Barron's GRE 5 (250 words)

emissary

1.a person sent as a diplomatic representative on a special mission.Syn: Envoy, diplomats, ambassador When presidents can't attend state funerals, they send an emissary to pay their respects. An emissary performs a specific job on someone else's behalf. Emissary is a word you hear often around governments, but anyone can be one or have one. Say, if you're feeling too lazy to get off the couch you could appoint your little sister to be your emissary in fetching ice cream from the kitchen.

Euphemism

1. it's a way that we paper over uncomfortable things with more pleasant-sounding words. The military is also notorious for using euphemisms, like saying "neutralizing the target" instead of "killing someone." Pardon me, but when a polite term is substituted for a blunt, offensive one, you should call it a euphemism. Euphemism is from Greek euphemismos, meaning "good speech," and it's a way that we paper over uncomfortable things with more pleasant-sounding words. These days we tend to use euphemisms when talking about anything having to do with elimination of bodily waste: toilet, bathroom, and water closet were all originally euphemisms. The military is also notorious for using euphemisms, like saying "neutralizing the target" instead of "killing someone."

essay

1.A composition that is usually short and has a literary theme is called an essay. You should probably start writing your essay on "To Kill a Mockingbird" sometime before the bus ride to school the day it is due. 2.As a noun, an essay is also an attempt, especially a tentative initial one. Your essay to make friends at your new school would probably work better if you actually spoke to other students. As a verb, to essay is to make an attempt. If you essay to run for student council, you might lose to the girl who promises more recess, longer lunches, and less homework.

Effete

1.Effete is a disapproving term meaning decadent and self-indulgent, even useless:Do you ever wonder why some effete party girls are considered celebrities? 2. Useless: Star athletes run the risk of losing their edge and becoming effete poster boys for their sports. Effete is a disapproving term meaning decadent and self-indulgent, even useless. The stereotype of the rugged Westerner is just as false as the one of the effete East Coast liberal. The origin of the word effete is a little unexpected. Coming from the Latin effetus "out of, past childbearing," effete meant "exhausted, spent" long before it acquired the sense of morally exhausted and overly refined. This is the main use of the word today. Do you ever wonder why some effete party girls are considered celebrities? Star athletes run the risk of losing their edge and becoming effete posterboys for their sports.

dynamic

1.If a person, place, or thing is energetic and active, then it's dynamic. 2.When things are dynamic, there's a lot going on. 3.Someone with a dynamic personality is probably funny, loud, and excitable; a quiet, mousy person isn't dynamic. 4. You can also talk about the dynamic aspect of music, which has to do with how the music uses dynamics, which means "changes in volume. Even the most exciting rural town won't be as dynamic as a big city: there are just more things happening in a city. Someone with a dynamic personality is probably funny, loud, and excitable; a quiet, mousy person isn't dynamic. You can also talk about the dynamic aspect of music, which has to do with how the music uses dynamics, which means "changes in volume." When things are dynamic, changes and energy are in the air.

enrapture

1.So when someone enraptures another person, they're creating a feeling of wonder, enchantment, and delight that recalls that heavenly feeling. On our first date, I was so enraptured by his charm, humor, and good looks, I knew we would spend our lives together. To enrapture someone is cast an irresistible spell over them, to make them feel "rapture." I was enraptured by her gorgeous voice and stunning way of interpreting a song. When you see the word "rapture," you know you're dealing with a pleasure so great it borders on the divine. The Rapture is, after all, what believers call the time when Jesus is meant to return and take them all to Heaven. So when someone enraptures another person, they're creating a feeling of wonder, enchantment, and delight that recalls that heavenly feeling. On our first date, I was so enraptured by his charm, humor, and good looks, I knew we would spend our lives together.

epithet

1.The noun epithet is a descriptive nickname, such as "Richard the Lionhearted," or "Tommy the Terrible.". Syn: nickname "old men are often unfairly awarded the epithet 'dirty'" 2. an epithet used as a term of abuse. "the woman begins to hurl racial epithets at them The noun epithet is a descriptive nickname, such as "Richard the Lionhearted," or "Tommy the Terrible." When it takes a turn for the worse, it can also be a word or phrase that offends. Don't let epithet's bad reputation fool you — that's only half the story. An epithet can be harmless, a nickname that catches on, like all hockey fans knowing that "Sid the Kid" is Sidney Crosby. On the flip side, an epithet can be an abusive word or phrase that should never be used, like a racial epithet that offends and angers everyone.

embark

1.When you embark on something, you are starting it — and it's exciting. 2.The verb embark can be used specifically to refer to boarding a ship for a journey. 3.When used for general travel, the verb embark often implies a longer journey: "She embarked on a trip around the world." 3.Besides, physical journeys, embark can be used to mean to start other kinds of journeys as well. You might embark on a spiritual journey or embark on the path to enlightenment. You might embark on a new career or embark on a trip to the Galapagos Islands. You wouldn't embark on a trip to the grocery store. The verb embark can be used specifically to refer to boarding a ship for a journey. When used for general travel, the verb embark often implies a longer journey: "She embarked on a trip around the world." Besides, physical journeys, embark can be used to mean to start other kinds of journeys as well. You might embark on a spiritual journey or embark on the path to enlightenment. Pack well.

emolument

1.a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office. "the directors' emoluments" 1.compensation received by virtue of holding an office or having employment (usually in the form of wages or fees) 2. Emolument is another way to describe the money you receive for working. Not many workers think of their paychecks as emolument, but they certainly could. Emolument is another way to describe the money you receive for working. Pronounce emolument with a long e sound in the first syllable and the accent on the second: "e MALL you ment." Emolument traces back to the Latin word emolumentum, meaning "profit, gain," which is believed to have referred to payments made to millers for grinding corn — emolere means "grind out." Today, perhaps coincidentally, people refer to work as "the grind."

embargo

1.impose an official ban on (trade or a country or commodity). "all of these countries have been embargoed by the US" 2.ban the publication of (documents), as for security or copyright reasons An embargo is an order stopping the movement of trade ships into or out of a country. If you can't get those yummy Swedish fish, perhaps there has been an embargo on trade with Sweden! The fact that ships cannot move during an embargo makes sense from the Latin root of the word, a verb meaning impede with barriers. If one government places a trade embargo on another, it can be an act of war between the two countries. But if an arms embargo is in place, many countries refuse to sell arms to a particular country because it is especially violent. As a verb, the use of embargo is a little broader. If you write an impassioned plea for peace, but the government embargoes it, no one will read your writing.

Entail

1.involve (something) as a necessary or inevitable part or consequence. Syn: necessitate, require , need, demand 2.a limitation of the inheritance of property to certain heirs over a number of generations. "the damage being done in England by entails" ans what something involves. "The job entailed us standing in the snow for hours dressed as giant, human hot dogs. It entailed far too much humiliation to justify the $3.55 an hour we were paid." The word entail is connected to the idea of preconditions. If you want something, you better figure out what it entails. If we want to see the movie at 9 o'clock, that will entail us waiting in the lobby another hour. If we want to stay out of trouble with our moms, that will entail us calling them and letting them know we're going to be later than we said.

equable

1.not easily disturbed or angered; calm and even-tempered. "he could look sterner than his equable temperament would suggest" 2.not varying or fluctuating greatly. "an equable climate" The adjective equable means "not easily irritated" or "steady," like someone's equable manner that makes everyone instantly feel comfortable.someone who is equable takes things in stride — the good, the bad, and the ugly, with a smile and the occasional reminder that "this too shall pass." To correctly pronounce equable, accent the first syllable: "EK-wah-bul." It comes from the Latin word aequabilis, meaning "equal, consistent, uniform." An equable person isn't moody. You wouldn't expect him or her to fly into a rage one minute and be humming a happy tune the next. Instead, someone who is equable takes things in stride — the good, the bad, and the ugly, with a smile and the occasional reminder that "this too shall pass."

earthy

1.of or consisting of or resembling earth: it had an earthy smell 2. hearty and lusty: an earthy enjoyment of life 3. Crude and vulgar; conspicuously and tastelessly indecent: an earthy sense of humor 4.sensible and practical: her earthy common sense. Syn: down to earth The adjective earthy runs the gamut from "crunchy" to "crude." You could use earthy to describe bohemian fashion or a vulgar comedian. Just don't use it to describe our planet. Adding one letter y to earth changes earth's status from a noun to an adjective. And what a versatile adjective it is! You could use it in a more literal way, like the "earthy smell" coming from the vegetable garden. Or, you could use it in a more figurative way — like to describe someone who wears Birkenstock sandals and grows her own bean sprouts. Earthy can also be used to describe someone who tends to be gross or vulgar, but this use of the word is somewhat euphemistic.

equestrian

1.relating to horse riding. "his amazing equestrian skills" 2. a rider or performer on horseback. synonyms: horseman,jocky An equestrian is an expert horseback rider. If you only go riding for an hour while on vacation you aren't an equestrian, but the person leading the group and riding the flashy horse probably is. When you know that equus is the Latin word for "horse," the meaning of equestrian becomes clear. An equestrian is someone who is involved with horses. You can also use it as an adjective to describe anything having to do with horseback riding. An aspiring equestrian may have to give up socializing with friends in favor of equestrian duties like grooming horses.

equivocate

1.use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself. "the government have equivocated too often in the past" When you are unwilling to make a decision and almost intentionally go back and forth between two choices, you are equivocating. When politicians equivocate, they are often afraid of upsetting, and thus alienating, voters with their decisions A key part of equivocate is the root vocate which come from the Latin vocare or "voice." When you give your voice to two opposing views in order to mislead or keep your options open, you're equivocating. Think of the expression, to talk out of both sides of your mouth. If you want to go to a party and your parents keep saying "maybe, it depends," tell them to stop equivocating and give you a straight answer.

Entomology

Entomology is the study of insects. If you want to know all about ants, roaches, scorpions, and skeeters, entomology is for you./etymology is the study of words From the Greek word for "knowledge," the suffix -logy literally means "the study of," and you see it often. Theology is the study of divine beings, anthropology is the study of human cultures, psychology is the study of the mind. Add the Greek prefix entomon, for insect, and you have the branch of biology that focuses on bugs.

Epistemology

Epistemology is the study of knowledge, so an epistemologist is someone who studies how we know things. Want to know whether your friend's crazy ideas came from observation or inspiration? Then you are a budding epistemologist. Epistemology is one of the classical branches of philosophy. Episteme is the Greek word for a piece of knowledge, and -ology means study of. Epistemologists debate how we come to know things--how much is innate, how much comes from sensory perception, how much is passed on to us as we grow older. If you're curious about how the mind works, you should consider becoming an epistemologist.

Epitaph

Epitaph is an inscription on a gravestone. Famous for his comedic jabs at the City of Brotherly Love, writer W.C. Fields once said he wanted "I'd rather be living in Philadelphia" as the epitaph on his tombstone. Once you trace this word back to its origins, you'll never forget its meaning. Forms of it show up in Middle English, Old French, Latin, and, before that, Greek: epi- "upon" and taphos "tomb." This gives us a mini history lesson on burial traditions. For thousands of years various societies have carved poetic, weepy, and witty words onto the monuments marking the final resting places of famous and infamous citizens.

Equine

Equine means having to do with horses. An equine saddle is one used for a horse, as opposed to one for a camel. An equine face is a horse face, and no, that's not a very nice thing to say. Equine is connected to words that refer to animals—bovine means having to do with cows, porcine pigs, feline cats, canine dogs, etc. Many young girls go through an equine phase, where they are obsessed with all things horse—books, dolls, images, and, last but not least, actual horseback riding

Esteem

Esteem is all about respect and admiration. If you have high self-esteem, it means you like yourself. When you say, "My esteemed colleagues," you are saying you have nothing but the highest respect for them. Esteem derives from the same Latin word that gives us estimate, and back in the day, esteem, like estimate meant "to assess, or judge the value of something." That sense lingers today. When you say you hold someone in high esteem, it means you give them a high value. Unless you're a politician, in which case, when you say, "I hold my opponent in high esteem," you are most likely to follow that statement with a big "But...."

Ethereal

Ethereal is something airy and insubstantial, such as a ghostly figure at the top of the stairs. It might also be something delicate and light, like a translucent fabric, or a singer's delicate voice. Ethereal comes from the Greek word for ether, which is a drug that makes you feel light headed and, in larger doses, causes you to lose consciousness. An ethereal substance or sound is one that carries the feeling of ether--something you might see in a vision, that might strike you as heavenly or supernatural.

Ethnology

Ethnology is a science that deals with the study of humans, looking at everything from the question of where we all come from to analyzing data about how we choose to live our lives now. With roots in the Greek ethnos meaning "people, nation, race" and logia referring to "the study of," ethnology takes into consideration culture, language, religion, race, and social structure. Unlike ethnography, which focuses on a single group, ethnology compares and contrasts more than one culture with the goal of better understand humanity as a whole.

