TITL: English Vocabulary Expansion COMP: Mrs. Cushman NOTE: Try hitting "unselect all" at the chapter selection screen and then select one word group to work on at a time. Work with each word group and when you can score 100% on it, then it's time to sit back and relish that feeling of a vocabulary expanded! [POOLA] (of words) long; having many syllables. a banal, trite, or stale thought or remark. a brief moment of intense excitement. a center of attention. a cosmopolitan person. a curse. a damaging or derogatory remark. a deceptive device or stratagem. a distinguishing or characteristic feature. a divine inspiration. a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest. a group of fawning admirers. a group of secret and often scheming advisers. a hodgepodge. a leader who obtains power by means of appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace. a love potion. a lover of good food and drink. a lover of learning; a scholar. a loyal follower. a natural inclination. a nickname. a novice. a person devoted to luxury and pleasure. a person employed to do all kinds of work. a person of great or varied learning. a person who explains or interprets difficult parts of written works. a person who wastes; a loafer. a place where one is free from intrusion. a procession. a proclamation; a pronouncement. a rare or unique person or thing. a shell; a protective covering. a slight offense; a petty fault. a song or other expression of praise or joy. a state of balance, equilibrium, or stagnation. a state or condition of fitness, order, or mind. a street musician or performer. a strong liking. a stronghold. a time of youthful inexperience, innocence, or indiscretion. a tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells. a traveling from place to place. a trifle; also, a short, light literary or musical piece. a tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl. a very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place. a warning. a whispering; a soft murmur. a woman who assists in childbirth. able to resist attack. accompanying; attending. acute vexation or embarrassment. acuteness of perception or vision. allowing light to pass through. an abandoned child. an about-face. an act of plundering or ravaging. an adjunct or accessory. an advocate. an arbitrary or authoritative command or order. an assortment; a medley. an attempt to overthrow a government. an established preference. an office or position that involves little work or responsibility. an urchin; also, a mischievous girl or young woman. at an equal pace or rate. baseness; depravity. bashful or unassertive. beginning to exist or appear. beginning to exist or to grow. brilliant; resplendent. by necessity. capable of perceiving by the senses. causing or inducing sleep. characterized by a ready flow of speech. characterized by extensive reading or knowledge. characterized by, or given to, vulgar humor. cheerful; bright; also, rose-colored. clamorous; noisy. clearness of understanding. combative; quarrelsome. complete and confirmed integrity. confidence; coolness. constituting a separate thing; also, consisting of distinct or unconnected parts. coolness in trying circumstances. covered with hair or bristles. cowardly. crudely, presumptuously, or noisily self-assertive. debris. demeanor; also, aspect; appearance. desertion or departure from one's faith, principles, or party. deserved; adequate. destiny; fate. difficult to understand. digressive; rambling; also, marked by analytical reasoning. disposition to show mercy; also, an act of mercy. disuse. doing nothing; idle; also, a do-nothing. done routinely. done, made, or gotten by stealth; also, marked by stealth. drinkable; also, a beverage, especially an alcoholic one. drowsy; also, tending to cause sleepiness. dull; sluggish; apathetic. dying. eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth. easily crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder. easily provoked to anger. easy to speak to; also, gracious. empty boasting; bluster. excess. excessive or flashy ornamentation; also, a fuss over a trivial matter. excessive talkativeness. excessively sentimental. existing during the same period of time; also, a contemporary. extremely cold; icy. extremely poor. extremely scanty. favorable; also, prosperous; fortunate. flattering speech or action; allurement. fleeting. flowing sweetly or smoothly. formed or existing where found. former; sometime. frivolity. frivolous or bantering talk. full; complete. given to or causing tears. given to, or marked by, procrastination or delay. grossly wicked; scandalous. happening or done after a meal. harmful. hastily or superficially performed. haughtiness; arrogance. having a variety of colors. having greatly reduced vision. healthful. high seriousness. high-spirited. holding unorthodox opinions. hungry; greedy. ill repute. ill-humored and churlish in manner or mood. impossible to avoid or evade. in a series; one after another. in bed. incapable of being subdued or overcome. incitement of rebellion against lawful authority. inclined to keep silent. inclining to redness; ruddy. indisputable; unquestionable. juvenile; childish. knowing or anticipating the outcome of events before they happen. lack of knowledge or awareness. lack of vitality or energy. lacking sensation or awareness. lacking vigor or force. lasting but a short time. lazy; inactive. lewd; also, slippery or smooth. light-hearted; mirthful. loose in morals and conduct. marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness. marked by repeated turns and bends. marked by, causing, or expressing grief or sorrow. mental dullness or sluggishness. misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound. money; riches. muddy; not clear; also, confused; disordered. mumbo jumbo; nonsense. not easily governed, managed, or directed. not inclined to talk. not susceptible to persuasion; unyielding. obliged; indebted. obsession with a single subject. occurring daily; also, ordinary. of or pertaining to bile; also, ill-tempered. of striking appropriateness and relevance. of, pertaining to, marked by, or given to the consumption of alcohol. of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy. one who cultivates great sensitivity to beauty. one who excels in telling stories and anecdotes. one who is self-taught. one who returns after death or a long absence. partly but not fully in existence or operation. pertaining to the time or state before the Fall. playfully jocular; humorous. playing on the surface; flickering. pleasant and easy manner. polite; refined; elegant. powerful. praiseworthy; commendable. precise; exact in the smallest particulars. predominance. presenting favorable circumstances. pretentious, bragging speech. propaganda. quickness or keenness of perception or discernment. quickness; swiftness. readily assuming different shapes or forms. reckless; rash. relating to money. requiring immediate aid or action; also, demanding. rising again into being; showing renewed vigor. sad and lonely because deserted, abandoned, or lost. seeking and enjoying the company of others. self-styled; so-called. sharp and harsh; bitter. sharp, biting, or acid in temper, expression, or tone. someone who dwells in a cave. someone whose age is in the nineties. something desired. something growing out from something else; also, a disfiguring or unwanted part. something or someone particularly detested or avoided. something showy or superfluous. speaking, writing, or made up of many languages. spiritual; holy. still existing. stubbornly disobedient. stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint. such a number of the officers or members of any body as is legally competent to transact business. suitable for a given purpose or occasion. supple; nimble. suspension; temporary cessation. talkative; also, wordy. the act of plundering. the act or habit of delaying doing something. the collective gods of a people; also, a group of highly esteemed persons. the condition of being completely or excessively full. the condition or quality of being doubtful; also, a matter of doubt. the highest heaven; the heavens; the sky. the highest point. the lowest point. the process of reasoning. the sky; the heavens. the spirit of the time. the state or quality of being lenient. the transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words. the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea. the washing of the body, or some part of it. to act in concert; to conspire. to act or be counter to. to affirm or declare positively or earnestly. to aggravate; to make worse. to assign or remove, usually to an inferior position. to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear. to behave (oneself) in a particular manner. to break apart. to bring together; to meld. to buzz; to hum; to drone. to catch sight of; to detect. to change from one nature, form, substance, or state into another. to claim or seize without right or justification. to clear from alleged fault or guilt. to complain habitually. to counteract; also, to offset. to dance and skip about in play. to depart secretly. to detest intensely. to direct or impose with authority; also, to forbid. to disturb the composure of. to do without. to dress or adorn in gaudy manner. to dwell for a time; also, a temporary stay. to enclose within or as if within walls. to eradicate; to destroy. to feel or express discontent. to free or release from a difficulty or entanglement. to frolic; to amuse (oneself). to go back on a promise or commitment. to have a consequence or effect. to issue or utter verbal attacks or censures. to make or grow better. to melt away or become liquid. to move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread. to object; also, to delay. to pamper. to pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, or expense. to praise. to primp. to refute conclusively. to remove or modify the parts considered offensive. to renounce, reject, or shun. to revel; to carouse. to show in a clear manner. to shun; to avoid. to speak or write at length. to strengthen or make more certain with other evidence. to think; to ponder. to utter articulately; also, to state or set forth precisely or systematically. to vilify. to weaken. transparent, clear; also, easily understandable. troublesomely urgent. uncompromising. unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger. unseasonable or unseasonably; inappropriate or inappropriately. untruthful; also, untrue. very talkative. vigor; vivacity. wary; cautious. wicked in the extreme. without premeditation or preparation. wordy. wrongdoing, misconduct, or misbehavior. [/POOLA] [POOLB] abed abeyance abjure ablution abominate abscond acerbic acrid acuity acumen adamant aesthete affable afflatus affray agitprop ameliorate aplomb apogee apostasy apposite appurtenance arrogate aspersion asseverate auspicious autochthonous autodidact bagatelle bedizen beholden bete noire bibulous bilious blandishment bombinate bonhomie bowdlerize brio bumptious busker camarilla carapace cavalcade celerity chagrin chary claque clemency coeval cogitate collude comport concomitant condign conflate confute contravene corroborate cosmopolite cosset countervail cupidity cursory cynosure deleterious deliquesce demagogue demur depredation descry desideratum desuetude detritus diaphanous diffident dilatory disconcert discrete discursive disport dissolute dolorous doula dubiety ebullient empyrean enervate enjoin ennui enunciate equivocate erudite eschew esurient evanescent evince exacerbate excrescence exculpate exegete exigent exiguous expatiate extant extempore extirpate extol extricate facetious factotum faineant fanfaronade farrago fatidic fettle fiat firmament flagitious flummery foofaraw forgo forlorn foundling friable frisson fugacious fulminate furbelow gallimaufry galumph gambol gamine garrulous gastronome gelid gravitas gregarious hauteur hebetude heterodox hirsute immure importunate impregnable inchoate incipient incontrovertible indigent indolent indomitable ineluctable insensate intractable intransigent irascible jocund kismet kvetch lachrymose lambent languid lassitude laudable lenity levity lineament lissom logorrhea loquacious lubricious malapropism malapropos malediction malfeasance maudlin mellifluous mendacious mien monomania moribund myrmidon nadir nascent nefarious nescience nimiety nonagenarian numinous obloquy opportune paean pantheon pari passu peccadillo pecuniary pelf pellucid penchant peregrination perforce perfunctory persiflage perspicacity philomath philter platitude plenary pleonasm polyglot polymath postprandial potable precipice predilection prelapsarian prepotency prescient prink probity proclivity procrastination prolix pronunciamento propitious proponent protean puerile pugnacious puissant punctilious purblind pusillanimous putsch quondam quorum quotidian raconteur rapine rara avis ratiocination recalcitrant recondite redoubt redound refractory refulgent relegate remunerate renascent renege repine repletion reticent revenant ribald rodomontade roister roseate rubicund salad days salubrious sanctum sang-froid sedition sentient seriatim sesquipedalian sinecure sobriquet soi-disant sojourn somniferous somnolent spoonerism stasis subterfuge sunder surly surreptitious susurration sybarite taciturn temerarious temerity tintinnabulation tocsin torpid tortuous traduce transmute troglodyte turbid turpitude tyro unctuous urbane varicolored vociferous volte-face voluble wastrel zeitgeist [/POOLB] 'Word Group One - Definitions to Words [PA] disport to frolic; to amuse (oneself). ?disport \dis-PORT\, intransitive verb: To amuse oneself in light or lively manner; to frolic. transitive verb: 1. To divert or amuse. 2. To display.[CR][CR]If you confine the kids' drinking to the college area, they will disport there and lessen the problem of the drunken car ride coming back from the out-of-town bar. --William F. Buckley Jr., "Let's Drink to It," National Review, February 27, 2001[CR][CR]I had to laugh, picturing Stuart and me in a red enamel tub, disporting ourselves among the suds. --Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Most Wanted[CR][CR]Few of the "carriage ladies and gentlemen" who disport themselves in Newport during the summer months, yachting and dancing through the short season, then flitting away to fresh fields and pastures new, realize that their daintily shod feet have been treading historic ground, or care to cast a thought back to the past. --Eliot Gregory, Worldly Ways and Byways[CR][CR]. . . those dolphins and narwhals who disport themselves upon the edges of old maps. --Virginia Woolf, Night and Day[CR][CR]Disport derives from Old French desporter, "to divert," from des-, "apart" (from Latin dis-) + porter, "to carry" (from Latin portare) -- hence to disport is at root "to carry apart, or away" [from business or seriousness]. repine to feel or express discontent. ?repine \rih-PINE\, intransitive verb: 1. To feel or express discontent. 2. To long for something.[CR][CR]Even Hancock, though he might regret the source of this sudden wealth, could not repine at its consequences. --David Nokes, Jane Austen: A Life[CR][CR]Deserted at birth by his natural father, sentenced at the age of 11 to Colored Waif's Home in New Orleans, Armstrong did not repine; instead, he returned love for hatred and sought salvation through work. --Terry Teachout, "Top Brass," New York Times, August 3, 1997[CR][CR]One may repine over the ineffectiveness of the policies applied to Iraq without quite giving up hope that in some way not visible now Saddam has been undermined. --Martin Woollacott , "Iraq's devastation is due to Saddam, not sanctions," The Guardian, February 23, 2001[CR][CR]Thus 250 years ago the philosopher David Hume bemoaned the lack of economic cooperation among countries, blaming the "narrow malignity and envy of nations, which can never bear to see their neighbors thriving, but continually repine at any new efforts towards industry made by any other nation." --Benjamin Schwarz, "Why America Thinks It Has to Run the World," The Atlantic, June 1996[CR][CR]Repine is re- (from the Latin) + pine, from Old English pinian, "to torment," ultimately from Latin poena, "penalty, punishment." troglodyte someone who dwells in a cave. ?troglodyte \TROG-luh-dyt\, noun: 1. A member of a primitive people that lived in caves, dens, or holes; a cave dweller. 2. One who is regarded as reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.[CR][CR]When the survivalists emerged blinking into the sunlight to restock their caves after the terror, my first reaction was to say, "Bless their dotty, troglodyte hearts." --Judy Mann, "Survivalists Flee Reality to Live in Fear," Washington Post, October 5, 2001[CR][CR]. . . an admitted electronics-averse troglodyte like myself, who writes with a fountain pen, shaves with a mug and brush, grinds his own coffee and spends summers in a Maine fishing town where the nearest latte is 45 minutes away. --Frank Van Riper, "Another Door Opens," Washington Post, May 5, 2000[CR][CR]For the first time, opening a fashion magazine didn't make me feel like a cloddish troglodyte who needed fixing. --Janelle Brown, "Keeping it real," Salon, June 4, 2001[CR][CR]Troglodyte comes from Latin Troglodytae, a people said to be cave dwellers, from Greek Troglodytai, from trogle, "a hole" + dyein, "to enter." The adjective form is troglodytic. abeyance suspension; temporary cessation. ?abeyance \uh-BAY-uhn(t)s\, noun: Suspension; temporary cessation.[CR][CR]He was nineteen years old, and officially a medical student, though inevitably his studies were in abeyance for the duration of the war. --Ruth Brandon, Surreal Lives: The Surrealists 1917-1945[CR][CR]Her plans fell into abeyance when she parted from Franz Josef and traveled for five years. --Rebecca West, "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon," The Atlantic, January 1941[CR][CR]Abeyance derives from Medieval French abeance, "expectation," from abeer, from a-, "to" (from Latin ad-) + baer, beer, "to gape (at)," from Late Latin batare, "to gape." gamine an urchin; also, a mischievous girl or young woman. ?gamine \gam-EEN; GAM-een\, noun: 1. A girl who wanders about the streets; an urchin. 2. A playfully mischievous girl or young woman.[CR][CR]And the whole world is whacked out with fear of nuclear doom, except for Claire, a French gamine who is "living her own nightmare" and waking up in lots of strange places. --Joe Brown, Washington Post, January 17, 1992[CR][CR]. . . the delectable young gamine employed as a waitress in a Montmartre cafe. --Peter Bradshaw, "Jolie good show," The Guardian, October 5, 2001[CR][CR]Gamine comes from the French. A boy who wanders about the street is a gamin \GAM-in\. sedition incitement of rebellion against lawful authority. ?sedition \sih-DISH-un\, noun: Conduct or language inciting resistance to or rebellion against lawful authority.[CR][CR][M]ost of us now accept as common sense what was once prosecuted as sedition, namely Tom Paine's proposition that "the idea of hereditary legislators is as absurd as a hereditary mathematician -- as absurd as a hereditary poet laureate". --Geoffrey Robertson, "Dumping our Queen," The Guardian, November 6, 1999[CR][CR]At several points in his long career, Jinnah was threatened by the British with imprisonment on sedition charges for speaking in favour of Indian home rule or rights. --Akbar S. Ahmed, Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity[CR][CR]Outspoken critics of the policy have until now faced the possibility of having a charge of sedition brought against them. --David Cohen, "Malaysian universities rejecting Chinese students," The Guardian, May 3, 2001[CR][CR]Sedition comes from Latin seditio, sedition-, "a going apart," hence "revolt, insurrection," from se-, "apart" + itio, ition-, "act of going," from ire, "to go." lubricious lewd; also, slippery or smooth. ?lubricious \loo-BRISH-us\, adjective: 1. Lustful; lewd. 2. Stimulating or appealing to sexual desire or imagination. 3. Having a slippery or smooth quality.[CR][CR][T]he heroine, through some form of ESP, can hear, and be offended by, the lubricious speculations going on inside the heads of the men she meets. --Philip French, "More about What Women Want," The Observer, February 4, 2001[CR][CR]And even if the public ate up every lubricious detail about their leaders, that same public grew offended that the news media would actually pander to their baser impulses. --Jeff Greenfield, "Film at 11," New York Times, November 7, 1999[CR][CR]. . . urged women to give up their vanities, their cosmetics, and their high-heeled shoes, and to pile them on . . . bonfires next to lubricious works of art. --Anthony Grafton, "The Varieties of Millennial Experience," The New Republic, November 1999[CR][CR]Here was a place where a kind of benign . . . anarchy seemed to rule, a lubricious, frictionless chaos into which one could simply disappear. --Eugene Robinson, "On the Beach at Ipanema," Washington Post, August 1, 1999[CR][CR]Lubricious derives from Latin lubricus, "slippery, smooth." hebetude mental dullness or sluggishness. ?hebetude \HEB-uh-tood-; -tyood\, noun: Mental dullness or sluggishness.[CR][CR]While too many Americans slouch toward a terminal funk of hebetude and sloth, Bendians race ahead with toned muscles, wide eyes and brains perpetually wired on adrenaline. --"Wild rides in the heart of central Oregon: Bent out of shape in Bend," Washington Times, August 11, 2001[CR][CR]Earlier on, when we merely democratized fame, we defended the right of any mouth-breather to rise from deserved obscurity on the strength of his God-given hebetude. --Florence King, "The misanthrope's corner," National Review, May 18, 1998[CR][CR]From that solitude, full of despair and terror, he was torn out brutally, with kicks and blows, passive, sunk in hebetude. --Joseph Conrad, Nostromo[CR][CR]Hebetude derives ultimately from Latin hebes, "blunt, dull, mentally dull, sluggish, stupid." The adjective form is hebetudinous \heb-uh-TOOD-n-us; -TYOOD-\. acuity acuteness of perception or vision. ?acuity \uh-KYOO-uh-tee\, noun: Acuteness of perception or vision; sharpness.[CR][CR][T]hey fail to understand how a person can hold beliefs so contrary to theirs and still retain any mental acuity. --Charles Krauthammer, ". . . Why Bush Will Win," Washington Post, November 3, 2000[CR][CR]With unusual acuity, one of the wire service reporters pounced on that possibility with an insinuating question. --Alfred Alcorn, Murder in the Museum of Man[CR][CR]Monkeys, diurnal animals that have a high visual acuity -- necessary for finding food and for moving through the trees without bumping into things or missing one's hold on a branch -- have a large visual area of the neocortex. --Stephen Budiansky, If a Lion Could Talk[CR][CR]Horses tend to shy a lot because the construction of their eyes is optimized for a near 360-degree field of view, useful for spotting danger, but the price the horse pays for that is relatively poor acuity and some out-of-focus spots that can cause objects within the field of view to suddenly sail into sharp focus. --Stephen Budiansky, If a Lion Could Talk[CR][CR]Acuity comes from Latin acutus, "sharpened, pointed, acute," past participle of acuere, "to sharpen." sanctum a place where one is free from intrusion. ?sanctum \SANK-tum\, noun; plural sanctums or sancta: 1. A sacred place. 2. A place of retreat where one is free from intrusion.[CR][CR]What's more, the babble of radios, televisions and raised voices from the other households in the condominium rarely penetrated this sanctum. --Tim Parks, Mimi's Ghost[CR][CR]Seymour has spent most of her research time in that sanctum of the professional biographer, the London Library. --John Mullan, "The agony and the ecstasy," The Guardian, December 23, 2000[CR][CR]Sanctum comes from Latin, where it means "holy, sacred, or inviolable." empyrean the highest heaven; the heavens; the sky. ?empyrean \em-pie-REE-un; -PEER-ee-\, noun: 1. The highest heaven, in ancient belief usually thought to be a realm of pure fire or light. 2. Heaven; paradise. 3. The heavens; the sky. adjective: Of or pertaining to the empyrean of ancient belief.[CR][CR]She might have been an angel arguing a point in the empyrean if she hadn't been, so completely, a woman. --Edith Wharton, "The Long Run," The Atlantic, Feburary 1912[CR][CR]In the poem -- one he had the good sense finally to abandon -- he pictured himself as a blind moth raised among butterflies, which for a brief moment had found itself rising upward into the empyrean to behold "Great horizons and systems and shores all along," only to find its wings crumpling and itself falling -- like Icarus -- back to earth. --Paul Mariani, The Broken Tower: A Life of Hart Crane[CR][CR]In my experience, the excitement generated by a truly fresh and original piece of writing is the rocket fuel that lifts Grub Street's rackety skylab -- with its grizzled crew of editors, publishers, agents, booksellers, publicists -- into orbit in the empyrean. --Robert McCrum, "Young blood," The Observer, August 26, 2001[CR][CR]Empyrean comes from Medieval Latin empyreum, ultimately from Greek empurios, from en-, "in" + pyr, "fire." demur to object; also, to delay. ?demur \dih-MUR\, intransitive verb: 1. To object; to take exception. 2. To delay. noun: 1. The act of demurring. 2. Objection. 3. Delay.[CR][CR]It had been Letitia's wish, not Thaddeus's, that there should be a child but, while wondering at the time what it was going to be like to have a baby about the place, he did not demur, and soon after Georgina's birth was surprised to find his feelings quite startlingly transformed. --William Trevor, Death in Summer[CR][CR]She would ask to see something I had written, and I would demur, saying that anything I had written was terrible, and she would persist until I gave in and said, "If you insist," and later she would proclaim that my work was not terrible, my work was terrific. --Rosemary Mahoney, A Likely Story[CR][CR]All the same, she succeeded in exacting from him the promise that . . . he would depart Milan forthwith. Beyle accepted this condition without demur and left Milan. --W.G. Sebald, Vertigo (translated by Michael Hulse)[CR][CR]One member of the staff who left his pass at home wrote on the temporary pass he was given the name 'Heinrich Himmler' and was admitted without demur. --Noel Annan, Changing Enemies: The Defeat and Regeneration of Germany[CR][CR]Demur comes from Old French demorer, "to linger, to stay," from Latin demorari, from de- + morari, "to delay, to loiter," from mora, "a delay." rodomontade pretentious, bragging speech. ?rodomontade \rod-uh-muhn-TADE; roh-duh-; -TAHD\, noun: Vain boasting; empty bluster; pretentious, bragging speech; rant.[CR][CR]These are rejoinders born out of a need to deflate a balloon filled with what others view as pomposity or rodomontade. --Corey Mesler, "Dispatch #1: Buying the Bookstore (The Early Days)," ForeWord, August 2000[CR][CR]The very absurdity of some of his later claims (inventors of jazz, originators of swing) . . . has made him an easy target in a way far beyond anything generated by that other (and in some ways quite similar) master of rodomontade, Jelly Roll Morton. --Richard M. Sudhalter, Lost Chords[CR][CR]. . . the me-me-me rodomontade of macho rap [music]. --Nicholas Barber, "In the very bleak midwinter," Independent, January 7, 1996[CR][CR][B]ut what he said -- that if any official came to his house to requisition his pistol, he'd better shoot straight -- was more rodomontade than a call to arms or hatred. --William F. Buckley, Jr., "What does Clinton have in mind?" National Review, May 29, 1995[CR][CR]Rodomontade comes from Italian rodomontada, from Rodomonte, a great yet boastful warrior king in Italian epics of the late 15th - early 16th centuries. At root the name means "roller-away of mountains," from the Italian dialect rodare, "to roll away" (from Latin rota, "wheel") + Italian monte, "mountain" (from Latin mons). gallimaufry a hodgepodge. ?gallimaufry \gal-uh-MAW-free\, noun: A medley; a hodgepodge.[CR][CR]Today bilingual programs are conducted in a gallimaufry of around 80 tongues, ranging from Spanish to Lithuanian to Micronesian Yapese. --Ezra Bowen, "For Learning or Ethnic Pride?" Time, July 8, 1985[CR][CR]What happened to this gallimaufry of people and birds once the 12 days of Christmas were over is something of which Dame Joan neither sang nor spoke. --"What Christmas presents," The Guardian, December 30, 2000[CR][CR]Maran reports the daily jostlings and thrivings in a public school with 3,200 students, 185 teachers, 45 languages, a principal and five vice principals, five safety monitors, 62 sports teams and a gallimaufry of alternative programs, clubs and cliques. --Colman McCarthy, "A Writer Goes Back to School," Washington Post, August 20, 2001[CR][CR]Gallimaufry, originally meaning "a hash of various kinds of meats," comes from French galimafrée, from Old French, from galer, "to rejoice, to make merry" (source of English gala) + mafrer, "to eat much," from Medieval Dutch maffelen, "to open one's mouth wide." Synonyms: jumble, olla podrida, olio, salmagundi, potpourri. Find more at Thesaurus.com. impregnable able to resist attack. ?impregnable \im-PREG-nuh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Not capable of being stormed or taken by assault; unconquerable; as, an impregnable fortress. 2. Difficult or impossible to overcome or refute successfully; beyond question or criticism; as, an impregnable argument.[CR][CR]During this destruction the villagers . . . relied on their ancient instinct for survival and retreated to the impregnable fortress of the mountain. --Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins, Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet[CR][CR]What Spinoza says of laws is equally true of party-platforms,--that those are strong which appeal to reason, but those are impregnable which compell the assent both of reason and the common affections of mankind. --James Russell Lowell, "The Election in November," The Atlantic, October 1860[CR][CR]Impregnable is from Old French, from the prefix im-, "not" (from Latin in-) + prenable, "able to be taken or captured," from prendre, "to take," from Latin prehendere. urbane polite; refined; elegant. ?urbane \ur-BAIN\, adjective: Polished and smooth in manner; polite, refined, and elegant.[CR][CR]Taylor comes across as an intelligent man, suave and urbane, articulate and smooth as butter. --Bill Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full[CR][CR]It was conceded that he was . . . "the kind of person," one friend-turned-opponent says, "the Founding Fathers would have wanted in the Senate: urbane, witty, scholarly, wise, eloquent." --Godfrey Hodgson, The Gentleman From New York[CR][CR]The son of a famous father, . . . Harvard-educated, handsome, charming, urbane, a northeastern aristocrat with all the advantages, JFK appeared to be everything LBJ was not. --Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant[CR][CR]Urbane comes from Latin urbanus, "of a city," hence "refined, polished," from urbs, "city." The noun form is urbanity (pronounced \ur-BAN-ih-tee\). bibulous of, pertaining to, marked by, or given to the consumption of alcohol. ?bibulous \BIB-yuh-luhs\, adjective: 1. Of, pertaining to, marked by, or given to the consumption of alcoholic drink. 2. Readily absorbing fluids or moisture.[CR][CR]Vineyards are everywhere, especially when Felix approaches Paris, the most populous city in Christendom -- and the most bibulous too, since lousy local wine had to be drunk before it turned sour in a few months. --Eugen Weber, "Renaissance Men," New York Times, April 13, 1997[CR][CR]Ever since the joys of the fermented grape were discovered, the bibulous have been waking up feeling the worse for wear. --Sally Chatterton, "The Daily Website: www.hungover.net," Independent, September 3, 2001[CR][CR]Bibulous comes from Latin bibulus, from bibere, "to drink." acerbic sharp, biting, or acid in temper, expression, or tone. ?acerbic \uh-SUR-bik\, adjective: Sharp, biting, or acid in temper, expression, or tone.[CR][CR]But more than that, he is a social critic, and an efficient one, acerbic and devastating. --Benoit Aubin, "Quebec's King of Comedy," Maclean's, August 27, 2001[CR][CR]Since I started out as a writer many years ago, I have built a reputation as an acerbic, mean-spirited observer of the human condition. --Joe Queenan, My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood[CR][CR]Joey gained a reputation as a smart aleck adept at delivering acerbic one-liners. --"Joseph Heller, Author of 'Catch-22,' Dies at 76," New York Times, December 14, 1999[CR][CR]Acerbic comes from Latin acerbus, "bitter, sour, severe, harsh." redound to have a consequence or effect. ?redound \rih-DOWND\, intransitive verb: 1. To have a consequence or effect. 2. To return; to rebound; to reflect. 3. To become added or transferred; to accrue.[CR][CR]Even if we don't officially round them up, as we did with Japanese Americans in World War II, the unofficial acts of meanness and hatred against those who look like our blood enemies are likely to redound to our shame. --William Raspberry, "Worse to Come," Washington Post, September 15, 2001[CR][CR]Women are so inclined to vote Democratic that a Republican drive to get out the women's vote may actually redound to the Democrats' advantage. -- Ruth Conniff, "No more angry feminists," The Progressive, October 1, 1996[CR][CR][T]he Kemp Commission tracked three periods of reduced taxation in this century. Each was followed by an economic boom that redounded to the benefit of the entire society. --Mona Charen, "You Can't Punish the Rich Without Hurting the Rest of Us," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 25, 1996[CR][CR]O'Sullivan busied himself writing would-be contributors, outlining his plan for the enterprise and how its glory would redound to all associated with the project. --Edward L. Widmer, Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City[CR][CR]Redound, originally "to be in excess or to overflow," derives from Latin redundare, "to overflow, to be in abundance or excess," from re- + unda, "wave." languid lacking vigor or force. ?languid \LANG-gwid\, adjective: 1. Drooping or flagging from or as if from exhaustion; weak; weary; heavy. 2. Promoting or indicating weakness or heaviness. 3. Slow; lacking vigor or force.[CR][CR]Deliberately languid, slow to rise to a dignified height, his handsomely graying wavy hair perfectly combed, Floyd sits most of the day with his long legs sprawled under his table. --William S. McFeely, Proximity to Death[CR][CR]. . . in the languid heat of Rome, late summer, late afternoon. --Matthew Stadler, Allan Stein[CR][CR]With their strength, grace, and endurance, [they] move about naturally, freely, at a tempo determined by climate and tradition, somewhat languid, unhurried, knowing one can never achieve everything in life anyway, and besides, if one did, what would be left over for others? --Ryszard Kapuscinski, The Shadow of the Sun (translated by Klara Glowczewska)[CR][CR]Languid comes from Latin languere, "to become faint or weak; to droop; to be inactive." predilection an established preference. ?predilection \preh-d'l-EK-shun; pree-\, noun: A predisposition to choose or like; an established preference.[CR][CR]Wilson doesn't see any inconsistency between his socialism and his predilection for the high life. --Marina Cantacuzino, "On deadly ground," The Guardian, March 13, 2001[CR][CR]. . . youth's predilection for revolt. --Terry McCarthy, "Lost Generation," Time Asia, October 23, 2000[CR][CR]But for him the first rule of judging was to set aside personal predilection and vote the law and the facts. --Edwin M. Yoder Jr., "Lewis Powell a Fine Sense of Balance," Washington Post, June 29, 1987[CR][CR]Predilection is literally "a liking before," from Latin prae-, "before" + diligere, "to choose; hence to prefer, to like very well." repletion the condition of being completely or excessively full. ?repletion \rih-PLEE-shun\, noun: 1. The condition of being completely filled or supplied. 2. Excessive fullness, as from overeating.[CR][CR]We have to earn silence, then, to work for it: to make it not an absence but a presence; not emptiness but repletion. --Pico Iyer, "The Eloquent Sounds of Silence," Time, January 1993[CR][CR]With distended belly and bursting waistcoat, his eyes glazed with repletion, he picks listlessly at his teeth with a fork. --Kenneth Rose, "Madness of King George's son," Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1998[CR][CR]He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion. --Jeff Guinn, "The Ghoul, the Bad, the Ugly," Arizona Republic, June 7, 1999[CR][CR]Repletion is derived from Latin replere, "to fill again, to fill up," from re- + plere, " to fill." Plenty is a related word. transmute to change from one nature, form, substance, or state into another. ?transmute \trans-MYOOT; tranz-\, transitive verb: To change from one nature, form, substance, or state into another; to transform. intransitive verb: To undergo transmutation.[CR][CR][I]t now seems as if she no longer had the strength or will to transmute life into art. --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "Changes Not for the Better," New York Times, February 28, 1974[CR][CR]Sand that once was rock becomes rock once again as it slowly sediments and compresses into layers of sandstone, which, in turn, transmute into sand. --Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker, The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth[CR][CR]Transmute is from Latin transmutare, "to change utterly," from trans-, "across" + mutare, "to change." forgo to do without. ?forgo \for-GO\, transitive verb: Inflected forms: forwent, forgone, forgoing, forgoes To abstain from; to do without.[CR][CR]This one has given up smoking today, I knew; that one his weekly visit to the cafe, another will forgo her favorite foods. --Joanne Harris, Chocolat[CR][CR]If my deepest wish is to sit on a beach in Maine fishing for bass, I might cheerfully forgo stock options in Microsoft to do it. --Alan Ryan, "It's Not Easy Being Equal," New York Times, June 18, 2000[CR][CR]As much as I wanted to forgo college and head straight to New York to become an actress, my father said that all knowledge would serve me and that the more I knew the more I could bring to my work. --Jane Alexander, Command Performance[CR][CR]Forgo derives from Old English forgan, "to go without, to forgo," from for-, "without" + gan, "to go." abed in bed. ?abed \uh-BED\, adverb: In bed.[CR][CR]When I lay abed as a boy in our ranch house, listening to those trucks growl their way up highway 281, the sound of those motors came to seem as organic as the sounds of the various birds and animals who were apt to make noises in the night. --Larry McMurtry, Roads: Driving America's Great Highways[CR][CR]Abed is the prefix a-, "in, on" (from Old English an) + bed (from Old English bedd). malapropism misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound. ?malapropism \mal-uh-PROP-iz-uhm\, noun: The usually unintentionally humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound; also, an example of such misuse.[CR][CR]At 15, Rachel, the whiny would-be beauty queen who "cares for naught but appearances," can think only of what she misses: the five-day deodorant pads she forgot to bring, flush toilets, machine-washed clothes and other things, as she says with her willful gift for malapropism, that she has taken "for granite." --Michiko Kakutani, "'The Poisonwood Bible': A Family a Heart of Darkness," New York Times, October 16, 1998[CR][CR]He also had, as a former colleague puts it, "a photogenic memory"--a malapropism that captures his gift for the social side of life, his Clintonian ability to remember names of countless people he has met only briefly. --Eric Pooley and S.C. Gwynne, "How George Got His Groove," Time, June 21, 1999[CR][CR]A malapropism is so called after Mrs. Malaprop, a character noted for her amusing misuse of words in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy The Rivals. soi-disant self-styled; so-called. ?soi-disant \swah-dee-ZAHN\, adjective: Self-styled; so-called.[CR][CR]The study exposes most varieties of 'human resource management' as a complete waste oftimes promoted by soi-disant gurus and self-serving consultants with an eye for a quick buck. --"Support for an old-fashioned view," Independent, May 12, 1994[CR][CR]The troupe, soi-disant egalitarians, mostly turn out to be royal phonies. --Craig Offman, "Whiz Kid," Time, February 1, 1999[CR][CR]Soi-disant comes from the French, from soi, "oneself" + disant, "saying," present participle of dire, "to say." paean a song or other expression of praise or joy. ?paean \PEE-uhn\, noun: 1. A joyous song of praise, triumph, or thanksgiving. 2. An expression of praise or joy.[CR][CR]Bud Guthrie had written a paean to the grizzly, calling it the "living, snorting incarnation of the wildness and grandeur of America." --David Whitman, "The Return of the Grizzly," The Atlantic, September 2000[CR][CR]If you look at what British writers were saying about England before and after the war, you read for the most part a seamless paean to the virtues of the nation's strength and identity. --Hugo Young, This Blessed Plot[CR][CR]Paean comes from Latin paean, "a hymn of thanksgiving, often addressed to god Apollo," from Greek paian, from Paia, a title of Apollo. flummery mumbo jumbo; nonsense. ?flummery \FLUM-uh-ree\, noun: 1. A name given to various sweet dishes made with milk, eggs, flour, etc. 2. Empty compliment; unsubstantial talk or writing; mumbo jumbo; nonsense.[CR][CR]He had become disturbed by the number of listeners phoning in with such flummery as tales of self-styled clairvoyants' uncannily correct forecasts. --Suzanne Seixas, "One Man's Finances," Money, September 1, 1986[CR][CR]One reason there is so much flummery in the global warming debate is that the weather in the Northeast United States, where the opinion-makers live, has a disproportionate effect on whether greenhouse concerns are taken seriously. --Gregg Easterbrook, "Warming Up," New Republic, November 8, 1999[CR][CR]It is Dr. August's claim that he receives inspiration from spirits, that through his music the departed can speak to those they left behind. Although this is sometimes unabashed flummery, there are moments when Fitz seems to make a real connection with those who have crossed over. --Paul Quarrington, "Psychic Hotline," New York Times, September 3, 2000[CR][CR]Flummery comes from Welsh llymru, a soft, sour oatmeal food. dolorous marked by, causing, or expressing grief or sorrow. ?dolorous \DOH-luh-ruhs\, adjective: Marked by, causing, or expressing grief or sorrow.[CR][CR]Climbing out on to a narrow ledge, we waving cheerily at the people passing by on the street below, until my mother was informed of our misdemeanour -- by a waitress wickedly known to great-aunt Mary, behind her table napkin, as Sourpuss for her perpetually dolorous expression -- and we were lured back inside. --Mary Varnham, "Voices of young and old are rarely heard," The Evening Post (Wellington, New Zealand), March 30, 1995[CR][CR]And at the centre of this intense display of devotion Carlo himself, bearing aloft the relic of the Holy Nail from the cathedral, shoeless and oblivious to his bleeding feet, walked amid a dolorous procession of penitents. --Helen Langdon, Caravaggio: A Life[CR][CR]Dolorous derives from Latin dolor, "pain, grief, sorrow," from dolere, "to suffer pain, to grieve." 'Word Group One - Words to Definitions [PB] to frolic; to amuse (oneself). disport ?disport \dis-PORT\, intransitive verb: To amuse oneself in light or lively manner; to frolic. transitive verb: 1. To divert or amuse. 2. To display.[CR][CR]If you confine the kids' drinking to the college area, they will disport there and lessen the problem of the drunken car ride coming back from the out-of-town bar. --William F. Buckley Jr., "Let's Drink to It," National Review, February 27, 2001[CR][CR]I had to laugh, picturing Stuart and me in a red enamel tub, disporting ourselves among the suds. --Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Most Wanted[CR][CR]Few of the "carriage ladies and gentlemen" who disport themselves in Newport during the summer months, yachting and dancing through the short season, then flitting away to fresh fields and pastures new, realize that their daintily shod feet have been treading historic ground, or care to cast a thought back to the past. --Eliot Gregory, Worldly Ways and Byways[CR][CR]. . . those dolphins and narwhals who disport themselves upon the edges of old maps. --Virginia Woolf, Night and Day[CR][CR]Disport derives from Old French desporter, "to divert," from des-, "apart" (from Latin dis-) + porter, "to carry" (from Latin portare) -- hence to disport is at root "to carry apart, or away" [from business or seriousness]. to feel or express discontent. repine ?repine \rih-PINE\, intransitive verb: 1. To feel or express discontent. 2. To long for something.[CR][CR]Even Hancock, though he might regret the source of this sudden wealth, could not repine at its consequences. --David Nokes, Jane Austen: A Life[CR][CR]Deserted at birth by his natural father, sentenced at the age of 11 to Colored Waif's Home in New Orleans, Armstrong did not repine; instead, he returned love for hatred and sought salvation through work. --Terry Teachout, "Top Brass," New York Times, August 3, 1997[CR][CR]One may repine over the ineffectiveness of the policies applied to Iraq without quite giving up hope that in some way not visible now Saddam has been undermined. --Martin Woollacott , "Iraq's devastation is due to Saddam, not sanctions," The Guardian, February 23, 2001[CR][CR]Thus 250 years ago the philosopher David Hume bemoaned the lack of economic cooperation among countries, blaming the "narrow malignity and envy of nations, which can never bear to see their neighbors thriving, but continually repine at any new efforts towards industry made by any other nation." --Benjamin Schwarz, "Why America Thinks It Has to Run the World," The Atlantic, June 1996[CR][CR]Repine is re- (from the Latin) + pine, from Old English pinian, "to torment," ultimately from Latin poena, "penalty, punishment." someone who dwells in a cave. troglodyte ?troglodyte \TROG-luh-dyt\, noun: 1. A member of a primitive people that lived in caves, dens, or holes; a cave dweller. 2. One who is regarded as reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.[CR][CR]When the survivalists emerged blinking into the sunlight to restock their caves after the terror, my first reaction was to say, "Bless their dotty, troglodyte hearts." --Judy Mann, "Survivalists Flee Reality to Live in Fear," Washington Post, October 5, 2001[CR][CR]. . . an admitted electronics-averse troglodyte like myself, who writes with a fountain pen, shaves with a mug and brush, grinds his own coffee and spends summers in a Maine fishing town where the nearest latte is 45 minutes away. --Frank Van Riper, "Another Door Opens," Washington Post, May 5, 2000[CR][CR]For the first time, opening a fashion magazine didn't make me feel like a cloddish troglodyte who needed fixing. --Janelle Brown, "Keeping it real," Salon, June 4, 2001[CR][CR]Troglodyte comes from Latin Troglodytae, a people said to be cave dwellers, from Greek Troglodytai, from trogle, "a hole" + dyein, "to enter." The adjective form is troglodytic. suspension; temporary cessation. abeyance ?abeyance \uh-BAY-uhn(t)s\, noun: Suspension; temporary cessation.[CR][CR]He was nineteen years old, and officially a medical student, though inevitably his studies were in abeyance for the duration of the war. --Ruth Brandon, Surreal Lives: The Surrealists 1917-1945[CR][CR]Her plans fell into abeyance when she parted from Franz Josef and traveled for five years. --Rebecca West, "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon," The Atlantic, January 1941[CR][CR]Abeyance derives from Medieval French abeance, "expectation," from abeer, from a-, "to" (from Latin ad-) + baer, beer, "to gape (at)," from Late Latin batare, "to gape." an urchin; also, a mischievous girl or young woman. gamine ?gamine \gam-EEN; GAM-een\, noun: 1. A girl who wanders about the streets; an urchin. 2. A playfully mischievous girl or young woman.[CR][CR]And the whole world is whacked out with fear of nuclear doom, except for Claire, a French gamine who is "living her own nightmare" and waking up in lots of strange places. --Joe Brown, Washington Post, January 17, 1992[CR][CR]. . . the delectable young gamine employed as a waitress in a Montmartre cafe. --Peter Bradshaw, "Jolie good show," The Guardian, October 5, 2001[CR][CR]Gamine comes from the French. A boy who wanders about the street is a gamin \GAM-in\. incitement of rebellion against lawful authority. sedition ?sedition \sih-DISH-un\, noun: Conduct or language inciting resistance to or rebellion against lawful authority.[CR][CR][M]ost of us now accept as common sense what was once prosecuted as sedition, namely Tom Paine's proposition that "the idea of hereditary legislators is as absurd as a hereditary mathematician -- as absurd as a hereditary poet laureate". --Geoffrey Robertson, "Dumping our Queen," The Guardian, November 6, 1999[CR][CR]At several points in his long career, Jinnah was threatened by the British with imprisonment on sedition charges for speaking in favour of Indian home rule or rights. --Akbar S. Ahmed, Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity[CR][CR]Outspoken critics of the policy have until now faced the possibility of having a charge of sedition brought against them. --David Cohen, "Malaysian universities rejecting Chinese students," The Guardian, May 3, 2001[CR][CR]Sedition comes from Latin seditio, sedition-, "a going apart," hence "revolt, insurrection," from se-, "apart" + itio, ition-, "act of going," from ire, "to go." lewd; also, slippery or smooth. lubricious ?lubricious \loo-BRISH-us\, adjective: 1. Lustful; lewd. 2. Stimulating or appealing to sexual desire or imagination. 3. Having a slippery or smooth quality.[CR][CR][T]he heroine, through some form of ESP, can hear, and be offended by, the lubricious speculations going on inside the heads of the men she meets. --Philip French, "More about What Women Want," The Observer, February 4, 2001[CR][CR]And even if the public ate up every lubricious detail about their leaders, that same public grew offended that the news media would actually pander to their baser impulses. --Jeff Greenfield, "Film at 11," New York Times, November 7, 1999[CR][CR]. . . urged women to give up their vanities, their cosmetics, and their high-heeled shoes, and to pile them on . . . bonfires next to lubricious works of art. --Anthony Grafton, "The Varieties of Millennial Experience," The New Republic, November 1999[CR][CR]Here was a place where a kind of benign . . . anarchy seemed to rule, a lubricious, frictionless chaos into which one could simply disappear. --Eugene Robinson, "On the Beach at Ipanema," Washington Post, August 1, 1999[CR][CR]Lubricious derives from Latin lubricus, "slippery, smooth." mental dullness or sluggishness. hebetude ?hebetude \HEB-uh-tood-; -tyood\, noun: Mental dullness or sluggishness.[CR][CR]While too many Americans slouch toward a terminal funk of hebetude and sloth, Bendians race ahead with toned muscles, wide eyes and brains perpetually wired on adrenaline. --"Wild rides in the heart of central Oregon: Bent out of shape in Bend," Washington Times, August 11, 2001[CR][CR]Earlier on, when we merely democratized fame, we defended the right of any mouth-breather to rise from deserved obscurity on the strength of his God-given hebetude. --Florence King, "The misanthrope's corner," National Review, May 18, 1998[CR][CR]From that solitude, full of despair and terror, he was torn out brutally, with kicks and blows, passive, sunk in hebetude. --Joseph Conrad, Nostromo[CR][CR]Hebetude derives ultimately from Latin hebes, "blunt, dull, mentally dull, sluggish, stupid." The adjective form is hebetudinous \heb-uh-TOOD-n-us; -TYOOD-\. acuteness of perception or vision. acuity ?acuity \uh-KYOO-uh-tee\, noun: Acuteness of perception or vision; sharpness.[CR][CR][T]hey fail to understand how a person can hold beliefs so contrary to theirs and still retain any mental acuity. --Charles Krauthammer, ". . . Why Bush Will Win," Washington Post, November 3, 2000[CR][CR]With unusual acuity, one of the wire service reporters pounced on that possibility with an insinuating question. --Alfred Alcorn, Murder in the Museum of Man[CR][CR]Monkeys, diurnal animals that have a high visual acuity -- necessary for finding food and for moving through the trees without bumping into things or missing one's hold on a branch -- have a large visual area of the neocortex. --Stephen Budiansky, If a Lion Could Talk[CR][CR]Horses tend to shy a lot because the construction of their eyes is optimized for a near 360-degree field of view, useful for spotting danger, but the price the horse pays for that is relatively poor acuity and some out-of-focus spots that can cause objects within the field of view to suddenly sail into sharp focus. --Stephen Budiansky, If a Lion Could Talk[CR][CR]Acuity comes from Latin acutus, "sharpened, pointed, acute," past participle of acuere, "to sharpen." a place where one is free from intrusion. sanctum ?sanctum \SANK-tum\, noun; plural sanctums or sancta: 1. A sacred place. 2. A place of retreat where one is free from intrusion.[CR][CR]What's more, the babble of radios, televisions and raised voices from the other households in the condominium rarely penetrated this sanctum. --Tim Parks, Mimi's Ghost[CR][CR]Seymour has spent most of her research time in that sanctum of the professional biographer, the London Library. --John Mullan, "The agony and the ecstasy," The Guardian, December 23, 2000[CR][CR]Sanctum comes from Latin, where it means "holy, sacred, or inviolable." the highest heaven; the heavens; the sky. empyrean ?empyrean \em-pie-REE-un; -PEER-ee-\, noun: 1. The highest heaven, in ancient belief usually thought to be a realm of pure fire or light. 2. Heaven; paradise. 3. The heavens; the sky. adjective: Of or pertaining to the empyrean of ancient belief.[CR][CR]She might have been an angel arguing a point in the empyrean if she hadn't been, so completely, a woman. --Edith Wharton, "The Long Run," The Atlantic, Feburary 1912[CR][CR]In the poem -- one he had the good sense finally to abandon -- he pictured himself as a blind moth raised among butterflies, which for a brief moment had found itself rising upward into the empyrean to behold "Great horizons and systems and shores all along," only to find its wings crumpling and itself falling -- like Icarus -- back to earth. --Paul Mariani, The Broken Tower: A Life of Hart Crane[CR][CR]In my experience, the excitement generated by a truly fresh and original piece of writing is the rocket fuel that lifts Grub Street's rackety skylab -- with its grizzled crew of editors, publishers, agents, booksellers, publicists -- into orbit in the empyrean. --Robert McCrum, "Young blood," The Observer, August 26, 2001[CR][CR]Empyrean comes from Medieval Latin empyreum, ultimately from Greek empurios, from en-, "in" + pyr, "fire." to object; also, to delay. demur ?demur \dih-MUR\, intransitive verb: 1. To object; to take exception. 2. To delay. noun: 1. The act of demurring. 2. Objection. 3. Delay.[CR][CR]It had been Letitia's wish, not Thaddeus's, that there should be a child but, while wondering at the time what it was going to be like to have a baby about the place, he did not demur, and soon after Georgina's birth was surprised to find his feelings quite startlingly transformed. --William Trevor, Death in Summer[CR][CR]She would ask to see something I had written, and I would demur, saying that anything I had written was terrible, and she would persist until I gave in and said, "If you insist," and later she would proclaim that my work was not terrible, my work was terrific. --Rosemary Mahoney, A Likely Story[CR][CR]All the same, she succeeded in exacting from him the promise that . . . he would depart Milan forthwith. Beyle accepted this condition without demur and left Milan. --W.G. Sebald, Vertigo (translated by Michael Hulse)[CR][CR]One member of the staff who left his pass at home wrote on the temporary pass he was given the name 'Heinrich Himmler' and was admitted without demur. --Noel Annan, Changing Enemies: The Defeat and Regeneration of Germany[CR][CR]Demur comes from Old French demorer, "to linger, to stay," from Latin demorari, from de- + morari, "to delay, to loiter," from mora, "a delay." pretentious, bragging speech. rodomontade ?rodomontade \rod-uh-muhn-TADE; roh-duh-; -TAHD\, noun: Vain boasting; empty bluster; pretentious, bragging speech; rant.[CR][CR]These are rejoinders born out of a need to deflate a balloon filled with what others view as pomposity or rodomontade. --Corey Mesler, "Dispatch #1: Buying the Bookstore (The Early Days)," ForeWord, August 2000[CR][CR]The very absurdity of some of his later claims (inventors of jazz, originators of swing) . . . has made him an easy target in a way far beyond anything generated by that other (and in some ways quite similar) master of rodomontade, Jelly Roll Morton. --Richard M. Sudhalter, Lost Chords[CR][CR]. . . the me-me-me rodomontade of macho rap [music]. --Nicholas Barber, "In the very bleak midwinter," Independent, January 7, 1996[CR][CR][B]ut what he said -- that if any official came to his house to requisition his pistol, he'd better shoot straight -- was more rodomontade than a call to arms or hatred. --William F. Buckley, Jr., "What does Clinton have in mind?" National Review, May 29, 1995[CR][CR]Rodomontade comes from Italian rodomontada, from Rodomonte, a great yet boastful warrior king in Italian epics of the late 15th - early 16th centuries. At root the name means "roller-away of mountains," from the Italian dialect rodare, "to roll away" (from Latin rota, "wheel") + Italian monte, "mountain" (from Latin mons). a hodgepodge. gallimaufry ?gallimaufry \gal-uh-MAW-free\, noun: A medley; a hodgepodge.[CR][CR]Today bilingual programs are conducted in a gallimaufry of around 80 tongues, ranging from Spanish to Lithuanian to Micronesian Yapese. --Ezra Bowen, "For Learning or Ethnic Pride?" Time, July 8, 1985[CR][CR]What happened to this gallimaufry of people and birds once the 12 days of Christmas were over is something of which Dame Joan neither sang nor spoke. --"What Christmas presents," The Guardian, December 30, 2000[CR][CR]Maran reports the daily jostlings and thrivings in a public school with 3,200 students, 185 teachers, 45 languages, a principal and five vice principals, five safety monitors, 62 sports teams and a gallimaufry of alternative programs, clubs and cliques. --Colman McCarthy, "A Writer Goes Back to School," Washington Post, August 20, 2001[CR][CR]Gallimaufry, originally meaning "a hash of various kinds of meats," comes from French galimafrée, from Old French, from galer, "to rejoice, to make merry" (source of English gala) + mafrer, "to eat much," from Medieval Dutch maffelen, "to open one's mouth wide." Synonyms: jumble, olla podrida, olio, salmagundi, potpourri. Find more at Thesaurus.com. able to resist attack. impregnable ?impregnable \im-PREG-nuh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Not capable of being stormed or taken by assault; unconquerable; as, an impregnable fortress. 2. Difficult or impossible to overcome or refute successfully; beyond question or criticism; as, an impregnable argument.[CR][CR]During this destruction the villagers . . . relied on their ancient instinct for survival and retreated to the impregnable fortress of the mountain. --Suheil Bushrui and Joe Jenkins, Kahlil Gibran: Man and Poet[CR][CR]What Spinoza says of laws is equally true of party-platforms,--that those are strong which appeal to reason, but those are impregnable which compell the assent both of reason and the common affections of mankind. --James Russell Lowell, "The Election in November," The Atlantic, October 1860[CR][CR]Impregnable is from Old French, from the prefix im-, "not" (from Latin in-) + prenable, "able to be taken or captured," from prendre, "to take," from Latin prehendere. polite; refined; elegant. urbane ?urbane \ur-BAIN\, adjective: Polished and smooth in manner; polite, refined, and elegant.