're a raconteur, someone who can regale his or her listeners with riveting stories, usually funny, sometimes dramatic. Raconteur comes from the French word "raconter," meaning "to recount." Note its "eur" ending, signaling its French origin. 1-noun a person skilled in telling anecdotes synonyms:anecdotist examples 1-A gifted raconteur and an indefatigable drinker, Causey was a pilot of unimpeachable courage 2-There are, to be sure, stand-up comedians, shaggy- dog raconteurs, consummate essayists, and authors of mystery novels who can build up curiosity and suspense and then resolve it all with a sudden revelation. 3-Gregarious by nature, Hall proved to be a skillful raconteur with a caustic Kiwi wit. 4-Edgar Oliver, the eerie raconteur and one-man Gothic novel, returns to Axis Theater with a new work of solo storytelling.

rankled

Rankle is a cranky-sounding verb that means to eat away at or aggravate to the point of causing anger. If you want to rankle a cat, try splashing it with water and then putting it in the bathtub. Rankle goes back to the French verb rancler, which comes from an old word for "festering sore," which paints a pretty negative picture of what it means to rankle. A sore that festers gets worse and worse, or more infected, and if you rankle someone, they will get more and more angry. "Ankle" rhymes with rankle, and if you were to prank a friend and hold him by his ankles over a trash can every day for a week, it would definitely rankle him. 1-verb gnaw into; make resentful or angry "The injustice rankled her" examples 1-When he did find some time to visit me, he was very preoccupied, and I could feel him rankling with anger and with inactivity, but he tried hard to hide it. 2-It rankled me that everyone in this town had a story to tell. 3-But for some reason, these stories all made me sad and more than a little rankled. 4-But plainly he was rankled at having been outmaneuvered on a quest so easily within reach.

impetuous

Someone impetuous acts too hastily or carelessly. Hotheaded, impulsive folks are impetuous. If you're a careful person who thinks everything through and doesn't act rashly, then you're not very impetuous. Impetuous has to do with doing things on the spur of the moment — and not good things. Being impetuous usually goes along with being impatient and easily angered. If you're impetuous, you act quickly and thoughtlessly when you should just take a deep breath, relax, and think about the best thing to do. 1-adjective characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation "an impetuous display of spending and gambling" synonyms:brainish, hotheaded, impulsive, madcap, tearaway incautious examples 1-Therefore, with his impetuous move, Julius accomplished what no other pontiff would ever have achieved with the greatest of human prudence. 2-Of course, she was the first to speak—intelligibly, I mean, for the emotional remarks which followed her impetuous "Oh, yes!" were not of a coherent or reportable character. 3-The parrot fortunately offered no further interruption to the entertainment the whole venom of his nature apparently having been cherished up and hurled against the twins in that one impetuous outburst. 4-The reckless passion of the heroine, Arabella, for a wicked foreign count is punished by ill fortune when she contracts cholera during an impetuous dash toward a seaside town with her intended.

sentient

Someone sentient is able to feel things, or sense them. Sentient usually occurs in phrases like "sentient beings" and "sentient creatures," making it clear that things that don't have life don't have feelings. Explain that to a pet rock. Sentient comes from the Latin sentient-, "feeling," and it describes things that are alive, able to feel and perceive, and show awareness or responsiveness. Having senses makes something sentient, or able to smell, communicate, touch, see, or hear. Whether or not plants and living things other than animals and people are sentient depends on whom you ask. 1-adjective endowed with feeling and unstructured consciousness ""the living knew themselves just sentient puppets on God's stage"- T.E.Lawrence" synonyms:animate 2-adjective consciously perceiving "sentient of the intolerable load" ""a boy so sentient of his surroundings"- W.A.White" Synonyms:conscious examples 1-Talking to his father made Dill feel like he was talking to a sentient brick wall that somehow knew about Jesus. 2-Once again, the jungle felt massive, dense, and even sentient. 3-It frightened him that he slept well at nights, that he was still calmed by the scent of orange leaves and the turquoise stillness of the sea, that he was sentient. 4-Surprisingly, a number of the more sentient residents seem to recognize me at the lunch service.

downtrodden

Someone who's downtrodden is mistreated by some powerful person or group. An exploited, underpaid worker is downtrodden. The adjective downtrodden is more often used to talk about groups of oppressed people, rather than one specific person. A history textbook might discuss the downtrodden masses rising up in a revolution against their rulers, for example. In the 1560s, downtrodden was first used to literally mean "stepped on," with the figurative meaning following soon after. Trodden, "that which is stepped on," comes from the verb tread. examples 1-adjective abused or oppressed by people in power Synonyms: unfortunate examples 1-Me: It is a sad and downtrodden Ms. Connors who meets me three hours later. 2-Patrolman Mancuso looked more downtrodden than ever, but Mrs. Reilly was tapping one foot on the linoleum and laughing shyly at what she was watching in the center of the room. 3-The party badly needed people and Severo was anxious for a seat in Congress, so they had no trouble convincing the downtrodden voters of the South to choose him as their candidate. 4-It was an eccentric, rainy, wind-beaten sea village, downtrodden and mildewed, the boards of its buildings bleached and weathered, their drainpipes rusted a dull orange.