Euthanasia

Euthanasia is the act of causing a person's or animal's death, without inflicting pain, to end suffering, like when a veterinarian performs euthanasia on a dog that is in great pain and has no chance of recovery. To correctly pronounce euthanasia, remember that it sounds like "youth in Asia." Euthanasia is sometimes referred to as mercy killing, meant to spare a living thing a slow, painful death. Originally a Greek word, euthanasia means "an easy or happy death," as eu- means "good" and thanatos means "death." The use of the word as "legally sanctioned mercy killing" is first recorded in English in 1869.

enterprising

If you are enterprising, you are creative and show initiative. Were you the kid who bought candy before school and sold it during school at a profit? If so, you were an enterprising little one. Though it has the word, enterprise, in it and is often used to describe people who set up businesses to fill a need, enterprising can be used for any kind of display of creative initiative. Kids who decide on their own to build a skate park are enterprising, as is a dance company that is able to perform a piece on a shoestring budget.

embezzlement

If you are glee club treasurer, and you pocket twenty glee dollars saying you used it to buy lozenges, you are committing embezzlement, the theft of money or property that you officially manage. In order for stealing to be embezzlement, you need to both be in charge of the funds or property you are stealing, and you need to conceal your theft. Because of this, it is classified as a type of fraud. People who commit embezzlement often create fake paper trails — receipts, canceled checks, false signatures — to hide their crime.

emancipate

If you emancipate someone, you set them free from something. At the end of the Civil War, slaves were emancipated and became free men and women. If you break down emancipate, you have e- "out," -man- from the Latin manus "hand," and -cip- from the Latin verb "to take." Put it together, and you have "to be taken out of someone's hands" — a good definition of freedom. The American Revolution was about colonists emancipating themselves from British rule. As a legal term, if a child is emancipated, he or she is declared independent from parental control.

equanimity

If you take the news of your brother'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.

ecclesiastic

If you're an ecclesiastic, you probably spend a lot of time in church. The word ecclesiastic describes a member of the clergy, typically someone associated with a Christian church: "the ecclesiastical hierarchy" The word ecclesiastic has origins in the Greek word ekklesiastes, meaning "speaker in an assembly or church," and can be used to describe someone associated with a church, such as a cleric or a priest. When you see an English word that begins with the eccles bit, you can be pretty sure that its meaning will somehow involve religious matters. That's because ekklēsia is the Greek word for church and it has influenced the spelling of many English words of a religious nature, such as ecclesial, ecclesiolatry, and ecclesiarch.

eulogy

a formal expression of praise for someone who has died recently At every funeral, there comes a moment when someone who knew the dead person speaks about their life. They are delivering what is known as a eulogy. A eulogy is a formal speech that praises a person who has died. Usually a eulogy makes the dead person sound a lot more impressive than they really were. A couple of less common synonyms for this kind of "praise the dead" speech are panegyric and encomium. Sometimes the dead person was so unimpressive that there's nothing nice to say. And sometimes they were so awful that the only appropriate speech is a dyslogy that describes their faults and failings.

effigy

a representation of a person (especially in the form of sculpture) In modern usage, effigy most often refers to a likeness, such as a dummy, that is hanged, burned, or otherwise abused when protesting the despised person's actions. If you've encountered the phrase "in effigy," it's probably been in a news report about protesters burning a stuffed figure made to look like a loathed corporate leader or head of state. Since the 18th century or longer, effigies have been destroyed in place of individuals who, as far as the angry crowd is concerned, have escaped justice. Effigy can also refer to a sculptural portrait of the deceased reclining upon a burial monument.

elixir

a substance believed to cure all ills/hypothetical substance that the alchemists believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold Miraculous, magical, and maybe a little mysterious, an elixir is a sweet substance or solution that cures the problem at hand. Elixir is a word often used with a knowing wink — a sort of overstatement of a product's effectiveness, or a decision maker's policy. With linguistic roots in the long-ago alchemists' search for the philosophers' stone, the word has an element of fantasy to spice up anything, like a remedy for the common cold. The mythic fountain of youth is certainly an elixir, but it can also refer to a real liquid, concept, or plan.

environ

surround; enclose. "the stone circle was environed by an expanse of peat soil"

embed

v fix or set securely or deeply The verb embed means to implant something or someone — like to embed a stone into a garden pathway or to embed a journalist in a military unit. When you stick something firmly within a particular environment, you are embedding it. If you are an archeologist, you might spend a lot of your time looking for pottery shards embedded in the earth. If you are a web site designer, you might embed video clips on web pages. And if your newspaper is covering a war overseas, you might consider embedding a journalist in a military troop in order to have a source reporting back from the front lines.

escapade

"he told of their escapade with a 'borrowed' truck" An escapade is an adventure, tinged with a hint of danger. A road trip could be an escapade, or a few weeks making a living as a professional gambler, or posing as your twin sister and taking a test for her in math. You'll notice the similarities between the words escapade and escape. Usually an escapade involves some form of escape. If you cut class and spend the day at the beach, that's an escapade. If you cut class to watch former figure-skating greats boogying to Broadway tunes on ice, that's an escapade at the Ice Capades.

Ethos

(anthropology) the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era Ethos, a noun, is the fundamental set of beliefs that you, or a society, or group live by. A free spirit might live by the ethos of "anything goes." The noun ethos refers to how you, or a group, or a society chooses to live and is the particular rules and characteristic values that organize people. This also means that a different group might have a different ethos. An example is that in some cultures the individual is highly valued while in others the group might be considered central. In literary studies ethos has a moral element attached to it but sociology describes ehos.

entity

that which is perceived or known or inferred to have its own distinct existence (living or nonliving) If your little sister turns her lemonade stand into a lemonade empire, she might incorporate it as a company. Under the law, it would be considered an entity, or a separate being for purposes of government control. The word entity originally meant "being, existence," and was borrowed from Medieval Latin entitas, from Latin ens, irregular form of esse "to be, exist." The suffix -ity means "quality or state." Medieval Christian philosophers, influenced by the Church Fathers and Aristotle, discussed the concept of ens "abstract being" versus esse "actual being."

ennui

the feeling of being bored by something tediou 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.

Fidelity

the quality of being faithful/accuracy with which an electronic system reproduces the sound or image of its input signal Fidelity is the quality of being faithful or loyal. Dogs are famous for their fidelity. Fidelity comes from the Latin root fides, which means faith, so fidelity is the state of being faithful. Marital fidelity is faithfulness to your spouse. If you're a journalist, your reports should have fidelity to the facts. Someone without fidelity to a religion or group belief is called an infidel.

Foist

to force onto another Did your parents foist your baby sister on you when they went out? It means they forced her on you. Anything — a person or object or idea — can be foisted if it's done by force upon an unwilling party. Foist used to imply a degree of deception rather than just brute force, but that's a meaning that's pretty much lost now: if something's foisted upon you, you know about it. The earlier meaning comes from an old Dutch term for palming a loaded die into a game. Today we call that cheating.

execrable

unequivocally detestable If something's execrable it's really and truly, unbelievably, absolutely the worst. Execrable is often used as a harshly critical term in the arts, when a reviewer really wants to throw the book at something. Not surprisingly, the word comes from a Latin word meaning "to utter a curse; to hate or abhor." Tough words for bad art. Perhaps part of the power and nastiness of execrable lies in the word's similarity to excrement — but that's a vocabulary word we're not touching in this entry!

figurative

used of the meanings of words or text( not literal; using figures of speech When speech or writing is not literal, it is figurative, like when you say you have a ton of homework. You don't really have 2000 pounds of homework, do you? Also, when art depicts a figure from life it is figurative, like a figurative drawing of a dancer. The adjective figurative comes from the Old French word figuratif, which means "metaphorical." Any figure of speech — a statement or phrase not intended to be understood literally — is figurative. You say your hands are frozen, or you are so hungry you could eat a horse. That's being figurative. In art, figure means "human or animal form," so a figurative drawing might show horses running across a field.

encipher

v convert ordinary language into code

ensconce

v fix firmly "He ensconced himself in the chair" If you ensconce yourself somewhere, you settle in for quite a while, such as when you're home with the flu and ensconce yourself on the couch with the remote control, tissues, your phone, and a big glass of orange juice. Ensconce dates to the 1580s, when it literally meant "to cover with a fort." It isn't quite clear whether the word can be traced to French or Dutch, which has a word schans that describes "earthwork." Today, you don't need a protective structure like a fort in order to be ensconced, but the idea of being surrounded is key to the word's meaning.

epic

very imposing or impressive; surpassing the ordinary (especially in size or scale) An epic is a long poem or other work of art celebrating heroic feats. After you sail around the world for seven years, fighting corruption and planting vegetable gardens, some poet will surely write the epic of your adventures. Epic comes from the Greek for song, because Greek poets like Homer sung their poems. We tend to use epic for long, ambitious novels or movies, especially if they involve a long journey. Epic can be used as an adjective to describe something historically important, lasting and complex. Perhaps your great-grandfather was a soldier in the epic struggle of World War One. Your three day, sleepless card poker game could be described as epic.

Feral

wild and menacing When animal control finds a feral dog, they have to handle it very carefully because the animal is so wild that it's probably afraid of humans and likely to bite. Feral is often used to describe a wild, untamed animal, like the feral cat with its claws and sharp teeth menacingly bared, ready to strike. Qualities that are similar to a wild animal can also be called feral. The child who grew alone up in a cabin in the woods, and who didn't go to school, was called feral when she ran away from the orphanage.

endue

(V) give qualities or abilities to You probably hope that your years of ballet classes will endue you with the ability to dance like Baryshnikov. In other words, you're dreaming that all of those arabesques and pirouettes will provide you with the dancing talent you wish for. Endue is a fancy literary term that shows up most often in formal writing, but you could impress someone by using it to mean "endow," "invest," or "empower." Less often, endue is used to mean "to put clothes on," or "dress," which makes sense when you know that endue comes from the Latin word induere, or "to put on."

emanate

(V)give out (breath or an odor)/proceed or issue forth, as from a source "Water emanates from this hole in the ground" When you use the word emanate, you're usually talking about lights, sounds or unseen forces coming out of a specific source. If you hear creepy sounds emanating from an old house, that might mean it's haunted. Emanate derives from the Latin e- 'out' and manare to flow. If that last word looks a little like manure to you, you might be interested to know that they're not at all related. Thank goodness, too, because the idea of manure flowing out--or emanating--is not something to be discussed in polite company.

Entrance

(V)put into a trance/the act of entering(N) As a noun, entrance means an act of entering or something that provides a way to enter something. You can make a grand entrance when you arrive at a party, as long as you can actually find the entrance. Entrance has two pronunciations. If you put the accent on the first syllable, the word is a noun meaning the act of entering or the way into something ("an entrance to the building"). If the accent is on the second syllable, then entrance is a verb meaning "to enchant, charm, or enamor" — "You will be entranced by the movie; the scenery looks so real you will swear it is growing in the theater."

endorse

1. To endorse is to give support:When someone endorses a product in a commercial, it means "Go buy this! You'll like it. 2. You can also endorse a check, which means writing your name or someone else's on the back so that you or the other person can cash or deposit it. sign as evidence of legal transfer/be behind; approve of To endorse is to give support to someone or something. "I endorse this!" means "I think this is a good thing, and so should you." People endorse in many ways. When someone endorses a politician, it means "You should vote for this person, and I'm putting my reputation on the line to say so." When someone endorses a product in a commercial, it means "Go buy this! You'll like it." To endorse is to give support. You can also endorse a check, which means writing your name or someone else's on the back so that you or the other person can cash or deposit it.

ejaculation

1. Discharge of semen 2.A sudden and explosive expression of emotion: Duh, yikes, holy cow, and d'oh (as in Homer Simpson's D'OH!) are all ejaculations. an abrupt emphatic exclamation expressing emotion An ejaculation is either the discharge of semen that happens when a man has an orgasm or a suddent verbal outburst like "Hey!" Ejaculations are sudden and explosive. One type of ejaculation is the male orgasm, when semen is propelled from the penis. The other type of ejaculation is verbal. "Stop!" and "Wow!" are examples of ejaculations. People make ejaculations when they're excited or have something important to say. Ejaculations are also called interjections. They often interrupt, and they're usually full of emotion. Duh, yikes, holy cow, and d'oh (as in Homer Simpson's D'OH!) are all ejaculations.

extenuate

1. Factors that lessen the seriousness of an offence.Syn: Mitigation: The circumstances extenuate the crime 2.make (someone) thin. "drawings of extenuated figures To extenuate is to make less of something or try to minimize its importance. The fact that you walked your little sister to school because she missed the bus might extenuate your teacher's response when you show up late. Extenuate goes back to the Latin verb extenuāre, meaning "to thin" or "make thin." Someone might have a strong case against you for doing something wrong, but an added consideration can make less serious, or extenuate, the circumstances that led to it. If you give an excuse that doesn't really relate to what was done, it won't extenuate the punishment. If something has a real bearing on what went wrong, it will extenuate the response, and you'll get in less trouble.

elliptical

1. Oval shape:The adjective elliptical refers to the shape of an ellipse, which is an elongated circle, stretched into an oval. While it is a mathematical shape, 2.it also is used to describe a way of speaking that cuts out extra, unnecessary language. When this style is used (say in a poem an elliptical style) — because it doesn't shed any light on the meaning — it sometimes makes the work obscure and hard to interpret. The word elliptical is derived from the oval shape known as an ellipse. Many comets have an elliptical orbit around the Sun that brings them closer at some times and farther away at others. The adjective elliptical refers to the shape of an ellipse, which is an elongated circle, stretched into an oval. While it is a mathematical shape, it also is used to describe a way of speaking that cuts out extra, unnecessary language. When this style is used (say in a poem an elliptical style) — because it doesn't shed any light on the meaning — it sometimes makes the work obscure and hard to interpret.

egress

1. To exit; the action of going out of or leaving a place. "direct means of access and egress for passengers 2.(astronomy) the reappearance of a celestial body after an eclipse.Syn: emersion 3. (N)the act of coming (or going) out; becoming apparent/the becoming visible/(astronomy) the reappearance of a celestial body after an eclipse/(v)come out of If you want to leave a place, you need a means of egress, or a way to exit, such as a door or window. It was a beautiful old house, but without enough ways of egress, they needed outdoor fire-stairs for reaching the upper floors. Egress comes from a Latin word meaning "going out." An egress is basically the same thing as an exit. (Egress can also be used as a verb, "to exit," but less frequently than as a noun.) When buildings undergo inspection, one of the main safety features under review is the number and placement of doors and windows, the "means of egress," in case of fire or other emergency.

forgo

1. To give up, waive, or forfeit something. For example, someone charged with a crime might decide to forgo the right to remain silent and instead confess. The word forgo can be traced back to the Old English word forgān, which meant to pass away or to die, which is sometimes referred to as "giving up the ghost." Perhaps it was this idea of relinquishing something that led to our modern-day use of the word forgo to mean to give up, waive, or forfeit something. For example, someone charged with a crime might decide to forgo the right to remain silent and instead confess.

forbearance

1. When a teacher says, "Bear with me for a moment," while he writes on the board, he is asking for the class's forbearance. He wants them to wait patiently during the delay. 2.Forbearance also has a more technical, legal meaning — if you are owed money and you give someone extra time to get it to you, you're showing them forbearance. The word has nothing to do with actual bears, but if you think of one slumbering through its winter hibernation, that might help remember its meaning.

epoch

1. a particular period of time in history or a person's life. Syn: era, age, period "the Victorian epoch" 2. he beginning of a period in the history of someone or something."these events marked an epoch in their history" 3. An epoch is a period of time marked by certain characteristics: you might describe several peaceful decades in a nation's history as an epoch of peace. In geologic time, an epoch is a division of a period, and an age is a division of an epoch. An epoch can also mean the beginning of a new and important period of history, or an event that marks such a period: an epoch in the world of ballet. The noun epoch is from New Latin epocha, from Greek epochē "pause, check, fixed time.

fancier

1. a person having a strong liking for something. The word fancier can refer to someone who fancies (or really likes) something — such as dogs or wine or chocolate. Syn: enthusiast. 2. It can also be used to describe someone who breeds a particular animal, with the intent of improving the breed. Someone crazy about something can be called a fancier. If you join a club to promote the well-being of pheasants, someone might describe you as "a pheasant fancier." That just means you like pheasants a lot. The word fancier can refer to someone who fancies (or really likes) something — such as dogs or wine or chocolate. It can also be used to describe someone who breeds a particular animal, with the intent of improving the breed. Make sure you don't confuse this word with the adjective fancy, which has a comparative form that is also spelled "fancier." That fancier would be used in the sense of "more ornamental" or "more extravagant" — as in "My prom dress is fancier than yours."

exploit

1. use or manipulate to one's advantage: use someone or something, usually selfishly or for profit 2. An exploit is a heroic act or notable deed. The King Arthur legends are full of stories of the exploits of the Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Lancelot and King Arthur himself. This noun is from Middle English expleit, exploit "outcome," from Latin explicitus "unfolded, set forth." The verb exploit means to use someone or something, usually selfishly or for profit--workers who are tired of being exploited by factory owners form unions that allow them to stand together as a powerful force.

farce

1.A farce is a broad satire or comedy, though now it's used to describe something that is supposed to be serious but has turned ridiculous. If a defendant is not treated fairly, his lawyer might say that the trial is a farce. As a type of comedy, a farce uses improbable situations, physical humor and silliness to entertain. Spoof films such as "Spaceballs," a comedy based on the Star Wars movies, are farces. If a real-life event or situation is a farce, it feels this ridiculous. An election is a farce, if the outcome has been determined before the voting begins. And class can feel like a farce if your substitute teacher knows less about the subject than you do.

forbear

1.A forbear is an ancestor or any person you are descended from, like your grandfather or your great, great, great, great grandfather. 2. As a verb, to forbear means to resist doing something or resist bringing it forth. You might forbear having children if you had thought your forbearers were cursed in some way. The verb bear means to bring forth, as in to bear children. As a noun, forbear refers to a person that came before you. Your forbear can be someone you've known, but it can also refer to someone who came generations before you.

excise

1.An excise tax is simply an extra tax put on various products. Perhaps the most common examples are the taxes levied on tobacco and liquor, often called "sin taxes" because drinking and smoking are considered vices. 2.To excise something can also mean to get rid of it. Say, wouldn't it be nice if they would excise the excise taxes? An excise tax is simply an extra tax put on various products. Perhaps the most common examples are the taxes levied on tobacco and liquor, often called "sin taxes" because drinking and smoking are considered vices. There is also an excise tax on gasoline. To cover the tax, the seller will usually raise the price of the item. Interestingly, the word excise (ek-SIZE) used as a verb means to remove something by cutting it out. Good luck with excising the excise taxes!