[CR][CR]Taylor comes across as an intelligent man, suave and urbane, articulate and smooth as butter. --Bill Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full[CR][CR]It was conceded that he was . . . "the kind of person," one friend-turned-opponent says, "the Founding Fathers would have wanted in the Senate: urbane, witty, scholarly, wise, eloquent." --Godfrey Hodgson, The Gentleman From New York[CR][CR]The son of a famous father, . . . Harvard-educated, handsome, charming, urbane, a northeastern aristocrat with all the advantages, JFK appeared to be everything LBJ was not. --Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant[CR][CR]Urbane comes from Latin urbanus, "of a city," hence "refined, polished," from urbs, "city." The noun form is urbanity (pronounced \ur-BAN-ih-tee\). of, pertaining to, marked by, or given to the consumption of alcohol. bibulous ?bibulous \BIB-yuh-luhs\, adjective: 1. Of, pertaining to, marked by, or given to the consumption of alcoholic drink. 2. Readily absorbing fluids or moisture.[CR][CR]Vineyards are everywhere, especially when Felix approaches Paris, the most populous city in Christendom -- and the most bibulous too, since lousy local wine had to be drunk before it turned sour in a few months. --Eugen Weber, "Renaissance Men," New York Times, April 13, 1997[CR][CR]Ever since the joys of the fermented grape were discovered, the bibulous have been waking up feeling the worse for wear. --Sally Chatterton, "The Daily Website: www.hungover.net," Independent, September 3, 2001[CR][CR]Bibulous comes from Latin bibulus, from bibere, "to drink." sharp, biting, or acid in temper, expression, or tone. acerbic ?acerbic \uh-SUR-bik\, adjective: Sharp, biting, or acid in temper, expression, or tone.[CR][CR]But more than that, he is a social critic, and an efficient one, acerbic and devastating. --Benoit Aubin, "Quebec's King of Comedy," Maclean's, August 27, 2001[CR][CR]Since I started out as a writer many years ago, I have built a reputation as an acerbic, mean-spirited observer of the human condition. --Joe Queenan, My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood[CR][CR]Joey gained a reputation as a smart aleck adept at delivering acerbic one-liners. --"Joseph Heller, Author of 'Catch-22,' Dies at 76," New York Times, December 14, 1999[CR][CR]Acerbic comes from Latin acerbus, "bitter, sour, severe, harsh." to have a consequence or effect. redound ?redound \rih-DOWND\, intransitive verb: 1. To have a consequence or effect. 2. To return; to rebound; to reflect. 3. To become added or transferred; to accrue.[CR][CR]Even if we don't officially round them up, as we did with Japanese Americans in World War II, the unofficial acts of meanness and hatred against those who look like our blood enemies are likely to redound to our shame. --William Raspberry, "Worse to Come," Washington Post, September 15, 2001[CR][CR]Women are so inclined to vote Democratic that a Republican drive to get out the women's vote may actually redound to the Democrats' advantage. -- Ruth Conniff, "No more angry feminists," The Progressive, October 1, 1996[CR][CR][T]he Kemp Commission tracked three periods of reduced taxation in this century. Each was followed by an economic boom that redounded to the benefit of the entire society. --Mona Charen, "You Can't Punish the Rich Without Hurting the Rest of Us," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 25, 1996[CR][CR]O'Sullivan busied himself writing would-be contributors, outlining his plan for the enterprise and how its glory would redound to all associated with the project. --Edward L. Widmer, Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City[CR][CR]Redound, originally "to be in excess or to overflow," derives from Latin redundare, "to overflow, to be in abundance or excess," from re- + unda, "wave." lacking vigor or force. languid ?languid \LANG-gwid\, adjective: 1. Drooping or flagging from or as if from exhaustion; weak; weary; heavy. 2. Promoting or indicating weakness or heaviness. 3. Slow; lacking vigor or force.[CR][CR]Deliberately languid, slow to rise to a dignified height, his handsomely graying wavy hair perfectly combed, Floyd sits most of the day with his long legs sprawled under his table. --William S. McFeely, Proximity to Death[CR][CR]. . . in the languid heat of Rome, late summer, late afternoon. --Matthew Stadler, Allan Stein[CR][CR]With their strength, grace, and endurance, [they] move about naturally, freely, at a tempo determined by climate and tradition, somewhat languid, unhurried, knowing one can never achieve everything in life anyway, and besides, if one did, what would be left over for others? --Ryszard Kapuscinski, The Shadow of the Sun (translated by Klara Glowczewska)[CR][CR]Languid comes from Latin languere, "to become faint or weak; to droop; to be inactive." an established preference. predilection ?predilection \preh-d'l-EK-shun; pree-\, noun: A predisposition to choose or like; an established preference.[CR][CR]Wilson doesn't see any inconsistency between his socialism and his predilection for the high life. --Marina Cantacuzino, "On deadly ground," The Guardian, March 13, 2001[CR][CR]. . . youth's predilection for revolt. --Terry McCarthy, "Lost Generation," Time Asia, October 23, 2000[CR][CR]But for him the first rule of judging was to set aside personal predilection and vote the law and the facts. --Edwin M. Yoder Jr., "Lewis Powell a Fine Sense of Balance," Washington Post, June 29, 1987[CR][CR]Predilection is literally "a liking before," from Latin prae-, "before" + diligere, "to choose; hence to prefer, to like very well." the condition of being completely or excessively full. repletion ?repletion \rih-PLEE-shun\, noun: 1. The condition of being completely filled or supplied. 2. Excessive fullness, as from overeating.[CR][CR]We have to earn silence, then, to work for it: to make it not an absence but a presence; not emptiness but repletion. --Pico Iyer, "The Eloquent Sounds of Silence," Time, January 1993[CR][CR]With distended belly and bursting waistcoat, his eyes glazed with repletion, he picks listlessly at his teeth with a fork. --Kenneth Rose, "Madness of King George's son," Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1998[CR][CR]He lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion. --Jeff Guinn, "The Ghoul, the Bad, the Ugly," Arizona Republic, June 7, 1999[CR][CR]Repletion is derived from Latin replere, "to fill again, to fill up," from re- + plere, " to fill." Plenty is a related word. to change from one nature, form, substance, or state into another. transmute ?transmute \trans-MYOOT; tranz-\, transitive verb: To change from one nature, form, substance, or state into another; to transform. intransitive verb: To undergo transmutation.[CR][CR][I]t now seems as if she no longer had the strength or will to transmute life into art. --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "Changes Not for the Better," New York Times, February 28, 1974[CR][CR]Sand that once was rock becomes rock once again as it slowly sediments and compresses into layers of sandstone, which, in turn, transmute into sand. --Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker, The Beach: The History of Paradise on Earth[CR][CR]Transmute is from Latin transmutare, "to change utterly," from trans-, "across" + mutare, "to change." to do without. forgo ?forgo \for-GO\, transitive verb: Inflected forms: forwent, forgone, forgoing, forgoes To abstain from; to do without.[CR][CR]This one has given up smoking today, I knew; that one his weekly visit to the cafe, another will forgo her favorite foods. --Joanne Harris, Chocolat[CR][CR]If my deepest wish is to sit on a beach in Maine fishing for bass, I might cheerfully forgo stock options in Microsoft to do it. --Alan Ryan, "It's Not Easy Being Equal," New York Times, June 18, 2000[CR][CR]As much as I wanted to forgo college and head straight to New York to become an actress, my father said that all knowledge would serve me and that the more I knew the more I could bring to my work. --Jane Alexander, Command Performance[CR][CR]Forgo derives from Old English forgan, "to go without, to forgo," from for-, "without" + gan, "to go." in bed. abed ?abed \uh-BED\, adverb: In bed.[CR][CR]When I lay abed as a boy in our ranch house, listening to those trucks growl their way up highway 281, the sound of those motors came to seem as organic as the sounds of the various birds and animals who were apt to make noises in the night. --Larry McMurtry, Roads: Driving America's Great Highways[CR][CR]Abed is the prefix a-, "in, on" (from Old English an) + bed (from Old English bedd). misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound. malapropism ?malapropism \mal-uh-PROP-iz-uhm\, noun: The usually unintentionally humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound; also, an example of such misuse.[CR][CR]At 15, Rachel, the whiny would-be beauty queen who "cares for naught but appearances," can think only of what she misses: the five-day deodorant pads she forgot to bring, flush toilets, machine-washed clothes and other things, as she says with her willful gift for malapropism, that she has taken "for granite." --Michiko Kakutani, "'The Poisonwood Bible': A Family a Heart of Darkness," New York Times, October 16, 1998[CR][CR]He also had, as a former colleague puts it, "a photogenic memory"--a malapropism that captures his gift for the social side of life, his Clintonian ability to remember names of countless people he has met only briefly. --Eric Pooley and S.C. Gwynne, "How George Got His Groove," Time, June 21, 1999[CR][CR]A malapropism is so called after Mrs. Malaprop, a character noted for her amusing misuse of words in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's comedy The Rivals. self-styled; so-called. soi-disant ?soi-disant \swah-dee-ZAHN\, adjective: Self-styled; so-called.[CR][CR]The study exposes most varieties of 'human resource management' as a complete waste oftimes promoted by soi-disant gurus and self-serving consultants with an eye for a quick buck. --"Support for an old-fashioned view," Independent, May 12, 1994[CR][CR]The troupe, soi-disant egalitarians, mostly turn out to be royal phonies. --Craig Offman, "Whiz Kid," Time, February 1, 1999[CR][CR]Soi-disant comes from the French, from soi, "oneself" + disant, "saying," present participle of dire, "to say." a song or other expression of praise or joy. paean ?paean \PEE-uhn\, noun: 1. A joyous song of praise, triumph, or thanksgiving. 2. An expression of praise or joy.[CR][CR]Bud Guthrie had written a paean to the grizzly, calling it the "living, snorting incarnation of the wildness and grandeur of America." --David Whitman, "The Return of the Grizzly," The Atlantic, September 2000[CR][CR]If you look at what British writers were saying about England before and after the war, you read for the most part a seamless paean to the virtues of the nation's strength and identity. --Hugo Young, This Blessed Plot[CR][CR]Paean comes from Latin paean, "a hymn of thanksgiving, often addressed to god Apollo," from Greek paian, from Paia, a title of Apollo. mumbo jumbo; nonsense. flummery ?flummery \FLUM-uh-ree\, noun: 1. A name given to various sweet dishes made with milk, eggs, flour, etc. 2. Empty compliment; unsubstantial talk or writing; mumbo jumbo; nonsense.[CR][CR]He had become disturbed by the number of listeners phoning in with such flummery as tales of self-styled clairvoyants' uncannily correct forecasts. --Suzanne Seixas, "One Man's Finances," Money, September 1, 1986[CR][CR]One reason there is so much flummery in the global warming debate is that the weather in the Northeast United States, where the opinion-makers live, has a disproportionate effect on whether greenhouse concerns are taken seriously. --Gregg Easterbrook, "Warming Up," New Republic, November 8, 1999[CR][CR]It is Dr. August's claim that he receives inspiration from spirits, that through his music the departed can speak to those they left behind. Although this is sometimes unabashed flummery, there are moments when Fitz seems to make a real connection with those who have crossed over. --Paul Quarrington, "Psychic Hotline," New York Times, September 3, 2000[CR][CR]Flummery comes from Welsh llymru, a soft, sour oatmeal food. marked by, causing, or expressing grief or sorrow. dolorous ?dolorous \DOH-luh-ruhs\, adjective: Marked by, causing, or expressing grief or sorrow.[CR][CR]Climbing out on to a narrow ledge, we waving cheerily at the people passing by on the street below, until my mother was informed of our misdemeanour -- by a waitress wickedly known to great-aunt Mary, behind her table napkin, as Sourpuss for her perpetually dolorous expression -- and we were lured back inside. --Mary Varnham, "Voices of young and old are rarely heard," The Evening Post (Wellington, New Zealand), March 30, 1995[CR][CR]And at the centre of this intense display of devotion Carlo himself, bearing aloft the relic of the Holy Nail from the cathedral, shoeless and oblivious to his bleeding feet, walked amid a dolorous procession of penitents. --Helen Langdon, Caravaggio: A Life[CR][CR]Dolorous derives from Latin dolor, "pain, grief, sorrow," from dolere, "to suffer pain, to grieve." 'Word Group Two - Definitions to Words [PA] pantheon the collective gods of a people; also, a group of highly esteemed persons. ?pantheon \PAN-thee-on; -uhn\, noun: 1. A temple dedicated to all the gods; especially (capitalized), the building so called at Rome. 2. The collective gods of a people; as, a goddess of the Greek pantheon. 3. A public building commemorating and dedicated to the famous dead of a nation. 4. A group of highly esteemed persons.[CR][CR]Well into the fourteenth century the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Prince Gediminas, still put his faith in Perkunas, the god of thunder and forests, who ruled over the many other gods and goddesses in the Lithuanian pantheon. --Yaffa Eliach, There Once Was a World[CR][CR]What [Galileo] discovered . . . would soon do nothing less than revolutionize astronomy, change forever the way the inhabitants of this planet conceived the universe beyond it, and . . . land him in the pantheon of immortal scientists. --William E. Burrows, This New Ocean[CR][CR]Argentina had spawned its own pantheon of civic-minded historical heroes, from General Jose de San Martin, the country's liberator in the independence struggle with Spain, to Domingo Sarmiento, the crusading journalist, educator, and president who had finally wrested Argentina into the modern age as a unified republic. --Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life[CR][CR]Pantheon comes from Greek pantheion, "temple of all the gods," from pan-, "all" + theos, "god." surly ill-humored and churlish in manner or mood. ?surly \SUR-lee\, adjective: 1. Ill-humored; churlish in manner or mood; sullen and gruff. 2. Menacing or threatening in appearance, as of weather conditions; ominous.[CR][CR]Voters may be turned off by candidates who play dirty, but nothing gets a campaign reporter going like the smell of blood on the trail. Part of it has to do with boredom: journalists can only listen for so long to a candidate blather on about "a world of possibilities guided by goodness" before they get surly. --Michelle Cottle, "Nice Try," New Republic, February 14, 2000[CR][CR]Maggie drank a little too much and got surly and made snide comments during the final toast. --John L'Heureux, Having Everything[CR][CR]Surly is from Middle English sirly, "lordly," from sir, "lord"; it came to mean "arrogant or haughty," whence the more negative modern sense. fatidic of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy. ?fatidic \fuh-TID-ik\, adjective: Of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy; prophetic.[CR][CR]Throughout his very considerable body of work, there is an obsession with time, with dates, with temporal coincidences, with the fatidic power of numbers over our birth and death. --James Kirkup, "Obituary: Ernst Junger," Independent, February 18, 1998[CR][CR]With a fatidic clarity that comes only occasionally and only to the young, she understood that . . . this too was a sign, an omen. --Kathleen Cambor, In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden[CR][CR]Fatidic comes from Latin fatidicus, from fati- (from fatum, "fate") + -dicus (from dicere, "to say"). enjoin to direct or impose with authority; also, to forbid. ?enjoin \en-JOIN\, transitive verb: 1. To direct or impose with authority; to order. 2. To prohibit; to forbid.[CR][CR]While the Qur'an contains a number of references, some direct and some oblique, to the other four pillars, in only one place does it specifically enjoin fasting during the month of Ramadan: "O you faithful, fasting is ordained for you in the same way that it was ordained for those who came before you, so that you may fear God.... It was during the month of Ramadan that the Qur'an was sent down as a guidance for humanity.... Whoever among you sees the moon, then he should fast, but the one who is sick or on a journey, [can fast] an equal number of other days" (Sura 2:183-85). --Jane I. Smith, Islam in America[CR][CR]Few judges were friendly to unions, as demonstrated by a steady stream of decisions enjoining strikes, boycotts, picket lines, and other collective actions. --Sanford M. Jacoby, Modern Manors: Welfare Capitalism Since the New Deal[CR][CR]Enjoin derives from Old French enjoindre, from Latin injungere, "to attach, to fasten to; also, to bring upon," from in- + jungere, "to join." Trivia: Enjoin is its own antonym. Other self-antonyms include fast ("moving quickly; fixed firmly in place") and cleave ("to split; to adhere"). turbid muddy; not clear; also, confused; disordered. ?turbid \TUR-bid\, adjective: 1. Muddy; thick with or as if with roiled sediment; not clear; -- used of liquids of any kind. 2. Thick; dense; dark; -- used of clouds, air, fog, smoke, etc. 3. Disturbed; confused; disordered.[CR][CR]Although both are found in the same waters, black crappies usually prefer clearer, quieter water, while white crappies flourish in warmer, siltier and more turbid water. --Tim Eisele, "Crappie Facts," Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), May 8, 1998[CR][CR]Rough or smooth, the Irish Sea at Blackpool is always turbid. Beneath the murk float unspeakable things. --David Walker, "Is Labour right to end its affair with Blackpool? YES says David," Independent, March 26, 1998[CR][CR]Wesley's mind seems at this time to have been in a turbid and restless state. --W. B. Stonehouse, The History and Topography of the Isle of Axholme[CR][CR]Turbid comes from Latin turbidus, "confused, disordered," from turba, "disturbance, commotion." renege to go back on a promise or commitment. ?renege \rih-NIG; -NEG\, intransitive verb: To go back on a promise or commitment.[CR][CR]Today, politicians everywhere routinely renege on pledges in the belief that any problem can be solved by short-term fixes, spin-doctoring or character assassination. --Larry Elliott, "Universal man must take responsibility for slaying Beveridge's five giants," The Guardian, January 10, 2000[CR][CR]But now the Senate is proposing to renege on the deal, and the governors are furious. --By Judith Havemann Washington Post, March 13, 1999[CR][CR]And George W. Bush knows from seeing his father renege on his "no new taxes" pledge how a single judgment can end up crippling a presidency. --James Carney and Karen Tumulty, "How They Run the Show," Time, October 29, 2000[CR][CR]Renege is from Medieval Latin renegare, "to deny again, to go back upon," from Latin re-, "back, again" + negare, "to say no, to deny." enunciate to utter articulately; also, to state or set forth precisely or systematically. ?enunciate \ee-NUN-see-ayt; ih-\, transitive verb: 1. To utter articulately; to pronounce. 2. To state or set forth precisely or systematically. 3. To announce; to proclaim; to declare. intransitive verb: To utter words or syllables articulately.[CR][CR]And all agree that he was from his college days a wonderful speaker, one who enunciated clearly and crisply and never seemed to have to grope for a word. --Louis Auchincloss, Woodrow Wilson[CR][CR]John Maynard Keynes, a famous economist and outstandingly successful investor, enunciated the theory most lucidly in 1936. --Burton G. Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street[CR][CR]His concern about America's incipient drift out of manufacturing was widely challenged by many feel-good commentators, who proceeded to enunciate the now widely accepted doctrine that a shift to postindustrialism would boost U.S. income growth. --Eamonn Fingleton, In Praise of Hard Industries[CR][CR]This is such an obvious, commonsensical truism that it seems almost foolish to enunciate it. --Seymour Martin Lipset, American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword[CR][CR]Enunciate comes from Latin enuntiare, "to tell; to disclose; to declare; to pronounce clearly," from e- + nuntiare, "to announce," from nuntius, "a messenger." punctilious precise; exact in the smallest particulars. ?punctilious \punk-TIL-ee-us\, adjective: Strictly attentive to the details of form in action or conduct; precise; exact in the smallest particulars.[CR][CR]The convert who is more punctilious in his new faith than the lifelong communicant is a familiar figure in Catholic lore. --Patrick Allit, Catholic Converts[CR][CR]Nicholas showed us his butterfly collection. He had done a splendid job of spreading them (better than I ever have, let alone at his age). I tried to impress upon him the need for punctilious labeling, a tedious business that raises a butterfly from a mere curio to a specimen of scientific value. --Robert Michael Pyle, Chasing Monarchs[CR][CR]Cooper had always been very punctilious about observing the rules laid down in the . . . brochure. --Josef Skvorecky, Two Murders in My Double Life[CR][CR]Punctilious derives from Late Latin punctillum, "a little point," from Latin punctum, "a point," from pungere, "to prick." foofaraw excessive or flashy ornamentation; also, a fuss over a trivial matter. ?foofaraw \FOO-fuh-raw\, noun: 1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration. 2. A fuss over a matter of little importance.[CR][CR]A somber, muted descending motif opens and closes the work, which is brief but effective. It provided much needed relief from the fanfares and foofaraw in which brass-going composers so often indulge. --Philip Kennicott, "Brass Spectacular is a Spectacle of Special Sound," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 17, 1997[CR][CR]After working in the news business for a number of years, I've become a bit cynical about mass-media coverage of events like the Y2K foofaraw. --Roy Clancy, "Ready for Y2K...," Calgary Sun, December 15, 1999[CR][CR]Making the Times best-seller list, or a movie, or all that other foofaraw is not necessarily proof of [a novel's] lasting significance. --Roger K. Miller, "'Peyton Place' was remarkably good bad novel," Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 29, 1996[CR][CR]Foofaraw is perhaps from Spanish fanfarrón, "a braggart." autochthonous formed or existing where found. ?autochthonous \aw-TOCK-thuh-nuhs\, adjective: 1. Aboriginal; indigenous; native. 2. Formed or originating in the place where found.[CR][CR]For cultures are not monoliths. They are fragmentary, patchworks of autochthonous and foreign elements. --Anthony Pagden, "Culture Wars," The New Republic, November 16, 1998[CR][CR]I thought of the present-day Arcadians, autochthonous, sprung from the very earth on which they live, who with every draught from a stream drink up millennia of history and legend. --Zachary Taylor, "Hot Land, Cold Water," The Atlantic, June 17, 1998[CR][CR]Autochthonous derives from Greek autochthon, "of or from the earth or land itself," from auto-, "self" + chthon, "earth." One that is autochthonous is an autochthon (pronounced \aw-TOCK-thuhn\). gambol to dance and skip about in play. ?gambol \GAM-buhl\, intransitive verb: To dance and skip about in play; to frolic. noun: A skipping or leaping about in frolic.[CR][CR]I've been told dolphins like to gambol in the waves in these waters, and that sighting them brings good luck. --Barbara Kingsolver, "Where the Map Stopped," New York Times, May 17, 1992[CR][CR]The bad news is that while most of us gambol in the sun, there will be much wringing of hands in environment-hugging circles about global warming and climate change. --Derek Brown, "Heatwaves," The Guardian, June 16, 2000[CR][CR]Then they joined hands (it was the stranger who began it by catching Martha and Matilda) and danced the table round, shaking their feet and tossing their arms, the glee ever more uproarious, -- danced until they were breathless, every one of them, save little Sammy, who was not asked to join the gambol, but sat still in his chair, and seemed to expect no invitation. --Norman Duncan, "Santa Claus At Lonely Cove," The Atlantic, December 1903[CR][CR]Gambol, earlier gambolde or gambalde, comes from Medieval French gambade, "a leaping or skipping," from Late Latin gamba, "hock (of a horse), leg," from Greek kampe, "a joint or bend." bowdlerize to remove or modify the parts considered offensive. ?bowdlerize \BODE-luh-rise; BOWD-\, transitive verb: 1. To remove or modify the parts (of a book, for example) considered offensive. 2. To modify, as by shortening, simplifying, or distorting in style or content.[CR][CR]The president did not call for bowdlerizing all entertainment, but stressed keeping unsuitable material away from the eyes of children. --"Conference a start toward loosening grip of violence," Atlanta Journal, May 12, 1999[CR][CR]His tempestuous high school years are touched upon in a delightful scene where the precocious Roy infuriates his English teacher by trying to restore some of Shakespeare's saucier lines to that classroom's bowdlerized study of Hamlet. --Herman Goodden, "A Few Scenes in the Life of Roy McDonald," London Free Press, December 7, 2000[CR][CR]He added that he bowdlerized some of the lyrics -- substituting "jerk" and "butt" for some less printable words. --Lloyd Grove, "The Reliable Source," Washington Post, February 15, 2001[CR][CR]Bowdlerize derives from the name Thomas Bowdler, an editor in Victorian times who rewrote Shakespeare, removing all profanity and sexual references so as not to offend the sensibilities of the audiences of his day. remunerate to pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, or expense. ?remunerate \rih-MYOO-nuh-rate\, transitive verb: 1. To pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, or expense; to recompense. 2. To compensate for; to make payment for.[CR][CR]Not to suggest that our bosses remunerate us for our high moral standards, but creative bureaucrats at Mesa City Hall have invented a new fund from tax revenue that sets up a $20,000 account for each virtuous City Council member. --Art Thomason, "Mesa Puts Quite a Price on Discretion," Arizona Republic, May 18, 2000[CR][CR]The plaintiff could therefore only recover payment for her services if there was evidence of an implied or express contract by the business of which he was a partner (or by the plaintiff personally) to remunerate her for the work which she had done. --Kate O'Hanlon, "No damages for wife's gratuitous work," Independent, May 27, 1999[CR][CR][The firm] wanted to meet long-term investment requirements out of retained profits and also to be able to properly remunerate all the staff and give them a share of the profits. --Roger Trapp, "Legal firms 'go offshore' to avoid litigation," Independent, May 2, 1996[CR][CR]Remunerate comes from Latin remunerari, "to reward," from re-, "back, again" + munerari, "to give, to present," from munus, "a gift." discrete constituting a separate thing; also, consisting of distinct or unconnected parts. ?discrete \dis-KREET\, adjective: 1. Constituting a separate thing; distinct. 2. Consisting of distinct or unconnected parts. 3. (Mathematics) Defined for a finite or countable set of values; not continuous.[CR][CR]Niels Bohr, working with Rutherford in 1912, was intensely aware... of the need for a radically new approach. This he found in quantum theory, which postulated that electromagnetic energy -- light, radiation -- was not continuous but emitted or absorbed in discrete packets, or "quanta." --Oliver Sacks, "Everything in Its Place," New York Times Magazine, April 18, 1999[CR][CR]Llinas compared these studies to phrenology, the eighteenth-century pseudoscience that divided the brain into discrete chunks dedicated to specific functions. --John Horgan, The Undiscovered Mind[CR][CR]In contemporary usage, continents are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, ideally separated by expanses of water. --Martin W. Lewis and Karen E. Wigen, The Myth of Continents[CR][CR]High culture is less a set of discrete works of art than a phenomenon shaped by circles of conversation and criticism formed by its creators, distributors and consumers. --John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination[CR][CR]Discrete is from Latin discretus, past participle of discernere, "to separate; to set apart," from dis-, "apart" + cernere, "to distinguish; to sift." It is not to be confused with discreet. nascent beginning to exist or to grow. ?nascent \NAS-uhnt; NAY-suhnt\, adjective: Beginning to exist or having recently come into existence; coming into being.[CR][CR]But there are other nascent technologies that are widely predicted to play a major part in moving the world from a dependence on oil, nuclear energy and coal. --"Out of thin air," The Guardian, October 31, 2001[CR][CR]By the time that John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839, Richford was acquiring the amenities of a small town. It had some nascent industries . . . plus a schoolhouse and a church. --Ron Chernow, Titan The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.[CR][CR]This surprising success prompted several other companies to enter this nascent market. --Ted Gioia, The History of Jazz[CR][CR]Nascent comes from Latin nascens, "being born," present participle of nasci, "to be born." excrescence something growing out from something else; also, a disfiguring or unwanted part. ?excrescence \ik-SKRESS-uhn(t)s\, noun: 1. Something (especially something abnormal) growing out from something else. 2. A disfiguring or unwanted mark, part, or addition.[CR][CR]Even Henry Mee's well-known portrait of Anthony Powell makes the novelist look as if he had some odd excrescence growing out of his head. --DJ Taylor, "Picture this dead chicken, then ponder a fine artistic tradition," Independent, June 22, 2001[CR][CR]Conservatives have always opposed the independent counsel as an extra-constitutional excrescence unmoored from any political accountability. --"Enough," National Review, February 5, 2001[CR][CR]It wasn't just predictable curmudgeons like Dr. Johnson who thought the Scottish hills ugly; if anybody had something to say about mountains at all, it was sure to be an insult. (The Alps: "monstrous excrescences of nature," in the words of one wholly typical 18th-century observer.) --Stephen Budiansky, "Nature? A bit overdone," U.S. News & World Report, December 2, 1996[CR][CR]Excrescence is from Latin excrescentia, "excrescences," from excrescere, "to grow out," from ex-, "out" + crescere, "to grow." refractory stubbornly disobedient. ?refractory \rih-FRAK-tuh-ree\, adjective: 1. Stubbornly disobedient; unmanageable. 2. Resisting ordinary treatment or cure. 3. Difficult to melt or work; capable of enduring high temperature.[CR][CR]It's a head shot of Lucien Bouchard peering out of the dark, openmouthed, teeth showing, eyes glittering and appearing not to have shaved in a week. In another age, the shot might have been held up to a refractory kid with the warning, "The boogeyman will get you if you don't watch out." --George Bain, "Whose Reality?" Time, October 13, 1997[CR][CR]And even those most refractory infections of all, those caused by viruses--formerly dismissed as untreatable because viruses disappeared into the inner labyrinths of the living cells, merging into the very genomes--were becoming amenable to early treatments. --Frank Ryan, M.D., Virus X[CR][CR]Bauxite is mined in only a few places. It is used to make aluminum, iron, copper and dozens of refractory products such as the bricks used to line blast furnaces. --Robert Goodrich, "Melvin Price Support Center's Bauxite Will Be Sold," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 10, 2000[CR][CR]Refractory comes from Latin refractarius, "stubborn," from refragari, "to oppose, to withstand, to thwart." heterodox holding unorthodox opinions. ?heterodox \HET-uh-ruh-doks\, adjective: 1. Contrary to or differing from some acknowledged standard, especially in church doctrine or dogma; unorthodox. 2. Holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines.[CR][CR]They fight with members of other faiths, who seem to challenge their claim to a monopoly of absolute truth; they also persecute their co-religionists for interpreting a tradition differently or for holding heterodox beliefs. --Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History[CR][CR]Most of the Kurds were Sunni Muslims, but perhaps a quarter or a third adhered to heterodox varieties of Islam that preserved traces of earlier religions. --Susan Meisalis, Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History[CR][CR]Moreover, heterodox behaviour -- in the form of eccentric chess moves -- was even encouraged, if it led to good results. --Jon Speelman, "Chess," Independent, October 24, 1998[CR][CR]Mr. Buckley is an American exotic of the far right, who wins some sympathy for his frankness and boldness since, in this sorry world, the heterodox are always laughed at whether right or left. --Richard L. Strout, "All That Is Out of Joint and Needs Setting Right," New York Times, April 28, 1963[CR][CR]Heterodox comes from Greek heterodoxos, "of another opinion," from hetero-, "other" + doxa, "opinion," from dokein, "to believe." conflate to bring together; to meld. ?conflate \kuhn-FLAYT\, transitive verb: 1. To bring together; to fuse together; to join or meld. 2. To combine (as two readings of a text) into one whole.[CR][CR]Scott Reynolds's creepy debut feature [film] conflates the present and the past with ingenious use of flashbacks. --Anne Billson, "Bent beneath the weight of its own righteousness," The Sunday Telegraph, March 1, 1998[CR][CR]Painting America as a drug-ridden society leads to bad policy--as does the tendency in some quarters to conflate the various drug abuses into a single dreadful statistic. --William Raspberry, "Not a Drug-Ridden Society," The Washington Post, April 21, 2000[CR][CR]. . . lean and mobile military units that conflate the traditional categories of police officers, commandos, emergency-relief specialists, diplomats, and, of course, intelligence officers. --Robert D. Kaplan, "The roles of the CIA and the military may merge," The Atlantic, February 1998[CR][CR]Conflate is from Latin conflatus, past participle of conflare, "to blow together; to put together," from con-, "with, together" + flare, "to blow." bombinate to buzz; to hum; to drone. ?bombinate \BOM-buh-nayt\, intransitive verb: To buzz; to hum; to drone.[CR][CR]He is often drunk. His head hurts. Snatches of conversation, remembered precepts, prefigured cries of terror bombinate about his skull. --Elspeth Barker, "Nobs and the rabble, all in the same boat," Independent, September 22, 1996[CR][CR]Bombinate is from Late Latin bombinatus, past participle of bombinare, alteration of Latin bombilare, from bombus, "a boom." putsch an attempt to overthrow a government. ?putsch \PUCH ('u' as in 'push')\, noun: (Sometimes capitalized) A secretly planned and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government.[CR][CR]Hitler operated from Munich where he enjoyed a fair degree of support, and it was here that his Putsch took place in an effort to seize power in Bavaria. --Alan Jefferson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf[CR][CR]President Bush, underwriter of the island's nascent democracy, swiftly announced that the coup would not stand, then just as quickly receded into embarrassed silence when informed by his staff that his own crew in Port-au-Prince not only had foreknowledge of the putsch but had allowed it to advance without a word. --Bob Shacochis, The Immaculate Invasion[CR][CR]Putsch comes from German, from Middle High German, literally, "thrust." bilious of or pertaining to bile; also, ill-tempered. ?bilious \BIL-yuhs\, adjective: 1. Of or pertaining to bile. 2. Marked by an excess secretion of bile. 3. Pertaining to, characterized by, or affected by gastric distress caused by a disorder of the liver. 4. Appearing as if affected by such a disorder. 5. Resembling bile, especially in color. 6. Of a peevish disposition; ill-tempered.[CR][CR]Most arresting of all, his normally gray elephant hide has changed to a bilious shade of green. --Ellen Handler Spitz, Inside Picture Books[CR][CR]Warm and diplomatic in manner, devoted to his wife and sons, Rich at 52 fits the stereotype of the bilious, bitter critic in only one particular: He didn't have a happy childhood. --Judith Newmark, "Theater Expert Fears 'The Bottom Will Drop Out' For Broadway," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 25, 2001[CR][CR]The field here on my right belongs to Knemon, a human lacking in humanity, bilious toward everyone, detesting crowds. --Menander, The Grouch, Desperately Seeking Justice, Closely Cropped Locks, The Girl from Samos, The Shield[CR][CR]I know of friends and colleagues who have received death threats and bilious ventings from angry and sometimes deranged strangers. --Peter Wood, "You've Got (Hate) Mail," National Review, July 30, 2001[CR][CR]Bilious derives from Latin biliosus, from bilis, "bile." foundling an abandoned child. ?foundling \FOWND-ling\, noun: A deserted or abandoned infant; a child found without a parent or caretaker.[CR][CR]Some of her desires were more altruistic: she wanted to "send Phyllis to school for a year, take Auntie May for a winter in the Isle of Pines," and "raise foundlings." --Tim Page, Dawn Powell: A Biography[CR][CR]Then one day her daughter returns home with a foundling, an abandoned baby boy. --Charles R. Larson, Washington Post, September 26, 1999[CR][CR]Foundling comes from Old English foundling, fundling, from finden, "to find" + the suffix -ling. bedizen to dress or adorn in gaudy manner. ?bedizen \bih-DY-zuhn\, transitive verb: To dress or adorn in gaudy manner.[CR][CR]At 18, he attended a party "frizzled, powdered and curled, in radiant pink satin, with waistcoat bedizened with gems of pink paste and a mosaic of colored foils and a hat blazing with 5,000 metallic beads," according to Michael Battersberry in "Fashion, The Mirror of History." --Donna Larcen, "Details, Details: Everything Old Is New Again," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 19, 1994[CR][CR]. . . Ford's 2001-model F-150 SuperCrew "Harley-Davidson" model. This special edition pickup truck is bedizened with enough chrome, leather, and H-D logos to bring a RUBbie (Rich Urban Biker) weeping to his knees. --"Summer Autos 2001," Newsday, May 19, 2001[CR][CR]Bedizen is the prefix be-, "completely; thoroughly; excessively" + dizen, an archaic word meaning "to deck out in fine clothes and ornaments," from Middle Dutch disen, "to dress (a distaff) with flax ready for spinning," from Middle Low German dise, "the bunch of flax placed on a distaff." tintinnabulation a tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells. ?tintinnabulation \tin-tih-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun: A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.[CR][CR]One found oneself immersed in the infinitely nuanced tintinnabulations of clapping cymbal rhythms passed from one player to the next, in the barely audible, rain-like patter of drums that suddenly grew into an overwhelming mechanical onslaught. --Tim Page, "From Japan, The Thundering Drums of Kodo," Newsday, February 24, 1995[CR][CR]Tintinnabulation derives from Latin tintinnabulum "a bell," from tintinnare from tinnire, "to jingle." cosmopolite a cosmopolitan person. ?cosmopolite \koz-MOP-uh-lyt\, noun: 1. One who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world; a cosmopolitan person. 2. (Ecology) An organism found in most parts of the world.[CR][CR]At first, Audubon made comparatively little impression in America, but he was an immediate success in Britain, where he presented himself alternately as a rustic backwoodsman and a sophisticated cosmopolite. --Alan Fern, "A Great Original's Great Originals," New York Times, December 12, 1993[CR][CR]He was a big-city sophisticate and moved easily in international film circles but, like his exact contemporary, the Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima (also a globetrotting cosmopolite), Pasolini rejected the glossy consumer culture that had made him famous in favor of the standards of an earlier, more rigid and more traditional society. --Edmund White, "Movies and Poems," New York Times, June 27, 1982[CR][CR]Behind the professional caution is a figure of storied warmth and charm, an American-educated cosmopolite as comfortable in the Midwest as in the Middle East. --Paula Span , "Man of Many Worlds," Washington Post, February 28, 1998[CR][CR]Cosmopolite comes from Greek kosmopolites, from kosmos, "world" + polites, "citizen," from polis, "city." galumph to move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread. ?galumph \guh-LUHM(P)F\, intransitive verb: To move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread.[CR][CR]Then he climbed up the little iron ladder that led to the wharf's cap, placed me once more upon his shoulders and galumphed off again. --Alistair MacLeod, Island: The Complete Stories[CR][CR]Lizards patrol the . . . landscape, and giant tortoises galumph on the beaches. --Peter M. Nichols, "Galápagos," New York Times, March 30, 2001[CR][CR]Galumph is probably an alteration of gallop. It was coined by Lewis Carroll in the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky." salad days a time of youthful inexperience, innocence, or indiscretion. ?salad days, noun: A time of youthful inexperience, innocence, or indiscretion.[CR][CR]Those were his salad days, and he thought they might last forever. --David Gergen, " 'They Love You. Watch Out,' " New York Times, February 2, 1997[CR][CR]Salad days was coined by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra: "My salad days,/ When I was green in judgment, cold in blood." affray a tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl. ?affray \uh-FRAY\, noun: A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl.[CR][CR]Mounted encounters by armored knights locked in desperate hand-to-hand combat, stabbing and wrestling in tavern brawls, deceits and brutalities in street affrays, balletic homicide on the dueling field--these were the martial arts of Renaissance Europe. --Sydney Anglo, The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe[CR][CR]Affray comes from Old French esfrei, from esfreer, "to disquiet, to frighten." faineant doing nothing; idle; also, a do-nothing. ?faineant \fay-nay-AWN\, adjective: Doing nothing or given to doing nothing; idle; lazy. noun: A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard.[CR][CR]Yet if nonhunters ever knew how many properly dressed, entirely palatable big-game carcasses wind up in dumpsters because someone was simply too faineant to butcher and cook and eat an animal he could find the time and energy to shoot and kill, hunting would be in even greater jeopardy than it is today. --Thomas McIntyre, "The meaning of meat," Sports Afield, August 1, 1997[CR][CR]Faineant is from French, from Middle French fait, "does" + néant, "nothing." prink to primp. ?prink \PRINGK\, transitive verb: To dress up; to deck for show. intransitive verb: To dress or arrange oneself for show; to primp. Tara has supermodel legs and is already getting used to being prinked and coiffed as she prepares for her first beauty contest in the autumn. --Raffaella Barker, "Diary hatched, matched and almost despatched," Daily Telegraph, September 6, 1997[CR][CR]The point is reinforced by a clutch of contemporary art photos . . . showing plump nudes prinking and preening like pouter pigeons, and, in one case, a couple of dancers deliberately posed to recreate a Degas painting. --Hilary Spurling, Daily Telegraph, January 23, 1999[CR][CR]Prink is probably an alteration of prank, from Middle English pranken, "to show off," perhaps from Middle Dutch pronken, "to adorn oneself," and from Middle Low German prunken (from prank, "display"). 'Word Group Two - Words to Definitions [PB] the collective gods of a people; also, a group of highly esteemed persons. pantheon ?pantheon \PAN-thee-on; -uhn\, noun: 1. A temple dedicated to all the gods; especially (capitalized), the building so called at Rome. 2. The collective gods of a people; as, a goddess of the Greek pantheon. 3. A public building commemorating and dedicated to the famous dead of a nation. 4. A group of highly esteemed persons.[CR][CR]Well into the fourteenth century the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Prince Gediminas, still put his faith in Perkunas, the god of thunder and forests, who ruled over the many other gods and goddesses in the Lithuanian pantheon. --Yaffa Eliach, There Once Was a World[CR][CR]What [Galileo] discovered . . . would soon do nothing less than revolutionize astronomy, change forever the way the inhabitants of this planet conceived the universe beyond it, and . . . land him in the pantheon of immortal scientists. --William E. Burrows, This New Ocean[CR][CR]Argentina had spawned its own pantheon of civic-minded historical heroes, from General Jose de San Martin, the country's liberator in the independence struggle with Spain, to Domingo Sarmiento, the crusading journalist, educator, and president who had finally wrested Argentina into the modern age as a unified republic. --Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life[CR][CR]Pantheon comes from Greek pantheion, "temple of all the gods," from pan-, "all" + theos, "god." ill-humored and churlish in manner or mood. surly ?surly \SUR-lee\, adjective: 1. Ill-humored; churlish in manner or mood; sullen and gruff. 2. Menacing or threatening in appearance, as of weather conditions; ominous.[CR][CR]Voters may be turned off by candidates who play dirty, but nothing gets a campaign reporter going like the smell of blood on the trail. Part of it has to do with boredom: journalists can only listen for so long to a candidate blather on about "a world of possibilities guided by goodness" before they get surly. --Michelle Cottle, "Nice Try," New Republic, February 14, 2000[CR][CR]Maggie drank a little too much and got surly and made snide comments during the final toast. --John L'Heureux, Having Everything[CR][CR]Surly is from Middle English sirly, "lordly," from sir, "lord"; it came to mean "arrogant or haughty," whence the more negative modern sense. of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy. fatidic ?fatidic \fuh-TID-ik\, adjective: Of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy; prophetic.[CR][CR]Throughout his very considerable body of work, there is an obsession with time, with dates, with temporal coincidences, with the fatidic power of numbers over our birth and death. --James Kirkup, "Obituary: Ernst Junger," Independent, February 18, 1998[CR][CR]With a fatidic clarity that comes only occasionally and only to the young, she understood that . . . this too was a sign, an omen. --Kathleen Cambor, In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden[CR][CR]Fatidic comes from Latin fatidicus, from fati- (from fatum, "fate") + -dicus (from dicere, "to say"). to direct or impose with authority; also, to forbid. enjoin ?enjoin \en-JOIN\, transitive verb: 1. To direct or impose with authority; to order. 2. To prohibit; to forbid.[CR][CR]While the Qur'an contains a number of references, some direct and some oblique, to the other four pillars, in only one place does it specifically enjoin fasting during the month of Ramadan: "O you faithful, fasting is ordained for you in the same way that it was ordained for those who came before you, so that you may fear God.... It was during the month of Ramadan that the Qur'an was sent down as a guidance for humanity.... Whoever among you sees the moon, then he should fast, but the one who is sick or on a journey, [can fast] an equal number of other days" (Sura 2:183-85). --Jane I. Smith, Islam in America[CR][CR]Few judges were friendly to unions, as demonstrated by a steady stream of decisions enjoining strikes, boycotts, picket lines, and other collective actions. --Sanford M. Jacoby, Modern Manors: Welfare Capitalism Since the New Deal[CR][CR]Enjoin derives from Old French enjoindre, from Latin injungere, "to attach, to fasten to; also, to bring upon," from in- + jungere, "to join." Trivia: Enjoin is its own antonym. Other self-antonyms include fast ("moving quickly; fixed firmly in place") and cleave ("to split; to adhere"). muddy; not clear; also, confused; disordered. turbid ?turbid \TUR-bid\, adjective: 1. Muddy; thick with or as if with roiled sediment; not clear; -- used of liquids of any kind. 2. Thick; dense; dark; -- used of clouds, air, fog, smoke, etc. 3. Disturbed; confused; disordered.[CR][CR]Although both are found in the same waters, black crappies usually prefer clearer, quieter water, while white crappies flourish in warmer, siltier and more turbid water. --Tim Eisele, "Crappie Facts," Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), May 8, 1998[CR][CR]Rough or smooth, the Irish Sea at Blackpool is always turbid. Beneath the murk float unspeakable things. --David Walker, "Is Labour right to end its affair with Blackpool? YES says David," Independent, March 26, 1998[CR][CR]Wesley's mind seems at this time to have been in a turbid and restless state. --W. B. Stonehouse, The History and Topography of the Isle of Axholme[CR][CR]Turbid comes from Latin turbidus, "confused, disordered," from turba, "disturbance, commotion." to go back on a promise or commitment. renege ?renege \rih-NIG; -NEG\, intransitive verb: To go back on a promise or commitment.[CR][CR]Today, politicians everywhere routinely renege on pledges in the belief that any problem can be solved by short-term fixes, spin-doctoring or character assassination. --Larry Elliott, "Universal man must take responsibility for slaying Beveridge's five giants," The Guardian, January 10, 2000[CR][CR]But now the Senate is proposing to renege on the deal, and the governors are furious. --By Judith Havemann Washington Post, March 13, 1999[CR][CR]And George W. Bush knows from seeing his father renege on his "no new taxes" pledge how a single judgment can end up crippling a presidency. --James Carney and Karen Tumulty, "How They Run the Show," Time, October 29, 2000[CR][CR]Renege is from Medieval Latin renegare, "to deny again, to go back upon," from Latin re-, "back, again" + negare, "to say no, to deny." to utter articulately; also, to state or set forth precisely or systematically. enunciate ?enunciate \ee-NUN-see-ayt; ih-\, transitive verb: 1. To utter articulately; to pronounce. 2. To state or set forth precisely or systematically. 3. To announce; to proclaim; to declare. intransitive verb: To utter words or syllables articulately.[CR][CR]And all agree that he was from his college days a wonderful speaker, one who enunciated clearly and crisply and never seemed to have to grope for a word. --Louis Auchincloss, Woodrow Wilson[CR][CR]John Maynard Keynes, a famous economist and outstandingly successful investor, enunciated the theory most lucidly in 1936. --Burton G. Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street[CR][CR]His concern about America's incipient drift out of manufacturing was widely challenged by many feel-good commentators, who proceeded to enunciate the now widely accepted doctrine that a shift to postindustrialism would boost U.S. income growth. --Eamonn Fingleton, In Praise of Hard Industries[CR][CR]This is such an obvious, commonsensical truism that it seems almost foolish to enunciate it. --Seymour Martin Lipset, American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword[CR][CR]Enunciate comes from Latin enuntiare, "to tell; to disclose; to declare; to pronounce clearly," from e- + nuntiare, "to announce," from nuntius, "a messenger." precise; exact in the smallest particulars. punctilious ?punctilious \punk-TIL-ee-us\, adjective: Strictly attentive to the details of form in action or conduct; precise; exact in the smallest particulars.[CR][CR]The convert who is more punctilious in his new faith than the lifelong communicant is a familiar figure in Catholic lore. --Patrick Allit, Catholic Converts[CR][CR]Nicholas showed us his butterfly collection. He had done a splendid job of spreading them (better than I ever have, let alone at his age). I tried to impress upon him the need for punctilious labeling, a tedious business that raises a butterfly from a mere curio to a specimen of scientific value. --Robert Michael Pyle, Chasing Monarchs[CR][CR]Cooper had always been very punctilious about observing the rules laid down in the . . . brochure. --Josef Skvorecky, Two Murders in My Double Life[CR][CR]Punctilious derives from Late Latin punctillum, "a little point," from Latin punctum, "a point," from pungere, "to prick." excessive or flashy ornamentation; also, a fuss over a trivial matter. foofaraw ?foofaraw \FOO-fuh-raw\, noun: 1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration. 2. A fuss over a matter of little importance.[CR][CR]A somber, muted descending motif opens and closes the work, which is brief but effective. It provided much needed relief from the fanfares and foofaraw in which brass-going composers so often indulge. --Philip Kennicott, "Brass Spectacular is a Spectacle of Special Sound," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 17, 1997[CR][CR]After working in the news business for a number of years, I've become a bit cynical about mass-media coverage of events like the Y2K foofaraw. --Roy Clancy, "Ready for Y2K...," Calgary Sun, December 15, 1999[CR][CR]Making the Times best-seller list, or a movie, or all that other foofaraw is not necessarily proof of [a novel's] lasting significance. --Roger K. Miller, "'Peyton Place' was remarkably good bad novel," Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 29, 1996[CR][CR]Foofaraw is perhaps from Spanish fanfarrón, "a braggart." formed or existing where found. autochthonous ?autochthonous \aw-TOCK-thuh-nuhs\, adjective: 1. Aboriginal; indigenous; native. 2. Formed or originating in the place where found.[CR][CR]For cultures are not monoliths. They are fragmentary, patchworks of autochthonous and foreign elements. --Anthony Pagden, "Culture Wars," The New Republic, November 16, 1998[CR][CR]I thought of the present-day Arcadians, autochthonous, sprung from the very earth on which they live, who with every draught from a stream drink up millennia of history and legend. --Zachary Taylor, "Hot Land, Cold Water," The Atlantic, June 17, 1998[CR][CR]Autochthonous derives from Greek autochthon, "of or from the earth or land itself," from auto-, "self" + chthon, "earth." One that is autochthonous is an autochthon (pronounced \aw-TOCK-thuhn\). to dance and skip about in play. gambol ?gambol \GAM-buhl\, intransitive verb: To dance and skip about in play; to frolic. noun: A skipping or leaping about in frolic.[CR][CR]I've been told dolphins like to gambol in the waves in these waters, and that sighting them brings good luck. --Barbara Kingsolver, "Where the Map Stopped," New York Times, May 17, 1992[CR][CR]The bad news is that while most of us gambol in the sun, there will be much wringing of hands in environment-hugging circles about global warming and climate change. --Derek Brown, "Heatwaves," The Guardian, June 16, 2000[CR][CR]Then they joined hands (it was the stranger who began it by catching Martha and Matilda) and danced the table round, shaking their feet and tossing their arms, the glee ever more uproarious, -- danced until they were breathless, every one of them, save little Sammy, who was not asked to join the gambol, but sat still in his chair, and seemed to expect no invitation. --Norman Duncan, "Santa Claus At Lonely Cove," The Atlantic, December 1903[CR][CR]Gambol, earlier gambolde or gambalde, comes from Medieval French gambade, "a leaping or skipping," from Late Latin gamba, "hock (of a horse), leg," from Greek kampe, "a joint or bend." to remove or modify the parts considered offensive. bowdlerize ?bowdlerize \BODE-luh-rise; BOWD-\, transitive verb: 1. To remove or modify the parts (of a book, for example) considered offensive. 2. To modify, as by shortening, simplifying, or distorting in style or content.[CR][CR]The president did not call for bowdlerizing all entertainment, but stressed keeping unsuitable material away from the eyes of children. --"Conference a start toward loosening grip of violence," Atlanta Journal, May 12, 1999[CR][CR]His tempestuous high school years are touched upon in a delightful scene where the precocious Roy infuriates his English teacher by trying to restore some of Shakespeare's saucier lines to that classroom's bowdlerized study of Hamlet. --Herman Goodden, "A Few Scenes in the Life of Roy McDonald," London Free Press, December 7, 2000[CR][CR]He added that he bowdlerized some of the lyrics -- substituting "jerk" and "butt" for some less printable words. --Lloyd Grove, "The Reliable Source," Washington Post, February 15, 2001[CR][CR]Bowdlerize derives from the name Thomas Bowdler, an editor in Victorian times who rewrote Shakespeare, removing all profanity and sexual references so as not to offend the sensibilities of the audiences of his day. to pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, or expense. remunerate ?remunerate \rih-MYOO-nuh-rate\, transitive verb: 1. To pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, or expense; to recompense. 2. To compensate for; to make payment for.[CR][CR]Not to suggest that our bosses remunerate us for our high moral standards, but creative bureaucrats at Mesa City Hall have invented a new fund from tax revenue that sets up a $20,000 account for each virtuous City Council member. --Art Thomason, "Mesa Puts Quite a Price on Discretion," Arizona Republic, May 18, 2000[CR][CR]The plaintiff could therefore only recover payment for her services if there was evidence of an implied or express contract by the business of which he was a partner (or by the plaintiff personally) to remunerate her for the work which she had done. --Kate O'Hanlon, "No damages for wife's gratuitous work," Independent, May 27, 1999[CR][CR][The firm] wanted to meet long-term investment requirements out of retained profits and also to be able to properly remunerate all the staff and give them a share of the profits. --Roger Trapp, "Legal firms 'go offshore' to avoid litigation," Independent, May 2, 1996[CR][CR]Remunerate comes from Latin remunerari, "to reward," from re-, "back, again" + munerari, "to give, to present," from munus, "a gift." constituting a separate thing; also, consisting of distinct or unconnected parts. discrete ?discrete \dis-KREET\, adjective: 1. Constituting a separate thing; distinct. 2. Consisting of distinct or unconnected parts. 3. (Mathematics) Defined for a finite or countable set of values; not continuous.[CR][CR]Niels Bohr, working with Rutherford in 1912, was intensely aware... of the need for a radically new approach. This he found in quantum theory, which postulated that electromagnetic energy -- light, radiation -- was not continuous but emitted or absorbed in discrete packets, or "quanta." --Oliver Sacks, "Everything in Its Place," New York Times Magazine, April 18, 1999[CR][CR]Llinas compared these studies to phrenology, the eighteenth-century pseudoscience that divided the brain into discrete chunks dedicated to specific functions. --John Horgan, The Undiscovered Mind[CR][CR]In contemporary usage, continents are understood to be large, continuous, discrete masses of land, ideally separated by expanses of water. --Martin W. Lewis and Karen E. Wigen, The Myth of Continents[CR][CR]High culture is less a set of discrete works of art than a phenomenon shaped by circles of conversation and criticism formed by its creators, distributors and consumers. --John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination[CR][CR]Discrete is from Latin discretus, past participle of discernere, "to separate; to set apart," from dis-, "apart" + cernere, "to distinguish; to sift." It is not to be confused with discreet. beginning to exist or to grow. nascent ?nascent \NAS-uhnt; NAY-suhnt\, adjective: Beginning to exist or having recently come into existence; coming into being.