synthetic

Something made of artificial material, not natural items, can be described as synthetic. Some football stadiums have synthetic grass, and a leisure suit from the 1970s might be made of synthetic fabric. The adjective synthetic usually describes things created by chemical synthesis (synthetic compound, synthetic drug, synthetic material), but it sometimes describes an emotion that is feigned or not genuine. A person who exudes only synthetic friendliness probably isn't someone you want to hang out with, for example. 1-noun a compound made artificially by chemical reactions synonyms:synthetic substance 2-adjective not genuine or natural ""counterfeit rhetoric that flourishes when passions are synthetic"- George Will" Synonyms:counterfeit, imitative 3-adjective not of natural origin; prepared or made artificially "synthetic leather" synonyms:man-made, semisynthetic artificial, unreal examples 1-There's no question that this Texas-of-the- mind fable is often synthetic, sometimes untruthful, and frequently romantic, but that in no way diminishes its strength as a symbol. 2-There is something deeply dispiriting about the stiff rustle of nylon and the endless, curiously amplified patter of rain on synthetic material. 3-It reminded her reassuringly of the synthetic noises made at Solidarity Services and Ford's Day celebrations. 4-A paper cup drops into place, the drink pours out and stops a quarter of an inch from the brim—a cold, refreshing drink guaranteed synthetic

heady

Something that's heady is extremely thrilling. You might have a heady feeling as you walk up on stage to get your high school diploma. Use the adjective heady to describe a sensation that is so exciting it makes you a little dizzy, a bit like being intoxicated. You could talk about the heady scent of your mom's rose garden or the heady feeling of winning the state spelling bee. The fourteenth century meaning of heady was "headstrong or impetuous," and it's sometimes still used in this way. By the 1570's, it had also come to mean "apt to go to the head," or "exhilarating." 1-adjective extremely exciting as if by alcohol or a narcotic synonyms:intoxicating exciting examples 1-It was heady to think that these qualities were acquired ones and that, perhaps, this was the way I might learn them. 2-Half an hour later, the dancing and the liquor and the sweet, heady rush of being eighteen had filled them both with a feverish flush. 3-An apple, sweet and rotten at the same time, honeyed juice running over my tongue, tasting of sunlight and pure heady, stupid joy. 4-And then, being in a heady, sharing sort of mood, I explain the wheelchair, the potting soil, and Rosa, like it's all perfectly normal.

opulence

Something with opulence is drenched in wealth and luxury. You'll need gold brocaded curtains, diamond-encrusted watches, and a world-renowned personal chef if you want to add some opulence to your life. Not surprisingly, the noun opulence comes from the Latin opulentia, meaning "wealthy." A word that suggests extravagant excess, opulence describes lavish and visibly over-the-top living. Synonyms include abundance, prosperity, and riches. Said the novelist Joseph Conrad, "Protection is the first necessity of opulence and luxury." Meaning, first secure one's riches and safety, and then enjoy without a care in the world! 1-noun wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living examples 1-Compared to the bleakness outside those windows, the opulence felt like a slap to the face. 2-So here she was, on a day filled with the opulence of summer, about to braid her hair for the journey home. 3-Notwithstanding the universal admiration for Offenbach's comic operettas, the opulence of the Parisian experience of opera and its position in society still meant it was a luxury. 4-The man loved the opulence of the ship, just as he loved Pullman Palace cars and giant fireplaces, but his foot problem tempered his enjoyment.

surfeit

Steve baked a surfeit of jam tarts. Steve ate a surfeit of jam tarts. Steve surfeited himself on jam tarts. Whether surfeit is a noun or a verb (as in "overabundance" or "gorge"), Steve is likely to end up with a bellyache. Overabundance, glut, gorge, and cloy: these are all synonyms for surfeit, and they all convey a sense of too-much-ness, as does the Old French root of the word — surfaire, "to overdo." When it is used in reference to food or eating, surfeit tends to suggest indulging to the point of sickness or disgust. In other contexts, though, the meaning is not necessarily negative: "A surfeit of kindness," for example, would hardly be a bad thing. FROM LONGMAN: an amount of something that is too large or that is more than you need SYN excess 1-verb indulge (one's appetite) to satiety Examples 1-Kamen, with a surfeit of empathy and a lack of foresight, assented. 2-In the advertising business, this surfeit of information is called the "clutter" problem, and clutter has made it harder and harder to get any one message to stick. 3-That a greater fool than Jane Eyre had never breathed the breath of life; that a more fantastic idiot had never surfeited herself on sweet lies, and swallowed poison as if it were nectar. 4-It was the first appearance of Lawrence's method for building the world's first great Big Science laboratory: the remorseless exploitation of cheap graduate-student labor, a resource he would soon have in surfeit.