Extraneous

1.Extraneous means coming from or belonging to the outside—extraneous noise is what you hear when you're in a theater and a train passes by, extraneous wires bring your cable connection into the house. 2.extraneous details are ones that don't matter. In Latin, extra means outside, as in extraordinary "outside the ordinary," or extraterrestrial 'coming from outside earth.' (Bonus points--ding! ding!--if you knew that terra is Latin for "earth.") The meaning of extraneous also extends to more abstract things that come from the outside: extraneous details are ones that don't matter.

Febrile

1.Febrile is an adjective that means "related to fever." It can be used in a medical sense when someone is sick and running a temperature, 2.or to mean a state of excitement or energy: The atmosphere in the city was febrile as the king's coronation date approached When febrile is used to describe a fever due to illness, it is often used together with the word seizure. A febrile seizure is a seizure triggered by a fever. In a non-medical sense, the word can describe a state of excitement, as in, "The atmosphere in the city was febrile as the king's coronation date approached." You might think the fe in the word sounds like "fee," but it is actually pronounced "feh," as in February.

Foray

1.Foray means brief excursion: If you're in the army, that's a literal excursion into enemy territory. 2.a sudden attack or incursion into enemy territory, especially to obtain something; a raid. "the garrison made a foray against Richard's camp" 3. To try something out. "My foray into rugby ended with my spending a week in the hospital." This word derives from the Latin fuerre 'straw', which led into Old French as fourager 'forage,' or search for food. Think of soldiers stealing food from the enemy as maybe how this word first came to be used. Even if that is historically inaccurate, your foray into amateur word-sleuthing will help you remember this word.

filial

1.If you describe something as filial, you're saying it's offspring-related. Depending on who your parents are, your filial duties might include taking out the trash, or washing dishes, or ruling empires. The word filial comes from the Latin words filius, which means "son," and filia, or daughter. In other words, filial is the filius of filius. One way of remembering the word is to the think of a filly, a young horse. The two words aren't related, but it's fun to put them in the same sentence: "The filly's filial love made the mare a happy mom."

Extrude

1.If you force material through an opening to give it form or shape, you are extruding the material. You can use a pasta maker to extrude the pasta dough in various shapes — from spaghetti to linguine to macaroni. 2. thrust or force out. "lava was being extruded from the volcano" Extrude is from the Latin word extrudere, which itself can be broken into the roots ex-, meaning "out," and trudere, meaning "to thrust." In the noun form, the process is called extrusion. You can extrude all kinds of materials and products by forcing them through an opening, including cheese puffs, pasta, candy, plastic toys like the hula hoop, assorted pipes and hoses, and glass tubing.

forensic

1.The adjective forensic describes scientific methods used to investigate crimes. If you're looking for forensic evidence, you're using your scientific know-how to find proof that will help solve crimes. 2. It could also mean that it has to do with the courts or legal system. You could have a forensic advantage — meaning an advantage in court The adjective forensic comes from the Latin word forensis, meaning "in open court" or "public." When you describe something as forensic you usually mean that is has to do with finding evidence to solve a crime. It could also mean that it has to do with the courts or legal system. You could have a forensic advantage — meaning an advantage in court — if the forensic team — meaning the investigators — found no forensic evidence of you being involved.

fulcrum

1.The supporting point of a lever, the first fulcrum you met was probably on the playground — right underneath the see-saw. 2.However, people still use fulcrum to describe something that plays an essential role or serves as the center of an activity or situation, such as the "fulcrum of the debate." Back in the 17th century, a fulcrum referred to any general prop or support. Today it's taken on more scientific connotations, thanks to Physics class. However, people still use fulcrum to describe something that plays an essential role or serves as the center of an activity or situation, such as the "fulcrum of the debate." Or that mom who organized everybody's playdates? She was the "fulcrum of the playground social circle."

excoriate

1.When it comes to "telling someone off," excoriate is reserved for the most severe cases. So, before you excoriate your little sister for borrowing your favorite jacket without permission, consider whether she truly deserves such harsh treatment. 2. In a medical sense, excoriate means "to tear skin off by chafing." If you excoriate someone, you let that person know that you really, really disagree with them. This verb goes beyond mere criticism; it implies anger, a harsh and insulting tone, and even a scathing attack. Synonyms of excoriate include denounce, decry, and condemn. In a medical sense, excoriate means "to tear skin off by chafing." A bad rug burn can excoriate your skin. If someone excoriates you verbally, it might make you feel like you've been physically excoriated.

fresco

1.a mural done with watercolors on wet plaster Whether you've studied art history or not, you're probably familiar with the world's most famous fresco: Michelangelo's paintings on the walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. To paint a fresco, you must apply paint to still wet plaster, and you better get it right the first time. Too slow and the plaster hardens, and then you've got a lot of chipping away to do. Fresco comes from the Italian fresco, meaning "cool" or "fresh," which describes exactly the fast, unlabored technique required of fresco painting.

floe

1.a sheet of floating ice An ice floe is a large, free-floating, flat chunk of ice floating in the ocean. Beware: if you're at the North Pole, you could get stranded on an ice floe along with polar bears and other arctic creatures. A floe can vary in size from small to giant, but they differ from icebergs in their relative lack of depth. When you spot an iceberg, it's often just the tip of what's there, but with a floe, what you see is what you get. The floe edge is where the ice that is still attached to the land, having frozen over the winter months, meets the sea. When the floe edge fractures, the ice floe floats out to sea.

feint

1.a super sneaky move designed to fool someone. (as a mock attack).Not to be confused with faint, meaning "weak or feeble. Did you ever tell your parents you were going off to school, grabbed your book bag, and headed out the door... only to spend the rest of the day hanging out with your friends? Well, that was a feint, a super sneaky move designed to fool someone. Although military and political tactics are big on feints, their most common use is probably in sports — particularly boxing, where opponents are continually trying to fake each other out. As in Dundee's account of an Ali-Frazier match: "Ali feinted with a jab, and Frazier threw one of his own, missing." Not to be confused with faint, meaning "weak or feeble." However, a feint can be deliberately faint, as Ali knew and Frazier found out when the real right hook made contact.

figment

1.a thing that someone believes to be real but that exists only in their imagination. "it really was Ross and not a figment of her overheated imagination" When something is a figment of your imagination, it means that you made it up. It's something that might seem real, but is really not. What does a fig- (not the fruit fig) have to do with something made up inside your head? It has to do with Latin, as usual — both figment and fiction derive from the same Latin word. But it might help to think of figment as a fig leaf — a figment is something flimsy and easily blown away.

franchise

1.an authorization granted by a government or company to an individual or group enabling them to carry out specified commercial activities, for example acting as an agent for a company's products.SYN: Authorization, permit license "Toyota granted the group a franchise" 2. the right to vote in public elections. "the franchise was limited to Estonian citizens" 3.In other words, businesses from which you can buy a license in order to sell or use their products. e.g, the fast-food chain McDonalds is a franchise. More recently, the term has come to have an intellectual meaning as well, as in a particular series of books or films, such as the Harry Potter franchise.

fervent

1.characterized by intense emotion and enthusiasm/extremely hot Use fervent to describe a person or thing that shows very strong feelings or enthusiasm. If you have a fervent desire to become an actress, you'll stop at nothing to realize your dream. The adjective fervent and the noun fervor are often associated with the feelings aroused by patriotism, religion, or a belief that you support or oppose. A near synonym for the adjective is ardent. Fervent is from Middle English, from Old French, from the Latin verb fervēre "to boil, glow."

ford

1.ford describes crossing a body of water on foot at a shallow point or driving across it in a vehicle. When you're out hiking in the wilderness, you may have to ford a river if there's no bridge. Roll up your pant legs because you'll have to wade through the water at a shallow point. The verb ford describes crossing a body of water on foot at a shallow point or driving across it in a vehicle. The idea is that you're not using a bridge or a boat to cross the water. Ford also has a noun form, meaning a shallow point in a river or stream. So if you ever have to ford a river, make sure you cross at the ford — the shallow point — or you could get very wet.

fallow

1.left unplowed and unseeded during a growing season "fallow farmland" 2.Something that is fallow is left unused. If you're smart but lazy, someone might say you have a fallow mind. 3.undeveloped but potentially useful "a fallow gold market" We use the word to talk about any unused resource, it started as a work about land. Fallow comes from the old English word for plowing, and refers to the practice of leaving fields unplowed in rotation--when a field lies fallow, the soil regains nutrients that are sucked up by over-planting.

Felicitous

1.marked by good fortune. describes something that's happy or lucky. When you plan a trip to the amusement park and it turns out that the sun is shining, that's felicitous. 2.Felicitous describes something that's really pleasant. If someone behaves in a felicitous manner, she's being agreeable and appropriate. You know, the way you should behave when your great aunt offers you those stale candies. Felicitous also describes something that's happy or lucky. When you plan a trip to the amusement park and it turns out that the sun is shining, that's felicitous. If you need to mail a package by a certain date and you make it to the post office just in time, that's also felicitous. Felicitous can also describe something that's well chosen. Planning an outdoor wedding for the dead of winter would not be felicitous.

flit

1.move swiftly and lightly. "small birds flitted about in the branches" A flit is a quick movement. You might flit around a crowded party, greeting everyone briefly with some light-hearted chatter and moving on quickly. Whether it's used to describe something literal or figurative, flit refers to something fleeting and quick. Flit and fleet are both related to float. Something that floats keeps moving. A smile might flit across your face or a thought may flit into your mind. That means the smile or the thought is there for a second and then gone.

Fancy

1.not plain; decorative or ornamented "fancy handwriting 2.imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind/ 3.a predisposition to like something; have a fancy or particular liking or desire for "She fancied a necklace that she had seen in the jeweler's window" Fancy can be an adjective, noun, or a verb. As an adjective, it's the opposite of plain. The noun names something that isn't real. When someone likes or wants something, the verb can be used: "I fancy a cup of tea." Doesn't that sound fancy? Fancy is an old contraction of the word fantasy. You'll often see this word used in the phrase "flights of fancy." This phrase refers to an unrealistic goal or idea such as, "He has flights of fancy about running off to Hollywood and becoming a movie star." Fancy can also be used as an expression of affection. If you have a crush on someone, for instance, you could say that you "took a fancy" to him or her.

exult

1.show or feel triumphant elation or jubilation. "exulting in her escape, Lisa closed the door behind heSometimes you might feel so happy about something you could just burst. This is the time to exult, or rejoice, and you might show your great happiness by laughing, dancing, and shouting with pure joy. To exult means to express your joy in some visible way. Some people exult in a sedate manner, maybe just enjoying their happiness quietly within themselves. Others are more emotional, perhaps expressing their triumph in a loud or physical manner. When you break the word down into its Latin parts, the ex- means "out," and saltāre means "to leap." So exult means to leap with joy.

foil

1.something or someone that makes another's good or bad qualities more noticeable: You can serve as a foil to someone if you show them to be better than you by contrast. If you can't dance but your friend Lisa can, you can be a foil to Lisa's grace. 2.prevent (something considered wrong or undesirable) from succeeding. "a brave policewoman foiled the armed robbery" If you're having trouble remembering this definition, think about a shiny piece of tin foil. It reflects an image back to you, so if you're a foil to someone, their image is reflected off of you in a positive light. Your brother's mediocre grades might serve as a foil to your intelligence. As a verb, if you foil someone's plans or attempts to do something, you cause them to fail. Your brother will be really mad if you foil his plans to hide his mediocre report card from your parents.

episodic

1.something that happens time to time, not regular If you have an episodic interest in professional sports, you pay attention to sports from time to time, but you're not a regular fan. The adjective episodic is often used to mean "occasional" or "every once in a while." If you have a bad cough that comes and goes, you could call it an "episodic condition." When used in this way, episodic suggests that the cough appears at irregular, or random, intervals. Episodic can also describe the way certain stories are told. An "episodic narrative" is a story that is told through a series of episodes, or segments. A soap opera on television, for instance, is an episodic program.

Expostulation

1.the act of expressing earnest opposition or protest. Expostulation is an expression of protest, not a rant exactly, but often lengthy. If you have parents, you might be more familiar with the term "lecture," an expostulation on the why you should never do the things you actually want to do. If you've done any geometry proofs, you know that postulate means to put forward an assumption. Expostulate means to take that assumption away. For instance you might postulate that it's a good idea for you and your friends to drive to the beach in the middle of the night, but your parents might expostulate that it's not safe.

euphony

1.the quality of being pleasing to the ear. "the poet put euphony before mere factuality" Use euphony to describe music or poetry. To understand it, break it down: eu- means good; phon- means sound or voice. Of course, just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, euphony is in the ear of the listener — it's subjective. Kids and their parents rarely find euphony in the same song.

Eugenic

1.the study of methods of improving genetic qualities by selective breeding (especially as applied to human mating) Eugenics is the idea that you can engineer a better human population by breeding for certain genes. Since such a program would entail ranking human beings and the desirability of their genes, eugenics is widely considered unethical. The term eugenics was coined in 1883 by Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, and it comes from the Greek roots eu- "good" and genos "birth." Galton believed that the human race could be improved by encouraging people who have "good" genes to marry early and have lots of children, and discouraging people with "bad" genes from procreating at all. Nazi Germany provided a horrifying example of such a program at work, and eugenics is now seen as abhorrent.