[CR][CR]But there are other nascent technologies that are widely predicted to play a major part in moving the world from a dependence on oil, nuclear energy and coal. --"Out of thin air," The Guardian, October 31, 2001[CR][CR]By the time that John D. Rockefeller was born in 1839, Richford was acquiring the amenities of a small town. It had some nascent industries . . . plus a schoolhouse and a church. --Ron Chernow, Titan The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.[CR][CR]This surprising success prompted several other companies to enter this nascent market. --Ted Gioia, The History of Jazz[CR][CR]Nascent comes from Latin nascens, "being born," present participle of nasci, "to be born." something growing out from something else; also, a disfiguring or unwanted part. excrescence ?excrescence \ik-SKRESS-uhn(t)s\, noun: 1. Something (especially something abnormal) growing out from something else. 2. A disfiguring or unwanted mark, part, or addition.[CR][CR]Even Henry Mee's well-known portrait of Anthony Powell makes the novelist look as if he had some odd excrescence growing out of his head. --DJ Taylor, "Picture this dead chicken, then ponder a fine artistic tradition," Independent, June 22, 2001[CR][CR]Conservatives have always opposed the independent counsel as an extra-constitutional excrescence unmoored from any political accountability. --"Enough," National Review, February 5, 2001[CR][CR]It wasn't just predictable curmudgeons like Dr. Johnson who thought the Scottish hills ugly; if anybody had something to say about mountains at all, it was sure to be an insult. (The Alps: "monstrous excrescences of nature," in the words of one wholly typical 18th-century observer.) --Stephen Budiansky, "Nature? A bit overdone," U.S. News & World Report, December 2, 1996[CR][CR]Excrescence is from Latin excrescentia, "excrescences," from excrescere, "to grow out," from ex-, "out" + crescere, "to grow." stubbornly disobedient. refractory ?refractory \rih-FRAK-tuh-ree\, adjective: 1. Stubbornly disobedient; unmanageable. 2. Resisting ordinary treatment or cure. 3. Difficult to melt or work; capable of enduring high temperature.[CR][CR]It's a head shot of Lucien Bouchard peering out of the dark, openmouthed, teeth showing, eyes glittering and appearing not to have shaved in a week. In another age, the shot might have been held up to a refractory kid with the warning, "The boogeyman will get you if you don't watch out." --George Bain, "Whose Reality?" Time, October 13, 1997[CR][CR]And even those most refractory infections of all, those caused by viruses--formerly dismissed as untreatable because viruses disappeared into the inner labyrinths of the living cells, merging into the very genomes--were becoming amenable to early treatments. --Frank Ryan, M.D., Virus X[CR][CR]Bauxite is mined in only a few places. It is used to make aluminum, iron, copper and dozens of refractory products such as the bricks used to line blast furnaces. --Robert Goodrich, "Melvin Price Support Center's Bauxite Will Be Sold," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 10, 2000[CR][CR]Refractory comes from Latin refractarius, "stubborn," from refragari, "to oppose, to withstand, to thwart." holding unorthodox opinions. heterodox ?heterodox \HET-uh-ruh-doks\, adjective: 1. Contrary to or differing from some acknowledged standard, especially in church doctrine or dogma; unorthodox. 2. Holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines.[CR][CR]They fight with members of other faiths, who seem to challenge their claim to a monopoly of absolute truth; they also persecute their co-religionists for interpreting a tradition differently or for holding heterodox beliefs. --Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History[CR][CR]Most of the Kurds were Sunni Muslims, but perhaps a quarter or a third adhered to heterodox varieties of Islam that preserved traces of earlier religions. --Susan Meisalis, Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History[CR][CR]Moreover, heterodox behaviour -- in the form of eccentric chess moves -- was even encouraged, if it led to good results. --Jon Speelman, "Chess," Independent, October 24, 1998[CR][CR]Mr. Buckley is an American exotic of the far right, who wins some sympathy for his frankness and boldness since, in this sorry world, the heterodox are always laughed at whether right or left. --Richard L. Strout, "All That Is Out of Joint and Needs Setting Right," New York Times, April 28, 1963[CR][CR]Heterodox comes from Greek heterodoxos, "of another opinion," from hetero-, "other" + doxa, "opinion," from dokein, "to believe." to bring together; to meld. conflate ?conflate \kuhn-FLAYT\, transitive verb: 1. To bring together; to fuse together; to join or meld. 2. To combine (as two readings of a text) into one whole.[CR][CR]Scott Reynolds's creepy debut feature [film] conflates the present and the past with ingenious use of flashbacks. --Anne Billson, "Bent beneath the weight of its own righteousness," The Sunday Telegraph, March 1, 1998[CR][CR]Painting America as a drug-ridden society leads to bad policy--as does the tendency in some quarters to conflate the various drug abuses into a single dreadful statistic. --William Raspberry, "Not a Drug-Ridden Society," The Washington Post, April 21, 2000[CR][CR]. . . lean and mobile military units that conflate the traditional categories of police officers, commandos, emergency-relief specialists, diplomats, and, of course, intelligence officers. --Robert D. Kaplan, "The roles of the CIA and the military may merge," The Atlantic, February 1998[CR][CR]Conflate is from Latin conflatus, past participle of conflare, "to blow together; to put together," from con-, "with, together" + flare, "to blow." to buzz; to hum; to drone. bombinate ?bombinate \BOM-buh-nayt\, intransitive verb: To buzz; to hum; to drone.[CR][CR]He is often drunk. His head hurts. Snatches of conversation, remembered precepts, prefigured cries of terror bombinate about his skull. --Elspeth Barker, "Nobs and the rabble, all in the same boat," Independent, September 22, 1996[CR][CR]Bombinate is from Late Latin bombinatus, past participle of bombinare, alteration of Latin bombilare, from bombus, "a boom." an attempt to overthrow a government. putsch ?putsch \PUCH ('u' as in 'push')\, noun: (Sometimes capitalized) A secretly planned and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government.[CR][CR]Hitler operated from Munich where he enjoyed a fair degree of support, and it was here that his Putsch took place in an effort to seize power in Bavaria. --Alan Jefferson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf[CR][CR]President Bush, underwriter of the island's nascent democracy, swiftly announced that the coup would not stand, then just as quickly receded into embarrassed silence when informed by his staff that his own crew in Port-au-Prince not only had foreknowledge of the putsch but had allowed it to advance without a word. --Bob Shacochis, The Immaculate Invasion[CR][CR]Putsch comes from German, from Middle High German, literally, "thrust." of or pertaining to bile; also, ill-tempered. bilious ?bilious \BIL-yuhs\, adjective: 1. Of or pertaining to bile. 2. Marked by an excess secretion of bile. 3. Pertaining to, characterized by, or affected by gastric distress caused by a disorder of the liver. 4. Appearing as if affected by such a disorder. 5. Resembling bile, especially in color. 6. Of a peevish disposition; ill-tempered.[CR][CR]Most arresting of all, his normally gray elephant hide has changed to a bilious shade of green. --Ellen Handler Spitz, Inside Picture Books[CR][CR]Warm and diplomatic in manner, devoted to his wife and sons, Rich at 52 fits the stereotype of the bilious, bitter critic in only one particular: He didn't have a happy childhood. --Judith Newmark, "Theater Expert Fears 'The Bottom Will Drop Out' For Broadway," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 25, 2001[CR][CR]The field here on my right belongs to Knemon, a human lacking in humanity, bilious toward everyone, detesting crowds. --Menander, The Grouch, Desperately Seeking Justice, Closely Cropped Locks, The Girl from Samos, The Shield[CR][CR]I know of friends and colleagues who have received death threats and bilious ventings from angry and sometimes deranged strangers. --Peter Wood, "You've Got (Hate) Mail," National Review, July 30, 2001[CR][CR]Bilious derives from Latin biliosus, from bilis, "bile." an abandoned child. foundling ?foundling \FOWND-ling\, noun: A deserted or abandoned infant; a child found without a parent or caretaker.[CR][CR]Some of her desires were more altruistic: she wanted to "send Phyllis to school for a year, take Auntie May for a winter in the Isle of Pines," and "raise foundlings." --Tim Page, Dawn Powell: A Biography[CR][CR]Then one day her daughter returns home with a foundling, an abandoned baby boy. --Charles R. Larson, Washington Post, September 26, 1999[CR][CR]Foundling comes from Old English foundling, fundling, from finden, "to find" + the suffix -ling. to dress or adorn in gaudy manner. bedizen ?bedizen \bih-DY-zuhn\, transitive verb: To dress or adorn in gaudy manner.[CR][CR]At 18, he attended a party "frizzled, powdered and curled, in radiant pink satin, with waistcoat bedizened with gems of pink paste and a mosaic of colored foils and a hat blazing with 5,000 metallic beads," according to Michael Battersberry in "Fashion, The Mirror of History." --Donna Larcen, "Details, Details: Everything Old Is New Again," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 19, 1994[CR][CR]. . . Ford's 2001-model F-150 SuperCrew "Harley-Davidson" model. This special edition pickup truck is bedizened with enough chrome, leather, and H-D logos to bring a RUBbie (Rich Urban Biker) weeping to his knees. --"Summer Autos 2001," Newsday, May 19, 2001[CR][CR]Bedizen is the prefix be-, "completely; thoroughly; excessively" + dizen, an archaic word meaning "to deck out in fine clothes and ornaments," from Middle Dutch disen, "to dress (a distaff) with flax ready for spinning," from Middle Low German dise, "the bunch of flax placed on a distaff." a tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells. tintinnabulation ?tintinnabulation \tin-tih-nab-yuh-LAY-shuhn\, noun: A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.[CR][CR]One found oneself immersed in the infinitely nuanced tintinnabulations of clapping cymbal rhythms passed from one player to the next, in the barely audible, rain-like patter of drums that suddenly grew into an overwhelming mechanical onslaught. --Tim Page, "From Japan, The Thundering Drums of Kodo," Newsday, February 24, 1995[CR][CR]Tintinnabulation derives from Latin tintinnabulum "a bell," from tintinnare from tinnire, "to jingle." a cosmopolitan person. cosmopolite ?cosmopolite \koz-MOP-uh-lyt\, noun: 1. One who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world; a cosmopolitan person. 2. (Ecology) An organism found in most parts of the world.[CR][CR]At first, Audubon made comparatively little impression in America, but he was an immediate success in Britain, where he presented himself alternately as a rustic backwoodsman and a sophisticated cosmopolite. --Alan Fern, "A Great Original's Great Originals," New York Times, December 12, 1993[CR][CR]He was a big-city sophisticate and moved easily in international film circles but, like his exact contemporary, the Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima (also a globetrotting cosmopolite), Pasolini rejected the glossy consumer culture that had made him famous in favor of the standards of an earlier, more rigid and more traditional society. --Edmund White, "Movies and Poems," New York Times, June 27, 1982[CR][CR]Behind the professional caution is a figure of storied warmth and charm, an American-educated cosmopolite as comfortable in the Midwest as in the Middle East. --Paula Span , "Man of Many Worlds," Washington Post, February 28, 1998[CR][CR]Cosmopolite comes from Greek kosmopolites, from kosmos, "world" + polites, "citizen," from polis, "city." to move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread. galumph ?galumph \guh-LUHM(P)F\, intransitive verb: To move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread.[CR][CR]Then he climbed up the little iron ladder that led to the wharf's cap, placed me once more upon his shoulders and galumphed off again. --Alistair MacLeod, Island: The Complete Stories[CR][CR]Lizards patrol the . . . landscape, and giant tortoises galumph on the beaches. --Peter M. Nichols, "Galápagos," New York Times, March 30, 2001[CR][CR]Galumph is probably an alteration of gallop. It was coined by Lewis Carroll in the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky." a time of youthful inexperience, innocence, or indiscretion. salad days ?salad days, noun: A time of youthful inexperience, innocence, or indiscretion.[CR][CR]Those were his salad days, and he thought they might last forever. --David Gergen, " 'They Love You. Watch Out,' " New York Times, February 2, 1997[CR][CR]Salad days was coined by Shakespeare in Antony and Cleopatra: "My salad days,/ When I was green in judgment, cold in blood." a tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl. affray ?affray \uh-FRAY\, noun: A tumultuous assault or quarrel; a brawl.[CR][CR]Mounted encounters by armored knights locked in desperate hand-to-hand combat, stabbing and wrestling in tavern brawls, deceits and brutalities in street affrays, balletic homicide on the dueling field--these were the martial arts of Renaissance Europe. --Sydney Anglo, The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe[CR][CR]Affray comes from Old French esfrei, from esfreer, "to disquiet, to frighten." doing nothing; idle; also, a do-nothing. faineant ?faineant \fay-nay-AWN\, adjective: Doing nothing or given to doing nothing; idle; lazy. noun: A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard.[CR][CR]Yet if nonhunters ever knew how many properly dressed, entirely palatable big-game carcasses wind up in dumpsters because someone was simply too faineant to butcher and cook and eat an animal he could find the time and energy to shoot and kill, hunting would be in even greater jeopardy than it is today. --Thomas McIntyre, "The meaning of meat," Sports Afield, August 1, 1997[CR][CR]Faineant is from French, from Middle French fait, "does" + néant, "nothing." to primp. prink ?prink \PRINGK\, transitive verb: To dress up; to deck for show. intransitive verb: To dress or arrange oneself for show; to primp. Tara has supermodel legs and is already getting used to being prinked and coiffed as she prepares for her first beauty contest in the autumn. --Raffaella Barker, "Diary hatched, matched and almost despatched," Daily Telegraph, September 6, 1997[CR][CR]The point is reinforced by a clutch of contemporary art photos . . . showing plump nudes prinking and preening like pouter pigeons, and, in one case, a couple of dancers deliberately posed to recreate a Degas painting. --Hilary Spurling, Daily Telegraph, January 23, 1999[CR][CR]Prink is probably an alteration of prank, from Middle English pranken, "to show off," perhaps from Middle Dutch pronken, "to adorn oneself," and from Middle Low German prunken (from prank, "display"). 'Word Group Three - Definitions to Words [PA] asseverate to affirm or declare positively or earnestly. ?asseverate \uh-SEV-uh-rayt\, transitive verb: To affirm or declare positively or earnestly.[CR][CR]"But of course it is!" asseverates Herman Woodlife. --Miles Kington, "Child slavery: the half-truth," Independent, June 12, 1998[CR][CR]"Castro's been known to snow people, but he didn't snow me," Mr. Weicker asseverated. --"Fading Fidel and his gulled groupies," Washington Times, July 6, 2001[CR][CR]Mr. Vidal asseverates that McVeigh is "very, very bright." He writes with "perfect" spelling, punctuation and grammar. --R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., "When grim opportunity knocks . . .," Washington Times, May 11, 2001[CR][CR]Asseverate comes from Latin asseverare, "to assert seriously or earnestly," from ad- + severus, "severe, serious." sentient capable of perceiving by the senses. ?sentient \SEN-shee-uhnt; -tee-; -shuhnt\, adjective: 1. Capable of perceiving by the senses; conscious. 2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.[CR][CR]I can remember very vividly the first time I became aware of my existence; how for the first time I realised that I was a sentient human being in a perceptible world. --Lord Berners, First Childhood[CR][CR]Answers to such profound questions as whether we are the only sentient beings in the universe, whether life is the product of random accident or deeply rooted law, and whether there may be some sort of ultimate meaning to our existence, hinge on what science can reveal about the formation of life. --Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle[CR][CR]Sentient comes from Latin sentiens, "feeling," from sentire, "to discern or perceive by the senses." malapropos unseasonable or unseasonably; inappropriate or inappropriately. ?malapropos \mal-ap-ruh-POH\, adjective: Unseasonable; unsuitable; inappropriate. adverb: In an inappropriate or inopportune manner; unseasonably.[CR][CR]Such malapropos wise cracks are driven home with a relentlessly upbeat soundtrack which serenades scenes of human tragedy with bouncy, Disneyesque melodies. --Steve Rabey, "'Noah's Ark' hits bottom: Miniseries suffers from lack of accuracy," Arlington Morning News, May 2, 1999[CR][CR]As an on-air radio pronouncer, I am quite familiar with the hazard of opening the mouth before the brain is in gear. It is very easy to fire-off a malapropos statement in the heat of trying to make a point and the result is some funny things are said, but perhaps not meant. --Gerry Forbes, "Foot-in-Mouth Afflictions," Calgary Sun, March 18, 2001[CR][CR]Malapropos comes from French mal à propos, "badly to the purpose." agitprop propaganda. ?agitprop \AJ-it-prop\, noun: Propaganda, especially pro-communist political propaganda disseminated through literature, drama, music, or art.[CR][CR]Despite its explicit program, when the symphony was first performed in 1957 a Russian audience always on the lookout for subtexts quickly interpreted it as being about the crushed Hungarian uprising of the previous year. This officially sanctioned work of agitprop was read as an encrypted denunciation of the Soviet regime. --Justin Davidson, "Musical Explosions, Moving and Martial," Newsday, May 22, 1999[CR][CR]The essay was a farewell to the men of the left, a brilliant, impassioned piece of agitprop that galvanized women in communes, bookstores, hippie coffee houses and underground newspaper offices all over the country. --"Memoirs by women writers get personal with a host of issues, from politics to pregnancy to parent care," Washington Post, January 14, 2001[CR][CR]Neither writer offers a shred of evidence for her claims, which makes these books second-rate agitprop rather than "first-rate sociology." --Kim Phillips-Fein, "Feminine Mystiquers," The Nation, March 19, 1999[CR][CR]. . . nationally televised agitprop designed to appear nonpartisan while actually pushing the ideology of the party in power. --Peter Beinart, "The sleazification of an American ritual," The New Republic, February 3, 1997[CR][CR]Agitprop comes from Russian, from agitatsiya, "agitation" + propaganda. fiat an arbitrary or authoritative command or order. ?fiat \FEE-uht; -at; -aht; FY-uht; -at\, noun: 1. An arbitrary or authoritative command or order. 2. Formal or official authorization or sanction.[CR][CR]He found a provision in the college constitution that said there were to be no executive committees, and arguing that those stodgy impediments to serious change had grown up only by convention and tradition; he abolished them and ruled these faculty meetings by fiat, using each as an occasion to announce what he was going to do next that was sure to stir up even more resentment. --Philip Roth, The Human Stain[CR][CR]Americans tend to squirm about the messiness of their two best-known trade agreements with Japan: the "voluntary limitations" that have restricted exports of Japanese cars to the United States since 1981, and the semiconductor agreement of 1986, which declared by fiat that foreign manufacturers should get 20 percent of semiconductor sales in Japan. --James Fallows, "Containing Japan," The Atlantic, May 1989[CR][CR]Fiat derives from Latin fiat, "let it be done," from fieri, "to be done." nimiety excess. ?nimiety \nih-MY-uh-tee\, noun: The state of being too much; excess.[CR][CR]What a nimiety of . . . riches have we here! I am quite undone. --James J. Kilpatrick, "Buckley: The Right Word," National Review, December 23, 1996[CR][CR]Nimiety is from Late Latin nimietas, from Latin nimius, "very much, too much," from nimis, "excessively." surreptitious done, made, or gotten by stealth; also, marked by stealth. ?surreptitious \sur-up-TISH-us; suh-rep-\, adjective: 1. Done, made, or gotten by stealth. 2. Acting with or marked by stealth.[CR][CR]The monitoring is not surreptitious; on the contrary, the defendant and his or her attorney are required to be given notice of the government's listening activities. --John Ashcroft, "National Security; Prevention of Acts of Violence and Terrorism," Federal Register 66, no. 211, October 26, 2001[CR][CR]While men's appetites are driven by availability, women's are often driven by cravings. A dab of chocolate here, a pinch of sugar there, and some surreptitious midnight Dairy Queen runs lurk behind a woman's oh-so-virtuous bran breakfast, salad lunch, and grilled fish dinner. --Wendy Hubbert, "The skinny on male/female dieting," Redbook, October 1, 2001[CR][CR]Now she made a surreptitious glance toward the doorway into the hall. --Naeem Murr, The Boy[CR][CR]Surreptitious comes from Latin surrepticius, "stolen, secret, surreptitious," from surripere, "to take away secretly; to steal," from sub-, "under" + rapere, "to seize, to snatch." pleonasm the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea. ?pleonasm \PLEE-uh-naz-uhm\, noun: 1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, "I saw it with my own eyes." 2. An instance or example of pleonasm. 3. A superfluous word or expression.[CR][CR]Dougan uses many words where few would do, as if pleonasm were a way of wringing every possibility out of the material he has, and stretching sentences a form of spreading the word. --Paula Cocozza, "Book review: How Dynamo Kiev beat the Luftwaffe," Independent, March 2, 2001[CR][CR]Such a phrase from President Nixon's era, much favored by politicians, is "at this moment in time." Presumably these five words mean "now." That pleonasm probably does little harm except, perhaps, to the reputation of the speaker. --Eoin McKiernan, "Last Word: Special Relationships," Irish America, August 31, 1994[CR][CR]Pleonasm is from Greek pleonasmos, from pleon, "greater, more." Synonyms: redundancy, circumlocution, tautology, periphrasis. Find more at Thesaurus.com. abominate to detest intensely. ?abominate \uh-BOM-uh-nayt\, transitive verb: To hate in the highest degree; to detest intensely; to loathe; to abhor.[CR][CR]I had no wish to study or learn anything, and as for Latin, I abominated it. --Charles Tyng, Before the Wind[CR][CR]"Sir Laurence," he said, smiling wanly, "I detest literature. I abominate the theatre. I have a horror of culture. I am only interested in magic!" --John Lahr (editor), The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan[CR][CR]Abominate comes from Latin abominari, "to deprecate as a bad omen, to hate, to detest," from ab- + omen, "an omen." Synonyms: hate, detest, abhor, loathe. Find more at Thesaurus.com. discursive digressive; rambling; also, marked by analytical reasoning. ?discursive \dis-KUR-siv\, adjective: 1. Passing from one topic to another; ranging over a wide field; digressive; rambling. 2. Utilizing, marked by, or based on analytical reasoning -- contrasted with intuitive.[CR][CR]The style is highly discursive, leap-frogging forwards and backwards across the decades, without ever sacrificing thrust or clarity. --Nicholas Blincoe, "Spirit that speaks," The Guardian, August 21, 1999[CR][CR]Rather than being a limiting influence, the time restrictions seem often to have compelled ensembles and soloists to condense and distill arrangements and to edit potentially discursive solo performances. --Richard M. Sudhalter, Lost Chords[CR][CR]He is in general a discursive politician: Start him talking and you cannot get him to stop. --Dan Balz, "President Endures Embarrassing Week," Washington Post, March 15, 1998[CR][CR]He is an intuitive being who can pierce to the heart of a matter without taking the circuitous route of deeper and more discursive minds. --"1962 Man of the Year: Pope John XXIII," Time, January 4, 1963[CR][CR]Discursive comes from Latin discurrere, "to run in different directions, to run about, to run to and fro," from dis-, "apart, in different directions" + currere, "to run." countervail to counteract; also, to offset. ?countervail \kown-tur-VAYL\, transitive verb: 1. To act against with equal force, power, or effect; to counteract. 2. To compensate for; to offset; to furnish or serve as an equivalent to. intransitive verb: To exert force against an opposing, often bad, influence or power.[CR][CR]In spite of its keel's weight, and even without the countervailing underwater resistance of its mast, Dubois's boat seemed comfortably stable upside down. --Derek Lundy, Godforsaken Sea[CR][CR]The failure also tended to countervail his undoubted gifts as an international negotiator and his achievements as Foreign Secretary. --Alden Whitman, "Career Built on Style and Dash Ended with Invasion of Egypt," New York Times, January 15, 1977[CR][CR]Until the middle of the 1920s Hook's commitment to revolutionary action and passion for philosophy acted as countervailing forces and ambitions, pulling him first one way, then the other. --Christopher Phelps, Young Sidney Hook[CR][CR]Countervail derives from Old French contrevaloir, from contre-, "counter-" (from Latin contra, "against") + valoir, "to be worth" (from Latin valere, "to be strong, to avail"). myrmidon a loyal follower. ?myrmidon \MUR-muh-don; -dun\, noun: 1. [Capitalized] A member of a warlike Thessalian people who followed Achilles on the expedition against Troy. 2. A loyal follower, especially one who executes orders without question, protest, or pity.[CR][CR]He risked assassination, torture or . . . retaliation, the defining signatures of Mr. Milosevic and his ultranationalist myrmidons. --Bruce Fein, "Follow U.S. war crimes advice?" Washington Times, May 10, 2001[CR][CR]Those who created EMU [(European) Economic and Monetary Union]--mainly politicians and their myrmidons in the offices and conference rooms of Brussels--portray a beckoning landscape of wealth, liberty and economic power that will rival the United States and surpass Asia. --James O. Jackson, "The One-Way Bridge," Time, May 11, 1998[CR][CR]Myrmidon derives from Greek Myrmidones, a warlike people of ancient Thessaly. perforce by necessity. ?perforce \pur-FORS\, adverb: By necessity; by force of circumstance.[CR][CR]It will be an astonishing sight, should it come to pass, and even those of us who have followed every twist and turn of this process will perforce rub our eyes. --"Unionists sit tight as the poker game nears its climax," Irish Times, July 10, 1999[CR][CR]. . . the error of supposing that, because everything indeed is not right with the world, everything must accordingly be wrong with the world; the error of supposing that, because we are plainly not a race of angels, we must perforce be a race of beasts. --James Gardner, "Infinite Jest (book reviews)," National Review, June 17, 1996[CR][CR]Perforce comes from French par force, "by force." pusillanimous cowardly. ?pusillanimous \pyoo-suh-LAN-uh-muhs\, adjective: Lacking in courage and resolution; contemptibly fearful; cowardly.[CR][CR]Evil, unspeakable evil, rose in our midst, and we as a people were too weak, too indecisive, too pusillanimous to deal with it. --Kevin Myers, "An Irishman's Diary," Irish Times, October 20, 1999[CR][CR]Under the hypnosis of war hysteria, with a pusillanimous Congress rubber-stamping every whim of the White House, we passed the withholding tax. --Vivien Kellems, Toil, Taxes and Trouble[CR][CR]You are now anxious to form excuses to yourself for a conduct so pusillanimous. --Ann Radcliffe, The Italian[CR][CR]Pusillanimous comes from Late Latin pusillanimis, from Latin pusillus, "very small, tiny, puny" + animus, "soul, mind." claque a group of fawning admirers. ?claque \KLACK\, noun: 1. A group hired to applaud at a performance. 2. A group of fawning admirers.[CR][CR]He cultivated the "Georgetown set" of leading journalists and columnists and had them cheering for him as if he had hired a claque. --Theodore Draper, "Little Heinz And Big Henry," New York Times, September 6, 1992[CR][CR]Behind the hacks was the claque. They cheered and whooped in a vague way, like a group of restrained English persons at a Texas rodeo: "Whee! Whoooo! Polite cough!" --Simon Hoggart, "Yee hah, chaps! It's the manifesto," The Guardian, May 11, 2001[CR][CR]Charles Bukowski suffers from too good a press-- a small but loudly enthusiastic claque. --Kenneth Rexroth, "There's Poetry in a Ragged Hitch-Hiker," New York Times, July 5, 1964[CR][CR]Claque comes from French, from claquer, "to clap," ultimately of imitative origin. fugacious lasting but a short time. ?fugacious \fyoo-GAY-shuhs\, adjective: Lasting but a short time; fleeting.[CR][CR]The fugacious nature of life and time. --Harriet Martineau, Autobiography[CR][CR][T]astes, smells . . . being, in comparison, fugacious. --John Stuart Mill, Examination of Sir W. Hamilton's Philosophy[CR][CR]When he proposed the tax in May, Altman thought it would follow the fugacious nature of some flowers: bloom quickly and die just as fast. --Will Rodgers, "Parks proposal falls on 3-2 vote," Tampa Tribune, June 27, 2001[CR][CR]Fugacious is derived from Latin fugax, fugac-, "ready to flee, flying; hence, fleeting, transitory," from fugere, "to flee, to take flight." Other words derived from the same root include fugitive, one who flees, especially from the law; refuge, a place to which to flee back (re-, "back"), and hence to safety; and fugue, literally a musical "flight." hauteur haughtiness; arrogance. ?hauteur \haw-TUR; (h)oh-\, noun: Haughty manner, spirit, or bearing; haughtiness; arrogance.[CR][CR][M]y silence, I hoped, would be taken as expressive of the hauteur of a man who was above it all -- a man with a mission, in fact, a mission authorized from somewhere on high. --Jeffrey Tayler, Facing the Congo[CR][CR]Sheikhs and presidents have often heard little about the royal family's follies, and don't object to the hauteur and self-importance that remain its inextinguishable traits. --Hugo Young, "Blair and the Queen," The Guardian, April 10, 2001[CR][CR]That self-deprecation and lack of hauteur are typical of the earthy style that enables Powell to get close to his troops in a way that many top brass never do. --"Colin Powell: The master planner of Desert Shield is ready for its ultimate test," People, December 31, 1990[CR][CR]Hauteur is from the French, from haut, "high," from Latin altus, "high." It is thus related to altitude. somnolent drowsy; also, tending to cause sleepiness. ?somnolent \SOM-nuh-luhnt\, adjective: 1. Sleepy; drowsy; inclined to sleep. 2. Tending to cause sleepiness or drowsiness.[CR][CR][I]n his case, restrained ultimately meant boring, as the audience was lulled into a somnolent state. --Teresa Wiltz, "The Hip, the Flip, the Flop," Washington Post, March 3, 2000[CR][CR]Meanwhile, many a somnolent local authority has been stirred into action by Davidson's blunt approach. --John Lucas, "Memorials are made of these on the eve of Remembrance Sunday," Daily Telegraph, November 7, 1998[CR][CR]Back in the somnolent heat of Bangalore he wrote a revealing novel entitled Savrola. --David Stafford, Churchill and Secret Service[CR][CR]Somnolent is from Latin somnolentus, from somnus, "sleep." A related word is insomnia (in-, "not" + somnus). susurration a whispering; a soft murmur. ?susurration \soo-suh-RAY-shun\, noun: A whispering sound; a soft murmur.[CR][CR]. . . the soft susurration of the wind through a stand of whistling thorn. --Ann Jones, "Kenya on horseback," Town & Country, August 1, 1994[CR][CR]Across the road I can make out the grassy park that runs along the sand and hear, in the distance, the steady susurration of the Atlantic Ocean. --Michael Dirda, "Excursions," Washington Post, January 2, 2000[CR][CR]There was the predictable noise of offence being taken on the Conservative side of the House. But it was low and muted, a mild susurration in the backwoods rather than an outraged gust of anger. --Andrew Marr, "Making a prime minister of the President," Independent, March 30, 1994[CR][CR]Susurration is from Late Latin susurratio, from Latin susurrare, "to whisper, to mutter," from susurrus, "a whispering, a muttering." puerile juvenile; childish. ?puerile \PYOO-uhr-uhl; PYOOR-uhl\, adjective: Displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; juvenile; childish.[CR][CR]And, in one of the most puerile episodes of his adult career, he punishes his old schoolmates for being rich and vulgar by breaking into their houses to soak the labels off their boasted wine collections. --Thomas R. Edwards, "Mordecai Richler Then and Now," New York Times, June 22, 1980[CR][CR]Political argument is becoming a puerile cartoon about the moral . . . doing battle with the immoral. --George F. Will, "The Costs of Moral Exhibitionism," Washington Post, April 15, 2001[CR][CR]Puerile comes from Latin puerilis, from puer, "child, boy." gelid extremely cold; icy. ?gelid \JEL-id\, adjective: Extremely cold; icy.[CR][CR]The weather is gelid on a recent Thursday night--so uninviting that it's hard to imagine anyone venturing out. --Letta Tayler, "The Accent's on Brooklyn," Newsday, April 6, 2000[CR][CR]Last January a major crisis arose when the Argentine naval supply ship Bahia Paraiso foundered near an island off the Antarctic Peninsula, creating a diesel-oil spill that inflicted untold damage on the ecosystems clinging to the edges of the icy continent or swimming in its gelid seas. --Christopher Redman Paris, "Could anything be more terrible than this silent, windswept immensity?" Time, October 23, 1989[CR][CR]Gelid comes from Latin gelidus, from gelu, "frost, cold." philomath a lover of learning; a scholar. ?philomath \FIL-uh-math\, noun: A lover of learning; a scholar.[CR][CR]It is precisely for the philomaths that universities ought to cater. --Aldous Huxley, Proper Studies[CR][CR]"It's nothing to laugh about," he says. "Strange things happen in this country--things that philosophers and other philomaths had never dreamed of." --Tomek Tryzna, Miss Nobody[CR][CR]Philomath is from the Greek philomathes, "loving knowledge," from philos, "loving, fond" + mathein, "to learn, to understand." redoubt a stronghold. ?redoubt \rih-DOWT\, noun: 1. A small and usually temporary defensive fortification. 2. A defended position or protective barrier. 3. A secure place of refuge or defense; a stronghold.[CR][CR]Evicting the intruders from their mountain redoubts with ground forces alone was beginning to look like a protracted and expensive task. --"Kashmir's violent spring," The Economist, May 29, 1999 First, Milosevic himself will be absent, apparently fearful of leaving his redoubt in Belgrade.[CR][CR]--"Lessons of Balkans Applied to Kosovo," New York Times, February 1, 1999[CR][CR]Redoubt derives from French redoute, from Italian ridotto, from Latin reductus, "a refuge, a retreat," from reducere, "to lead or draw back," from re-, "back" + ducere, "to lead." extant still existing. ?extant \EK-stunt; ek-STANT\, adjective: Still existing; not destroyed, lost, or extinct.[CR][CR]Why, then, did the joint House-Senate committee insert a maximum? The lack of extant records of the committee's deliberations requires us to speculate. --Akhil Reed Amar, The Bill of Rights[CR][CR]The fossil record shows clearly that ancient life was very different from extant life. --Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle[CR][CR]Extant comes from Latin exstare, "to stand out, to project, hence to be prominent, to be visible, to exist," from ex-, "out" + stare, "to stand." incipient beginning to exist or appear. ?incipient \in-SIP-ee-uhnt\, adjective: Beginning to exist or appear.[CR][CR]Also, improved diagnostic techniques can alert individuals to incipient illnesses. --James Flanigan, "Patients' Rights and Health-Care Costs Are Expanding Together," Los Angeles Times, May 2, 1999[CR][CR]Shiv gradually became aware that he was onto something big, bigger than anything he had ever done before. He was nudged by an incipient awareness that perhaps it was even too big for him. --Ken Kalfus, Pu-239 and Other Russian Fantasies[CR][CR]She sighed for him; so young, and yet so passé, and with an incipient beer belly. --Shena MacKay, The Artist's Widow[CR][CR]Sir George devoted much of his energies to worrying about money and was preoccupied by thoughts of his incipient pauperdom. --Philip Ziegler, Osbert Sitwell[CR][CR]Incipient is derived from Latin incipere, "to undertake, to begin" (literally "to take in"), from in-, "in" + capere, "to take." It is related to inception, "beginning, commencement." extempore without premeditation or preparation. ?extempore \ik-STEM-puh-ree\, adverb: Without premeditation or preparation; on the spur of the moment. adjective: Done or performed extempore.[CR][CR]Kelso had already delivered his short paper, on Stalin and the archives, at the end of the previous day: delivered it in his trademark style--without notes, with one hand in his pocket, extempore, provocative. --Robert Harris, Archangel[CR][CR]Ruskin's Oxford lecture series ended up as a dismaying mix of extempore ramblings and calculated farce. --Valentine Cunningham, "A Victorian Renaissance Man," New York Times, May 14, 2000[CR][CR]Extempore is from the Latin phrase ex tempore, "out of the time," therefore "immediately, at the very time the occasion arises." potable drinkable; also, a beverage, especially an alcoholic one. ?potable \POE-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Fit to drink; suitable for drinking; drinkable. noun: A potable liquid; a beverage, especially an alcoholic beverage.[CR][CR]If you drink from the spring, which is shaded by a fig tree, you will supposedly feel younger and more loving. Unfortunately, you may also feel sick: the government warns that the water is not potable. --Gene Burns, "The Stuff of Myths," The Atlantic, September 1999[CR][CR]The park has no showers or potable drinking water--we picked up bottled water in Kaunakakai. --Christopher Cottrell, "Molokai's Big Empty," Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2001[CR][CR]He indicates the places for peculiar edibles, and exquisite potables. --Isaac D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature[CR][CR]Also from California, some other off-the-beaten-path potables: the 1994 Gallo-Sonoma "Barrelli Creek" Valdiguie and the 1995 Pellegrini Carignane. --Michael Lonsford, "Potables will suit penny-pinching buyers," Houston Chronicle, November 20, 1997[CR][CR]Potable comes from Late Latin potabilis, from Latin potare, "to drink." irascible easily provoked to anger. ?irascible \ih-RASS-uh-buhl\, adjective: Prone to anger; easily provoked to anger; hot-tempered.[CR][CR]The lawyer described his client as an irascible eighty-two-year-old eccentric who alternated between spinning fascinating tales about her past and cussing him out. --Jack Olsen, Hastened to the Grave[CR][CR][H]is father was an irascible and boastful bully, a heavy drinker and a gambler. --Robin Waterfield, Prophet: The Life and Times of Kahlil Gibran[CR][CR]Irascible is from Latin irascibilis, "prone to anger," from ira, "anger," which is also the source of ire and irate. descry to catch sight of; to detect. ?descry \dih-SKRY\, transitive verb: 1. To catch sight of, especially something distant or obscure; to discern. 2. To discover by observation; to detect.[CR][CR]On a clear day, if there was no sun, you could descry (but barely) the ships roving out at anchor in Herne Bay and count their masts. --Ferdinand Mount, Jem (and Sam)[CR][CR]The future appears to us neither as impenetrable darkness nor as broad daylight, but rather in a half-light, in which we can descry the rough form of the nearest objects, and vague outlines farther off. --Robert Conquest, Reflections on a Ravaged Century[CR][CR]Descry comes from Middle English, from Old French descrier, "to cry out, to proclaim." The Middle English word was originally applied to shouting one's discovery of an enemy, of game, or of land. mien demeanor; also, aspect; appearance. ?mien \MEEN\, noun: 1. Manner or bearing, especially as expressive of mood, attitude, or personality; demeanor. 2. Aspect; appearance.[CR][CR]He raised and answered the question with the dispassionate mien of a professor advising a student on a course of study. --Edith Anderson, Love in Exile[CR][CR]For her part, Amy soon learned to cloak her self-assurance and pride in her achievements in a modest mien. --Adrienne Fried Block, Amy Beach: Passionate Victorian[CR][CR]Here Mnemosyne shows her true face, and she is no young beauty. Not for her the unlined mien of the younger Muses. --Vera Schwarcz, Bridge Across Broken Time[CR][CR]Mien perhaps derives from French mine, "bearing; expression," from Breton min, "beak, snout," hence "a person's face." nefarious wicked in the extreme. ?nefarious \nuh-FAIR-ee-us\, adjective: Wicked in the extreme; iniquitous.[CR][CR]Despite involvement in protection, narcotics, strong-arm debt collecting, strikebreaking, and blackmail, among other nefarious activities, all of them professed to be a cut above mobsters in other lands. --Robert Whiting, Tokyo Underworld[CR][CR]The liar, however, can become a truly subversive and scandalous figure, whose nefarious influence may extend far more widely than her own individual actions. --John Forrester, Truth Games[CR][CR]Nefarious is from Latin nefarius, from nefas, "that which is contrary to divine command; a crime, transgression, sin," from ne-, "not" + fas, "divine command or law." 'Word Group Three - Words to Definitions [PB] to affirm or declare positively or earnestly. asseverate ?asseverate \uh-SEV-uh-rayt\, transitive verb: To affirm or declare positively or earnestly.[CR][CR]"But of course it is!" asseverates Herman Woodlife. --Miles Kington, "Child slavery: the half-truth," Independent, June 12, 1998[CR][CR]"Castro's been known to snow people, but he didn't snow me," Mr. Weicker asseverated. --"Fading Fidel and his gulled groupies," Washington Times, July 6, 2001[CR][CR]Mr. Vidal asseverates that McVeigh is "very, very bright." He writes with "perfect" spelling, punctuation and grammar. --R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., "When grim opportunity knocks . . .," Washington Times, May 11, 2001[CR][CR]Asseverate comes from Latin asseverare, "to assert seriously or earnestly," from ad- + severus, "severe, serious." capable of perceiving by the senses. sentient ?sentient \SEN-shee-uhnt; -tee-; -shuhnt\, adjective: 1. Capable of perceiving by the senses; conscious. 2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.[CR][CR]I can remember very vividly the first time I became aware of my existence; how for the first time I realised that I was a sentient human being in a perceptible world. --Lord Berners, First Childhood[CR][CR]Answers to such profound questions as whether we are the only sentient beings in the universe, whether life is the product of random accident or deeply rooted law, and whether there may be some sort of ultimate meaning to our existence, hinge on what science can reveal about the formation of life. --Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle[CR][CR]Sentient comes from Latin sentiens, "feeling," from sentire, "to discern or perceive by the senses." unseasonable or unseasonably; inappropriate or inappropriately. malapropos ?malapropos \mal-ap-ruh-POH\, adjective: Unseasonable; unsuitable; inappropriate. adverb: In an inappropriate or inopportune manner; unseasonably.[CR][CR]Such malapropos wise cracks are driven home with a relentlessly upbeat soundtrack which serenades scenes of human tragedy with bouncy, Disneyesque melodies. --Steve Rabey, "'Noah's Ark' hits bottom: Miniseries suffers from lack of accuracy," Arlington Morning News, May 2, 1999[CR][CR]As an on-air radio pronouncer, I am quite familiar with the hazard of opening the mouth before the brain is in gear. It is very easy to fire-off a malapropos statement in the heat of trying to make a point and the result is some funny things are said, but perhaps not meant. --Gerry Forbes, "Foot-in-Mouth Afflictions," Calgary Sun, March 18, 2001[CR][CR]Malapropos comes from French mal à propos, "badly to the purpose." propaganda. agitprop ?agitprop \AJ-it-prop\, noun: Propaganda, especially pro-communist political propaganda disseminated through literature, drama, music, or art.[CR][CR]Despite its explicit program, when the symphony was first performed in 1957 a Russian audience always on the lookout for subtexts quickly interpreted it as being about the crushed Hungarian uprising of the previous year. This officially sanctioned work of agitprop was read as an encrypted denunciation of the Soviet regime. --Justin Davidson, "Musical Explosions, Moving and Martial," Newsday, May 22, 1999[CR][CR]The essay was a farewell to the men of the left, a brilliant, impassioned piece of agitprop that galvanized women in communes, bookstores, hippie coffee houses and underground newspaper offices all over the country. --"Memoirs by women writers get personal with a host of issues, from politics to pregnancy to parent care," Washington Post, January 14, 2001[CR][CR]Neither writer offers a shred of evidence for her claims, which makes these books second-rate agitprop rather than "first-rate sociology." --Kim Phillips-Fein, "Feminine Mystiquers," The Nation, March 19, 1999[CR][CR]. . . nationally televised agitprop designed to appear nonpartisan while actually pushing the ideology of the party in power. --Peter Beinart, "The sleazification of an American ritual," The New Republic, February 3, 1997[CR][CR]Agitprop comes from Russian, from agitatsiya, "agitation" + propaganda. an arbitrary or authoritative command or order. fiat ?fiat \FEE-uht; -at; -aht; FY-uht; -at\, noun: 1. An arbitrary or authoritative command or order. 2. Formal or official authorization or sanction.[CR][CR]He found a provision in the college constitution that said there were to be no executive committees, and arguing that those stodgy impediments to serious change had grown up only by convention and tradition; he abolished them and ruled these faculty meetings by fiat, using each as an occasion to announce what he was going to do next that was sure to stir up even more resentment. --Philip Roth, The Human Stain[CR][CR]Americans tend to squirm about the messiness of their two best-known trade agreements with Japan: the "voluntary limitations" that have restricted exports of Japanese cars to the United States since 1981, and the semiconductor agreement of 1986, which declared by fiat that foreign manufacturers should get 20 percent of semiconductor sales in Japan. --James Fallows, "Containing Japan," The Atlantic, May 1989[CR][CR]Fiat derives from Latin fiat, "let it be done," from fieri, "to be done." excess. nimiety ?nimiety \nih-MY-uh-tee\, noun: The state of being too much; excess.[CR][CR]What a nimiety of . . . riches have we here! I am quite undone. --James J. Kilpatrick, "Buckley: The Right Word," National Review, December 23, 1996[CR][CR]Nimiety is from Late Latin nimietas, from Latin nimius, "very much, too much," from nimis, "excessively." done, made, or gotten by stealth; also, marked by stealth. surreptitious ?surreptitious \sur-up-TISH-us; suh-rep-\, adjective: 1. Done, made, or gotten by stealth. 2. Acting with or marked by stealth.[CR][CR]The monitoring is not surreptitious; on the contrary, the defendant and his or her attorney are required to be given notice of the government's listening activities. --John Ashcroft, "National Security; Prevention of Acts of Violence and Terrorism," Federal Register 66, no. 211, October 26, 2001[CR][CR]While men's appetites are driven by availability, women's are often driven by cravings. A dab of chocolate here, a pinch of sugar there, and some surreptitious midnight Dairy Queen runs lurk behind a woman's oh-so-virtuous bran breakfast, salad lunch, and grilled fish dinner. --Wendy Hubbert, "The skinny on male/female dieting," Redbook, October 1, 2001[CR][CR]Now she made a surreptitious glance toward the doorway into the hall. --Naeem Murr, The Boy[CR][CR]Surreptitious comes from Latin surrepticius, "stolen, secret, surreptitious," from surripere, "to take away secretly; to steal," from sub-, "under" + rapere, "to seize, to snatch." the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea. pleonasm ?pleonasm \PLEE-uh-naz-uhm\, noun: 1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, "I saw it with my own eyes." 2. An instance or example of pleonasm. 3. A superfluous word or expression.[CR][CR]Dougan uses many words where few would do, as if pleonasm were a way of wringing every possibility out of the material he has, and stretching sentences a form of spreading the word. --Paula Cocozza, "Book review: How Dynamo Kiev beat the Luftwaffe," Independent, March 2, 2001[CR][CR]Such a phrase from President Nixon's era, much favored by politicians, is "at this moment in time." Presumably these five words mean "now." That pleonasm probably does little harm except, perhaps, to the reputation of the speaker. --Eoin McKiernan, "Last Word: Special Relationships," Irish America, August 31, 1994[CR][CR]Pleonasm is from Greek pleonasmos, from pleon, "greater, more." Synonyms: redundancy, circumlocution, tautology, periphrasis. Find more at Thesaurus.com. to detest intensely. abominate ?abominate \uh-BOM-uh-nayt\, transitive verb: To hate in the highest degree; to detest intensely; to loathe; to abhor.[CR][CR]I had no wish to study or learn anything, and as for Latin, I abominated it. --Charles Tyng, Before the Wind[CR][CR]"Sir Laurence," he said, smiling wanly, "I detest literature. I abominate the theatre. I have a horror of culture. I am only interested in magic!" --John Lahr (editor), The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan[CR][CR]Abominate comes from Latin abominari, "to deprecate as a bad omen, to hate, to detest," from ab- + omen, "an omen." Synonyms: hate, detest, abhor, loathe. Find more at Thesaurus.com. digressive; rambling; also, marked by analytical reasoning. discursive ?discursive \dis-KUR-siv\, adjective: 1. Passing from one topic to another; ranging over a wide field; digressive; rambling. 2. Utilizing, marked by, or based on analytical reasoning -- contrasted with intuitive.[CR][CR]The style is highly discursive, leap-frogging forwards and backwards across the decades, without ever sacrificing thrust or clarity. --Nicholas Blincoe, "Spirit that speaks," The Guardian, August 21, 1999[CR][CR]Rather than being a limiting influence, the time restrictions seem often to have compelled ensembles and soloists to condense and distill arrangements and to edit potentially discursive solo performances. --Richard M. Sudhalter, Lost Chords[CR][CR]He is in general a discursive politician: Start him talking and you cannot get him to stop. --Dan Balz, "President Endures Embarrassing Week," Washington Post, March 15, 1998[CR][CR]He is an intuitive being who can pierce to the heart of a matter without taking the circuitous route of deeper and more discursive minds. --"1962 Man of the Year: Pope John XXIII," Time, January 4, 1963[CR][CR]Discursive comes from Latin discurrere, "to run in different directions, to run about, to run to and fro," from dis-, "apart, in different directions" + currere, "to run." to counteract; also, to offset. countervail ?countervail \kown-tur-VAYL\, transitive verb: 1. To act against with equal force, power, or effect; to counteract. 2. To compensate for; to offset; to furnish or serve as an equivalent to. intransitive verb: To exert force against an opposing, often bad, influence or power.[CR][CR]In spite of its keel's weight, and even without the countervailing underwater resistance of its mast, Dubois's boat seemed comfortably stable upside down. --Derek Lundy, Godforsaken Sea[CR][CR]The failure also tended to countervail his undoubted gifts as an international negotiator and his achievements as Foreign Secretary. --Alden Whitman, "Career Built on Style and Dash Ended with Invasion of Egypt," New York Times, January 15, 1977[CR][CR]Until the middle of the 1920s Hook's commitment to revolutionary action and passion for philosophy acted as countervailing forces and ambitions, pulling him first one way, then the other. --Christopher Phelps, Young Sidney Hook[CR][CR]Countervail derives from Old French contrevaloir, from contre-, "counter-" (from Latin contra, "against") + valoir, "to be worth" (from Latin valere, "to be strong, to avail"). a loyal follower. myrmidon ?myrmidon \MUR-muh-don; -dun\, noun: 1. [Capitalized] A member of a warlike Thessalian people who followed Achilles on the expedition against Troy. 2. A loyal follower, especially one who executes orders without question, protest, or pity.[CR][CR]He risked assassination, torture or . . . retaliation, the defining signatures of Mr. Milosevic and his ultranationalist myrmidons. --Bruce Fein, "Follow U.S. war crimes advice?" Washington Times, May 10, 2001[CR][CR]Those who created EMU [(European) Economic and Monetary Union]--mainly politicians and their myrmidons in the offices and conference rooms of Brussels--portray a beckoning landscape of wealth, liberty and economic power that will rival the United States and surpass Asia. --James O. Jackson, "The One-Way Bridge," Time, May 11, 1998[CR][CR]Myrmidon derives from Greek Myrmidones, a warlike people of ancient Thessaly. by necessity. perforce ?perforce \pur-FORS\, adverb: By necessity; by force of circumstance.[CR][CR]It will be an astonishing sight, should it come to pass, and even those of us who have followed every twist and turn of this process will perforce rub our eyes. --"Unionists sit tight as the poker game nears its climax," Irish Times, July 10, 1999[CR][CR]. . . the error of supposing that, because everything indeed is not right with the world, everything must accordingly be wrong with the world; the error of supposing that, because we are plainly not a race of angels, we must perforce be a race of beasts. --James Gardner, "Infinite Jest (book reviews)," National Review, June 17, 1996[CR][CR]Perforce comes from French par force, "by force." cowardly. pusillanimous ?pusillanimous \pyoo-suh-LAN-uh-muhs\, adjective: Lacking in courage and resolution; contemptibly fearful; cowardly.[CR][CR]Evil, unspeakable evil, rose in our midst, and we as a people were too weak, too indecisive, too pusillanimous to deal with it. --Kevin Myers, "An Irishman's Diary," Irish Times, October 20, 1999[CR][CR]Under the hypnosis of war hysteria, with a pusillanimous Congress rubber-stamping every whim of the White House, we passed the withholding tax. --Vivien Kellems, Toil, Taxes and Trouble[CR][CR]You are now anxious to form excuses to yourself for a conduct so pusillanimous. --Ann Radcliffe, The Italian[CR][CR]Pusillanimous comes from Late Latin pusillanimis, from Latin pusillus, "very small, tiny, puny" + animus, "soul, mind." a group of fawning admirers. claque ?claque \KLACK\, noun: 1. A group hired to applaud at a performance. 2. A group of fawning admirers.[CR][CR]He cultivated the "Georgetown set" of leading journalists and columnists and had them cheering for him as if he had hired a claque. --Theodore Draper, "Little Heinz And Big Henry," New York Times, September 6, 1992[CR][CR]Behind the hacks was the claque. They cheered and whooped in a vague way, like a group of restrained English persons at a Texas rodeo: "Whee! Whoooo! Polite cough!" --Simon Hoggart, "Yee hah, chaps! It's the manifesto," The Guardian, May 11, 2001[CR][CR]Charles Bukowski suffers from too good a press-- a small but loudly enthusiastic claque. --Kenneth Rexroth, "There's Poetry in a Ragged Hitch-Hiker," New York Times, July 5, 1964[CR][CR]Claque comes from French, from claquer, "to clap," ultimately of imitative origin. lasting but a short time. fugacious ?fugacious \fyoo-GAY-shuhs\, adjective: Lasting but a short time; fleeting.[CR][CR]The fugacious nature of life and time. --Harriet Martineau, Autobiography[CR][CR][T]astes, smells . . . being, in comparison, fugacious. --John Stuart Mill, Examination of Sir W. Hamilton's Philosophy[CR][CR]When he proposed the tax in May, Altman thought it would follow the fugacious nature of some flowers: bloom quickly and die just as fast. --Will Rodgers, "Parks proposal falls on 3-2 vote," Tampa Tribune, June 27, 2001[CR][CR]Fugacious is derived from Latin fugax, fugac-, "ready to flee, flying; hence, fleeting, transitory," from fugere, "to flee, to take flight." Other words derived from the same root include fugitive, one who flees, especially from the law; refuge, a place to which to flee back (re-, "back"), and hence to safety; and fugue, literally a musical "flight." haughtiness; arrogance. hauteur ?hauteur \haw-TUR; (h)oh-\, noun: Haughty manner, spirit, or bearing; haughtiness; arrogance.[CR][CR][M]y silence, I hoped, would be taken as expressive of the hauteur of a man who was above it all -- a man with a mission, in fact, a mission authorized from somewhere on high. --Jeffrey Tayler, Facing the Congo[CR][CR]Sheikhs and presidents have often heard little about the royal family's follies, and don't object to the hauteur and self-importance that remain its inextinguishable traits. --Hugo Young, "Blair and the Queen," The Guardian, April 10, 2001[CR][CR]That self-deprecation and lack of hauteur are typical of the earthy style that enables Powell to get close to his troops in a way that many top brass never do. --"Colin Powell: The master planner of Desert Shield is ready for its ultimate test," People, December 31, 1990[CR][CR]Hauteur is from the French, from haut, "high," from Latin altus, "high." It is thus related to altitude. drowsy; also, tending to cause sleepiness. somnolent ?somnolent \SOM-nuh-luhnt\, adjective: 1. Sleepy; drowsy; inclined to sleep. 2. Tending to cause sleepiness or drowsiness.[CR][CR][I]n his case, restrained ultimately meant boring, as the audience was lulled into a somnolent state. --Teresa Wiltz, "The Hip, the Flip, the Flop," Washington Post, March 3, 2000[CR][CR]Meanwhile, many a somnolent local authority has been stirred into action by Davidson's blunt approach. --John Lucas, "Memorials are made of these on the eve of Remembrance Sunday," Daily Telegraph, November 7, 1998[CR][CR]Back in the somnolent heat of Bangalore he wrote a revealing novel entitled Savrola. --David Stafford, Churchill and Secret Service[CR][CR]Somnolent is from Latin somnolentus, from somnus, "sleep." A related word is insomnia (in-, "not" + somnus). a whispering; a soft murmur. susurration ?susurration \soo-suh-RAY-shun\, noun: A whispering sound; a soft murmur.[CR][CR]. . . the soft susurration of the wind through a stand of whistling thorn. --Ann Jones, "Kenya on horseback," Town & Country, August 1, 1994[CR][CR]Across the road I can make out the grassy park that runs along the sand and hear, in the distance, the steady susurration of the Atlantic Ocean. --Michael Dirda, "Excursions," Washington Post, January 2, 2000[CR][CR]There was the predictable noise of offence being taken on the Conservative side of the House. But it was low and muted, a mild susurration in the backwoods rather than an outraged gust of anger. --Andrew Marr, "Making a prime minister of the President," Independent, March 30, 1994[CR][CR]Susurration is from Late Latin susurratio, from Latin susurrare, "to whisper, to mutter," from susurrus, "a whispering, a muttering." juvenile; childish. puerile ?puerile \PYOO-uhr-uhl; PYOOR-uhl\, adjective: Displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; juvenile; childish.