subtlety

Subtlety is the quality of being understated, delicate, or nuanced. You can really appreciate the subtlety of your gothic friend's art if you can distinguish among many different shades of black. The Latin root of subtle and subtlety originally meant "finely woven" and was used to describe fabric. The subtlety of an argument is in the fine weave of the words and thoughts that it is made up of. When translating, you often lose the subtleties of the original language, the interlacing of word, idea and connotation. When you're trying to persuade your parents of something, subtlety might get you further than outright demands. FROM LONGMAN: the quality that something has when it has been done in a clever or skilful way, with careful attention to small details 1-noun the quality of being difficult to detect or analyze "you had to admire the subtlety of the distinctions he drew" synonyms:niceness examples 1-When seasoned by the subtleties of accident, harmony, favor, wisdom, and inevitability, luck takes on the cast of serendipity. 2-That night, she relied on the multismash, which was loud and effective but lacked subtlety. 3-"No. I must be firm. This is going to require tact, charm, and subtlety, Belet." 4-I was very much impressed, and not for the first time, by my guardian's subtlety.

ennui

The French word ennui describes a feeling that combines tiredness and boredom. Ennui is one version of "the blahs." Though it sounds it little fancy — maybe because it comes from French — ennui is a common feeling that everybody experiences: being bored and tired. School and work fill lots of people with ennui. A terrible TV show could create ennui. If you feel like your life is going nowhere, ennui could set in. When you're feeling ennui, you might as well take a nap, because you're too drowsy and uninterested to do much of anything else. 1-noun the feeling of being bored by something tedious examples 1-I didn't understand until he said it that part of my ennui had been resentment. 2-Orange groves, failed movie stars, lamplit cocktail hours by the swimming pool, cigarettes, ennui. 3-Perhaps they assumed, also, a life of ennui. 4-Oh, the Test matches that have saved us from ennui, the boxing bouts, even the billiard scores.

diffidence

The noun diffidence refers to a lack of self-confidence. Your diffidence might be the reason why you never say "hi" to the cute guy or gal in the elevator or why you never ask for a raise. The noun diffidence comes from the Latin word diffidere, meaning "to mistrust" or "to lack confidence." Diffidence is often mistaken for snootiness because people don't understand that the diffident person is shy and lacking in confidence. "They asked him to be the team leader, but he expressed diffidence, saying that he didn't think he had enough time to do the job justice, nor did he think he had enough experience." Definitions of diffidence 1-noun lack of self-confidence examples 1-My old fears, my diffidence, my shyness, my hopeless sense of inferiority, must be conquered now and thrust aside. 2-At any rate I have lost my diffidence, my timidity, my shyness with strangers. 3-Jane's temper was not desponding, and she was gradually led to hope, though the diffidence of affection sometimes overcame the hope, that Bingley would return to Netherfield and answer every wish of her heart. 4-He put the lemons into a bag and, with a curious diffidence, she came closer to the counter to give him the money.

patois

The noun patois describes the way you talk, like the patois of New Englanders who tend to drop the letter r: "Drive yah cah to Hahvahd Yahd," while others say, "Drive your car to Harvard Yard." Patois, which rhymes with "voilà," is speech used in a particular region, profession, or group. It is a French word that originated as "rough speech." Examples of patois are found in every region of the world, but perhaps the most famous is Jamaican. "Ah wha dat yuh ah luok pan?," is Jamaican patois for, "What's that you're looking at?" Patois is also the "jargon" or "lingo" used by a group, such as musicians whose patois is lost on non-musicians. Definitions of patois 1-noun a regional dialect of a language (especially French); usually considered substandard 2-noun a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves) examples 1-Maybe you've traveled to Jamaica and know that it has some roots in the Jamaican dialect, patois. 2-In that moment, he even sounded the same, his patois the same as it always was 3-He had a funny new accent that was more lilt and twang than patois. 4-I knew the relaxed patois of the South Side and the high-minded diction of the Ivy League, and now on top of that I spoke Lawyer, too.

culminate

The verb culminate is used to describe a high point or a climactic stage in a process. For example, the goal of a Major League baseball team is to have their season culminate in a World Series victory. The word culminate derives from the Latin word culminatus, the past participle of culminare, which means "to top or crown." Use culminate when you are referring to a crowning moment or a final conclusion: "I want my experiments combining strawberry jam with burnt toast to culminate in a Nobel Prize in Chemistry — or at least a lucrative contract with a major food supplier." 1-verb end, especially to reach a final or climactic stage "The meeting culminated in a tearful embrace" 2-verb bring to a head or to the highest point "Seurat culminated pointillism" examples 1-Since the fantasy, which W'as the beginning of it all, you have been undergoing a period of crisis which is culminating in overt sexual aberration. 2-It culminated in a fight between the two brothers that ripped them apart in a way that meant they would never be brought back together. 3-The union planned a culminating interracial parade for July 6. 4-Occasionally one of her infatuations would culminate in a lunch or coffee date, an encounter on which she would pin all her hopes but which would lead to nothing.

evince

The verb evince means to show or express clearly or to make plain. Evidence can evince the innocence of the accused, and tears can evince the grief of mourning. Evince is a rather formal word that reveals the presence of something hidden — usually a feeling. So, if you are happy, your smile might evince your happiness. And if you are angry, the skull and crossbones on your tee shirt might evince your anger. Evincing is about expressing. If you are keeping your feelings inside, there's not a lot of evincing going on. 1-verb give expression to examples 1-This complaint evinced a chorus of agreement, but Molly was silent. 2-Some of them are unmannered, rough, intractable, as well as ignorant; but others are docile, have a wish to learn, and evince a disposition that pleases me 3-His face evinced confidence; his smiles disappeared before they were completed. 4-How could it be otherwise, when Helen, at all times and under all circumstances, evinced for me a quiet and faithful friendship, which ill-humour never soured, nor irritation never troubled?