Fray

1.wear away by rubbing "The friction frayed the sleeve" 2. a noisy fight Fray is all about friction--a frayed rope has been rubbed so much its fibers are wearing away. People experiencing friction--fighting loudly--are involved in a fray. If you have had a long day and feel like you're about to break down, you might say you are frayed. If students are arguing in class about whether nature or nurture is to blame for human problems, a teacher might stay out of the fray, letting the students reach their own conclusions.

frond

A compound leaf — that is, a leaf with many fine and deep divisions — is a frond, such as on ferns and palm trees. Although commonly referring to the leafy part of a fern or palm, the noun frond can also refer to anything that has a similar shape to a palm frond or fern frond. If your bedhead is really bad, people may joke about your combing your fronds. In parts of the United States and Canada, you may eat the fronds of fiddlehead ferns, which are cooked and served as a vegetable.

facet

A facet is one side or aspect of something. If you're thinking about quitting your day job to become a circus performer, you should first consider every facet of what your new life would be like. Facet, which is related to the word face, can also refer to one of the flat "faces" of a diamond or other gem. This was the word's original definition, and it was evidently seen as an apt metaphor for one side of a complex idea. When a problem has many parts to consider (or when it's just a huge mess), you can describe it as multifaceted.

faculty

A faculty refers to any of your mental or physical abilities. If you lose your faculties, you are powerless. The faculty of a school is comprised of the people who work there. Lose them, and you are pretty bad off as well. Faculty comes from the Old French word faculté, which means "skill, accomplishment, or learning." You may have great faculties of memory, sight, mobility, charm, math, and musicality, but, as Beethoven was in the end, be robbed of your faculty of hearing. Any aptitude or ability — inborn or learned — that you have is a faculty. Also, if you go to school, your teachers make up the faculty of that school.

fetter

A fetter is a shackle or chain that is attached to someone's ankles. To fetter someone is to restrict their movement, either literally or metaphorically. You might feel fettered by your parents' rules, even without the chains. A fetter is anything that secures and limits the movement of the feet and legs of a prisoner. To fetter, the verb, could be used literally: the prison wardens would fetter the chain gangs who built many of the railroads in the US., but it usually means something has been done to restrain someone's behavior: "we finally managed to fetter our sons' computer use with bribery."

fiasco

A fiasco is a disaster. It's not a natural disaster — like an earthquake or a volcano; a fiasco is usually the result of human failure. Fiasco comes from the Italian term that means "to make a bottle." How it came to describe an utter, embarrassing, disaster in the English language is still unknown. Today, you'll hear fiasco used in situations that have gone so horribly awry that they are almost laughable, like the Thanksgiving dinner fiasco in which the turkey burnt to a crisp, the dog ate all the side dishes, and everyone had to eat frozen pizza instead.

figurine

A figurine is a small carved or molded statue, especially one in the shape of a person. If you have an extensive collection of figurines, you need to keep them high up and safe so your kids don't break them. The word figurine is from the Italian word figurina, which itself is based on the Latin word figura, which means shape, body, or figure. You can buy all sorts of figurines. If you like movies, you can collect figurines that depict famous movie characters. You can also get figurines of comic book heroes. It's even common to have the figurine of a saint.

flick

A flick is a quick, short movement, usually coming from the wrist or hand. There used to be a "Flick a Bic" cigarette ad: cigarettes are awful, but starting a lighter is a classic flick. The most common flick is probably turning a switch on or off — people flick switches, like light switches. Flicking is also used when describing golfers and basketball players. A fast, sharp golf shot could be called a flick. A quick basketball shot — like tipping the ball in with one second left in the game — is also a flick. A flick can also be described as a quick jerk — not a jerk as in a bad person, but a tiny movement. If you're using your whole body or even your whole arm, you're not flicking.

fluke

A fluke is an unexpected stroke of good luck. It was a fluke to find that fifty dollar bill on the ground, and it made you smile for the rest of the day. The word fluke was first used in 1857 in reference to a lucky shot at billiards. If something good happens to you by chance when you're not expecting it, that's a fluke. The word fluke can also be used in a negative or insulting way. For example, if your favorite sports team loses an important game, you could complain that it was just a fluke that the other team won — meaning they didn't deserve to win and somehow got lucky.

flute

A flute is a thin woodwind instrument: you blow into it and put your fingers over the holes to make music. There are many types of instruments, such as percussion, brass, and woodwind. One of the most popular woodwind instruments is the flute, which is thin and makes high-pitched sounds. The flute looks like a type of thin tube or pipe with a hole on each end and holes on the body: your fingers go up and down over the holes and you blow into the flute to make music. A flute player is called a flautist.

frieze

A frieze is a decorative band, usually, but not always, above a doorframe or on the wall near the ceiling. You may find a frieze of sculptured angels too formal for the trim of your bedroom wall. You might not think of a frieze in the same category as a painting or a statue, but it can be a true work of art. One famous frieze is painted in a large circle on the inside of the United States Capitol building; it shows famous events in American history. Another is at the Parthenon, a temple from ancient Greece. Don't confuse frieze with the more common term freeze, though they are pronounced the same way.

extradition

A legal word, extradition means sending someone back to the country or state where they've been accused of a crime. Getting countries to agree on the terms of extradition can take years. It can be hard enough for lawyers in the U.S. to agree on a person's extradition from one state to another, so you can imagine how difficult it can be for officials from different countries. Extradition can have real consequences for the person being extradited. Suppose the laws there allow for the death penalty: a person accused of a capital crime would be smart to fight extradition to that place. The Latin prefix ex- means "from, out of," and trāditiōn- means "handing over," so extradition is the handing-over of someone from one jurisdiction to another.

fissure

A long fine crack in the surface of something is called a fissure. If you see a fissure in the ice on a frozen lake, you'll want to take off your skates and head back to the car. Fissure has its roots in the Latin word fissura, meaning a cleft or crack. If something breaks into fine cracks, you can describe the action with the verb form of fissure. For example, "She watched in horror as the earth fissured beneath her feet, recognizing the signs of an earthquake but powerless to do anything to save herself except throw herself to the ground and hang on."

fructify

A newly planted apple tree can take years to fructify, but when it does there will be plenty of apples to go around. To fructify is to "produce fruit," or "become fruitful." Fructify means "to bear fruit," as in "Soon the orange grove will fructify and we will harvest the oranges." Fructify can also refer to a seed that grows or fructifies into a healthy plant. More generally, though, the verb fructify means either "to make productive" or "to become productive." Investing money can fructify medical research, which will in turn fructify with new cures and treatments. You could say that a company will fructify, or become fruitful, if everyone works together.

eon

An eon is a really, really, super-long, impossible-to-measure length of time. If you sit down to dinner hanging your head and moaning that it's been an eon since you ate anything, you're exaggerating. Four hours ago is not an eon. Eon goes back to the Greek aiōn, "age." An age is not easy to measure, and neither is an eon. Both are just really long periods of time, but in science an eon is about a billion years. You can use the noun eon for anything that takes a long while, including how long it will be before another planet collides with Earth or how many days until summer vacation starts — one is an eon, the other feels like an eon, or forever.

eddy

An eddy is a whirlpool — what you stare at as a kid when the water is draining out of the bathtub. Pronounced exactly like the name, "Eddie," this word means to swirl in a direction opposite of the current. Any substance like water, fog, smoke, or air can create an eddy, but it is most commonly seen as a term related to water. Books from the "flapper" era of the 1920s often include a description of a nightclub with "an eddy of cigarette smoke above a woman's head."

effusion

An effusion is an explosion of something, usually words, ideas, or emotions. Judy Garland regularly inspired an effusion of cheers from her enraptured audiences. The ovations were "effusive." Mozart is known for the effusion of notes he could produce at a moment's notice—and all without erasing. A heated argument can produce an effusion of words from both sides. The volcano's eruption was an effusion of smoke and fire. The verb form of the word is "effuse": After the high-school musical, your mother effused about your singing. Her comments were an effusion of praise. Your father, on the other hand, was less effusive—but he did like the dancing.

enclave

An enclave is a separate space or group within a larger one. Imagine an enclave as a cave carved out of a big mountain. All of the bears live in the cave or enclave, while the people live on the mountainside. Groups of like people often form an enclave within a country or region. There is probably an enclave of Africans, Cubans, Russians, or other ethnic group in or near your hometown. It isn't usually enclosed, but it's a place where people of the same background gather and live together, such as a Chinatown or a Little Budapest. An enclave of a country may have boundaries, making it clear that it's a distinct part — and sometimes under separate government — from the larger territory it's within.

epaulet

An epaulet is a decoration that is attached to the shoulders of a uniform. If you are a guard at Buckingham Palace, you have pretty nice epaulets on your uniform, but they aren't as amazing as that hat. The noun epaulet comes from the Late Latin meaning of spatula, "shoulder blade." Any fancy extras attached on the exterior shoulders of a garment can be called an epaulet. Epaulets often have gold braided embroidery. Or stars. Some have fringe. The epaulets on the uniforms of airline pilots have four rows of braids, which distinguishes them as a higher rank than co-pilots, who wear three braids.

Epigram

An epigram is a little poem or clever statement, but an epigraph is a specific kind of epigram: a witty statement that's inscribed somewhere, such as on a building or at the beginning of a chapter or book. Epigram comes from the Latin word epigramma, which means "an inscription." If you've ever seen an inscription on, say, the back of a watch, you know the writing has to be brief. It won't surprise you, then, that epigrams are very short poems, sayings, or famous quotations, like Benjamin Franklin's "Little strokes fell great oaks," a memorable reminder to keep working toward big goals or to pay attention to little details, the opposite of an epigram from our era: "Don't sweat the small stuff."

epigram

An epigram is a short, clever remark. One of Oscar Wilde's many memorable epigrams is "I can resist everything but temptation.

ethnic

An ethnic group encompasses a group of people with a unique culture. People from Bosnia form an ethnic group called Bosnians, and they share common cultural traditions, which often focus on hospitality and family. The word ethnic comes from the Greek ethnos, "nation," "people." Groups of people from specific areas who share the same or similar customs are ethnic groups. People who resettle in other countries often bring their distinctive traditions with them, including language, food, lifestyle, and music. There are ethnic restaurants, shops, and neighborhoods around the world, including Indian buffets, Italian shoe makers, and Greek Towns and China Towns.

expatriate

An expatriate is someone who lives in another country by choice. If you leave your split-level ranch in Ohio and move to a writers' commune in Paris for good, you've become an expatriate. Expatriate can also be a verb, so that American in Paris has expatriated. There was a scene of expatriates, or expats, living in Paris in the roaring '20s that included writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. The word used to mean to get kicked out of your native country — it's from the French word expatrier which means "banish." The prefix ex means "out of" and the Latin patria "one's native country," but the word took a turn and now refers to people who left without getting shoved out.

expletive

An expletive is a swear word, a curse you let out when you are startled or mad. You probably already know a lot of expletives, but you don't need to see them here, no way in heck. An expletive is a vulgar word that will greatly upset your grandmother if you say it in her presence. An expletive usually sneaks out because you get surprised or angry, like if you stub your toe, you might yell out an expletive. Even though you did it by accident, one of your parents still might put a bar of soap in your mouth, so watch your words. In a pinch, try these substitutes: fudge, sugar, heck, and walrus.

fruition

An idea that is made real, such as a plan or an apple, has come to fruition. Fruition is a happy word: it's derived from the Latin, frui, meaning "to enjoy." We like it when our hard work pays off and ideas come to fruition, like Sally, who was thrilled when her plan to get into law school came to fruition. When the kids' idea to start a wild tricycle gang came to fruition, they sped off joyfully. It refers to the state of bearing fruit, too, like when apples in the orchard come to fruition. The trees are probably happy then, too.

filigree

Ancient handmade jewelry is often known for its filigree, which is a noun describing delicate ornamental work made of some type of metal. Filigree comes from the Latin word for thread. Usually the strands of silver, gold, or wire used for this type of ornamentation is so fine, it appears almost like thin threads wound together. It wouldn't be a bad find to stumble on a chest full of gold filigree-framed items in your grandmother's attic, especially if she wanted you to keep them! The word can also be used as a verb to describe the act of making filigree.

explicit

Anything explicit is very clear, whether it's instructions or a dirty movie. Thanks to parental-advisory warnings about "explicit language" or "explicit violence," you might think this word only applies to things that are dirty, naughty, or adult in some way. That is a common meaning of explicit, but it's not the only meaning. This also means anything that is clear and easy to understand. Explicit orders are easy to carry out; explicit instructions are easy to follow. When someone is explicit, they're not beating around the bush or being confusing.

fallible

As humans we are all fallible, because fallible means likely to make errors or fail. Nobody's perfect, after all. Fall down on the job and you're fallible. It's a forgiving way to say you screwed up. If a scientific experiment's data is fallible, that means you can't trust the numbers. More than just locking your keys in the car, fallible can allude to a lack of moral strength. If in addition to locking your keys in the car, you kissed your best friend's husband, you might try using "I'm fallible" as your defense.

ewe

At last, a word that only means one thing: a female sheep. A ewe is a sheep that is female. That is what a ewe is. Most people have precious few opportunities to use the word ewe. For most of us, it's most valuable as a three-letter word for crossword puzzles. For example: 1-down: a three-letter word meaning female sheep. Answer? Ewe! Also, if you're an avid Scrabble player, ewe is a good word to keep up your sleeve. That "W" can rake in some serious points if you put it on a triple-word space. Finally, punster's will enjoy using ewe in a sentence like "you and I will go see the ewe and him" — which has the two of us going to see some guy and his female sheep.

Eerie

Eerie means spooky, creepy or suggestively supernatural. If it's eerie, it's sure to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Back in the 1300s when eerie first came on the scene, it meant "fearful or timid." It took a good 500 years or so before it morphed into the adjective we know today, which now means "causing fear because of strangeness." And the strangeness is key: Something that's eerie isn't just scary. It's mysterious, ghostly, and gives you the creeps. Like dark old castles, misty graveyards and creaky sounds in the middle of the night.

Effluvium

Effluvium is a smelly gas, vapor, or an exhalation. You wouldn't want to breathe in the effluvium from a cargo ship or you might become ill. Stick to sailing. Not a particularly common word these days, effluvium dates back to the 1600's, meaning "a flowing out of air." Since the effluvium seeping out of the tire factory's chimney was invisible, park officials took months to realize fumes were killing hundreds of birds. The Romans were the first to invent a sewage system, thereby diverting effluvium into the drains and out of the city. Thank you, Romans.