[CR][CR]And, in one of the most puerile episodes of his adult career, he punishes his old schoolmates for being rich and vulgar by breaking into their houses to soak the labels off their boasted wine collections. --Thomas R. Edwards, "Mordecai Richler Then and Now," New York Times, June 22, 1980[CR][CR]Political argument is becoming a puerile cartoon about the moral . . . doing battle with the immoral. --George F. Will, "The Costs of Moral Exhibitionism," Washington Post, April 15, 2001[CR][CR]Puerile comes from Latin puerilis, from puer, "child, boy." extremely cold; icy. gelid ?gelid \JEL-id\, adjective: Extremely cold; icy.[CR][CR]The weather is gelid on a recent Thursday night--so uninviting that it's hard to imagine anyone venturing out. --Letta Tayler, "The Accent's on Brooklyn," Newsday, April 6, 2000[CR][CR]Last January a major crisis arose when the Argentine naval supply ship Bahia Paraiso foundered near an island off the Antarctic Peninsula, creating a diesel-oil spill that inflicted untold damage on the ecosystems clinging to the edges of the icy continent or swimming in its gelid seas. --Christopher Redman Paris, "Could anything be more terrible than this silent, windswept immensity?" Time, October 23, 1989[CR][CR]Gelid comes from Latin gelidus, from gelu, "frost, cold." a lover of learning; a scholar. philomath ?philomath \FIL-uh-math\, noun: A lover of learning; a scholar.[CR][CR]It is precisely for the philomaths that universities ought to cater. --Aldous Huxley, Proper Studies[CR][CR]"It's nothing to laugh about," he says. "Strange things happen in this country--things that philosophers and other philomaths had never dreamed of." --Tomek Tryzna, Miss Nobody[CR][CR]Philomath is from the Greek philomathes, "loving knowledge," from philos, "loving, fond" + mathein, "to learn, to understand." a stronghold. redoubt ?redoubt \rih-DOWT\, noun: 1. A small and usually temporary defensive fortification. 2. A defended position or protective barrier. 3. A secure place of refuge or defense; a stronghold.[CR][CR]Evicting the intruders from their mountain redoubts with ground forces alone was beginning to look like a protracted and expensive task. --"Kashmir's violent spring," The Economist, May 29, 1999 First, Milosevic himself will be absent, apparently fearful of leaving his redoubt in Belgrade.[CR][CR]--"Lessons of Balkans Applied to Kosovo," New York Times, February 1, 1999[CR][CR]Redoubt derives from French redoute, from Italian ridotto, from Latin reductus, "a refuge, a retreat," from reducere, "to lead or draw back," from re-, "back" + ducere, "to lead." still existing. extant ?extant \EK-stunt; ek-STANT\, adjective: Still existing; not destroyed, lost, or extinct.[CR][CR]Why, then, did the joint House-Senate committee insert a maximum? The lack of extant records of the committee's deliberations requires us to speculate. --Akhil Reed Amar, The Bill of Rights[CR][CR]The fossil record shows clearly that ancient life was very different from extant life. --Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle[CR][CR]Extant comes from Latin exstare, "to stand out, to project, hence to be prominent, to be visible, to exist," from ex-, "out" + stare, "to stand." beginning to exist or appear. incipient ?incipient \in-SIP-ee-uhnt\, adjective: Beginning to exist or appear.[CR][CR]Also, improved diagnostic techniques can alert individuals to incipient illnesses. --James Flanigan, "Patients' Rights and Health-Care Costs Are Expanding Together," Los Angeles Times, May 2, 1999[CR][CR]Shiv gradually became aware that he was onto something big, bigger than anything he had ever done before. He was nudged by an incipient awareness that perhaps it was even too big for him. --Ken Kalfus, Pu-239 and Other Russian Fantasies[CR][CR]She sighed for him; so young, and yet so passé, and with an incipient beer belly. --Shena MacKay, The Artist's Widow[CR][CR]Sir George devoted much of his energies to worrying about money and was preoccupied by thoughts of his incipient pauperdom. --Philip Ziegler, Osbert Sitwell[CR][CR]Incipient is derived from Latin incipere, "to undertake, to begin" (literally "to take in"), from in-, "in" + capere, "to take." It is related to inception, "beginning, commencement." without premeditation or preparation. extempore ?extempore \ik-STEM-puh-ree\, adverb: Without premeditation or preparation; on the spur of the moment. adjective: Done or performed extempore.[CR][CR]Kelso had already delivered his short paper, on Stalin and the archives, at the end of the previous day: delivered it in his trademark style--without notes, with one hand in his pocket, extempore, provocative. --Robert Harris, Archangel[CR][CR]Ruskin's Oxford lecture series ended up as a dismaying mix of extempore ramblings and calculated farce. --Valentine Cunningham, "A Victorian Renaissance Man," New York Times, May 14, 2000[CR][CR]Extempore is from the Latin phrase ex tempore, "out of the time," therefore "immediately, at the very time the occasion arises." drinkable; also, a beverage, especially an alcoholic one. potable ?potable \POE-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Fit to drink; suitable for drinking; drinkable. noun: A potable liquid; a beverage, especially an alcoholic beverage.[CR][CR]If you drink from the spring, which is shaded by a fig tree, you will supposedly feel younger and more loving. Unfortunately, you may also feel sick: the government warns that the water is not potable. --Gene Burns, "The Stuff of Myths," The Atlantic, September 1999[CR][CR]The park has no showers or potable drinking water--we picked up bottled water in Kaunakakai. --Christopher Cottrell, "Molokai's Big Empty," Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2001[CR][CR]He indicates the places for peculiar edibles, and exquisite potables. --Isaac D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature[CR][CR]Also from California, some other off-the-beaten-path potables: the 1994 Gallo-Sonoma "Barrelli Creek" Valdiguie and the 1995 Pellegrini Carignane. --Michael Lonsford, "Potables will suit penny-pinching buyers," Houston Chronicle, November 20, 1997[CR][CR]Potable comes from Late Latin potabilis, from Latin potare, "to drink." easily provoked to anger. irascible ?irascible \ih-RASS-uh-buhl\, adjective: Prone to anger; easily provoked to anger; hot-tempered.[CR][CR]The lawyer described his client as an irascible eighty-two-year-old eccentric who alternated between spinning fascinating tales about her past and cussing him out. --Jack Olsen, Hastened to the Grave[CR][CR][H]is father was an irascible and boastful bully, a heavy drinker and a gambler. --Robin Waterfield, Prophet: The Life and Times of Kahlil Gibran[CR][CR]Irascible is from Latin irascibilis, "prone to anger," from ira, "anger," which is also the source of ire and irate. to catch sight of; to detect. descry ?descry \dih-SKRY\, transitive verb: 1. To catch sight of, especially something distant or obscure; to discern. 2. To discover by observation; to detect.[CR][CR]On a clear day, if there was no sun, you could descry (but barely) the ships roving out at anchor in Herne Bay and count their masts. --Ferdinand Mount, Jem (and Sam)[CR][CR]The future appears to us neither as impenetrable darkness nor as broad daylight, but rather in a half-light, in which we can descry the rough form of the nearest objects, and vague outlines farther off. --Robert Conquest, Reflections on a Ravaged Century[CR][CR]Descry comes from Middle English, from Old French descrier, "to cry out, to proclaim." The Middle English word was originally applied to shouting one's discovery of an enemy, of game, or of land. demeanor; also, aspect; appearance. mien ?mien \MEEN\, noun: 1. Manner or bearing, especially as expressive of mood, attitude, or personality; demeanor. 2. Aspect; appearance.[CR][CR]He raised and answered the question with the dispassionate mien of a professor advising a student on a course of study. --Edith Anderson, Love in Exile[CR][CR]For her part, Amy soon learned to cloak her self-assurance and pride in her achievements in a modest mien. --Adrienne Fried Block, Amy Beach: Passionate Victorian[CR][CR]Here Mnemosyne shows her true face, and she is no young beauty. Not for her the unlined mien of the younger Muses. --Vera Schwarcz, Bridge Across Broken Time[CR][CR]Mien perhaps derives from French mine, "bearing; expression," from Breton min, "beak, snout," hence "a person's face." wicked in the extreme. nefarious ?nefarious \nuh-FAIR-ee-us\, adjective: Wicked in the extreme; iniquitous.[CR][CR]Despite involvement in protection, narcotics, strong-arm debt collecting, strikebreaking, and blackmail, among other nefarious activities, all of them professed to be a cut above mobsters in other lands. --Robert Whiting, Tokyo Underworld[CR][CR]The liar, however, can become a truly subversive and scandalous figure, whose nefarious influence may extend far more widely than her own individual actions. --John Forrester, Truth Games[CR][CR]Nefarious is from Latin nefarius, from nefas, "that which is contrary to divine command; a crime, transgression, sin," from ne-, "not" + fas, "divine command or law." 'Word Group Four - Definitions to Words [PA] volte-face an about-face. ?volte-face \vawlt-FAHS; vawl-tuh-\, noun: An about-face; a reversal, as in policy or opinion.[CR][CR]I was eventually eased out of the organisation, but not before British policy had performed a volte-face on Cyprus, the colony had gained independence, and yesterday's political wisdoms had suddenly been repudiated. --George Urban, Radio Free Europe and the Pursuit of Democracy[CR][CR]In a sudden volte-face, he seemed to accept the agreement; then, when the besieged forces came out to embark, he had their barges held in port. --Richard Eder, "Just Wild About Horatio," New York Times, November 7, 1999[CR][CR][S]uddenly confronted with the imminent ruin of Angela Lyne, his former mistress, who is drinking herself to death out of loneliness, he does the first real volte-face of his life by returning to her. --L.E. Sissman, "Evelyn Waugh: The Height of His Powers," The Atlantic, March 1972[CR][CR]Volte-face comes from French, from Italian voltafaccia, from volta, "turn" + faccia, "face." exiguous extremely scanty. ?exiguous \ig-ZIG-yoo-us\, adjective: Extremely scanty; meager.[CR][CR]They are entering the market, setting up stalls on snowy streets, moonlighting to supplement exiguous incomes. --Michael Ignatieff, "Rebirth of a Nation: An Anatomy of Russia," New Statesman, February 6, 1998[CR][CR]Among the pressures provoking these distresses were a father's financial inadequacy and a growing awareness that, by finding employment himself, he could ameliorate the family's exiguous circumstances. --Terence Brown, The Life of W. B. Yeats: A Critical Biography[CR][CR]Exiguous comes from Latin exiguus, "strictly weighed; too strictly weighed," hence "scanty, meager," from exigere, "to determine; to decide; to weigh." pecuniary relating to money. ?pecuniary \pih-KYOO-nee-air-ee\, adjective: 1. Relating to money; monetary. 2. Consisting of money. 3. Requiring payment of money.[CR][CR]"He lacked the finer element of conscience which looks upon Art as a sacred calling," she remembered, and because of "pecuniary necessities" he "scattered his forces in many different and unworthy directions." --James F. O'Gorman, Accomplished in All Departments of Art[CR][CR]The young man of the house was absorbed in his vegetable garden and the possibilities for pecuniary profit that it held. --Samuel Chamberlain, Clementine in the Kitchen[CR][CR]He sees the great pecuniary rewards and how they are gained, and naturally is moved by an impulse to obtain the same for himself. --David J. Brewer, "The Ideal Lawyer," The Atlantic, November 1906[CR][CR]Over the decades, Pitt built an impressive roster of similarly well-heeled clients who stood accused by the SEC of securities fraud, misstating their finances, other pecuniary offenses. --Jonathan Chait, "Invested Interest," The New Republic, December 17, 2001[CR][CR]Pecuniary comes from Latin pecuniarius, "of money, pecuniary," from pecunia, "property in cattle, hence money," from pecu, "livestock, one's flocks and herds." traduce to vilify. ?traduce \truh-DOOS; -DYOOS\, transitive verb: To expose to contempt or shame by means of false statements or misrepresentation; to represent as blamable; to vilify.[CR][CR]Sir Edward rang twice to stress that he had no business relationship with the family other than his consultancy, but also to vouch for the fact that they were "splendid people" who should not be traduced. --Ian Jack, "Generous spirits, secretive souls," Independent, October 17, 1998[CR][CR]I sometimes wonder whether those who traduce today's television have any conception just how much is on offer to the growing number of us with multi-channel television. --Peter Bazalgette, "Golden Age? This is it," The Guardian, November 19, 2001[CR][CR]The only problem is that his corrective arguments tend to traduce rationalism as the exclusive preserve of wild-eyed eggheads who only ever spin webs of marvelously useless deduction. --Steven Poole, "Et cetera," The Guardian, June 30, 2001[CR][CR]Many of you, Our Leader is absolutely sure, were disgusted at the way Rupert has been traduced in the media. --A. N. Wilson, "Modern Britain, modern kitchens! New Labour Web site number 11," Daily Telegraph, March 3, 1998[CR][CR]Traduce derives from Latin traducere, "to lead across, to lead along, to display, to expose to ridicule," from trans-, "across, over" + ducere, "to lead." Synonyms: Calumniate; vilify; defame; slander. Find more at Thesaurus.com. postprandial happening or done after a meal. ?postprandial \post-PRAN-dee-uhl\, adjective: Happening or done after a meal.[CR][CR]A gourmand who zealously avoids all exercise as "seriously damaging to one's health," he had caviar for breakfast and was now having oysters for lunch, whetted with wine, as he fueled himself for a postprandial reading at the Montauk Club in Brooklyn. --Mel Gussow, "The Man Who Put Horace Rumpole on the Case," New York Times, April 12, 1995[CR][CR][W]hen I wake up in the morning, I can have my usual breakfast -- a slightly bizarre concoction of three kinds of cold cereal topped with grapes and a cup of decaf -- and then stagger back to bed for a postprandial snooze. --Sylvan Fox, "It's Less Hectic Staying Put In One Place," Newsday, April 3, 1994[CR][CR]Postprandial is from post- + prandial, from Latin prandium, "a late breakfast or lunch." sinecure an office or position that involves little work or responsibility. ?sinecure \SY-nih-kyur; SIN-ih-\, noun: An office or position that requires or involves little or no responsibility, work, or active service.[CR][CR]I was fortunate to receive the. . . offer, which in practical terms was a sinecure. --David Freeman, One of Us Julian Poe, a wealthy old Estonian, offers what looks like a sinecure: Bennett will live in comfort in Monte Carlo and pretend to be Poe, thus enabling Poe to fulfill his residency requirement in Monte Carlo while continuing to live in Provence without paying French taxes. --"Eat, Drink and Be Wary," New York Times, June 9, 1996[CR][CR]When they married, Pu Yi was, officially, employed as a gardener at the Peking Botanical Gardens. In fact this sinecure. . . only lasted three years, during which time he did very little actual gardening. --"Obituary: Li Shuxian," Independent, June 11, 1997[CR][CR]Sinecure is from Medieval Latin sine cura, "without care (of souls)," from Latin sine, "without" + cura, "care." Originally the term signified an ecclesiastical benefice without the care of souls. apogee the highest point. ?apogee \AP-uh-jee\, noun: 1. The point in the orbit of the moon or of an artificial satellite that is at the greatest distance from the center of the earth. 2. The farthest or highest point; culmination.[CR][CR]But in retrospect, this period would prove to be the apogee of O'Sullivan's career, although he always felt bigger and better things were on his way. --Edward L. Widmer, Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City[CR][CR]How can we suppose that science has reached its apogee in the twentieth century? --John Maddox, What Remains To Be Discovered[CR][CR]Aurangzeb ended the family tradition of building architectural masterpieces that had reached its apogee when his father, Shah Jahan, built the world's most beautiful tomb, the Taj Mahal. --Anthony Read and David Fisher, The Proudest Day[CR][CR]Apogee is derived from Greek apogaion, from apogaios, "situated (far) away from the earth," from apo-, "away from" + gaia, "earth." incontrovertible indisputable; unquestionable. ?incontrovertible \in-kon-truh-VUR-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Too clear or certain to admit of dispute; indisputable; unquestionable.[CR][CR]It is in the nature of philosophical questions that they do not have final, incontrovertible answers, or, more exactly, that every answer raises new questions. --George Soros, Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism[CR][CR]And although the evidence was substantial, it was not incontrovertible. --Al Strachan, "Phantom Goal, part 2," Toronto Sun, May 23, 1999[CR][CR]Despite speculation based on ancient tales and ancient art, no incontrovertible evidence has been discovered of polio's existence before the nineteenth century, at least not in its epidemic form. --Sherwin B. Nuland, "A Summer Plague: Polio and Its Survivors," New Republic, October 16, 1995[CR][CR]Incontrovertible is in-, "not" + controvertible, which is derived from Latin controversia, "a dispute," from controvertere, "to turn against, to turn in the opposite direction, to dispute" from contro-, "against" + vertere, "to turn." It is related to controversy. furbelow something showy or superfluous. ?furbelow \FUR-buh-low\, noun: 1. A pleated or gathered flounce on a woman's garment; a ruffle. 2. Something showy or superfluous; a bit of showy ornamentation.[CR][CR]In a season of ruffles, frills and furbelows, simple cuts in neutral shades stand out. --"Designers Head for Neutral Territory," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 27, 1997[CR][CR]Gilt. Red velvet. Brocade. Flocked wallpaper. Swags, frills, furbelows and ornamentation beyond comprehension. We're talking rococo loco. --Liz Braun, "Time Flies When You're Having Fun," Ottawa Sun, April 3, 2000[CR][CR]It is a story that, for all its hyper-animatedness, all its flips and furbelows of style, is confusing and wearisome. --Christine Stansell, "Details, Details," New Republic, December 10, 2001[CR][CR]Patience is required to get past some of the director's more baroque cinematic touches, decorating the story's dark center with visual furbelows . . . and aural gimmicks. --Lisa Schwarzbaum, "Movies: The Evil That Men Do," Entertainment Weekly, October 23, 1998[CR][CR]Furbelow is perhaps an alteration of Provençal farbella. maudlin excessively sentimental. ?maudlin \MAWD-lin\, adjective: Tearfully or excessively sentimental.[CR][CR]The lonesome tones of Willie Nelson rise on the Texas air and roll off into the darkness, making the odd deer feel unaccountably maudlin and causing lone jackrabbits to be overcome by a sudden desire to sink a whiskey and cry into the empty glass. --John Connolly, "Irishman's Diary," Irish Times, September 6, 1997[CR][CR]He was a bad drunk and became maudlin and weepy and would often have to be carried home by his friends. --Barry Miles, Jack Kerouac King of the Beats: A Portrait[CR][CR]A film about blindness could easily get maudlin or, at the other extreme, cynically heartless. --Desson Howe, " 'Proof,' " Washington Post, June 5, 1992[CR][CR]Maudlin is an alteration of (Mary) Magdalene, who in paintings was often represented with eyes red and swollen from weeping. exigent requiring immediate aid or action; also, demanding. ?exigent \EK-suh-juhnt\, adjective: 1. Requiring immediate aid or action; pressing; critical. 2. Requiring much effort or expense; demanding; exacting.[CR][CR]Legislative sessions are long, constituents' demands are exigent, policy problems are increasingly complicated. --Anthony King, "Running Scared," The Atlantic, January 1997[CR][CR]An exception to the warrant rule was established when exigent circumstances required officials to act immediately. --Warren Richey, "Of merchant ships and crack-sellers' cars," Christian Science Monitor, May 20, 1999[CR][CR]It is true that the greatest modern novels ask more of us, and of themselves as well. But within their own less exigent terms, Roth's novels amount to an impressive achievement. --Michael Andre Bernstein, "The vivid fabrications of a great elegist," The New Republic, May 7, 2001[CR][CR]The purpose of the book is "to confirm the poet in a lonely and exigent task, which is all the more necessary in these times". --Patsy McGarry, "The mad monk of the mid-west," Irish Times, December 22, 2001[CR][CR]Exigent is derived from the present participle of Latin exigere, "to demand." contravene to act or be counter to. ?contravene \kon-truh-VEEN\, transitive verb: 1. To act or be counter to; to violate. 2. To oppose in argument; to contradict.[CR][CR]In 1620 most people considered the likelihood of reversing the seasons inside a building impossible, and many deemed it sacrilege, an attempt to contravene the natural order, to twist the configuration of the world established by God. --Tom Shachtman, Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold[CR][CR]Anorexics, for example, clearly contravene our evolutionary dictate to eat. --Jerry A. Coyne, "Of Vice and Men," The New Republic, April 3, 2000[CR][CR]Contravene comes from Late Latin contravenire, "to oppose," from Latin contra-, "against" + venire, "to come." temerarious reckless; rash. ?temerarious \tem-uh-RAIR-ee-us\, adjective: Recklessly or presumptuously daring; rash.[CR][CR]Becket's slayers insist that the king had indeed authorized or directed murder, an interpretation fortified by Henry's known enmity toward the temerarious priest for protesting the subordination of ecclesiastical to secular authority. --Bruce Fein, "Free speech or call to violence?" Washington Times, April 10, 2001[CR][CR]I have confessed myself a temerarious theologian, and in that passage from boyhood to manhood I ranged widely in my search for some permanently satisfying Truth. --H. G. Wells, The New Machiavelli[CR][CR]Temerarious comes from Latin temerarius, "rash," from temere, "rashly, heedlessly." philter a love potion. ?philter \FIL-tur\, noun: 1. A potion or charm supposed to cause the person taking it to fall in love. 2. A potion or charm believed to have magic power. transitive verb: To enchant or bewitch with or as if with a magic potion or charm.[CR][CR]Some things you can feel coming. You don't fall in love because you fall in love; you fall in love because of the need, desperate, to fall in love. When you feel that need, you have to watch your step; like having drunk a philter, the kind that makes you fall in love with the first thing you meet. It could be a duck-billed platypus. --Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum[CR][CR]Philter is derived from Greek philtron, from philein, "to love," from philos, "dear, loving." reticent inclined to keep silent. ?reticent \RET-ih-suhnt\, adjective: 1. Inclined to keep silent; reserved; uncommunicative. 2. Restrained or reserved in style. 3. Reluctant; unwilling.[CR][CR]His wispy eyebrows sit above eyes undimmed by more than forty years of serious scholarship; a tight-lipped smile suggests that there are many things he will not say about himself or his accomplishments. Indeed, he is almost painfully reticent about what most scholars now consider to be a monumental achievement in the field. --Marc K. Stengel, "The Diffusionists Have Landed," The Atlantic, January 2000[CR][CR]"Within a circle of intimate friends, he's a very sociable person," says Russell Banks, another novelist, who has known Auster since 1977. "Outside of that circle, he's fairly shy and reticent." --"Case of the Brooklyn Symbolist," New York Times, August 30, 1992[CR][CR]He would write to us every week when we were at boarding school. Our family relationships, it now strikes me, were created more by these intertwining letters than by conversation, for we all wrote avidly back and forth to each other but were reticent when we met. --Nigel Nicolson, Long Life[CR][CR]Reticent comes from the present participle of Latin reticere, "to keep silent," from re- + tacere, "to be silent." pronunciamento a proclamation; a pronouncement. ?pronunciamento \pro-nun-see-uh-MEN-toe\, noun: 1. A proclamation or manifesto; a formal announcement or declaration. 2. A pronouncement.[CR][CR]This was, then, not merely the official closing statement of a lost war, but the opening pronunciamento of an urgent campaign to maintain imperial control as well as social and political stability in a shattered nation. --John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II[CR][CR]The general secretary issued a pronunciamento, in which traditional clotted cliches somehow turned into a kind of poetry, both majestic and absurd. --Peter Simple, "Comment: Lost," Daily Telegraph, September 10, 1999[CR][CR]It was said of her, by a man given to such pronunciamentos, that " in conversation she had more wit than any other person, male or female." --Jonathan Yardley, "Ladies of the Grand Tour," Washington Post, December 16, 2001[CR][CR]Pronunciamento comes from Spanish pronunciamiento, from pronunciar, "to pronounce," from Latin pronuntiare, from pro-, "forth" + nuntiare, "to announce," from nuntius, "messenger." voluble characterized by a ready flow of speech. ?voluble \VOL-yuh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Characterized by a ready flow of speech. 2. Easily rolling or turning; rotating. 3. (Botany) Having the power or habit of turning or twining.[CR][CR]Rostow was voluble, exuberant and full of good and sometimes foolish ideas. --Kai Bird, The Color of Truth[CR][CR]Two glasses of wine made him voluble and three made him bellicose, sentimental and sometimes slurred. --"How Nixon turned into Tricky Dicky," Daily Telegraph, March 9, 1999[CR][CR]He listened patiently and with quiet amusement to my enthusiasm. Indeed, this turned out to be our pattern: I, more ignorant but more voluble, would babble on, while he would offer an occasional objection or refinement. --Phillip Lopate, Totally, Tenderly, Tragically[CR][CR]Her tongue, so voluble and kind, It always runs before her mind. --Matthew Prior, "Truth and Falsehood"[CR][CR]Voluble derives from Latin volubilis, "revolving, rolling, fluent," from volvere, "to roll." erudite characterized by extensive reading or knowledge. ?erudite \AIR-yuh-dyt; -uh-dyt\, adjective: Characterized by extensive reading or knowledge; learned.[CR][CR]In front of imposing edifices like the Topkapi Palace or Hagia Sophia are guides displaying Government-issued licenses. Many of these guides are erudite historians who have quit low-paying jobs as university professors and now offer private tours. --"What's Doing in Istanbul," New York Times, February 23, 1997[CR][CR]The works of Baudrillard, Deleuze, Guattari and Virilio are filled with seemingly erudite references to relativity, quantum mechanics, chaos theory, etc. --Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont, Fashionable Nonsense[CR][CR]Erudite comes from Latin eruditus, from e-, "out of, from" + rudis, "rough, untaught," which is also the source of English rude. Hence one who is erudite has been brought out of a rough, untaught, rude state. quotidian occurring daily; also, ordinary. ?quotidian \kwoh-TID-ee-uhn\, adjective: 1. Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian fever. 2. Of an everyday character; ordinary; commonplace.[CR][CR]Erasmus thought More's career as a lawyer was a waste of a fine mind, but it was precisely the human insights More derived from his life in the quotidian world that gave him a moral depth Erasmus lacked. --"More man than saint," Irish Times, April 4, 1998[CR][CR]She also had a sense of fun that was often drummed out under the dull, quotidian beats of suburban life. --Meg Wolitzer, Surrender, Dorothy[CR][CR]Quotidian is from Latin quotidianus, from quotidie, "daily," from quotus, "how many, as many, so many" + dies, "day." roister to revel; to carouse. ?roister \ROY-stur\, intransitive verb: 1. To engage in boisterous merrymaking; to revel; to carouse. 2. To bluster; to swagger.[CR][CR]For some people, she was the archetype of the roistering New Russians, with their love of partying, fast cars and foreign holidays. --Alan Philps, "Brezhnev's outrageous daughter dies at 69," Daily Telegraph, July 2, 1998[CR][CR]Back in our expatriate days, we roistering provincials, slap-happy to be in Paris, drunk on the beauty of our surroundings, were fearful of retiring to our Left Bank hotel rooms lest we wake up back home, retrieved by parents who would remind us of how much they had invested in our educations, and how it was time for us to put our shoulders to the wheel. --Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version[CR][CR]. . . the bullying, lying, lily-livered, lecherous, roistering, brandy-swigging, battle-fleeing, toad-eating Harry Paget Flashman, whose charming roguery has won him a worldwide following. --Michael Browning, "'Flashman' Trio Fine Fun, Leaves Us Shouting 'More!'" Palm Beach Post, September 24, 2000[CR][CR]Roister is probably from Middle French rustre, "a boor, a clown; clownish," from Latin rusticus, "rustic," from rus, "country." seriatim in a series; one after another. ?seriatim \sir-ee-AY-tim; -AT-im\, adverb: In a series; one after another.[CR][CR]Mr. and Mrs. Kenwigs thanked every lady and gentleman, seriatim, for the favour of their company. --Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickelby[CR][CR]Two days from the opening of the impeachment debate, gangs of television crews moved through mostly deserted corridors, doling out their 15 minutes of fame seriatim as individual lawmakers stepped up to batteries of microphones. --New York Times, December 16, 1998[CR][CR]In his company one found oneself supposing, on hearing Walters handle German and Spanish, French and Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian, that his mind traveled from any one language to any other seriatim, because his mind worked that way, taking it all in. --William F. Buckley Jr., "Dick Walters, R.I.P.," National Review, February 15, 2002[CR][CR]Seriatim derives from the Latin series, meaning "row, chain," and is formed on the same model as verbatim ("word for word") and literatim ("letter for letter"). detritus debris. ?detritus \dih-TRY-tuhs\, noun; plural detritus: 1. Loose material that is worn away from rocks. 2. Hence, any fragments separated from the body to which they belonged; any product of disintegration; debris.[CR][CR]The water was smooth and brown, with detritus swirling in the eddies from the increasing current. --Gordon Chaplin, Dark Wind: A Survivor's Tale of Love and Loss[CR][CR]If they [flying cars] were easy to produce, we'd be walking around wearing helmets to protect us from the detritus of flying car crashes. --Gail Collins, "Grounded for 2000," New York Times, December 7, 1999[CR][CR]The loose detritus of thought, washed down to us through long ages. --H. Rogers, Essays[CR][CR]Detritus derives from the past participle of Latin deterere, "to rub away, to wear out," from de-, "from" + terere, "to rub." It is related to detriment, at root "a rubbing away, a wearing away," hence "damage, harm." sybarite a person devoted to luxury and pleasure. ?sybarite \SIB-uh-ryt\, noun: A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.[CR][CR]This worldly cleric, nicknamed "the sybarite of Saumane", friend of Voltaire and a social luminary in Paris and Avignon, lived a high old life within the medieval fortifications of his chateau in Provence. --"The dubious charms of Citizen Sade," Irish Times, April 17, 1999[CR][CR]Beneath the prudish disapproval that colored Upton Sinclair's assessment of California's wealthy sybarites was an amused astonishment at how hard they worked at having fun, at how deadly serious they were about pleasure. --Richard White, "What California taught America," The New Republic, December 1, 1997[CR][CR]And when the final blessing of a perfect French cook appeared to make our domestic picture complete, we became utter sybarites, frank worshippers of the splendors of the French cuisine. --Samuel Chamberlain, Clémentine in the Kitchen[CR][CR]Sybarite is derived from Greek Sybarites, from Sybaris, an ancient Greek city noted for the luxurious, pleasure-seeking habits of many of its inhabitants. loquacious very talkative. ?loquacious \loh-KWAY-shuhs\, adjective: 1. Very talkative. 2. Full of excessive talk; wordy.[CR][CR]The meeting went on for hours, accommodating loquacious bores who were each allowed their say. --Andrew Sullivan, "Gay Life, Gay Death," The New Republic, December 17, 1990[CR][CR]In drawing a sharp contrast with the loquacious Ginsburg, her new lawyers appeared for just a few moments and said virtually nothing to reporters before retreating into the building. --Peter Baker, "Lewinsky Replaces Ginsburg," Washington Post, June 3, 1998[CR][CR]Loquacious comes from Latin loquax, "talkative," from loqui, "to speak." tyro a novice. ?tyro \TY-roh\, noun: A beginner in learning; a novice.[CR][CR]It's difficult to imagine a tyro publishing a book on medical procedures or economic theory. --Philip Zaleski, "God Help the Spiritual Writer," New York Times, January 10, 1999[CR][CR]He was a sensitive, fine soul alert to the pleasures of being green, a tyro, an amateur, unwilling to close his mind before it had been tempted. --Paul West, Sporting With Amaryllis[CR][CR]And, though we were mere tyros, beginners, utterly insignificant, he was invariably as kind and considerate and thoughtful, and as lavish in the gift of his time, as though he had nothing else to do. --Leonard Warren, Joseph Leidy: The Last Man Who Knew Everything[CR][CR]Tyro is from Latin tiro, "a young soldier, a recruit," hence "a beginner, a learner." salubrious healthful. ?salubrious \suh-LOO-bree-us\, adjective: Favorable to health; promoting health; healthful.[CR][CR]A physician warned him his health was precarious, so Montague returned to the United States, shelved his legal ambitions and searched for a salubrious climate where he might try farming. --"Teeing Off Into the Past At Oakhurst," New York Times, May 2, 1999[CR][CR]For years, her mother has maintained that the sea air has a salubrious effect on both her spirits and her vocal cords. --Anita Shreve, Fortune's Rocks[CR][CR]Uptown, however, the tanners' less salubrious quarter is notorious for its stench. --"Byzantium," Toronto Star, February 7, 1999[CR][CR]Salubrious is from Latin salubris, "healthful," from salus, "health." evanescent fleeting. ?evanescent \ev-uh-NES-unt\, adjective: Liable to vanish or pass away like vapor; fleeting.[CR][CR]The Pen which gives. . . permanence to the evanescent thought of a moment. --Horace Smith, Tin Trumpet[CR][CR]Every tornado is a little different, and they are all capricious, evanescent and hard to get a fix on. --"Oklahoma Tornado Offers Hints of How a Killer Storm Is Born," New York Times, May 11, 1999[CR][CR]The accidentally famous. . . may write books, appear on talk shows, and, in so doing, attract even greater public attention. This type of celebrity status, of course, is brittle and evanescent. --Lawrence M. Friedman, The Horizontal Society[CR][CR]Evanescent is from Latin evanescere, "to vanish," from e-, "from, out of" + vanescere, "to disappear," from vanus, "empty." ineluctable impossible to avoid or evade. ?ineluctable \in-ih-LUCK-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Impossible to avoid or evade; inevitable.[CR][CR]. . . ineluctable as gravity. --Marilynne Robinson, The Death of Adam[CR][CR]California's vision of itself as a car culture grew out of the impracticality of mass transit in reaching most of its scenic wonders, the innate restlessness of its inhabitants and the ineluctable attraction of an open road. --"From the Land of Private Freeways Comes Car Culture Shock," New York Times, October 16, 1997[CR][CR]Linnaeus' classification scheme became popular not because it captured some ineluctable truth about nature. Rather, by the botanist's own admission, the system divided species based more on intuition than science, much as an art historian might group paintings into schools. --"Cultivating a New Tree," Los Angeles Times, September 25, 1999[CR][CR]Ineluctable is from Latin ineluctabilis, from in-, "not" + eluctari, "to struggle out of, to get free from," from ex-, e-, "out of" + luctari, "to struggle." 'Word Group Four - Words to Definitions [PB] an about-face. volte-face ?volte-face \vawlt-FAHS; vawl-tuh-\, noun: An about-face; a reversal, as in policy or opinion.[CR][CR]I was eventually eased out of the organisation, but not before British policy had performed a volte-face on Cyprus, the colony had gained independence, and yesterday's political wisdoms had suddenly been repudiated. --George Urban, Radio Free Europe and the Pursuit of Democracy[CR][CR]In a sudden volte-face, he seemed to accept the agreement; then, when the besieged forces came out to embark, he had their barges held in port. --Richard Eder, "Just Wild About Horatio," New York Times, November 7, 1999[CR][CR][S]uddenly confronted with the imminent ruin of Angela Lyne, his former mistress, who is drinking herself to death out of loneliness, he does the first real volte-face of his life by returning to her. --L.E. Sissman, "Evelyn Waugh: The Height of His Powers," The Atlantic, March 1972[CR][CR]Volte-face comes from French, from Italian voltafaccia, from volta, "turn" + faccia, "face." extremely scanty. exiguous ?exiguous \ig-ZIG-yoo-us\, adjective: Extremely scanty; meager.[CR][CR]They are entering the market, setting up stalls on snowy streets, moonlighting to supplement exiguous incomes. --Michael Ignatieff, "Rebirth of a Nation: An Anatomy of Russia," New Statesman, February 6, 1998[CR][CR]Among the pressures provoking these distresses were a father's financial inadequacy and a growing awareness that, by finding employment himself, he could ameliorate the family's exiguous circumstances. --Terence Brown, The Life of W. B. Yeats: A Critical Biography[CR][CR]Exiguous comes from Latin exiguus, "strictly weighed; too strictly weighed," hence "scanty, meager," from exigere, "to determine; to decide; to weigh." relating to money. pecuniary ?pecuniary \pih-KYOO-nee-air-ee\, adjective: 1. Relating to money; monetary. 2. Consisting of money. 3. Requiring payment of money.[CR][CR]"He lacked the finer element of conscience which looks upon Art as a sacred calling," she remembered, and because of "pecuniary necessities" he "scattered his forces in many different and unworthy directions." --James F. O'Gorman, Accomplished in All Departments of Art[CR][CR]The young man of the house was absorbed in his vegetable garden and the possibilities for pecuniary profit that it held. --Samuel Chamberlain, Clementine in the Kitchen[CR][CR]He sees the great pecuniary rewards and how they are gained, and naturally is moved by an impulse to obtain the same for himself. --David J. Brewer, "The Ideal Lawyer," The Atlantic, November 1906[CR][CR]Over the decades, Pitt built an impressive roster of similarly well-heeled clients who stood accused by the SEC of securities fraud, misstating their finances, other pecuniary offenses. --Jonathan Chait, "Invested Interest," The New Republic, December 17, 2001[CR][CR]Pecuniary comes from Latin pecuniarius, "of money, pecuniary," from pecunia, "property in cattle, hence money," from pecu, "livestock, one's flocks and herds." to vilify. traduce ?traduce \truh-DOOS; -DYOOS\, transitive verb: To expose to contempt or shame by means of false statements or misrepresentation; to represent as blamable; to vilify.[CR][CR]Sir Edward rang twice to stress that he had no business relationship with the family other than his consultancy, but also to vouch for the fact that they were "splendid people" who should not be traduced. --Ian Jack, "Generous spirits, secretive souls," Independent, October 17, 1998[CR][CR]I sometimes wonder whether those who traduce today's television have any conception just how much is on offer to the growing number of us with multi-channel television. --Peter Bazalgette, "Golden Age? This is it," The Guardian, November 19, 2001[CR][CR]The only problem is that his corrective arguments tend to traduce rationalism as the exclusive preserve of wild-eyed eggheads who only ever spin webs of marvelously useless deduction. --Steven Poole, "Et cetera," The Guardian, June 30, 2001[CR][CR]Many of you, Our Leader is absolutely sure, were disgusted at the way Rupert has been traduced in the media. --A. N. Wilson, "Modern Britain, modern kitchens! New Labour Web site number 11," Daily Telegraph, March 3, 1998[CR][CR]Traduce derives from Latin traducere, "to lead across, to lead along, to display, to expose to ridicule," from trans-, "across, over" + ducere, "to lead." Synonyms: Calumniate; vilify; defame; slander. Find more at Thesaurus.com. happening or done after a meal. postprandial ?postprandial \post-PRAN-dee-uhl\, adjective: Happening or done after a meal.[CR][CR]A gourmand who zealously avoids all exercise as "seriously damaging to one's health," he had caviar for breakfast and was now having oysters for lunch, whetted with wine, as he fueled himself for a postprandial reading at the Montauk Club in Brooklyn. --Mel Gussow, "The Man Who Put Horace Rumpole on the Case," New York Times, April 12, 1995[CR][CR][W]hen I wake up in the morning, I can have my usual breakfast -- a slightly bizarre concoction of three kinds of cold cereal topped with grapes and a cup of decaf -- and then stagger back to bed for a postprandial snooze. --Sylvan Fox, "It's Less Hectic Staying Put In One Place," Newsday, April 3, 1994[CR][CR]Postprandial is from post- + prandial, from Latin prandium, "a late breakfast or lunch." an office or position that involves little work or responsibility. sinecure ?sinecure \SY-nih-kyur; SIN-ih-\, noun: An office or position that requires or involves little or no responsibility, work, or active service.[CR][CR]I was fortunate to receive the. . . offer, which in practical terms was a sinecure. --David Freeman, One of Us Julian Poe, a wealthy old Estonian, offers what looks like a sinecure: Bennett will live in comfort in Monte Carlo and pretend to be Poe, thus enabling Poe to fulfill his residency requirement in Monte Carlo while continuing to live in Provence without paying French taxes. --"Eat, Drink and Be Wary," New York Times, June 9, 1996[CR][CR]When they married, Pu Yi was, officially, employed as a gardener at the Peking Botanical Gardens. In fact this sinecure. . . only lasted three years, during which time he did very little actual gardening. --"Obituary: Li Shuxian," Independent, June 11, 1997[CR][CR]Sinecure is from Medieval Latin sine cura, "without care (of souls)," from Latin sine, "without" + cura, "care." Originally the term signified an ecclesiastical benefice without the care of souls. the highest point. apogee ?apogee \AP-uh-jee\, noun: 1. The point in the orbit of the moon or of an artificial satellite that is at the greatest distance from the center of the earth. 2. The farthest or highest point; culmination.[CR][CR]But in retrospect, this period would prove to be the apogee of O'Sullivan's career, although he always felt bigger and better things were on his way. --Edward L. Widmer, Young America: The Flowering of Democracy in New York City[CR][CR]How can we suppose that science has reached its apogee in the twentieth century? --John Maddox, What Remains To Be Discovered[CR][CR]Aurangzeb ended the family tradition of building architectural masterpieces that had reached its apogee when his father, Shah Jahan, built the world's most beautiful tomb, the Taj Mahal. --Anthony Read and David Fisher, The Proudest Day[CR][CR]Apogee is derived from Greek apogaion, from apogaios, "situated (far) away from the earth," from apo-, "away from" + gaia, "earth." indisputable; unquestionable. incontrovertible ?incontrovertible \in-kon-truh-VUR-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Too clear or certain to admit of dispute; indisputable; unquestionable.[CR][CR]It is in the nature of philosophical questions that they do not have final, incontrovertible answers, or, more exactly, that every answer raises new questions. --George Soros, Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism[CR][CR]And although the evidence was substantial, it was not incontrovertible. --Al Strachan, "Phantom Goal, part 2," Toronto Sun, May 23, 1999[CR][CR]Despite speculation based on ancient tales and ancient art, no incontrovertible evidence has been discovered of polio's existence before the nineteenth century, at least not in its epidemic form. --Sherwin B. Nuland, "A Summer Plague: Polio and Its Survivors," New Republic, October 16, 1995[CR][CR]Incontrovertible is in-, "not" + controvertible, which is derived from Latin controversia, "a dispute," from controvertere, "to turn against, to turn in the opposite direction, to dispute" from contro-, "against" + vertere, "to turn." It is related to controversy. something showy or superfluous. furbelow ?furbelow \FUR-buh-low\, noun: 1. A pleated or gathered flounce on a woman's garment; a ruffle. 2. Something showy or superfluous; a bit of showy ornamentation.[CR][CR]In a season of ruffles, frills and furbelows, simple cuts in neutral shades stand out. --"Designers Head for Neutral Territory," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 27, 1997[CR][CR]Gilt. Red velvet. Brocade. Flocked wallpaper. Swags, frills, furbelows and ornamentation beyond comprehension. We're talking rococo loco. --Liz Braun, "Time Flies When You're Having Fun," Ottawa Sun, April 3, 2000[CR][CR]It is a story that, for all its hyper-animatedness, all its flips and furbelows of style, is confusing and wearisome. --Christine Stansell, "Details, Details," New Republic, December 10, 2001[CR][CR]Patience is required to get past some of the director's more baroque cinematic touches, decorating the story's dark center with visual furbelows . . . and aural gimmicks. --Lisa Schwarzbaum, "Movies: The Evil That Men Do," Entertainment Weekly, October 23, 1998[CR][CR]Furbelow is perhaps an alteration of Provençal farbella. excessively sentimental. maudlin ?maudlin \MAWD-lin\, adjective: Tearfully or excessively sentimental.[CR][CR]The lonesome tones of Willie Nelson rise on the Texas air and roll off into the darkness, making the odd deer feel unaccountably maudlin and causing lone jackrabbits to be overcome by a sudden desire to sink a whiskey and cry into the empty glass. --John Connolly, "Irishman's Diary," Irish Times, September 6, 1997[CR][CR]He was a bad drunk and became maudlin and weepy and would often have to be carried home by his friends. --Barry Miles, Jack Kerouac King of the Beats: A Portrait[CR][CR]A film about blindness could easily get maudlin or, at the other extreme, cynically heartless. --Desson Howe, " 'Proof,' " Washington Post, June 5, 1992[CR][CR]Maudlin is an alteration of (Mary) Magdalene, who in paintings was often represented with eyes red and swollen from weeping. requiring immediate aid or action; also, demanding. exigent ?exigent \EK-suh-juhnt\, adjective: 1. Requiring immediate aid or action; pressing; critical. 2. Requiring much effort or expense; demanding; exacting.[CR][CR]Legislative sessions are long, constituents' demands are exigent, policy problems are increasingly complicated. --Anthony King, "Running Scared," The Atlantic, January 1997[CR][CR]An exception to the warrant rule was established when exigent circumstances required officials to act immediately. --Warren Richey, "Of merchant ships and crack-sellers' cars," Christian Science Monitor, May 20, 1999[CR][CR]It is true that the greatest modern novels ask more of us, and of themselves as well. But within their own less exigent terms, Roth's novels amount to an impressive achievement. --Michael Andre Bernstein, "The vivid fabrications of a great elegist," The New Republic, May 7, 2001[CR][CR]The purpose of the book is "to confirm the poet in a lonely and exigent task, which is all the more necessary in these times". --Patsy McGarry, "The mad monk of the mid-west," Irish Times, December 22, 2001[CR][CR]Exigent is derived from the present participle of Latin exigere, "to demand." to act or be counter to. contravene ?contravene \kon-truh-VEEN\, transitive verb: 1. To act or be counter to; to violate. 2. To oppose in argument; to contradict.[CR][CR]In 1620 most people considered the likelihood of reversing the seasons inside a building impossible, and many deemed it sacrilege, an attempt to contravene the natural order, to twist the configuration of the world established by God. --Tom Shachtman, Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold[CR][CR]Anorexics, for example, clearly contravene our evolutionary dictate to eat. --Jerry A. Coyne, "Of Vice and Men," The New Republic, April 3, 2000[CR][CR]Contravene comes from Late Latin contravenire, "to oppose," from Latin contra-, "against" + venire, "to come." reckless; rash. temerarious ?temerarious \tem-uh-RAIR-ee-us\, adjective: Recklessly or presumptuously daring; rash.[CR][CR]Becket's slayers insist that the king had indeed authorized or directed murder, an interpretation fortified by Henry's known enmity toward the temerarious priest for protesting the subordination of ecclesiastical to secular authority. --Bruce Fein, "Free speech or call to violence?" Washington Times, April 10, 2001[CR][CR]I have confessed myself a temerarious theologian, and in that passage from boyhood to manhood I ranged widely in my search for some permanently satisfying Truth. --H. G. Wells, The New Machiavelli[CR][CR]Temerarious comes from Latin temerarius, "rash," from temere, "rashly, heedlessly." a love potion. philter ?philter \FIL-tur\, noun: 1. A potion or charm supposed to cause the person taking it to fall in love. 2. A potion or charm believed to have magic power. transitive verb: To enchant or bewitch with or as if with a magic potion or charm.[CR][CR]Some things you can feel coming. You don't fall in love because you fall in love; you fall in love because of the need, desperate, to fall in love. When you feel that need, you have to watch your step; like having drunk a philter, the kind that makes you fall in love with the first thing you meet. It could be a duck-billed platypus. --Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum[CR][CR]Philter is derived from Greek philtron, from philein, "to love," from philos, "dear, loving." inclined to keep silent. reticent ?reticent \RET-ih-suhnt\, adjective: 1. Inclined to keep silent; reserved; uncommunicative. 2. Restrained or reserved in style. 3. Reluctant; unwilling.[CR][CR]His wispy eyebrows sit above eyes undimmed by more than forty years of serious scholarship; a tight-lipped smile suggests that there are many things he will not say about himself or his accomplishments. Indeed, he is almost painfully reticent about what most scholars now consider to be a monumental achievement in the field. --Marc K. Stengel, "The Diffusionists Have Landed," The Atlantic, January 2000[CR][CR]"Within a circle of intimate friends, he's a very sociable person," says Russell Banks, another novelist, who has known Auster since 1977. "Outside of that circle, he's fairly shy and reticent." --"Case of the Brooklyn Symbolist," New York Times, August 30, 1992[CR][CR]He would write to us every week when we were at boarding school. Our family relationships, it now strikes me, were created more by these intertwining letters than by conversation, for we all wrote avidly back and forth to each other but were reticent when we met. --Nigel Nicolson, Long Life[CR][CR]Reticent comes from the present participle of Latin reticere, "to keep silent," from re- + tacere, "to be silent." a proclamation; a pronouncement. pronunciamento ?pronunciamento \pro-nun-see-uh-MEN-toe\, noun: 1. A proclamation or manifesto; a formal announcement or declaration. 2. A pronouncement.[CR][CR]This was, then, not merely the official closing statement of a lost war, but the opening pronunciamento of an urgent campaign to maintain imperial control as well as social and political stability in a shattered nation. --John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II[CR][CR]The general secretary issued a pronunciamento, in which traditional clotted cliches somehow turned into a kind of poetry, both majestic and absurd. --Peter Simple, "Comment: Lost," Daily Telegraph, September 10, 1999[CR][CR]It was said of her, by a man given to such pronunciamentos, that " in conversation she had more wit than any other person, male or female." --Jonathan Yardley, "Ladies of the Grand Tour," Washington Post, December 16, 2001[CR][CR]Pronunciamento comes from Spanish pronunciamiento, from pronunciar, "to pronounce," from Latin pronuntiare, from pro-, "forth" + nuntiare, "to announce," from nuntius, "messenger." characterized by a ready flow of speech. voluble ?voluble \VOL-yuh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Characterized by a ready flow of speech. 2. Easily rolling or turning; rotating. 3. (Botany) Having the power or habit of turning or twining.[CR][CR]Rostow was voluble, exuberant and full of good and sometimes foolish ideas. --Kai Bird, The Color of Truth[CR][CR]Two glasses of wine made him voluble and three made him bellicose, sentimental and sometimes slurred. --"How Nixon turned into Tricky Dicky," Daily Telegraph, March 9, 1999[CR][CR]He listened patiently and with quiet amusement to my enthusiasm. Indeed, this turned out to be our pattern: I, more ignorant but more voluble, would babble on, while he would offer an occasional objection or refinement. --Phillip Lopate, Totally, Tenderly, Tragically[CR][CR]Her tongue, so voluble and kind, It always runs before her mind. --Matthew Prior, "Truth and Falsehood"[CR][CR]Voluble derives from Latin volubilis, "revolving, rolling, fluent," from volvere, "to roll." characterized by extensive reading or knowledge. erudite ?erudite \AIR-yuh-dyt; -uh-dyt\, adjective: Characterized by extensive reading or knowledge; learned.[CR][CR]In front of imposing edifices like the Topkapi Palace or Hagia Sophia are guides displaying Government-issued licenses. Many of these guides are erudite historians who have quit low-paying jobs as university professors and now offer private tours. --"What's Doing in Istanbul," New York Times, February 23, 1997[CR][CR]The works of Baudrillard, Deleuze, Guattari and Virilio are filled with seemingly erudite references to relativity, quantum mechanics, chaos theory, etc. --Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont, Fashionable Nonsense[CR][CR]Erudite comes from Latin eruditus, from e-, "out of, from" + rudis, "rough, untaught," which is also the source of English rude. Hence one who is erudite has been brought out of a rough, untaught, rude state. occurring daily; also, ordinary. quotidian ?quotidian \kwoh-TID-ee-uhn\, adjective: 1. Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian fever. 2. Of an everyday character; ordinary; commonplace.[CR][CR]Erasmus thought More's career as a lawyer was a waste of a fine mind, but it was precisely the human insights More derived from his life in the quotidian world that gave him a moral depth Erasmus lacked. --"More man than saint," Irish Times, April 4, 1998[CR][CR]She also had a sense of fun that was often drummed out under the dull, quotidian beats of suburban life. --Meg Wolitzer, Surrender, Dorothy[CR][CR]Quotidian is from Latin quotidianus, from quotidie, "daily," from quotus, "how many, as many, so many" + dies, "day." to revel; to carouse. roister ?roister \ROY-stur\, intransitive verb: 1. To engage in boisterous merrymaking; to revel; to carouse. 2. To bluster; to swagger.[CR][CR]For some people, she was the archetype of the roistering New Russians, with their love of partying, fast cars and foreign holidays. --Alan Philps, "Brezhnev's outrageous daughter dies at 69," Daily Telegraph, July 2, 1998[CR][CR]Back in our expatriate days, we roistering provincials, slap-happy to be in Paris, drunk on the beauty of our surroundings, were fearful of retiring to our Left Bank hotel rooms lest we wake up back home, retrieved by parents who would remind us of how much they had invested in our educations, and how it was time for us to put our shoulders to the wheel. --Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version[CR][CR]. . . the bullying, lying, lily-livered, lecherous, roistering, brandy-swigging, battle-fleeing, toad-eating Harry Paget Flashman, whose charming roguery has won him a worldwide following. --Michael Browning, "'Flashman' Trio Fine Fun, Leaves Us Shouting 'More!'" Palm Beach Post, September 24, 2000[CR][CR]Roister is probably from Middle French rustre, "a boor, a clown; clownish," from Latin rusticus, "rustic," from rus, "country." in a series; one after another. seriatim ?seriatim \sir-ee-AY-tim; -AT-im\, adverb: In a series; one after another.[CR][CR]Mr. and Mrs. Kenwigs thanked every lady and gentleman, seriatim, for the favour of their company. --Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickelby[CR][CR]Two days from the opening of the impeachment debate, gangs of television crews moved through mostly deserted corridors, doling out their 15 minutes of fame seriatim as individual lawmakers stepped up to batteries of microphones. --New York Times, December 16, 1998[CR][CR]In his company one found oneself supposing, on hearing Walters handle German and Spanish, French and Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian, that his mind traveled from any one language to any other seriatim, because his mind worked that way, taking it all in. --William F. Buckley Jr., "Dick Walters, R.I.P.," National Review, February 15, 2002[CR][CR]Seriatim derives from the Latin series, meaning "row, chain," and is formed on the same model as verbatim ("word for word") and literatim ("letter for letter"). debris. detritus ?detritus \dih-TRY-tuhs\, noun; plural detritus: 1. Loose material that is worn away from rocks. 2. Hence, any fragments separated from the body to which they belonged; any product of disintegration; debris.[CR][CR]The water was smooth and brown, with detritus swirling in the eddies from the increasing current. --Gordon Chaplin, Dark Wind: A Survivor's Tale of Love and Loss[CR][CR]If they [flying cars] were easy to produce, we'd be walking around wearing helmets to protect us from the detritus of flying car crashes. --Gail Collins, "Grounded for 2000," New York Times, December 7, 1999[CR][CR]The loose detritus of thought, washed down to us through long ages. --H. Rogers, Essays[CR][CR]Detritus derives from the past participle of Latin deterere, "to rub away, to wear out," from de-, "from" + terere, "to rub." It is related to detriment, at root "a rubbing away, a wearing away," hence "damage, harm." a person devoted to luxury and pleasure. sybarite ?sybarite \SIB-uh-ryt\, noun: A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.[CR][CR]This worldly cleric, nicknamed "the sybarite of Saumane", friend of Voltaire and a social luminary in Paris and Avignon, lived a high old life within the medieval fortifications of his chateau in Provence. --"The dubious charms of Citizen Sade," Irish Times, April 17, 1999[CR][CR]Beneath the prudish disapproval that colored Upton Sinclair's assessment of California's wealthy sybarites was an amused astonishment at how hard they worked at having fun, at how deadly serious they were about pleasure. --Richard White, "What California taught America," The New Republic, December 1, 1997[CR][CR]And when the final blessing of a perfect French cook appeared to make our domestic picture complete, we became utter sybarites, frank worshippers of the splendors of the French cuisine. --Samuel Chamberlain, Clémentine in the Kitchen[CR][CR]Sybarite is derived from Greek Sybarites, from Sybaris, an ancient Greek city noted for the luxurious, pleasure-seeking habits of many of its inhabitants. very talkative. loquacious ?loquacious \loh-KWAY-shuhs\, adjective: 1. Very talkative. 