arrant

The word arrant intensifies. An arrant criminal is one heck of a criminal. Arrant nonsense is total nonsense. Do you struggle for adequate superlatives? If so, you might want to add arrant to your arsenal. It can be used to add emphasis to other words, most often negative words. Arrant rudeness is extreme rudeness. Arrant hypocrisy is very hypocritical. An arrant liar is a world-class liar. Arrant has a meaning similar to complete or utter. Like other intensifiers, arrant turns up the volume on another word. 1-adjective without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers "an arrant fool" synonyms:complete, consummate, double-dyed, everlasting, gross, perfect, pure, sodding, staring, stark, thoroughgoing, unadulterated, utter unmitigated

pedantic

There's nothing wrong with focusing on the details, but someone who is pedantic makes a big display of knowing obscure facts and details. Pedantic means "like a pedant," someone who's too concerned with literal accuracy or formality. It's a negative term that implies someone is showing off book learning or trivia, especially in a tiresome way. You don't want to go antique-shopping with a pedantic friend, who will use the opportunity to bore you with his in-depth knowledge of 18th-century porcelain kitty-litter boxes. 1-adjective marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects synonyms:academic, donnish scholarly examples 1-This logician would be unbearably pedantic, but there is a grain of good taste in the pedantry. 2-Yes, as Evelyn Waugh wrote: "Everyone has always regarded any usage but his own as either barbarous or pedantic." 3-The international press was simply saturated with stories of violence from Africa, and this one was particularly bland and pedantic, the deputy editor wrote, but perhaps Richard could do a piece on the human angle? 4-Almost all his summer had been spent collecting pedantic data for his thesis, and now he was in a mood to think about important facts.

Duplicity

Though he said he didn't know anything about the footprints in the new sidewalk, his duplicity, or deceitfulness, was obvious from the cement caking his shoes. His mouth said one thing, his feet said another. Many words with "du" have meanings with "two" or "duo." Duplicity is from a Latin word meaning "twofold, having two parts." Someone who shows duplicity is two-faced — maybe showing one side in public and another in private — or is just a liar, saying something known to be untrue or misleading. A fraud uses duplicity to gain something with false promises, and someone described as "fake" might use duplicity just to fit in or be accepted. FROM LONGMAN:dishonest behaviour that is intended to deceive someone 1-noun acting in bad faith; deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another synonyms:double-dealing 2-noun a fraudulent or duplicitous representation examples 1-Knowing Courtney Cooper's aware of the truth about me and my duplicity is one thing. 2-I don't think, though, that such duplicity would be anything but obvious on him. 3-Her expression of duplicity was balanced by the fatuous confidence with which the Unicom regarded her. 4-His dislike for Udodi—loud, drunken, duplicity dripping from his pores—had only deepened in the past years.

belie

To belie means to contradict. If you are 93 but look like you are 53, then your young looks belie your age. We get belie from the Old English beleogan, which meant "to deceive by lying." It suggests characteristics or behavior that inadvertently or deliberately hide the truth. To remember it, just think "be lying." Snow White's decision to barge into the Seven Dwarfs' home without invitation belied her gentle nature. 1-verb be in contradiction with synonyms:contradict, negate 2-verb represent falsely synonyms:misrepresent examples 1-But the placidity of his face belied an unusually active mind. 2-Others watched the family gliding by with a tiny bit of jealousy and a whole lot of amusement, for Macon's wide green Packard belied what they thought a car was for. 3-The music-master was a young man, thin and clean, whose bright silk waistcoats belied the gravity of the rest of his vesture, which was black and brown. 4-She wasn't rich in life, her clothing belying her poverty, and even her death has been insulting.

cull

To cull means to select or gather. If you decide to make a literary anthology, you must cull the best possible stories and then arrange them in a pleasing manner. When you use cull as a verb, the things you gather can be the good or bad ones from a group. In your garden, you can cull the good vegetables for dinner, or the rotten ones for the compost pile. In fact, often no judgment of quality is made, as when you cull information from the Internet for your next research project. The sorting through will come later. However, if you use the word as a noun, a cull is a selection of things you intend to reject, often in reference to a group of animals. An outbreak of a disease such as foot-and-mouth disease can cause authorities to order a cull of farm pigs. 1-verb remove something that has been rejected "cull the sick members of the herd" 2-noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality synonyms:reject examples 1-The songs are culled from folk, stage musicals, patriotic songs, Tin Pan Alley songs, culturally diverse songs, film songs, and religious songs. 2-The "sterilization of failures"—the weeding and culling of the human genetic garden—haunted him with its many implicit moral hazards. 3-The second set had been culled from previous contests. 4-Hurd is wearing a casual robe and turban, and before him are two books, one of them devoted to heraldry from which he culled the coats of arms he needed for his work.