Evenhanded

Evenhanded means fair to all sides. If your essay is evenhanded, it should look at both sides of an argument, without showing preference for one side or the other. When you talk about two opposing ideas, you often invoke the idea of hands. "On the one hand," you begin, discussing the first idea, and then move on to discuss its opposite, starting in with, "On the other hand." Evenhanded means treating both "hands" evenly. Of course, you're not really talking about hands — you're talking about sides of an arguments, or siblings splitting a cookie.

Exertion

Exertion is effort. Exercise requires physical exertion. Listening to great jazz requires mental exertion. What kind of exertion does jazzercise require? Perhaps too much. Ex- means out. Exertion means energy is coming out—so much so that when you're done, you may feel exhausted. The opposite of ex- is in-, as in inertia—something you need exertion to overcome.

Extemporaneous

Extemporaneous means spoken without preparation. The orator's performance was impressive, but only after we learn that his speech was extemporaneous did we realize the true depth of his talent. Some politicians are so skilled that even their prepared remarks have an extemporaneous quality. As opposed to policy debates where teams know the resolution in advance, extemporaneous debate is judged on style and nimble argumentation, as the participants receive the resolution minutes before debating begins.

Extrinsic

Extrinsic means not connected to the essential nature of something. New cleats are extrinsic to making the soccer team. How you play is what gets you on the team, whether your cleats are old or new. If the ex in extrinsic makes you think of external or extra you're on the right track--all these ex words are talking about something that is outside, or above and beyond. You often hear extrinsic paired with its opposite, intrinsic, which means part of something or someone's essential nature. If being sweet-tempered is intrinsic to your personality, you might not even know how to get mad.

Falter

Falter means to hesitate, stumble, or waver, and everything from faith to voices can do it. So if you want to keep your bride or groom happy, it's best not to falter when it's your turn to say "I do." Experts may falter if you ask them where falter came from, because the origins are pretty unclear. But everyone agrees on the current meaning: someone who falters is unsteady, wobbly, or unsure. You might falter while reciting a poem if you forget some of the lines, or falter crossing a rickety rope bridge when fear gets the most of you. But you certainly won't falter when someone asks you the meaning of this word.

Fatuous

Fatuous means lacking intelligence. When your mother outlaws calling your brother stupid, use fatuous instead. Fatuous derives from the Latin fatuus meaning "foolish." It sounds like it should have something to do with being fat, but it actually has no relation to size. Fatuus itself comes from a root that also gave us "debate" and this might be a good way to remember it. You want to debate someone who's fatuous, because they are unintelligent, silly and even a bit conceited, so they probably won't be very persuasive debaters. Just don't call them fatuous to their face. Even if they don't know what it means, it's just not nice!

Felicity

Felicity is a state of happiness or the quality of joy. Sitting on the roof with a telescope and iced tea on a clear, starry night is one way to find perfect felicity — a happy place. Felicity comes from the Latin fēlīcitās, meaning "happiness." A synonym for felicity is "blissfulness." People, places, and things can have felicity: "His personality was so warm and full of felicity that we felt at ease the minute we met him." Or you can be in a state of felicity: "A full stomach, a fluffy couch, and the felicity of a Sunday-afternoon nap."

Fictitious

Fictitious means made up, or imaginary. No matter how real Scarlett O'Hara might seem in "Gone With the Wind," she's a fictitious character invented by author Margaret Mitchell. When you look at the word fictitious, you'll probably notice that it bears a striking resemblance to fiction — which is an imaginary story about people and events that are made up for the purpose of entertaining readers. Fictitious can also be used to mean "trick or deceive." A thief assumes a fictitious name to hide his real identity and evade capture.

Flamboyant

Flamboyant means elaborate and ostentatious. When you think of flamboyant, think of Las Vegas showgirls: feathers, sequins, three-inch heels, enough make-up to disguise any irregularity. Flamboyant means showy, and though we often roll our eyes at it, it's not a hateful thing. Liberace was flamboyant. So was Elvis. The word comes from the French flamboyer, to flame. Think of passion and pageantry all rolled into one, and you'll have a good idea what flamboyant should mean at its best. If that doesn't do it for you, think of a man playing a shiny white grand piano at a rock concert, wearing a white satin jump suit and 8-foot wide, fully-feathered wings. See? Flamboyant.

Flaunt

Flaunt is "to display proudly or show off," like when you flaunt your new Italian leather jacket by wearing it to the beach and pretending you're cold to make sure everyone sees it. Although we love it when a peacock flaunts his colorful feathers, when a person does the same thing we feel bad. Flaunt is like bragging, which can bum people out because they don't have whatever you're showing off, like that cool jacket. When rich people flaunt their wealth by speeding past you in their limo, they may as well splash a mud puddle on your white clothes. Leave the flaunting for peacocks and stars in bad reality TV shows.

Flotsam

Flotsam is the floating wreckage of a ship. You'll often hear it used with jetsam which is floating objects that have been thrown from a ship, usually to lighten it before it sinks. You can keep flotsam and jetsam straight by remembering that flotsam looks like the word, float, and jetsam looks like jettison which means to cast off. Usually it doesn't matter though as flotsam and jetsam are used together as an expression, mostly figuratively to mean to mean things or people who are unwanted or discarded. What about the things that are cast from a ship but sink to the ocean floor instead of floating? That's called lagan.

Forte

Forte means an area in which you are strong or good. Having two left feet and no sense of rhythm, dancing would not be considered your forte. Better to impress people with card tricks, if that's your area of expertise, or your forte. Your forte is what you would focus on if you decided to enter a talent show. The word forte actually comes from the similar-sounding Latin word fortis, which means "strong." Romans (and countless groups since) called the big, barricaded structures they built "forts" because they were supposed to stay strong and keep out the hordes of invading barbarians. In music, playing forte means playing loud.

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."

Fraught

Fraught means filled with something — often something bad. Your Thanksgiving was fraught with awkward moments when your family saw your blue hair, and it only got worse when you told them you'd quit law school to join the circus. Fraught is related to the word freight, and comes from the Middle English fraughten, meaning "to load with cargo." Think of a cargo ship loaded up with freight for a journey — it's full of supplies, just like Thanksgiving was filled with — or fraught with — awkward moments. Fraught can also describe a situation filled with distress. If relations between two countries are fraught, they are not getting along with each other.

Frolicsome

Frolicsome is having a merry time of it. Picture frolicsome girls and boys playing tag, running through the meadow, laughing and rolling in the grass. Feeling gleeful and energetic as you ice skate with your friends? So spin like an Olympic skater who's going for the gold, suddenly start a race, or act like a clown, pretending to fall on the ice. You are feeling frolicsome — happy and lighthearted, laughing along with the people you are amusing. When you are frolicsome, you frolic, or act playfully to have fun.

eclipse

Have you ever seen an eclipse? That's when the sun, earth or moon cross paths and cover each other up temporarily.Syn; to block. obscure A solar eclipse happens when the moon blocks our view of the sun for a bit. A lunar eclipse happens when the moon is on one side of the earth and the sun directly opposite, so the moon disappears. A TV eclipse, perhaps the most serious of all, is when your dad walks in at the most crucial part of the movie and blocks your view of the TV while he lectures about taking out the trash.

exiguous

If I had more than an exiguous amount of space here, I'd be able to tell you more about the fact that exiguous means a tiny amount. Exiguous is one of those words that comes in handy when you're really trying to draw attention to the fact that there's very little of something. Otherwise you could just say "tiny," "small," "niggling," or even "scanty." Without more than the exiguous scraps of information currently available, there's simply no way to know who left the offending pile in the hallway, let alone when. If you expect more than just exiguous payment in return, you're going to have to do more than an exiguous amount of work.

efface

If something is erased or rubbed out, it has been effaced. Teachers get annoyed to find that someone has effaced the blackboard — even the part clearly marked, "Do Not Erase!" You can also efface things that are not physical — like effacing feelings, impressions, or memories. When you efface a memory, you wipe it out as well. Some people believe that their good deeds are able to efface their past wrongs. They'll have to rely on others' opinions to see how well that works.

exceptionable

If something is exceptionable, someone is bound to find something wrong with it. Be careful not to confuse exceptionable with exceptional, which means something remarkable and particularly unusual, or with unexceptionable, which means the exact opposite of exceptionable — something quite ordinary and hardly to be noticed. "Puppies are cute" is about as unexceptionable a sentence as you are likely to find. Unless you're a puppy hater, of course.

feasible

If something is feasible, then you can do it without too much difficulty. When someone asks "Is it feasible?" the person is asking if you'll be able to get something done. Feasible things are possible. If you have enough time, money, or energy to do something, it's feasible. Something might be feasible at one time and then not feasible at another time. Because of technological advances and competition with the Russians, going to the moon was feasible for the United States in the sixties. Often, people disagree about what's feasible, especially in politics, where how feasible a project is counts for a lot.

flaccid

If something is limp, loose, droopy, and wrinkly, you can call it flaccid, which rhymes with "acid." Think elephant skin, soggy asparagus, and the type of feeble handshakes frowned on in job interviews. We get the word flaccid from the Latin flaccus, which meant "flabby." The meaning is pretty much the same today, though it applies to more than physical flab. Flaccid pops up in conversation to describe lackluster leadership, dull conversation, and even feeble attempts at word definitions. If a politician's election campaign is flaccid, it will surprise no one that he only receives two votes — one from his grandmother and the other from someone who accidentally checked the wrong box on the ballot.

Extricate

If you need to be untangled, set free or otherwise released from something or someone, you need to be extricated. Extricate is a mixture of the prefix ex, which means "out" or "out of," and the Latin word tricae, which means "hindrances." So to extricate is to get out of what's hindering you. But it's not always so simple. You just try and extricate yourself from the loving death grip of a grandma who hasn't seen you in awhile!

fractious

If you're prone to picking fights, making snarky comments, and being frustratingly stubborn, you're fractious. And odds are you're not invited to too many parties. Someone who is fractious is cranky, rebellious and inclined to cause problems. Tempers and children are commonly described as such. In To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses the word to describe the trouble-making Calpurnia: "She had always been too hard on me, she had at last seen the error of her fractious ways, she was sorry and too stubborn to say so."

Ecstasy

If you've ever been so happy that the rest of the world seemed to disappear, you've felt ecstasy — a feeling or state of intensely beautiful bliss. Ecstasy will make you want to write poetry. It happened to John Donne, whose poem "The Ecstasy" is about the feeling of the whole world vanishing when he looks into his lover's eyes. Sometimes artists see an epic landscapes that caused such ecstasy that they had to turn it into a painting. Ecstasy can mean a feeling or it can also be a state of being, so you might say, "I'm in ecstasy because this pumpkin pie tastes so delicious!"

Fracas

If your marching band gets into a fight with another school's pep squad, your principal might say the fracas was uncalled for and undignified. A fracas is a noisy quarrel. Fracas comes from an Italian word meaning uproar or crash. Two people in a quiet little spat is not a fracas, but a schoolyard rumble definitely qualifies as one! Sometimes fracas means the large amount of outraged discussion that an event causes. Imagine the fracas if your school decided to ban sneakers!

Edict

If your mom orders you to clean your room, that's an order. If the king asks you to do it, that's an edict — an official order from some higher up. Edict comes from the Latin editcum, meaning a "proclamation, or ordinance." Although it was originally used to describe a declaration or command from a king or other governing official, in more recent years it has come to be used almost sarcastically to describe any order. When your teacher says the report is due Monday morning, no exceptions, you know you'll be hitting the books this weekend — this is an edict you cannot ignore.

expiate

In the fairy tale, the baker must expiate his father's sins by bringing the witch three ingredients for a magic potion: a cow, a cape and a slipper. Expiate means to make amends or atone for a wrong you or someone else has committed. After the incident on the hill, a mortified Jill expiated her guilt by buying Jack a brand new crown. The shiny new crown served as compensation, or expiation, for the broken one. That it cost her so dearly made the expiatory gesture especially meaningful to poor Jack.

forestall

It takes a bit of planning to forestall something, meaning stop it from happening. To forestall the effects of aging, exercise and take care of your health all your life. You can break the word forestall into parts to figure out its meaning. The prefix fore is one you've seen in words like forewarn, which means "to warn in advance." And you probably know that stall means "delay." So to forestall is to stall in advance, or put another way, to try to prevent or put off something you don't want to happen

espionage

It's no secret: espionage is the act of organized spying, usually with the goal of uncovering sensitive military or political information. If the government has relocated you to a foreign country, made you change your name, given you a fake mustache to wear, and instructed you to hide in a closet at the presidential palace and report back weekly on what you overhear, then you are engaging in espionage. This noun is similar to snooping, but generally applies to much more serious situations, like when countries or businesses spy on each other to try to obtain top secret information.

entice

Let's say your friend wants to go to the movies and you don't want to. Your friend might try to entice you by offering to buy you popcorn and a soda. Entice means to persuade with promises of something. The word entice means to lure or tempt someone by promising them something that they like. It is a little manipulative but in a fairly straightforward way. You always know it when someone is enticing you. If a company really wants to hire you, they will entice you with a good salary and generous benefits. The promise of a gold star is often enough to entice small children to get good grades. Let's say your friend wants to go to the movies and you don't want to. Your friend might try to entice you by offering to buy you popcorn and a soda. Entice means to persuade with promises of something. The word entice means to lure or tempt someone by promising them something that they like. It is a little manipulative but in a fairly straightforward way. You always know it when someone is enticing you. If a company really wants to hire you, they will entice you with a good salary and generous benefits. The promise of a gold star is often enough to entice small children to get good grades.

Frigid

Like the North Pole on the coldest day of winter, frigid is an adjective that means extremely chilly. It applies to both temperatures and personalities. Frigid comes to us from the Latin frigidus, meaning "cold, chill, cool" or "indifferent." That explains why it's used to describe both arctic weather and someone's particularly unfriendly demeanor. So the inside of your ice box is certainly frigid, but so is a stern boss who refuses to smile or say hi when you hop in the same elevator. His glare is so emotionally frosty that it freezes you in your tracks.

flay

Nasty word, flay. It means to peel or beat the skin of a person or animal, and not necessarily a dead one, either. Nowadays it more commonly means to criticize harshly someone or something, usually in public, leaving them raw and wounded. To be flayed alive was a common punishment in ancient times for political enemies or traitors. The ancient Assyrians and the Chinese were particularly good at it. Today, if you want to have your skin — metaphorically — peeled in public, you go on reality TV. It can be equally nasty.

etymology

Since you're reading this, then you probably have some interest in etymology, because it's the study of the history and derivations of words. What genealogy is to a family, etymology is to words. A genealogist studies the history of a family. A person who studies etymology does the same thing with words. Etymology looks at the roots of words — for example, whether they started out as Latin, Greek, or as some other language — and how they took on their current meaning. When you learn that the -logy part of etymology almost always means "the study of," that is, in itself, etymology.

emaciated

Someone who is dangerously skinny and skeletal-looking can be described as emaciated. It's probably how you'd start to look after a few weeks in the wilderness with only berries and bugs for dinner. The adjective emaciated evolved from the Latin emaciatus, meaning to "make lean, waste away." An emaciated person or animal isn't just thin. They're bony, gaunt, and most likely undernourished, often from illness. So if an emaciated stray cat shows up on your doorstep, give it a bowl of milk and maybe pay a visit to the vet.

facetious

Someone who is facetious is only joking: "I was being facetious when I told my mother I want Brussels sprouts with every meal, but she took me seriously!" Facetious is a useful word to describe something that's humorous, or meant to be humorous. If a joke falls flat, then you can back off from it by saying you're only being facetious. There are limits to this use of the word: if you stage an elaborate prank on your friend, making him run out into the street in his underwear because he thinks his house is on fire, calling the joke facetious will probably earn you a punch in the face.

