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1007 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
abashed
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indicates a state of embarrassment; a person abashed feels disconcerted and put to shame
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abate
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to lessen or diminish; Latin abattre (to knock down)
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abdicate
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to step down, as from a throne, or give something up; Latin abdicare (to renounce, abdicate)
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aberrant
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meaning is close to unusual or uncharacteristic; Latin aberrare (to wander, lose one's way)
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abominate
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to loathe, hate, abhor, detest; Latin abominari (to hate)
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abrasive
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any substance that can be used for polishing or grinding; figuratively, irritatingly or annoyingly harsh and grating; Latin abradere (to scrape off)
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abrogate
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to repeal, to annul, to cancel; Latin abrogare (to repeal)
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abstemious
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opposite of glutonous; evokes the image of a think, conservative, and picky person; Latin abstemius "away from drink"
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abstinent
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self-denying, self-restraining; total abstinence describes a teetotaler; Latin abstinere (to hold back, to keep away from)
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abstruse
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clear to person explaing but unintelligible to those on the receiving end; Latin abstrusus (hidden, secret)
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accolade
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great praise, enthusiastic approval; tap on the shoulder with a sword, conferring knighthood; Italian acoolare (to hug around the neck)
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acerbic
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sour, bitter, harsh; Latin acerbus (bitter)
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acme
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summit, utmost limit; Classic Greek (highest point)
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acolyte
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an altar boy; a follower or attendant of an important personage; Greek akolouthos (follower, attendant)
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acquiesce
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agree with, consent to, comply with; Latin adquiescere (to rest, by extension, to be pleased with)
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acrimonious
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bitter and cutting; Later acer (sharp, cutting) and acerbus (bitter)
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adage
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a proverb, or a traditional saying; old saws, maxims, or aphorisms; Latin prefex ad and aio (I say)
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admonitory
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providing a warning; Latin admonere (to remind, advise)
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adroit
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skillful, resourceful, quick to seize upon the right move in a situation; French a droit (on the right)
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adulation
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fawning adoration or devotion; state of idolization, or servile and excessive admiration; Latin adulare (to fawn)
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adversity
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condition marked by bad luck, troubles, woes, hard times; adversary means opponent; Latin adversitas, opposite of prosperity
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aegis
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(ee' jis) sponsorship, patronage; shield of Zeus and symbol of protection in Greek mythology
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affable
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pleasant, friendly, easy to talk to; Latin adfabilis (easy to speak to)
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aficionado
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a devotee, an ardent follower, a fan; unchanged from Spanish
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affinity
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a natural liking and feeling of attraction; Latin adfinitas (literally, relationship by marriage; by extension, union)
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aggrandize
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to magnify, inflate, increase; sometimes takes on the meaning of making people or things greater than they are; Latin grandis (great large) and Middle French aggrandissement
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alacrity
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used "with alacrity"; completed with cheerful or eager readiness, opposite of reluctance; Latin alacritas (liveliness)
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allay
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to calm or quiet; to relieve; Middle English alayen
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allegory
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a symbolic narrative; a tale not to be taken literally, but to present a moral lesson or universal truth; a short allegory with animal characters is a fable; Greek allegorein (to speak figuratively)
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alleviate
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to relieve or lessen; Latin alleviare (to lighten, diminish)
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alliteration
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repitition of a sound or letter in two or more words in a sequence; Middle Latin alliteratio
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amanuensis
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secretary; one who takes dictation or copies a manuscript; Latin manus (hand) as is manuscript
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ambience
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mood, character, or atmosphere of an environment; the quality of the surroundings or milieu; French ambiance
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ambiguous
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capable of more than one meaning, thus, unclear; Latin ambiguus (literally, moving rom side to side)
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ambivalent
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indecisive, unable to make up one's mind, wavering between two courses of action or opposing opinions, favoring, at one and the same time, both yes and no; Latin ambi (both) and valere (to be strong)
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ambulatory
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able to walk, as opposed to being bedridden; ambulare (to walk)
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ameliorate
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to improve or make better; Latin melior (better)
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amenable
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agreeable, willing to be persuaded, to listen to reason, and to follow advice; also means "answerable for", as in a debt incurred; Latin minare (to lead to)
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amenity
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a noun that connotes pleasantness and agreeableness; amenities can refer to "gracious manners" or "conveniences" like hot and cold running water; Latin amoenitas (pleasantness)
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amorous
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affectionate; having a tendency to love; obsessed by sexuality; smitten; showing love; Latin amorosus
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amorphous
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without definite shape or form, formless; Greek amorphos (shapeless)
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anachronism
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any person, institution, custom, concept, etc. that belongs to another age; Greek anachronismos (wrong time reference)
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anagram
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a word formed from a rearrangement of the ltters of another word; evil is an anagram of vile; New Latin anagramma
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analogy
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noun used to describe a resemblance on the similarity between certain features of two things, like the human heart and a mechanical pump; Greek analogos
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anathema
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noun used to describe a detestable thing or person; literally, a curse laid on by the Church that usually follows with excommunication; figuratively, used to describe anyone or anything detestable or loathsome; Latin anathema (thing accursed)
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ancillary
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means the same as auxiliary and describes anything that serves as an accessory; Latin ancilla (maidservant)
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animus
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filled with hostility and antagonism; deep-seated ill will; animosity is derived from animus; Latin animus (soul, feeling, wrath)
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annals
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historical records; Latin annales (yearly records) and annus (year)
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anomaly
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deviation from the general rule or type; anything out of keeping with accepted ideas of how things should be; Latin anomalia
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antecedents
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ancestors or events of one's earlier life; antecedent means preceding or previous; Latin antecedere (to precede)
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anthropology
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the sutdy of mankind, its origins, development, customs, and racial characteristics; Greek anthropos (man) and logia (study)
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anthropomorphic
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ascribes human characteristics to gods, animals, and objects; Greek anthropos (man) and morphe (form)
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antic
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describes odd or eccentric behavior, amusing gestures, pranks, and capers; Latin anticus (in front, by extension, primitive)
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antipathy
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a strong, settled, unchanging feeling of abhorrence towards a particular person, activity, style, type of food, way of life, race, anything; Greek antipatheia
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antiquity
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ancient times; denotes the quality of ancientness; Latin antiquitas
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antithesis
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the direct opposite; intact from Greek
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aphorism
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a concise statement of a general truth (though only a grain of it); also known as maxims, proverbs, and old saws; Middle Latin aphorismus (definition)
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aplomb
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self-assurance, poise, imperturbability; A person with aplomb is not fazed or disconcerted under the most trying circumstances; French a plomb (vertical)
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apocalypse
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describes disaster, cataclysm, the end of the world; literally, apocalypse is a revelation, but because of the bible, it is used to describe any cataclysmic event; Greek word meaning (to disclose)
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apocryphal
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used to describe things, usually stories or reports, of questionable authenticity; can also be used to indicate spuriousness or falsity; derives from the Apocrypha, 14 books of O.T. with doubtful origin
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apogee
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in astronomy, the point in the orbit of a planet, satellite, the moon, etc. when it is farthest from the earth; frequently used to mean high point, climax, summit; Greek apogaion (off-earth)
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apostate
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a person who renounces his faith, party, etc., a renegade or defector; Greek apostates (drawing away)
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appelation
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a name or designation applied to somebody or something; The name Cassius Clay has been extinguised by the appellation "Muhammad Ali"; Latin appellatio (naming)
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apposite
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term apllied to something that is to the point, or well put; an apposite answer or remark is exactly right, on the nose; Latin apponere (to put near)
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apprehend
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formal substitute for catch or arrest, in the sense of "take into custody"; to grasp the meaning of something; to worry about, expect fear and anxiety, dread; Latin apprehendere (to grasp)
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appropriate
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anything suitable for a particular purpose or occasion (adj.); to set aside for a specific purpose (verb); The Senate appropriated a million dollars for the investigation; Late Latin appropriatus (to make one's own)
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apt
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inclined; likey; ability to acquire knowledge quickly; suitable, fit for a particular need, purpose, occasion; Latin aptus (fastened, fitting)
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arbiter
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a final authority, one with the absolute power to decide; intact from Latin
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arcane
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characterizes something secret or obscure, with a hint of mystery; esoteric; literary word for mysteries; Latin arcanus (literally, shut, closed, and thus secret)
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arch
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by itself describes people who are mischievous or roguish, playfully saucy; with another used in the sense of outstanding; Hitler was an archvillain; intensive prefix, in the sense of chief or principal; Greek arche (prefix indicating excellence)
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arduous
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laborious, requiring great strength and perseverance; strenuous; characterize something hard to bear; Latin arduus (high, steep, or difficult)
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argot
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jargon, the idiom of a particular class or group; applies particularly to the underword; the argot of thieves; but also broader classes; French ar go (slang)
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arid
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extremely dry; figuratively, means "dull and uninteresting"; Latin aridus
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Armageddon
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biblical scene of the final battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil at the end of the world; figuratively, any decisive, final conflict
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arrant
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used to intensify a quality of a person or thing, in the sense of "out-and-out" or "downright"; Al Capone was an arrant knave; Latin errare (to rove, stray)
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arrogate
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to claim something as one's own without right; Latin rogare (to ask, request) and ad
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arsenal
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literally, denotes a place for the storage or arms and ammunition; figuratively, describes a supply or collection or repertory of anything
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artful
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crafty, deceitful, and cunning, opposite of artless; Latin ars (cunning)
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ascetic
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a self-denying person; self-denyiny, rigorously refraining from the ordinary pleasures of life; Greek asketikos (rigorous, hardworking)
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asperity
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harshness and acrimony; Latin asperitas
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aspersion
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aspersons = damaging assertions and slandering vilifications; expression = to cast aspersions; Latin aspersio (sprinkling)
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assiduous
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denotes perserverence and diligence; Latin assiduus (sitting down to: by extension, settling down to)
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assuage
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to soothe and relieve; Latin ad and suavis (pleasant, agreeable)
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atavistic
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exhibiting the characteristics or one's forberas or of a primitive culture; Latin atavus (great-great-great-grandfather)
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atrophy
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wasting away or degeneration; to waste away, wither away, or decline; Greek atrophos (not fed)
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attenuate
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to weaken, to thin out, reduce in intensity and value; Latin attenuare (to reduce)
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augment
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to increase, fill out; Latin augmen (increase)
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augur
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to foreshadow; an augur in ancient Rome was an official who practiced certain rites of observing omens in order to advise the government; A good start is an augury of a successful finish.
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auspicious
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favorable and promising; Latin auspices (name of those watching bird-omens) from avis (bird) and specere (to look at)
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autonomous
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an independent, self-governing, self-regulating body is said to be autonomous; Greek autos (self) and nomos (law)
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avuncular
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acting like an affectionate uncle; Latin avunculus (uncle on the mother's side)
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awry
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amiss, gone haywire; Greek rhoikos (crooked)
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axiom
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a self-evident truth, a truism, a general principle that is universally acknowledged and need no proof; ex. a straight line is the shortest distance between two points; Greek axioma (something worthy)
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badinage
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banter, player repartee; French badiner (trifle)
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bailiwick
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one's field of skill, one's own particular area of expertise; literally, a bailiwick is the district within the jurisdiction of a bailie or bailiff, whose official duties vary according to locality; Latin vicus (village, hamlet)
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baleful
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threatening or destuctive; Ali often threatened his opponents with a baleful look; Old English bealofull
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banal
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commonplace, hackneyed, uninspired; intact from French
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bastion
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a stronghold or bulwark; literally, a projecting section of a fort; the Western world is the bastion of democracy; Italian bastione
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bathos
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sentimentality, as opposed to true sentiment, a ludicrous, anticlimatic drop from the lofty to the commonplace; Greek bathos (depth)
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behemoth
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a monster, a gigantic creature; also used with inanimate objects and abstractions, like the federal deficit
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beleaguer
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to besiege, harass, or beset; literally; it means "to surround with military forces"; commony means to harass in the sense of besetting someone with problems and annoyances
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bellicose
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describes hostility and belligerence, the attitude of one eager to do battle; Latin bellum (war)
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belligerent
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as a noun, means a nation at war; as an adj. means "hostile, bellicose"; Latin belligerare (to wage war)
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bemused
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puzzled, muddled, preoccupied; describes state of lingering puzzlement; Latin be and mussare (to mutter, be at a loss)
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bibliophile
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a booklover, a collector of books; Greek biblios (book) and philos (dear, beloved)
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bibulous
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addicted to drink; Latin bibulus (fond of drinking)
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blandishment
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describes enticing action or speech and usually used in the plural; Latin blanditia (flattery, coaxing)
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blatant
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completely obvious
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bovine
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literally, of the ox family; figuratively, means dull, stolid, listless, sluggish; Latin bovis, a form of bos (ox)
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bravado
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a swaggering show of bold courage; Italian and Spanish bravata
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brickbat
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a cutting remark, an unkind criticism; literaly, "a piece of broken brick" thrown as a missile; figuratively, a caustic comment;
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bromide
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literally, a chemical compound involving bromine used as a sedative; figuratively, used to denote a platitude, a commonplace, hackneyed remark, a trite generalization, likewise used as a sedative to soothe someone's nerves; Greek bromos (stench)
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brook
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to tolerate something, to put up with it; applied not to people, but to their acts, conduct, or attitudes, and to situations; Middle English brouken
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brouhaha
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a commotion, uproar, ado; intact from French; onomatopoetic invention
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bucolic
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rustic; Greek boukolikos (ox herder)
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burgeon
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literally the budding and sprouting of plants; acquired meaning of "developing suddenly", before your eyes; Middle English burjon (bud)
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cabal
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a group of plotters, but can also describe the group's intrigues and plots; also can mean a clique of coterie; small group of secret plotters
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cachet
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denotes a stamp of approval from one in a high position; can be applied to a feature that imparts prestige; prestige; intact from French (seal or stamp)
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cacophony
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strident, discordant noise; Greek kakophonia (bad sound)
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cadaverous
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haggard and ghastly; implies pallor, gauntness, and emaciation; Latin cadaver which is a synonym for corpse, which comes from corpus (body)
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cadge
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to get something by begging, with the emphasis on imposing on the other person's good nature; Middle English caggen
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cajole
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to wheedle, to coax by promises and flattery; Little boys are good at cajoling autographs of famous athletes; French cajoler (to wheedle)
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callow
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immature, or green. Middle and Old English calu (bald or without feathers)
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calumny
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slander, smear; the malicious making of false statements in order to damage a reputation; Latin calumnia (false accusation)
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canard
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a hoax or false rumor; French, figuratively a hoax
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candor
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label of a fine quality in people: frankness, openness, sincerity;
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canon
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a rule or general principle; Greek kanon (rule)
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cant
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insincere talk; used to denote the special argot or jargon of a particular group; term is applied to underworld jargon; Latin cantus (song)
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cantankerous
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bad-tempered, ill-humored, irritable, quarrelsome, grouchy, and generally difficult to deal with and exasperating
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capitulate
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to surrender;
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capricious
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impulsive and tending to be erratic; Latin capri (goat) the word derives from goats who leap and skip in an unpredictable fashion
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captious
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faultfinding and nit-picking;
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carnal
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sensual, bodily as opposed to spiritual; Latin carnalis (relating to flesh)
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carnivorous
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meat-eating; Latin carn (flesh)
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carp
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to complain, find fault, nit-pick; suggests unreasonable and ill-natured complaining and fussing about minor matters
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carrion
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unpleasant word that describes dead, decaying fish, unfit for human consumption; can also be used as an adj.; Latin caro (flesh)
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castigate
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to punish severely with the intent of improving or correcting the one being punished; Latin castigare (to punish)
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casuistry
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dishonest, specious reasoning; the fallacious application of general principles to particular situations; Spanish casuista
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cataclysm
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a violent upheavel; literally, a natural disaster that causes changes in the earth's surface; figuratively, a momentous event that affects the social or political order; Greek kataklysmos (flood)
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catharsis
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relief from pent-up emotion; originally referred to the purging of the emotions, especially pity and fear, through art; Primal scream therapy is said to be highly cathartic; Greek katharsis (cleaning)
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catholic
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applies to people having universal sympathies and appreciation; Greek katholikos (general)
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caveat
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warning; Latin for "Let him beware!"
