Definitions 2

Front 1

incongruous

Back 1

Something that's incongruous is inconsistent or incompatible with something else. Remember that Sesame Street song "One of these things is not like the other"? They were talking about that one thing being incongruous.

So, something that is incongruous is "not suitable or proper" — in other words, not in harmony with everything else. That's why burping at the dinner table could be called incongruous behavior: it's not proper and certainly doesn't go well with the main course.

Front 2

accouterment

Back 2

clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of your main clothing

Front 3

sobriquet

Back 3

Sobriquets are often but not always humorous, so in order to pronounce this word, you might want to remember that the last syllable rhymes with play. Sobriquets are usually given to you by other people, but you can choose one for yourself if you want. If your name is Jennifer and you tend to introduce yourself as Jen, this also qualifies as a sobriquet.

Front 4

mien

Back 4

Your mien is how you present yourself, the impression you make. It's best to keep a low profile but a dignified mien.

Front 5

quixotic

Back 5

see quixotic for someone or something that is romantic and unrealistic, or possessed by almost impossible hopes. Your quixotic task is easy to understand, if difficult to achieve: establish world peace.

This was quixotic in more ways than one.

Front 6

extemporize

Back 6

To extemporize is to improvise, especially without preparation. When you extemporize, you’re making it up as you go along.

Front 7

agog

Back 7

The word agog means with great excitement and interest. When you’re falling over yourself with excitement and curiosity to see who’s coming up the red carpet next, you’re agog about celebrities.

Front 8

middling

Back 8

Lacking exceptional quality or ability, the performance was middling at best

moderate or average in size , amount , or rank : people on middling incomes .• neither very good nor very bad: he had had a good to middling season .

Front 9

gainsay

Back 9

Gainsay, a verb, means "contradict" or "speak out against." When you challenge authority, you gainsay, as in teachers don't like it when unruly students gainsay them.

Front 10

germinate

Back 10

To germinate is to grow or to develop. When a tiny seedling cracks through a seed casing and sprouts, it has germinated. The term is used for other things too, like when an idea germinates into a film or book.

Front 11

legerity

Back 11

Lightness, nimbleness. Alighting with the legerity of a cat, he was off, like a streak of lightning.

Front 12

cynosure

Back 12

A cynosure is the main attraction. A figure skater on the ice is the cynosure, or focal point, of a stadium as she triple-axles through the air. All eyes are on her with admiration, hoping that she'll land it.

Front 13

credence

Back 13

Credence means truthfulness, or believability. A video of a funnel cloud entering Central Park would give credence to rumors of a tornado in Manhattan.

Front 14

aver

Back 14

To aver is to declare something is true or to state. This verb has a serious tone, so you might aver something on a witness stand or you might aver that you won't back down to a challenge

Front 15

Rhapsodic

Back 15

he straightforward meaning of the adjective rhapsodic is "like a rhapsody," but in usage it borrows chiefly from a figurative use of rhapsody, "effusively rapturous or emotional expression." You might come across the phrase "to wax rhapsodic," which is pretty much the same thing as "to gush." People who are in love, for example, tend to wax rhapsodic about the objects of their affection.

Front 16

piffle

Back 16

speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly

Front 17

Maudlin

Back 17

You can use maudlin to describe something that brings tears to your eyes, or makes you feel very emotional. Tearjerkers like "Forrest Gump" and "Titanic" can be described as maudlin.

Front 18

Veridical

Back 18

describes something that's true. When you're talking to your friend who's prone to exaggeration, it's hard to tell what's veridical and what's just made up.

Front 19

gauche

Back 19

Use the word gauche when you want to call something tacky, graceless, tactless, rude, boorish, or awkward and foolish. Have you just pointed out someone's misuse of this word? Oh dear, how gauche!

Front 20

caustic

Back 20

Use the adjective caustic to describe any chemical that is able to burn living tissue or other substances, or, figuratively, a statement that has a similarly burning effect. Caustic in this sense means harshly critical.

Front 21

badinage

Back 21

(psychiatry) a disorder of memory in which dreams or fantasies are confused with reality

Front 22

purport

Back 22

Use purport when you want to convince people about something that might not be true, like when you purport that the dog ate your homework.

Front 23

sheepish

Back 23

Sheep aren't the smartest most confident creatures. They're always clustering together as if they're ashamed to be alone. When you are sheepish, you're like a sheep, embarrassed and not confident.

Front 24

incremental

Back 24

If you are making incremental progress in math, you are moving slowly but steadily forward. Incremental describes regular, measurable movements that are usually small.

Front 25

glean

Back 25

Seeing a word in context lets you glean information about how it's used. Glean means to gather bit by bit. You might say, "I couldn't understand her accent, but from what I could glean, she needs money to take the bus."

Front 26

gleam

Back 26

A gleam is a bright flash of light. If you were lost on a dark, stormy night, you'd be hugely relieved to see the gleam of a roadside diner's sign up ahead.

Fear grips me as I notice the silver machete in its hand, gleaming sinisterly in the moonlight.

Front 27

iterate

Back 27

To iterate is to repeat, as in to say or perform something again. If you loved the high school drama club’s performance of the “Three Little Pigs,” encourage them to iterate the musical so you can see it again. And again.

Front 28

evocative

Back 28

Use the adjective evocative when you want to describe something that reminds you of something else. If your mom baked a lot when you were a kid, the smell of cookies in the oven is probably evocative of your childhood.