Egoism

Someone who is full of himself and doesn't give a darn about other people has a healthy supply of egoism. Egoism means "me me me me me-ism."Some people think that being selfish is the best thing to do for the world as a whole. In other words, if everyone is selfish, everyone will be better off. So egoism can be considered positive or negative — it all depends how someone uses the word. This makes egoism different from egotism — an always yucky type of selfishness. Egoism has a lot to do with selfishness, which sounds like a bad thing, right? Not necessarily. Some people think that being selfish is the best thing to do for the world as a whole. In other words, if everyone is selfish, everyone will be better off. So egoism can be considered positive or negative — it all depends how someone uses the word. This makes egoism different from egotism — an always yucky type of selfishness.

flagrant

Something flagrant is bad — so bad you can't ignore it. A flagrant foul in sports might send you to the bench, and a flagrant violation of the law might send you to the slammer. The current meaning of the adjective flagrant — "obviously offensive or disgraceful" — is thought to derive from the Latin legal term in flagrante delicto, which literally meant "with fire still blazing" and is used figuratively to describe a situation in which the criminal is caught red handed. Aside from a flagrant abuse of the law, the word can also be used to describe anything that is obviously bad — like flagrant bad taste or flagrant abuse of the rules of grammar.

ensue

Synonyms: result If something happens after something else, it will ensue, meaning it will follow after or be the result. When a sneeze comes out, and he hears the "Achoo!," a "Bless you" or "Gesundheit" soon will ensue. One way to remember the verb ensue is to rhyme it with "due." A happening that is due to happen will ensue, "Throwing a glass of ice water in his face guaranteed that a chase would ensue." Often what follows is a response to words or actions, so what will ensue is what will happen as a consequence. A struggle might ensue if a thief grabs a purse, and a discussion might ensue if two sides disagree.

enigma

Take the noun, enigma, for something that is a puzzle or a mystery. Why do you have to learn difficult words like this? That is an enigma. Traveling to English from the Greek through the Latin words for "riddle," enigma refers to something or someone that is mysterious, puzzling or difficult to figure out. As a funny-sounding word with an interesting meaning, many things have been named enigma such as a rock band, a video game, a rollercoaster ride, and a very famous coding machine used in World War II.

felon

Technically, a felon is anyone who's been convicted of a serious crime, but you can use felon to describe anyone you think has done something terrible. For a felon, it's being paraded in handcuffs in front of the public that can be the worst part of being convicted. In some countries, you're considered a felon simply because the king says that you are. Here in the U.S., though, you're innocent until proven guilty, at which point people can call you a felon. My boyfriend took the dog, the TV, and my expensive French sauté pan after we broke up. If you ever run into the felon, please kick him in the shins, and tell him he's a criminal.

elysian

The adjective elysian describes a blissful state, like the one most people hope to enjoy on a Hawaiian vacation. The word elysian comes from the idyllic Greek mythological place called Elysian Fields. While it might seem at first like a place a tourist might want to see, don't try to book airline tickets! Although the term is now often equated with a paradise, the Greek Elysian Fields were a heavenly resting place to go in the afterlife. The concept was probably originally conceived to encourage valor in soldiers during battle. Nowadays, people tend to use elysian to describe any heavenly scene — even a golf resort or a spa.

estranged

The adjective estranged suggests a loss of affection, a turning away from someone. When a couple separates, we often refer to them as estranged — or no longer together. The word estranged is an unfriendly word with a negative connotation. The word strange within it seems to suggest an alienation of affection, and that a loving relationship has not only soured, but turned distant and even somewhat hostile. While the word is usually used to describe a human relationship, it can also refer to a political situation where nations that were once allies develop conflicts and become estranged.

expedient

The adjective expedient describes something that provides an easy way to achieve a goal or result, but it's not necessarily a moral solution. Politically expedient means something you do to advance yourself politically. Use expedient when you want to hint that a particular solution or strategy has certain benefits and advantages but is not completely fair. However, expedient can also be used to describe something practical for a particular purpose.

frenetic

The adjective frenetic is another way to say frenzied, frantic, or totally worked up. Kind of how you'd run around the kitchen madly trying to cook a last-minute dinner for 30 of your closest friends. Sometimes tinged with fear and often quite maniacal, frenetic comes from the Latin phreneticus, meaning "delirious." The Latin word, in turn, came from a similarly spelled Greek word which, when translated literally, means "inflammation of the brain." So it's no surprise that a frenetic person looks absolutely crazed and super anxious.

frenzied

The adjective frenzied describes something wild, excited, or rushed. You may have a frenzied morning when you've overslept and need to get lunches made, the dog walked, and the kids off to school within the next fifteen minutes. Run! Frenzied is from the word frenzy, which itself is from the Latin word phreneticus, meaning "delirious." Words related to frenzied include frantic and frenetic, but frenzied isn't necessarily bad. If you're a rock star, you may enjoy a frenzied crowd at your concerts, and you feed off the energy and adoration you get from them. If it's your first time on stage, however, that same frenzied crowd may send you into a panic.

epilogue

The epilogue is a short piece that wraps up the end of a story. a short speech (often in verse) addressed directly to the audience by an actor at the end of a play If you like to read the end of a book first, then maybe the epilogue is for you. The epilogue is a short piece that wraps up the end of a story. The noun epilogue can also refer to the short speech at the end of a play that one of the characters speaks directly to the audience. In Shakespeare's play The Tempest, the epilogue is a 20-line monologue spoken by Prospero. Epilogue comes from the Greek word epilogus meaning the conclusion of a speech.

equinox

The equinox is one of the two times in a year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, and day and night are of equal length. "During the spring equinox you can balance eggs on end, because of the equal balance between night and day." There are two equinoxes every year, one in the spring (the vernal equinox) and one in the fall (the autumnal equinox), each usually on the first day of spring and the first day of fall. These days are often celebrated and even worshipped in some traditions, although an equinox is actually a point in time — not an entire day.

founder

The person who creates an organization or a company is known as the founder. Founder is also a verb meaning "fail miserably," which is something a company's founder hopes the company will never do. As a noun, founder means "the beginner or originator of something." You might talk about the founder of a nation, the founder of club, or the founder of a website. As a verb, founder can mean "stumble," like when you trip and fall, but more generally it means "collapse or fall apart." A sports team might founder by slumping on a ten-game losing streak; a ship that sinks in a bad storm can be said to have foundered at sea.

dumbfound

The verb dumbfound means to puzzle, mystify, or amaze. If people never expected you to amount to much in high school, but you grew up to be a rocket scientist, you will surely dumbfound your former classmates at your next reunion. The word dumbfound is a combination of the words dumb and confound. Dumb, in the original sense, means unable to speak. Confound is from the Latin word confundere, which means to mix together as well as to confuse. Thus the blended word dumbfound has the sense of to confuse to the point of speechlessness. If you see a solar eclipse for the first time, it might dumbfound you.

evince

The verb evince means to show or express clearly; to make plain. Evidence can evince the innocence of the accused, and tears can evince the grief of the 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.

expatiate

The verb expatiate means "to add details to in order to clear up." If your story is confusing to everyone who hears it, certain key parts must be missing. Better expatiate so that people can understand it. To pronounce expatiate correctly, accent the second syllable: "ex-PAY-she-ate." When you expatiate on a piece of writing, you add details. The goal is to make your ideas clearer to readers, perhaps by offering an example to help them understand. Teachers can tell when you are expatiating and when you are just adding to what you've written, say, to reach a certain length requirement. That's usually called "padding.

exigency

Think of a mix of excitement and emergency, and you have exigency, a sudden, urgent crisis. The very word conjures up danger and intrigue that demand a cool head and an immediate effort at a solution. The meaning of exigency is obvious from its source, the Latin noun exigentia, which means "urgency" and comes from the verb exigere, meaning "to demand or require." An emergency situation, or exigency, is urgent and demands immediate action. Our lives are filled with exigencies, both large and small, from a child stuck in a tree to lightning striking your house to catastrophic river flooding. Each is an exigency — it's all a matter of perspective.

enjoin

To enjoin is to issue an urgent and official order. If the government tells loggers to stop cutting down trees, they are enjoining the loggers to stop. Enjoin looks like it should mean bring together, and at one time, it did have that meaning. But in current usage, the only thing enjoin brings together is a command and the person on the receiving end of that order. If your doctor enjoins you to stop smoking, he is suggesting strongly that you quit.

entreat

To entreat is to ask for something that is really important, like when you entreat the jury to spare your life. The verb entreat implies that the person doing the entreating is really serious about what has to happen. Maybe it's even a matter of life and death, like when parents entreat their children to never drive drunk. Synonyms for entreat are plead, beg, beseech, and implore — all of these are words not to be used lightly. They carry more weight than ask and request.

exculpate

To exculpate means to find someone not guilty of criminal charges. If you've been wrongly accused of robbery, you'd better hope a judge will exculpate you, unless you want to go to jail because you've heard prison food is amazing. Exculpate comes from two Latin words: ex-, meaning "from," and culpa, meaning "blame." Exculpate is similar in meaning to exonerate. When you exonerate someone, you clear a person of an accusation and any suspicion that goes along with it. Exculpate usually refers more directly to clearing the charges against someone. So if that judge exculpates you from the robbery charge, everyone in town might still think you did it. Get him to exculpate and exonerate you.

exonerate

To exonerate someone is to declare him not guilty of criminal charges. This word is pretty much only used in reference to proceedings in a court of law. A word with a similar meaning that might be familiar is "acquit." When your next door neighbor was arrested for painting smiley faces on the front doors of all the houses on your block, evidence to exonerate him was discovered when the police found a young hooligan from the next street over with a basement full of paint canisters. The verb comes from the Latin exonerat-, meaning "freed from burden." A criminal charge is certainly a burden, and when you're exonerated, you're freed from that burden.

exorcist

To exorcise is to cast out a devil or evil spirit, using prayer and other religious tools. You're probably familiar with the name of the person who does this: an exorcist. Don't try to exorcise a demon yourself. Call an exorcist. One way to remember the word exorcise is that it sounds like "exercise," which means to work out or train your body or mind. Casting out devils it hard work, so be sure to exercise before you exorcise. A boxer doesn't box without exercising first. And an exorcist doesn't exorcise without getting ready first either. The devil is a tough opponent, so you'd better get warmed up before you try to exorcise him from that little girl.

expedite

To expedite something is to make it go faster or speed up the process. Expediting that package might get it to Alaska by tomorrow, instead of next Tuesday. If someone says, "Let me expedite the process," that's probably a good thing: they're offering to speed things up. If you've ever waited in line a long time, then you must have wished someone could expedite things. A driver can expedite his commute by going in the faster car-pool lane. Whenever there's a lot of paperwork for something, it's nice to know someone who can expedite the process. When you see the word expedite, think "Make faster!"

explicate

To explicate is to explain or interpret something, maybe putting it in plain terms to make it more comprehensible for others. It might help to remember that it begins with "ex-," like the word explain, which is similar in meaning. The verb explicate comes from the Latin explicāre, which means "to unfold or unravel." This is a good description of a word that means to explain something to make it clearer and more easily understandable. Think of a puzzle or mystery: when you solve it, you sometimes have to explicate how you arrived at the solution, telling how you used the clues given to find the answer.

exude

To exude is to give off small amounts, usually of liquids or gases, through small openings, such as pores. Think of how you exude sweat after a workout. The word exude is often used to describe sweating — the original Latin root, sudāre means "to sweat." Still, we frequently use the word exude to refer to anything that seems to ooze or pour forth from an object or person. John F. Kennedy was said to exude confidence, while his wife, Jackie, exuded class. But the verb can also have a negative sense, as when we say a skunk exudes a foul smell.

facilitate

To facilitate means to make something easier. If your best friend is very shy, you could facilitate her efforts to meet new people. Facilitate comes from the Latin facilis, for easy. It means to make something easier or more likely to happen. You facilitate growth or a process, as opposed to, say, dinner. Often in business meetings someone will be assigned to facilitate a discussion so people don't just sit in awkward silence. Synonyms are ease, simplify, expedite, and assist.

fathom

To fathom something is to understand it thoroughly, and is usually used in the negative, as in "I can't fathom why he doesn't want to go along with us." Fathom is from Middle English fadme, from Old English fæthm "outstretched arms." The Old English and modern English noun also refers to a unit of length used to measure the depth of water. To understand something thoroughly is "to get to the bottom of it."

fester

To fester is to grow and spread, not in a good way. When a cut gets infected it starts to fester and smell bad. Emotional wounds stink too, like when you hold on to anger or pain until it starts to fester and explodes. Fester is a verb describing what happens to a wound or a sore that gets worse and has liquid, or pus, oozing out. Infections cause cuts, broken bones, and diseases to fester. Dead bodies can fester too — as they decompose. Things that fester have a decaying odor, and bad feelings can have a decaying effect on friendships and the heart. Letting bitter emotions fester often leads to their getting worse.

flail

To flail means to wave around wildly. If you are stranded on a deserted island and you see a ship in the distance, it's a good idea to flail your arms in the air to get the captain's attention. Flail originates with the Latin word flagellum, which is a whip. It is also related to the noun flail, a stick with a swinging attachment to it, used to thresh grain. As a verb, it most often refers to arms, but can also involve the whole body, especially if someone is a very wild dancer. Other things can flail as well. If someone admits that his business is flailing, it's probably lacking direction and not doing very well.

flout

To flout is to scorn or show contempt for. "I flout the law and the concept of civilian safety by making a concerted effort to jaywalk every time I cross a street." Oddly enough, when flout came into existence in the 1550s, it had a much different sense to it than it does now; it's believed that it evolved from the Middle English flowten "to play the flute." As a verb, it means to scorn, as in, for example, to scorn a law, person, or social norm by defying it. As a noun, it is a contemptuous remark or insult. Wrote William Shakespeare, "Flout 'em, and scout 'em; and scout 'em and flout 'em; Thought is free."

fluster

To fluster someone is to make them feel upset or agitated. A challenging math problem might fluster you, or even a glance from an admirer. If your coworker is about to give the biggest presentation of his life, you'll probably only fluster, or upset, him if you point out that his socks don't match. Use the adjective form, flustered, to describe someone when they're feeling this way. Most of us get flustered once in a while, but if you're "easily flustered," it happens to you quite often. Don't worry, though; that just gives you more opportunities to practice using this vocabulary word.