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cavil
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to quibble, to raise nit-picking, picayune objections; to find fault with, in an irritating manner; Latin cavillare (to jest or joke; by extension, to quibble)
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celibacy
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bachelorhood, the unmarried state; can also apply to abstention from sex, whether one is married or not; Latin caelebs (unmarried)
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champion
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to support, defend, argue in favor of something; Latin campus (battlefield)
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charlatan
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a quack, anyone who claims more skill than he possesses; Italian cairlare (to prate)
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chary
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cautious or wary; also means sparing; Literary critics seems generally chary of granting praise.
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chasm
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a deep gap, ravine, or gorge; figuratively, denotes a deep difference of opinion of attitude
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chicanery
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trickery, deception by sophistry, subterfuge, and artful quibbling to obtain an advantage; sharp practice; intact from French chicaner (to use tricks, to quibble)
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chide
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to scold, with the implication that the scolding is on the mild side
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chimera
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a figment of the imagination, an illusion; from mythology where a chimera was a fire-breathing monster, part lion, goat, and serpent; commonly used in the expression "dream up a chimera", to describe a vain illusion or utopian wish-dream
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churlish
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a churlish person is a boor; churl, in the medieval English social order was the lowest caste of freeman, and come to mean "peasant" or "rustic", and was then applied to any boorish person
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cipher
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zero; a person with a minimum of personality, a nonentity; a code, a secret method of communication in writing or otherwise; Arabic cifr (zero)
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circuitous
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roundabout, direct; Latin circuitus (a going round in a circle)
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circumlocution
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a roundabout way of phrasing something, the use of more words to express a thought or describe something than are necessary; e.g. "Male parent" for "father"; Latin circum (around) and loqui (to speak)
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circumspect
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watchful, cautious, looking out for pitfalls, looking before leaping; Latin circum (around) and spectare (to observe carefully)
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clamorous
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vociferous and demanding; Latin clamor (loud shouting)
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clandestine
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undercover; describes acts, usually meetings, arranged very carefully and executed with the utmost secrecy
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claptrap
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pretentious nonsense, primarily to win praise; anything contrived to impress, but without substance
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clemency
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mercifulness and leniency; Latin clemens (gentle, merciful)
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cloy
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to become distasteful through excess
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cogent
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convincing; usually associated with reason or argument; Latin cogere (to compel)
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cognizant
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to be aware of something; cognizance means awareness; Latin cognoscere (to become acquainted with)
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collation
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the verification of numbering of the pages of a book; more commonly refers to a light meal, with the implication that it is served at some time other than one of the normal mealtimes; Latin conferre (to bring or put together)
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colloquy
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conversation or dialogue; Latin cum (together with) and loqui (to talk)
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compendium
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a brief, concise treatise on a subject; a summary; intact from Latin (shortening)
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complacent
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self-satisfied and quite pleased with oneself; Latin complacere (to please exceedingly)
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complaisant
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agreeable and obliging; French complaire (to please)
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complement
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to complete, fitt out, make a necessary addition to; Latin complere (to complete)
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compliant
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submissive and yielding; Spanish cumplir (to perform what is due)
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concomitant
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something that accompanies another thing or an event; as an adj. means accompanying or concurrent; Latin concomitari (to accompany)
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concrete
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real, actual (as opposed to abstract); specific, particular (as opposed to general); Latin concrescere (to grow together)
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conduit
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a channel for the conveyance of liquids, or a protective pipe of tube covering electrical wiring; figuratively, any means of transmission of anything, such as information or financial benefits; Latin conducere (to connect)
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congenital
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describes something existing at birth; another meaning is "by nature"; Latin con (with) and gignere (to give birth to)
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consensus
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a general agreement or majority view; intact from Latin
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consortium
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an associate, particularly of banks or companies, blending together to combine their capital in an enterprise, often for the purpose of gaining control of the industry; Latin consortium (partnership)
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consummate
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to accomplish, to bring to completion; as an adj., complete, top, superb; Latin consummare (to bring to perfection)
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contentious
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quarrelsome, hard to deal with, enjoying dispute
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context
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the circumstances in which an event occurs; the part of a statement that affects the meaning of the rest of the statement; Latin contextus (joining together, connection)
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contiguous
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touching, bordering upon, and is followed by "to"; New York and Connecticut are contiguous states; Latin contingere (to touch)
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contretemps
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an unfortunate occurance, a mischance that results in discomfort, especially embarrassment
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contrite
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to repent, to be penitent, to suffer from a sense of guilt; Latin conterere (to wear down, crush)
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contumacious
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stubbornly disobedient; Mules are typically contumacious; Latin contumax (stubborn, defiant)
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conundrum
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a puzzle or riddle, especially to the type of riddle with an answer based on a play on words; figurativley, a problem hard to solve
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co-opt
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preempt; to commandeer; literally, to be elected or appointed as a member of a group by those who are already members; Latin cooptare (to elect)
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copious
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plentiful, abundant
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corollary
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a natural consequence or the inevitable result of something
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corporeal
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physical, material, as opposed to spiritual; tangible; Latin corpus (body)
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correlate
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to connect in a systematic relationship; also used to describe the bringing together of various activities and organizing them for the most effective action
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coruscate
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to sparkle, either physically or abstractly; Latin coruscare (to flash)
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cosset
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to pamper and coddle; German kussen (to kiss)
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coterie
|
a clique, a select group, intimate and exclusive and united by a commmon interest of purpose; intact from French
|
|
craven
|
highly uncomplimentary word for cowardly, faint-hearted to a contemptible degree, cringing
|
|
craw
|
a bird's crop or an animal's stomach; frequently used figuratively in the expression "stick in one's craw", meaning "be intolerable"
|
|
credible
|
believable, convincing; Latin credere (to trust)
|
|
creditable
|
deserving of praise
|
|
credulous
|
gullible
|
|
crestfallen
|
disappointed and dejected; Latin cresta (crest of an animal)
|
|
culpable
|
blameworthy; Latin culpa (fault, guilt)
|
|
curmudgeon
|
anyone quick to anger, to complain, to bark
|
|
cursory
|
hasty, superficial, without attention to details, opposite of thorough; Latin cursor (runner)
|
|
curt
|
rudely abrupt; Latin curtus (shortened)
|
|
cynosure
|
the center of attraction; usually found in the expression "cynosure of all eyes";
|
|
dalliance
|
to dawdle; refers to time-wasting, but its commonest use is in the phrase amorous dalliance, which means flirtation, and dalliance all by itself usually has that implication; Low German dallen (to talk foolishly)
|
|
daub
|
to smear, to coat (something) with soft adhesive matter; Latin dealbare (to plaster)
|
|
dauntless
|
fearless; Latin domitare (to tame)
|
|
dearth
|
scarcity; a negative word that describes the lack of something
|
|
debacle
|
a sudden collapse, a disastrous breakdown; French debacle (a breaking up) and figuratively (a collapse)
|
|
debase
|
to lower (someone or something) in quality, rank, worth, etc.; Late Latin bassus (low)
|
|
debilitate
|
to weaken a person or thing; Latin debilis (weak)
|
|
debunk
|
to show something as false or exaggerated and strip it of its pretensions
|
|
decimate
|
to destroy a large proportion of number (of a group); originally, the killing of every tenth man of a group (like a village) chosen by lot, as punishment for an offense like sabotage or insurrection; Latin decimus (tenth)
|
|
declasse
|
of an inferior class or quality; borrowed from the French, where it means "come down in the world"
|
|
decorous
|
well-mannered, seemly, observant of the proprieties
|
|
decorum
|
dignity of behavior, observance of the proprieties
|
|
decry
|
to disparage, to call attention to defects;
|
|
deduce
|
to draw a conclusion from given data; Latin deducere (to lead down, derive)
|
|
deem
|
believe, judge, considere
|
|
deferential
|
acting respectfully; Latin deferre (to hand over)
|
|
definitive
|
authoritative, the last word on the subject; A definitive work on the subject is a final, unchallengeable authority; can also take on the meaning of final, in the sense of conclusive
|
|
delectation
|
delight and enjoyment
|
|
deleterious
|
harmful, injurious; commonly means "injurious to health"; Latin deletrix (something destructive)
|
|
demonic
|
anything like a demon, or as though possessed or activated by a demon
|
|
denigrate
|
to defame; to blacken a reputation; to speak disparagingly of something; Latin denigrare (to blacken)
|
|
denizen
|
inhabitants, residents; Latin de intus (from within)
|
|
deprecate
|
to express disapproval, to belittle
|
|
deracinate
|
to uproot; figuratively, to separate a person from his native culture and environment; Latin radix (root)
|
|
derelict
|
adj. abandoned; neglectful of duty; noun, implies something abondoned by its owner; a vagrant or bum; Latin derelinquere (to forsake)
|
|
deride
|
to scoff at or mock someone or something; to laught at or ridicule; Latin ridere (to laugh)
|
|
derisive
|
describes the state one is in when deriding someone
|
|
derogatory
|
disparaging and belittling; Latin derogare (to detract from)
|
|
descry
|
to make something out, catch sight of it, with the implication that the thing is far way; Middle English descrier (to proclaim)
|
|
desecrate
|
to treat irreverently, to profane, to defile; to violate something's sanctity; Latin consecrare (to consecrate)
|
|
desicate
|
to dry up; dehydrated; figuratively, dried up in the sense of "dull, listless"; Latin desiccare (to dry thoroughly)
|
|
desuetude
|
disuse; the state of no longer being used
|
|
desultory
|
describes anything fitful and lacking in steadiness; Latin desultor (literally, a circus rider who jumps from one horse to another; figuratively, an inconstant person)
|
|
detrimental
|
harmful, injurious; Latin detrimentum (loss, damage)
|
|
detritus
|
debris, waste matter; Latin deterere (to rub away)
|
|
dexterous, dextrous
|
skillful and clever; describes any form of skill or adroitness; Latin dexter (right)
|
|
diaphanous
|
sheer, almost transparent; see-through; Greek diaphaienein (to show through)
|
|
diatribe
|
a bitter attack in words; Greek diatribe (discourse) and diatribein (to rub away)
|
|
dichotomy
|
a division into two parts, generally for the purpose of differentiation between two contrasting concepts, as in the dichotomy between theory and practice
|
|
didactic
|
instructive, intented to teach
|
|
diffident
|
shy and lacking in self-confidence; opposite of brash; Latin diffidere (to lack confidence)
|
|
digress
|
to depart temporarily from the main topic; Latin digredi (to depart)
|
|
dilettante
|
a dabbler, one who takes up an activity, particularly in the arts, for his own amusement rather than seriously, and goes into it in a rather superficial way; intact from Italian
|
|
diminution
|
a lessening, a decrease; Old age causes a gradual diminution of the hearing faculty.