foresaken

To forsake another person is to leave them entirely, usually in a moment of need. Forsake may mean simply giving something up, such as a way of life or a homeland, for something better or more appropriate. But it is often a mean word, suggesting leaving something or someone behind when they need you to stay. One way to remember the meaning of this verb — to abandon or desert — is to remember this little sentence: "For heaven's sake, don't leave me, or heaven is lost!" Lose the heaven, and you have forsake. 1-verb leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch synonyms:abandon, desert, desolate 2-verb turn away from; give up examples 1-Daylight began to forsake the red-room; it was past four o'clock, and the beclouded afternoon was tending to drear twilight. 2-He bared his wrist, and offered it to me: the blood was forsaking his cheek and lips, they were growing livid; I was distressed on all hands. 3-"I knew you wouldn't forsake me just when I need you most." 4-His father had forsaken him, his uncles, his sister, even that wretched creature Reek.

veer

To veer is to make a sudden turn, like when a driver veers off the pavement or a pleasant conversation veers off in a troubling direction. When you make any quick change of direction you veer. You can veer toward an attractive person at a party, leaving your friends mid-sentence. You veer away from an oncoming truck on the highway to avoid getting crushed. Originally, veer described a change in the direction of the wind, but as you can see, today, anyone or anything that changes direction veers. 1-verb turn sharply; change direction abruptly 2-verb shift to a clockwise direction examples 1-Then, an infinitesimal veering of the canoe, and the line of his body would break, the soaring arms collapse, up shoot an uncontrollable leg, and Phineas would tumble into the water, roaring with rage. 2-I try to gather it around my throat with one hand, but only succeed in veering into the path of an old man.

unbecoming

Use the adjective unbecoming when a person does something that's awkward or inappropriate, like using foul language at your grandmother's tea party. Sometimes the word unbecoming means "unattractive," as in, "I loved the light blue dress, but I thought the yellow dress was rather unbecoming." Behavior that is unattractive, especially in a particular setting or with certain people, can also be unbecoming. It's unbecoming to burp loudly at the opera. If it's impolite or unseemly, it's unbecoming. The word stems from becoming, which means attractive or tasteful. 1-adjective not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society examples 1-Despite the extraordinary fineness of his features, and his age, and his general stature—clothed, he could easily have passed for a young, underweight danseur—the cigar was not markedly unbecoming to him. 2-Were they grateful to be in his presence, or terrified of the outcome if he found their portraits unbecoming? 3-Her support and Papa's resistance had one point in common: too much exposure was unbecoming. 4-Miss Brown swept in wearing a new and unbecoming chartreuse gown and clapped her hands for attention.

bugaboo

Use the noun bugaboo to describe something that causes worry, like the bugaboo of having three tests on the same day at school. Bugaboo is also another name for the creature known as the bogeyman, an imaginary monster that children believe will hurt them or even take them away if they don't behave. Some usage experts trace bugaboo to Scotland, where the now-obsolete word bogill meant "goblin, bugbear." A bugbear, in the 1580 coining of the word, was a demon that looked like a bear and ate small children. 1-noun an imaginary monster used to frighten children 2-noun a source of concern examples 1-McMillan and Alvarez returned from Los Alamos impatient to try out new approaches they had conceived to address that old bugaboo, the relativistic barrier to higher energies. 2-She had re-membered the stories of her childhood, the most loathly and ancient bugaboo her nurse had ever frightened her with. 3-Here's another bugaboo that English teachers used to get worked up over. 4-But I wonder if sugar, the current nutrition bugaboo, even matters given that they're all composed mainly of processed grains.

espoused

Use the verb espouse to describe the actions of someone who lives according to specific beliefs, such as your friends who espouse environmentalism and as a result walk whenever possible instead of taking the car. You can see the word spouse in espouse, so you may be wondering what husbands and wives have to do with it. Originally espouse did mean "to marry," but its meaning has evolved to include other long-term commitments as well, such as support for a principle or a cause. Similar to marriage, if you espouse a belief system, the idea is that you've chosen to wed yourself to it. 1-verb choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans "The candidate espouses Republican ideals" synonyms:adopt, follow 2-verb take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own synonyms:adopt, embrace, sweep up examples 1-But when it was put into practice, particularly when it was placed in the hands of corrupt leaders, it became a much different system from that which was originally espoused. 2-Pacifists refused to defend themselves even when violently attacked, but that was not necessarily the case with those who espoused nonviolence. 3-Ignatius lumbered over to the picket fence, abandoning the hopeless cause espoused by the wagon, and viewed the oil paintings and pastels and watercolors strung there. 4-And Charles's book was, after all, an argument against the concept of God as creator that Paley had espoused.

indeed

Use the word indeed to add emphasis to a statement. Think if it as another way to say: "That's right," or "Oh, yeah." Are you seriously going to eat that entire chocolate cake? Indeed, I am. Indeed originates from the phrase in dede meaning "in fact, in truth." When you use the word indeed, you are underscoring that something is true. The word is also used when you want to introduce a point that's even truer than the last one you made. "Yes, I passed the test, and indeed, got the highest score in the class." In other words, it's a polite way to say, "Take that!" 1-adverb in truth (often tends to intensify) "they said the car would break down and indeed it did" "it is very cold indeed" "was indeed grateful" "indeed, the rain may still come" synonyms:so 2-adverb (used as an interjection) an expression of surprise or skepticism or irony etc. "Wants to marry the butler? Indeed!"