foreshadow

To foreshadow is to predict something or to give a hint of what is to come. If you could take a stereo apart and put it back together at age five, it can foreshadow a successful career in electronics. The verb foreshadow is often defined as "warning" or has a suggestion of something bad to come, though sometimes it's more neutral or shows examples of both good and bad predictions. Dark gray clouds foreshadow a thunderstorm, just as spring showers foreshadow May flowers. What is foreshadowed doesn't always happen, though. A story might not foreshadow a happily-ever-after ending, but then it takes an unexpected twist, and the villain turns out to be a hero.

forswear

To forswear is to give up an idea, belief, or habit that you've had previously. New Year's is a popular time to forswear anything from sweets to bad relationships. When you forswear, you abandon something completely. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is at first smitten by the maiden Rosaline, but once he lays eyes on Juliet, Rosaline is history. He says of Juliet, "Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, for I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

foster

To foster is to nurture something for a little while. She fosters creativity by providing crayons to every student. You can also foster a child, which means she lives in your home for a time. You may have seen photos of a cat taking care of a baby rabbit, or a pig nursing a litter of puppies: those are little foster families. Foster can be a verb (to foster someone or something) or an adjective used to describe a foster family, child, or parent. The word is from the Old English fostrian meaning "to supply with food, nourish, support," which sounds like what those mama hogs were doing. Unlike adopt, foster has a time limit.

flair

Use the word flair to refer to someone's knack or natural talent for something. Someone might have a flair for throwing fantastic parties, or a flair for solving complex math problems. Something or someone with flair is flashy, catchy and full of energy. But oddly enough, flair meant "odor" when it originated in the mid 14th century. It wasn't until 1925 that the word came to mean a distinctive talent, elegant style or dashing ability. So maybe think of someone absolutely reeking of style and panache — but in a good way.

exuberance

Use exuberance to describe joyful enthusiasm and liveliness. You appreciate the natural exuberance of small children, but you prefer to enjoy it from a distance. The noun exuberance comes from the adjective exuberant, which itself came from a Latin word that originally described an overflowing supply of milk from the udder of a cow or goat! The word still means "overflowing," not with milk but with joy and enthusiasm. After your winning home run, the fans ran onto the field and, in their exuberance, carried you off on their shoulders . . . before you touched home plate.

evocative

Use the adjective evocative when you want to describe something that reminds you of something else. If your mom baked a lot when you were a kid, the smell of cookies in the oven is probably evocative of your childhood. Evocative comes from the Latin word evocare, which means to "call out" or "summon." Think of a batch of cookies summoning a memory from your childhood. To summon something you need a voice, and indeed, the Latin word for voice is vocare. Other related words include the noun vocation, which means "a calling."

exorbitant

Use the adjective exorbitant when you want to describe something that is really just too much! You'll often hear people griping about exorbitant bank fees or exorbitant interest rates. The adjective exorbitant was originally a legal term to describe a case that was outside the bounds of the law. It comes from the Latin roots — the prefix ex, meaning "out of," and orbita, meaning "wheel track." You can see how the word now has come to be described as something that has gone way off the beaten track, especially in terms of price and value.

foresight

Use the noun foresight to describe successful planning for the future, like on a cloudy morning having the foresight to bring an umbrella in case of rain showers later in the day. The word foresight is made of two parts: fore, which means "before," and sight, which means "to perceive." People often perceive things with their eyes: this is vision, or sight. But vision also describes what someone thinks will happen. So foresight is planning for things before they happen.

expropriate

Use the verb expropriate to describe the act of taking people's property, usually by a government. If you really like your neighbor's house, you may wish you could expropriate the property. To correctly pronounce expropriate, say "ex-PRO-pree-ate." It sounds a lot like another verb, appropriate and has a similar meaning. That's because of their shared Latin root proprius, which means "own." Expropriate is typically used to describe taking property — rather than smaller possessions — and a government or other official organization is usually the one doing the taking. For example, a state may expropriate property in order to build a new road.

epicure

We call a person who truly loves food—food at the highest levels—an epicure. Occasionally, you might find the word epicure used for a person who loves something else, but an epicure is usually someone who delights in fine food. Epicurus was the Greek philosopher whom we credit with thinking the most about cooking and food. So any time you see the word epicure, remember that that person follows the philosopher Epicurus and therefore loves food. Being an epicure ain't cheap. Most fine restaurants these days will charge you an arm and a leg for a meal good enough to satisfy a real epicure: a good bottle of wine alone could cost the choosy epicure a couple of Benjamins ($100 bills).

florid

When people are red-cheeked with good health they are florid. Spending most of the year in the college library can give you a colorless, weary face, but after a mountain vacation, you'll be florid with the reddish color that comes from exercise and living well. Florid is an adjective that entered English in the 17th century, via the French floride, from the Latin flōridus, "blooming." You can probably guess how Florida and flourish are related! Something overly decorated, such as a really ornate living room, is florid in the flowery sense, while people with rosy cheeks and a look of healthiness are florid because they are flourishing with a fullness of life. Your florid complexion matched your florid red drapes as you came in from the cold and plunked down on the couch near the window.

erode

When soil or land erodes, it wears away or is removed. Many beaches seem to get smaller and smaller, as the endless wash of the waves begins to erode the fine sand. While erode is most commonly used when describing land loss, you can also use it in less literal ways. Numerous hospital bills can cause your savings to erode. Each time you catch your friend in a lie, your trust in her erodes a little more. Consumer confidence is eroding away as the media reports more and more bad economic news. What's key here is both the sense of loss, as well as the idea that it is a gradual process.

Firebrand

When someone is known for being wildly devoted to a cause or idea, they're called a firebrand. A firebrand enjoys pushing buttons and stirring up passions. Firebrand isn't such a tough word to remember if you think of that person's "brand" being "fiery." Someone who enjoys heating up the debate around a subject or lighting a fire under other people is a firebrand. "Fire" is their "brand." Firebrands come in all shapes and sizes: conservative, liberal, militant, creative. Anyone who takes a strong, provocative stance and challenges people with heated rhetoric might be labeled a firebrand. All it takes is guts and a willingness to stir things up.

ebb

When something ebbs, it is declining, falling, or flowing away. The best time to look for sea creatures in tidal pools is when the tide is on the ebb — meaning it has receded from the shore. Ebb is often used in the phrase, "ebb and flow," referring to the cyclical changing of the tides from low to high and back to low again. This sense of cyclical change can also be applied to other things. If you want to make money investing, you have to weather the ebb and flow of the stock market.

elicit

When you elicit, you're bringing out a response of some sort. A good comedian elicits a lot of laughs. Elicit has to do with creating or provoking a response. A great speech will elicit cheers — a bad speech will elicit boos. Teachers try to elicit responses from students. If a friend smiles at you, it will probably elicit a smile of your own. In court, a lawyer might try to elicit mistakes and inconsistencies in the testimony of a witness. In all cases, whatever is elicited is some kind of response.

Emend

When you emend a piece of writing, you correct or revise it. If you are asked to emend a report, that just means you need to go through it and make revisions. Emend is similar in spelling and pronunciation to another word, amend, and there's a slight overlap in meaning as well. Emend refers to changes and improvements made to a text. Amend also can refer to making minor changes to a text, but it can be used to describe improvements made to other things as well — for example, you can amend a situation. In contrast, emend's powers are limited to words. So if you're using emend — the one with the "e" — just make sure you're describing improvements that involve text.

fret

When you fret, you worry so much about something that it eats away at you. Many people fret about taking standardized tests, but really, they're nothing to sweat. Fret comes from the Old English word freton which means to devour like an animal. When you fret over something, it consumes your thoughts. If you tell your mother to not fret about you while you're at a sleepover camp, you're telling her to not worry about you too much. Sometimes it means to be agitated though. When you're waiting for the results of an exam, you might fret and wring your hands. In a totally unrelated meaning, a guitar player calls the raised lines on the neck of the guitar that help him play correctly frets.

exhume

When you see your mysterious neighbor digging around in his backyard, you may wonder if he's trying to exhume something. Chances are he's only digging up potatoes — when you exhume something, it means you're digging up a corpse. The word exhume traces back to the Latin word exhumare, a combination of ex-, meaning "out of," and humus, or "ground." That meaning holds true today: when you exhume something, you dig it up out of the ground. The word almost always applies to the removing of a previously buried corpse, such as law enforcement officials who exhume a body to perform an autopsy or collect evidence related to an investigation.

fiat

You might think a fiat is just an Italian car, but it actually means a legal, authoritative decision that has absolute sanction:the reforms left most prices fixed by government fiat; a decree From the Latin for "let it be done," the word fiat is a binding edict issued by a person in command. It can gain an almost Biblical aura of authority, like a movie Pharaoh saying, "So let it be written, so let it be done." So let it be a fiat.

foible

a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual If you repeat foible out loud enough times, it sounds so funny that you can laugh at it and maybe remember to laugh at the odd and distinctive weaknesses of others — the foible or two or a hundred that we all have. Sometimes a foible helps make a person who they are, even if the foible, or weakness ("feeble" is a close relative), is a little odd. Synonyms for foible in a negative sense are "failing," "shortcoming," and in a more positive sense "quirk," "eccentricity." It can likewise be annoying or endearing. Most people have a foible, or idiosyncrasy, that stands out to others, but interestingly, a person rarely sees his or her own characteristic foible.

foreboding

a feeling of evil to come When you get a foreboding, you get a sense that something bad is going to happen. A foreboding is a foretelling, a sign or a glimpse, that "something wicked this way comes" — or might come. If something doesn't "bode" well, it means that the future doesn't look good. A foreboding is a glimpse or a feeling that bad things are going to happen. It's a premonition, or look into the future. Most times foreboding implies that something evil is coming, but sometimes it's used for anything bad up ahead, as in "she had a foreboding that the trip would get canceled due to the hurricane." Even if the future looks bright, a foreboding casts dread over what's ahead.

encomium

a formal expression of praise An encomium is a fancy word for a formal speech or piece of writing that warmly praises someone or something. Encomium comes from the Greek word enkomion which, in a nutshell, is to honor someone or something at a party in a poetic speech. It used to refer to the song for the winner of the Olympic Games, sung at a victory celebration. You might hear an encomium at a retirement party, after you publish a fabulous book, or even at a funeral (a eulogy, or speech at a funeral about the person who died, is a kind of encomium). It's pronounced with a long O, en-CO-mium.

Fanfare

a gaudy outward display Fanfare is a loud, proud burst of something to get attention. If you open up a carpet store with one of those sky-sweeping lights, lots of balloons, and a brass band, you're doing it with great fanfare. Originally fanfare meant a short burst of music played by trumpeters, usually when someone important entered a room. But these days we describe anything as fanfare that has the same feeling as a burst of trumpets. If you're a TV executive with a new show you think is going to be a big hit, roll it out with fanfare-—ad campaigns, billboards, celebrity parties!

Exodus

a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment If the fire alarm goes off in your building, be sure to join the exodus of people who are heading outside to the parking lot. This is a departure of a large number of people. Exodus is the title of the second book of the Bible's Old Testament in which the Israelites escape slavery in Egypt, but the term can refer to any sudden departure of a group of people. This noun is often coupled with the adjective mass, as in "mass exodus," which usually indicates that almost everyone leaves at the same time. The reasons for this departure can be hostile, as during a war, or not, as when everyone exits the movie theater after the show's over.

fop

a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance If you know someone who's obsessed with how he looks and what he's wearing, you can call him a fop. If you're a fop, you make sure you're always well dressed. A fop spends hours grooming himself in front of the mirror and spends a lot of money on nice clothes. You might also call him a "dandy" or a "clotheshorse." The word fop meant "foolish person" in the mid-1600s and was probably related to the now-obsolete verb of the same name, meaning "make a fool of." By 1670, a fop was a fool who was focused specifically on his clothing.

excerpt

a passage selected from a larger work Instead of sharing all 147 lines of your favorite poem in class, you might want to read an excerpt, that is, just a part of the verses, so no one dozes off. Excerpt sounds a lot like "except" with an added "r," and it came into English in the 16th century from a Latin word meaning "plucked out." When the word is used as a verb, excerpt means to take a portion out, usually from a play, book, article, song, or other written work. And the part that is taken out also is called an excerpt, but it is a noun, that is, a thing. An excerpt is something you excerpt, or pluck out, from a larger piece.

fatalism

a philosophical doctrine holding that all events are predetermined in advance for all time and human beings are powerless to change them People who exhibit fatalism appear powerless to shape their own future: they believe only in fate. I sense the fatalism in you, but you CAN change things! You can see and hear the word "fate" in the word fatalism. It means "destiny" — the notion that all things are meant to be and that there is nothing you can do to change them. Someone "fatalistic" — who displays fatalism — sees life as a series of inevitable, predetermined events. Often, this term is used negatively to describe someone who refuses to try to shape their own lives or who gives up too easily. Fatalism may in fact be logical response to life, but that's no reason not to try to change things!

Factotum

a servant employed to do a variety of jobs If you're running late and still need to iron your clothes and make breakfast, but can't find your shoes, you may wish you had a factotum, or a servant who does a variety of odd jobs for their employer. Factotum sounds like the two words "fact" and "totem" spliced together, but this curious noun originally comes from the Latin words that mean "do" and "everything." In current times, since servants aren't typical anymore, we might call someone who has a paid job like this a jack-of-all-trades or possibly a personal assistant.

fleck

a small fragment of something broken off from the whole/make a spot or mark onto A fleck is a small patch that is different from it rest, standing out from the background, like flecks of green in your blue eyes or flecks of light shining on the ground under a tree. The noun fleck can describe a color or a spot of light that stands out, like a fleck of orange in a brown and white plaid, or the little bits of light reflected off a sequined top. It can also describe a particle, such as a fleck of dirt you track into your house on your shoe. Fleck can also be a verb that means dotting or marking something with little spots, like when you fleck paint on the wall to produce a random dotted effect.