|
|
disaffection
|
disloyalty, with the implication that loyalty once felt no longer exists; Latin dis and affectio (favorable state of mind, goodwill)
|
|
disconsolate
|
hopelessly unhappy; gloomy; Latin dis and consolari (to console)
|
|
discursive
|
rambling from subject to subject; Latin discurrere (to run to and fro)
|
|
disdain
|
to scorn and despise something, to look upon it with contempt or to think it beneath one's dignity; Latin dis and dignare (to consider worthy)
|
|
disingenuous
|
insincere, lacking candor or frankness
|
|
disparate
|
distinctly different in kind; Latin disparare (to separate)
|
|
dissemble
|
to give a false appearance; Latin disumulare (to disguise, conceal)
|
|
dissertation
|
a formal essay or discourse, especially a treatise required for the degree of Ph.D.; used ironically to describe a long-winded treatement of a subject
|
|
dissimulate
|
to disguise, hide under a false exterior; Latin dissimulare (to disguise, conceal)
|
|
dissolute
|
having no morals and shamelessly uninhibited by any rules of conduct; a strong word of condemnation; Latin dissolvere (to break up)
|
|
distraught
|
greatly upset, deeply troubled
|
|
doff
|
to take off; A man should doff his hat on entering a church; to lay aside, get rid of
|
|
dogged
|
persistent, determined, stubbornly tenacious; Dogged students often wind up first in their class
|
|
doggerel
|
a noun that describes trivial, poor verse
|
|
dogmatic
|
opinionated and describes the asserting of opinions in an arrogant manner with an air of authority; Gree dogma (a philosophical doctrine; literally, that which one thinks is true)
|
|
doleful
|
mournful and sorrowful; Latin dolor (sorrow)
|
|
dolt
|
a blockhead or nitwit; numbskull; Middle English dollen (to dull)
|
|
don
|
to put on; contraction of "do on"
|
|
dormant
|
temporarily inactive, in abeyance; French dormier (to sleep)
|
|
dossier
|
a record; literally, an accumulation of documents containing data relating to someone or something, but used loosely to mean record, in the ense of background information; intact from French
|
|
doughty
|
stout-hearted, resolute, unafraid; intact from Middle English
|
|
dour
|
severe and stern; harsh, sullen, forbidding; Latin durus (hard)
|
|
doyen
|
the senior member (in the sense of leading representative) or dean of a group; interchangeable with the word dean; an especially skilled or knowledgeable person who is outstanding in his field; intact from French senior or oldest member)
|
|
draconian
|
expresses the concept of extreme harshness or severity and is most often found in the term draconian measures, describing harsh laws or procedures, the kind beloved of dictators; Greek Draco (an Athenian lawgiver who flourished around 620 B.C. and was responsible for lawas that were strict to the point of cruelty)
|
|
droll
|
oddly amusing; Droll people make you laught by whimsical, eccentric conduct or words
|
|
dudgeon
|
resentment and indignation, and is practically always found in the expression "in high dudgeon", meaning "very resentful and full of indignation"
|
|
duplicity
|
a noun that expresses deceitfulness, double-dealing, bad faith; describes the acts of one who pretends to feel one way and acts the opposite way, and cheats
|
|
ebullient
|
high-spirited, exuberant; Latin ebullire (to boil up)
|
|
eclectic
|
selective, choosing from various sources; Greek eklektikos (selective)
|
|
edify (vb); edifying (adj.); edification (n)
|
to instruct and to uplift; adj., reflects the uplifting aspect; as a noun, refelcts the instructing or enlightening aspect; Latin aedificare (to build)
|
|
effective
|
describes situations where something is helpful in producing an effect, where something goes into effect, where something is actual, where something or somebody is impressive or striking
|
|
effectual
|
covers the concept of answering the purpose; A machine may not be the most efficient one but can still be effectual
|
|
effecuate
|
to bring something about, make it happen, bring it to pass; Middle Latin effectuare (to bring to pass)
|
|
efficacious
|
productive of the desired result; used where a specific result is attained; Aspirin is efficacious in bringing down body temperature; Latin facere (to make)
|
|
efficient
|
describes a method, machine, substance or person producing a result with the least waste
|
|
efflorescence
|
a flowering or blossoming; used to describe the growth and development of one's art or the blossoming of a culture or civilization; Latin efflorescere (to blossom)
|
|
effrontery
|
describes impudent boldness, shameless audacity; Latin ad frontem (at the face) and Old French esfront (shameless)
|
|
effulgent
|
Latin effulgere (to glitter)
|
|
egregious
|
intensely pejorative adj., applied to things that are exceptionally, glaringly bad. Latin e grege (out of the (common) herd, exceptional), yet came to mean the opposite, outstandingly bad)
|
|
egress
|
an exit, Latin egressus (departure)
|
|
elegy
|
a mournful poem; can also apply to a musical composition in a melancholy vein
|
|
elicit
|
to draw something out, in a way which persistent questioning by the police results in a disclosure; Latin elicere (to entice out)
|
|
elide
|
to omit, and the word is most often applied to the omission of one or more ltters, whether in pronunciation or in writing, as in can't for cannot; also applies to the omission or cutting out of things other than letters; Latin elidere (to strike out)
|
|
elucidate
|
to make something clear or lucid, to throw light upon something; Latin elucidare (to enlighten) and lux (light)
|
|
emblazon
|
to adorn richly, deck in brilliant colors; originally described the decoration of anything with heraldic ornaments; sometimes used to mean "proclaim" or "extol"
|
|
emend
|
to correct or edit; Latin emendare (to correct, based on e- (away from) and mendum (mistake))
|
|
emeritus
|
applies to a person who has retired while retaining his honorary title and is usually found in the expression professor emeritus; Latin emerere (to earn by service and veteran in the miltary sense)
|
|
emote
|
to act emotionally; somtimes used pejoratively, to indicate theatrical behavior; Latin emovere (to move out)
|
|
empirical
|
something based on observation and experience, as opposed to theory; Latin empiricus (an unscientific doctor)
|
|
emulate
|
to imitate, with the implication of an attempt to equal or surpass; sometimes takes on the implication of successful rivalry; Latin aemulari (to rival)
|
|
encomium
|
high praise; implies a certain degree of formality, as in an official speech or situation
|
|
endemic
|
characteristic, peculiar to a particular place, race, nation, sect; this word is used, e.g., of diseases that flourish regularly in certain parts of the world; Greek endemos and demos (people)
|
|
enervate
|
to weaken and lessen one's vitality; Latin enervare (literally, to remove the sinews)
|
|
enigmatic
|
puzzling and obscure; Greek aenigma (riddle)
|
|
enmity
|
hostility, antagonism; Latin inimicus (enemy), based on the negative -in and amicus (friend)
|
|
ennui
|
boredom; French, expresses world-weariness and emptiness of feeling, often felt by the "man who has everything"
|
|
entity
|
an elevated synonym for thing; anything having a distinct existence
|
|
enure, inure
|
to accustom, to habituate; in law, it has the effect of "operate"; Middle English enuren
|
|
envisage
|
to visualize something or imagine it; can also imply foresee
|
|
ephemeral
|
short-lived, soon over and done with; Greek emphemeros (short-lived)
|
|
epicure
|
a gourmet, a fastidious diner who understands and lays great stresss upon the refinements of cooking and relishes the best of food and drink; Greek Epicurus, philosopher who held that pleasure was the highest good, which came from modest living, whihc led to calm of mind and body
|
|
epigram
|
witticisms, witty sayings, wisecracks, tersely expressed, often in verse; applies particularly to a brief satirical poem, usually ending with a terse, witty observation
|
|
epitaph
|
literally, a tomb inscription; but the word is used more generally to cover any written praise of one who has passed on; Greek epitaphion (over a tomb)
|
|
epitome
|
an embodiment, typical representation; intract from Greek via Latin
|
|
equable
|
even-tempered, unvarying
|
|
equanimity
|
composure, calmness of temperament
|
|
equitable
|
fair and just; Latin aequitas (faitness, justice)
|
|
equivocal
|
uncertain, undetermined, or questionable; Late Latin aequivocus (ambiguous)
|
|
errant
|
describes conduct that amounts to misbehaving; also, can mean "wandering aimlessly", as in an errant breeze, and in this use errant is a gentle, poetic word; Latin errare (to wander)
|
|
ersatz
|
applies to anything that is synthetic, artificial, substitute; not the genuine article; something else, generally of inferior quality; can be used as a noun to describe anything artificial used as a substitute for a natural product; intact from German (substitute)
|
|
erudite
|
learned, scholarly; Latin erudire (to instruct)
|
|
eschew
|
to shun or avoid something; the avoiding is not casual, but determined; Middle English scheowe (shy)
|
|
esoteric
|
describes anything obscure, far out, beyond the grasp of most people; can apply to ideas, works of art, doctrines, systems of thought, philosophies, and the like; Greek esoterikos (inner)
|
|
ethereal
|
light, delicate, airy; Greek, ether
|
|
etymology
|
derivation, in the sense of the specific derivation of a particular word; Greek etymos (true) and logos (word)
|
|
eulogy
|
a specific speech or writing in praise of a person (usually deceased) or thing, as in a flowery eulogy that keeps a funeral service going for hours, or "praise" generally; Late Latin eulogia (praise)
|
|
euphemism
|
applied to a mild or indirect word or phrase substituted for one considered too harsh or indelicate; ex. to pass away; can apply to a specific case or to the general practice of resorting to such substitutes; Greek euphemismos (use of words of good omen)
|
|
euphonious
|
pleasant-sounding
|
|
euphoric
|
expresses the mood of a person enjoying an exaggerated feeling of well-being; its slang equivalent is "high"; the word usually implies that the feeling is unjustified by the circumstances, or is entirely without a basis in reality; Greek euphoria (state of well-being)
|
|
exacerbate
|
to worsen, to aggravate, in the sense of increasing bitterness
|
|
excoriate
|
to upbraid scathingly, reprimand harshly; literally, to flay, to strip the skin off (someone); figuratively, merciless reprimand; Latin excoriare (to skin)
|
|
excrement
|
feces; describes any bodily waste, but it almost always refers to fecal matter
|
|
exculpate
|
to free someone from blame; synonymous with exonerate; Latin exulpare (to free from blame)
|
|
execrable
|
detestable, abominable, hateful
|
|
exegesis
|
interpretation, especially of Scripture, but applicable generally; intact from the Greek
|
|
exemplary
|
commendable, setting a high standard, an example worth imitating; Latin exemplary (serving as a copy)
|
|
exhort
|
to urge, to advise with great emphasis; Latin exhortari (to urge)
|
|
exigency
|
urgency; in the plural, "urgent needs, demands"; Latin exigere (to demand)
|
|
exonerate
|
to free from blame; synonymous with exculpate; Latin ex (from) and onus (burden, charge)
|
|
exorcise
|
to expel, to free
|
|
expatiate
|
to dwell upon something at great length, going into it in great detail; exspatiari (to walk about, wander, deviate)
|
|
expiate
|
to atone or make amends for; Latin expiare (to atone for)
|
|
expostulate
|
to argue vigorously with someone in order to talk him out of doing something or to remonstrate against something he has done; Latin expostulare (to demand urgently)
|
|
expropriate
|
to take something away without the owner's consent
|
|
expunge
|
to wipe out, erase, delete; Latin expungere
|
|
extempore
|
impromptu, done on the spur of the moment; Latin ex tempore (literally, out of time; freely, at the moment)
|
|
extenuate
|
to lesson the seriousness of an offense, or someone's guilt, or to make it seem less serious; Latin extenuare (to reduce, diminish)
|
|
extirpate
|
to root out, destroy, eradicate, extirminate; Latin exstirpare (to tear up by the roots), ex (from) and stirps (roots))
|
|
extrapolate
|
to make a future estimate pased on past data; sometimes has the meaning of "conjecture" or "predict"
|
|
exuberant
|
in high spirits, full of enthusiasm; can also have the meaning of "lavish, profuse"; Latin exuberare (to grow thickly, abound)
|
|
facet
|
literally, one of the many polished "faces" of a gem; figuratively, aspect, phase, or angle of a situation; French facette (little face)
|
|
facile
|
performing and acting with ease; can imply superficiality; intact from French, Latin facilis (easy)
|
|
facilitate
|
to make easy, to help along
|
|
fallacious
|
unsound and misleading; Latin fallacia (deceit)
|
|
fallow
|
literally, plowed and unseeded; metaphorically, dormant, inactive, unproductive; also, "pale, yellow, dun", derived from the color of unplowed land; avoid this last use
|
|
falter
|
to waver, vacilate; to stumble, tooter, to give way; usually means waver or stumble; Icelandic, faltrast means (to be uncertain)
|
|
farrago
|
without change from Latin; literally, "mash" (mixed cattle fodder); figuratively, any "mixture" or "medley"; a hodgepodge or mishmash; synonyms are olio and gallimaufry
|
|
fatuous
|
inane or foolish, with a strong implication of complancency and smug self-satisfaction; silly, but has the implication of stupid; Latin fatuus (silly)
|
|
feasible
|
a "can do" word; describes something that can be accomplished, a goal that is not beyond wild dreams, something workable; another shade of meaning is "plausible, likely"; Latin facere (to do)
|
|
feckless
|
untrustworthy due to being incompetent, feeble, or irresponsible, lazy without spirit or energy, or all of these unpleasant things; Scotland feck (effect or value)
|
|
fecund
|
productive, fertile; Latin fecundus (fruitful)
|
|
feisty
|
full of spirit, lively, ready for anything; can also imply "short-tempered and quarrelsome"; American dialects a feist is an ill-tempered mutt
|
|
fellicitate
|
to congratulate; Latin felicitas (success, good fortune)
|
|
felicity
|
great happiness, as in marital felicity
|
|
felicitous
|
Latin felicitas (success, good fortune); applies to things, concrete or abstract, that are well-suited, appropriate, well-chosen, such as a well-chosen remark
|
|
feral
|
an untamed animal that has escaped from the zoo is often referred to as feral; wild or savage; may be used in the place of uncivilized; Latin ferus (wild)
|
|
ferret
|
usually followed by "out"; to rummage around and eventually find something; from ferret, an animal that can be domesticated and trained to smell and drive out rabbits and rats; Latin furritus (small thief)
|
|
festoon
|
a chain of flowers or ribbons hung in a loop as a decoration; to festoon something is, literally, to decorate it with festoons; verb can be used figuratively as a vivid description of situations where something or someone is adorned or surrounded in a smothering sort of way; Italian festone, decoration for a feast)
|
|
fetid, foetid
|
describes a very unpleasant state of affairs; it means "stinking" or "melodorous"; can also be applied, figuratively, to odious or hateful people
|
|
fey
|
eccentric, in a whimsical way, unworldly, appera to be a little bit "touched," and tend to behave irresponsibly; originally applied to anyone believedd to be conscious of impending doom, even death; Icelandic feigr (doomed)
|
|
fiasco
|
a total and humiliating failure; Italian, literally, "straw-covered wine bottle" and figuratively, "disastrous failure"
|
|
fiat
|
a decree, and comes directly from the Latin fiat, which means "Let it be done"; less technically, a fiat is an order, whether issued under authority or arbitrarily, like some of those laid down by the big boss
|
|
fiduclary
|
applies to a person or firm handling assets of a third party, like a trustee, executor, guardian or anyone else in a position of trust; Latin fiduciarius "entrusted"
|
|
figurative
|
word of phrase that involves a figure of speech, especially a metaphor; something other than the literal use of the term; Latin fugurare (to form, shape)
|
|
finite
|
limited in some way, whether in time, space, numerically, or otherwise. Latin finire (to limit, to end)
|
|
flaccid
|
literally, limp and flabby; figuratively, weak, ineffectual, unimpressive
|
|
flagellate
|
to whip or flog; figuratively, to punish, especially with severe criticism; can also be used in the sense of "driving" or "urging" someone or oneself, for instance, to fulfull his duty; Latin flagellare (to whip)
|
|
flamboyant
|
describes anyone or anything outstandingly showy or striking; intact from French (to flame, flare up)
|
|
flatulent
|
describes an unpleasant condition, meaning "suffering from gas" or "causing gas" (in the digestive tract); figuratively used to describe writing that is bombastic, pompous, turgid, and overwritten
|
|
flay
|
synonymous with excoriate; literally, to strip off the skin, hide or any out covering (usually) of a living creature, to skin alive; figuratively, to criticize scathingly;
|
|
fledgling
|
literally, very young birds, who are bald, without feathers; figuratively, applied to inexperienced yougn people who are immature
|
|
flippant
|
frivolous or disrespectful, not taken seriously; a pejorative, disparaging word suggestive of a somewhat flighty, disrespectful attitude towards the subject matter or athe person addressed
|
|
flout
|
to scorn, mock, scoff at, disdain; Middle English flouten (to play the flute)
|
|
foible
|
describes the French word faible, meaning weak; describes a minor, relatively harmless weakness in a person's character, and is especially appropriate when the character is otherwise a strong one; more general than peccadillo (a minor offense, a trivial fault)
|
|
foment
|
to instigate, promote, in the sense of get something moving or going and is usually applied in an unfavorable way; Latin fovere (to warm or keep warm)
|
|
font
|
a church basin, usually of stone, for holding baptism water, a holy water receptable; figuratively, source of fountainhead; also, "set type"; Latin fons (fountain) and fundere (to pour)
|
|
foray
|
a sudden raid, usually to take plunder; to foray is to make such a raid
|
|
force majeure
|
taken over bodily from the French, meaning "superior force"; in other words, an unforeseeable, uncontrollable event that makes it impossible to perform one's obligations (under a contract) and exempts him, in most cases, from liability for failure to live up to his agreement; commonly known as "an act of God" (who gets blamed for everything)
|
|
forensic
|
describes things having to do with the law and the courts; Latin forensis, relating to forum (open square where judicial business was conducted)
|
|
formidable
|
something feared or dreaded; intimidating; can also mean "awe-inspiring"; can also mean "powerful"; Latin formidare (to dread)
|
|
fortuitous
|
happening by chance; accidental; Latin forte (by chance)
|
|
founder
|
when a ship founders, it's all over; to sink; when plans founder, they fail, fizzle out; applied to animals, can mean "to become ill by overeating"; Middle English foundren (to plunge, to the bottom)
|
|
fractious
|
peevish and irritable; unruly; hard to manage; Latin frangere (to break, shatter)
|
|
fruition
|
fulfillment, attainment, realization, results achieved; Latin frui (to enjoy, have the benefit of)
|
|
fulminate
|
usually followed by against; to send forth denunciations and condemnation; fulminare (to lighten - from fulmen, and thuderbolt)
|
|
fulsome
|
offensively excessive; most common use is in the phrase fulsome praise, which is exaggerated and insincere and smacks of the sycophant or toady; Middle English fulsom (foul, disgusting)
|
|
furtive
|
describes the qualities of stealth, slyness, shiftiness, sneakiness; Latin fur (thief)
|
|
fusillade
|
a military term signifying a "simultaneous discharge of arms", the sort of bombardment the enemy keeps up from across the river in war stories; figuratively, describes an explosive atmosphere; fusil is French for gun
|
|
gadfly
|
a species of fly that annoys cattle; figuratively, any pest or anyone who annoys people by continual carping, or persistently pesters others with schemes, demands for action, etc.