sage

Use the word sage for someone or something wise and judicious. Thanks to the sage advice of your friend, you didn't write your teacher an angry e-mail! Although you might think of a wizard when you hear the word sage, really it means a wise man. Today you see it used to refer to someone who has insight in a particular field. If someone is a policy sage, he knows just what advice to give politicians to make them understand the issue and respond successfully to it. In a totally unrelated use, there is also a plant called sage that is useful in home remedies and cooking. 1-noun a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom 2-adjective having wisdom that comes with age and experience Synonyms:wisehaving or prompted by wisdom or discernment examples 1-His father's huge gun popped out of the holster, disappearing forever into the sage—Amarante did not notice 2-The sage — low-growing and shrubby — could hold its place on the mountain slopes and on the plains, and within its small gray leaves it could hold moisture enough to defy the thieving winds. 3-They, on their side, saw a man of serenity—the kind of sage that Kipling described in Kim. 4-She gave him a handful of soft bitter-tasting leaves somewhat like sage, and he chewed them silently and forced them down.

virtue

Virtue is the quality of being morally good. If you're writing a screenplay and you want it to be a real tearjerker, make sure your hero is full of virtue. The word virtue comes from the Latin root vir, for man. At first virtue meant manliness or valor, but over time it settled into the sense of moral excellence. Virtue can also mean excellence in general. One of your virtues might be your generous willingness to help out your friends. The phrase by virtue of means "as a result of" or "by authority of." You will achieve success by virtue of hard work (or by virtue of inside connections). 1-noun the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong synonyms:moral excellence, virtuousnes examples 1-The moral law applies to rational, language-using creatures, and the law of nature binds all human beings by virtue of their capacity to recognize that there are moral obligations that are common to them all. 2-He could hear Father Mulrooney telling him to contemplate the virtues of obedience. 3-Her house became the refuge of young men puling in puberty, mourning over lost virtue, and aching to lose some more. 4-Esperanza lucked out, by virtue of living in Piedmont, because it meant she got to go to one of the best public high schools in the Bay Area.

disport

Visitors to an elementary school during recess may be surprised by the way the kids disport themselves. Disport means to play in a carefree way or to amuse yourself in a lighthearted fashion. To correctly pronounce disport, accent the second syllable: "dih-SPORT." It comes from the French word desporter, which means "to carry away" or "to entertain." Think of disport as what kids do when they have so much fun playing that they get carried away, forgetting all about school until the bell rings. You might disport yourself by frolicking at the beach with friends and enjoying lively conversation. 1-verb occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion 2-verb play boisterously examples 1-When we reached the Shore, the Tide was low, & there were Children there disporting themselves with Chum. 2-This Old Master didn't disport himself with mistresses or, like Leonardo and Michelangelo, with ephebic young men; most of his surviving correspondence chases unpaid bills. 3-True, the images he created focus largely on buff young men disporting themselves. 4-Even as the Puritans were striving to build an austere theocracy in New England, they were defied by a character named Thomas Morton, whose Merry Mount colonists disported themselves in free-spirited revelry.

doggerel

We're not sure why poor dogs always seem to get used to describe something really dreadful, but it's the case with doggerel — meaning irregularly rhyming, really bad poetry, usually comic in tone and fit only for dogs. Sometimes doggerel has a non-critical meaning: plenty of popular comic poets (like Lewis Carroll or any limerick inventor) had no aim to make great art, just great light verse, and they succeeded brilliantly. They were masters of doggerel. But pity the earnest highbrow poet like the immortal Scotsman William McGonagall whose doggerel was so bad his audience frequently pelted him with eggs and rotting vegetables. Now his poetry was only fit for the dogs. 1-noun a comic verse of irregular measure "he had heard some silly doggerel that kept running through his mind" examples 1-"Lord God Almighty, Weiser, are you an idiot? She will not produce anything worth reading when she's in this state. Look—this is verse. English doggerel. Pages and pages of it!" 2-"The stones are inspected," he wrote in one of the few doggerel poems ever published in Science, And Holmes cries, "rejected, They're nothing but Indian chips. 3-The only thing that seems even a little surprising is a bit of doggerel, a love poem in Prince Dain's hand, about a woman who remains unidentified, except by her "sunrise hair" and "starlit eyes." 4-A tall black boy recited a long, funny piece of doggerel, replete with filth, describing the physiological relations between men and women, and I memorized it word for word after having heard it but once.

verdant

When something is green with plant life it's verdant, a word often used to idealize the countryside with its verdant pastures or verdant hills. Here's a trick for internalizing verdant's meaning: If you speak Spanish, think of verde — meaning "green." If you speak French, think of vert. Both French and Spanish inherited their words for green from Latin, in which green is viridis. Verdant also can mean grass-colored: "She wore a dress of verdant green." 1-adjective characterized by abundance of vegetation and green foliage examples 1-She was standing in the middle of a verdant field, one blossom threaded through her fingers, another threaded in her long, coiling hair. 2-There was the vague sense of the infinite as I looked down upon the yellow, dreaming waters of the Mississippi River from the verdant bluffs of Natchez. 3-"Look! Only ninety miles from Haiti, and look! Trees! Crops! It's all so verdant. At the height of the dry season! The same ecology as Haiti's, and look!" 4-Beyond a range of verdant mountains he sees the snow-covered Pico de Orizaba, the highest summit in Mexico.