Expansive

able or tending to expand or characterized by expansion Expansive is all about being able to grow or get larger. An expansive piece of land is large, an expansive mind is one that is always thinking of the big picture, an expansive vocabulary is one that holds lots of words. Warning: don't confuse expansive, "large," with expensive, "high priced." They differ by only one letter but mean very different things. A Big Mac may contain what McDonald's advertizes as an expansive all-beef patty, but it isn't expensive food.

encomiastic

adj formally expressing praise If you were about to give a speech and the person introducing you gave an encomiastic introduction, it would probably make you blush, since encomiastic means full of praise. Encomiastic sounds like a fancy, dressed-up word, and it is: it's usually used in formal situations where someone is describing a person's most wonderful traits, either in a speech or in writing. The Greek root is encomium, which means a particular kind of storytelling or public speaking that heaps praise on a person or thing. If you rearrange the letters in encomiastic, you get cosmetician, a dressed-up way of saying "makeup artist."

froward

adj habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition

effeminate

adj having unsuitable feminine qualities The word effeminate is used to describe a man or a boy with characteristics that are more often associated with females. You were once teased for your effeminate, high-pitched voice, but now you're a world-renowned singer. The adjective effeminate comes from Latin roots that mean "womanish." The term is usually meant as an insult. You once thought it was too effeminate for a man to carry a purse, but now you realize how convenient it is. Besides, you often use it to swat at anyone who makes fun of you. If you think it's effeminate to cry during sad movies, that explains why you watch them alone.

enigmatic

adj not clear to the understanding "I didn't grasp the meaning of that enigmatic comment until much later" Something that's enigmatic is tough to figure out. It's puzzling and even mysterious, like those weird secret college societies, Mona Lisa's smile or the New York Times crossword. It's no mystery where the adjective enigmatic comes from: It's rooted in the Greek word for riddle. Something that's enigmatic is obscure, unclear and not an easy nut to crack. Translating the Rosetta Stone, with its ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and mysterious foreign writings, was certainly an enigmatic challenge for the archaeologists that found it.

facsimile

an exact copy or reproduction A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of something. Many parents hope their children will be facsimiles of themselves; many children have other plans in mind. Facsimile comes from two Latin roots: facere, meaning "to make," and simile, meaning "like." Fax machines are so called because they copy and transmit facsimiles of documents, or faxes for short, over phone lines. Grammatically speaking, photocopiers also make facsimiles, but oddly enough those are referred to as copies — not faxes.

engaging

attracting or delighting A story, song, or person that is engaging is entertaining, fun, and interesting — you want to see or hear more. To remember the meaning of engaging, it might help to think of what engaged means. When a couple is engaged, they've agreed to get married. When something or somebody is engaging, you want to spend more time with them too. Boring is the complete opposite of engaging. Think of your favorite movie or TV show — especially one you can't stop watching — it must be very engaging.

dwindle

become smaller or lose substance What do love, money, and the earth all have in common? All can dwindle, or shrink away, if we don't handle them properly. The word dwindle has a wonderfully descriptive, almost childlike sound to it, as though it belongs in a nursery rhyme. That might help you remember the meaning, which is to shrink away gradually, like the Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland," who dwindles away until nothing is left but his grin.

egotistical

characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance.To be egotistical is to have an inflated view of your self-importance — basically to think you're better than everyone else. You might express this egotism by constantly reminding your friends that you have a fantastic figure or a magnificent mind. Someone who is egotistical is full of himself; completely self-absorbed. Like the egotistical actor who blocks the audience's view of every other actor in the play during the curtain call so that he can hog the applause. The prefix ego refers to a person's sense of self, or self-importance. To be egotistical is to have an inflated view of your self-importance — basically to think you're better than everyone else. You might express this egotism by constantly reminding your friends that you have a fantastic figure or a magnificent mind.

Fervid

characterized by intense emotion/extremely hot Fervid can be used to describe something that is physically hot such as "a fervid day in August," but it is more often used to describe heated emotions like anger, love, or desire. When passions and emotions run wild, you should expect to hear some fervid language thrown about. The adjective fervid comes from the Latin fervidus which means "glowing, burning, or boiling." It is often used like the word fiery. You might hear a politician deliver a "fervid speech" if he or she is particularly worked up over an issue.

extirpate

destroy completely, as if down to the root/ surgically remove (an organ) The verb extirpate originally literally meant "to weed out by the roots." Now you'd use it when you want to get rid of something completely as if pulling it up by the root. Use the verb extirpate when you mean to destroy completely or get rid of completely. You can try to extirpate all the bedbugs that came home with you from your vacation, but you will probably be afraid that some resisted the exterminator to munch on you later.

faze

disturb the composure of If nothing can faze you, you are unflappable. Nothing bothers you, or gets you off your game. To faze is to disrupt or disturb. Faze is a new word, descending from a word that meant to frighten away. At basketball games, when a player is shooting a foul shot, fans behind the net will try to faze the player by waving towels and making loud noise. They are trying to disturb him, so that he misses the kind of shot he's made thousands of times before.

equipoise

equality of distribution Looking for a really fancy way to say "balance" or "equilibrium"? Then stand up straight and try equipoise on for size. When broken down into its etymological parts, equipoise is simply equi, meaning "equal," plus "poise." Equal poise: a balance of weight, forces or interests. So tight-rope walkers have excellent equipoise, as do balance beam gymnasts. And when the U.S. Senate is made up of half Republicans, half Democrats? There should be some equipoise of power, but that usually just leads to stalemate.

finicky

exacting especially about details You reject any vegetable that isn't yellow. You like basmati rice, but detest jasmine, Arborio, and brown. You dine at one restaurant, and you always order the same meal. You are a finicky eater — that is, you are quite particular about food. Fastidious, fussy, picky, persnickety: these are all synonyms for finicky, and they all suggest someone with extremely exacting tastes and habits, someone almost impossible to please. Finicky can also be used to describe something that demands a great deal of care and attention to detail — a finicky lock might require that you jiggle the key just so. Finicky generally conveys the sense that the person or thing it describes is quirky and pointlessly precise.

enunciate

express or state clearly Can't get your point across? Maybe you just need to speak more clearly or articulate your thoughts better — in short, enunciate. Good enunciation is similar to pronunciation, but describes more specifically how clearly someone expresses themselves. The word enunciate is related to the Latin words for both "announce" and "messenger." So most likely those ancient Romans who created the word wanted a messenger who could announce things without mumbling, grumbling, and rambling.

fervor

feelings of great warmth and intensity Use fervor to describe an intensity of emotion or expression. Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers show so much fervor that they "bleed Dodger blue." This noun comes to us from Latin fervere, meaning "to boil, glow." In the English word fervor, the suffix -or means "a condition or property of something." There is another -or suffix that means "a person or thing that does the thing expressed by the verb." A corresponding adjective is fervent; synonyms of the noun and adjective are ardor and ardent.

eulogistic

formally expressing praise A speech, presentation, or writing that pays tribute to someone's lifetime achievements can be described as eulogistic, such as the eulogistic video that was shown at the legendary coach's retirement party. Though eulogistic, pronounced "you-luh-JIH-stick," comes from the Greek word eulogia, meaning "praise; good or fine language," it most often describes speeches or testimonials made at someone's funeral or memorial service. Eulogistic words can also be used to honor the living, especially those celebrating a milestone like a birthday that ends in a zero or retiring after a long and memorable career.

encroachment

influencing strongly/any entry into an area not previously occupied An encroachment is a something that intrudes and has the power to influence whatever it encounters. Someone might consider text messages an encroachment of impersonal technology on true, heartfelt interactions. Encroachment carries the sense of something slowly creeping into something else's space, either literally or figuratively. An encroachment can be of the physical variety, such as the encroachment of new development into a beautiful coastal area. Encroachment typically has a slightly a negative meaning, hinting at something that intrudes on something and then spoils it in some way.

expository

intended to explain or describe something. Syn: Explanatory "an expository prologue The first few minutes of a first date typically consist of expository chit-chat, meaning that that's when people fill each other in on the basics: where they're from, what they studied in school, and what they want to be when they grow up. It's background info. A synonym for expository is explanatory. It might help to relate the words, as expository dialogue usually exists to give the audience an explanation of a character's previous actions. The challenge for a playwright is to communicate exposition by crafting expository dialogue that isn't boring. It's often a sign of amateur writing when the expository information stands out as just that. The experienced writer can hide the expository information inside the action and other speeches.

elucidate

make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear If you elucidate something, you explain it very clearly. If you don't understand fractions, a visit to the pie shop may elucidate the subject for you. Elucidate is from Late Latin elucidare, from the Latin prefix e- "thoroughly" plus lucidus "clear, bright." This Latin adjective is the source of English lucid, which describes someone who thinks clearly or something that is clear enough to understand.

filch

make off with belongings of others You can filch money, time, and stuff, but I wouldn't recommend it. Filching is stealing, as in "You filched my cookies!" Doesn't filch just sound kind of dirty? That could be because it's one letter away from filth, but it's also true that stealing is usually considered a dirty, lowdown deed. No one wants their things to be filched. Filching is similar to pilfering, swiping, lifting, and purloining — other words for taking what isn't yours. We've all probably filched at some point, but thieves make a profession out of filching.

frantic

marked by uncontrolled excitement or emotion When a mother loses her child, she's frantic. She's a crazed sort of agitated and goes on a frantic search for her child. A scene is frantic if there's lots of action with little order. Frantic is related to frenzy and both were originally ways to describe mental illness. Hundreds of years ago, if you were frantic, you were stark raving mad. Today, frantic implies fast wild movements or a desperate attempt to do something. On Christmas Eve, the scene at the mall was frantic with shoppers desperately searching for their last few gifts. And a wild party would only be called frantic if the police were called and everyone rushed to get away.

dulcet

pleasing to the ear extremely pleasant in a gentle way "the most dulcet swimming on the most beautiful and remote beaches" Use the adjective dulcet to describe a sound that is soothing and soft, like "the dulcet harmonies in a 70s pop song" or "the dulcet tones of a harp." The word dulcet worked its way into English by way of the French word doucet, which is related to the word doux, meaning "sweet." Originally applied to anything sweet or pleasing, such as something that tastes sweet or a sweet glance from a stranger, nowadays the word is most often used to describe sounds that are gentle and melodious — sweet sounds.

emendation

n a correction by emending; a correction resulting from critical editing:History is nothing so much as that act of emendation—amendment upon amendment upon amendment.

filibuster

obstruct deliberately by delaying/a legislator who gives long speeches in an effort to delay or obstruct legislation that he (or she) opposes As a verb, filibuster means "to obstruct legislation by talking at great length." As a noun, it can refer to that oppositional speech. "The Senator prevented a vote on the bill by reading the dictionary from aardvark to zyzzyva." As a parliamentary tactic, the filibuster dates back to at least the first century B.C.E. The rules of the Roman Senate required that all business must be completed by nightfall, and, on more than one occasion, the senator Cato the Younger spoke until dark to delay a vote. In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, a minister may "talk out" a bill, but his speech must pertain to the bill. In the United States, by contrast, a Senator may forestall action on a bill by speaking on any topic.

extort

obtain by coercion or intimidation "They extorted money from the executive by threatening to reveal his past to the company boss" To extort is to use information or the threat of violence to acquire cash or something else. Extortion is a classic shakedown, a gouge, a squeeze. Usually it's money someone is after if they're going to extort you for it. Threats of violence and blackmail are probably the two most popular ways to extort a person. It's illegal but surprisingly common. Watch siblings play — older brothers serve no time for extortion.

fitful

occurring in spells and often abruptly An adjective that sounds a little like what it means, fitful means stopping and starting, on-again off-again, switching suddenly. I had a fitful night's sleep: I woke up several times throughout the night. A fit is a disturbance that happens without warning, like a tantrum, tremor, or spasm. If something is fitful, it's "full of fits." A night at the opera is a night of fitful pleasures: the arias are cool, but the rest of the show is boring. I've made only fitful progress trying to lose weight, because I lose only a few pounds at a time, and they almost always come right back: my progress is fitful because it comes in "fits and starts."

fetid

offensively malodorous If you want to understand the true meaning of fetid, leave your sweaty gym clothes in your locker for a few days. Fetid is a fancy way of saying that something smells really bad. From the Latin word meaning "stinking," this adjective has been in use since the early 15th century, which was a particularly fetid time in history — showers, laundry detergent, and deodorant had not yet been invented. Here's an easy way to remember it: "the fe(e)t (d)id stink." It's sometimes spelled foetid.

ellipsis

omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences An ellipsis is punctuation that is used to show where words have been left out. The ellipsis is usually formed by three periods (four if the ellipsis comes at the end of a sentence). The word ellipsis comes to English via a Greek word, elleipein, meaning to fall short or leave out. The plural of the noun is ellipses. In the sentence, "'What the . . . !' she exclaimed.", the ellipsis replaces an expletive. The severity of the expletive is left to the reader's imagination.

extol

praise, glorify, or honor If you have a crush on a guy who likes your best friend, it can be very depressing to listen to him extol your friend's virtues, while you just nod and smile. If you extol something, you praise it very highly. The Bible says: "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven..." Nebuchadnezzar II was king of the second Babylonian Empire, the one who sent the Jews into exile. In some translations of the Bible, the word honor is replaced with glorify. Praise, extol, honor, glorify all mean about the same. The Bible often uses five words when one would be enough.

filing

preservation and methodical arrangement as of documents and papers etc. "I have some filing to do/the entering of a legal document into the public record

Effectual

producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect "his complaint proved to be effectual in bringing action" Effectual means good at achieving the results you want. The most effectual method for avoiding cavities? Brush, floss, lay off the candy, and see your dentist every 6 months. Wait, aren't effectual and effective basically the same adjectives with the same meaning? Well, generally speaking, yes. But if you want to get really nit-picky, you might note that effectual actually describes something that produces the desired result, but in a big way. Effective simply gets the job done. No one is going to call you out for using either word interchangeably though, as long as it's done effectually.

frugality

prudence in avoiding waste If you try to avoid waste by reusing and repurposing items that most people would throw away, your frugality will save you money. Some people use this word interchangeably with cheapness, but cheapness is an unwillingness to spend, while frugality is an unwillingness to waste. People who show frugality often find ways of making things useful that others do not. Even after the Depression ended, those who lived through it maintained their frugality, using old t-shirts for rags and washed-out cottage cheese containers instead of Tupperware.

Fodder

soldiers who are regarded as expendable in the face of artillery fire Fodder is cheap food, usually given to livestock animals like cows. If you gave a cow caviar or homemade scones, that would not be fodder. Try cornstalks. Fodder is not just used to describe cattle feed. We use the word to talk about other kinds of feeding that don't involve actual food. A new celebrity marriage is fodder for gossip magazines. In war, the soldiers most likely to be killed, are called cannon fodder, from the times when armies used canons instead of drone aircraft dropping missiles.

fritter

spend frivolously and unwisely A person who fritters chooses to spend their energy on things that are wasteful. You can fritter money, time, or energy, but once you've "frittered it away," you can't get it back! The first time you get a paycheck, you might be tempted to go on a spending spree, buying fireworks, a rabbit costume, and a giant gumball machine. But be careful, because if you fritter away your hard-earned cash like that, you won't have any left for important things, like food and rent. The Old English root of the word means "break into fragments," which is what happens to someone who fritters their life away.

finesse

subtly skillful handling of a situation Having finesse means you can handle difficult situations with diplomacy and tact, like the finesse it takes to help two friends work out their differences — without taking sides or alienating either one. Finesse is having grace under pressure. It's handling the rantings of an angry customer with a smile and a calm tone. Someone who has finesse says the right thing at the right time — or knows when to say nothing at all. Finesse looks like fineness and in fact comes from the Middle French word that means exactly that — delicate in nature. People with finesse can handle anything — with a delicate approach that really works.