|
|
garrulous
|
talkative and rambling on, usually about trivial matters
|
|
gauche
|
crude, uncouth, and awkward, lacking in social grace and inssensitive
|
|
generic
|
general, common, in the sense of applicable to a whole class; in medicine, an untrademarked product that is identical, and normally costs substantially less; Latin genus (kind, type)
|
|
genesis
|
origin or source; intact from Greek
|
|
gentry
|
upper-class people (well-born and well-bred); also used to describe the people of any particular class or group
|
|
germane
|
relevant, pertinent; Latin germanus (from the same parents)
|
|
googol
|
an astronomical number, the largest that can be expressed in words, used primarily to measure the unimaginable distances of outer space; technically, it is 1 followed by 100 zeros
|
|
gormandize
|
to eat gluttonously
|
|
gossamer
|
technically, the filmy cobweb left by spiders on grass or bushes; commonly used to describe any thin, delicate fabric
|
|
grandiloquence
|
high-flown, bombastic speech; Latin grandis (great, large) and loqui (to speak)
|
|
gratuitous
|
given free of charge; uncalled for, unprovoked; ex. a gratuitous insult
|
|
gratuity
|
terms covers anything given voluntarily, i.e., not legally required, like a tip or gift over and above the regular price for something or payment due to services; Latin gratum (favor)
|
|
gravamen
|
issue that weighs most heavily in an accusation or legal action; Latin gravare (to load, weigh down)
|
|
gregarious
|
sociable, fond of company; Latin gregarius (belonging to a herd or flock)and grex (herd, flock)
|
|
gulse
|
semblance, assumed appearance, style of dress
|
|
habituate
|
to get accustomed to, used to, gradually get to accept as normal; Latin habituatus (conditioned)
|
|
hackneyed
|
trite, made stale from overuse
|
|
halcyon
|
carefree and happy; can mean tranquil and peaceful, but usually evokes the image of past joyous, carefree times; Greek halkyon (a mythical bird alleged to have the power of calming the sea while it nested on its waters)
|
|
harbinger
|
someone or something that signals the approach of things to come; a forerunner; Crocuses are a habinger of spring. Middle English herbenger (host)
|
|
harridan
|
a forceful word for a scolding hag, an ill-tempered old woman; the Queen of Hearts in Alice and Wonderland is a fine prototype
|
|
hedonist
|
one who believes that pleasure is the chief aim in life and lives thay way; Greek hedone (pleasure)
|
|
hegemony
|
dominant influence, especially of one nation or state over others; Greek hegemonia (supremacy)
|
|
hegira
|
a journey to a pleasanter place; the original hegira was Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622
|
|
heinous
|
excessively evil, positively hateful; French haine (hatred)
|
|
herbivorous
|
plant-eating; Latin herba (plant) and vorare (to eat greedily, gulp)
|
|
hermaphrodite
|
a living organism with both male and female organs of sex; the adj. means bisexual; Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus became merged in bodies and became both male and female
|
|
heterogeneous
|
composed of different kinds; Greek hetero (different) and genos (kind or type)
|
|
homogeneous
|
composed of the same kind; Greek homo (same)
|
|
heuristic
|
helping to learn, encouraging (students) to find out for themselves; Greek heuriskein (to find out)
|
|
hiatus
|
synonymous with lacuna; may be abstract as well; applies to any case where there is a break in a sequence, such as four, six, eight; intact from Latin (opening)
|
|
hie
|
to hasten; evokes a pleasant nostalgic atmosphere
|
|
homily
|
a sermon, a moralizing talk, usually with the implication of tedious length and dullness
|
|
honorarium
|
literally, a voluntary payment for services when there is no legal obligation to pay; euphemistic substitute for fee; Latin honorarius (done or given as an honor)
|
|
hubris
|
arrogance, insolent pride (the kind the goeth before a fall); opposite of modesty; intact from Greek, one of the common sins in Greek tragedy
|
|
hyperbole
|
exaggeration, intentionally used as a figure of speech; extravagent assertions that are not meant to be taken literally; intact from Greek
|
|
hypothesis
|
a supposition or theory to explain an occurrence in the absence of actual proof; hypothetical adj. Meaning "unsupported by truth"; intact from Greek
|
|
iconoclast
|
one who challenges accepted beliefs; Greek eikon (image, idol) and klaste (breaker); literally, an image-breaker;
|
|
idyllic
|
happily peaceful or charmingly romantic; Greek eidyllion (short pastoral poem); idyll is a poem or prose piece about pastoral scenes or sweet charming happenings
|
|
ignominy
|
applies to either the disgrace resulting from a shameful act of the dishonorable conduct itself; ignominious means shameful, humiliating
|
|
illicit
|
unlawful; forbidden; Latin licere (to be allowed)
|
|
illusory
|
describes things that are deceptive, that cause a false impression, an illusion; Latin illudere (to mock, deceive)
|
|
imbibe
|
to drink; figuratively, drink in, absorb; Latin imbibere (to drink in)
|
|
imbroglio
|
confused situation; bitter misunderstanding; violent disagreement; intact from Italian (entanglement)
|
|
immemorial
|
describes things that extend back beyond memory;
|
|
immutable
|
unchangeable; Latin mutare (change)
|
|
impassive
|
neither feeling nor showing emotion; Latin passivus (submissive)
|
|
impecunious
|
describes the unfortunate state of being penniless; Latin pecuniosus (wealthy) and pecunia (money, wealth)
|
|
impede
|
to hinder; Latin impedire (literally, to entangle the feet)
|
|
imperious
|
domineering, bossy, dictatorial; Latin imperiosus (commanding, tyrannical)
|
|
imperturbable
|
calm, not easily excited, impassive, unlikely to be easily disconcerted; Latin perturbare (to disturb utterly, throw in confusion)
|
|
implacable
|
relentless and unable to be pacified
|
|
implement
|
to put something into effet; to carry it out; Late implere (to fill up)
|
|
implicate
|
when you implicate someone in a crime, you involve him it in, or show him to be involved; Latin implicare (to entwine, entangle; figuratively, to involve)
|
|
implicit
|
implied, taken for granted; unquestioning, absolute; implicare (to entwine, entangle)
|
|
imponderable
|
a noun that indicates something difficult to estimate; a matter that cannot be determined by decision; Latin ponderare (literally, to weigh; by extension, to weigh mentally, to ponder)
|
|
importunate
|
persistent in making requests; Latin importunus (assertive, inconsiderate)
|
|
importune
|
to press urgently and request something persistently
|
|
impugn
|
to challenge, to call something into question, to discredit something; Latin impugnare (to attack)
|
|
impute
|
to attribute or ascribe a result or quality to anything or anybody; impute often implies unjust accusation; Latin putare (to think, believe)
|
|
inauspicious
|
unfavorable, gloomy, ill-omened
|
|
incarnate
|
personified; expresses the concept of embodiment; Latin carnis a form of caro (flesh)l
|
|
inchoate
|
just begun, undeveloped and unorganized; Latin incohare (to begin)
|
|
icipient
|
just beginning, in the initial stage of development; Late incipere (to begin)
|
|
inclement
|
harsh, severe; applied to people, means cruel, without mercy
|
|
incognito
|
usual use is in the adverb expression traveling incognito; the assumed identity is also known as an incognito; Latin incognitus (unrecognized)
|
|
incongruous
|
out of keeping with one another; superstition is incongruous with intelligence; Latin incongruus (inconsistent)
|
|
increment
|
an increase, growth or gain, something added; a raise in salary is an increment
|
|
incredulous
|
skeptical, inclined not to believe; Latin credere (to believe)
|
|
incubus
|
a male demon believed to swoop down on sleeping women and have sex with them in their sleep; has come to mean nightmare, whether literally or figuratively
|
|
inculcate
|
to teach by persistent urging, to implant (ideas, habits) through constant admonition; Latin inculcare (to impress upon)
|
|
incumbent
|
as an adj. Followed by on or upon, means obligatory; can also mean "holding office"; as a noun, it means "office-holder"; Latin incubare (to lie upon)
|
|
indecorous
|
the opposite of decorous
|
|
indigenous
|
native, in the sense of characteristic, inherent; Latin indigenus (native)
|
|
indigent
|
needy, impoverished, lacking the necessities of life; Latin indigere (to need)
|
|
indolent
|
lazy and slothful, willing to do anything to avoid exertion; evokes the image of someone having a nice, easy time; Latin indolentia (freedom from pain)
|
|
ineffable
|
inexpressible, in a positive sense; unspeakable, in a negative sense; Latin ineffabilis (unutterable)
|
|
ineluctable
|
inescapable, cannot be avoided and must happen; Latin eluctari (to struggle out of, surmount a difficulty)
|
|
ineptitude
|
can denote unfitness generaly, or lack of skill or aptitude for a particular job; can also mean unsuitable, inappropriate, tasteless; Latin ineptus (unsuitable, inappropriate, tasteless)
|
|
ingénue
|
name assigned, in the theatre, to the role of an artless, unsophisticated girl; French ingénu (naïve, unsophisticated, ingenuous, without artifice)
|
|
ingenuous
|
free from deceit, artless; ingenuous people shouldn't play poker
|
|
innate
|
inborn; inherent, built in; Latin natus (born)
|
|
innocuous
|
harmless; harmless, in the sense of inoffensive; unexciting, vapid; Latin nocuus (harmful)
|
|
innuendo
|
a veiled intimation or insinuation of a derogatory nature, an equivocal or ambiguous allusion, reflecting on someone's character, honesty, ability, etc.
|
|
inordinate
|
excessive; disorderly; irregular; inordinatus (disorderly, confused)
|
|
inscrutable
|
unfathomable, mysterious; Latin scrutari (to investigate)
|
|
insouciant
|
unconcerned and carefree; intact from French, based on soucier (to trouble) and souci (care)
|
|
insular
|
literally, means "of or pertaining to islands"; figuratively, describes people who are narrow-minded, like isolated island people with resulting narrow, parochial views; Latin insula (island)
|
|
intangible
|
describes things that cannot be perceived by touch, but can also mean "vague" or "elusive"
|
|
integument
|
literally, a natural covering, such as an animal's skin, or the rind or husk of a plant of vegetable; but by extension, it has been broadened to include any covering; Latin integumentum (covering)
|
|
interdict
|
to forbid, especially with the implication of an authoritative prohibition, as by a church or civil authority; as a noun, certain civil and church prohibitory decrees; Latin interdicere (to forbid)
|
|
interlocutor
|
anyone participating in a conversation, but the term implies that the conversation or dialogue is of an official nature and on a high level;
|
|
interpolate
|
to insert, especially with th eimplication that the new material is spurious and has been inserted without authorization and for purposes of deception; Latin interpolare (to polish up, and by extension, to falsify
|
|
intractable
|
stubborn, hard to manage, obstinate; Latin trahere (to drag, pull)
|
|
intransigent, intransigeant
|
stubborn, unbending, inflexible, unwilling to compromise; stronger word than intractable; as a noun, can denote a person adamant in his convictions, especially in politcs; Latin transigere (to come to an understanding)
|
|
intrepid
|
fearless, bold, ready to take recognized risks; Latin trepidus (anxious, worried)
|
|
intuit
|
to know something instinctively, i.e., through direct insight without any reasoning, without having to think or be told about it; Latin intueri (to contemplate)
|
|
inundate
|
literally, to flood or overthrow; figuratively, to overwhelm or deluge; Latin inundare (to flood) and unda (wave)
|
|
inure, enure
|
to accustom, to habituate; in law, used in the phrase "inure to the benefit of", where it means to operate
|
|
invective
|
as a noun, denotes a violent, abusive attack in words, written or oral; as an adj., describes that sort of attack; the verb is inveigh, which means to use invective, to rail; Latin invehere (to attack)
|
|
inviolable
|
secure (from invasion, destruction, corruption, etc.)
|
|
inviolate
|
free from attack, desecration, or outrage; freedom from alteration; Latin inviolatus (unhurt)
|
|
irascible
|
short tempered and easily roused to anger; Latin erasci (get angry) and ira (anger)
|
|
issue
|
offspring, descendants; Middle French issir (to go out)
|
|
iterate
|
to say or do something repeatedly; Latin iterare (to repeat)
|
|
jejune
|
insipid, childish; literally, unnourishing; Latin jejunus (literally, fasting, by extension, hungry, and then on to poor, mean, meager)
|
|
jettison
|
the act of throwing cargo overboard to lighten a vessel, and Is also the verb that describes such action; by extension, to jettison is to get rid of any burden, anything unwanted, to discard; Latin jacere (to throw)
|
|
jingoism
|
describes excessive chauvinism, combined with a bellicose attitude toward foreign countries;
|
|
jocular
|
joking, facetious, tongue-in-cheeck, jesting, not to be taken seriously; jocular implies kidding, rather than unkindness; Latin jocari (to joke)
|
|
journeyman
|
a reliable worker, competent but not exceptional; originally applied to a person hired to work for a day, or by the day; has come to be used where one wants to indicate that the worker in question is capable but far from outstanding
|
|
juxtapose
|
to place two or more things side by side; the implication of this word is to call attention to the combining; Latin juxta (close by, near) and ponere (to put or place)
|
|
karma
|
this poetic word, borrowed from Buddhist and Hindu theology, is loosely and commonly used to mean "fate" or "destiny"; technically, the word denotes the sum total of one's deeds in one life which decide his fate in the next incarnation
|
|
keen
|
to wail, used as a noun, a keen is an Irish funeral song characterized by wailing, and to keen, in Irish folkways, is to utter such a keen; Irish caoinim (to lament)
|
|
ken
|
a range of knowledge; found in expressions, beyond my ken, within my ken, outside my ken; range of sight or recognition; German kennen (to know, be acquainted with)
|
|
kinetic
|
describes anything having to do with motion, caused by motion or characterized by motion; Greek kinein (to move)
|
|
kite
|
a bad check, promissory note, or other piece of negotiable commercial paper that has nothing behind it and is worthless; as a verb, kite is to issue such a check, note, etc.