monolithic

When something is monolithic it's big, and made of one thing. A large piece of stone jutting from the earth is a monolith, and Detroit's economy when it depended entirely on the auto industry was monolithic. Broken into its roots mono and lithic, monolithic means simply "one stone." When monolithic is used to describe something societal — like a religion or an organization — it has a slightly negative connotation. For example, a monolithic society is rigid and homogenous, not open to new ideas. Being monolithic is good for rocks, but not so good for groups of people. Definitions of monolithic 1-adjective imposing in size or bulk or solidity "the monolithic proportions of Stalinist architecture" synonyms:massive, monumental 2-adjective characterized by massiveness and rigidity and total uniformity "a monolithic society" "a monolithic worldwide movement" Synonyms:undiversified examples 1-Today, China appears politically, culturally, and linguistically monolithic, at least to laypeople. 2-There was something fluid, insubstantial, in the very heaviness of this city built of monoliths, this monolithic state that called the part and the whole by the same name. 3-With nearly eight hundred rooms and a vast, monolithic façade overlooking the Thames, the Cecil was Europe's largest, if not grandest, hotel—a site typically reserved for diplomatic or national events. 4-A hockey stadium, a swimming stadium, an equestrian stadium, an enormous and monolithic exhibition hall, a gymnasium, a Greek amphitheater, tennis courts, restaurants, and sprawling administrative buildings were all in various stages of completion.

periphery

When something is on the periphery of your vision, you can only see it when you're looking sideways. Periphery means outside the boundary of something. If you're on the periphery of a group, you're close to it but not part of it. A band on the periphery of a particular scene might have opened for another band a few times, but it's never headlined or gotten their big break. Periphery comes from a Greek word meaning "to carry around." 1-noun the outside boundary or surface of something examples 1-He doubles his pace, if only to get the expression on her mouth out of his periphery. 2-A shape moves along the sidewalk behind us, slippery in my periphery. 3-I'm about to bolt back into the woods, when, in my periphery, I catch some kind of movement on the other side of the building, then hear the same crunching noises as the footsteps retreat. 4-I can see only a few police cars parked on the periphery, their number scattered about the crowd.

ostensible

When something is ostensible it appears to be the case but might not be. Your ostensible reason for visiting every bakery in town is that you're looking for a part-time job — but I think you really just want to eat cupcakes. Just because something is ostensible doesn't necessarily mean that it's not as it appears to be, only that there's a possibility of another reason. Your ostensible reason for calling your crush was to ask about homework; the real reason was that you were hoping they would ask you out. Ostensible derives from the Latin verb ostendere, meaning "to show or display." 1-adjective appearing as such but not necessarily so "the ostensible truth of their theories" synonyms:apparent, seeming superficial 2-adjective represented or appearing as such; pretended "His ostensible purpose was charity, his real goal popularity" examples 1-The ostensible reason was that the numbers were easily changed and falsified. 2-The word was blunder; and as Harriet exultingly proclaimed it, there was a blush on Jane's cheek which gave it a meaning not otherwise ostensible. 3-By the time the weary marchers trudged into Jackson, the furor over Black Power had eclipsed discussion of voter registration, the march's ostensible purpose. 4-His ostensible reason, however, was to ask whether Mr. Woodhouse's party could be made up in the evening without him, or whether he should be in the smallest degree necessary at Hartfield.

superflous/extraneous

When something is so unnecessary that it could easily be done away with, like a fifth wheel on a car or a fifth person on a double date, call it superfluous. Superfluous (soo-PER-floo-uhs) means "more than required." Use it when pointing out something that could be removed without detracting from the quality of something: "For a climb over a glacier, the very thickest shoes are absolutely necessary; beyond these, all else seems superfluous to me," wrote the adventurer Charles Stoddard in 1899. The word comes from Latin and literally means "overflowing": super ("over") + fluere ("to flow"). So you can think of a superfluous addition as flowing over the boundaries of what's needed. 1-adjective more than is needed, desired, or required 2-adjective serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being examples 1-"We have another fairly superfluous weapon. We're also venomous," she said, her teeth glistening. 2-Thus, many items had become superfluous, and these were not really things one could sell or things people wanted to throw out. 3-"He has disappeared," Brother Jack said, "disappeared! So don't waste time with superfluous questions. You weren't sent for for that." 4-This was said with a careless, abstracted indifference, which showed that my solicitude was, at least in his opinion, wholly superfluous.