2. Full of excessive talk; wordy.[CR][CR]The meeting went on for hours, accommodating loquacious bores who were each allowed their say. --Andrew Sullivan, "Gay Life, Gay Death," The New Republic, December 17, 1990[CR][CR]In drawing a sharp contrast with the loquacious Ginsburg, her new lawyers appeared for just a few moments and said virtually nothing to reporters before retreating into the building. --Peter Baker, "Lewinsky Replaces Ginsburg," Washington Post, June 3, 1998[CR][CR]Loquacious comes from Latin loquax, "talkative," from loqui, "to speak." a novice. tyro ?tyro \TY-roh\, noun: A beginner in learning; a novice.[CR][CR]It's difficult to imagine a tyro publishing a book on medical procedures or economic theory. --Philip Zaleski, "God Help the Spiritual Writer," New York Times, January 10, 1999[CR][CR]He was a sensitive, fine soul alert to the pleasures of being green, a tyro, an amateur, unwilling to close his mind before it had been tempted. --Paul West, Sporting With Amaryllis[CR][CR]And, though we were mere tyros, beginners, utterly insignificant, he was invariably as kind and considerate and thoughtful, and as lavish in the gift of his time, as though he had nothing else to do. --Leonard Warren, Joseph Leidy: The Last Man Who Knew Everything[CR][CR]Tyro is from Latin tiro, "a young soldier, a recruit," hence "a beginner, a learner." healthful. salubrious ?salubrious \suh-LOO-bree-us\, adjective: Favorable to health; promoting health; healthful.[CR][CR]A physician warned him his health was precarious, so Montague returned to the United States, shelved his legal ambitions and searched for a salubrious climate where he might try farming. --"Teeing Off Into the Past At Oakhurst," New York Times, May 2, 1999[CR][CR]For years, her mother has maintained that the sea air has a salubrious effect on both her spirits and her vocal cords. --Anita Shreve, Fortune's Rocks[CR][CR]Uptown, however, the tanners' less salubrious quarter is notorious for its stench. --"Byzantium," Toronto Star, February 7, 1999[CR][CR]Salubrious is from Latin salubris, "healthful," from salus, "health." fleeting. evanescent ?evanescent \ev-uh-NES-unt\, adjective: Liable to vanish or pass away like vapor; fleeting.[CR][CR]The Pen which gives. . . permanence to the evanescent thought of a moment. --Horace Smith, Tin Trumpet[CR][CR]Every tornado is a little different, and they are all capricious, evanescent and hard to get a fix on. --"Oklahoma Tornado Offers Hints of How a Killer Storm Is Born," New York Times, May 11, 1999[CR][CR]The accidentally famous. . . may write books, appear on talk shows, and, in so doing, attract even greater public attention. This type of celebrity status, of course, is brittle and evanescent. --Lawrence M. Friedman, The Horizontal Society[CR][CR]Evanescent is from Latin evanescere, "to vanish," from e-, "from, out of" + vanescere, "to disappear," from vanus, "empty." impossible to avoid or evade. ineluctable ?ineluctable \in-ih-LUCK-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Impossible to avoid or evade; inevitable.[CR][CR]. . . ineluctable as gravity. --Marilynne Robinson, The Death of Adam[CR][CR]California's vision of itself as a car culture grew out of the impracticality of mass transit in reaching most of its scenic wonders, the innate restlessness of its inhabitants and the ineluctable attraction of an open road. --"From the Land of Private Freeways Comes Car Culture Shock," New York Times, October 16, 1997[CR][CR]Linnaeus' classification scheme became popular not because it captured some ineluctable truth about nature. Rather, by the botanist's own admission, the system divided species based more on intuition than science, much as an art historian might group paintings into schools. --"Cultivating a New Tree," Los Angeles Times, September 25, 1999[CR][CR]Ineluctable is from Latin ineluctabilis, from in-, "not" + eluctari, "to struggle out of, to get free from," from ex-, e-, "out of" + luctari, "to struggle." 'Word Group Five - Definitions to Words [PA] prolix wordy. ?prolix \pro-LIKS; PRO-liks\, adjective: 1. Extending to a great length; unnecessarily long; wordy. 2. Tending to speak or write at excessive length.[CR][CR]It was a cumbersome book, widely criticized for being prolix in style and maddeningly circular in argument. --Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect," The Atlantic, May 2001[CR][CR]Montaigne is a little too prolix in his determination to tell us almost everything that happens as he fishes his way across the country, and he gives us a few too many accounts of the people he meets and of their repetitiously gloomy opinions. --Adam Hochschild, "Deep Wigglers of the Volga," New York Times, June 28, 1998[CR][CR]Greenspan, on the other hand, is given to prolix comments whose sentences are hung like Christmas trees with dependent clauses. --John M. Berry, "Greenspan: A Man Aware of Feasibility," Washington Post, June 14, 1987[CR][CR]Prolix is derived from Latin prolixus, "poured forth, overflowing, extended, long," from pro-, "forward" + liquere, "to be fluid." cavalcade a procession. ?cavalcade \kav-uhl-KAYD; KAV-uhl-kayd\, noun: 1. A procession of riders or horse-drawn carriages. 2. Any procession. 3. A sequence; a series.[CR][CR]Behind him he sensed the progress of the cavalcade as one by one the carriages wheeled off the Dublin road. --Stella Tillyard, Citizen Lord: The Life of Edward Fitzgerald, Irish Revolutionary[CR][CR]Last week, Seoul pleaded for immediate financial assistance from the United States and Japan, following a cavalcade of bad economic news. --Steven Butler and Jack Egan, "No magic won for Korea," U.S. News, December 22, 1997[CR][CR]Cavalcade derives from Old Italian cavalcata, from cavalcare, "to go on horseback," from Late Latin caballicare, from Latin caballus, "horse." celerity quickness; swiftness. ?celerity \suh-LAIR-uh-tee\, noun: Rapidity of motion or action; quickness; swiftness.[CR][CR]Though not in the best of physical form, he was capable of moving with celerity. --Malachy McCourt, A Monk Swimming: A Memoir[CR][CR]Furthermore, as is well known, computer technology grows obsolete with amazing celerity. --Alan S. Blinder and Richard E. Quandt, "The Computer and the Economy," The Atlantic, December 1997[CR][CR]The lightning celerity of his thought processes took you on a kind of helter-skelter ride of surreal non-sequiturs, sudden accesses of emotion and ribald asides, made all the more bizarre for being uttered in those honeyed tones by the impeccably elegant gent before you. --"A life full of frolics," The Guardian, May 19, 2001[CR][CR]Celerity is from Latin celeritas, from celer, "swift." It is related to accelerate. obloquy ill repute. ?obloquy \OB-luh-kwee\, noun: 1. Strongly condemnatory or abusive language or utterance. 2. The condition of disgrace suffered as a result of public blame, abuse, or condemnation; ill repute.[CR][CR]There he remained, weeping indignantly at her stream of obloquy, bitterly ashamed of his tears, until it was time for supper. --Jonathan Keates, Stendhal[CR][CR]Once installed in office he earned near-universal obloquy by pushing through the biggest tax increase in the state's history. --Dan Seligman, "The Taxophiliacs," Forbes, February 5, 2001[CR][CR]For Britain to have made a last imperial stand on the shores of the South China Sea would have risked local calamity and international obloquy. --Christopher Patten, East and West[CR][CR]Obloquy derives from Latin obloqui, "to speak against," from ob-, "against" + loqui, "to speak." extol to praise. ?extol \ik-STOHL\, transitive verb: To praise highly; to glorify; to exalt.[CR][CR]The processes of nature, which most writers extol as symbols of renewal and eternal life, were always seen darkly by Kerouac. --Ellis Amburn, Subterranean Kerouac: The Hidden Life of Jack Kerouac[CR][CR]Let your deeds themselves praise you, for here I leave them in all their glory, lacking words to extol them. --Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha[CR][CR]Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free, How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee? --Arthur Christopher Benson, Song from Pomp and Circumstance by Sir Edward Elgar[CR][CR]Extol derives from Latin extollere, "to lift up, praise," from ex-, "up from" + tollere, "to lift up, elevate." frisson a brief moment of intense excitement. ?frisson \free-SOHN\, noun: A moment of intense excitement; a shudder; an emotional thrill.[CR][CR]When we think a story hasn't been invented, there's an extra frisson in reading it. --"Too true," Independent, April 12, 1998[CR][CR]As every parent knows, children have a love-hate relationship with stories about monsters. They love the frisson of hearing about such terrifying creatures as the Cyclops -- but hate to think about what they might do if they bumped into one. --"Strange but true: One in the eye for all those Homer-phobes," Daily Telegraph, June 21, 1998[CR][CR]When we stopped in traffic at the Plaza de la Cibeles on the Paseo del Prado, where a grandiose 18th-century statue of the goddess of fertility poised on a chariot seemed to be waiting for the light to change, a little frisson of pleasure jolted through me, because this part of Madrid reminded me of Paris. --"Counting Pesetas in Madrid," New York Times, March 17, 1996[CR][CR]Frisson comes from the French, from Old French friçon, "a trembling," ultimately from Latin frigere, "to be cold." malediction a curse. ?malediction \mal-uh-DIK-shun\, noun: A curse or execration.[CR][CR]There Justice Minister Bola Ige, confronted with the general incivility of local police, placed a malediction on the cads. Said the Hon. Bola Ige, "I pray that God will make big holes in their pockets." --"Sic Semper Tyrannis! Oppressors Face People's Justice," American Spectator, May 1, 2001[CR][CR]A conspiracy of infamy so black that, when it is finally exposed, its principals shall be forever deserving of the maledictions of all honest men. --Joseph McCarthy, quoted in Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, by Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes[CR][CR]Malediction comes from Latin maledictio, from maledicere, "to speak ill, to abuse," from Latin male, "badly" + dicere, "to speak, to say." lenity the state or quality of being lenient. ?lenity \LEN-uh-tee\, noun: The state or quality of being lenient; mildness; gentleness of treatment; leniency.[CR][CR]The criminal suspect is pressured by remorse or hope of lenity or sheer despair to fess up. --Richard A. Posner, "Let Them Talk," The New Republic, August 21, 2000[CR][CR]In this context, severity is justice, lenity injustice. --Dr Anthony Daniels, "It's no way to treat a lunatic," Sunday Telegraph, December 13, 1998[CR][CR]. . . an excessive lenity toward criminals, which encourages crime. --Richard A. Posner, "The Moral Minority," New York Times, December 19, 1999[CR][CR]And what makes robbers bold but too much lenity? --William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part III[CR][CR]Lenity comes from Latin lenitas, from lenis, "soft, mild." unctuous marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness. ?unctuous \UNGK-choo-us\, adjective: 1. Of the nature or quality of an unguent or ointment; fatty; oily; greasy. 2. Having a smooth, greasy feel, as certain minerals. 3. Insincerely or excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech; marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness.[CR][CR]A warmed, crusty French roll arrives split, lightly smeared with unctuous chopped liver. --John Kessler, "Meals To Go: Break from the routine with Hong," Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 22, 1998[CR][CR]She recalled being offended by the "phoniness" that stemmed from the contradiction between her mother's charming, even unctuous public manner and her anger in private. --Daniel Horowitz, Betty Friedan And the Making of 'The Feminine Mystique'[CR][CR]He approached Sean wearing a smile so unctuous it seemed about to slide right off his face. --Naeem Murr, The Boy[CR][CR]Unctuous is from Medieval Latin unctuosus, from Latin unctus, "anointed, besmeared, greasy," past participle of unguere, "to anoint, to besmear." expatiate to speak or write at length. ?expatiate \ek-SPAY-shee-ayt\, intransitive verb: 1. To speak or write at length or in considerable detail. 2. To move about freely; to wander.[CR][CR]He had told her all he had been asked to tell--or all he meant to tell: at any rate he had been given abundant opportunity to expatiate upon a young man's darling subject--himself. --Henry Blake Fuller, Bertram Cope's Year[CR][CR]At the midday meal on fair day, a large one (meat loaf, boiled potato, broccoli), Mrs. Lucas, married to the man with the earache, expatiates on the difficulties of caring for a parakeet her daughter has unloaded upon her and which, let out of its cage for an airing, has escaped through the door suddenly opened by Mr. Lucas. --William H. Pritchard, Updike: America's Man of Letters[CR][CR]His relationship with his family was for many years an unhappy one, and he does not care to expatiate upon it. --Barbara La Fontaine, "Triple Threat On, Off And Off-Off Broadway," New York Times, February 25, 1968[CR][CR]Expatiate is from Latin expatiari, "to walk or go far and wide," from ex-, "out" + spatiari, "to walk about," from spatium, "space; an open space, a place for walking in." nescience lack of knowledge or awareness. ?nescience \NESH-uhn(t)s; NESH-ee-uhn(t)s\, noun: Lack of knowledge or awareness; ignorance.[CR][CR]The ancients understood that too much knowledge could actually impede human functioning -- this at a time when the encroachments on global nescience were comparatively few. --Cullen Murphy, "DNA Fatigue," The Atlantic, November 1997[CR][CR]He fought on our behalf in the war that finally matters: against nescience, against inadvertence, against the supposition that anything is anything else. --Hugh Kenner, "On the Centenary of James Joyce," New York Times, January 31, 1982[CR][CR]The notion has taken hold that every barometric fluctuation must demonstrate climate change. This anecdotal case for global warming is mostly nonsense, driven by nescience of a basic point, from statistics and probability, that the weather is always weird somewhere. --Gregg Easterbrook "Warming Up," The New Republic, November 8, 1999[CR][CR]Nescience is from Latin nescire, "not to know," from ne-, "not" + scire, "to know." It is related to science. Nescient is the adjective form. desideratum something desired. ?desideratum \dih-sid-uh-RAY-tum; -RAH-\, noun; plural desiderata: Something desired or considered necessary.[CR][CR]No one in Berkeley -- at least, no one I consorted with -- thought art was for sissies, or that a pensionable job was the highest desideratum. --John Banville, "Just a dream some of us had," Irish Times, August 24, 1998[CR][CR]Immense wealth, and its lavish expenditure, fill the great house with all that can please the eye, or tempt the taste. Here, appetite, not food, is the great desideratum. --Frederick Douglass, My Bondage, My Freedom[CR][CR]A technical dictionary . . . is one of the desiderata in anatomy. --Alexander Monro, Essay on Comparative Anatomy[CR][CR]Desideratum is from Latin desideratum, "a thing desired," from desiderare, "to desire." indomitable incapable of being subdued or overcome. ?indomitable \in-DOM-ih-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Incapable of being subdued or overcome; unconquerable.[CR][CR]Now, late in his career, when he could no longer pull off all of the individual moves that had once set him apart, it had become increasingly obvious that what had distinguished him was his indomitable will, his refusal to let either opposing players or the passage of time affect his need to win. --David Halberstam, Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made[CR][CR]Because of his strength and toughness as well as his constant attention to the welfare of his army, his soldiers affectionately called him Old Hickory. Hickory was as tough a substance as they knew, and General Andrew Jackson was, in their minds, indomitable. --Robert V. Remini, The Battle of New Orleans[CR][CR]Indomitable is from Latin indomitabilis, from in-, "not" + domitare, from domare, "to tame." raconteur one who excels in telling stories and anecdotes. ?raconteur \rack-on-TUR\, noun: One who excels in telling stories and anecdotes.[CR][CR]An excellent raconteur, he had a varied stock of stories and enjoyed the joke just as much when it was on himself as he did when it was on some one else. --"Rockefeller Wit Endeared Him to Friends; He Relished Quip by Will Rogers About Him," New York Times, May 24, 1937[CR][CR]Korda's tone of voice is affectionate and urbane, his manner that of the accomplished raconteur who never spoils the story with a heavy-handed moral, relying for his effect on the telling anecdote and the apt phrase. --Lewis Lapham, "Adventures in the Book Trade," New York Times, May 23, 1999[CR][CR]He has an excellent raconteur's mind, memory, vocabulary and tongue, brings in a story just at the right time, in the right manner, serves his anecdotes perfectly either piping hot or ice-cold as tragedies. --Anatole Pohorilenko and James Crump, When We Were Three[CR][CR]Raconteur is from French, from raconter, "to relate, to tell, to narrate," from Old French, from re- + aconter, "to count up, to reckon." sunder to break apart. ?sunder \SUN-dur\, transitive verb: To break apart; to separate; to divide; to sever. intransitive verb: To become parted, disunited, or severed.[CR][CR]As the issue of slavery threatened to sunder the United States, President Abraham Lincoln, using biblical language, warned that "a house divided against itself cannot stand." --Morris B. Abraham, "Using the bully pulpit at the United Nations," Minneapolis Star Tribune, January 20, 1997[CR][CR]Momentous business was at hand, as the last colonial ties with England were about to be sundered, and Madison was compelled to take his stand for both a separation from the mother country and the erection of a republican form of government. --Robert A. Rutland, James Madison and the Search for Nationhood[CR][CR]Their romance was sundered by World War II, and she scarcely saw Tito again until 1953. --"Tribute: For 40 Years Prima Ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn Created a Soaring Legend of Grace and Beauty," People, March 11, 1991[CR][CR]Sunder is from Old English sundrian. peccadillo a slight offense; a petty fault. ?peccadillo \peck-uh-DIL-oh\, noun: A slight offense; a petty fault.[CR][CR]No peccadillo is too trivial: we learn that the mogul once blew his top because his laundry came back starched (" 'Fluff and fold!' he screamed"). --Eric P. Nash, "High Concept," New York Times, May 10, 1998[CR][CR]And besides, "what do they say? 'Don't judge lest you be judged.' Everybody has their peccadilloes." -- "Tyson has a friend in his corner," Irish Times, October 21,1999[CR][CR]Child of a dominant mother, victim of a guilt-ridden conscience, [St. Augustine] wrote bewilderingly haunted 'Confessions,' in which infantile peccadilloes like stealing apples and adolescent fumblings with instinctive sexuality are bewailed with all the anguish of a frustrated perfectionist. --Geoffrey Parker, "True Believers," New York Times, June 29, 1997[CR][CR]Peccadillo comes from Spanish pecadillo, "little sin," diminutive of pecado, "sin," from Latin peccatum, from peccare, "to make a mistake, to err, to sin." It is related to impeccable, "without flaw or fault." extricate to free or release from a difficulty or entanglement. ?extricate \EK-struh-kayt\, transitive verb: To free or release from a difficulty or entanglement; to get free; to disengage.[CR][CR]Sean introduced himself and then extricated his hand from Ronan's persistent grasp in order to show him the photo. --Naeem Murr, The Boy[CR][CR]Ultimately they extricated Ned by lifting up the whole table-and-chair structure, thus allowing him to fall out onto the floor. --Joan L. Richards, Angles of Reflection: Logic and a Mother's Love[CR][CR]I knelt down, either out of weakness or out of gratitude to a god who had extricated me from yet another predicament. --Christa Wolf, Medea: A Modern Retelling[CR][CR]Extricate comes from Latin extricare, "to disentangle, to extricate," from ex-, "out" + tricae, "trifles, impediments, perplexities." aspersion a damaging or derogatory remark. ?aspersion \uh-SPUR-zhuhn; -shuhn\, noun: 1. A damaging or derogatory remark; slander. 2. The act of defaming or slandering. 3. A sprinkling with water, especially in religious ceremonies.[CR][CR]Orley had once been forced to resign from a local men's club for casting aspersions on the character of another member's wife. --Thomas A. Underwood, Allen Tate: Orphan of the South[CR][CR]Its meetings were fiercely argumentative; members seemed to love nothing better than to cast aspersions on each other's intellect and class loyalty. --Glenn Frankel, Rivonia's Children[CR][CR]Aspersion is from Latin aspersio, from aspergere, from ad- + spargere, "to scatter, to sprinkle, to strew." levity frivolity. ?levity \LEV-uh-tee\, noun: 1. Lightness of manner or speech, especially when inappropriate or excessive; frivolity. 2. Lack of steadiness or constancy; changeableness.[CR][CR]They sat there in their formal bargeman's rig . . . looking solemn: they were part of a ceremony, and levity, winking, whispering, smiling, had no place in it. --Patrick O'Brian, The Hundred Days[CR][CR]I must say that if the doctor was indulging in levity at my expense, it is a levity I find in the worst possible taste. --Alfred Alcorn, Murder in the Museum of Man[CR][CR]Levity is from Latin levitas, from levis, "light." mellifluous flowing sweetly or smoothly. ?mellifluous \muh-LIF-loo-us\, adjective: Flowing as with honey; flowing sweetly or smoothly; as, a mellifluous voice.[CR][CR]The balladeer whose mellifluous voice serenaded two generations of lovers. --Margo Jefferson, "Unforgettable," New York Times, December 26, 1999[CR][CR]The tones were high-sounding, mellifluous, as if the speaker was reading from a book of old English verse while holding back any trace of sentiment or emotion. --Ken Gormley, Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation[CR][CR]I picked up more mellifluous words when a family friend came over to teach me some Chilean music on my guitar. --Edward Hower, "No Frogs Allowed," New York Times, January 30, 2000[CR][CR]Mellifluous comes from Latin mellifluus, from mel, "honey" + fluus, "flowing," from fluere, "to flow." Synonyms: canorous, dulcet, melodious, sweet. Find more at Thesaurus.com. logorrhea excessive talkativeness. ?logorrhea \law-guh-REE-uh\, noun: Excessive talkativeness or wordiness.[CR][CR]By his own measure, he is a man of many contradictions, beginning with the fact that he is famous as a listener but suffers from "a touch of logorrhea." He is so voluble that one wonders how his subjects get a word in edgewise. --Mel Gussow, "Listener, Talker, Now Literary Lion: It's Official." New York Times, June 17, 1997[CR][CR]It's also not good if your date has logorrhea. --Monte Williams, "8 Minutes in the Life of a Jewish Single: Not Attracted? Next!" New York Times, March 5, 2000[CR][CR]Mr. King, who possesses an enviable superabundance of imagination, suffers from a less enviable logorrhea. --Michele Slung, "Scare Tactics." New York Times, May 10, 1981[CR][CR]Logorrhea is derived from Greek logos, "word" + rhein, "to flow." arrogate to claim or seize without right or justification. ?arrogate \AIR-uh-gayt\, transitive verb: 1. To claim or seize without right or justification; to appropriate. 2. To claim on behalf of another; to ascribe.[CR][CR]What's certain is that another American President has arrogated to himself the prerogative of dispatching U.S. military personnel on an overseas combat mission, disregarding the constitutional mandate that only Congress may declare war. --"Imposing 'democracy' in Haiti," The Progressive, November 1, 1994[CR][CR]A measure to abolish or radically restrict the ability of ministers to arrogate powers to themselves would be a necessary adjunct to the list of proposals on "open government/parliament". --Mike Marqusee, "Stumped for success," New Statesman & Society, January 19, 1996[CR][CR]The most sinister dimension of this form of 'terror' was that it became an intrinsic component of Fascist and Nazi governance, executed at the behest of, and in complete subservience to, the ruling political party of the land -- which had arrogated to itself complete, total control of the country and its people. --Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism[CR][CR]Arrogate comes from Latin adrogare, "to take to oneself, to claim," from ad-, "towards" + rogare, "to ask." forlorn sad and lonely because deserted, abandoned, or lost. ?forlorn \fur-LORN; for-\, adjective: 1. Sad and lonely because deserted, abandoned, or lost. 2. Bereft; forsaken. 3. Wretched or pitiful in appearance or condition. 4. Almost hopeless; desperate.[CR][CR]Henry had felt guilty at abandoning his sister; he had married not once but twice, leaving Rose forlorn. --Anita Brookner, Visitors[CR][CR]In these forlorn regions of unknowable dreary space, this reservoir of frost and snow, where firm fields of ice, the accumulation of centuries of winters, glazed in Alpine heights above heights, surround the pole, and concentre the multiplied rigours of extreme cold. --Francis Spufford, I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination[CR][CR]Bloch remembers that Stephen was a member of the Milk Squad, comprised of children who were considered to need extra nutrition, and early photographs do show him as one of the smaller boys, in the front row, looking forlorn. --Meryle Secrest, Stephen Sondheim: A Life[CR][CR]Forlorn comes from Old English forleosan, "to abandon," from for- + leosan, "to lose." comport to behave (oneself) in a particular manner. ?comport \kum-PORT\, transitive verb: To conduct or behave (oneself) in a particular manner. intransitive verb: To be fitting; to accord; to agree -- usually followed by 'with'.[CR][CR]Considered friendly and funny in private, the queen has a formal, remote air in public that some people attribute to shyness and others say is a reflection of her belief that, as monarch, she should comport herself with dignity and restraint. --Sarah Lyall, "Tradition and Personality Keep Elizabeth Far From Her Subjects," New York Times, September 5, 1997[CR][CR]Her aides comport themselves like members of a cult, their faces a jittery mix of adoration and fear. --Maureen Dowd, "Siamese Senators," New York Times, May 26, 1999[CR][CR]It comports with the clear meaning of the U.S. Constitution. --"Making War the Legal Way," Denver Rocky Mountain News, March 26, 1998[CR][CR]Fairchild says he decides cases "to comport with previous law and also with justice." --Cary Segall, "Fairchild Keeps on Judgin'," Wisconsin State Journal, August 1, 1999[CR][CR]Comport comes from Medieval French comporter, "to conduct," from Latin comportare, "to carry, to bring together," from com-, "with, together" + portare, "to carry." farrago an assortment; a medley. ?farrago \fuh-RAH-go; fuh-RAY-go\, noun; plural farragoes: A confused mixture; an assortment; a medley.[CR][CR]Ivan Illich writes "a farrago of sub-Marxist cliches, false analogies, non sequiturs, false or bent facts and weird prophesies." --"The Paul Johnson Enemies List," New York Times, September 18, 1977[CR][CR]Roy Hattersley will upset much of Scotland by calling Walter Scott's lvanhoe "a farrago of historical nonsense combined with maudlin romance." --"Literary classics panned by critics," Independent, January 18, 1999[CR][CR]From the moment the story of the Countess of Wessex and the Sheikh of Wapping broke, there has been a farrago of rumour, speculation and fantasy of which virtually every newspaper should be ashamed. --Roy Greenslade, "A sting in the tale," The Guardian, April 9, 2001[CR][CR]Farrago comes from the Latin farrago, "a mixed fodder for cattle," hence "a medley, a hodgepodge," from far, a sort of grain. ratiocination the process of reasoning. ?ratiocination \rash-ee-ah-suh-NAY-shun; rash-ee-oh-\, noun: The process of reasoning.[CR][CR]For all their vaunted powers of ratiocination, grand masters of chess tend to be a skittery lot. --"People," Time, October 26, 1987[CR][CR]The adventures of Sherlock Holmes proved so popular that it became a given that mystery tales should include a sleuth who investigates a murder or other crime, and by virtue of intelligence, ratiocination and perseverance solves a case that initially seemed unsolvable. --Maxim Jakubowski, "A beginner's guide to crime fiction," The Guardian, October 29, 1999[CR][CR]There is no question that Joyce and Nabokov. . . brilliantly explored and expanded the limits of language and the structure of novels, yet both were led irresistibly and obsessively to cap their careers with those cold and lifeless masterpieces, "Finnegans Wake" and "Ada," more to be deciphered than read by a handful of scholars whose pleasure is strictly ratiocination. --"How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love 'Barry Lyndon,' " New York Times, January 11, 1976[CR][CR]Ratiocination is from Latin rationcinatio, from ratiocinari, "to compute, to calculate, to reason," from ratio, "reckoning, calculation, reason," from reri, "to reckon, to think." varicolored having a variety of colors. ?varicolored \VER-ih-kuh-lurd\, adjective: Having a variety of colors; of various colors.[CR][CR]Where a bottleneck of sky showed between the hills, dark and light clouds lay in alternating layers like varicolored liquid that would not mix. --William Gay, The Long Home[CR][CR]Along with wild hogs, cattle, horses, and dogs, the varicolored wild African jungle fowl was domesticated early in our distant ancestors' spread around the globe. --Buff Orpingtons, "Save the chickens!" Mother Earth News, December 10, 1996[CR][CR]Varicolored is from vari- (from Latin varius, "various, diversified") + colored (from Latin color, "color, tint, hue.") doula a woman who assists in childbirth. ?doula \DOO-luh\, noun: A woman who assists during childbirth labor and provides support to the mother, her child and the family after childbirth.[CR][CR]Chris Morley launched Tender Care Doula Service in Valencia, California, seven years ago to provide nonmedical postpartum care workers (or doulas) to frazzled new moms. --Roy Huffman, "Healthy returns," Entrepreneur Magazine, February 1, 1996[CR][CR]Unlike midwives, who deliver babies and are licensed to perform medical tasks, labor doulas provide emotional and physical support to the laboring parents. --Stephen L. Richmond, "One Labor-Intensive Job," Time, March 12, 2001[CR][CR]Doula derives from Greek doula, "servant-woman, slave," akin to hierodule. nonagenarian someone whose age is in the nineties. ?nonagenarian \non-uh-juh-NAIR-ee-uhn; no-nuh-\, noun: A ninety year old person; someone whose age is in the nineties.[CR][CR]There seemed to be relatively few octogenarians and nonagenarians alive in the early 1930s. Contrast that with my current practice, in which I see a great number of patients in their eighties and nineties. --Stephen L. Richmond, "Tales from the Death Certificate," Physician Assistant, January 1999[CR][CR]Good health is essential, of course--a gift that none of these nonagenarians, having outlived friends and loved ones, takes for granted. --Roy Huffman, "Working Past 90," Fortune, November 13, 2000[CR][CR]Nonagenarian derives from Latin nonagenarius, "containing or consisting of ninety," from nonageni-, "ninety each", ultimately from novem, "nine," as in November, originally the ninth month of the old Roman calendar. friable easily crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder. ?friable \FRY-uh-buhl\, adjective: Easily crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder.[CR][CR]Just as sometimes I feel that reading some of those books on very friable yellow paper that come apart in your hand, and come unglued from the spine, and the print's all over the page, and it seems to have been written for people who have magnifying lenses in their glasses, that's hard work too. --Angela Carter, Shaking a Leg: Collected Writings[CR][CR]The house was so alive with vermin and tiny despicable things that it seemed no more than a shell surrounding him, crackling and friable and the same color in all its shadows as a forest. --Anne Rice, The Vampire Armand[CR][CR]Friable comes from Latin friabilis, from friare, "to rub, break, or crumble into small pieces." gravitas high seriousness. ?gravitas \GRAV-uh-tahs\, noun: High seriousness (as in a person's bearing or in the treatment of a subject).[CR][CR]At first sight the tall, stooped figure with the hawk-like features and bloodless cheeks, the look of extreme gravitas, seems forbidding and austere, the abbot of an ascetic order, scion of an imperial family who has foresworn the world. --John Lehmann, "T.S. Eliot Talks About Himself and the Drive to Create," New York Times, November 9, 1953[CR][CR]And we want to tell our readers about sharp, clever books, utterly lacking in gravitas, that we know will delight them on the beach or the bus. --Benjamin Schwarz, "(Some of) the best books of 2001," The Atlantic, December 2001[CR][CR]Gravitas is from the Latin gravitas, "heaviness, seriousness," from gravis, "heavy, serious." 'Word Group Five - Words to Definitions [PB] wordy. prolix ?prolix \pro-LIKS; PRO-liks\, adjective: 1. Extending to a great length; unnecessarily long; wordy. 2. Tending to speak or write at excessive length.[CR][CR]It was a cumbersome book, widely criticized for being prolix in style and maddeningly circular in argument. --Simon Winchester, "Word Imperfect," The Atlantic, May 2001[CR][CR]Montaigne is a little too prolix in his determination to tell us almost everything that happens as he fishes his way across the country, and he gives us a few too many accounts of the people he meets and of their repetitiously gloomy opinions. --Adam Hochschild, "Deep Wigglers of the Volga," New York Times, June 28, 1998[CR][CR]Greenspan, on the other hand, is given to prolix comments whose sentences are hung like Christmas trees with dependent clauses. --John M. Berry, "Greenspan: A Man Aware of Feasibility," Washington Post, June 14, 1987[CR][CR]Prolix is derived from Latin prolixus, "poured forth, overflowing, extended, long," from pro-, "forward" + liquere, "to be fluid." a procession. cavalcade ?cavalcade \kav-uhl-KAYD; KAV-uhl-kayd\, noun: 1. A procession of riders or horse-drawn carriages. 2. Any procession. 3. A sequence; a series.[CR][CR]Behind him he sensed the progress of the cavalcade as one by one the carriages wheeled off the Dublin road. --Stella Tillyard, Citizen Lord: The Life of Edward Fitzgerald, Irish Revolutionary[CR][CR]Last week, Seoul pleaded for immediate financial assistance from the United States and Japan, following a cavalcade of bad economic news. --Steven Butler and Jack Egan, "No magic won for Korea," U.S. News, December 22, 1997[CR][CR]Cavalcade derives from Old Italian cavalcata, from cavalcare, "to go on horseback," from Late Latin caballicare, from Latin caballus, "horse." quickness; swiftness. celerity ?celerity \suh-LAIR-uh-tee\, noun: Rapidity of motion or action; quickness; swiftness.[CR][CR]Though not in the best of physical form, he was capable of moving with celerity. --Malachy McCourt, A Monk Swimming: A Memoir[CR][CR]Furthermore, as is well known, computer technology grows obsolete with amazing celerity. --Alan S. Blinder and Richard E. Quandt, "The Computer and the Economy," The Atlantic, December 1997[CR][CR]The lightning celerity of his thought processes took you on a kind of helter-skelter ride of surreal non-sequiturs, sudden accesses of emotion and ribald asides, made all the more bizarre for being uttered in those honeyed tones by the impeccably elegant gent before you. --"A life full of frolics," The Guardian, May 19, 2001[CR][CR]Celerity is from Latin celeritas, from celer, "swift." It is related to accelerate. ill repute. obloquy ?obloquy \OB-luh-kwee\, noun: 1. Strongly condemnatory or abusive language or utterance. 2. The condition of disgrace suffered as a result of public blame, abuse, or condemnation; ill repute.[CR][CR]There he remained, weeping indignantly at her stream of obloquy, bitterly ashamed of his tears, until it was time for supper. --Jonathan Keates, Stendhal[CR][CR]Once installed in office he earned near-universal obloquy by pushing through the biggest tax increase in the state's history. --Dan Seligman, "The Taxophiliacs," Forbes, February 5, 2001[CR][CR]For Britain to have made a last imperial stand on the shores of the South China Sea would have risked local calamity and international obloquy. --Christopher Patten, East and West[CR][CR]Obloquy derives from Latin obloqui, "to speak against," from ob-, "against" + loqui, "to speak." to praise. extol ?extol \ik-STOHL\, transitive verb: To praise highly; to glorify; to exalt.[CR][CR]The processes of nature, which most writers extol as symbols of renewal and eternal life, were always seen darkly by Kerouac. --Ellis Amburn, Subterranean Kerouac: The Hidden Life of Jack Kerouac[CR][CR]Let your deeds themselves praise you, for here I leave them in all their glory, lacking words to extol them. --Cervantes, Don Quixote de la Mancha[CR][CR]Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free, How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee? --Arthur Christopher Benson, Song from Pomp and Circumstance by Sir Edward Elgar[CR][CR]Extol derives from Latin extollere, "to lift up, praise," from ex-, "up from" + tollere, "to lift up, elevate." a brief moment of intense excitement. frisson ?frisson \free-SOHN\, noun: A moment of intense excitement; a shudder; an emotional thrill.[CR][CR]When we think a story hasn't been invented, there's an extra frisson in reading it. --"Too true," Independent, April 12, 1998[CR][CR]As every parent knows, children have a love-hate relationship with stories about monsters. They love the frisson of hearing about such terrifying creatures as the Cyclops -- but hate to think about what they might do if they bumped into one. --"Strange but true: One in the eye for all those Homer-phobes," Daily Telegraph, June 21, 1998[CR][CR]When we stopped in traffic at the Plaza de la Cibeles on the Paseo del Prado, where a grandiose 18th-century statue of the goddess of fertility poised on a chariot seemed to be waiting for the light to change, a little frisson of pleasure jolted through me, because this part of Madrid reminded me of Paris. --"Counting Pesetas in Madrid," New York Times, March 17, 1996[CR][CR]Frisson comes from the French, from Old French friçon, "a trembling," ultimately from Latin frigere, "to be cold." a curse. malediction ?malediction \mal-uh-DIK-shun\, noun: A curse or execration.[CR][CR]There Justice Minister Bola Ige, confronted with the general incivility of local police, placed a malediction on the cads. Said the Hon. Bola Ige, "I pray that God will make big holes in their pockets." --"Sic Semper Tyrannis! Oppressors Face People's Justice," American Spectator, May 1, 2001[CR][CR]A conspiracy of infamy so black that, when it is finally exposed, its principals shall be forever deserving of the maledictions of all honest men. --Joseph McCarthy, quoted in Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, by Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes[CR][CR]Malediction comes from Latin maledictio, from maledicere, "to speak ill, to abuse," from Latin male, "badly" + dicere, "to speak, to say." the state or quality of being lenient. lenity ?lenity \LEN-uh-tee\, noun: The state or quality of being lenient; mildness; gentleness of treatment; leniency.[CR][CR]The criminal suspect is pressured by remorse or hope of lenity or sheer despair to fess up. --Richard A. Posner, "Let Them Talk," The New Republic, August 21, 2000[CR][CR]In this context, severity is justice, lenity injustice. --Dr Anthony Daniels, "It's no way to treat a lunatic," Sunday Telegraph, December 13, 1998[CR][CR]. . . an excessive lenity toward criminals, which encourages crime. --Richard A. Posner, "The Moral Minority," New York Times, December 19, 1999[CR][CR]And what makes robbers bold but too much lenity? --William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part III[CR][CR]Lenity comes from Latin lenitas, from lenis, "soft, mild." marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness. unctuous ?unctuous \UNGK-choo-us\, adjective: 1. Of the nature or quality of an unguent or ointment; fatty; oily; greasy. 2. Having a smooth, greasy feel, as certain minerals. 3. Insincerely or excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech; marked by a false or smug earnestness or agreeableness.[CR][CR]A warmed, crusty French roll arrives split, lightly smeared with unctuous chopped liver. --John Kessler, "Meals To Go: Break from the routine with Hong," Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 22, 1998[CR][CR]She recalled being offended by the "phoniness" that stemmed from the contradiction between her mother's charming, even unctuous public manner and her anger in private. --Daniel Horowitz, Betty Friedan And the Making of 'The Feminine Mystique'[CR][CR]He approached Sean wearing a smile so unctuous it seemed about to slide right off his face. --Naeem Murr, The Boy[CR][CR]Unctuous is from Medieval Latin unctuosus, from Latin unctus, "anointed, besmeared, greasy," past participle of unguere, "to anoint, to besmear." to speak or write at length. expatiate ?expatiate \ek-SPAY-shee-ayt\, intransitive verb: 1. To speak or write at length or in considerable detail. 2. To move about freely; to wander.[CR][CR]He had told her all he had been asked to tell--or all he meant to tell: at any rate he had been given abundant opportunity to expatiate upon a young man's darling subject--himself. --Henry Blake Fuller, Bertram Cope's Year[CR][CR]At the midday meal on fair day, a large one (meat loaf, boiled potato, broccoli), Mrs. Lucas, married to the man with the earache, expatiates on the difficulties of caring for a parakeet her daughter has unloaded upon her and which, let out of its cage for an airing, has escaped through the door suddenly opened by Mr. Lucas. --William H. Pritchard, Updike: America's Man of Letters[CR][CR]His relationship with his family was for many years an unhappy one, and he does not care to expatiate upon it. --Barbara La Fontaine, "Triple Threat On, Off And Off-Off Broadway," New York Times, February 25, 1968[CR][CR]Expatiate is from Latin expatiari, "to walk or go far and wide," from ex-, "out" + spatiari, "to walk about," from spatium, "space; an open space, a place for walking in." lack of knowledge or awareness. nescience ?nescience \NESH-uhn(t)s; NESH-ee-uhn(t)s\, noun: Lack of knowledge or awareness; ignorance.[CR][CR]The ancients understood that too much knowledge could actually impede human functioning -- this at a time when the encroachments on global nescience were comparatively few. --Cullen Murphy, "DNA Fatigue," The Atlantic, November 1997[CR][CR]He fought on our behalf in the war that finally matters: against nescience, against inadvertence, against the supposition that anything is anything else. --Hugh Kenner, "On the Centenary of James Joyce," New York Times, January 31, 1982[CR][CR]The notion has taken hold that every barometric fluctuation must demonstrate climate change. This anecdotal case for global warming is mostly nonsense, driven by nescience of a basic point, from statistics and probability, that the weather is always weird somewhere. --Gregg Easterbrook "Warming Up," The New Republic, November 8, 1999[CR][CR]Nescience is from Latin nescire, "not to know," from ne-, "not" + scire, "to know." It is related to science. Nescient is the adjective form. something desired. desideratum ?desideratum \dih-sid-uh-RAY-tum; -RAH-\, noun; plural desiderata: Something desired or considered necessary.[CR][CR]No one in Berkeley -- at least, no one I consorted with -- thought art was for sissies, or that a pensionable job was the highest desideratum. --John Banville, "Just a dream some of us had," Irish Times, August 24, 1998[CR][CR]Immense wealth, and its lavish expenditure, fill the great house with all that can please the eye, or tempt the taste. Here, appetite, not food, is the great desideratum. --Frederick Douglass, My Bondage, My Freedom[CR][CR]A technical dictionary . . . is one of the desiderata in anatomy. --Alexander Monro, Essay on Comparative Anatomy[CR][CR]Desideratum is from Latin desideratum, "a thing desired," from desiderare, "to desire." incapable of being subdued or overcome. indomitable ?indomitable \in-DOM-ih-tuh-buhl\, adjective: Incapable of being subdued or overcome; unconquerable.[CR][CR]Now, late in his career, when he could no longer pull off all of the individual moves that had once set him apart, it had become increasingly obvious that what had distinguished him was his indomitable will, his refusal to let either opposing players or the passage of time affect his need to win. --David Halberstam, Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made[CR][CR]Because of his strength and toughness as well as his constant attention to the welfare of his army, his soldiers affectionately called him Old Hickory. Hickory was as tough a substance as they knew, and General Andrew Jackson was, in their minds, indomitable. --Robert V. Remini, The Battle of New Orleans[CR][CR]Indomitable is from Latin indomitabilis, from in-, "not" + domitare, from domare, "to tame." one who excels in telling stories and anecdotes. raconteur ?raconteur \rack-on-TUR\, noun: One who excels in telling stories and anecdotes.[CR][CR]An excellent raconteur, he had a varied stock of stories and enjoyed the joke just as much when it was on himself as he did when it was on some one else. --"Rockefeller Wit Endeared Him to Friends; He Relished Quip by Will Rogers About Him," New York Times, May 24, 1937[CR][CR]Korda's tone of voice is affectionate and urbane, his manner that of the accomplished raconteur who never spoils the story with a heavy-handed moral, relying for his effect on the telling anecdote and the apt phrase. --Lewis Lapham, "Adventures in the Book Trade," New York Times, May 23, 1999[CR][CR]He has an excellent raconteur's mind, memory, vocabulary and tongue, brings in a story just at the right time, in the right manner, serves his anecdotes perfectly either piping hot or ice-cold as tragedies. --Anatole Pohorilenko and James Crump, When We Were Three[CR][CR]Raconteur is from French, from raconter, "to relate, to tell, to narrate," from Old French, from re- + aconter, "to count up, to reckon." to break apart. sunder ?sunder \SUN-dur\, transitive verb: To break apart; to separate; to divide; to sever. intransitive verb: To become parted, disunited, or severed.[CR][CR]As the issue of slavery threatened to sunder the United States, President Abraham Lincoln, using biblical language, warned that "a house divided against itself cannot stand." --Morris B. Abraham, "Using the bully pulpit at the United Nations," Minneapolis Star Tribune, January 20, 1997[CR][CR]Momentous business was at hand, as the last colonial ties with England were about to be sundered, and Madison was compelled to take his stand for both a separation from the mother country and the erection of a republican form of government. --Robert A. Rutland, James Madison and the Search for Nationhood[CR][CR]Their romance was sundered by World War II, and she scarcely saw Tito again until 1953. --"Tribute: For 40 Years Prima Ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn Created a Soaring Legend of Grace and Beauty," People, March 11, 1991[CR][CR]Sunder is from Old English sundrian. a slight offense; a petty fault. peccadillo ?peccadillo \peck-uh-DIL-oh\, noun: A slight offense; a petty fault.[CR][CR]No peccadillo is too trivial: we learn that the mogul once blew his top because his laundry came back starched (" 'Fluff and fold!' he screamed"). --Eric P. Nash, "High Concept," New York Times, May 10, 1998[CR][CR]And besides, "what do they say? 'Don't judge lest you be judged.' Everybody has their peccadilloes." -- "Tyson has a friend in his corner," Irish Times, October 21,1999[CR][CR]Child of a dominant mother, victim of a guilt-ridden conscience, [St. Augustine] wrote bewilderingly haunted 'Confessions,' in which infantile peccadilloes like stealing apples and adolescent fumblings with instinctive sexuality are bewailed with all the anguish of a frustrated perfectionist. --Geoffrey Parker, "True Believers," New York Times, June 29, 1997[CR][CR]Peccadillo comes from Spanish pecadillo, "little sin," diminutive of pecado, "sin," from Latin peccatum, from peccare, "to make a mistake, to err, to sin." It is related to impeccable, "without flaw or fault." to free or release from a difficulty or entanglement. extricate ?extricate \EK-struh-kayt\, transitive verb: To free or release from a difficulty or entanglement; to get free; to disengage.[CR][CR]Sean introduced himself and then extricated his hand from Ronan's persistent grasp in order to show him the photo. --Naeem Murr, The Boy[CR][CR]Ultimately they extricated Ned by lifting up the whole table-and-chair structure, thus allowing him to fall out onto the floor. --Joan L. Richards, Angles of Reflection: Logic and a Mother's Love[CR][CR]I knelt down, either out of weakness or out of gratitude to a god who had extricated me from yet another predicament. --Christa Wolf, Medea: A Modern Retelling[CR][CR]Extricate comes from Latin extricare, "to disentangle, to extricate," from ex-, "out" + tricae, "trifles, impediments, perplexities." a damaging or derogatory remark. aspersion ?aspersion \uh-SPUR-zhuhn; -shuhn\, noun: 1. A damaging or derogatory remark; slander. 2. The act of defaming or slandering. 3. A sprinkling with water, especially in religious ceremonies.[CR][CR]Orley had once been forced to resign from a local men's club for casting aspersions on the character of another member's wife. --Thomas A. Underwood, Allen Tate: Orphan of the South[CR][CR]Its meetings were fiercely argumentative; members seemed to love nothing better than to cast aspersions on each other's intellect and class loyalty. --Glenn Frankel, Rivonia's Children[CR][CR]Aspersion is from Latin aspersio, from aspergere, from ad- + spargere, "to scatter, to sprinkle, to strew." frivolity. levity ?levity \LEV-uh-tee\, noun: 1. Lightness of manner or speech, especially when inappropriate or excessive; frivolity. 2. Lack of steadiness or constancy; changeableness.[CR][CR]They sat there in their formal bargeman's rig . . . looking solemn: they were part of a ceremony, and levity, winking, whispering, smiling, had no place in it. --Patrick O'Brian, The Hundred Days[CR][CR]I must say that if the doctor was indulging in levity at my expense, it is a levity I find in the worst possible taste. --Alfred Alcorn, Murder in the Museum of Man[CR][CR]Levity is from Latin levitas, from levis, "light." flowing sweetly or smoothly. mellifluous ?mellifluous \muh-LIF-loo-us\, adjective: Flowing as with honey; flowing sweetly or smoothly; as, a mellifluous voice.[CR][CR]The balladeer whose mellifluous voice serenaded two generations of lovers. --Margo Jefferson, "Unforgettable," New York Times, December 26, 1999[CR][CR]The tones were high-sounding, mellifluous, as if the speaker was reading from a book of old English verse while holding back any trace of sentiment or emotion. --Ken Gormley, Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation[CR][CR]I picked up more mellifluous words when a family friend came over to teach me some Chilean music on my guitar. --Edward Hower, "No Frogs Allowed," New York Times, January 30, 2000[CR][CR]Mellifluous comes from Latin mellifluus, from mel, "honey" + fluus, "flowing," from fluere, "to flow." Synonyms: canorous, dulcet, melodious, sweet. Find more at Thesaurus.com. excessive talkativeness. logorrhea ?logorrhea \law-guh-REE-uh\, noun: Excessive talkativeness or wordiness.[CR][CR]By his own measure, he is a man of many contradictions, beginning with the fact that he is famous as a listener but suffers from "a touch of logorrhea." He is so voluble that one wonders how his subjects get a word in edgewise. --Mel Gussow, "Listener, Talker, Now Literary Lion: It's Official." New York Times, June 17, 1997[CR][CR]It's also not good if your date has logorrhea. --Monte Williams, "8 Minutes in the Life of a Jewish Single: Not Attracted? Next!" New York Times, March 5, 2000[CR][CR]Mr. King, who possesses an enviable superabundance of imagination, suffers from a less enviable logorrhea. --Michele Slung, "Scare Tactics." New York Times, May 10, 1981[CR][CR]Logorrhea is derived from Greek logos, "word" + rhein, "to flow." to claim or seize without right or justification. arrogate ?arrogate \AIR-uh-gayt\, transitive verb: 1. To claim or seize without right or justification; to appropriate. 2. To claim on behalf of another; to ascribe.[CR][CR]What's certain is that another American President has arrogated to himself the prerogative of dispatching U.S. military personnel on an overseas combat mission, disregarding the constitutional mandate that only Congress may declare war. --"Imposing 'democracy' in Haiti," The Progressive, November 1, 1994[CR][CR]A measure to abolish or radically restrict the ability of ministers to arrogate powers to themselves would be a necessary adjunct to the list of proposals on "open government/parliament". --Mike Marqusee, "Stumped for success," New Statesman & Society, January 19, 1996[CR][CR]The most sinister dimension of this form of 'terror' was that it became an intrinsic component of Fascist and Nazi governance, executed at the behest of, and in complete subservience to, the ruling political party of the land -- which had arrogated to itself complete, total control of the country and its people. --Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism[CR][CR]Arrogate comes from Latin adrogare, "to take to oneself, to claim," from ad-, "towards" + rogare, "to ask." sad and lonely because deserted, abandoned, or lost. forlorn ?forlorn \fur-LORN; for-\, adjective: 1. Sad and lonely because deserted, abandoned, or lost. 2. Bereft; forsaken. 3. Wretched or pitiful in appearance or condition. 4. Almost hopeless; desperate.[CR][CR]Henry had felt guilty at abandoning his sister; he had married not once but twice, leaving Rose forlorn. --Anita Brookner, Visitors[CR][CR]In these forlorn regions of unknowable dreary space, this reservoir of frost and snow, where firm fields of ice, the accumulation of centuries of winters, glazed in Alpine heights above heights, surround the pole, and concentre the multiplied rigours of extreme cold. --Francis Spufford, I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination[CR][CR]Bloch remembers that Stephen was a member of the Milk Squad, comprised of children who were considered to need extra nutrition, and early photographs do show him as one of the smaller boys, in the front row, looking forlorn. --Meryle Secrest, Stephen Sondheim: A Life[CR][CR]Forlorn comes from Old English forleosan, "to abandon," from for- + leosan, "to lose." to behave (oneself) in a particular manner. comport ?comport \kum-PORT\, transitive verb: To conduct or behave (oneself) in a particular manner. intransitive verb: To be fitting; to accord; to agree -- usually followed by 'with'.[CR][CR]Considered friendly and funny in private, the queen has a formal, remote air in public that some people attribute to shyness and others say is a reflection of her belief that, as monarch, she should comport herself with dignity and restraint. --Sarah Lyall, "Tradition and Personality Keep Elizabeth Far From Her Subjects," New York Times, September 5, 1997[CR][CR]Her aides comport themselves like members of a cult, their faces a jittery mix of adoration and fear. --Maureen Dowd, "Siamese Senators," New York Times, May 26, 1999[CR][CR]It comports with the clear meaning of the U.S. Constitution. --"Making War the Legal Way," Denver Rocky Mountain News, March 26, 1998[CR][CR]Fairchild says he decides cases "to comport with previous law and also with justice." --Cary Segall, "Fairchild Keeps on Judgin'," Wisconsin State Journal, August 1, 1999[CR][CR]Comport comes from Medieval French comporter, "to conduct," from Latin comportare, "to carry, to bring together," from com-, "with, together" + portare, "to carry." an assortment; a medley. farrago ?farrago \fuh-RAH-go; fuh-RAY-go\, noun; plural farragoes: A confused mixture; an assortment; a medley.[CR][CR]Ivan Illich writes "a farrago of sub-Marxist cliches, false analogies, non sequiturs, false or bent facts and weird prophesies." --"The Paul Johnson Enemies List," New York Times, September 18, 1977[CR][CR]Roy Hattersley will upset much of Scotland by calling Walter Scott's lvanhoe "a farrago of historical nonsense combined with maudlin romance." --"Literary classics panned by critics," Independent, January 18, 1999[CR][CR]From the moment the story of the Countess of Wessex and the Sheikh of Wapping broke, there has been a farrago of rumour, speculation and fantasy of which virtually every newspaper should be ashamed. --Roy Greenslade, "A sting in the tale," The Guardian, April 9, 2001[CR][CR]Farrago comes from the Latin farrago, "a mixed fodder for cattle," hence "a medley, a hodgepodge," from far, a sort of grain. the process of reasoning. ratiocination ?ratiocination \rash-ee-ah-suh-NAY-shun; rash-ee-oh-\, noun: The process of reasoning.[CR][CR]For all their vaunted powers of ratiocination, grand masters of chess tend to be a skittery lot. --"People," Time, October 26, 1987[CR][CR]The adventures of Sherlock Holmes proved so popular that it became a given that mystery tales should include a sleuth who investigates a murder or other crime, and by virtue of intelligence, ratiocination and perseverance solves a case that initially seemed unsolvable. --Maxim Jakubowski, "A beginner's guide to crime fiction," The Guardian, October 29, 1999[CR][CR]There is no question that Joyce and Nabokov. . . brilliantly explored and expanded the limits of language and the structure of novels, yet both were led irresistibly and obsessively to cap their careers with those cold and lifeless masterpieces, "Finnegans Wake" and "Ada," more to be deciphered than read by a handful of scholars whose pleasure is strictly ratiocination. --"How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love 'Barry Lyndon,' " New York Times, January 11, 1976[CR][CR]Ratiocination is from Latin rationcinatio, from ratiocinari, "to compute, to calculate, to reason," from ratio, "reckoning, calculation, reason," from reri, "to reckon, to think." having a variety of colors. varicolored ?varicolored \VER-ih-kuh-lurd\, adjective: Having a variety of colors; of various colors.[CR][CR]Where a bottleneck of sky showed between the hills, dark and light clouds lay in alternating layers like varicolored liquid that would not mix. --William Gay, The Long Home[CR][CR]Along with wild hogs, cattle, horses, and dogs, the varicolored wild African jungle fowl was domesticated early in our distant ancestors' spread around the globe. --Buff Orpingtons, "Save the chickens!" Mother Earth News, December 10, 1996[CR][CR]Varicolored is from vari- (from Latin varius, "various, diversified") + colored (from Latin color, "color, tint, hue.") a woman who assists in childbirth. doula ?doula \DOO-luh\, noun: A woman who assists during childbirth labor and provides support to the mother, her child and the family after childbirth.[CR][CR]Chris Morley launched Tender Care Doula Service in Valencia, California, seven years ago to provide nonmedical postpartum care workers (or doulas) to frazzled new moms. --Roy Huffman, "Healthy returns," Entrepreneur Magazine, February 1, 1996[CR][CR]Unlike midwives, who deliver babies and are licensed to perform medical tasks, labor doulas provide emotional and physical support to the laboring parents. --Stephen L. Richmond, "One Labor-Intensive Job," Time, March 12, 2001[CR][CR]Doula derives from Greek doula, "servant-woman, slave," akin to hierodule. someone whose age is in the nineties. nonagenarian ?nonagenarian \non-uh-juh-NAIR-ee-uhn; no-nuh-\, noun: A ninety year old person; someone whose age is in the nineties.