|
|
kitsch
|
borrowed from German, describes trashy art, without taste or aesthetic value, usually pretentious, intended to appeal to the popular taste, marked by slick sensationalism or sentimentality or both; German kitsch (rubbish, trash)
|
|
knell
|
describes the sound of a bell, rung in a slow beat, usually to mark a death or a funeral
|
|
kowtow
|
to act with servility, show exaggerated respect, behave obsequiously; the verb is usually followed by th preposition to or before; Chinese, describes the former custom of kneeling and touching the ground with the forehead as a mark of submission or worship
|
|
kudos
|
praise, honor, glory; Greek kydos
|
|
lachrymose
|
tearful, mournful; Latin lacrima (tear)
|
|
laconic
|
terse, using few words and opposite of garrulous, talkative; Laconia was a region in ancient Greece dominated by Sparta whose inhabitants were noted for their terse and pithy way of speaking
|
|
lacuna
|
a gap, a missing part; Latin lacuna (hollow, cavity, and by extension, any gap)
|
|
lagniappe
|
describes a bonus of one sort or another given to a customer as a token of goodwill, whether extra weight or measure, or a little something different; more loosely, used as a synonym for any tip or gratuity; American Spanish la napa (the addition)
|
|
lambent
|
flickering; softly radiant; brilliantly playful; generates the feeling of light, graceful movement; Latin lambere (to lick)
|
|
lament
|
an expression of grief, especially a vivid or passionate one; as a verb, to lament is to feel deep sorrow and regret
|
|
languish
|
to droop, "take on a melancholy air"; to pine; to suffer neglect; Latin languescere (to become faint)
|
|
lascivious
|
lewd and lustful; describes anything intended to arouse lustful thoughts or sexual desires; Latin lascivus (playful, and wanton, licentious)
|
|
lassitude
|
describes either the unpleasant state of weariness, physical or mental, that results from malnutrition, strain, or oppressive climatic conditions, or a condition of languor, listlessness, and indifference; that seems to prevent certain people from accomplishing anything; Latin lassus (weary) and lassare (to tire)
|
|
latent
|
describes things that are in existence, but not yet active or apparent, things that are potential but noy yet brought to the surface; Latin latere (to be concealed)
|
|
laudatory
|
lavishing praise; Latin laudare (to praise)
|
|
lax
|
showing a lack of interest in doing something either well or on time; the implication is that they know better, but just don’t' give a damn; negligent, lacking in strict observance; Latin (loose, slack)
|
|
lay
|
an adj. Applicable to one who is not a member, or connected with, a particular profession, especially law or medicine, but it can apply in its negative sense to any profession, e.g. accounting or architecture; Greek laikos (of the people)
|
|
lethargic
|
sluggish, listles, without pep or energy, having the morning-after feeling;
|
|
leviathan
|
a monster, any thing of wondrous size or vast power; biblical name for a sea monster typifying power
|
|
lexicon
|
a dictionary; intact from Greek, and most completely applied to Greek, Latin, and Hebrew dictionaries; also used to describe the special vocabulary of a person, profession, or field of knowledge; figuratively, it can mean record
|
|
licentious
|
lewd and immoral, disregarding the proprieties, the rules of human conduct; used to describe sexual excess and immorality; Latin licentia (freedom)
|
|
limn
|
to portray or describe something; Latin inluminare (to light up, to make clear)
|
|
linchpin
|
literally, this word applies to a pin through the end of an axle to keep the wheel on; figuratively, characteruzes anybody or anything deemed vital to keep a situation together
|
|
limpid
|
clear; lucid; serene, untroubled
|
|
lissome, lissom
|
supple, agile, lithe; Latin lentus (supple, pliant)
|
|
litany
|
a form of prayer consistenting of a serious of supplications to God, each followed by the same response by the worshipers; by extension, it has come to be applied to any monotonously repititious recital; often used in the expression litany of complaints
|
|
lithe
|
lissome, pliant
|
|
litigious
|
inclined to litigate (sue), acting for a lawsuit; by extension, argumentative, eager to pick a fight; Latin litigiosus (quarrelsome, full of strife)
|
|
logy
|
sluggish and lethargic; Dutch log (heavy)
|
|
loquacious
|
talkative, garrulous; the opposite of laconic; Latin loqui (to talk)
|
|
lothario
|
a rake, a seducer of women; Lothario was a seducer in the tragedy The Fair Penitent
|
|
lugubrious
|
gloomy, mournful; implies unrelieved gloom, and even more of it than the occasion justifies; Latin lugere (to mourn) and lugubris (mournful)
|
|
lurid
|
gruesome, shockingly vivid; often has the flavor of "sensational";
|
|
macrocosm
|
the great world around us, the entire universe, and by extension, the whole of something, any great whole, a whole world in itself; Greek makros (large) and kosmos (order, and by extension, universe)
|
|
microcosm
|
a miniature world, anything seen as a miniature sample of the whole world, or as resembling something else on a small scale; Greek mikros (small) and kosmos
|
|
maladroit
|
awkward, bungling, the opposite of adroit; Latin male (badly) and adroit
|
|
malaise
|
a noun that describes a general feeling of uneasiness, physical or mental or both; intact from French
|
|
malapropism
|
a ridiculous misuse of words; Latin male (badly) and apropros (appropriately)
|
|
malfeasance
|
wrongdoing, especially misconduct in public office; French malfaisance (evildoing)
|
|
malign
|
to slander, defame; as an adj., it means harmful or malicious; Latin malignus (ill-disposed, wicked)
|
|
malleable
|
impressionable; applied to material in manufacture or sculpture, it means "workable, shapable"; figuratively, used to describe people who can be influenced, those with impressionable or tractable mentalities; Latin malleus (hammer)
|
|
manqué
|
this word, taken from the French, follows the noun it modifies, and means "unfulfilled, fallen short"; French manquer (to miss, fail, lack)
|
|
martinet
|
a strict disciplinarian, one who demands obedience without question; named after the French General Jean Martinet, who invented a new military drill system
|
|
masticate
|
to chew, to reduce to a pulp; Latin masticare (to chew)
|
|
matriculate
|
to enroll; Middle Latin matriculatus (person listed)
|
|
maw
|
a mouth, jaws, throat, gullet, or the stomach or an animal; figuratively, any great opening resembling an animal's jaws;
|
|
mawkish
|
cloyingly, insipidly sentimental
|
|
megalomania
|
describes delusions of grandeur, exaggerated ideas of one's own importance; Greek megalo (indicating exaggeration or extravagance) and mania (madness)
|
|
mélange
|
a mixture or medley; the implication is that the mixture is a mixed bag of diverse and heterogeneous elements; French méler (to mix)
|
|
mellifluous
|
sweet and smooth (literally, flowing with honey); usually found in the expression mellifluous voice; Latin mel (honey) and fluere (to flow)
|
|
mendacious
|
false, lying, untruthful; Latin mendax (lying)
|
|
mendicant
|
beggar; as an adj., begging; Latin mendicare (to beg)
|
|
mercurial
|
lively and sprightly or changeable, fickle, erratic; Greek mythology, Mercury (identified as Hermes who had quick wit, and sharp dealing and thievishness)
|
|
meretricious
|
applies to anyone or anything tawdry and insincere, though showily attractive; Latin meretrix (prostitute); figuratively, expresses dishonest, cheap, flashy allure, like that of a harlot, with no real feeling behind it
|
|
messianic
|
adj. Applied to a leader (or would-be leader) claiming to be a liberator or deliverer; more loosely, to anyone or any theory claiming or expected to solve whatever the crisis of the moment happens to be; Hebrew mashiah (annointed)
|
|
metamorphosis
|
a transformation; Greek meta (change) and morphe (form); in zoology, it is the term describing changes like caterpillar into butterfly;
|
|
metaphor
|
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used not literally, but in a way that suggests a comparison of the thing described with something else;
|
|
metaphysics
|
philosophy, particularly in the abstruse variety; in PHL, denotes the branch dealing with first principles, the nature of existence and knowledge; its common use, however, often pejorative, it to characterize an argument or theory as too far-fetched and abstruse to prove the point contended for; Greek meta (after, beyond) and physike (the science of nature)
|
|
mete
|
to mete something out is to distribute or allot it; German messen (to measure)
|
|
miasma
|
literally, noxious air or unwholesome exhalations, as from a swamp or any rotting matter; more broadly, the word is used to describe a pervasive atmosphere that tends to harm or corrupt, or an emanation of foreboding and decay; Greek miasma (stain, pollution)
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mien
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bearing, air, especially as an indication or a person's character or mood; French mine (expression, appearance)
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millieu
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intact from French, means environment, surroundings
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militate
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to operate or serve as an important influence in favor of or against something; Latin militare (to serve as a soldier, but by extension, to serve generally)
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minutiae
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the smallest details of something; Latin minutia (smallness)
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misanthrope
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a people-hater, a person who dislikes just about everybpdy; Greek misos (hate) and anthropos (man)
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misapprehension
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mistake
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misappropriate
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to take or apply (property of funds) dishonestly, especially for one's own use; steal
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miscreant
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a villian; as an adj., villianous; Middle English miscreaunt (unbelieving), in the Middle Ages, unbelievers were considered villianous
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misnomer
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a wrong name of something, or the use of a wrong name; Middle French mis (indicating error) and nomer (to name)
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misogyny
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hatred of women; adj. Misogynous; Greek misos (hatred) and gyne (woman)
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mitigate
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to lessen, make less intense or severe; Latin mitigare (to make mild or soft)
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mnemonic
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anything that aids memory; Greek mnemon (mindful)
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modicum
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a bit, a small quantity; commonly found in negative expressions; Latin modicus (moderate, limited)
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molt
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to molt (speaking of animals) is to shed the outer covering (skin, feathers, etc.); Latin mutare (to change)
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morass
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a marsh or bog; figuratively, anything that bogs you down; German marsch (marsh)
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mordant
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sarcastic, biting; often used in the expression mordant wit; Latin mordere (to bite)
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moribund
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literally, approaching death; generally used to depict something that is on the verge of collapsing, "going fast", "on the way out"; Latin mori (to die)
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motif
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the theme of a work of art, whether literary, musical or other, is usually called a motif; taken over from French
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mottled
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describes anything splotched with spots of different colors and sizes;
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moutebank
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a charlatan and swindler; originally applied to a pitchman hawking quack medicines; Italian montinbanco (literally, a person who climbs up on a bench)
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mulct
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to bleed or milk something from something; to mulct something (usually money) is to obtain it by fraud or extortion
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mundane
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dull, ordinary or routine; less commonly, wordly; Latin mundus (world)
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munificent
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describes anything or anyone extremely generous, bountiful, lavish; Latin munificentia (generosity)
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nadir
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the lowest point of something; Arabic nazir (opposite the zenith)
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nascent
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just beginning to exist; Latin nasci (to be born)
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nebulous
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describes anything hazy, indistinct, foggy (in the figurative sense); Latin nebula (mist, cloud)
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nefarious
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wicked, execrable; Latin ne (not) and fas (divine command)
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nemesis
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someone's downfall or undoing; also denotes an unbeatable rivalry; Nemesis was the goddess of retribution
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neophyte
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a beginner; in church circles, a new convert, or a novice in a religious order; Greek neo (new) and phyton (plant)
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nether
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lower; German nieder (low); The Netherlands are sometimes referred to as "the Low Countries", because it lies lower than sea level
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niggardly
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niggardly people are stingy, loath to part with even the smallest contribution; niggardly things are meanly small or scanty
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niggling
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petty; from niggle, to fuss or carp; can also describe details of work requiring excessive effort
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nihilism
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a philosophy that preaches the total rejection of all restraint, all laws, all social and political institutions; Latin nihil (nothing)
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nirvana
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perfect bliss, the state of freedom from all the pain and suffering of the world; in eastern religions, the state attained through the extinction of one's personal passions and delusions; in Buddhism, the end of the cycle of reincarnation; generally, perfect peace, heavenly bliss
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nomenclature
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a system of names such as those used in a particular branch of science, philosophy, art, etc.; Latin nomenclature (list of names)
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non sequitur
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Latin for it does not follow; describes an unwarranted, unsupported conclusion, a statement made as though logically connected with what has gone before, but which in reality has nothing to do with it;
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nostrum
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a quack medicine; by extension, a panacea, a pet scheme recommended for the cure of the ills of the world; Latin nostrum (our, evoking the image of a pitchman selling "our" medicine)
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noxious
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harmful, physically or morally; Latin noxius (injurious)
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nuance
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a shade of meaning, a delicate gradation, a subtle difference in expression, feeling, color, etc.; intact from French
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nubile
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applies only to girls and young women and means "marriageable, ready for marriage"; Latin nubere (to marry)
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nugatory
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worthless, ineffective, futile; Latin nugari (to talk nonsense, be frivolous, to trifle)
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obdurate
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unyielding, inflexible, persistent, especially in the context of resistance to attempts at moral uplifting, as in an obdurate sinner; Latin durus (hard)
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obeisance
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homage, deep respect; literally, a bow or curtsy showing deference to a superior; obeissance in French means obedience, and by extension, submission
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obfuscate
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to make obscure, to becloud something; Latin fuscus (dark, and by extension, indistinct)
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oblivion
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actively, describes a state of forgetting, having forgotten, being unaware; passively, describes the state of being forgotten; Latin oblivisci (to forget)
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obloquy
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disgrace and bad repute resulting from public discredit or denunciation; can also be used in the sense of censure; Latin obloqui (to speak against)
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obscurantism
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the deliberate avoidance of clarity; Latin obscurare (to darken, cover)
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obsequies
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funeral services
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obsequious
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excessively deferential and sickeningly servile; Latin obsequi (to comply with)
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obstreperous
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unruly and boisterous; Latin obstrepere (to make a noise)
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obtrude
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to force (something, or oneself) on others
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obtrusive
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describes people who obtrude themselves (and their opinions) on others, and can be used to mean "disagreeably noticeable"; Latin obtrudere (to thrust upon)
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obtuse
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slow-witted, insensitive, thick-skinned, and thick-headed; Latin obtusus (dull)
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obviate
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to make something unnecessary, to make it possible to do without; Latin obviare (to prevent)
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occlude
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to close, stop up; Latin occludere (to close up)
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odious
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hateful; Latin odi (to hate)
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offal
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the term applied to the parts of a butchered animal considered inedible waste; by extension, it has become a term for refuse or garbage in general; figuratively, can be applied to people considered outcasts;
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Olympian
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majestic, incomparable, lofty; the name of a mountain in Greece, the home of the greater Greek gods; by extension, applicable to anyone or anything incomparably superior
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ombudsman
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an official appointed to look into complaints by individuals against public bodies and authorities; Swedish word meaning commissioner
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omniscient
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adj. That describes people who know everything; Latin omnis (all) and scire (to know)
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omnivorous
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describes both meat and plant eaters; figuratively, describes one who reads just about anything that comes his way - an omnivorous reader
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onerous
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burdensome; Latin onus (load)
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onomatopoetic
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ex. Are boom and sizzle; Greek onoma (name) and poiein (to make)
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opprobrium
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describes a disgrace or infamy suffered as a result of shameful conduct; intact from Latin
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ordure
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dung, excrement; by extension, anything disgusting or degrading; can be used as an equivalent of filth in the extended use
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ostensible
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adj. Applies to things that are pretended, put forward as the reason for something, apparent but not real; Latin ostendere (to hold out, display)
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ostentatious
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showy and intended to impress; Latin ostendere (to show, display)
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ostracize
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to exclude someone from society or companionship; Greek ostrakon (a fragment of broken pottery)
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otiose
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depending on the context, can mean either "idle, at leisure" or "futile, useless"; the first is the most common use; Latin otium (leisure)
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paean
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a song of praise, a shout of exultation, and by extension, any lavish expression of praise or joy
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palliative
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something that relieves without curing; often used pejoratively to indicate that the thing so characterized is not really "doing the job"; Latin pallium (coverlet)
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pallid
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pale and wan; by extension, dull, lacking vitality or sparkle
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palpable
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easily perceived, obvious; usually applied to negative things like lies and absurdities; Latin palpari (to touch) but applied to the sense of sight
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panacea
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a cure-all; Panacea was the Greek goddess of healing; figuratively, used to describe the impossible
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panache
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verve, flair, style, dash; in the days of chivalry, name given to a tuft, usually of feathers, attached to a helmet; from this it came to mean, "dash, verve, flamboyance"
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panegyric
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a speech or article in praise of someone or something; in ancient Greece, meant public assembly or festival (at which laudatory orations were given)
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panoply
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a complete magnificent outfit, a splendid display; originally meant a "full suit of armor" and became broadened to include any ceremonial outfit; by extension, figuratively describes any glittering covering