backpedal

When you backpedal, you completely change your position or opinion. You might backpedal on your promise to buy your friend lunch when you see how expensive the restaurant is. If a politician supports a certain position and then seems to reverse her opinion or significantly change it, she backpedals. And if you guarantee you'll make cupcakes for a bake sale, but then you run out of time, you might have to backpedal. A more literal meaning of backpedal is, just as it sounds, to pedal a bicycle backwards. 1-verb modify one's opinion, make it less strong examples 1-And one day, in the middle of a ghostly pas de deux—a green silk leading as Desdemona backpedaled—she heard a voice. 2-"Well, yeah. That and shorter shorts," Todd said, doing his best to backpedal. 3-As the scene builds, the character played by Zach begins to backpedal and tries to explain. 4-Still in the same quarter, he backpedaled, saw Robert Brown break free, and threw another touchdown pass, this one good for eighteen yards.

dilute

When you dilute something, you make it thinner, weaker, or more watered down. If you put lots of ice cubes in your soda, the ice will melt and dilute the drink. Think about diluting as lessening the quality but increasing the quantity. Unless you're diluting a really strong drink to make it taste better or diluting heavy paint to get a lighter shade — then the quality actually improves. Quipped President John F. Kennedy, "Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary." 1-verb lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture examples 1-Jenkin's central problem with Darwin was this: if hereditary traits kept "blending" with each other in every generation, then what would keep any variation from being diluted out immediately by interbreeding? 2-When a painter begins to paint, dipping the brush occasionally to dilute the pigment, the water might initially turn blue, or yellow. 3-For general cleaning, the kind a custodian would do in a high school, you'd go with a much gentler, cheaper agent, diluted bleach. 4-Mom jokes that it's my diluted Mexican genes that make it taste soapy to me.

compunction

When you feel compunction you feel very, very sorry, usually for something you did to hurt someone or mess something up. When you feel no compunction, you're not at all sorry. The noun compunction comes from the Latin verb compungere, meaning "prick sharply." When you feel compunction, you feel a sharp prick of your conscience. The word compunction is often used in the negative in phrases like "without compunction" or "no compunction." You might say that the burglar acted without compunction when he stole your baseball card collection. 1-noun a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed) synonyms:remorse, self-reproach examples 1-It was a vice he practiced in secret, but at the same time he had felt no compunction about quite openly carrying away objects of greater value which he found unattended. 2-The rat had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything. 3-She had tried to be gentle, but Minya had suffered no such compunction. 4-She had no compunctions about the lie and getting the doll under false pretenses.

supine

You can be described as supine when you're lying face up — for example, your favorite yoga poses might be the supine ones. Someone who is very passive or lethargic could also be called supine — for instance, someone might be supine in the face of continuous threats and insults. The adjective supine comes from a Latin word, supinus, which means "thrown backwards" or "inactive." Whenever a person or animal is lying on its back, belly-up, it is supine. When your hand is open, palm-up, it is also supine. Supine can even describe a person who gives insufficient resistance, or who is lazy and ineffectual. "When Jack refused to object to the landlord's repeated — and gouging — rent increases, he was supine." 1-adjective lying face upward 2-adjective offering no resistance examples 1-From my supine perch on the back of the police car, I noticed an older woman staring at me, shaking her head. 2-When his coughing spell was over and he saw his daughter stretched out supine on the moonlit ground, Dufarge put two and two together. 3-Then, on a sudden but apparently pressing impulse, he stretched out supine on the carpet. 4-But the extensive dampness made Gregor sick and he lay supine, embittered and immobile on the couch.

enervated

adjective lacking strength or vigor synonyms:adynamic, asthenic, debilitated examples 1-I have heard more than a little hissing and roaring through the factory door, but my presently somewhat enervated condition precludes a descent into that particular inferno at the moment. 2-He took to his bed, eventually so enervated that he was forced to take an indefinite leave from his job at the shipyard. 3-Soon my mind was saturated, my being enervated, yet my soul continued to live and hope for better days. 4-Raf Simons seemed enervated by this collection, which included belted jackets, quite a number of boyish shorts, and T-shirts in solid colors as well as grid patterns and deep-hued, splashy prints.

prevaricator

noun a person who has lied or who lies repeatedly synonyms:liar examples 1-He was "a chronic prevaricator whose lies were so gaudy and wrapped around they might have been a medieval tapestry of what almost or never happened." 2-Wallace, while remaining respectful and calm, didn't allow the prevaricator in chief to get away with too much. 3-Speaking as both storyteller and concerned world citizen, Jenkins says going after geopolitical prevaricators is not enough when dealing with such existential crises as climate change. 4-"This is the prevaricator in chief, who wants people like you to be distracted from the real underlying issues here," he said.

transient

se the adjective transient to describe something that always changes or moves around. If your older brother is constantly moving from city to city, you can say he's transient. Transient is most often used to modify nouns like nature, threat, source and cause, which suggests that the word often shows up in formal contexts, like analysis of finance or global terrorism. But it can also be used for anything that moves quickly from one thing to another, like a transient feeling or facial expression. Transient is also a noun meaning "a person who moves from place to place; a homeless person." The word comes from Latin transire, "to pass over," so you can think of it as describing things that are quickly passed over. 1-adjective lasting a very short time "youth's transient beauty" synonyms:ephemeral, fugacious, passing, short-lived, transitory impermanent, temporary

bested

verb get the better of "the goal was to best the competition"