[CR][CR]There seemed to be relatively few octogenarians and nonagenarians alive in the early 1930s. Contrast that with my current practice, in which I see a great number of patients in their eighties and nineties. --Stephen L. Richmond, "Tales from the Death Certificate," Physician Assistant, January 1999[CR][CR]Good health is essential, of course--a gift that none of these nonagenarians, having outlived friends and loved ones, takes for granted. --Roy Huffman, "Working Past 90," Fortune, November 13, 2000[CR][CR]Nonagenarian derives from Latin nonagenarius, "containing or consisting of ninety," from nonageni-, "ninety each", ultimately from novem, "nine," as in November, originally the ninth month of the old Roman calendar. easily crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder. friable ?friable \FRY-uh-buhl\, adjective: Easily crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder.[CR][CR]Just as sometimes I feel that reading some of those books on very friable yellow paper that come apart in your hand, and come unglued from the spine, and the print's all over the page, and it seems to have been written for people who have magnifying lenses in their glasses, that's hard work too. --Angela Carter, Shaking a Leg: Collected Writings[CR][CR]The house was so alive with vermin and tiny despicable things that it seemed no more than a shell surrounding him, crackling and friable and the same color in all its shadows as a forest. --Anne Rice, The Vampire Armand[CR][CR]Friable comes from Latin friabilis, from friare, "to rub, break, or crumble into small pieces." high seriousness. gravitas ?gravitas \GRAV-uh-tahs\, noun: High seriousness (as in a person's bearing or in the treatment of a subject).[CR][CR]At first sight the tall, stooped figure with the hawk-like features and bloodless cheeks, the look of extreme gravitas, seems forbidding and austere, the abbot of an ascetic order, scion of an imperial family who has foresworn the world. --John Lehmann, "T.S. Eliot Talks About Himself and the Drive to Create," New York Times, November 9, 1953[CR][CR]And we want to tell our readers about sharp, clever books, utterly lacking in gravitas, that we know will delight them on the beach or the bus. --Benjamin Schwarz, "(Some of) the best books of 2001," The Atlantic, December 2001[CR][CR]Gravitas is from the Latin gravitas, "heaviness, seriousness," from gravis, "heavy, serious." 'Word Group Six - Definitions to Words [PA] lachrymose given to or causing tears. ?lachrymose \LAK-ruh-mohs\, adjective: 1. Given to shedding tears; suffused with tears; tearful. 2. Causing or tending to cause tears.[CR][CR]At the farewell party on the boat, Joyce was surrounded by a lachrymose family. --Edna O'Brien, "She Was the Other Ireland," New York Times, June 19, 1988[CR][CR]I promise to do my best, and if at any time my resolution lapses, pen me a few fierce vitriolic words and you shall receive by the next post a lachrymose & abject apology in my most emotional hand writing. --Rupert Brooke, letter to James Strachey, July 7, 1905[CR][CR]The game is perpetuated by the sons in a sometimes vicious sibling rivalry that inevitably subsides into lachrymose reconciliation. --Arthur Gelb and Barbara Gelb, O'Neill: Life With Monte Cristo[CR][CR]Meanwhile, a lachrymose new waltz, "After The Ball Is Over," was sweeping the nation. --Benjamin Welles, Sumner Welles: FDR's Global Strategist[CR][CR]Lachrymose is from Latin lacrimosus, from lacrima, "tear." abscond to depart secretly. ?abscond \ab-SKOND\, intransitive verb: To depart secretly; to steal away and hide oneself -- used especially of persons who withdraw to avoid arrest or prosecution.[CR][CR]The criminal is not concerned with influencing or affecting public opinion: he simply wants to abscond with his money or accomplish his mercenary task in the quickest and easiest way possible so that he may reap his reward and enjoy the fruits of his labours. --Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism[CR][CR]Pearl, now an orphan (her father having absconded shortly after her conception), has been taken to live with her great-aunt Margaret in the north of England. --Zoe Heller, Everything You Know[CR][CR]Abscond comes from Latin abscondere, "to conceal," from ab-, abs-, "away" + condere, "to put, to place." probity complete and confirmed integrity. ?probity \PRO-buh-tee\, noun: Complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness.[CR][CR]Unless some light is shed on shady dealings and some probity restored, more young lives will be blighted and careers choked off. --Norman Lebrecht, Who Killed Classical Music?[CR][CR]To suggest that this exemplar of financial probity was enriching himself at public expense was to shake the very foundations of the new Republic. --William Safire, Scandalmonger[CR][CR]Probity is from Latin probitas, from probus, "good, upright, virtuous." taciturn not inclined to talk. ?taciturn \TAS-uh-turn\, adjective: Habitually silent; not inclined to talk.[CR][CR]On stage she seemed to become transformed, and the contrast was even more noticeable given her shy, taciturn character, shrouded in the impalpable veil of gloom that always surrounded her. --Pino Cacucci, Tina Modotti: A Life[CR][CR]A balding, stocky, taciturn man who wore glasses, he gave an impression of distance and seriousness. --"Diana's Driver: Unsettling Piece in a Puzzle," New York Times, September 21, 1997[CR][CR]In the company of even his close literary and political friends he was shy if not taciturn. --"Passionate voice of the press," Irish Times, November 4, 1997[CR][CR]Taciturn comes from Latin taciturnus, from tacere, "to be silent." proclivity a natural inclination. ?proclivity \pro-KLIV-uh-tee\, noun: A natural inclination; predisposition.[CR][CR]New York City is full of people like Mr. O'Neal -- life-long bibliophiles with a proclivity for accumulation, holed up in compact spaces in the intimate company of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of books. --"For Some, Acquiring Books Has Become a Compulsion," New York Times, July 6, 1997[CR][CR]Those close to Clark from childhood were not surprised at how quickly he recognized the lucrative financial opportunities commercial announcing afforded, for Clark had demonstrated a proclivity for entrepreneurship as a youth. --John A. Jackson, American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock 'n' Roll Empire[CR][CR]Proclivity comes from Latin proclivitas, from proclivis, "inclined," from pro-, "forward" + clivus, "a slope." demagogue a leader who obtains power by means of appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace. ?demagogue \DEM-uh-gog\, noun: 1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace. 2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.[CR][CR]This was to have held a sculpture of a Roman charioteer driving four horses, but the work was never completed, leaving behind what looks like a diving board or a futurist balcony, ideally suited for a demagogue exhorting a throng below. --Michael Z. Wise, "A Fascist Utopia Adapted for Today," New York Times, July 11, 1999[CR][CR]A consummate demagogue, McCarthy played upon cold war emotions and made charges so fantastic that frightened people believed the worst. --Arthur Herman, Joseph McCarthy: Reexaming the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator[CR][CR]Even when he showed his true colors as a demagogue and trickster, Stalin did so in such a crisp and weighty, confidence-inspiring manner that he bewitched not only his conversational partner but himself as well. --Milovan Djilase, Fall of the New Class: A History of Communism's Self-Destruction[CR][CR]Demagogue derives from Greek demagogos, "a leader of the people," from demos, "the people" + agogos, "leading, one who leads," from agein, "to lead." exculpate to clear from alleged fault or guilt. ?exculpate \EK-skuhl-payt; ek-SKUHL-payt\, transitive verb: To clear from alleged fault or guilt; to prove to be guiltless; to relieve of blame; to acquit.[CR][CR]Each member is determined to exculpate himself, to lay the blame elsewhere. --Joseph Wood Krutch, "How Will Posterity Rank O'Neill?" New York Times, October 21, 1956[CR][CR]At the same time, they said, representatives of the inspector general's office at the CIA were generally protective of the intelligence agents involved in the matter, highlighting evidence that seemed to exculpate them. --Tim Golden, "Guerrilla's Asylum Analyzed Amid Contradictory Claims," New York Times, December 12, 1996[CR][CR]Exculpate is ultimately derived from Latin ex-, "without" + culpare, "to blame," from culpa, "blame, fault." Synonyms: clear, discharge, exonerate. Find more at Thesaurus.com. recalcitrant stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint. ?recalcitrant \rih-KAL-sih-truhnt\, adjective: Stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint.[CR][CR]If they lingered too long, Clarice hurried them along in the same annoyed way she rushed recalcitrant goats through the gate. -- Kaye Gibbons, On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon[CR][CR]As Mr. Lincoln and his Union generals insisted on unconditional surrender, the end of slavery, and the specter of an egalitarian nation where race and class were in theory to be subordinate ideas, so recalcitrant Southerners by the summer of 1864 dug in deeper for their Armageddon to come. --Victor Davis Hanson, The Soul Of Battle[CR][CR]This recalcitrant fellow was the only dissenter in an otherwise unanimous recommendation. --Sherwin B. Nuland, "Indoctrinology," New Republic, February 19, 2001[CR][CR]Recalcitrant derives from Latin recalcitrare, "to kick back," from re-, "back" + calcitrare, "to strike with the heel, to kick," from calx, calc-, "the heel." Synonyms: unruly, ungovernable, intractable, refractory, willful, headstrong, wayward, disobedient. Find more at Thesaurus.com. quondam former; sometime. ?quondam \KWAHN-duhm; KWAHN-dam\, adjective: Having been formerly; former; sometime.[CR][CR]A quondam flower child, she spent seven years at the Royal College of Art, before becoming a lecturer at Edinburgh School of Art. --"Interview: Cool, calm collector," Independent, December 13, 1997[CR][CR]For the unregenerate "peasant" . . . had gone there with the successful glass distributor, shrewd investor, versatile talker, and quondam bon vivant whose motto was "The best is good enough for me." --Ted Solotaroff, Truth Comes in Blows: A Memoir[CR][CR]There was an exception to this in the form of Mrs Edna Parsons, a formidable Englishwoman who had once been the Prince's nanny and now served as proctor, supervising his behaviour. She was about fifty and true to her quondam profession, she could be quite strict. --David Freeman, One of Us[CR][CR]Quondam comes from the Latin quondam, "formerly," from quom, "when." pellucid transparent, clear; also, easily understandable. ?pellucid \puh-LOO-sid\, adjective: 1. Transparent; clear; not opaque. 2. Easily understandable.[CR][CR]The prevailing atmosphere as one cruises Kukulcan Boulevard, the busy strip where most of Cancun's 122 hotels are clustered, remains that of an Orlando or a Las Vegas dropped intact next to pellucid Caribbean waters. --Larry Rohter, "What's Doing in Cancun." New York Times, March 8, 1998[CR][CR]In her scrupulous and pellucid prose, she appears to distance herself from the optimistic Californian light. --Cynthia Ozick, "What Writer's Writers Write." New York Times Magazine, January 2, 2000[CR][CR]Pellucid comes from Latin pellucidus, "shining, transparent," from pellucere, "to shine through," from per-, "through" + lucere, "to shine." desuetude disuse. ?desuetude \DES-wih-tood, -tyood\, noun: The cessation of use; discontinuance of practice or custom; disuse.[CR][CR]Nuns and priests abandoned the identifying attire of the religious vocation and frequently also the vocation itself, experimental liturgies celebrated more the possibility of cultural advancement than that of eternal life, and popular Marian devotions fell into desuetude. --Michael W. Cuneo, The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism[CR][CR]Probably only one in a hundred girls who give birth clandestinely even knows that an edict of King Henry II, now fallen into desuetude, once made their action punishable by death. --Nina Rattner Gelbart, The King's Midwife[CR][CR]Where specific restrictions on personal freedom and on communal activity had not explicitly been lifted they were allowed to fall into desuetude by default. --David Vital, A People Apart: The Jews in Europe, 1789-1939[CR][CR]The exercise of rights which had practically passed into desuetude. --John Richard Green, Short History of the English People[CR][CR]Desuetude comes from Latin desuetudo, "disuse," from desuescere, "to become unaccustomed," from de- + suescere, "to become used or accustomed." apposite of striking appropriateness and relevance. ?apposite \AP-uh-zit\, adjective: Being of striking appropriateness and relevance; very applicable; apt.[CR][CR]As we survey Jewish history as a whole from the vantage point of the late twentieth century, Judah Halevi's phrase "prisoner of hope" seems entirely apposite. The prisoner of hope is sustained and encouraged by his hope, even as he is confined by it. --Jane S. Gerber (Editor), The Illustrated History of the Jewish People[CR][CR]Suppose, for example, that in a theoretical physics seminar we were to explain a very technical concept in quantum field theory by comparing it to the concept of aporia in Derridean literary theory. Our audience of physicists would wonder, quite reasonably, what is the goal of such a metaphor--whether or not it is apposite--apart from displaying our own erudition. --Alan D. Sokal and Jean Bricmont, Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science[CR][CR]Apposite comes from Latin appositus, past participle of apponere, "to set or put near," from ad-, "to, toward" + ponere, "to put, to place." Synonyms: relevant, pertinent, germane, material. Find more at Thesaurus.com. jocund light-hearted; mirthful. ?jocund \JOCK-uhnd; JOH-kuhnd\, adjective: Full of or expressing high-spirited merriment; light-hearted; mirthful.[CR][CR]His careless manners and jocund repartees might well seem incompatible with anything serious. --William Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico[CR][CR]There was once a widow, fair, young, free, rich, and withal very pleasant and jocund, that fell in love with a certain round and well-set servant of a college. --Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (translated by Thomas Shelton)[CR][CR]Many a glad good morrow and jocund laugh from the young folk Made the bright air brighter. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Evangeline"[CR][CR]Jocund is from Old French jocond, from Latin jucundus, "pleasant, agreeable, delightful," from juvare, "to please, to delight." firmament the sky; the heavens. ?firmament \FUR-muh-muhnt\, noun: 1. The region of the air; the sky; the heavens. 2. The field or sphere of an interest or activity[CR][CR]But to judge by the twinkling summer stars that filled the firmament, the dawn was still far off. --A. B. Yehoshua, A Journey to the End of the Millennium[CR][CR]Studying the firmament--the night vault that sparkles with thousands of flickering lights--is older than recorded history. --William E. Burrows, This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age[CR][CR]The glossy magazines have branded her a rising star, shooting up into the firmament of mega fashion stardom. --Hadley Freeman, "If I see one more black suit, I'll want to roll over and die," The Guardian, December 14, 2001[CR][CR]Firmament comes from Late Latin firmamentum, "firmness, the sky," from Latin firmare, "to make firm." spoonerism the transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words. ?spoonerism \SPOO-nuh-riz-uhm\, noun: The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words.[CR][CR]Some examples: We all know what it is to have a half-warmed fish ["half-formed wish"] inside us.[CR][CR]The Lord is a shoving leopard ["loving shepherd"].[CR][CR]It is kisstomary to cuss ["customary to kiss"] the bride.[CR][CR]Is the bean dizzy ["dean busy"]?[CR][CR]When the boys come back from France, we'll have the hags flung out ["flags hung out"]![CR][CR]Let me sew you to your sheet ["show you to your seat"].[CR][CR]Spoonerism comes from the name of the Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), a kindly but nervous Anglican clergyman and educationalist. All the above examples were committed by (or attributed to) him. perfunctory done routinely. ?perfunctory \pur-FUNGK-tuh-ree\, adjective: 1. Done merely to carry out a duty; performed mechanically or routinely. 2. Lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent.[CR][CR]The city's moderate hotels, however, tend to offer minimal comforts, perfunctory service and dreary decor. --Paula Butturini, "What's Doing in Naples," New York Times, April 14, 1996[CR][CR]The mainstream media's coverage of hard economic data used to be perfunctory: a spot of news about the direction of interest rates, or a calculation of how the dollar was holding up against the yen. --Robert H. Frank, "Safety in Numbers: The wild stock market is turning us all into macroeconomic-data junkies," New York Times Magazine, November 28, 1999[CR][CR]His hugs, although expansive and affectionate, did not linger, seemed perfunctory. --Susan Bordo, The Male Body[CR][CR]Perfunctory derives from Late Latin perfunctorius, from Latin perfungi, "to perform fully, to get done with," from per-, "through" + fungi, "to perform." beholden obliged; indebted. ?beholden \bih-HOHL-duhn\, adjective: Obliged; bound in gratitude; indebted.[CR][CR]Kate was quite fond of him and knew he was grateful to her for all the help and hospitality she and Oliver had given him during his period of gloom and puzzlement after his wife's defection, but she did not want him to feel beholden to her. --Mary Sheepshanks, Picking Up the Pieces[CR][CR]The likely new government, which draws only a negligible level of support from rural areas, will be much less beholden to the farming interests than any government in the past two decades. --"Reforming The EU Budget," Irish Times, October 8, 1998[CR][CR]Peter did not intend to be beholden to any of his relatives unless they proved their worth. --Lindsey Hughes, Russia in the Age of Peter the Great[CR][CR]Beholden is derived from Old English behealden, "to hold firmly," from be-, intensive prefix + healden, "to hold." polyglot speaking, writing, or made up of many languages. ?polyglot \POL-ee-glot\, adjective: 1. Containing or made up of several languages. 2. Writing, speaking, or versed in many languages. noun: One who speaks several languages.[CR][CR]Yes, Burgess loved to scatter polyglot obscurities like potholes throughout his more than 50 novels and dozens of nonfiction works. He could leap gaily from Welsh to French to Malay to Yiddish in one breath. --"Byrne," Chicago Sun-Times, August 24, 1997[CR][CR]There should be polyglot waiters who can tell us when the train starts in four or five languages. --Hamerton, Intelligent Life[CR][CR]My parents are both polyglots--they speak five Indian languages each, I speak seven--and they would encourage my reading. --Lawrence Weschler, A Wanderer in the Perfect City[CR][CR]Polyglot derives from Greek polyglottos, from poly-, "many" + glotta, "tongue, language." abjure to renounce, reject, or shun. ?abjure \ab-JUR\, transitive verb: 1. To renounce under oath. 2. To renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to reject; repudiate. 3. To abstain from; to shun.[CR][CR]A few years earlier Galileo had been forced by the Inquisition to abjure, on his knees, his heretical views that the Earth moves around the Sun. -- Alan Gurney, Below the Convergence[CR][CR]He closed his eyes as he raised the goblet to his lips and took a small sip of the cool liquid, and then his face paled as he understood how sublime the taste of the forbidden drink was, and how easily one might become enslaved to it. There and then he resolved to abjure it totally. --A. B. Yehoshua, A Journey to the End of the Millennium[CR][CR]In the mid-1970's, a young European couple abjure middle-class comforts in favor of travel to India, where the wife, Sophie, grows disillusioned with Eastern spiritualism just as her husband, Matteo, is swept up in it. --Laurel Graeber, "New and Noteworthy Paperbacks," New York Times, January 12, 1997[CR][CR]Abjure comes from Latin abjurare, "to deny upon oath," from ab-, "away" + jurare, "to swear." It is related to jury, "a body of persons sworn to give a verdict on a given matter." Synonyms: recant, renounce, forswear. Find more at Thesaurus.com. collude to act in concert; to conspire. ?collude \kuh-LOOD\, intransitive verb: To act in concert; to conspire; to plot.[CR][CR]More perniciously still, well-heeled contributors and interest groups that seek political power routinely collude with needy office-seekers to find new paths around the hollow contribution limits. --Max Frankel, "You Can't Dam the Money," New York Times Magazine, February 20, 2000[CR][CR]Jane reflexively accommodates my fears and desires, as I do hers; together, man and wife, we collude in a mutual conspiracy to shelter and protect one another from our own and each other's inevitable and final abandonment. --Donald Antrim, The Verificationist[CR][CR]Collude derives from Latin colludere, from con-, "together" + ludere, "to play." dissolute loose in morals and conduct. ?dissolute \DIS-uh-loot\, adjective: Loose in morals and conduct; marked by indulgence in sensual pleasures or vices.[CR][CR]I had heard talk that Tosca, for all the dissolute life she led, was a pious person who frequented churches with scrupulous regularity, yet in this conduct I had always suspected a pose, an affectation. --Paola Capriolo, Floria Tosca (Translated by Liz Heron)[CR][CR]In 1788 . . . George III succumbed to the first attack of madness, the violent symptoms of which required the appointment of his oldest son, the Prince of Wales, as Regent. The King regained his reason the following year and resumed power, but already the high living "Prinnie" and his dissolute friends had changed the tone of the court. --Benita Eisler, Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame[CR][CR]Dissolute comes from the past participle of Latin dissolvere, "to loosen," from dis- + solvere, "to release." mendacious untruthful; also, untrue. ?mendacious \men-DAY-shuhs\, adjective: 1. Given to deception or falsehood; lying; untruthful; as, a mendacious person. 2. False; untrue; as, a mendacious statement.[CR][CR]Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, two very different men, each from a different party, were seen as mendacious and deceitful, driven to self-destructive actions by forces they could not control. --Robert Shogan, The Double-Edged Sword[CR][CR]His writings, speeches, and decisions supply crucial evidence but also contain mendacious elements, gaps, and camouflage. --Richard Breitman, Official Secrets[CR][CR]Mendacious is from Latin mendax, mendac-, "lying." Synonyms: deceitful, dishonest, false, fraudulent. Find more at Thesaurus.com. clemency disposition to show mercy; also, an act of mercy. ?clemency \KLEM-uhn-see\, noun: 1. Disposition to forgive and spare, as offenders; mercy. 2. An act or instance of mercy or leniency. 3. Mildness, especially of weather.[CR][CR]He put in a strong plea for clemency, begging the king to spare the alchemist's life. --Janet Gleeson, The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story[CR][CR]The commission . . . hinted that many of those on death row in Illinois deserved clemency. --Jodi Wilgoren, "Can use of the penalty be cut back? Illinois study fuels debate," International Herald Tribune, April 17, 2002[CR][CR]Clemency comes from Latin clementia, from clemens, "mild, merciful." Synonyms: leniency; lenity; mercy. Find more at Thesaurus.com. ebullient high-spirited. ?ebullient \ih-BUL-yuhnt\, adjective: 1. Overflowing with enthusiasm or excitement; high-spirited. 2. Boiling up or over.[CR][CR]The glasses he wore for astigmatism gave him a deceptively clerkish appearance, for he had an ebullient, gregarious personality, a hot temper, and an outsized imagination. --Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life[CR][CR]He was no longer an ebullient, energetic adolescent. --Linda Simon, Genuine Reality: A Life of William James[CR][CR]Sometimes he would come back from the Drenchery Club holding on to the walls till he got to my office, where he'd be jolly and ebullient. At other times, he'd return morose. --Harriet Wasserman, Handsome Is: Adventures with Saul Bellow[CR][CR]Ebullient comes from Latin ebullire, "to bubble up," from e-, "out of, from" + bullire, "to bubble, to boil." propitious presenting favorable circumstances. ?propitious \pruh-PISH-uhs\, adjective: 1. Presenting favorable circumstances or conditions. 2. Favorably inclined; gracious; benevolent.[CR][CR]By the early 1500s rice was being planted on the Cape Verde island most propitious for agriculture, Santiago. --Judith A. Carney, Black Rice[CR][CR]It is hard to imagine a less propitious start to a marriage: in a single blow Vincent forfeited the trust of his wife, the respect of her family, and the means of his own support. --Matthew Sturgis, Aubrey Beardsley: A Biography[CR][CR]If the fates are propitious we may succeed. --A. K. Green[CR][CR]Propitious derives from Latin propitius, "favorable." indolent lazy; inactive. ?indolent \IN-duh-luhnt\, adjective: 1. Avoiding labor and exertion; habitually idle; lazy; inactive. 2. Conducive to or encouraging laziness or inactivity. 3. Causing little or no pain. 4. Slow to heal, develop, or grow.[CR][CR]We worked very hard--at least Iris did; I was more naturally indolent. --John Bayley, Elegy for Iris[CR][CR]Charles was too indolent -- he never applied himself to the business of kingship as Louis XIV did. --John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination[CR][CR]There, people did as much as they chose and few ripples ever disturbed the prevailing atmosphere of indolent tranquillity. --Rufina Philby et al., The Private Life of Kim Philby[CR][CR]Now, though, researchers understand that some cancers are indolent -- so indolent, in fact, that they will never grow large enough in the patient's lifetime to cause medical problems. --Gina Kolata, "Test Proves Fruitless, Fueling New Debate on Cancer Screening," New York Times, April 9, 2002[CR][CR]Indolent is from Latin in-, "not" + dolens, "hurting, suffering pain," from dolere, "to suffer pain." adamant not susceptible to persuasion; unyielding. ?adamant \AD-uh-muhnt\, adjective: Not capable of being swayed by pleas, appeals, or reason; not susceptible to persuasion; unyielding.[CR][CR]In the cabin, the skipper and Truong Hong were arguing furiously, one convinced the boat had run aground, the other adamant that it was snared in nets. --Tran Vu, The Dragon Hunt[CR][CR]I pretended that nothing had happened, so adamant in my denial that my memory gradually underwent a revision. --Chu T'ien-wen, Notes of a Desolate Man[CR][CR]It's amazing the ignorance--and the adamant ignorance--of so many people, people one would think might at least admit to simply not having knowledge of something. --Ira Berkow, To the Hoop: The Seasons of a Basketball Life[CR][CR]Adamant derives from Greek adamas, adamant-, "unconquerable; the hardest metal; diamond." bonhomie pleasant and easy manner. ?bonhomie \bah-nuh-MEE\, noun: Good nature; pleasant and easy manner.[CR][CR]That bonhomie which won the hearts of all who knew him. --Washington Irving, Oliver Goldsmith[CR][CR]And what of the salesman's fabled bonhomie, the Willy Lomanesque emphasis on the importance of being liked? --"How to Manage Salespeople," Fortune, March 14, 1988[CR][CR]I would carefully study the exploits of positive role models like Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Carter, and Alec Baldwin, and attempt to emulate their radiant bonhomie. --Joe Queenan, My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood[CR][CR]Bonhomie comes from French, from bonhomme, "good-natured man," from bon, "good" (from Latin bonus) + homme, "man" (from Latin homo). depredation an act of plundering or ravaging. ?depredation \dep-ruh-DAY-shun\, noun: 1. An act of plundering or despoiling; a raid. 2. [Plural] Destructive operations; ravages.[CR][CR]. . . the depredations of pirates and privateers on the high seas. --Jacqueline Jones, American Work[CR][CR]Arguing for drastic measures, they cite the horrible depredations of drug addiction. --Jacob Sullum, "Voodoo social policy: exorcizing the twin demons, guns and drugs," Reason, October 1, 1994[CR][CR]For the moment, Kioni remains a precious fragment of the old Mediterranean, the one that existed before the depredations of pollution and crass, exploitative development. --Andrew Powell, "Hellenic heaven," Harper's Bazaar, August 1, 1994[CR][CR]Depredation comes from Late Latin depraedari, "to plunder," from Latin de- + praedari, from praeda, "plunder, prey." lissom supple; nimble. ?lissom, also lissome \LISS-uhm\, adjective: 1. Limber; supple; flexible. 2. Light and quick in action; nimble; agile; active.[CR][CR]Raphaelle Boitel moves with the lissom, contortionist plastique of a snake-woman. --Nadine Meisner, "Clowns real and imagined," Independent, April 20, 2001[CR][CR]Her foot touches the plate and sets off the trap, but so swift and lissome is she that her ankles evade the clash of the serrated iron jaws as they spring together. --John Bayley, Iris and Her Friends[CR][CR]Lissom is an alteration of lithesome, which derives from Old English lithe, "flexible, mild, gentle." 'Word Group Six - Words to Definitions [PB] given to or causing tears. lachrymose ?lachrymose \LAK-ruh-mohs\, adjective: 1. Given to shedding tears; suffused with tears; tearful. 2. Causing or tending to cause tears.[CR][CR]At the farewell party on the boat, Joyce was surrounded by a lachrymose family. --Edna O'Brien, "She Was the Other Ireland," New York Times, June 19, 1988[CR][CR]I promise to do my best, and if at any time my resolution lapses, pen me a few fierce vitriolic words and you shall receive by the next post a lachrymose & abject apology in my most emotional hand writing. --Rupert Brooke, letter to James Strachey, July 7, 1905[CR][CR]The game is perpetuated by the sons in a sometimes vicious sibling rivalry that inevitably subsides into lachrymose reconciliation. --Arthur Gelb and Barbara Gelb, O'Neill: Life With Monte Cristo[CR][CR]Meanwhile, a lachrymose new waltz, "After The Ball Is Over," was sweeping the nation. --Benjamin Welles, Sumner Welles: FDR's Global Strategist[CR][CR]Lachrymose is from Latin lacrimosus, from lacrima, "tear." to depart secretly. abscond ?abscond \ab-SKOND\, intransitive verb: To depart secretly; to steal away and hide oneself -- used especially of persons who withdraw to avoid arrest or prosecution.[CR][CR]The criminal is not concerned with influencing or affecting public opinion: he simply wants to abscond with his money or accomplish his mercenary task in the quickest and easiest way possible so that he may reap his reward and enjoy the fruits of his labours. --Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism[CR][CR]Pearl, now an orphan (her father having absconded shortly after her conception), has been taken to live with her great-aunt Margaret in the north of England. --Zoe Heller, Everything You Know[CR][CR]Abscond comes from Latin abscondere, "to conceal," from ab-, abs-, "away" + condere, "to put, to place." complete and confirmed integrity. probity ?probity \PRO-buh-tee\, noun: Complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness.[CR][CR]Unless some light is shed on shady dealings and some probity restored, more young lives will be blighted and careers choked off. --Norman Lebrecht, Who Killed Classical Music?[CR][CR]To suggest that this exemplar of financial probity was enriching himself at public expense was to shake the very foundations of the new Republic. --William Safire, Scandalmonger[CR][CR]Probity is from Latin probitas, from probus, "good, upright, virtuous." not inclined to talk. taciturn ?taciturn \TAS-uh-turn\, adjective: Habitually silent; not inclined to talk.[CR][CR]On stage she seemed to become transformed, and the contrast was even more noticeable given her shy, taciturn character, shrouded in the impalpable veil of gloom that always surrounded her. --Pino Cacucci, Tina Modotti: A Life[CR][CR]A balding, stocky, taciturn man who wore glasses, he gave an impression of distance and seriousness. --"Diana's Driver: Unsettling Piece in a Puzzle," New York Times, September 21, 1997[CR][CR]In the company of even his close literary and political friends he was shy if not taciturn. --"Passionate voice of the press," Irish Times, November 4, 1997[CR][CR]Taciturn comes from Latin taciturnus, from tacere, "to be silent." a natural inclination. proclivity ?proclivity \pro-KLIV-uh-tee\, noun: A natural inclination; predisposition.[CR][CR]New York City is full of people like Mr. O'Neal -- life-long bibliophiles with a proclivity for accumulation, holed up in compact spaces in the intimate company of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of books. --"For Some, Acquiring Books Has Become a Compulsion," New York Times, July 6, 1997[CR][CR]Those close to Clark from childhood were not surprised at how quickly he recognized the lucrative financial opportunities commercial announcing afforded, for Clark had demonstrated a proclivity for entrepreneurship as a youth. --John A. Jackson, American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock 'n' Roll Empire[CR][CR]Proclivity comes from Latin proclivitas, from proclivis, "inclined," from pro-, "forward" + clivus, "a slope." a leader who obtains power by means of appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace. demagogue ?demagogue \DEM-uh-gog\, noun: 1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace. 2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.[CR][CR]This was to have held a sculpture of a Roman charioteer driving four horses, but the work was never completed, leaving behind what looks like a diving board or a futurist balcony, ideally suited for a demagogue exhorting a throng below. --Michael Z. Wise, "A Fascist Utopia Adapted for Today," New York Times, July 11, 1999[CR][CR]A consummate demagogue, McCarthy played upon cold war emotions and made charges so fantastic that frightened people believed the worst. --Arthur Herman, Joseph McCarthy: Reexaming the Life and Legacy of America's Most Hated Senator[CR][CR]Even when he showed his true colors as a demagogue and trickster, Stalin did so in such a crisp and weighty, confidence-inspiring manner that he bewitched not only his conversational partner but himself as well. --Milovan Djilase, Fall of the New Class: A History of Communism's Self-Destruction[CR][CR]Demagogue derives from Greek demagogos, "a leader of the people," from demos, "the people" + agogos, "leading, one who leads," from agein, "to lead." to clear from alleged fault or guilt. exculpate ?exculpate \EK-skuhl-payt; ek-SKUHL-payt\, transitive verb: To clear from alleged fault or guilt; to prove to be guiltless; to relieve of blame; to acquit.[CR][CR]Each member is determined to exculpate himself, to lay the blame elsewhere. --Joseph Wood Krutch, "How Will Posterity Rank O'Neill?" New York Times, October 21, 1956[CR][CR]At the same time, they said, representatives of the inspector general's office at the CIA were generally protective of the intelligence agents involved in the matter, highlighting evidence that seemed to exculpate them. --Tim Golden, "Guerrilla's Asylum Analyzed Amid Contradictory Claims," New York Times, December 12, 1996[CR][CR]Exculpate is ultimately derived from Latin ex-, "without" + culpare, "to blame," from culpa, "blame, fault." Synonyms: clear, discharge, exonerate. Find more at Thesaurus.com. stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint. recalcitrant ?recalcitrant \rih-KAL-sih-truhnt\, adjective: Stubbornly resistant to and defiant of authority or restraint.[CR][CR]If they lingered too long, Clarice hurried them along in the same annoyed way she rushed recalcitrant goats through the gate. -- Kaye Gibbons, On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon[CR][CR]As Mr. Lincoln and his Union generals insisted on unconditional surrender, the end of slavery, and the specter of an egalitarian nation where race and class were in theory to be subordinate ideas, so recalcitrant Southerners by the summer of 1864 dug in deeper for their Armageddon to come. --Victor Davis Hanson, The Soul Of Battle[CR][CR]This recalcitrant fellow was the only dissenter in an otherwise unanimous recommendation. --Sherwin B. Nuland, "Indoctrinology," New Republic, February 19, 2001[CR][CR]Recalcitrant derives from Latin recalcitrare, "to kick back," from re-, "back" + calcitrare, "to strike with the heel, to kick," from calx, calc-, "the heel." Synonyms: unruly, ungovernable, intractable, refractory, willful, headstrong, wayward, disobedient. Find more at Thesaurus.com. former; sometime. quondam ?quondam \KWAHN-duhm; KWAHN-dam\, adjective: Having been formerly; former; sometime.[CR][CR]A quondam flower child, she spent seven years at the Royal College of Art, before becoming a lecturer at Edinburgh School of Art. --"Interview: Cool, calm collector," Independent, December 13, 1997[CR][CR]For the unregenerate "peasant" . . . had gone there with the successful glass distributor, shrewd investor, versatile talker, and quondam bon vivant whose motto was "The best is good enough for me." --Ted Solotaroff, Truth Comes in Blows: A Memoir[CR][CR]There was an exception to this in the form of Mrs Edna Parsons, a formidable Englishwoman who had once been the Prince's nanny and now served as proctor, supervising his behaviour. She was about fifty and true to her quondam profession, she could be quite strict. --David Freeman, One of Us[CR][CR]Quondam comes from the Latin quondam, "formerly," from quom, "when." transparent, clear; also, easily understandable. pellucid ?pellucid \puh-LOO-sid\, adjective: 1. Transparent; clear; not opaque. 2. Easily understandable.[CR][CR]The prevailing atmosphere as one cruises Kukulcan Boulevard, the busy strip where most of Cancun's 122 hotels are clustered, remains that of an Orlando or a Las Vegas dropped intact next to pellucid Caribbean waters. --Larry Rohter, "What's Doing in Cancun." New York Times, March 8, 1998[CR][CR]In her scrupulous and pellucid prose, she appears to distance herself from the optimistic Californian light. --Cynthia Ozick, "What Writer's Writers Write." New York Times Magazine, January 2, 2000[CR][CR]Pellucid comes from Latin pellucidus, "shining, transparent," from pellucere, "to shine through," from per-, "through" + lucere, "to shine." disuse. desuetude ?desuetude \DES-wih-tood, -tyood\, noun: The cessation of use; discontinuance of practice or custom; disuse.[CR][CR]Nuns and priests abandoned the identifying attire of the religious vocation and frequently also the vocation itself, experimental liturgies celebrated more the possibility of cultural advancement than that of eternal life, and popular Marian devotions fell into desuetude. --Michael W. Cuneo, The Smoke of Satan: Conservative and Traditionalist Dissent in Contemporary American Catholicism[CR][CR]Probably only one in a hundred girls who give birth clandestinely even knows that an edict of King Henry II, now fallen into desuetude, once made their action punishable by death. --Nina Rattner Gelbart, The King's Midwife[CR][CR]Where specific restrictions on personal freedom and on communal activity had not explicitly been lifted they were allowed to fall into desuetude by default. --David Vital, A People Apart: The Jews in Europe, 1789-1939[CR][CR]The exercise of rights which had practically passed into desuetude. --John Richard Green, Short History of the English People[CR][CR]Desuetude comes from Latin desuetudo, "disuse," from desuescere, "to become unaccustomed," from de- + suescere, "to become used or accustomed." of striking appropriateness and relevance. apposite ?apposite \AP-uh-zit\, adjective: Being of striking appropriateness and relevance; very applicable; apt.[CR][CR]As we survey Jewish history as a whole from the vantage point of the late twentieth century, Judah Halevi's phrase "prisoner of hope" seems entirely apposite. The prisoner of hope is sustained and encouraged by his hope, even as he is confined by it. --Jane S. Gerber (Editor), The Illustrated History of the Jewish People[CR][CR]Suppose, for example, that in a theoretical physics seminar we were to explain a very technical concept in quantum field theory by comparing it to the concept of aporia in Derridean literary theory. Our audience of physicists would wonder, quite reasonably, what is the goal of such a metaphor--whether or not it is apposite--apart from displaying our own erudition. --Alan D. Sokal and Jean Bricmont, Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science[CR][CR]Apposite comes from Latin appositus, past participle of apponere, "to set or put near," from ad-, "to, toward" + ponere, "to put, to place." Synonyms: relevant, pertinent, germane, material. Find more at Thesaurus.com. light-hearted; mirthful. jocund ?jocund \JOCK-uhnd; JOH-kuhnd\, adjective: Full of or expressing high-spirited merriment; light-hearted; mirthful.[CR][CR]His careless manners and jocund repartees might well seem incompatible with anything serious. --William Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico[CR][CR]There was once a widow, fair, young, free, rich, and withal very pleasant and jocund, that fell in love with a certain round and well-set servant of a college. --Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (translated by Thomas Shelton)[CR][CR]Many a glad good morrow and jocund laugh from the young folk Made the bright air brighter. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Evangeline"[CR][CR]Jocund is from Old French jocond, from Latin jucundus, "pleasant, agreeable, delightful," from juvare, "to please, to delight." the sky; the heavens. firmament ?firmament \FUR-muh-muhnt\, noun: 1. The region of the air; the sky; the heavens. 2. The field or sphere of an interest or activity[CR][CR]But to judge by the twinkling summer stars that filled the firmament, the dawn was still far off. --A. B. Yehoshua, A Journey to the End of the Millennium[CR][CR]Studying the firmament--the night vault that sparkles with thousands of flickering lights--is older than recorded history. --William E. Burrows, This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age[CR][CR]The glossy magazines have branded her a rising star, shooting up into the firmament of mega fashion stardom. --Hadley Freeman, "If I see one more black suit, I'll want to roll over and die," The Guardian, December 14, 2001[CR][CR]Firmament comes from Late Latin firmamentum, "firmness, the sky," from Latin firmare, "to make firm." the transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words. spoonerism ?spoonerism \SPOO-nuh-riz-uhm\, noun: The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words.[CR][CR]Some examples: We all know what it is to have a half-warmed fish ["half-formed wish"] inside us.[CR][CR]The Lord is a shoving leopard ["loving shepherd"].[CR][CR]It is kisstomary to cuss ["customary to kiss"] the bride.[CR][CR]Is the bean dizzy ["dean busy"]?[CR][CR]When the boys come back from France, we'll have the hags flung out ["flags hung out"]![CR][CR]Let me sew you to your sheet ["show you to your seat"].[CR][CR]Spoonerism comes from the name of the Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), a kindly but nervous Anglican clergyman and educationalist. All the above examples were committed by (or attributed to) him. done routinely. perfunctory ?perfunctory \pur-FUNGK-tuh-ree\, adjective: 1. Done merely to carry out a duty; performed mechanically or routinely. 2. Lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent.[CR][CR]The city's moderate hotels, however, tend to offer minimal comforts, perfunctory service and dreary decor. --Paula Butturini, "What's Doing in Naples," New York Times, April 14, 1996[CR][CR]The mainstream media's coverage of hard economic data used to be perfunctory: a spot of news about the direction of interest rates, or a calculation of how the dollar was holding up against the yen. --Robert H. Frank, "Safety in Numbers: The wild stock market is turning us all into macroeconomic-data junkies," New York Times Magazine, November 28, 1999[CR][CR]His hugs, although expansive and affectionate, did not linger, seemed perfunctory. --Susan Bordo, The Male Body[CR][CR]Perfunctory derives from Late Latin perfunctorius, from Latin perfungi, "to perform fully, to get done with," from per-, "through" + fungi, "to perform." obliged; indebted. beholden ?beholden \bih-HOHL-duhn\, adjective: Obliged; bound in gratitude; indebted.[CR][CR]Kate was quite fond of him and knew he was grateful to her for all the help and hospitality she and Oliver had given him during his period of gloom and puzzlement after his wife's defection, but she did not want him to feel beholden to her. --Mary Sheepshanks, Picking Up the Pieces[CR][CR]The likely new government, which draws only a negligible level of support from rural areas, will be much less beholden to the farming interests than any government in the past two decades. --"Reforming The EU Budget," Irish Times, October 8, 1998[CR][CR]Peter did not intend to be beholden to any of his relatives unless they proved their worth. --Lindsey Hughes, Russia in the Age of Peter the Great[CR][CR]Beholden is derived from Old English behealden, "to hold firmly," from be-, intensive prefix + healden, "to hold." speaking, writing, or made up of many languages. polyglot ?polyglot \POL-ee-glot\, adjective: 1. Containing or made up of several languages. 2. Writing, speaking, or versed in many languages. noun: One who speaks several languages.[CR][CR]Yes, Burgess loved to scatter polyglot obscurities like potholes throughout his more than 50 novels and dozens of nonfiction works. He could leap gaily from Welsh to French to Malay to Yiddish in one breath. --"Byrne," Chicago Sun-Times, August 24, 1997[CR][CR]There should be polyglot waiters who can tell us when the train starts in four or five languages. --Hamerton, Intelligent Life[CR][CR]My parents are both polyglots--they speak five Indian languages each, I speak seven--and they would encourage my reading. --Lawrence Weschler, A Wanderer in the Perfect City[CR][CR]Polyglot derives from Greek polyglottos, from poly-, "many" + glotta, "tongue, language." to renounce, reject, or shun. abjure ?abjure \ab-JUR\, transitive verb: 1. To renounce under oath. 2. To renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to reject; repudiate. 3. To abstain from; to shun.[CR][CR]A few years earlier Galileo had been forced by the Inquisition to abjure, on his knees, his heretical views that the Earth moves around the Sun. -- Alan Gurney, Below the Convergence[CR][CR]He closed his eyes as he raised the goblet to his lips and took a small sip of the cool liquid, and then his face paled as he understood how sublime the taste of the forbidden drink was, and how easily one might become enslaved to it. There and then he resolved to abjure it totally. --A. B. Yehoshua, A Journey to the End of the Millennium[CR][CR]In the mid-1970's, a young European couple abjure middle-class comforts in favor of travel to India, where the wife, Sophie, grows disillusioned with Eastern spiritualism just as her husband, Matteo, is swept up in it. --Laurel Graeber, "New and Noteworthy Paperbacks," New York Times, January 12, 1997[CR][CR]Abjure comes from Latin abjurare, "to deny upon oath," from ab-, "away" + jurare, "to swear." It is related to jury, "a body of persons sworn to give a verdict on a given matter." Synonyms: recant, renounce, forswear. Find more at Thesaurus.com. to act in concert; to conspire. collude ?collude \kuh-LOOD\, intransitive verb: To act in concert; to conspire; to plot.[CR][CR]More perniciously still, well-heeled contributors and interest groups that seek political power routinely collude with needy office-seekers to find new paths around the hollow contribution limits. --Max Frankel, "You Can't Dam the Money," New York Times Magazine, February 20, 2000[CR][CR]Jane reflexively accommodates my fears and desires, as I do hers; together, man and wife, we collude in a mutual conspiracy to shelter and protect one another from our own and each other's inevitable and final abandonment. --Donald Antrim, The Verificationist[CR][CR]Collude derives from Latin colludere, from con-, "together" + ludere, "to play." loose in morals and conduct. dissolute ?dissolute \DIS-uh-loot\, adjective: Loose in morals and conduct; marked by indulgence in sensual pleasures or vices.[CR][CR]I had heard talk that Tosca, for all the dissolute life she led, was a pious person who frequented churches with scrupulous regularity, yet in this conduct I had always suspected a pose, an affectation. --Paola Capriolo, Floria Tosca (Translated by Liz Heron)[CR][CR]In 1788 . . . George III succumbed to the first attack of madness, the violent symptoms of which required the appointment of his oldest son, the Prince of Wales, as Regent. The King regained his reason the following year and resumed power, but already the high living "Prinnie" and his dissolute friends had changed the tone of the court. --Benita Eisler, Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame[CR][CR]Dissolute comes from the past participle of Latin dissolvere, "to loosen," from dis- + solvere, "to release." untruthful; also, untrue. mendacious ?mendacious \men-DAY-shuhs\, adjective: 1. Given to deception or falsehood; lying; untruthful; as, a mendacious person. 2. False; untrue; as, a mendacious statement.[CR][CR]Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, two very different men, each from a different party, were seen as mendacious and deceitful, driven to self-destructive actions by forces they could not control. --Robert Shogan, The Double-Edged Sword[CR][CR]His writings, speeches, and decisions supply crucial evidence but also contain mendacious elements, gaps, and camouflage. --Richard Breitman, Official Secrets[CR][CR]Mendacious is from Latin mendax, mendac-, "lying." Synonyms: deceitful, dishonest, false, fraudulent. Find more at Thesaurus.com. disposition to show mercy; also, an act of mercy. clemency ?clemency \KLEM-uhn-see\, noun: 1. Disposition to forgive and spare, as offenders; mercy. 2. An act or instance of mercy or leniency. 3. Mildness, especially of weather.[CR][CR]He put in a strong plea for clemency, begging the king to spare the alchemist's life. --Janet Gleeson, The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story[CR][CR]The commission . . . hinted that many of those on death row in Illinois deserved clemency. --Jodi Wilgoren, "Can use of the penalty be cut back? Illinois study fuels debate," International Herald Tribune, April 17, 2002[CR][CR]Clemency comes from Latin clementia, from clemens, "mild, merciful." Synonyms: leniency; lenity; mercy. Find more at Thesaurus.com. high-spirited. ebullient ?ebullient \ih-BUL-yuhnt\, adjective: 1. Overflowing with enthusiasm or excitement; high-spirited. 2. Boiling up or over.[CR][CR]The glasses he wore for astigmatism gave him a deceptively clerkish appearance, for he had an ebullient, gregarious personality, a hot temper, and an outsized imagination. --Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life[CR][CR]He was no longer an ebullient, energetic adolescent. --Linda Simon, Genuine Reality: A Life of William James[CR][CR]Sometimes he would come back from the Drenchery Club holding on to the walls till he got to my office, where he'd be jolly and ebullient. At other times, he'd return morose. --Harriet Wasserman, Handsome Is: Adventures with Saul Bellow[CR][CR]Ebullient comes from Latin ebullire, "to bubble up," from e-, "out of, from" + bullire, "to bubble, to boil." presenting favorable circumstances. propitious ?propitious \pruh-PISH-uhs\, adjective: 1. Presenting favorable circumstances or conditions. 2. Favorably inclined; gracious; benevolent.[CR][CR]By the early 1500s rice was being planted on the Cape Verde island most propitious for agriculture, Santiago. --Judith A. Carney, Black Rice[CR][CR]It is hard to imagine a less propitious start to a marriage: in a single blow Vincent forfeited the trust of his wife, the respect of her family, and the means of his own support. --Matthew Sturgis, Aubrey Beardsley: A Biography[CR][CR]If the fates are propitious we may succeed. --A. K. Green[CR][CR]Propitious derives from Latin propitius, "favorable." lazy; inactive. indolent ?indolent \IN-duh-luhnt\, adjective: 1. Avoiding labor and exertion; habitually idle; lazy; inactive. 2. Conducive to or encouraging laziness or inactivity. 3. Causing little or no pain. 4. Slow to heal, develop, or grow.[CR][CR]We worked very hard--at least Iris did; I was more naturally indolent. --John Bayley, Elegy for Iris[CR][CR]Charles was too indolent -- he never applied himself to the business of kingship as Louis XIV did. --John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination[CR][CR]There, people did as much as they chose and few ripples ever disturbed the prevailing atmosphere of indolent tranquillity. --Rufina Philby et al., The Private Life of Kim Philby[CR][CR]Now, though, researchers understand that some cancers are indolent -- so indolent, in fact, that they will never grow large enough in the patient's lifetime to cause medical problems. --Gina Kolata, "Test Proves Fruitless, Fueling New Debate on Cancer Screening," New York Times, April 9, 2002[CR][CR]Indolent is from Latin in-, "not" + dolens, "hurting, suffering pain," from dolere, "to suffer pain." not susceptible to persuasion; unyielding. adamant ?adamant \AD-uh-muhnt\, adjective: Not capable of being swayed by pleas, appeals, or reason; not susceptible to persuasion; unyielding.[CR][CR]In the cabin, the skipper and Truong Hong were arguing furiously, one convinced the boat had run aground, the other adamant that it was snared in nets. --Tran Vu, The Dragon Hunt[CR][CR]I pretended that nothing had happened, so adamant in my denial that my memory gradually underwent a revision. --Chu T'ien-wen, Notes of a Desolate Man[CR][CR]It's amazing the ignorance--and the adamant ignorance--of so many people, people one would think might at least admit to simply not having knowledge of something. --Ira Berkow, To the Hoop: The Seasons of a Basketball Life[CR][CR]Adamant derives from Greek adamas, adamant-, "unconquerable; the hardest metal; diamond." pleasant and easy manner. bonhomie ?bonhomie \bah-nuh-MEE\, noun: Good nature; pleasant and easy manner.[CR][CR]That bonhomie which won the hearts of all who knew him. --Washington Irving, Oliver Goldsmith[CR][CR]And what of the salesman's fabled bonhomie, the Willy Lomanesque emphasis on the importance of being liked? --"How to Manage Salespeople," Fortune, March 14, 1988[CR][CR]I would carefully study the exploits of positive role models like Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Carter, and Alec Baldwin, and attempt to emulate their radiant bonhomie. --Joe Queenan, My Goodness: A Cynic's Short-Lived Search for Sainthood[CR][CR]Bonhomie comes from French, from bonhomme, "good-natured man," from bon, "good" (from Latin bonus) + homme, "man" (from Latin homo). an act of plundering or ravaging. depredation ?depredation \dep-ruh-DAY-shun\, noun: 1. An act of plundering or despoiling; a raid. 2. [Plural] Destructive operations; ravages.[CR][CR]. . . the depredations of pirates and privateers on the high seas. --Jacqueline Jones, American Work[CR][CR]Arguing for drastic measures, they cite the horrible depredations of drug addiction. --Jacob Sullum, "Voodoo social policy: exorcizing the twin demons, guns and drugs," Reason, October 1, 1994[CR][CR]For the moment, Kioni remains a precious fragment of the old Mediterranean, the one that existed before the depredations of pollution and crass, exploitative development. --Andrew Powell, "Hellenic heaven," Harper's Bazaar, August 1, 1994[CR][CR]Depredation comes from Late Latin depraedari, "to plunder," from Latin de- + praedari, from praeda, "plunder, prey." supple; nimble. lissom ?lissom, also lissome \LISS-uhm\, adjective: 1. Limber; supple; flexible. 2. Light and quick in action; nimble; agile; active.[CR][CR]Raphaelle Boitel moves with the lissom, contortionist plastique of a snake-woman. --Nadine Meisner, "Clowns real and imagined," Independent, April 20, 2001[CR][CR]Her foot touches the plate and sets off the trap, but so swift and lissome is she that her ankles evade the clash of the serrated iron jaws as they spring together. --John Bayley, Iris and Her Friends[CR][CR]Lissom is an alteration of lithesome, which derives from Old English lithe, "flexible, mild, gentle." 'Word Group Seven - Definitions to Words [PA] enervate to weaken. ?enervate \EN-ur-vayt\, transitive verb: 1. To deprive of vigor, force, or strength; to render feeble; to weaken. 2. To reduce the moral or mental vigor of.[CR][CR]Beatriz de Ahumada soldiered on to produce nine more children, a tour of duty that left her enervated and worn. --Cathleen Medwick, Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul[CR][CR]In countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Ghana I have always felt enervated by the slightest physical or mental exertion, whereas in the UK, France, Germany or the US I have always felt reinforced and stimulated by the temperate climate, not only during long stays, but even during brief travels. --David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations[CR][CR]The tendency of abstract thought . . . to enervate the will is one of the real dangers of the highest education. --Mark Pattison, Suggestions on Academical Organisation[CR][CR]The conquerors were enervated by luxury. --Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire[CR][CR]Enervate is from the past participle of Latin enervare, "to remove the sinews from, to weaken," from e-, ex-, "out of, from" + nervus, "sinew." condign deserved; adequate. ?condign \kuhn-DINE; KON-dine\, adjective: Suitable to the fault or crime; deserved; adequate.[CR][CR]In a story as old as the Greeks, overweening pride brought condign disaster. --David Frum, How We Got Here[CR][CR]He is a violent criminal and, like other criminals, he should be brought to condign punishment. --Kwasi Kwarteng, "The boy from Brazil should be behind bars," Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1997[CR][CR]Condign ultimately derives from Latin condignus, "very worthy," from com-, here used intensively + dignus, "worthy." Synonyms: fitting; due; meet; merited. Find more at Thesaurus.com. blandishment flattering speech or action; allurement. ?blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\, noun: Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement -- often used in the plural.[CR][CR]But she had not risen at all to the law fellow's blandishments, his attempts to interest her in his ideas and persuade her to set forth her own. --John Bayley, Elegy for Iris[CR][CR]And that my English-speaking victims find my blandishments so pretty, accented as they are, and yield to my soft lustrous Italian pronunciations, is a constant source of bliss for me. --Anne Rice, Vittorio, the Vampire[CR][CR]Perfect, gentle reader: I will not begin this book with a tribute to your discernment, because a person of your obvious accomplishments would certainly be immune to such blandishments. --Richard Stengel, You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery[CR][CR]Blandishment ultimately comes from Latin blandiri, "to flatter, caress, coax," from blandus, "flattering, mild." plenary full; complete. ?plenary \PLEE-nuh-ree; PLEN-uh-ree\, adjective: 1. Full in all respects; complete; absolute; as, plenary authority. 2. Fully attended by all qualified members.