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pantheon
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describes a preeminent group, those most highly esteemed; originally, it was the term for a temple dedicated to all the gods Greek pan (all) and theos (god); it came to include any public building housing the remains of a nation's ilustrious heroes; by extension, the word has come to mean the illustrious group itself
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paradox
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any self-contradictory statement or contradiction in terms; Greek paradoxos (unbelievable)
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paragon
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a model of excellence, an ideal example of something; perfection personified; the ideal, the acme of perfection, a standard of comparison for all time; intact from Greek
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pariah
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an outcast, a person subjected by society or his immediate circle; Indian language meaning "drummer", which was the hereditary task of a low Indian caste
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parlous
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substitute for perilous
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parochial
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akin to provincial, in describing people and outlooks that are narrow, restricted; also a parochial school, meaning "pertaining to a parish"; parochial is worse than provincial because a parish is narrower than a province
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paroxysm
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a violent outburst
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parsimonious
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stingy, niggardly; implies excessive frugality, and is clearly pejorative; Latin parcere (to economize)
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parvenu
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an upstart; a person of obscure origin who has recently acquired wealth or position, but not the manners, style, wardrobe, etc., that go with it; can also be used as an adj. To describe such a person; French parvenir (to arrive)
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pastiche
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describes an artistic work made up of borrowings from variegated source material, a hodgepodge; Italian pasticcio (literally, pie; figuratively, mess, muddle)
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pastoral
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rustic, bucolic; Latin pastor (shepherd)
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patent
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obvious, exposed to view; Latin patere (to lie open)
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pathological
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caused by disease; pathological liar, describes a person whose constant tendency to lie arises from a mental disorder; pathology, is a general term for the study of diseases
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pathos
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the quality in human experience or any art form that evokes compassion; Greek pathos (suffering)
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patrician
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an aristocrat; as an adj. Means aristocratic, highborn and characteristic of aristocrats; Latin patres (fathers)
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paucity
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a scarcity, poor supply; Latin paucus (few)
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peccadillo
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pleasant word for a petty offense or trivial fault; in Spanish pecado is sin from Latin peccatum (fault, error, sin) and pecadillo is small sin in Spanish
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pecuniary
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describes anything pertaining to money; Latin pecunia (money)
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pedagogue
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litearlly, a schoolteacher, but its use implies that th person in question employs pedantic or dogmatic methods; Greek paidagogos (boy's tutor)
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pedant
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a person who shows off his learning, a nitpicker who insists on strict adherence to formal rules and overemphasizes minor details, an obsessive stickler;
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pedestrian
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a person going on foot; as an adj., means commonplace, dull, unimaginative; also means plodding; Latin pedester (on foot)
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pejorative
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as an adj., means disparaging, belittling; as a noun, covers any word or expression that disparages, belittles, talks down, puts down, badmouths someone or something; Latin pejorare (to make worse)
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penchant
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an inclination, strong liking; French pencher (to lean)
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penultimate
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next to last; Latin pene (almost) and ultimus (last); peninsula is paene (almost) and insula (island)
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penurious
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can mean either stingy, parsimonious or destitute, poverty-stricken
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peregrination
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traveling or journey; usually found in the plural; Columbus' peregrinations in his search for a short route to India led to the discovery of the New World
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peremptory
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imperious, dictatorial, admitting of no discussion; Latin peremptorius (final, decisive)
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truism
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a statement so obviously true as to seem hardly necessary to put into words; something one would think everyone would have to agree with, without argument; All truisms are cliches, or platitudes
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truculent
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aggressively hostile, belligerent, ready to fight or take offense on very small provocation, defiant; originally, meant "brutal, fierce, ferocious"; Latin truculentus (rough, ferocious)
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trepidation
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anxious uncertainty, fear and anxiety, nervous agitation; Latin trepidus (anxious)
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trenchant
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originally, meant "cutting, sharp", but it is now used only in the its figurative sense of "forceful, incisive, effective," sometimes even "caustic"; French trenchier (to cut)
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tremulous
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trembling with nervousness or timidity
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travesty
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literally, a comic imitation of a serious work of art, generally a literary or dramatic work, poking fun at it; in this sense, travesty has about the same meaning as burlesque; by extension, it is used to denote any grotesque or degraded imitation
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transcend
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to exceed; surpass, rise above, go beyond; Latin transcendere (to climb over)
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traduce
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to slander, malign, vilify, accuse falsely of some base action; Latin traducere (to expose)
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tortuous
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describes anythin, like a road or path, that is full of twists and turns; figuratively, it means "devious, not straightforward"; Latin tortuosus (full of turns and windings)
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torpid
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slow, sluggish, lacking in vigor, apathetic, dull; Latin torpidus (numb)
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toady
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an obsequious flatterer who fawns on someone and caters to his every whim in order to get into or stay in favor; to toady describes the acts of a toady who engages in excessive deference toward another purely from self-interest; From toad in the figurative sense of "object of aversion"
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titular
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having the title but without real authority; Latin titulus (title of honor)
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timorous
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stronger word for timid, implying a higher degree of fear and uncertainty, and a consciousness of weakness in the face of danger
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testy
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impatient, irritable, easily annoyed and quick to show it, equipped with a short fuse; Middle English testif (headstrong)
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terse
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concise, brief, short and sweet, as applied to speech or writing; Latin tergere (to wipe, cover, clean)
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tenuous
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literally, very thin in either form or consistency, but by extension it has come to mean "of little substance", "thin" in the sense of "not convincing, of little validity"; Latin tenuis (thin, slight)
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tenet
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a belief, an opinion, doctrine, position on a given matter, held as true; Latin tenere (to hold)
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tendentious
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biased, tending to favor a particular cause or point of view; Latin tendere (to tend, be inclined)
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temporal
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like secular, means worldly, or nonclerical; Latin temporalis (temporary - as opposed to eternal)
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temerity
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rashness, reckless lack of fear, unthinking boldness, foolhardiness, especially when motivated by an underestimation or disregard of consequences
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tedious
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boring; Latin taedium (boredom)
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tawdry
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cheap, showy, and gaudy, without real value or taste, while trying to appear elegant
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tautology
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the unnecessary use of words that merely repeat a thought and perform no other function, words that add nothing by way of additional information or clarification; Greek tauto (the same) and logos (word)
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tangible
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describes anything that can be felt, perceived by touch; extended to mean actual, substantial, definite; Latin tangere (to touch); intangible also has a meaning of vague, elusive
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tangential
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deviating or digressing from the main point of subject; it can also mean incidental to describe something that touches only lightly on another subject; Latin tangere (to touch)
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tactile
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describes anything pertaining to or using the sense of touch, or anything perceptible to touch, i.e., tangible; Latin tangere
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taciturn
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uncommunicative, inclined to keep silent; the oppose of voluble or garrulous; Latin tacere (to be silent)
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tacit
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understood without being expressed in so many words; understood, implied (by the circumstances, or by silence); Latin tacere (to be silent)
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synthesis
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the combining of elements to create a whole; can apply to the combining of chemical elements to create a compound, and has a special application to the production of a substance that may or may not occur in nature; sythetic is the adj. and means "artificial, imitation" or describes anything made by synthesis
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syntax
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the branch of grammar that deals with the arrangement of words in a sentence; Greek syntassein (to put in order, arrange)
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symbiosis
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the term for the living together of two different organisms which creates a mutually advantageous situation; adj. is symbiotic; Greek sym (together) and bios (life)
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sylph
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a slim, graceful girl; originally applied to an imaginary soulless creature who inhabited the air; adj. is sylphlike
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sycophant
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a flatterer, a most unpleasant type, a self-seeking, servile, sniveling hanger-on, a toady
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sybarite
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a person who lives mainly for pleasure and luxury, a sensualist or voluptuary - often with the implication that he can afford not to work for a living; derivation from Greek city Sybaris, known for its luxurious way of living; adj. is sybaritic
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surreptitious
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stealthy, clandestine; referring to pirated publications, the word means unauthorized; Latin surrepticius (stolen)
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surmise
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to suppose, without certain knowledge, to infer on scanty evidence; a belief based on slight evidence, a conclusion with no firm basis
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surfeit
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an excess of something, especially of food or drink; sometimes applied to the sensation of disgust and distress caused by such excess; French sufaire (to overdo)
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supplicate
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to beg, beseech, petition humbly and prayerfully; Latin supplicare (to kneel, beseech)
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supine
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literally, "lying on one's back, face up", the opposite of prone; figuratively, "passive" describing a person who does not react in the face of provocation, threat of danger, etc.; in the latter sense, it is a pejorative implying the behavior is wrong; Latin supinus (lying on one's back; inert)
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supercillious
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haughty and contemptuous of supposed inferiors, disdainful, arrogantly superior; Latin supercilium (literally, eyebrow; figuratively, arroagance)
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sully
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to stain, blemish; French souiller (to soil)
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succumb
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to yield, give way; standing alone, it can mean to die; Latin succumbere (to yield, fall down)
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succulent
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literally, means juicy, usually as applied to food and often with the sense of appetizing; figuratively, the word is sometimes applied to a young woman full of sparkle, freshness, and vitality and meant as a compliment; Latin succus (juice)
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succubus
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a demon believed to have assumed female form to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men; later applied to any demon or fiend; Latin succuba (prostitute)
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succor
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help, aid, usually with the implication that one is coming to rescue somebody from a fairly dangerous or wretched predicament; also a verb to express the giving of such aid; Latin succerrere (to come to the aid of)
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sub rosa
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literally, "under the rose"; in Roman times, hanging a rose over the table at a meeting meant the participants were sworn to secrecy; it means "secret(ly), confidential(ly)"; expression applied especially to actions that must be hidden from the public eye
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sublimate
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to transform impulses, feelings, etc., leading to forbidden behavior, usually sexual, into socially acceptable activity; the processbeing generally unconscious, and for the purpose of avoiding censure, punishment, or guilty feelings; Latin sublimare (to elevate)
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stultify
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to make dull, ineffectual, torpid, especially by long and boring work or a boring environment; Latin stultificare (to make stupid)
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strident
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loud and harsh, grating, creaking; strident sounds are harsh and shrill, insistent and discordant; Latin stridere (to make a harsh noise)
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stolid
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unemotional, impassive, unexcitable, unresponsive, not easily roused; Latin stolidus (stupid, dull, obtuse)
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strentorian
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extremely loud and penetrating; always said of a male voice; Stentor was a Greek herald during the Trojan War
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squalid
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miserably dirty and unpleasant, usually from neglect or poverty, wretched, sordid; Latin squalor (dirtiness)
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spurious
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counterfeit, not authentic, not the genuine article, phony; Latin spurius (false)
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sporadic
|
describes anything occuring here and there, now and then; occasional, scattered
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spleen
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an important organ of the body, acting on the blood, and once believed to be the seat of melancholy and ill humor; has come to describe spiteful bad temper, and when a person turns in anger upon another
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spate
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a sudden outpouring, of overwhelming proportions; literally applied to a huge and unexpected rush of liquid, like a flash flood, but generally used to describe an outpouring of almost anything, like a spate of wrathful words in an argument
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soupcon
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French word for "suspicion"; in English it means the very merest dash, trace, or hint of something, usually said of a flavor in cooking;
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soporific
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sleep-producing as an adj; as a noun, means "sleep-producing drug"; Latin sopor (sleep)
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sophomore
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sophomoric is used to describe the intellectual pretensions and overconfidence of the typical sophomore who thinks he knows a lot more than he actually does; Greek sophos (wise) and moros (foolish)
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sophism
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a specious statement or argument made to deceive someone; that that sounds plausible but is actually a clever distortion of the facts
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sop
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literally, a piece of bread soaked in a palatable liquid sugar-water or broth, given to a baby, for instance, to pacify it; figuratively, and now more often, covers anything given, such as a trivial bribe or concession, to keep someone or something appeased of quiet for the time being
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solipsism
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technically, a term in philosophy covering the thoery that only the self exists or can be demonstrated to exist, because all we can know of the world is what we can get through our own five senses; the adj. is more commonly used, solipsistic to describe "self-centeredness"; Latin solus (alone) and ipse (himself)
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soliloquy
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a speech, usually in a play, expressing a person's thoughts alound and addressed to no one in particular; Latin solus and loqui (to speak)
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zenith
|
the highest point
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zealot
|
a fanatic, especially a fanatical follower of a radical cause or leader; zeal is the fervor that motivates a zealot, and zealous means "ardent, diligent"; zealot has the greatest force and implies devotion beyond bounds
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yen
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a powerful desire or craving, a longing or yearning
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xenophobia
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expresses morbid fear and distrust of strangers or foreigners, or of anything new, strange or foreign; the adj. is xenophobic; Greek xenos (stranger, foreign) and phobos (fearing)
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wry
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the original, literal meaning of this word is "twisted, distorted," and it is still used that way in the expression wry neck; commonly used to describe an expression of disdainful irony; Greek rhoikos (crooked)
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wont
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as a noun, want means "custom, practice"; as a noun, often used negatively; also has an adjective usage; German gewohnt (accustomed)
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wizened
|
shriveled, full of wrinkles, withered; usually applied to the old and unhealthy; Middle English wisen (to whither)
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winsome
|
engagingly attractive, charming, usually with the implication of lightheartedness; more likely to be said of a woman than a man; can also be applied to appearances
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winnow
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to separate the desirable part from the worthless; can also be used figuratively; Latin ventilare (to fan, wave in the air)
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welter
|
a condition of turmoil, wild confusion, a jumble, a muddle; as a verb, to welter means to wallow, like pigs in a muddy sty, but can also be used figuratively; German weltern (to roll)
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|
waspish
|
ill-tempered, sharp-tongued, ready to snap at others; Latin vespa (wasp)
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|
wanton
|
adj., can describe an act committed deliberately, without justification and maliciously; can mean "uncalled-for, willful"; "careless, reckless"; can also mean "loose, lewd, lascivious, sexually without restraint"; as a noun, it can indicate one who acts wantonly, usually a loose woman
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|
wag
|
a roguish wit, a person given to droll humor; waggish is the adj.
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|
waft
|
to travel or carry lightly through the air
|
|
votive
|
describes anything given in fulfillment of a pledge or vow; Latin votum (vow)
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|
votary
|
a person devoted to a particular religion, cause, ideal, subject, pursuit, etc.; narrowly, it applies to those vowed to the service of God; generally, denotes any ardent adherent; Laton votum (vow)
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|
voracious
|
relating to food and eating, "ravenous, craving and consuming great amounts of food"; generally, "insatiable, eager to get and consume (almost anything)"; Latin vorax (gluttonous)
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|
voluble
|
talkative, prone to use a great volume of words; the opposite of taciturn; Latin volubilis (rapid, fluent in speech)
|
|
vociferous
|
clamorous, unrestrained, insistent in expressing one's views; Latin vociferari (to cry aloud)
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|
vituperative
|
harsh or abusive, especially in speech or language; vituperative language is the language of vicious and violent denunciation; Latin vituperare (to blame, scold, censure)
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|
vitriolic
|
commonly means scathing, savagely hostile, venomously biting; usually used to describe the kind of verbal attack or attacker
|
|
visceral
|
literally, used in medical references to the internal ograns; figuratively, relating to intuitive, inward feelings, instinctive response, "gut reaction"; Latin viscera (internal organs)
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|
visage
|
applied to the face of a human being, usually with reference to its features, expression, or size
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|
virulent
|
poisonous, extremely noxious; medically, highly infective; figuratively, violently hostile, bitter, spiteful; Latin virus (poison)
|
|
virtuoso
|
a person of outstanding skill; a term usually applied in the field of music, but not necessarily so; also used as an adj.; virtuosa for women; Latin virtus (excellence)
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|
virago
|
an extremely quarrelsome, loud-mouthed, scolding shrew; Latin virago (a man-like woman, a female warrior) and vir (man)
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|
vilify
|
to speak ill of, to defame, with the implication that the charge is unfair; the noun if vilification; Latin vilis (cheap) and facere (to make, do)
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|
vignette
|
originally applied to those old photographs or portraits shaded off gradually at the edges, or to decorative designs representing branches and leaves; commonly applied to a brief literary sketch, by itself or as aprt of a larger piece
|
|
vicissitude
|
almost always heard in the plural, meaning the "ups and downs" of life, the unpredictable changes of fortune
|
|
vertigo
|
dizziness, giddiness, the feeling that one, or the world about him, is whirling about; figuratively, bewilderment, extreme confusion; intact from Latin where it literally means "whirling around"
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|
veritable
|
something not simply true, but absolutely and positvely so, no way to be denied; Latin veritas (truth)
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|
verisimilitude
|
expresses the quality of appearing to be true or real or plausible, especially applicable to the representations of reality in fiction or painting; Latin verisimilitudo (probability)
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|
veracious
|
when applied to a statement, means "true"; applied to a person, means "truthful"; Latin verax (truthful)
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|
venial
|
pardonable, forgivable, not serious; Latin venia (indulgence, forgiveness)
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|
venerate
|
to respect deeply, to honor as sacred or noble, to revere; mostly used when describing the feelings inspired by someone or something honored and usually fairly old; Latin venerari (to revere, worship)
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|
veneer
|
literally, the term for a thin layer of finer wood laid over cheaper material in furniture, walls, etc.; figuratively, used to describe a superficial show or pretense of a good quality to cover up something disreputable or undesirable
|
|
venal
|
capable of being bought, susceptible to bribery; Latin venalis (for sale; by extension, venal)
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|
vehement
|
impassioned, intensely emotional, violent, extremely forceful
|
|
variegated
|
norrowly applied to anything marked by a variety of patchwork colors and, more generally, to things that are varied in other ways; synonymos are motley and dappled; Latin variegare (to make something look varied)
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|
vapid
|
insipid, flat, dull; noun is vapidity; Latin vapidus (spiritless, flat)
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|
vagary
|
unpredicatble, erratic turn of events; almost always used in the plural; Latin vagari (to wander, ramble)
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|
vacuous
|
inane, empty-headed, without substance; when applied to a face or look, means expressionless; Latin vacuus (empty)
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|
vacillate
|
to waver, hesitate, be indecisive, swing back and forth between feelings or opinions, be unable to make up one's mind; originally meant to sway to and fro; noun is vacillation; Latin vacillare (to totter, sway to and fro)
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|
uxorious
|
describes one who obsessively dotes on his wife, and is slavishly submissive to her; Latin uxor (wife)
|
|
untrammeled
|
not restricted or hampered, often in the expression free and untrammeled; trammel is the noun, which figuratively means "hindrance, impediment" and the verb means to hamper, restrain
|
|
untenable
|
impossible to defend or maintain; usually applied to theories, arguments, and positions taken; Latin tenere (to hold)
|
|
unsullied
|
spotless, immaculate; usually found in the expression unsullied reputation, unsullied name
|
|
unseemly
|
improper, particularly in behavior or manners; especially describing actions socially inappropriate in a specfic situation
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|
unpropitious
|
unfavorable; not favorably timed
|
|
unmitigated
|
absolute, not modified or diminished in any degree; used almost always in the pejorative sense
|
|
unflagging
|
untiring, persistently determined, not about to quit; to flag means to become weary, slow down from fatigue
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|
unfathomable
|
uncomprehensible; something whose meaning you cannot penetrate; fathom means "to measure the depth of";
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|
unctuous
|
oily, over-earnest and excessively considerate, overly pious; literally, unctuous describes anything actually oily or greasy, but commonly implies an affectation of sincerity for an ulterior purpose, usually to ingratiate oneself in order to gain some unstated goal; Latin ungere (to anoint, besmear)
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|
unconscionable
|
describes actions, attitude, etc. that are unscrupulous, not restrained by one's conscience; excessive, extreme, improper to the point of outrage; always in a bad sense
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|
umbrage
|
a feeling of offense, resentment, extreme displeasure and annoyance, usually found in the expression to take umbrage, meaning to take offense; Latin umbrare (to shade)
|
|
ubiquitous
|
everywhere at the same time (or seems to be); Latin ubique (everywhere)
|
|
tyro
|
a beginner, novice, especially in some skill or trade; Latin tyro (recruit)
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|
turgid
|
literally, swollen, distended; figuratively, pompous, ostentatious, overembellished; particularly applied to language
|
|
truncate
|
to shorten by cutting off an end or cutting out a part; adj. is truncated which figuratively means incomplete; Latin truncare (to shorten by cutting off, to mutilate)
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|
perfidious
|
faithless, disloyal, treacherous; Latin per (through, in the sense of "beyond the limits of") and fides (faith)
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|
perfunctory
|
describes anything done routinely, as a duty, without interest or enthusiasm; Latin perfungi (to perform, go through with)
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|
peripatetic
|
describes traveling about from place to place; Greek peripatein (to walk about)
|
|
peripheral
|
describes anything touching upon the incidental rather than the essential aspects of a subject; periphery means "external boundary" and by extension, the superficial aspects of a subject; Greek periphereia (circumference)
|
|
pernicious
|
very injurious; pernicious disease means fatal disease; Latin perniciosus (destructive, ruinous)
|
|
peroration
|
the conclusion of a discourse, consisting of a summing up of the main points and a moving final satement urging acceptance of the argument
|
|
perquisite
|
a fringe benefit, an allowance or other right incidental and additional to your salary; oftened shortened to perk
|
|
persiflage
|
banter, a flippant, light-hearted way of dealing with a subject; French siffler (to whistle)
|
|
persona
|
social façade, the "front" he presents to the world at large, as opposed to his real self; in Latin means "mask"
|
|
perspicacious
|
discerning, gifted with keen insight; Latin perspicax (acute, keen-sighted)
|
|
peruse
|
to read something through carefully, to go over every word of it; per implies thoroughness
|
|
pervasive
|
spreading about; Latin pervadere (to go through)
|
|
petulant
|
unjustifiably impatient, prone to irritation over trifles, easily anoyed; Latin petulantia (impudence)
|
|
philistine
|
a lowbrow, one who not only lacks culture and is smugly indifferent to it, but tends to attack it; Philistine was the name of an ancient people of Palestine who warred with the Israelites
|
|
phlegmatic
|
apathetic, sluggish, slow to be aroused or excited; Phlegm, is the thick mucus secreted in the respiratory passages, which was believed to cause apathy and sluggishness
|
|
piquant
|
pertaining to food, this word conveys the sense of pleasant sharpness in taste; generally, means "ageeably provocative and stimulating, titillating; French piquer (to prick, sting)
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|
pithy
|
succinct, meaty, full of substance; pith is the noun, meaning the "heart" or "essential part" of something; a pithy remard goes to the heart of the matter
|
|
placate
|
to appease, pacify, mollify; Latin placare (to soothe)
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|
placebo
|
name given to a substance prescribed by a doctor as though it were medicine, which in fact has no medicinal effect, and is given either for its psychological effect in humoring a patient, or in a controlled experiment to test a real medicine; Latin placere (to please)
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|
placid
|
calm, serene, tranquil; Latin placidus (quiet, gentle, still)
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|
plaintive
|
expresses sorrow, grief, or melancholy; Latin plangere (to bewail)
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|
plangent
|
describes anything that resounds in a mournful way; Latin plangere (to beat the breat, to bewail)
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|
platitude
|
a trite remark; applies especially to observations pronounced solemnly, as though they were profound truths newly discovered and being uttered for the first time; French plat (flat)
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|
plaudits
|
applause and, by extension, any enthusiastic demonstration of approval; Latin plaudere (to clap, applaud)
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|
plethora
|
an overabundance or excess of something, and usually used in a situation when something or other is "too much of a good thing"; Greek plethore (fullness); opposite of dearth
|
|
poignant
|
moving, in the sense of very touching; intact from French
|
|
polemic
|
a verbal attack on a doctrine, belief, opinion; polemics is the art of argument or controversy; polemic as an adj. Means "argumentative"; Greek polemikos (pertaining to war)
|
|
polyglot
|
a person with a command of a number of languages; as an adj., means multilingual; Greek polyglottos (many-tongued)
|
|
ponderous
|
can apply to anything heavy or unwieldy, or to things like speeches and writings that are labored; Latin pondus (weight)
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|
pontificate
|
to speak pompously, hold forth in a dogmatic way; Latin pontificare (to act as a high priest)
|
|
portend
|
to foreshadow; Latin portendere (to point out, to indicate); portent means omen
|
|
portmanteau
|
a traveling bag of a special sort; French porter (to carry) and manteau (coat);
|
|
postulate
|
to assume something to be true; Latin postulare (to claim)
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|
potpourri
|
from French meaning hodgepodge
|
|
potter
|
to keep busy aimlessly
|
|
pragmatic
|
pragmatic activities deal with situations from a practical point of view; Greek pragmatikos (practical)
|
|
prate
|
to babble, to talk too much
|
|
prattle
|
to babble, chatter away; can also be used as a noun
|
|
precipitate
|
as an adj., can mean many things; headlong; hasty; sudden; rash; as a verb, means to hasten, bring about prematurely
|
|
precipitous
|
very steep; Latin praeceps (steep)
|
|
precursor
|
a "predecessor, forerunner" or harbinger; Latin praecursor (forerunner)
|
|
predilection
|
a liking or preference for something; Latin dilectus (choosing)
|
|
preen
|
primping, grooming (oneself) or priding, congratulating (oneself); in the animal word, preen is used for grooming
|
|
prehensile
|
applies to an animal's appendage which is capable of grasping an object; Latin prehendere (to grasp)
|
|
presage
|
an omen, anything that foreshadows a coming event; as a verb, to foreshadow, portend; Latin praesagire (to presage)
|
|
prescience
|
foreknowledge; prescient is the adj.; Latin praescire (to know beforehand)
|
|
presentiment
|
a feeling that something is about to happen, with the implication that the something is bad or evil; a foreboding; Latin praesentire (to feel beforehand)
|
|
prestidigitator
|
a magician, especially those practicing sleight of hand; figuratively, indicates great or surprising skill; Latin praesto (ready) and digitus (finger)
|
|
prevaricate
|
to lie or to speak evasively; prevarication is the noun; praevaricari (to walk crookedly)
|
|
priapic
|
derived from the god Priapus of Greek mythology, describes anyone or anything over-concerned with male sexuality; Priapus was the personification of an erect penis
|
|
primogeniture
|
a system of inheritance under which the eldest son inherited all real property left by his parents, but if there were no sons, the eldest most closely related male inherited everything; Latin primogenitura (first birth)
|
|
primordial
|
primeval, first to exist; Latin primordium (first beginning, origin)
|
|
privation
|
lacking the necessities of life; Latin privatio (taking away)
|
|
privy
|
to participate in the knowledge of something kept secret from the rest; Latin privatus (private)
|
|
probity
|
honesty, integrity; Latin probitas (uprightness, honesty)
|
|
proclivity
|
an inclination, tendency or proneness to something; Latin proclivitas (literally, slope; by extension, inclination)
|
|
procreate
|
to beget (offspring), to generate; procreation is the noun; procreant is the adj. Describing the ability or tendency to procreate; Latin procreare (to beget)
|
|
prodigal
|
as an adj, has several meanings; recklessly extravagant, wasteful; lavish; profuse, abundant; as a noun, it means "one who is prodigal"; Latin prodigus (profuse, extravagant)
|
|
prodigious
|
"enormous" or "amazing, marvelous"; Latin prodigiosus (unnatural; strange; wonderfull)
|
|
prodigy
|
prodigy can mean an amazing example or to describe a person (usually a young person) endowed with an extraordinary gift
|
|
profane
|
as a verb, means to defile; as an adj., profane can mean either "secular" or "blasphemous, irreverent"; Latin pro (in front or outside) and fanum (temple)
|
|
profligate
|
as an adj. Means either "utterly immoral" or "recklessly extravagant"; applied to cases of shameless corruption and vice or to wild and reckless spending; as a noun, used to identify a person with such characteristics
|
|
prognosis
|
forecast, prediction; most often used in medicine; Greek prognoskein (to know ahead of time)
|
|
prognosticate
|
to forecast; Greek prognoskein
|
|
proliferate
|
to multiply, spread; literally, to grow (as in budding or cell division) by multiplication of parts; figuratively, to expand; Latin prolifer (bearing young)
|
|
prolific
|
describes anyone or anything producing great quantitites
|
|
prolix
|
wordy and tedious, long-winded; Latin prolixus (widely extended)
|
|
prone
|
literally, "lying face downward" (the opposite of supine); figuratively, "inclined, disposed"; Latin pronus (inclined forward)
|
|
propensity
|
an inclination or tendency to something; he word is used, for the most part, in connection with the less desirable traits; Latin propensio (inclination)
|
|
prophylactic
|
as an adj., means preventive, and is used to describe anything that prevents disease, like a medication; as a noun applies generally to any preventive, but has a special use as a synonym for condom; Greek prophylaktikos (guarding in advance)
|
|
propinquity
|
nearness, whether in space or time; Latin propinquus (near)
|
|
propitiate
|
to make favorable, to appease; Latin propitaire (to soothe, appease)
|
|
propitious
|
favorable to something; Latin propitius (favorable)
|
|
proprietary
|
generally, this adj. Has to do with owndership; a special use is to describe articles made and sold by a particular company, usually under a patent or a trademark or both, such as proprietary medicines; In this use, it is the opposite of generic; Latin proprietas (property, ownership)
|
|
prosaic
|
commonplace; describes people and things that are dull, uninspired, and uninspiring, humdrum, run of the mill, as opposed to poetry, a usage based on the assumption that prose, in general, is less inspired or romantic that poetry; Latin prosus (straightforward)
|
|
proselytize
|
to convert (someone) to a new religion, political party, school of thought, etc.; in this sense, to recruit; a person so recruited is a proselyte; Greek proselytos (newcomer)
|
|
protean
|
literally, describes one who is capable of quickly assuming many different forms; figuratively, versatile; Proteus, in ancient Greek legends, was herdsman to the god Neptune; he was an old prophet, able to take on different shapes at will; hence, protean means "ever-changing, variable, versatile"
|
|
protracted
|
to protract is to prolong, extend; a protracted meeting is one that takes a long time; protracted implies extensive prolongation; Latin protrahere (to drag on, protract)
|
|
proviso
|
a reservation, like a clause (usually in a written document, such as a contract or a warranty) that establishes a limiting condition; Latin providere (to see beforehand, to provide for)
|
|
prowess
|
exceptional ability or great daring; on the battlefield, implies gallantry and daring; the common use is to denote great ability
|
|
prurient
|
describes those who have, or are easily susceptible to, lewd thoughts; prurience is the noun; Latin prurire (to itch, long for, be lustful)
|
|
puckish
|
impish, mischievous, whimsical; Icelandic puki (mischievous demon)
|
|
puerile
|
a pejorative adj. Describing childishness, immatureness, and silliness; Latin puerilis (boyish, childish, silly) and puer (boy)
|
|
pugnacious
|
belligerent, always ready to fight, quarrelsome; Latin pugnus (fist)
|
|
pulchritude
|
beauty; often found in the expression feminine pulchritude; Latin pulcher (beautiful)
|
|
pummel
|
to beat someone with your fists
|
|
punctilious
|
extremely strict in observing all the formalities and generally attentive and and conscientious; Spanish punto (point) and illo (ending indicating small)
|
|
pundit
|
name given to an expert, an authority on a subject, especially one given to holding forth and making authoritative pronouncements; often used in a semi-jocular and semi-pejorative sense; Hindi pandit (learned, or learned man)
|
|
purgative
|
as an adj., means cleansing, especially of the bowels; as a noun, a cathartic or laxative, or an medicine that has the effect; Latin purus (clean, pure)
|
|
purloin
|
to steal or filch; purloin implies misappropriation, a breach of trust; Latin pro and longe (a long way off)
|
|
pusillanimous
|
cowardly, timid, afraid of one's own shadow; Latin pusillus (tiny, puny) and animus (spirit)
|
|
putative
|
"thought to be, generally regarded as, supposed"; Latin putare (to think)
|
|
quaff
|
to drink heartily, in long drafts (like those virile men in the beer commercials); quaff implies that what is quaffed is intoxicating liquor
|
|
quagmire
|
literally, a bog or marsh; figuratively, any situation from which it is difficult to extricate oneself; Icelandic quag (quake) and myrr (marsh)
|
|
quail
|
to flinch or to cower
|
|
qualm
|
either a "pang of conscience" or a "misgiving"; in the first sense, often used in the plural
|
|
quandary
|
dilemma; an apt way to describe any state of perplexity
|
|
quarry
|
literally, describes a hunted animal, fish, flesh, or fowl; figuratively, signifies anything hunted; Latin corium (hide)
|
|
quash
|
in the legal sense, means to annul; in a more general sense, to quash is to suppress or quell; Latin quassare (to shatter)
|
|
quaver
|
three distinct meanings; to tremble; to sing or speak tremulously; to trill
|
|
quay
|
formerly spelled "key" and is still pronounced that way; influenced by the French quai, which means wharf; a quay is a strengthened bank or man-made stretch of stone along a waterway for the loading and unloading of ships
|
|
quell
|
means either "to suppress" or "to allay, to quiet"; Old English cwellen (to kill)
|
|
querulous
|
complaining, grumbling; Latin querulus which also gave rise to quarrel
|
|
query
|
as a noun, can mean either "question" or "mental reservation"; as a verb, can mean "to inquire about" or "to raise a doubt or question about; to challenge as obscure or doubtful" or "to put questions to, to question directly"; Latin quaerere (to seek, to ask)
|
|
queue
|
as a noun, denotes a line of people waiting to take their turn; to queue is to form a line while waiting turn; Latin coda (tail)
|
|
quiescent
|
at rest, inactive; Latin quiescere (to rest)
|
|
quintessence
|
denotes either "the essential part" of something or its "embodiment"
|
|
quixotic
|
impractical, visionary; Don Quixote was the super-chivalrous and idealistic but totally impractical hero of a novel by Miguel de Cervantes
|
|
quizzical
|
indicating gentle amusement; somewhat puzzling, marked by a bantering air and a degree of mockery; perhaps derisively questioning; usually whimsical
|
|
raconteur
|
a skilled teller of anedotes, an interesting storyteller; if a female, the word is raconteuse; intact from French where it means "to narrate"
|
|
raffish
|
an unpleasant word, describing people who are low-class, crude, rakish, disreputable; Middle English rif and raf (things of little value)
|
|
rake
|
a dissolute person; the perfect rake drinks, gambles, whores, and lives off friends; the adj. Rakish is much more innocent, and means only "dashing" or "jaunty"; Middle English rakel (rash, coarse)
|
|
rambunctious
|
"extremely boisterous, hard to manage" or "noisy and overactive"; Icelandic ram (very) and bumptious (irritatingly self-assertive)
|
|
rancor
|
bitter, rankling resentment and ill will; Latin rancere (to be rancid, to stink)
|
|
rankle
|
to cause lasting, bitter resentment and annoyance; Middle English ranclen (to fester)
|
|
rapacious
|
greedy, grasping, ready to seize whatever one can; Latin rapere (to seize, snatch) which also gave us rape