[CR][CR]Judges like to quote a 1936 Supreme Court opinion that spoke of "the very delicate, plenary and exclusive power of the President as the sole organ of the Federal Government in the field of international relations." --"Like Interpreting the Dreams of Pharaoh," New York Times, November 6, 1988[CR][CR]Tito called a plenary session of the Central Committee. --Milovan Djilas, Fall of the New Class[CR][CR]Plenary comes from Late Latin plenarius, from Latin plenus, "full." It is related to plenty. cosset to pamper. ?cosset \KOSS-it\, transitive verb: To treat as a pet; to treat with excessive indulgence; to pamper.[CR][CR]Sumner's parents, for instance, were routinely attended by butlers, maids, coachmen and grooms while little Sumner and his sister, Emily, were pampered and cosseted from infancy by nurserymaids and governesses. --Benjamin Welles, Sumner Welles: FDR's Global Strategist[CR][CR]Assunta played a larger role in the lives of her children, whom she cosseted and cared for as best she could. --Patricia Albers, Shadows, Fire, Snow: The Life of Tina Modotti[CR][CR]In these two years, Adolf lived a life of parasitic idleness -- funded, provided for, looked after, and cosseted by a doting mother, with his own room in the comfortable flat in the Humboldtstrasse in Linz, which the family had moved into in June 1905. --Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris[CR][CR]Cosset comes from the noun cosset, "a pet lamb." sang-froid coolness in trying circumstances. ?sang-froid, also sangfroid \sang-FRWAH\, noun: Freedom from agitation or excitement of mind; coolness in trying circumstances; calmness.[CR][CR]The Treasury Secretary's sang-froid in moments of crisis. --"Keeping the Boom From Busting," New York Times, July 19, 1998[CR][CR]Both men were mightily impressed by the calmness of the Americans on board, particularly among the women. "I had, during my sojourn in America," Beaumont said later, "a thousand occasions to see the sang-froid of the American." --Michael Kammen, "Wrecked on the Fourth of July," New York Times, July 6, 1997[CR][CR]Gaviria knew Alberto as an impulsive but cordial man capable of maintaining his sangfroid under the most stressful circumstances. --Gabriel Garcia Marquez, News of a Kidnapping[CR][CR]Sang-froid is from the French; it literally means "cold blood" (sang, "blood" + froid, "cold"). brio vigor; vivacity. ?brio \BREE-oh\, noun: Enthusiastic vigor; vivacity; liveliness; spirit.[CR][CR]Though my judgment was no doubt affected by all the wine we'd consumed, I remember being elated by our performance that night: our inspired spur-of-the-moment dialogue, the actors fleshing out their roles with such brio. --Gail Godwin, Evensong[CR][CR]For him, life must be a party, a ball, an endless carnival. Each person must invent a role for himself and play it with brio. --Lydia Flem, Casanova: The Man Who Really Loved Women (Translated by Catherine Temerson)[CR][CR]The Internet has always been home to plenty of unvarnished brio. --Timothy L. O'Brien, "Corporate Love Letters: Youstink.Com," New York Times, April 4, 1999[CR][CR]Brio is from the Italian, ultimately of Celtic origin. vociferous clamorous; noisy. ?vociferous \voh-SIF-uhr-uhs\, adjective: Making a loud outcry; clamorous; noisy.[CR][CR]Claudio has work to do and I have a vociferous son demanding a story. --Ariel Dorfman, Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey[CR][CR]The local heroes received meals, heard speeches, were presented with flags, and were accompanied to railroad stations by vociferous crowds. --Jeffry D. Wert, A Brotherhood of Valor[CR][CR]Vociferous derives from Latin vociferari, "to shout, to cry out" from vox, "voice" + ferre, "to carry." protean readily assuming different shapes or forms. ?protean \PRO-tee-un; pro-TEE-un\, adjective: 1. Displaying considerable variety or diversity. 2. Readily assuming different shapes or forms.[CR][CR]The [Broadway] musical was ceaselessly protean in these years, usually conventional but always developing convention, twisting it, replacing it. --Ethan Mordden, Coming Up Roses[CR][CR]Roosevelt's performance in the civil rights meeting illustrated one of the central operating principles of his protean executive style, a style that transformed the presidency, and the nation: a willingness to delay decisions, change his mind, keep his options open, avoid commitments, or even deceive people in the relentless pursuit of noble objectives. --William Doyle, Inside the Oval Office[CR][CR]He was a protean character who constantly adapted to his environment. --David Maraniss, The Clinton Enigma[CR][CR]Protean is derived from Proteus, an ancient Greek god who had the ability to change his shape at will. eschew to shun; to avoid. ?eschew \es-CHOO\, transitive verb: To shun; to avoid (as something wrong or distasteful).[CR][CR]In high school and college the Vassar women had enjoyed that lifestyle, but afterward they had eschewed it as shallow. --Nina Burleigh, A Very Private Woman[CR][CR]While teaching in Beijing, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in the late 1920s, he helped launch what became known as the "new poetry" movement, which eschewed traditional forms and encouraged topics based on everyday life. --Bruce Gilley, Tiger on the Brink[CR][CR]Finally, the first American diplomats . . . made a point of eschewing fancy dress, titles, entertainments, and all manner of protocol, so as to be walking, talking symbols of republican piety. --Walter A. McDougall, Promised Land, Crusader State[CR][CR]Eschew comes from Old French eschiver, ultimately of Germanic origin. somniferous causing or inducing sleep. ?somniferous \som-NIF-uhr-uhs\, adjective: Causing or inducing sleep.[CR][CR]He has gone outside the usual channels of stodgy academic journals and somniferous lectures. --David Gibson, "Separating Christ from Christianity," The Record (Bergen County, NJ), June 9, 1996[CR][CR]And some cities are eschewing the somniferous art museum to invent newer, hipper institutions that honor our fascination with contemporary culture: technology, space flight, and even rock 'n' roll. --Heidi Landecker, "Art Transplant," Architecture, March 1998[CR][CR]Filmed on location in England and using quotes from letters and other documents of Pilgrim leaders, this video is rich in detail and information. Its major drawback--and one that may affect its effectiveness with its intended student audience--is that it's as dull as dillweed, primarily due to a somniferous narration. --J. Carlson, "The Mayflower Pilgrims," Video Librarian, November 11, 1996[CR][CR]Somniferous comes from Latin somnifer, "sleep-bringing," from somnus, "sleep" + ferre, "to bring." gregarious seeking and enjoying the company of others. ?gregarious \grih-GAIR-ee-us\, adjective: 1. Tending to form a group with others of the same kind. 2. Seeking and enjoying the company of others.[CR][CR]True locusts, which are actually certain kinds of grasshoppers, are usually solitary and rather sluggish, but when they are crowded they enter a gregarious and highly active migratory phase. --Gilbert Waldbauer, Millions of Monarchs, Bunches of Beetles[CR][CR]In the newly discovered gene, the change of a single unit of DNA converts the worm from a solitary forager into a gregarious diner. --"Can Social Behavior of Man Be Glimpsed in a Lowly Worm?" New York Times, September 7, 1998[CR][CR]My efforts to cultivate an identity as a strong silent type have consistently been undermined by my gregarious nature and my delight in conversation. --Marty Jezer, Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words[CR][CR]Although social and gregarious when he wants to be, Phil learned, during our early years together, not only to savor but also to require long periods of hermitlike solitude. --Frances K. Conley, Walking Out on the Boys[CR][CR]Gregarious is from Latin gregarius, "belonging to a herd or flock," from grex, greg-, "herd, flock." lassitude lack of vitality or energy. ?lassitude \LASS-uh-tood; LASS-uh-tyood\, noun: Lack of vitality or energy; weariness; listlessness.[CR][CR]The feverish excitement . . . had given place to a dull, regretful lassitude. --George Eliot, Romola[CR][CR]A long exercise of the mental powers induces a remarkable lassitude of the whole body. --Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful[CR][CR]She felt aged, in deep lassitude and numb despair, and regretted not marrying Mai Dong before he left for the front. --Ha Jin, Waiting[CR][CR]Lassitude is from Latin lassitudo, from lassus, "weary, exhausted." inchoate partly but not fully in existence or operation. ?inchoate \in-KOH-it\, adjective: 1. In an initial or early stage; just begun. 2. Imperfectly formed or formulated.[CR][CR]Mildred Spock believed that, at about the age of three, her children's inchoate wills were to be shaped like vines sprouting up a beanpole. --Thomas Maier, Dr. Spock: An American Life[CR][CR]She also had a vision, not yet articulated, an inchoate sense of some special calling that awaited her. --Linda Lear, Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature[CR][CR]You take on a project because of the feeling, perhaps inchoate, that it may in some way contribute to your deeper understanding of the larger-scale research program you have chosen as your life's work. --Christopher Scholz, Fieldwork: A Geologist's Memoir of the Kalahari[CR][CR]Inchoate comes from the past participle of Latin inchoare, alteration of incohare, "to begin." esurient hungry; greedy. ?esurient \ih-SUR-ee-uhnt; -ZUR-\, adjective: Hungry; voracious; greedy.[CR][CR]The enemy then was an esurient Soviet Union which, having swallowed up Eastern Europe, had imposed a totalitarian system on countries just liberated from Nazism. --Arnold Beichman, "As Truman envisioned our role," Washington Times, April 23, 2002[CR][CR]These new censors, the deconstructionists, take the most luscious and delicious apple and show it to a hungry person. They then seal the fruit with plastic wrap and demand that the esurient victim enjoy its flavour. --Michael Coren, "Behold the deconstructionist, who liberates literature by confining it to a cult," Alberta Report, April 10, 1995[CR][CR]Esurient comes from the present participle of Latin esurire, "to be hungry, to desire eagerly," from edere, "to eat." subterfuge a deceptive device or stratagem. ?subterfuge \SUB-tur-fyooj\, noun: A deceptive device or stratagem.[CR][CR]In the end, however, all the stealth and subterfuge were for naught, as the young publicity agent couldn't keep the secret. --Larry Tye, The Father of Spin[CR][CR]She has also complained . . . that the reporter used subterfuge to interview her, pretending to be the mother of an inmate. --Roy Greenslade, "Filthy rags," The Guardian, January 11, 2001[CR][CR]He is adept at subterfuge, at gaining entry to factories by masquerading as a laborer, a wholesaler, an exporter. --Jonathan Silvers, "Child Labor in Pakistan," The Atlantic, February 1996[CR][CR]Subterfuge comes from Late Latin subterfugium, "a secret flight," from Latin subterfugere, "to flee in secret, to evade," from subter, "underneath, underhand, in secret" + fugere, "to flee." It is related to fugitive, one who flees. gastronome a lover of good food and drink. ?gastronome \GAS-truh-nohm\, noun: A connoisseur of good food and drink.[CR][CR]If "poultry is for the cook what canvas is for a painter," to quote the 19th-century French gastronome Brillat-Savarin, why paint the same painting over and over again? --John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger, "From Poussin to Capon, a Chicken in Every Size," New York Times, September 22, 1999[CR][CR]Even though Paris was then considered the culinary capital of Europe, the food at the Cercle was so highly revered that many well-known gastronomes regularly made the trip to Lyon to eat there. --Daniel Rogov, "Three culinary tales for Hanukka," Jerusalem Post, December 6, 1996[CR][CR]I am no gastronome at the best; moreover, I have, over the years, eaten in so many unpropitious circumstances and from so many truly awful kitchens that I have come to consider myself almost as much a connoisseur of bad food as other men are of good. --James Cameron, "Albania: The Last Marxist Paradise," The Atlantic, June 1963[CR][CR]Gastronome is ultimately derived from Greek gaster, "stomach" + nomos, "rule, law." affable easy to speak to; also, gracious. ?affable \AF-uh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Easy to speak to; receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner. 2. Gracious; benign.[CR][CR]Nonetheless, in view of the fact that Leon stated in the warrant that I was good-looking, cheerful and affable, they exhorted me to make myself appear to be taciturn, melancholy and ugly. --Susana Rotker (Editor), The Memoirs of Fray Servando Teresa De Mier[CR][CR]Johnny's father, while strict with his children, usually was affable and relaxed. --Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams[CR][CR]There was even more joking than usual Saturday afternoon; he seemed to be in a particularly affable mood. --"Presley Treats Fans to His Best," New York Times, July 21, 1975[CR][CR]Affable is from Latin affabilis, from affari, "to speak to," from ad-, "to" + fari, "to speak." precipice a very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place. ?precipice \PRES-uh-pis\, noun: 1. A very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place; a cliff. 2. The brink of a hazardous situation.[CR][CR]Barbara got as close to the edge as she dared and looked down over the precipice. --Catherine Whitney, The Calling: The Year in the Life of an Order of Nuns[CR][CR]And then, just like that, there you were, on the edge of the precipice, with everything spread out underneath: the valley, and then, twenty miles off, the shimmering, spangling City. --James Kaplan, Two Guys from Verona: A Novel of Suburbia[CR][CR]Mugabe's latest retreat to reason from the precipice of anarchy may have come too late, at least for him. --Simon Robinson, "Power to the Mob," Time Europe, May 1, 2000[CR][CR]At that point, no other publication in the world had the technical capability, the organizational latitude, or the raw nerve to operate on the very precipice of disaster the way that Sports Illustrated regularly did. --Michael MacCambridge, The Franchise: A History of Sports Illustrated Magazine[CR][CR]Precipice comes from Latin praecipitium, "a precipice," from praeceps, praecipit-, "with head before, headlong, steep," from prae, "before" + caput, "the head." purblind having greatly reduced vision. ?purblind \PUR-blynd\, adjective: 1. Having greatly reduced vision. 2. Lacking in insight or discernment.[CR][CR]Add to this that the work seems unsure of its audience, providing no footnotes or exact references, but concluding with a bizarre parade of bibliographical essays running to 59 pages; that it gives the date only about once every 100 pages (and then not always the right date...) and leaves us feeling as if we were wandering purblind in some deep cave. --James R. Kincaid, "The Sum Of His Oddities," New York Times, January 13, 1991[CR][CR]Those changes, whose pressing necessity by the end of the 1980s was surely evident to all but the most purblind, would have taken place in any case. --Bryan Gould, "Mandy," New Statesman, January 29, 1999[CR][CR]But something is fundamentally wrong at Leeds, something that even the most ardent supporters -- and other purblind apologists -- must surely come to recognise. --Kevin Mitchell, "How Leeds lost it," The Observer, March 10, 2002[CR][CR]On and on the weary litany of purblind negativity proceeds. --Eric Evans, "The Theory Man." History Today, June 1997[CR][CR]Purblind derives from Middle English pur blind, "wholly blind," from pur, "pure" + blind. At one time it meant "completely blind," but it came to mean something less than completely blind. fulminate to issue or utter verbal attacks or censures. ?fulminate \FUL-muh-nayt\, intransitive verb: 1. To issue or utter verbal attacks or censures authoritatively or menacingly. 2. To explode; to detonate. transitive verb: 1. To utter or send out with denunciations or censures. 2. To cause to explode.[CR][CR]This mass culture--global, immediate, accessible, buoyant, with shared heroes, models, and goals--is immensely intoxicating. Ayatollahs fulminate against it; dictators censor it; mandarins try to slam the door on it. --Lawrence M. Friedman, The Horizontal Society[CR][CR]He lets others fulminate on his behalf while he maintains his gentlemanly demeanor. --Richard Sandomir, "Cablevision's Dolan Makes the Deal Only When He's Ready," New York Times, December 6, 1998[CR][CR]Everyone wants to be young, beautiful and rich. I don't say that scornfully: there are worse things to want to be. But that's why, for example, people don't begrudge Kate Moss how much she earns for a day's work but will fulminate over the take-home pay of some fat, old Water Board exec. --Nigella Lawson, "Never mind the size, just feel the price," The Observer, September 3, 2000[CR][CR]Fulminate comes from Latin fulminare, "to strike with lightning," from fulmen, fulmin-, "a thunderbolt." cogitate to think; to ponder. ?cogitate \KOJ-uh-tayt\, intransitive verb: To think deeply or intently; to ponder; to meditate. transitive verb: To think about; to ponder on; to meditate upon; to plan or plot.[CR][CR]Still cogitating and looking for an explanation in the fire. --Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son[CR][CR]Elliot seems to have been a serious type, given to New Year's Eves reading Shakespeare and cogitating on the sermon preached at his grandfather's funeral. --James Reaney, "They partied like it's 1899," London Free Press, January 3, 1999[CR][CR]Doc Leach shifted his pipe from one corner of his mouth to the other and blinked a couple of times. That meant he was cogitating. --Monty Roberts, The Man Who Listens To Horses[CR][CR]Cogitate comes from Latin cogitare, "to turn over in one's mind, to reflect, to think, to consider," from co- + agitare, "to put in constant motion, to drive about," from agere, "to drive." It is related to agitate. Synonyms: think, reason, reflect, speculate, deliberate. Find more at Thesaurus.com. lambent playing on the surface; flickering. ?lambent \LAM-buhnt\, adjective: 1. Playing lightly on or over a surface; flickering; as, "a lambent flame; lambent shadows." 2. Softly bright or radiant; luminous; as, "a lambent light." 3. Light and brilliant; as, "a lambent style; lambent wit." I have an image in my mind of the soaring vault rising and disappearing into the gray-white silence, the niches in the salt walls where the saints dwelled, the few points of lambent gold glimmering feebly on the altar. --Richard O'Mara, "The Unapologetic Tourist," New York Times, November 21, 1999[CR][CR]There, in the lambent glow of flashlight or lantern, you find the fragile rock walls covered with thousand-year-old paintings illustrating the life of the Buddha and his teachings. --Michael O'Sullivan, "The Cave as Canvas: Hidden Images of Worship Along the Silk Road," Washington Post, January 4, 2002[CR][CR]Across the plaza, the lambent moonlight cast shadows on a former convent's facade of saints and angels. --Stephen Benz, "Our Mailman in Havana," Washington Post, November 19, 2000[CR][CR]She wanted to tell him how she felt and feel that lambent look that was better than sunshine, his look of offering all that was in him. --Anna Shapiro, "The Scourge," USA Today, July 23, 2001[CR][CR]It [the opera] is also sumptuously orchestrated, gracefully written for the singers, well-suited to the stage action, deeply felt yet tasteful in expression, and, at its best, a lambent, shimmering creation, full of beauty and nuance. --Tim Page, "Appealing 'Dangerous Liaisons,'" Newsday, September 12, 1994[CR][CR]Lambent is from the present participle of Latin lambere,"to lick." zeitgeist the spirit of the time. ?zeitgeist \TSYT-gyst; ZYT-gyst\, noun: (Often capitalized) The spirit of the time; the general intellectual and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.[CR][CR]Like other figures who seem, in retrospect, to have been precociously representative of their times, Kerouac was not simply responding to the Zeitgeist, but to the peculiarly twisted facts of his own upbringing. --William Plummer, "Jack Kerouac: The Beat Goes On," New York Times, December 30, 1979[CR][CR]The best writers of that predawn era were originals who had the zeitgeist by the tail. --Gary Giddins, Visions of Jazz: The First Century[CR][CR]The events of 1989 mark a decisive shift in the Zeitgeist: History has zigged or zagged. No simple lesson follows, but it is clear that radicalism and the utopian spirit that sustains it have ceased to be major political or even intellectual forces. --Russell Jacoby, The End of Utopia[CR][CR]Zeitgeist is from the German, from Zeit, "time" + Geist, "spirit" (related to English ghost). pugnacious combative; quarrelsome. ?pugnacious \puhg-NAY-shuhs\, adjective: Inclined to fight; combative; quarrelsome.[CR][CR]Roberto's pugnacious grandmother lived across the meadow and would yell threats and curses helplessly from her balcony. --Tag Gallagher, The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini[CR][CR]The idea that he was truculent or pugnacious, that he went about with a chip on his shoulder, that he loved fighting for the sake of fighting, was, however, a mistake. --William Roscoe Thayer, Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography[CR][CR]Pugnacious comes from Latin pugnare, "to fight," from pugnus, "fist." acumen quickness or keenness of perception or discernment. ?acumen \uh-KYOO-muhn; AK-yuh-muhn\, noun: Quickness of perception or discernment; shrewdness shown by keen insight.[CR][CR]With Leo's rare combination of editorial acumen and business know-how, he might have become a publishing giant had he not permitted his drinking and gambling to hold him back. --Ellis Amburn, Subterranean Kerouac: The Hidden Life of Jack Kerouac[CR][CR]The family store gave him a sharp business acumen -- acquired, he would say, by manning the cash register -- that few of his rivals possessed. --David Schiff, "Who Was That Masked Composer?" The Atlantic, January 2000[CR][CR]Acumen comes from Latin acumen, "the sharp point of something; sharpness of understanding; cunning," from acuere, "to sharpen." Synonyms: Sharpness, sagacity, perspicacity. Find more at Thesaurus.com. rapine the act of plundering. ?rapine \RAP-in\, noun: The act of plundering; the seizing and carrying away of another's property by force.[CR][CR]He who has once begun to live by rapine always finds reasons for taking what is not his. --Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (translated by N.H. Thomson)[CR][CR]Extortion and rapine are poor providers. --Olaudah Equiano, Unchained Voices: an anthology of Black authors in the English-Speaking World of the 18th Century[CR][CR]The war, proclaimed William Lloyd Garrison, was one "of aggression, of invasion, of conquest, and rapine - marked by ruffianism, perfidy, and every other feature of national depravity." --Robert W. Johannsen, "America's Forgotten War (Mexican War, 1846-1848)," The Wilson Quarterly, Spring '96[CR][CR]Rapine derives from Latin rapina, from rapere, "to seize and carry off, to snatch or hurry away," which also gives us rapid. Synonyms: spoliation; pillage; plunder. Find more at Thesaurus.com. autodidact one who is self-taught. ?autodidact \aw-toh-DY-dakt\, noun: One who is self-taught.[CR][CR]He is our ultimate autodidact, a man who made himself from nothing into a lawyer, a legislator -- a president. --Kevin Baker, "Log Cabin Values," New York Times, April 2, 2000[CR][CR]Consider the autodidact in Sartre's Nausea, who is somewhat unbelievably working his way alphabetically through an entire library. --James Wood, "Human, All Too Inhuman," New Republic, July 24, 2000[CR][CR]Buck's prose is a lot better than you'd expect from a high-school dropout, but he turns out to be a reader and autodidact. --Jonathan Yardley, review of North Star over My Shoulder: A Flying Life, by Bob Buck, Washington Post, April 7, 2002[CR][CR]Autodidact is from Greek autodidaktos, "self-taught," from auto-, "self" + didaktos, "taught," from didaskein, "to teach." dilatory given to, or marked by, procrastination or delay. ?dilatory \DIL-uh-tor-ee\, adjective: 1. Tending to put off what ought to be done at once; given to procrastination. 2. Marked by procrastination or delay; intended to cause delay; -- said of actions or measures.[CR][CR]I am inclined to be dilatory, and if I had not enjoyed extraordinary luck in life and love I might have been living with my mother at that very moment, doing nothing. --Carroll O'Connor, I Think I'm Outta Here[CR][CR]And what is a slumlord? He is not a man who own expensive property in fashionable neighborhoods, but one who owns only rundown property in the slums, where the rents are lowest and the where the payment is most dilatory, erratic and undependable. --Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson[CR][CR]Dilatory is from Latin dilatorius, from dilator, "a dilatory person, a loiterer," from dilatus, past participle of differre, "to delay, to put off," from dis-, "apart, in different directions" + ferre, "to carry." bete noire something or someone particularly detested or avoided. ?bete noire \bet-NWAHR\, noun: Something or someone particularly detested or avoided; a bugbear.[CR][CR]Even more regrettable, as far as Dame Edna is concerned, is the presence of her old bete noire, the extravagantly disgusting Sir Les Patterson. --"The Dame's New Man," Daily Telegraph, April 18, 1998[CR][CR]Never an exceptional student, Andrews somehow managed to navigate the academy's rigorous courses with satisfactory grades, though all forms of mathematics were agonizing to him, remaining what he called his "bete noire" throughout life. --Charles Gallenkamp, Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions[CR][CR]Bête noire is French for "black beast." chary wary; cautious. ?chary \CHAIR-ee\, adjective: 1. Wary; cautious. 2. Not giving or expending freely; sparing.[CR][CR]What do you suppose the Founding Fathers, so chary of overweening government power, would make of a prosecutor with virtually unlimited reach and a staff the size of a small town? --"U.S. trampling rights at home and abroad," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 17, 1998[CR][CR]Investors should be chary, however, for the returns are far from sizzling. --"The Stampede Into Variable Annuities," Fortune, October 13, 1986[CR][CR]Bankers, consulted as to whether or not they believed that the full force of the decline had spent its fury, were chary of predictions. --"Leaders See Fear Waning," New York Times, October 30, 1929[CR][CR]When I visited Sissinghurst with my growing family she was always welcoming, eager for our news but chary of her own. --Nigel Nicolson, Long Life[CR][CR]Chary comes from Old English cearig, "careful, sorrowful," from cearu, "grief, sorrow, care." 'Word Group Seven - Words to Definitions [PB] to weaken. enervate ?enervate \EN-ur-vayt\, transitive verb: 1. To deprive of vigor, force, or strength; to render feeble; to weaken. 2. To reduce the moral or mental vigor of.[CR][CR]Beatriz de Ahumada soldiered on to produce nine more children, a tour of duty that left her enervated and worn. --Cathleen Medwick, Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul[CR][CR]In countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Ghana I have always felt enervated by the slightest physical or mental exertion, whereas in the UK, France, Germany or the US I have always felt reinforced and stimulated by the temperate climate, not only during long stays, but even during brief travels. --David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations[CR][CR]The tendency of abstract thought . . . to enervate the will is one of the real dangers of the highest education. --Mark Pattison, Suggestions on Academical Organisation[CR][CR]The conquerors were enervated by luxury. --Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire[CR][CR]Enervate is from the past participle of Latin enervare, "to remove the sinews from, to weaken," from e-, ex-, "out of, from" + nervus, "sinew." deserved; adequate. condign ?condign \kuhn-DINE; KON-dine\, adjective: Suitable to the fault or crime; deserved; adequate.[CR][CR]In a story as old as the Greeks, overweening pride brought condign disaster. --David Frum, How We Got Here[CR][CR]He is a violent criminal and, like other criminals, he should be brought to condign punishment. --Kwasi Kwarteng, "The boy from Brazil should be behind bars," Daily Telegraph, November 14, 1997[CR][CR]Condign ultimately derives from Latin condignus, "very worthy," from com-, here used intensively + dignus, "worthy." Synonyms: fitting; due; meet; merited. Find more at Thesaurus.com. flattering speech or action; allurement. blandishment ?blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\, noun: Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement -- often used in the plural.[CR][CR]But she had not risen at all to the law fellow's blandishments, his attempts to interest her in his ideas and persuade her to set forth her own. --John Bayley, Elegy for Iris[CR][CR]And that my English-speaking victims find my blandishments so pretty, accented as they are, and yield to my soft lustrous Italian pronunciations, is a constant source of bliss for me. --Anne Rice, Vittorio, the Vampire[CR][CR]Perfect, gentle reader: I will not begin this book with a tribute to your discernment, because a person of your obvious accomplishments would certainly be immune to such blandishments. --Richard Stengel, You're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery[CR][CR]Blandishment ultimately comes from Latin blandiri, "to flatter, caress, coax," from blandus, "flattering, mild." full; complete. plenary ?plenary \PLEE-nuh-ree; PLEN-uh-ree\, adjective: 1. Full in all respects; complete; absolute; as, plenary authority. 2. Fully attended by all qualified members.[CR][CR]Judges like to quote a 1936 Supreme Court opinion that spoke of "the very delicate, plenary and exclusive power of the President as the sole organ of the Federal Government in the field of international relations." --"Like Interpreting the Dreams of Pharaoh," New York Times, November 6, 1988[CR][CR]Tito called a plenary session of the Central Committee. --Milovan Djilas, Fall of the New Class[CR][CR]Plenary comes from Late Latin plenarius, from Latin plenus, "full." It is related to plenty. to pamper. cosset ?cosset \KOSS-it\, transitive verb: To treat as a pet; to treat with excessive indulgence; to pamper.[CR][CR]Sumner's parents, for instance, were routinely attended by butlers, maids, coachmen and grooms while little Sumner and his sister, Emily, were pampered and cosseted from infancy by nurserymaids and governesses. --Benjamin Welles, Sumner Welles: FDR's Global Strategist[CR][CR]Assunta played a larger role in the lives of her children, whom she cosseted and cared for as best she could. --Patricia Albers, Shadows, Fire, Snow: The Life of Tina Modotti[CR][CR]In these two years, Adolf lived a life of parasitic idleness -- funded, provided for, looked after, and cosseted by a doting mother, with his own room in the comfortable flat in the Humboldtstrasse in Linz, which the family had moved into in June 1905. --Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris[CR][CR]Cosset comes from the noun cosset, "a pet lamb." coolness in trying circumstances. sang-froid ?sang-froid, also sangfroid \sang-FRWAH\, noun: Freedom from agitation or excitement of mind; coolness in trying circumstances; calmness.[CR][CR]The Treasury Secretary's sang-froid in moments of crisis. --"Keeping the Boom From Busting," New York Times, July 19, 1998[CR][CR]Both men were mightily impressed by the calmness of the Americans on board, particularly among the women. "I had, during my sojourn in America," Beaumont said later, "a thousand occasions to see the sang-froid of the American." --Michael Kammen, "Wrecked on the Fourth of July," New York Times, July 6, 1997[CR][CR]Gaviria knew Alberto as an impulsive but cordial man capable of maintaining his sangfroid under the most stressful circumstances. --Gabriel Garcia Marquez, News of a Kidnapping[CR][CR]Sang-froid is from the French; it literally means "cold blood" (sang, "blood" + froid, "cold"). vigor; vivacity. brio ?brio \BREE-oh\, noun: Enthusiastic vigor; vivacity; liveliness; spirit.[CR][CR]Though my judgment was no doubt affected by all the wine we'd consumed, I remember being elated by our performance that night: our inspired spur-of-the-moment dialogue, the actors fleshing out their roles with such brio. --Gail Godwin, Evensong[CR][CR]For him, life must be a party, a ball, an endless carnival. Each person must invent a role for himself and play it with brio. --Lydia Flem, Casanova: The Man Who Really Loved Women (Translated by Catherine Temerson)[CR][CR]The Internet has always been home to plenty of unvarnished brio. --Timothy L. O'Brien, "Corporate Love Letters: Youstink.Com," New York Times, April 4, 1999[CR][CR]Brio is from the Italian, ultimately of Celtic origin. clamorous; noisy. vociferous ?vociferous \voh-SIF-uhr-uhs\, adjective: Making a loud outcry; clamorous; noisy.[CR][CR]Claudio has work to do and I have a vociferous son demanding a story. --Ariel Dorfman, Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey[CR][CR]The local heroes received meals, heard speeches, were presented with flags, and were accompanied to railroad stations by vociferous crowds. --Jeffry D. Wert, A Brotherhood of Valor[CR][CR]Vociferous derives from Latin vociferari, "to shout, to cry out" from vox, "voice" + ferre, "to carry." readily assuming different shapes or forms. protean ?protean \PRO-tee-un; pro-TEE-un\, adjective: 1. Displaying considerable variety or diversity. 2. Readily assuming different shapes or forms.[CR][CR]The [Broadway] musical was ceaselessly protean in these years, usually conventional but always developing convention, twisting it, replacing it. --Ethan Mordden, Coming Up Roses[CR][CR]Roosevelt's performance in the civil rights meeting illustrated one of the central operating principles of his protean executive style, a style that transformed the presidency, and the nation: a willingness to delay decisions, change his mind, keep his options open, avoid commitments, or even deceive people in the relentless pursuit of noble objectives. --William Doyle, Inside the Oval Office[CR][CR]He was a protean character who constantly adapted to his environment. --David Maraniss, The Clinton Enigma[CR][CR]Protean is derived from Proteus, an ancient Greek god who had the ability to change his shape at will. to shun; to avoid. eschew ?eschew \es-CHOO\, transitive verb: To shun; to avoid (as something wrong or distasteful).[CR][CR]In high school and college the Vassar women had enjoyed that lifestyle, but afterward they had eschewed it as shallow. --Nina Burleigh, A Very Private Woman[CR][CR]While teaching in Beijing, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in the late 1920s, he helped launch what became known as the "new poetry" movement, which eschewed traditional forms and encouraged topics based on everyday life. --Bruce Gilley, Tiger on the Brink[CR][CR]Finally, the first American diplomats . . . made a point of eschewing fancy dress, titles, entertainments, and all manner of protocol, so as to be walking, talking symbols of republican piety. --Walter A. McDougall, Promised Land, Crusader State[CR][CR]Eschew comes from Old French eschiver, ultimately of Germanic origin. causing or inducing sleep. somniferous ?somniferous \som-NIF-uhr-uhs\, adjective: Causing or inducing sleep.[CR][CR]He has gone outside the usual channels of stodgy academic journals and somniferous lectures. --David Gibson, "Separating Christ from Christianity," The Record (Bergen County, NJ), June 9, 1996[CR][CR]And some cities are eschewing the somniferous art museum to invent newer, hipper institutions that honor our fascination with contemporary culture: technology, space flight, and even rock 'n' roll. --Heidi Landecker, "Art Transplant," Architecture, March 1998[CR][CR]Filmed on location in England and using quotes from letters and other documents of Pilgrim leaders, this video is rich in detail and information. Its major drawback--and one that may affect its effectiveness with its intended student audience--is that it's as dull as dillweed, primarily due to a somniferous narration. --J. Carlson, "The Mayflower Pilgrims," Video Librarian, November 11, 1996[CR][CR]Somniferous comes from Latin somnifer, "sleep-bringing," from somnus, "sleep" + ferre, "to bring." seeking and enjoying the company of others. gregarious ?gregarious \grih-GAIR-ee-us\, adjective: 1. Tending to form a group with others of the same kind. 2. Seeking and enjoying the company of others.[CR][CR]True locusts, which are actually certain kinds of grasshoppers, are usually solitary and rather sluggish, but when they are crowded they enter a gregarious and highly active migratory phase. --Gilbert Waldbauer, Millions of Monarchs, Bunches of Beetles[CR][CR]In the newly discovered gene, the change of a single unit of DNA converts the worm from a solitary forager into a gregarious diner. --"Can Social Behavior of Man Be Glimpsed in a Lowly Worm?" New York Times, September 7, 1998[CR][CR]My efforts to cultivate an identity as a strong silent type have consistently been undermined by my gregarious nature and my delight in conversation. --Marty Jezer, Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words[CR][CR]Although social and gregarious when he wants to be, Phil learned, during our early years together, not only to savor but also to require long periods of hermitlike solitude. --Frances K. Conley, Walking Out on the Boys[CR][CR]Gregarious is from Latin gregarius, "belonging to a herd or flock," from grex, greg-, "herd, flock." lack of vitality or energy. lassitude ?lassitude \LASS-uh-tood; LASS-uh-tyood\, noun: Lack of vitality or energy; weariness; listlessness.[CR][CR]The feverish excitement . . . had given place to a dull, regretful lassitude. --George Eliot, Romola[CR][CR]A long exercise of the mental powers induces a remarkable lassitude of the whole body. --Edmund Burke, A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful[CR][CR]She felt aged, in deep lassitude and numb despair, and regretted not marrying Mai Dong before he left for the front. --Ha Jin, Waiting[CR][CR]Lassitude is from Latin lassitudo, from lassus, "weary, exhausted." partly but not fully in existence or operation. inchoate ?inchoate \in-KOH-it\, adjective: 1. In an initial or early stage; just begun. 2. Imperfectly formed or formulated.[CR][CR]Mildred Spock believed that, at about the age of three, her children's inchoate wills were to be shaped like vines sprouting up a beanpole. --Thomas Maier, Dr. Spock: An American Life[CR][CR]She also had a vision, not yet articulated, an inchoate sense of some special calling that awaited her. --Linda Lear, Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature[CR][CR]You take on a project because of the feeling, perhaps inchoate, that it may in some way contribute to your deeper understanding of the larger-scale research program you have chosen as your life's work. --Christopher Scholz, Fieldwork: A Geologist's Memoir of the Kalahari[CR][CR]Inchoate comes from the past participle of Latin inchoare, alteration of incohare, "to begin." hungry; greedy. esurient ?esurient \ih-SUR-ee-uhnt; -ZUR-\, adjective: Hungry; voracious; greedy.[CR][CR]The enemy then was an esurient Soviet Union which, having swallowed up Eastern Europe, had imposed a totalitarian system on countries just liberated from Nazism. --Arnold Beichman, "As Truman envisioned our role," Washington Times, April 23, 2002[CR][CR]These new censors, the deconstructionists, take the most luscious and delicious apple and show it to a hungry person. They then seal the fruit with plastic wrap and demand that the esurient victim enjoy its flavour. --Michael Coren, "Behold the deconstructionist, who liberates literature by confining it to a cult," Alberta Report, April 10, 1995[CR][CR]Esurient comes from the present participle of Latin esurire, "to be hungry, to desire eagerly," from edere, "to eat." a deceptive device or stratagem. subterfuge ?subterfuge \SUB-tur-fyooj\, noun: A deceptive device or stratagem.[CR][CR]In the end, however, all the stealth and subterfuge were for naught, as the young publicity agent couldn't keep the secret. --Larry Tye, The Father of Spin[CR][CR]She has also complained . . . that the reporter used subterfuge to interview her, pretending to be the mother of an inmate. --Roy Greenslade, "Filthy rags," The Guardian, January 11, 2001[CR][CR]He is adept at subterfuge, at gaining entry to factories by masquerading as a laborer, a wholesaler, an exporter. --Jonathan Silvers, "Child Labor in Pakistan," The Atlantic, February 1996[CR][CR]Subterfuge comes from Late Latin subterfugium, "a secret flight," from Latin subterfugere, "to flee in secret, to evade," from subter, "underneath, underhand, in secret" + fugere, "to flee." It is related to fugitive, one who flees. a lover of good food and drink. gastronome ?gastronome \GAS-truh-nohm\, noun: A connoisseur of good food and drink.[CR][CR]If "poultry is for the cook what canvas is for a painter," to quote the 19th-century French gastronome Brillat-Savarin, why paint the same painting over and over again? --John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger, "From Poussin to Capon, a Chicken in Every Size," New York Times, September 22, 1999[CR][CR]Even though Paris was then considered the culinary capital of Europe, the food at the Cercle was so highly revered that many well-known gastronomes regularly made the trip to Lyon to eat there. --Daniel Rogov, "Three culinary tales for Hanukka," Jerusalem Post, December 6, 1996[CR][CR]I am no gastronome at the best; moreover, I have, over the years, eaten in so many unpropitious circumstances and from so many truly awful kitchens that I have come to consider myself almost as much a connoisseur of bad food as other men are of good. --James Cameron, "Albania: The Last Marxist Paradise," The Atlantic, June 1963[CR][CR]Gastronome is ultimately derived from Greek gaster, "stomach" + nomos, "rule, law." easy to speak to; also, gracious. affable ?affable \AF-uh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Easy to speak to; receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner. 2. Gracious; benign.[CR][CR]Nonetheless, in view of the fact that Leon stated in the warrant that I was good-looking, cheerful and affable, they exhorted me to make myself appear to be taciturn, melancholy and ugly. --Susana Rotker (Editor), The Memoirs of Fray Servando Teresa De Mier[CR][CR]Johnny's father, while strict with his children, usually was affable and relaxed. --Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams[CR][CR]There was even more joking than usual Saturday afternoon; he seemed to be in a particularly affable mood. --"Presley Treats Fans to His Best," New York Times, July 21, 1975[CR][CR]Affable is from Latin affabilis, from affari, "to speak to," from ad-, "to" + fari, "to speak." a very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place. precipice ?precipice \PRES-uh-pis\, noun: 1. A very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place; a cliff. 2. The brink of a hazardous situation.[CR][CR]Barbara got as close to the edge as she dared and looked down over the precipice. --Catherine Whitney, The Calling: The Year in the Life of an Order of Nuns[CR][CR]And then, just like that, there you were, on the edge of the precipice, with everything spread out underneath: the valley, and then, twenty miles off, the shimmering, spangling City. --James Kaplan, Two Guys from Verona: A Novel of Suburbia[CR][CR]Mugabe's latest retreat to reason from the precipice of anarchy may have come too late, at least for him. --Simon Robinson, "Power to the Mob," Time Europe, May 1, 2000[CR][CR]At that point, no other publication in the world had the technical capability, the organizational latitude, or the raw nerve to operate on the very precipice of disaster the way that Sports Illustrated regularly did. --Michael MacCambridge, The Franchise: A History of Sports Illustrated Magazine[CR][CR]Precipice comes from Latin praecipitium, "a precipice," from praeceps, praecipit-, "with head before, headlong, steep," from prae, "before" + caput, "the head." having greatly reduced vision. purblind ?purblind \PUR-blynd\, adjective: 1. Having greatly reduced vision. 2. Lacking in insight or discernment.[CR][CR]Add to this that the work seems unsure of its audience, providing no footnotes or exact references, but concluding with a bizarre parade of bibliographical essays running to 59 pages; that it gives the date only about once every 100 pages (and then not always the right date...) and leaves us feeling as if we were wandering purblind in some deep cave. --James R. Kincaid, "The Sum Of His Oddities," New York Times, January 13, 1991[CR][CR]Those changes, whose pressing necessity by the end of the 1980s was surely evident to all but the most purblind, would have taken place in any case. --Bryan Gould, "Mandy," New Statesman, January 29, 1999[CR][CR]But something is fundamentally wrong at Leeds, something that even the most ardent supporters -- and other purblind apologists -- must surely come to recognise. --Kevin Mitchell, "How Leeds lost it," The Observer, March 10, 2002[CR][CR]On and on the weary litany of purblind negativity proceeds. --Eric Evans, "The Theory Man." History Today, June 1997[CR][CR]Purblind derives from Middle English pur blind, "wholly blind," from pur, "pure" + blind. At one time it meant "completely blind," but it came to mean something less than completely blind. to issue or utter verbal attacks or censures. fulminate ?fulminate \FUL-muh-nayt\, intransitive verb: 1. To issue or utter verbal attacks or censures authoritatively or menacingly. 2. To explode; to detonate. transitive verb: 1. To utter or send out with denunciations or censures. 2. To cause to explode.[CR][CR]This mass culture--global, immediate, accessible, buoyant, with shared heroes, models, and goals--is immensely intoxicating. Ayatollahs fulminate against it; dictators censor it; mandarins try to slam the door on it. --Lawrence M. Friedman, The Horizontal Society[CR][CR]He lets others fulminate on his behalf while he maintains his gentlemanly demeanor. --Richard Sandomir, "Cablevision's Dolan Makes the Deal Only When He's Ready," New York Times, December 6, 1998[CR][CR]Everyone wants to be young, beautiful and rich. I don't say that scornfully: there are worse things to want to be. But that's why, for example, people don't begrudge Kate Moss how much she earns for a day's work but will fulminate over the take-home pay of some fat, old Water Board exec. --Nigella Lawson, "Never mind the size, just feel the price," The Observer, September 3, 2000[CR][CR]Fulminate comes from Latin fulminare, "to strike with lightning," from fulmen, fulmin-, "a thunderbolt." to think; to ponder. cogitate ?cogitate \KOJ-uh-tayt\, intransitive verb: To think deeply or intently; to ponder; to meditate. transitive verb: To think about; to ponder on; to meditate upon; to plan or plot.[CR][CR]Still cogitating and looking for an explanation in the fire. --Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son[CR][CR]Elliot seems to have been a serious type, given to New Year's Eves reading Shakespeare and cogitating on the sermon preached at his grandfather's funeral. --James Reaney, "They partied like it's 1899," London Free Press, January 3, 1999[CR][CR]Doc Leach shifted his pipe from one corner of his mouth to the other and blinked a couple of times. That meant he was cogitating. --Monty Roberts, The Man Who Listens To Horses[CR][CR]Cogitate comes from Latin cogitare, "to turn over in one's mind, to reflect, to think, to consider," from co- + agitare, "to put in constant motion, to drive about," from agere, "to drive." It is related to agitate. Synonyms: think, reason, reflect, speculate, deliberate. Find more at Thesaurus.com. playing on the surface; flickering. lambent ?lambent \LAM-buhnt\, adjective: 1. Playing lightly on or over a surface; flickering; as, "a lambent flame; lambent shadows." 2. Softly bright or radiant; luminous; as, "a lambent light." 3. Light and brilliant; as, "a lambent style; lambent wit." I have an image in my mind of the soaring vault rising and disappearing into the gray-white silence, the niches in the salt walls where the saints dwelled, the few points of lambent gold glimmering feebly on the altar. --Richard O'Mara, "The Unapologetic Tourist," New York Times, November 21, 1999[CR][CR]There, in the lambent glow of flashlight or lantern, you find the fragile rock walls covered with thousand-year-old paintings illustrating the life of the Buddha and his teachings. --Michael O'Sullivan, "The Cave as Canvas: Hidden Images of Worship Along the Silk Road," Washington Post, January 4, 2002[CR][CR]Across the plaza, the lambent moonlight cast shadows on a former convent's facade of saints and angels. --Stephen Benz, "Our Mailman in Havana," Washington Post, November 19, 2000[CR][CR]She wanted to tell him how she felt and feel that lambent look that was better than sunshine, his look of offering all that was in him. --Anna Shapiro, "The Scourge," USA Today, July 23, 2001[CR][CR]It [the opera] is also sumptuously orchestrated, gracefully written for the singers, well-suited to the stage action, deeply felt yet tasteful in expression, and, at its best, a lambent, shimmering creation, full of beauty and nuance. --Tim Page, "Appealing 'Dangerous Liaisons,'" Newsday, September 12, 1994[CR][CR]Lambent is from the present participle of Latin lambere,"to lick." the spirit of the time. zeitgeist ?zeitgeist \TSYT-gyst; ZYT-gyst\, noun: (Often capitalized) The spirit of the time; the general intellectual and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.[CR][CR]Like other figures who seem, in retrospect, to have been precociously representative of their times, Kerouac was not simply responding to the Zeitgeist, but to the peculiarly twisted facts of his own upbringing. --William Plummer, "Jack Kerouac: The Beat Goes On," New York Times, December 30, 1979[CR][CR]The best writers of that predawn era were originals who had the zeitgeist by the tail. --Gary Giddins, Visions of Jazz: The First Century[CR][CR]The events of 1989 mark a decisive shift in the Zeitgeist: History has zigged or zagged. No simple lesson follows, but it is clear that radicalism and the utopian spirit that sustains it have ceased to be major political or even intellectual forces. --Russell Jacoby, The End of Utopia[CR][CR]Zeitgeist is from the German, from Zeit, "time" + Geist, "spirit" (related to English ghost). combative; quarrelsome. pugnacious ?pugnacious \puhg-NAY-shuhs\, adjective: Inclined to fight; combative; quarrelsome.[CR][CR]Roberto's pugnacious grandmother lived across the meadow and would yell threats and curses helplessly from her balcony. --Tag Gallagher, The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini[CR][CR]The idea that he was truculent or pugnacious, that he went about with a chip on his shoulder, that he loved fighting for the sake of fighting, was, however, a mistake. --William Roscoe Thayer, Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography[CR][CR]Pugnacious comes from Latin pugnare, "to fight," from pugnus, "fist." quickness or keenness of perception or discernment. acumen ?acumen \uh-KYOO-muhn; AK-yuh-muhn\, noun: Quickness of perception or discernment; shrewdness shown by keen insight.[CR][CR]With Leo's rare combination of editorial acumen and business know-how, he might have become a publishing giant had he not permitted his drinking and gambling to hold him back. --Ellis Amburn, Subterranean Kerouac: The Hidden Life of Jack Kerouac[CR][CR]The family store gave him a sharp business acumen -- acquired, he would say, by manning the cash register -- that few of his rivals possessed. --David Schiff, "Who Was That Masked Composer?" The Atlantic, January 2000[CR][CR]Acumen comes from Latin acumen, "the sharp point of something; sharpness of understanding; cunning," from acuere, "to sharpen." Synonyms: Sharpness, sagacity, perspicacity. Find more at Thesaurus.com. the act of plundering. rapine ?rapine \RAP-in\, noun: The act of plundering; the seizing and carrying away of another's property by force.[CR][CR]He who has once begun to live by rapine always finds reasons for taking what is not his. --Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince (translated by N.H. Thomson)[CR][CR]Extortion and rapine are poor providers. --Olaudah Equiano, Unchained Voices: an anthology of Black authors in the English-Speaking World of the 18th Century[CR][CR]The war, proclaimed William Lloyd Garrison, was one "of aggression, of invasion, of conquest, and rapine - marked by ruffianism, perfidy, and every other feature of national depravity." --Robert W. Johannsen, "America's Forgotten War (Mexican War, 1846-1848)," The Wilson Quarterly, Spring '96[CR][CR]Rapine derives from Latin rapina, from rapere, "to seize and carry off, to snatch or hurry away," which also gives us rapid. Synonyms: spoliation; pillage; plunder. Find more at Thesaurus.com. one who is self-taught. autodidact ?autodidact \aw-toh-DY-dakt\, noun: One who is self-taught.[CR][CR]He is our ultimate autodidact, a man who made himself from nothing into a lawyer, a legislator -- a president. --Kevin Baker, "Log Cabin Values," New York Times, April 2, 2000[CR][CR]Consider the autodidact in Sartre's Nausea, who is somewhat unbelievably working his way alphabetically through an entire library. --James Wood, "Human, All Too Inhuman," New Republic, July 24, 2000[CR][CR]Buck's prose is a lot better than you'd expect from a high-school dropout, but he turns out to be a reader and autodidact. --Jonathan Yardley, review of North Star over My Shoulder: A Flying Life, by Bob Buck, Washington Post, April 7, 2002[CR][CR]Autodidact is from Greek autodidaktos, "self-taught," from auto-, "self" + didaktos, "taught," from didaskein, "to teach." given to, or marked by, procrastination or delay. dilatory ?dilatory \DIL-uh-tor-ee\, adjective: 1. Tending to put off what ought to be done at once; given to procrastination. 2. Marked by procrastination or delay; intended to cause delay; -- said of actions or measures.[CR][CR]I am inclined to be dilatory, and if I had not enjoyed extraordinary luck in life and love I might have been living with my mother at that very moment, doing nothing. --Carroll O'Connor, I Think I'm Outta Here[CR][CR]And what is a slumlord? He is not a man who own expensive property in fashionable neighborhoods, but one who owns only rundown property in the slums, where the rents are lowest and the where the payment is most dilatory, erratic and undependable. --Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson[CR][CR]Dilatory is from Latin dilatorius, from dilator, "a dilatory person, a loiterer," from dilatus, past participle of differre, "to delay, to put off," from dis-, "apart, in different directions" + ferre, "to carry." something or someone particularly detested or avoided. bete noire ?bete noire \bet-NWAHR\, noun: Something or someone particularly detested or avoided; a bugbear.[CR][CR]Even more regrettable, as far as Dame Edna is concerned, is the presence of her old bete noire, the extravagantly disgusting Sir Les Patterson. --"The Dame's New Man," Daily Telegraph, April 18, 1998[CR][CR]Never an exceptional student, Andrews somehow managed to navigate the academy's rigorous courses with satisfactory grades, though all forms of mathematics were agonizing to him, remaining what he called his "bete noire" throughout life. --Charles Gallenkamp, Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions[CR][CR]Bête noire is French for "black beast." wary; cautious. chary ?chary \CHAIR-ee\, adjective: 1. Wary; cautious. 2. Not giving or expending freely; sparing.[CR][CR]What do you suppose the Founding Fathers, so chary of overweening government power, would make of a prosecutor with virtually unlimited reach and a staff the size of a small town? --"U.S. trampling rights at home and abroad," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 17, 1998[CR][CR]Investors should be chary, however, for the returns are far from sizzling. --"The Stampede Into Variable Annuities," Fortune, October 13, 1986[CR][CR]Bankers, consulted as to whether or not they believed that the full force of the decline had spent its fury, were chary of predictions. --"Leaders See Fear Waning," New York Times, October 30, 1929[CR][CR]When I visited Sissinghurst with my growing family she was always welcoming, eager for our news but chary of her own. --Nigel Nicolson, Long Life[CR][CR]Chary comes from Old English cearig, "careful, sorrowful," from cearu, "grief, sorrow, care." 'Word Group Eight - Definitions to Words [PA] kvetch to complain habitually. ?kvetch \KVECH\, intransitive verb: To complain habitually. noun: 1. A complaint. 2. A habitual complainer.[CR][CR]People kvetched when someone else wouldn't relinquish his position. --Barry Lopez, "Before the Temple of Fire." Harper's Magazine, January 1998[CR][CR]They begin to look like malcontents who kvetch about the weather so much that they don't notice the sun coming out. --David Shenk, "Slamming Gates," The New Republic, January 26, 1998[CR][CR]Time for my biennial kvetch about the West End theatre. --Simon Hoggart, "Hose bans, petrol mania: saying 'don't panic' always triggers chaos," The Guardian, November 4, 2000[CR][CR]"He's just a very up person," she says, which is odd, because he is also a big complainer, a class-A kvetch. --Penny Wolfson, "Moonrise," The Atlantic, December 2001 He had difficulty getting American publishers for his later novels, partly because of his self-created image by then as a crusty old kvetch.[CR][CR]--Geoffrey Wheatcroft, "What Kingsley Can Teach Martin," The Atlantic, September 2000[CR][CR]Kvetch comes from Yiddish kvetshn, "to squeeze, to complain," from Middle High German quetzen, quetschen, "to squeeze." platitude a banal, trite, or stale thought or remark. ?platitude \PLAT-uh-tood; -tyood\, noun: 1. Staleness of ideas or language; triteness. 2. A thought or remark that is banal, trite, or stale.[CR][CR]Yet a curious thing happens in this book: Whatever promise it offers of satire and enlightened vision dissipates into cliche and platitude. --Edward Rothstein, "Against Galactic Rhetoric," New York Times, April 3, 1983[CR][CR]The average sports memoir is a prodigy of simpering modesty and high-minded platitude: enough to rot the mind and sap the morals of the sturdiest child. --Wilfrid Sheed, "Take Me Back to the Ballgame," New York Times, September 18, 1966[CR][CR]She'll have to cut the platitudes and start saying something unusual and provocative, which she hasn't yet. --Jonathan Alter, "Why It's Time to Let Loose," Newsweek, December 6, 1999[CR][CR]Platitude derives from French plat, "flat." It is related to plate, a flat piece of metal or a flat dish in which food is served or from which it is eaten; and plateau, a broad, level, elevated area of land. The adjective form of platitude is platitudinous. ablution the washing of the body, or some part of it. ?ablution \uh-BLOO-shun\, noun: 1. The act of washing or cleansing; specifically, the washing of the body, or some part of it (as in a religious rite). 2. The water used in cleansing.[CR][CR]Worshipers, who have performed their ablutions in the basement before entering the prayer hall, individually prepare themselves for participation in the communal worship. --Jane I. Smith, Islam in America[CR][CR]There is . . . a large fountain in the center, beneath an opening in the roof through which the sun streams down to meet the rising water, so that ablutions required of worshipers before they pray can be performed inside the building. --Mary Lee Settle, "A Sacred Spa Where Sultans Led an Empire," New York Times, July 8, 1990[CR][CR]He went straight to the loo to begin his usual ablutions, soaping his cheeks and neck. --Brooks Hansen, Perlman's Ordeal[CR][CR]In fact, writing -- more exactly, composing in your head -- formal poetry may be recommended in solitary confinement as a kind of therapy, alongside pushups and cold ablutions. --Joseph Brodsky, "The Writer in Prison," New York Times, October 13, 1996[CR][CR]Ablution comes from Latin ablutio, from abluere, "to wash, to remove by washing, to wash away," from ab-, "away from" + luere, "to wash." ameliorate to make or grow better. ?ameliorate \uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt\, transitive verb: To make better; to improve. intransitive verb: To grow better.