|
|
rapt
|
absorbed and enraptured; Latin rapere
|
|
recalcitrant
|
resisting authority and hard to deal with or unmanageable; Latin recalcitrare (of a horse - to kick back)
|
|
recant
|
to disavow something; Latin recantare (to recall, recant)
|
|
recapitulate
|
to summarize; the noun is recapitulation; Latin capitulatim (briefly) and recapitulare (to summarize)
|
|
recidivism
|
repeated, habitual backsliding, relapse, especially into criminal, antisocial or other undesirable behavior; the unfortunate person so affected is known as a "recidivist"; that word also serves as an adj.; Latin recidere (to fall back)
|
|
reclusive
|
prefering to live alone, avoiding social contact; a recluse is a "reclusive person, a loner"; Latin reclusus (shut up) and cludere (to shut)
|
|
recondite
|
hard to understand, profound, requiring high intelligence to grasph; Latin recondere (to hide)
|
|
reconnoiter
|
a type of military maneuver, to inspect the terrain and get as much information as possible about the strength, position, etc. of enemy forces; generally, expresses the idea of exploring any situation where advance information might be useful; Latin recognoscere (to inspect, investigate)
|
|
rectify
|
to correct something, to put something right; Latin rectus (correct)
|
|
rectitude
|
righteousness, the strict observance of integrity and adherence to a high moral codeLatin rectus (straight)
|
|
redolent
|
"smelling of", when the adj. Is followed by a desciption of the source of the odor, or "sweet-smelling" when the fragrance is self-evident; Latin redolere (to emit an odor, smell of)
|
|
redoubtable
|
formidable, especially with reference to an adversary; Midde French redouter (to fear)
|
|
redress
|
the setting right of something that is wrong; as a verb to redress is to right a wrong; Middle English, drecier (to straighten)
|
|
refractory
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difficult or impossible to manage, stubbornly resistant to authority; Latin refractarius (stubborn); recalcitrant is a synonym
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refulgent
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radiant, shining, glowing; Latin refulgere (to shine brightly)
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regale
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to entertain someone lavishly, or to amuse or delight him, depending on the context; Old French regale (feast)
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rejoinder
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an answer to a reply
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remand
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general meanins is "to order back"; almost exclusively found in legal usage; used most frequently when a prisoner or suspect is sent back into detention; Latin remandare (to repeat a command)
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remonstrate
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to plead in protest against something, presenting arguments in opposition to something; remonstration is the noun, meaning protest, and is often found in the plural; Latin monstrare (to show)
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renegade
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one who deserts his own party, group, country, etc. to join another, usually the enemy or a rival; synonymous with turncoat or traitor; with religion, equivalent to apostate; Latin negare (to deny)
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renege
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generally, means "ot break a promise, to go back on one's word"; used in card games; Latin negare (to deny)
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repartee
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conversation full of fast, witty replies, quick comebacks; French repartie (retort)
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repertoire
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applies to the collectoin or list of works, dramatic, operatic, musical, etc., which a company or performer can perform and which make up the artist's or company's "stock in trade"
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repertory
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sometimes used in place of repertoire, but best to be confined to describe theatrical performances of different plays, for relatively short periods, performed in sequence by the same company, known as "repertory theater," performed by a "repertory company"; occasionally used to mean "supple" or "store"
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replete
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anything replete with something is full ot it; usually followed by "with"; by itself, replete often means "stuffed full of food and drink"; in the proper context, the word simply means "complete"; Latin replere (to fill)
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reprehensible
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blameworthy, deserving of censure; Latin reprehendere (to censure, reprove)
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reprobate
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an unprincipled person; seldom used as an adj.; Latin reprobare (to reprove)
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reprove
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to scold someone, not necessarily severely; the very is used especially when the scolding is done with a view to correcting a fault of behavior and is close in meaning to "rebuke"; Latin reprobare
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resolute
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unshakable determination, firm, determined, steadfast; latin resolvere (to resolve)
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reticent
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reserved, inclined to keep quiet; reticence is the noun; Latin tacere (to be silent)
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retrograde
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"with a reverse or backward motion", sometimes "in inverse order"; Latin retrogradus (going back)
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retrogress
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"to go backward"; usually used in the abstract sense to indicate moving back to a earlier and less desirable state
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retrospective
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"looking back into the past"; Latin retro (backward) and specere (to look)
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rhetoric
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the art of using language effectively; it can also mean the art of oratory; retorical is the adj. With many meanings; "mainly for effect"; "bombastic"; also a meaning in the phrase "rhetorical question"
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ribald
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applies to persons given to vulgar or indecent humor, or to humor of that sort itself; ribaldry means "ribald speech or humor"; Middle English ribaud (lewd person)
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rife
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present in abundance, in widespread existence; the word expresses abundance, usually not by prior arrangement of those affected; Icelandic rifr (abundant)
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rigors
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has a perfectly good singular, rigor, meaning "severity, strictness", but is commonly used in the plural to describe the harshness or severity of weather or climate, or of a particular way of life or activity; the adj. Rigorous can be applied in several ways: "harsh, severe"; "accurate, precise"; referring to climate or weather, it means "extremely severe, harsh, inclement"; Latin rigor (literally, stiffness)
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riposte
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a swift, sharp reply, especially to a challenging or insulting question; Italian risposta (response) and Latin respondere (to answer)
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risible
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generally, describes anything pertaining to laughter; its usual meaning is "laughable" or more strongly, "ludicrous"; Latin ridere (to laugh)
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roué
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an immoral, dissolute man, a debauchee or rake, especially one who has seduced many women and dropped them for new conquests; French rouer (to break on the wheel)
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rubicund
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ruddy, usually found in the description of a complexion, almost always a male's
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rue
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to regret deeply, to wish something hadn't happened and could be undone; German reuen (to regret)
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ruminate
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to think something over, slowly and thoroughly; to chew over a thought or problem, with concentrated attention, to ponder; literally, to ruminate is to "chew the cud"; animals that do this are called ruminants; Latin rumen (first stomach of multi-stomached animals)
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sacrosanct
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extremely sacred, inviolable; literally, this word would be applied to temples, churches, altars, etc. but its most frequent use is figurative, in a nonreligious sense; Latin sacrosanctus (sacred, inviolable; literally, made sacred by a holy rite)
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sagacity
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keen judgment, farseeing wisdom; Latin sagax (keen, acute)
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salacious
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lewd, not merely erotic; describes anything obscene, whether conduct or writing, painting, etc.; Latin salax (lustful) and salire (to jump)
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salient
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outstanding, conspicuous; leaping to the eye and therefore important, noticeable; Latin salire (to spring, leap)
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salubrious
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health-giving, healthful, wholesom; Latin salubris (healthful)
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salutary
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healthful, or generally beneficial; Latin salutaris (healthful)
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salvo
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a burst of gunfire, all at once or in a rapid succession; a load of bombs dropped simultaneously or one after the other; a broadside, especially in sea battles, from many guns; sometimes, a military salute from a number of guns; metaphorically, the use of the word has been extended to cover a burst of applause or laughter; Latin salve (hail!)
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sanctify
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to render something sacred or holy, to consecrate something; Latin sanctificare (to make holy)
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sanctimonius
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hypocritically pious, "holier than thou"; a pejorative to describe a person who makes a great show of being super-religious and exceedingly righteous; Latin sanctimonia (holiness)
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sang-froid
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French for "cold blood"; it signifies a cool head, calm and composure in a situation where most people would lose theirs
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sanguine
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optimistic, confidently hopeful; Latin sanguineus (bloody); originally meant "full of blood", therefore ruddy-complexioned, thus (apparently) showing good humor
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sapient
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wise; sapience means wisdom; both are often used ironically; Latin sapientia (wisdom)
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sardonic
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sneeringly sarcastic, with overtones of scorn or bitter mockery; Greek sardinios (a plant which was alleged to cause spasms of laughter that were eventually fatal)
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sartorial
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describes anything pertaining to clothing, dress, style (particularly in men's attire); Latin sartor (tailor)
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saturnine
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gloomy, taciturn, and sluggish; originally a astrological term, applied to those born under the sign of Saturn, and therefore, according to old superstition, taciturn, gloomy, and forbidding
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savoir-faire
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tact, polish, wide knowledge of the ways of the world, and of how to behave in any company and in any situation; French phrase meaning "to know how to do/act"
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savor
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as a noun, can mean "taste" or "smell", nearly always in the favorable sense; metaphorically, can mean any particular quality, especially the power to arouse interest or cause enjoyment; as a verb, savor can mean "to enjoy the taste or smell of (something)" or "to taste or smell like (something)"; can be applied metaphorically to things that have no taste or odor; savory is the adj. and is always complimentary; Latin sapor (taste)
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saw
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a well known saying or proverb, a wise adage; German sage (legend, fable) and Icelandic saga
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scabrous
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variety of meanings: "having a rough surface"; "knotty, difficult, tricky"'; "risqué, obscene"; "of depraved manners, behaving indecently"; Latin scabere (to scratch)
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schism
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a split or division into opposing factions caused by disagreement on matters of doctrine or policy; relates more to religious bodies but can be used generally; can also mean the parties created as a result of such a split, but is not commonly used that way; Greek schizein (to cut, to cleave)
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scion
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a descendant, usually a son of a noble or "important" family; rarely applied to a female; in botany, the word is used to describe a cutting from a plant, suitable for use in growing a new one
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score
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multiple meanings: as a noun, the tally of a game; twenty of something; in music, a written or printed musical composition; can describe a significant success that gains some great material reward; often used figuratively to describe an experienced person or in the expression "to settle old scores"; as a verb, to make a point in a game; to win a point in an argument; to make a shallow cut in a material; to raise welts by whipping; to make superficial cuts, as on meat; to criticize cruelly; to write out the individual instrumental parts of a musical composition
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scourge
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literally, a whip used for severe punishment; commonly used to describe a person of thing considered to be a great affliction or source of heavy punishment or damage; as a verb, "to flog with a whip"; figuratively, it means "to afflict, punish, or criticize severely"; Latin excoriare (to flay)
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scurrilous
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a scurrilous attack (the usual phrase) is one that is nastily, grossly insulting and abusive; can imply an unwarranted attack; can also mean "coarsely humorous"; Latin scurrilis (mocking, jesting)
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scuttle
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as a noun, describes a container for coal kept in a room, and its verb meaning "to scurry"; primarily meant to describe a small hatch in the deck, side, or bottom of a boat; and the verb means to "open the seacocks of a vessel in order to sink it"; figuratively, means "to destroy", deliberately and completely, in a fairly short time
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seamy
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literally, means "showing the seams", like the inside of a garment; therefore rough and not meant to be seen; now heard only in the figurative sense of "disagreeable" or "sordid"
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secular
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can mean either "worldy" (as opposed to spiritual) or "lay" (in the sense of nonclerical); synonymous with temporal; Latin saeculum (literally, one generation)
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seminal
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literally and technically, seminal means "containing, or pertaining to, semen"; in botany, it means "pertaining to seed"; figuratively, used to mean "original", with the clear implication that whatever is so described is likely to give rise to future growth and development - nearly always in a favorable way; Latin semen (seed)
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sententious
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too fond of putting on a show of wisdom, especially in the form of sage maxims and truisms, and usually in a smug and righteous manner; Latin sententia (way of thinking, opinion)
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sentient
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capable of perceiving and feeling by means of the senses; Latin sentire (to feel)
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septic
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anything that causes or has to do with infection by microorganisms; a septic tank is full of sewage, where bacteria decomposes it; Greek septos (rotted)
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sequel
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a follow-up of either an event, an action, or a work of literature, film, etc.; can also be used as well in the sense of "consequence, result"; Latin sequi (to follow)
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sequester
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to remove and keep separate; most commonly a matter of legal usage; Latin sequestare (to set aside, for safekeeping)
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serendipity
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the making of a pleasant discovery by accident, the good luck of finding something agreeable that you weren't looking for, especially when you were looking for something else; the adj. Is serendipitious
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serpentine
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curved and sinuous, shaped like a snake; Latin serpentinus (snakelike)
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servile
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slavish, submissive, cringing; Latin servus (slave)
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shibboleth
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originally a peculiarity of speech or a custom or usage distinctive or a particular group, is a catchword or slogan characteristic of a party or sect; it has come to mean any such slogan empty of real meaning, an outworn bit of dogma; the word has a general pejorative meaning
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sibilant
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hissing; the word is nearly always used to describe a sound uttered in human speech, like the letter s; Latin sibilare (to hiss, whistle)
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simile
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a figure of speech that compares two things using the word like or as; Latin similis (like, similar)
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simulate
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to simulate is to pretend, to make a showing of (something); Latin simulare (to pretend)
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sinecure
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a job or appointment requiring little or no actual work, though paying a salary or other compensation (especially if it pays well); Latin sine cura (without care)
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sinuous
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very curved, winding, undulating; Latin sinus (curve)
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skeptic, sceptic
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originally, this word was the name of a member of an ancient Greek philosophical school that denied that man could ever know anything with certainty; now, it applies to anyone who makes a practice of doubting and insists on examining all beliefs, including widely accepted ones
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skittish
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frisky, extremely lively, with the implication of nervous readiness to be triggered into action; the word is associated with horses, and in that connection implies that the animal is easily startled
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slake
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to quench, and the most common use of the word is in the expression "to slake one's thirst"; generally used to mean "to allay" by doing something that satisfies the situation
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slew
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as a noun, a lot of something, an abundance, "oceans"; as a verb, slew is a variant of the more common form slue; Irish sluagh (army, multitude)
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slue
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"to swing around", usually on one's own axis, with the implication that the swinging is done in haste, probably in resposne to an urgent need
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smug
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self-satisfied, especially to a degree or in a manner that irritates others
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sobriquet
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an assumed name or a nickname; also applies to and is more commonly understood as a nickname that sticks to a celebrity, with or without his contrivance
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sodden
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describes the condition of utter saturation, the ultimate degree of wetness, usually with unpleasant implications
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solecism
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term for any erroneous or ignorant use of words, whether the error relates to grammar, usage, or pronunciation; by extension, can include any breach of good manners; Soloi was a place where they spoke bad Greek
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