[CR][CR]Among the pressures provoking these distresses were a father's financial inadequacy and a growing awareness that, by finding employment himself, he could ameliorate the family's exiguous circumstances. --Terence Brown, The Life of W. B. Yeats: A Critical Biography[CR][CR]In the socially fluid and (until the crash of 1837) economically expansive 1830s, the legislature frequently appropriated public money to investigate social problems, forestall dependency, and ameliorate human suffering. --Elisabeth Gitter, The Imprisoned Guest[CR][CR]Ameliorate is derived from Latin ad + meliorare, "to make better," from melior, "better." chagrin acute vexation or embarrassment. ?chagrin \shuh-GRIN\, noun: Acute vexation, annoyance, or embarrassment, arising from disappointment or failure. transitive verb: To unsettle or vex by disappointment or humiliation; to mortify.[CR][CR]He ran away to the recruiting office at Ottumwa, a river port where Union soldiers were transported east--how he got to the town, a good half-day journey by wagon, isn't clear--and to his chagrin, he found his father waiting there. --Allen Barra, Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends[CR][CR]He noted with chagrin how little hair clung to his head. --John Marks, The Wall[CR][CR]Rich Moroni was earning $20,000 a year as a cook and was chagrined to discover that he couldn't keep up with the style of life and spending of his preferred reference group -- the lawyers and executives who shared his passion for squash and belonged to the same health club. --Peter T. Kilborn, "Splurge," New York Times, June 21, 1998[CR][CR]Chagrined to find that her current boyfriend has become best pals with her ex-boyfriend Hank, she goes to her ex with the problem. --Stephen J. Dubner, "Boston Rockers," New York Times, July 26, 1998[CR][CR]Chagrin is from the French, from chagrin, "sad." Synonyms: vexation, mortification. Find more at Thesaurus.com. "Vexation arises chiefly from our wishes and views being crossed; mortification, from our self-importance being hurt; chagrin, from a mixture of the two." --Crabb. tortuous marked by repeated turns and bends. ?tortuous \TOR-choo-us\, adjective: 1. Marked by repeated turns and bends; as, "a tortuous road up the mountain." 2. Not straightforward; devious; as, "his tortuous reasoning." 3. Highly involved or intricate; as, "tortuous legal procedures."[CR][CR]. . . the tortuous, narrow streets of Jerusalem's Old City. --Lee Hockstader, "Pope's Road to Israel Paved by Past Errors," Washington Post, March 12, 2000[CR][CR]Thus in the 1970s Terry Erwin of the Smithsonian Institution anaesthetized and then counted all the species of beetle in just one tree in Panama, perceived that the number of unknown species far outweighed the ones that had previously been identified, and through a sequence of reasoning that may seem a trifle tortuous but is widely agreed to be reasonable, calculated that the true number of all species on Earth is probably nearer to 30 million. --Colin Tudge, The Variety of Life[CR][CR]The attempts to substitute machines, methods of mass production, for the slow manual labour of antiquaries and historical researchers have all broken down; we still rely on those who spend their lives in painfully piecing together their knowledge from fragments of actual evidence, obeying this evidence wherever it leads them, however tortuous and unfamiliar the pattern, or with no consciousness of any pattern at all. --Isaiah Berlin, The Sense of Reality: Studies in Ideas and their History[CR][CR]Tortuous is from Latin tortuosus, from tortus, "a twisting," from the past participle of torquere, "to twist." Usage note: Be careful not to confuse tortuous and torturous. Tortuous means "twisting" or by extension "complex" or "devious." Torturous refers primarily to torture and the pain associated with it. Related words: torque, "a collar or necklace made of a strip of twisted metal; also, a turning or twisting force"; retort, "to reply sharply," literally "to twist back" (re-, "back"); contort, "to twist in a violent manner"; extort, "to obtain through coercion or intimidation," literally "to twist out of" (ex-, "out of"); distort, "to twist out of natural or regular shape" (dis-, "apart"). kismet destiny; fate. ?kismet \KIZ-met; -mit\, noun: Destiny; fate.[CR][CR]It's pure kismet when these two find each other. --Janet Maslin, "'The Mighty': Talents to Make Buddies -- Walking and Wisecracking," New York Times, October 9, 1998[CR][CR]Winning wasn't essential, though it seemed kismet that Cone, for a second straight year, came back from injury to pitch in a game that clinched a bit of postseason bliss. --Claire Smith, "Cone Puts the Yankees' Minds at Ease," New York Times, September 21, 1997[CR][CR]Applewhite's writings are heavy with kismet: he said he was visiting a hospitalized friend when Mrs. Nettles entered the room and their eyes locked in a shared recognition of esoteric secrets. --Barry Bearak, "Eyes on Glory: Pied Pipers of Heaven's Gate," New York Times, April 28, 1997[CR][CR]Kismet comes (via Turkish) from Arabic qismah, "portion, lot." exacerbate to aggravate; to make worse. ?exacerbate \ig-ZAS-ur-bayt\, transitive verb: To render more severe, violent, or bitter; to irritate; to aggravate; to make worse.[CR][CR]To reduce the stress that exacerbates my stuttering, I have meditated, done deep-breathing exercises, and floated under a condition of sensory deprivation in a dark, enclosed isolation tank. --Marty Jezer, Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words[CR][CR]By the 1920s a stubborn agricultural depression . . . badly exacerbated the problems of the countryside. --David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear[CR][CR]But they decided they did not like the San Francisco weather -- it exacerbated Alan's allergies -- and they moved to Florida at the end of 1986. --Sanford J. Ungar, Fresh Blood: The New American Immigrants[CR][CR]Exacerbate is from Latin exacerbare, "to irritate, to provoke, to aggravate very much," from ex-, intensive prefix + acerbare, "to make bitter, to aggravate," from acerbus, "bitter." penchant a strong liking. ?penchant \PEN-chunt\, noun: Inclination; decided taste; a strong liking.[CR][CR]"Ben was a dreamy little boy," recalls Hiddy, who always thought her brother's penchant for reveries might lead him to become an artist or a great philosopher. --Thomas Maier, Dr. Spock: An American Life[CR][CR]Field, in his personal comportment, maintained a penchant for austerity, a contempt for frivolity, and a "steely cold" disdain for any decision not based on fundamental business principles. --Roland Marchand, Creating the Corporate Soul[CR][CR]Even as an adolescent bookkeeper in a trading house in Cleveland, Rockefeller minutely recorded his charitable donations in ledgers, which confirm that from an early age he had a penchant for giving money no less than for making it. --Ron Chernow, "Mystery of the Generous Monopolist," New York Times, November 18, 1998[CR][CR]Penchant comes from the present participle of French pencher, "to incline, to bend," from (assumed) Late Latin pendicare, "to lean," from Latin pendere, "to weigh." Synonyms: inclination, leaning, bent, partiality, penchant, predilection, propensity. Find more at Thesaurus.com. ennui a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest. ?ennui \on-WEE\, noun: A feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest; boredom.[CR][CR]He glanced at his heavily laden bookshelves. Nothing there appealed to him. The ennui seemed to have settled into his very bones. --Amanda Quick, With This Ring[CR][CR]He was often off sick or playing hooky and suffered from a kind of ennui, a mixture of listlessness and willful melancholy. --Elisabeth Roudinesco, Jacques Lacan (translated by Barbara Bray)[CR][CR]Yet if she felt anything it was ennui, . . . the grey sky and the cold wind obliterating every impulse she might have felt to seek comfort in another climate, another landscape. --Anita Brookner, Falling Slowly[CR][CR]He was ashamed and unhappy, adrift with a senseless ennui. --Brian Moynahan, Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned[CR][CR]Ennui is from the French, from Old French enui, "annoyance," from enuier, "to annoy, to bore," from the Latin phrase in odium, "in hatred or dislike." Synonyms: tedium, boredom. Find more at Thesaurus.com. garrulous talkative; also, wordy. ?garrulous \GAIR-uh-lus; GAIR-yuh-\, adjective: 1. Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative. 2. Wordy.[CR][CR]Without saying a single word she managed to radiate disapproval . . . the air seemed to grow heavy with it and the most garrulous talker would wilt and fall silent. --Mark Amory, Lord Berners: The Last Eccentric[CR][CR]He was as garrulous as a magpie. --Ferdinand Mount, Jem (and Sam)[CR][CR]The garrulous ancient was for once holding his tongue. --William Black, Madcap Violet[CR][CR]Crammed with gossip, anecdotes, and confessions . . ., his garrulous, untidy narratives read like a good novel. --James Atlas, "A Modern Whitman," The Atlantic, December 1984[CR][CR]He took a great liking to this Rev. Mr. Peters, and talked with him a great deal: told him yarns, gave him toothsome scraps of personal history, and wove a glittering streak of profanity through his garrulous fabric that was refreshing to a spirit weary of the dull neutralities of undecorated speech. --Mark Twain, "Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion II," The Atlantic, November 1877[CR][CR]Garrulous is from Latin garrulus, from garrire, "to chatter, to babble." Synonyms: Talkative, loquacious, chatty. Find more at Thesaurus.com. acrid sharp and harsh; bitter. ?acrid \AK-rid\, adjective: 1. Sharp and harsh, or bitter to the taste or smell; pungent. 2. Caustic in language or tone; bitter.[CR][CR]There was burning jet fuel everywhere. Acrid, black smoke billowed across the water. --Simon Worrall, "The Night the Sea Burnt," Independent, July 6, 1997[CR][CR]He rips off another match, lights it, and uses it to light another cigarette. He shakes out the match, takes a puff, letting the acrid, unfiltered taste burn the back of his throat. --Kris Rusch, Hitler's Angel[CR][CR]The goal of sequencing the human gene set has been the subject of acrid debate among biologists. --Philip J. Hilts, "Head of Gene Map Threatens to Quit," New York Times, April 9, 1992[CR][CR]Paz's outspoken criticism of Cuba's brand of socialism placed him increasingly at odds with his colleagues. It led to a prolonged, sometimes acrid feud between him and the more left-leaning Fuentes. --"Octavio Paz, Mexico's Literary Giant, Dead at 84," New York Times, April 21, 1998[CR][CR]Acrid comes from Latin acer, "sharp." rubicund inclining to redness; ruddy. ?rubicund \ROO-bih-kund\, adjective: Inclining to redness; ruddy; red.[CR][CR]The men are second cousins, around forty, resembling each other not very much, one taller and leaner, less rubicund than the other, who has just returned from California. --John Lukacs, A Thread of Years[CR][CR]Rubicund from his cocktail, big, broad, lustrous with power, he exuded what Walter Pater called the "charm of an exquisite character, felt in some way to be inseparable from his person." --Edmund Morris, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan[CR][CR]Rubicund comes from Latin rubicundus, "red, ruddy," from rubere, "to be red." Synonyms: sanguine, roseate. Find more at Thesaurus.com. sojourn to dwell for a time; also, a temporary stay. ?sojourn \SO-jurn; so-JURN\, intransitive verb: To stay as a temporary resident; to dwell for a time. noun: A temporary stay.[CR][CR]Though he has sojourned in Southwold, wandered in Walberswick, dabbled in Dunwich, ambled through Aldeburgh and blundered through Blythburgh, Smallweed has never set foot in Orford. --Smallweed, "The trouble with hope," The Guardian, April 14, 2001[CR][CR]Yet he is now an accomplished student and speaker of English, a literary editor and television producer, someone who has sojourned in Paris and attended the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. --William H. Gass, "Family and Fable in Galilee," New York Times, April 17, 1988[CR][CR]As chance would have it, Degas's five-month sojourn in New Orleans coincided with an extraordinarily contentious period in the stormy political history of the city. --Christopher Benfey, Degas in New Orleans[CR][CR]During that long sojourn in Sligo, from 1870 to 1874, he had lessons from a much loved nursemaid, Ellie Connolly; later he received coaching in spelling and dictation from Esther Merrick, a neighbour who lived in the Sexton's house by St John's, and who read him quantities of verse. --R. F. Foster, W.B. Yeats: A Life[CR][CR]Sojourn comes from Old French sojorner, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin subdiurnare, from Latin sub-, "under, a little over" + Late Latin diurnus, "lasting for a day," from Latin dies, "day." laudable praiseworthy; commendable. ?laudable \LAW-duh-bul\, adjective: Worthy of praise; commendable.[CR][CR]Her first answer was laudable -- she wrote that yes, she would remain engaged to a man who fell seriously ill subsequent to the engagement. --Enid Nemy, "Metropolitan Diary," New York Times, January 11, 1999[CR][CR]The second sense in which we are feminist researchers comes from our belief that equity between boys and girls, men and women, is a laudable goal. --Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins (editors), From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games[CR][CR]Laudable comes from Latin laudabilis, from laudare, "to praise," from laus, laud-, "praise." aesthete one who cultivates great sensitivity to beauty. ?aesthete \ES-theet\, noun: One having or affecting great sensitivity to beauty, as in art or nature.[CR][CR]Beijing, with its stolid, square buildings and wide, straight roads, feels like the plan of a first-year engineering student, while Shanghai's decorative architecture and snaking, narrow roads feel like the plan of an aesthete. --"Sky's the Limit in Shanghai," Los Angeles Times, April 25, 1999[CR][CR]But he was also an aesthete with a connoisseur's eye for the wild modernist innovations with letterforms and layout of the 1920s. --Rick Poynor, "Herbert Spencer," The Guardian, March 15, 2002[CR][CR]Where the standard Oxford aesthete of the 1920s had been showily dissipated, full of wild talk about decadence and beauty, Auden was preaching a new gospel of icy austerity and self-control. --Ian Hamilton, Against Oblivion[CR][CR]Aesthete is from Greek aisthetes, "one who perceives," from aisthanesthai, "to perceive." perspicacity clearness of understanding. ?perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\, noun: Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment.[CR][CR]His predictions over the years have mixed unusual aristocratic insight with devastating perspicacity. --"Why fine titles make exceedingly fine writers," Independent, November 3, 1996[CR][CR]Doubtless these thumbnail sketches, like everything else Stendhal wrote, were intended ultimately to relate to his own notion of himself as a creature of invincible perspicacity and sophistication. --Jonathan Keates, Stendhal[CR][CR]Perspicacity comes from Latin perspicax, perspicac-, "sharp-sighted," from perspicere, "to look through," from per, "through" + specere, "to look." rara avis a rare or unique person or thing. ?rara avis \RARE-uh-AY-vis\, noun plural rara avises \RARE-uh-AY-vuh-suhz\ or rarae aves \RARE-ee-AY-veez\: A rare or unique person or thing.[CR][CR]He was, after all, that rara avis, a Jewish Catholic priest with a wife and children. --Jeremy Sams, "Lorenzo the magnificent," Independent, May 16, 2000[CR][CR]"First of all," Arthur said, "Jack is that rara avis among Ivy League radicals, a birthright member of the proletariat." --Charles McCarry, Lucky Bastard[CR][CR]Rara avis. You'd have to go far and wide to find someone like that, especially in these times. --Andrew Holleran, In September, the Light Changes[CR][CR]Rara avis is Latin for "rare bird." turpitude baseness; depravity. ?turpitude \TUR-puh-tood; -tyood\, noun: 1. Inherent baseness or vileness of principle, words, or actions; depravity. 2. A base act.[CR][CR]In the eyes of the far left, it [the 60s] is the era when revolution was at hand, only to be betrayed by the feebleness of the faithful and the trickery of the enemy; to the radical right, an era of subversion and moral turpitude. --Arthur Marwick, The Sixties: Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy, and the United States, c.1958-c.1974[CR][CR]They based their action on a clause in the uniform player contract which says players must "conform to standards of good citizenship and good moral character" and disallows "engaging in acts of moral turpitude." --Ira Berkow, "Go Ahead, Choke the Boss -- Only in the N.B.A.," New York Times, March 5, 1998[CR][CR]They were not his misdeeds, his turpitudes; she accused him of nothing--that is, of but one thing, which was not a crime. --Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady[CR][CR]Turpitude comes from Latin turpitudo, from turpis, "foul, base." diffident bashful or unassertive. ?diffident \DIF-uh-dunt; -dent\, adjective: 1. Lacking self-confidence; distrustful of one's own powers; timid; bashful. 2. Characterized by modest reserve; unassertive.[CR][CR]He lived naturally in a condition that many greater poets never had, or if they had it, were embarrassed or diffident about it: a total commitment to his own powers of invention, a complete loss of himself in his materials. --James Dickey, "The Geek of Poetry," New York Times, December 23, 1979[CR][CR]This schism is embodied in Clarence's two sons: cheerful, pushy, book-ignorant Jared, a semicriminal entrepreneur who has caught "the rhythm of America to come" and for whom life is explained in brash epigrams from the trenches, versus slow, diffident Teddy, the town postman, uncomfortable with given notions of manhood, uncompetitive ("yet this seemed the only way to be an American") and disturbed that others misstate "the delicate nature of reality as he needed to grasp it for himself." --Julian Barnes, "Grand Illusion," New York Times, January 28, 1996[CR][CR]Minny was too delicate and diffident to ask her cousin outright to take her to Europe. --Brooke Allen, "Borrowed Lives," New York Times, May 16, 1999[CR][CR]Diffident is from the present participle of Latin diffidere, "to mistrust, to have no confidence," from dis- + fidere, "to trust." The noun form is diffidence. Synonyms: shy, timid, modest, coy, demure. Find more at Thesaurus.com. persiflage frivolous or bantering talk. ?persiflage \PUR-suh-flahzh\, noun: Frivolous or bantering talk; a frivolous manner of treating any subject, whether serious or otherwise; light raillery.[CR][CR]He was somber and wordless and utterly unresponsive to my mother's charming persiflage. --Rosemary Mahoney, A Likely Story[CR][CR]It was a brutal spectacle to watch this Coney Island Keatsian subjected to Winters' unrelenting persiflage. --Richard M. Elman, Namedropping: Mostly Literary Memoirs[CR][CR]Persiflage comes from French, from persifler, "to banter," from per-, "thoroughly" (from Latin) + siffler, "to hiss, to whistle," ultimately from Latin sibilare, "to hiss (at), to whistle." moribund dying. ?moribund \MOR-uh-bund\, adjective: 1. In a dying state; dying; at the point of death. 2. Becoming obsolete or inactive.[CR][CR]He put on a beaver overcoat, a present from a wealthy Petrograd banker and speculator, Ignati Porfiryevich Manus, whose niece had been moribund with fever until Rasputin's healing intercession had revived her. --Brian Moynahan, Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned[CR][CR]Perhaps this explained his solicitousness, his tender careful moist gaze, as if she were moribund. --Kathryn Harrison, The Binding Chair[CR][CR]The real problem is not the economic crisis that dominates the headlines, but a pair of intertwined long-run concerns: the work force is shrinking fast, and Japan undermines its economy's productivity by squandering money on life support for moribund industries and backward regions. --Nicholas D. Kristof, "Empty Isles Are Signs Japan's Sun Might Dim," New York Times, August 1, 1999[CR][CR]If talking about books -- a subject often more personal than politics and more arguable than religion -- can be bruising, it can for the same reasons be thrilling. Yet serious literary conversation as an avocation, as an impromptu congress of amateurs, has been moribund for half a century. --Brian Hall, "The Group," New York Times, June 6, 1999[CR][CR]Moribund is from Latin moribundus, from mori, "to die." sobriquet a nickname. ?sobriquet \SO-brih-kay; -ket; so-brih-KAY; -KET\, noun: A nickname; an assumed name; an epithet.[CR][CR]In addition to his notorious amours, he became distinguished for a turbulent naval career, particularly for the storms he weathered, thus bringing him the sobriquet "Foulweather Jack". --Phyllis Grosskurth, Byron: The Flawed Angel[CR][CR]At a small reception on the occasion of my twenty-fifth anniversary in this position, my good friend Izzy Landes raised a glass and dubbed me the Curator of the Curators, a sobriquet I have worn with pride ever since. --Alfred Alcorn, Murder in the Museum of Man[CR][CR]There was an omnivorous intellect that won him the family sobriquet of Walking Encyclopedia. --Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian[CR][CR]Sobriquet is from the French, from Old French soubriquet, "a chuck under the chin, hence, an affront, a nickname." polymath a person of great or varied learning. ?polymath \PAH-lee-math\, noun: A person of great or varied learning; one acquainted with various subjects of study.[CR][CR]A century after Aristotle, in 240 B.C., a brilliant polymath, Eratosthenes, is appointed chief librarian of the Museum at Alexandria--the most cosmopolitan city and center of learning in the Mediterranean world. --Alan Gurney, Below the Convergence[CR][CR]Alan Kay, for instance, one of the wizards of PARC and now an Apple fellow, is a polymath accomplished in math, biology, music, developmental psychology, philosophy, and several other disciplines. --Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius[CR][CR]Like her literary heroine, George Eliot, Kingsolver is an old-fashioned polymath, curious about all branches of human learning. --Sarah Kerr, "The Novel As Indictment," New York Times, October 11, 1998[CR][CR]Polymath is from Greek polymathes, "having learned much," from poly-, "much" + manthanein, "to learn." appurtenance an adjunct or accessory. ?appurtenance \uh-PUR-tn-un(t)s\, noun: 1. An adjunct; an accessory; something added to another, more important thing. 2. [Plural]. Accessory objects; gear; apparatus. 3. [Law]. An incidental right attached to a principal property right for purposes such as passage of title, conveyance, or inheritance.[CR][CR]The inauguration of presidents, the coronation of monarchs, the celebration of national holidays--these events require everywhere the presence of the soldier as a "ceremonial appurtenance." --Barbara Ehrenreich, Blood Rites[CR][CR]She began by demolishing an 18th-century Paris mansion whose wainscoting, paneling and other appurtenances she admired, instructing an architect to design a house for her that would incorporate these elements. --Angeline Goreau, "A Spectacular Mess of a Marriage," New York Times, August 31, 1997[CR][CR]Apart from sports cars, he did not have his father's passion for the appurtenances of celebrity. --Howard Chua-Eoan, "'He Was My Hero,'" Time, January 27, 1997[CR][CR]A few of the appurtenances of wealth are well known--the Range Rovers and Rolexes, the little Chanel purses and the personal chefs trained in the Pritikin diet. --Richard Lacayo, "Murder in Polo Land," Time, September 22, 1997[CR][CR]Appurtenance is derived from the present participle of Late Latin appertinere, "to belong to," from Latin ad- + pertinere, "to relate to, to belong to," from per-, "through" + tenere, "to hold." hirsute covered with hair or bristles. ?hirsute \HUR-soot; HIR-soot; hur-SOOT; hir-SOOT\, adjective: Covered with hair; set with bristles; shaggy; hairy.[CR][CR]The Bear . . . makes the rounds of the clubs "disguised" in trench coat and broad-brimmed hat, hoping (successfully, it seems) to be mistaken for a rather hirsute human. --Richard M. Sudhalter, "'The Bear Comes Home': Composing the Words That Might Capture Jazz," New York Times, August 29, 1999[CR][CR]"First of all, your nose is nearly covered with your bloody moustache and your beard," Mr Gogarty replied. Mr Allen apologised for his "hirsute" appearance. --Paul Cullen, "No ambush sprung on returning Gogarty," Irish Times, March 23, 1999[CR][CR]He was incredibly hirsute: there was even a thick pelt of hair on the back of his hands. --Tama Janowitz, By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee[CR][CR]Hirsute comes from Latin hirsutus, "covered with hair, rough, shaggy, prickly." nadir the lowest point. ?nadir \NAY-dir; nay-DIR\, noun: 1. [Astronomy]. The point of the celestial sphere directly opposite the zenith and directly below the observer. 2. The lowest point; the time of greatest depression or adversity.[CR][CR]Exploitation reached a nadir in the 1920s, when high government officials were implicated in a flourishing international slave trade and domestic forced labor. --Bill Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full[CR][CR]At the nadir of every recession, business pages fill up with stories of belt-tightening families who move to Vermont and buy their food in bulk. --Peter T. Kilborn, "Splurge," New York Times, June 21, 1998[CR][CR]Nadir is derived from Arabic nazir, "opposite." wastrel a person who wastes; a loafer. ?wastrel \WAY-struhl\, noun: 1. A person who wastes, especially one who squanders money; a spendthrift. 2. An idler; a loafer; a good-for-nothing.[CR][CR]Horace Liveright, the book publisher of the 1920's, is usually recalled in literary memoirs as a charming wastrel, a gambler who always saw a winning bet as a chance to raise his stake in whatever game he was losing at. --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "Disastrous Life of a Pioneer in Hype," New York Times, July 27, 1995[CR][CR]Thad risked everything, including his farm, to set Abner up in the grocery business in the town of Hargrave, only to have Abner turn wastrel and lose everything. --John Kenny Crane, "Good Fellers," New York Times, November 15, 1992[CR][CR]Was her father . . . the brilliant, glamorous figure she remembered, or the alcoholic wastrel his own brother described? --Jean Strouse, "Making the Facts Obey," New York Times, May 24, 1992[CR][CR]Wastrel is from waste + -rel (as in scoundrel). facetious playfully jocular; humorous. ?facetious \fuh-SEE-shuhs\, adjective: 1. Given to jesting; playfully jocular. 2. Amusing; intended to be humorous; not serious.[CR][CR]J. K. Morley was being both serious and facetious when he claimed that "the world's greatest water power is woman's tears." --Tom Lutz, Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears[CR][CR]He was by all odds the liveliest, most genial man in the group--"a most engaging and entertaining companion of a sweet, even and lively temper, full of facetious stories always applied with judgment and introduced apropos." --Richard M. Ketchum, Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War[CR][CR]Facetious comes from French facetieux, from Latin facetia, "wit," from facetus, "witty." Synonyms: whimsical, humorous, facetious, jocular. Find more at Thesaurus.com. afflatus a divine inspiration. ?afflatus \uh-FLAY-tuhs\, noun: A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration.[CR][CR]Whatever happened to passion and vision and the divine afflatus in poetry? --Clive Hicks, "From 'Green Man' (Ronsdale)," Toronto Star, November 21, 1999[CR][CR]Aristophanes must have eclipsed them . . . by the exhibition of some diviner faculty, some higher spiritual afflatus. --John Addington Symonds, Studies of the Greek Poets[CR][CR]Afflatus is from Latin afflatus, past participle of afflare, "to blow at or breathe on," from ad-, "at" + flare, "to puff, to blow." Other words with the same root include deflate (de-, "out of" + flare); inflate (in-, "into" + flare); soufflé, the "puffed up" dish (from French souffler, "to puff," from Latin sufflare, "to blow from below," hence "to blow up, to puff up," from sub-, "below" + flare); and flatulent. 'Word Group Eight - Words to Definitions [PB] to complain habitually. kvetch ?kvetch \KVECH\, intransitive verb: To complain habitually. noun: 1. A complaint. 2. A habitual complainer.[CR][CR]People kvetched when someone else wouldn't relinquish his position. --Barry Lopez, "Before the Temple of Fire." Harper's Magazine, January 1998[CR][CR]They begin to look like malcontents who kvetch about the weather so much that they don't notice the sun coming out. --David Shenk, "Slamming Gates," The New Republic, January 26, 1998[CR][CR]Time for my biennial kvetch about the West End theatre. --Simon Hoggart, "Hose bans, petrol mania: saying 'don't panic' always triggers chaos," The Guardian, November 4, 2000[CR][CR]"He's just a very up person," she says, which is odd, because he is also a big complainer, a class-A kvetch. --Penny Wolfson, "Moonrise," The Atlantic, December 2001 He had difficulty getting American publishers for his later novels, partly because of his self-created image by then as a crusty old kvetch.[CR][CR]--Geoffrey Wheatcroft, "What Kingsley Can Teach Martin," The Atlantic, September 2000[CR][CR]Kvetch comes from Yiddish kvetshn, "to squeeze, to complain," from Middle High German quetzen, quetschen, "to squeeze." a banal, trite, or stale thought or remark. platitude ?platitude \PLAT-uh-tood; -tyood\, noun: 1. Staleness of ideas or language; triteness. 2. A thought or remark that is banal, trite, or stale.[CR][CR]Yet a curious thing happens in this book: Whatever promise it offers of satire and enlightened vision dissipates into cliche and platitude. --Edward Rothstein, "Against Galactic Rhetoric," New York Times, April 3, 1983[CR][CR]The average sports memoir is a prodigy of simpering modesty and high-minded platitude: enough to rot the mind and sap the morals of the sturdiest child. --Wilfrid Sheed, "Take Me Back to the Ballgame," New York Times, September 18, 1966[CR][CR]She'll have to cut the platitudes and start saying something unusual and provocative, which she hasn't yet. --Jonathan Alter, "Why It's Time to Let Loose," Newsweek, December 6, 1999[CR][CR]Platitude derives from French plat, "flat." It is related to plate, a flat piece of metal or a flat dish in which food is served or from which it is eaten; and plateau, a broad, level, elevated area of land. The adjective form of platitude is platitudinous. the washing of the body, or some part of it. ablution ?ablution \uh-BLOO-shun\, noun: 1. The act of washing or cleansing; specifically, the washing of the body, or some part of it (as in a religious rite). 2. The water used in cleansing.[CR][CR]Worshipers, who have performed their ablutions in the basement before entering the prayer hall, individually prepare themselves for participation in the communal worship. --Jane I. Smith, Islam in America[CR][CR]There is . . . a large fountain in the center, beneath an opening in the roof through which the sun streams down to meet the rising water, so that ablutions required of worshipers before they pray can be performed inside the building. --Mary Lee Settle, "A Sacred Spa Where Sultans Led an Empire," New York Times, July 8, 1990[CR][CR]He went straight to the loo to begin his usual ablutions, soaping his cheeks and neck. --Brooks Hansen, Perlman's Ordeal[CR][CR]In fact, writing -- more exactly, composing in your head -- formal poetry may be recommended in solitary confinement as a kind of therapy, alongside pushups and cold ablutions. --Joseph Brodsky, "The Writer in Prison," New York Times, October 13, 1996[CR][CR]Ablution comes from Latin ablutio, from abluere, "to wash, to remove by washing, to wash away," from ab-, "away from" + luere, "to wash." to make or grow better. ameliorate ?ameliorate \uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt\, transitive verb: To make better; to improve. intransitive verb: To grow better.[CR][CR]Among the pressures provoking these distresses were a father's financial inadequacy and a growing awareness that, by finding employment himself, he could ameliorate the family's exiguous circumstances. --Terence Brown, The Life of W. B. Yeats: A Critical Biography[CR][CR]In the socially fluid and (until the crash of 1837) economically expansive 1830s, the legislature frequently appropriated public money to investigate social problems, forestall dependency, and ameliorate human suffering. --Elisabeth Gitter, The Imprisoned Guest[CR][CR]Ameliorate is derived from Latin ad + meliorare, "to make better," from melior, "better." acute vexation or embarrassment. chagrin ?chagrin \shuh-GRIN\, noun: Acute vexation, annoyance, or embarrassment, arising from disappointment or failure. transitive verb: To unsettle or vex by disappointment or humiliation; to mortify.[CR][CR]He ran away to the recruiting office at Ottumwa, a river port where Union soldiers were transported east--how he got to the town, a good half-day journey by wagon, isn't clear--and to his chagrin, he found his father waiting there. --Allen Barra, Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends[CR][CR]He noted with chagrin how little hair clung to his head. --John Marks, The Wall[CR][CR]Rich Moroni was earning $20,000 a year as a cook and was chagrined to discover that he couldn't keep up with the style of life and spending of his preferred reference group -- the lawyers and executives who shared his passion for squash and belonged to the same health club. --Peter T. Kilborn, "Splurge," New York Times, June 21, 1998[CR][CR]Chagrined to find that her current boyfriend has become best pals with her ex-boyfriend Hank, she goes to her ex with the problem. --Stephen J. Dubner, "Boston Rockers," New York Times, July 26, 1998[CR][CR]Chagrin is from the French, from chagrin, "sad." Synonyms: vexation, mortification. Find more at Thesaurus.com. "Vexation arises chiefly from our wishes and views being crossed; mortification, from our self-importance being hurt; chagrin, from a mixture of the two." --Crabb. marked by repeated turns and bends. tortuous ?tortuous \TOR-choo-us\, adjective: 1. Marked by repeated turns and bends; as, "a tortuous road up the mountain." 2. Not straightforward; devious; as, "his tortuous reasoning." 3. Highly involved or intricate; as, "tortuous legal procedures."[CR][CR]. . . the tortuous, narrow streets of Jerusalem's Old City. --Lee Hockstader, "Pope's Road to Israel Paved by Past Errors," Washington Post, March 12, 2000[CR][CR]Thus in the 1970s Terry Erwin of the Smithsonian Institution anaesthetized and then counted all the species of beetle in just one tree in Panama, perceived that the number of unknown species far outweighed the ones that had previously been identified, and through a sequence of reasoning that may seem a trifle tortuous but is widely agreed to be reasonable, calculated that the true number of all species on Earth is probably nearer to 30 million. --Colin Tudge, The Variety of Life[CR][CR]The attempts to substitute machines, methods of mass production, for the slow manual labour of antiquaries and historical researchers have all broken down; we still rely on those who spend their lives in painfully piecing together their knowledge from fragments of actual evidence, obeying this evidence wherever it leads them, however tortuous and unfamiliar the pattern, or with no consciousness of any pattern at all. --Isaiah Berlin, The Sense of Reality: Studies in Ideas and their History[CR][CR]Tortuous is from Latin tortuosus, from tortus, "a twisting," from the past participle of torquere, "to twist." Usage note: Be careful not to confuse tortuous and torturous. Tortuous means "twisting" or by extension "complex" or "devious." Torturous refers primarily to torture and the pain associated with it. Related words: torque, "a collar or necklace made of a strip of twisted metal; also, a turning or twisting force"; retort, "to reply sharply," literally "to twist back" (re-, "back"); contort, "to twist in a violent manner"; extort, "to obtain through coercion or intimidation," literally "to twist out of" (ex-, "out of"); distort, "to twist out of natural or regular shape" (dis-, "apart"). destiny; fate. kismet ?kismet \KIZ-met; -mit\, noun: Destiny; fate.[CR][CR]It's pure kismet when these two find each other. --Janet Maslin, "'The Mighty': Talents to Make Buddies -- Walking and Wisecracking," New York Times, October 9, 1998[CR][CR]Winning wasn't essential, though it seemed kismet that Cone, for a second straight year, came back from injury to pitch in a game that clinched a bit of postseason bliss. --Claire Smith, "Cone Puts the Yankees' Minds at Ease," New York Times, September 21, 1997[CR][CR]Applewhite's writings are heavy with kismet: he said he was visiting a hospitalized friend when Mrs. Nettles entered the room and their eyes locked in a shared recognition of esoteric secrets. --Barry Bearak, "Eyes on Glory: Pied Pipers of Heaven's Gate," New York Times, April 28, 1997[CR][CR]Kismet comes (via Turkish) from Arabic qismah, "portion, lot." to aggravate; to make worse. exacerbate ?exacerbate \ig-ZAS-ur-bayt\, transitive verb: To render more severe, violent, or bitter; to irritate; to aggravate; to make worse.[CR][CR]To reduce the stress that exacerbates my stuttering, I have meditated, done deep-breathing exercises, and floated under a condition of sensory deprivation in a dark, enclosed isolation tank. --Marty Jezer, Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words[CR][CR]By the 1920s a stubborn agricultural depression . . . badly exacerbated the problems of the countryside. --David M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear[CR][CR]But they decided they did not like the San Francisco weather -- it exacerbated Alan's allergies -- and they moved to Florida at the end of 1986. --Sanford J. Ungar, Fresh Blood: The New American Immigrants[CR][CR]Exacerbate is from Latin exacerbare, "to irritate, to provoke, to aggravate very much," from ex-, intensive prefix + acerbare, "to make bitter, to aggravate," from acerbus, "bitter." a strong liking. penchant ?penchant \PEN-chunt\, noun: Inclination; decided taste; a strong liking.[CR][CR]"Ben was a dreamy little boy," recalls Hiddy, who always thought her brother's penchant for reveries might lead him to become an artist or a great philosopher. --Thomas Maier, Dr. Spock: An American Life[CR][CR]Field, in his personal comportment, maintained a penchant for austerity, a contempt for frivolity, and a "steely cold" disdain for any decision not based on fundamental business principles. --Roland Marchand, Creating the Corporate Soul[CR][CR]Even as an adolescent bookkeeper in a trading house in Cleveland, Rockefeller minutely recorded his charitable donations in ledgers, which confirm that from an early age he had a penchant for giving money no less than for making it. --Ron Chernow, "Mystery of the Generous Monopolist," New York Times, November 18, 1998[CR][CR]Penchant comes from the present participle of French pencher, "to incline, to bend," from (assumed) Late Latin pendicare, "to lean," from Latin pendere, "to weigh." Synonyms: inclination, leaning, bent, partiality, penchant, predilection, propensity. Find more at Thesaurus.com. a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest. ennui ?ennui \on-WEE\, noun: A feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest; boredom.[CR][CR]He glanced at his heavily laden bookshelves. Nothing there appealed to him. The ennui seemed to have settled into his very bones. --Amanda Quick, With This Ring[CR][CR]He was often off sick or playing hooky and suffered from a kind of ennui, a mixture of listlessness and willful melancholy. --Elisabeth Roudinesco, Jacques Lacan (translated by Barbara Bray)[CR][CR]Yet if she felt anything it was ennui, . . . the grey sky and the cold wind obliterating every impulse she might have felt to seek comfort in another climate, another landscape. --Anita Brookner, Falling Slowly[CR][CR]He was ashamed and unhappy, adrift with a senseless ennui. --Brian Moynahan, Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned[CR][CR]Ennui is from the French, from Old French enui, "annoyance," from enuier, "to annoy, to bore," from the Latin phrase in odium, "in hatred or dislike." Synonyms: tedium, boredom. Find more at Thesaurus.com. talkative; also, wordy. garrulous ?garrulous \GAIR-uh-lus; GAIR-yuh-\, adjective: 1. Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative. 2. Wordy.[CR][CR]Without saying a single word she managed to radiate disapproval . . . the air seemed to grow heavy with it and the most garrulous talker would wilt and fall silent. --Mark Amory, Lord Berners: The Last Eccentric[CR][CR]He was as garrulous as a magpie. --Ferdinand Mount, Jem (and Sam)[CR][CR]The garrulous ancient was for once holding his tongue. --William Black, Madcap Violet[CR][CR]Crammed with gossip, anecdotes, and confessions . . ., his garrulous, untidy narratives read like a good novel. --James Atlas, "A Modern Whitman," The Atlantic, December 1984[CR][CR]He took a great liking to this Rev. Mr. Peters, and talked with him a great deal: told him yarns, gave him toothsome scraps of personal history, and wove a glittering streak of profanity through his garrulous fabric that was refreshing to a spirit weary of the dull neutralities of undecorated speech. --Mark Twain, "Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion II," The Atlantic, November 1877[CR][CR]Garrulous is from Latin garrulus, from garrire, "to chatter, to babble." Synonyms: Talkative, loquacious, chatty. Find more at Thesaurus.com. sharp and harsh; bitter. acrid ?acrid \AK-rid\, adjective: 1. Sharp and harsh, or bitter to the taste or smell; pungent. 2. Caustic in language or tone; bitter.[CR][CR]There was burning jet fuel everywhere. Acrid, black smoke billowed across the water. --Simon Worrall, "The Night the Sea Burnt," Independent, July 6, 1997[CR][CR]He rips off another match, lights it, and uses it to light another cigarette. He shakes out the match, takes a puff, letting the acrid, unfiltered taste burn the back of his throat. --Kris Rusch, Hitler's Angel[CR][CR]The goal of sequencing the human gene set has been the subject of acrid debate among biologists. --Philip J. Hilts, "Head of Gene Map Threatens to Quit," New York Times, April 9, 1992[CR][CR]Paz's outspoken criticism of Cuba's brand of socialism placed him increasingly at odds with his colleagues. It led to a prolonged, sometimes acrid feud between him and the more left-leaning Fuentes. --"Octavio Paz, Mexico's Literary Giant, Dead at 84," New York Times, April 21, 1998[CR][CR]Acrid comes from Latin acer, "sharp." inclining to redness; ruddy. rubicund ?rubicund \ROO-bih-kund\, adjective: Inclining to redness; ruddy; red.[CR][CR]The men are second cousins, around forty, resembling each other not very much, one taller and leaner, less rubicund than the other, who has just returned from California. --John Lukacs, A Thread of Years[CR][CR]Rubicund from his cocktail, big, broad, lustrous with power, he exuded what Walter Pater called the "charm of an exquisite character, felt in some way to be inseparable from his person." --Edmund Morris, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan[CR][CR]Rubicund comes from Latin rubicundus, "red, ruddy," from rubere, "to be red." Synonyms: sanguine, roseate. Find more at Thesaurus.com. to dwell for a time; also, a temporary stay. sojourn ?sojourn \SO-jurn; so-JURN\, intransitive verb: To stay as a temporary resident; to dwell for a time. noun: A temporary stay.[CR][CR]Though he has sojourned in Southwold, wandered in Walberswick, dabbled in Dunwich, ambled through Aldeburgh and blundered through Blythburgh, Smallweed has never set foot in Orford. --Smallweed, "The trouble with hope," The Guardian, April 14, 2001[CR][CR]Yet he is now an accomplished student and speaker of English, a literary editor and television producer, someone who has sojourned in Paris and attended the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. --William H. Gass, "Family and Fable in Galilee," New York Times, April 17, 1988[CR][CR]As chance would have it, Degas's five-month sojourn in New Orleans coincided with an extraordinarily contentious period in the stormy political history of the city. --Christopher Benfey, Degas in New Orleans[CR][CR]During that long sojourn in Sligo, from 1870 to 1874, he had lessons from a much loved nursemaid, Ellie Connolly; later he received coaching in spelling and dictation from Esther Merrick, a neighbour who lived in the Sexton's house by St John's, and who read him quantities of verse. --R. F. Foster, W.B. Yeats: A Life[CR][CR]Sojourn comes from Old French sojorner, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin subdiurnare, from Latin sub-, "under, a little over" + Late Latin diurnus, "lasting for a day," from Latin dies, "day." praiseworthy; commendable. laudable ?laudable \LAW-duh-bul\, adjective: Worthy of praise; commendable.[CR][CR]Her first answer was laudable -- she wrote that yes, she would remain engaged to a man who fell seriously ill subsequent to the engagement. --Enid Nemy, "Metropolitan Diary," New York Times, January 11, 1999[CR][CR]The second sense in which we are feminist researchers comes from our belief that equity between boys and girls, men and women, is a laudable goal. --Justine Cassell and Henry Jenkins (editors), From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games[CR][CR]Laudable comes from Latin laudabilis, from laudare, "to praise," from laus, laud-, "praise." one who cultivates great sensitivity to beauty. aesthete ?aesthete \ES-theet\, noun: One having or affecting great sensitivity to beauty, as in art or nature.[CR][CR]Beijing, with its stolid, square buildings and wide, straight roads, feels like the plan of a first-year engineering student, while Shanghai's decorative architecture and snaking, narrow roads feel like the plan of an aesthete. --"Sky's the Limit in Shanghai," Los Angeles Times, April 25, 1999[CR][CR]But he was also an aesthete with a connoisseur's eye for the wild modernist innovations with letterforms and layout of the 1920s. --Rick Poynor, "Herbert Spencer," The Guardian, March 15, 2002[CR][CR]Where the standard Oxford aesthete of the 1920s had been showily dissipated, full of wild talk about decadence and beauty, Auden was preaching a new gospel of icy austerity and self-control. --Ian Hamilton, Against Oblivion[CR][CR]Aesthete is from Greek aisthetes, "one who perceives," from aisthanesthai, "to perceive." clearness of understanding. perspicacity ?perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\, noun: Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment.[CR][CR]His predictions over the years have mixed unusual aristocratic insight with devastating perspicacity. --"Why fine titles make exceedingly fine writers," Independent, November 3, 1996[CR][CR]Doubtless these thumbnail sketches, like everything else Stendhal wrote, were intended ultimately to relate to his own notion of himself as a creature of invincible perspicacity and sophistication. --Jonathan Keates, Stendhal[CR][CR]Perspicacity comes from Latin perspicax, perspicac-, "sharp-sighted," from perspicere, "to look through," from per, "through" + specere, "to look." a rare or unique person or thing. rara avis ?rara avis \RARE-uh-AY-vis\, noun plural rara avises \RARE-uh-AY-vuh-suhz\ or rarae aves \RARE-ee-AY-veez\: A rare or unique person or thing.[CR][CR]He was, after all, that rara avis, a Jewish Catholic priest with a wife and children. --Jeremy Sams, "Lorenzo the magnificent," Independent, May 16, 2000[CR][CR]"First of all," Arthur said, "Jack is that rara avis among Ivy League radicals, a birthright member of the proletariat." --Charles McCarry, Lucky Bastard[CR][CR]Rara avis. You'd have to go far and wide to find someone like that, especially in these times. --Andrew Holleran, In September, the Light Changes[CR][CR]Rara avis is Latin for "rare bird." baseness; depravity. turpitude ?turpitude \TUR-puh-tood; -tyood\, noun: 1. Inherent baseness or vileness of principle, words, or actions; depravity. 2. A base act.[CR][CR]In the eyes of the far left, it [the 60s] is the era when revolution was at hand, only to be betrayed by the feebleness of the faithful and the trickery of the enemy; to the radical right, an era of subversion and moral turpitude. --Arthur Marwick, The Sixties: Cultural Revolution in Britain, France, Italy, and the United States, c.1958-c.1974[CR][CR]They based their action on a clause in the uniform player contract which says players must "conform to standards of good citizenship and good moral character" and disallows "engaging in acts of moral turpitude." --Ira Berkow, "Go Ahead, Choke the Boss -- Only in the N.B.A.," New York Times, March 5, 1998[CR][CR]They were not his misdeeds, his turpitudes; she accused him of nothing--that is, of but one thing, which was not a crime. --Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady[CR][CR]Turpitude comes from Latin turpitudo, from turpis, "foul, base." bashful or unassertive. diffident ?diffident \DIF-uh-dunt; -dent\, adjective: 1. Lacking self-confidence; distrustful of one's own powers; timid; bashful. 2. Characterized by modest reserve; unassertive.[CR][CR]He lived naturally in a condition that many greater poets never had, or if they had it, were embarrassed or diffident about it: a total commitment to his own powers of invention, a complete loss of himself in his materials. --James Dickey, "The Geek of Poetry," New York Times, December 23, 1979[CR][CR]This schism is embodied in Clarence's two sons: cheerful, pushy, book-ignorant Jared, a semicriminal entrepreneur who has caught "the rhythm of America to come" and for whom life is explained in brash epigrams from the trenches, versus slow, diffident Teddy, the town postman, uncomfortable with given notions of manhood, uncompetitive ("yet this seemed the only way to be an American") and disturbed that others misstate "the delicate nature of reality as he needed to grasp it for himself." --Julian Barnes, "Grand Illusion," New York Times, January 28, 1996[CR][CR]Minny was too delicate and diffident to ask her cousin outright to take her to Europe. --Brooke Allen, "Borrowed Lives," New York Times, May 16, 1999[CR][CR]Diffident is from the present participle of Latin diffidere, "to mistrust, to have no confidence," from dis- + fidere, "to trust." The noun form is diffidence. Synonyms: shy, timid, modest, coy, demure. Find more at Thesaurus.com. frivolous or bantering talk. persiflage ?persiflage \PUR-suh-flahzh\, noun: Frivolous or bantering talk; a frivolous manner of treating any subject, whether serious or otherwise; light raillery.[CR][CR]He was somber and wordless and utterly unresponsive to my mother's charming persiflage. --Rosemary Mahoney, A Likely Story[CR][CR]It was a brutal spectacle to watch this Coney Island Keatsian subjected to Winters' unrelenting persiflage. --Richard M. Elman, Namedropping: Mostly Literary Memoirs[CR][CR]Persiflage comes from French, from persifler, "to banter," from per-, "thoroughly" (from Latin) + siffler, "to hiss, to whistle," ultimately from Latin sibilare, "to hiss (at), to whistle." dying. moribund ?moribund \MOR-uh-bund\, adjective: 1. In a dying state; dying; at the point of death. 2. Becoming obsolete or inactive.[CR][CR]He put on a beaver overcoat, a present from a wealthy Petrograd banker and speculator, Ignati Porfiryevich Manus, whose niece had been moribund with fever until Rasputin's healing intercession had revived her. --Brian Moynahan, Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned[CR][CR]Perhaps this explained his solicitousness, his tender careful moist gaze, as if she were moribund. --Kathryn Harrison, The Binding Chair[CR][CR]The real problem is not the economic crisis that dominates the headlines, but a pair of intertwined long-run concerns: the work force is shrinking fast, and Japan undermines its economy's productivity by squandering money on life support for moribund industries and backward regions. --Nicholas D. Kristof, "Empty Isles Are Signs Japan's Sun Might Dim," New York Times, August 1, 1999[CR][CR]If talking about books -- a subject often more personal than politics and more arguable than religion -- can be bruising, it can for the same reasons be thrilling. Yet serious literary conversation as an avocation, as an impromptu congress of amateurs, has been moribund for half a century. --Brian Hall, "The Group," New York Times, June 6, 1999[CR][CR]Moribund is from Latin moribundus, from mori, "to die." a nickname. sobriquet ?sobriquet \SO-brih-kay; -ket; so-brih-KAY; -KET\, noun: A nickname; an assumed name; an epithet.[CR][CR]In addition to his notorious amours, he became distinguished for a turbulent naval career, particularly for the storms he weathered, thus bringing him the sobriquet "Foulweather Jack". --Phyllis Grosskurth, Byron: The Flawed Angel[CR][CR]At a small reception on the occasion of my twenty-fifth anniversary in this position, my good friend Izzy Landes raised a glass and dubbed me the Curator of the Curators, a sobriquet I have worn with pride ever since. --Alfred Alcorn, Murder in the Museum of Man[CR][CR]There was an omnivorous intellect that won him the family sobriquet of Walking Encyclopedia. --Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian[CR][CR]Sobriquet is from the French, from Old French soubriquet, "a chuck under the chin, hence, an affront, a nickname." a person of great or varied learning. polymath ?polymath \PAH-lee-math\, noun: A person of great or varied learning; one acquainted with various subjects of study.[CR][CR]A century after Aristotle, in 240 B.C., a brilliant polymath, Eratosthenes, is appointed chief librarian of the Museum at Alexandria--the most cosmopolitan city and center of learning in the Mediterranean world. --Alan Gurney, Below the Convergence[CR][CR]Alan Kay, for instance, one of the wizards of PARC and now an Apple fellow, is a polymath accomplished in math, biology, music, developmental psychology, philosophy, and several other disciplines. --Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius[CR][CR]Like her literary heroine, George Eliot, Kingsolver is an old-fashioned polymath, curious about all branches of human learning. --Sarah Kerr, "The Novel As Indictment," New York Times, October 11, 1998[CR][CR]Polymath is from Greek polymathes, "having learned much," from poly-, "much" + manthanein, "to learn." an adjunct or accessory. appurtenance ?appurtenance \uh-PUR-tn-un(t)s\, noun: 1. An adjunct; an accessory; something added to another, more important thing. 2. [Plural]. Accessory objects; gear; apparatus. 3. [Law]. An incidental right attached to a principal property right for purposes such as passage of title, conveyance, or inheritance.[CR][CR]The inauguration of presidents, the coronation of monarchs, the celebration of national holidays--these events require everywhere the presence of the soldier as a "ceremonial appurtenance." --Barbara Ehrenreich, Blood Rites[CR][CR]She began by demolishing an 18th-century Paris mansion whose wainscoting, paneling and other appurtenances she admired, instructing an architect to design a house for her that would incorporate these elements. --Angeline Goreau, "A Spectacular Mess of a Marriage," New York Times, August 31, 1997[CR][CR]Apart from sports cars, he did not have his father's passion for the appurtenances of celebrity. --Howard Chua-Eoan, "'He Was My Hero,'" Time, January 27, 1997[CR][CR]A few of the appurtenances of wealth are well known--the Range Rovers and Rolexes, the little Chanel purses and the personal chefs trained in the Pritikin diet. --Richard Lacayo, "Murder in Polo Land," Time, September 22, 1997[CR][CR]Appurtenance is derived from the present participle of Late Latin appertinere, "to belong to," from Latin ad- + pertinere, "to relate to, to belong to," from per-, "through" + tenere, "to hold." covered with hair or bristles. hirsute ?hirsute \HUR-soot; HIR-soot; hur-SOOT; hir-SOOT\, adjective: Covered with hair; set with bristles; shaggy; hairy.[CR][CR]The Bear . . . makes the rounds of the clubs "disguised" in trench coat and broad-brimmed hat, hoping (successfully, it seems) to be mistaken for a rather hirsute human. --Richard M. Sudhalter, "'The Bear Comes Home': Composing the Words That Might Capture Jazz," New York Times, August 29, 1999[CR][CR]"First of all, your nose is nearly covered with your bloody moustache and your beard," Mr Gogarty replied. Mr Allen apologised for his "hirsute" appearance. --Paul Cullen, "No ambush sprung on returning Gogarty," Irish Times, March 23, 1999[CR][CR]He was incredibly hirsute: there was even a thick pelt of hair on the back of his hands. --Tama Janowitz, By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee[CR][CR]Hirsute comes from Latin hirsutus, "covered with hair, rough, shaggy, prickly." the lowest point. nadir ?nadir \NAY-dir; nay-DIR\, noun: 1. [Astronomy]. The point of the celestial sphere directly opposite the zenith and directly below the observer. 2. The lowest point; the time of greatest depression or adversity.[CR][CR]Exploitation reached a nadir in the 1920s, when high government officials were implicated in a flourishing international slave trade and domestic forced labor. --Bill Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full[CR][CR]At the nadir of every recession, business pages fill up with stories of belt-tightening families who move to Vermont and buy their food in bulk. --Peter T. Kilborn, "Splurge," New York Times, June 21, 1998[CR][CR]Nadir is derived from Arabic nazir, "opposite." a person who wastes; a loafer. wastrel ?wastrel \WAY-struhl\, noun: 1. A person who wastes, especially one who squanders money; a spendthrift. 2. An idler; a loafer; a good-for-nothing.[CR][CR]Horace Liveright, the book publisher of the 1920's, is usually recalled in literary memoirs as a charming wastrel, a gambler who always saw a winning bet as a chance to raise his stake in whatever game he was losing at. --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "Disastrous Life of a Pioneer in Hype," New York Times, July 27, 1995[CR][CR]Thad risked everything, including his farm, to set Abner up in the grocery business in the town of Hargrave, only to have Abner turn wastrel and lose everything. --John Kenny Crane, "Good Fellers," New York Times, November 15, 1992[CR][CR]Was her father . . . the brilliant, glamorous figure she remembered, or the alcoholic wastrel his own brother described? --Jean Strouse, "Making the Facts Obey," New York Times, May 24, 1992[CR][CR]Wastrel is from waste + -rel (as in scoundrel). playfully jocular; humorous. facetious ?facetious \fuh-SEE-shuhs\, adjective: 1. Given to jesting; playfully jocular. 2. Amusing; intended to be humorous; not serious.[CR][CR]J. K. Morley was being both serious and facetious when he claimed that "the world's greatest water power is woman's tears." --Tom Lutz, Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears[CR][CR]He was by all odds the liveliest, most genial man in the group--"a most engaging and entertaining companion of a sweet, even and lively temper, full of facetious stories always applied with judgment and introduced apropos." --Richard M. Ketchum, Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War[CR][CR]Facetious comes from French facetieux, from Latin facetia, "wit," from facetus, "witty." Synonyms: whimsical, humorous, facetious, jocular. Find more at Thesaurus.com. a divine inspiration. afflatus ?afflatus \uh-FLAY-tuhs\, noun: A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration.[CR][CR]Whatever happened to passion and vision and the divine afflatus in poetry? --Clive Hicks, "From 'Green Man' (Ronsdale)," Toronto Star, November 21, 1999[CR][CR]Aristophanes must have eclipsed them . . . by the exhibition of some diviner faculty, some higher spiritual afflatus. --John Addington Symonds, Studies of the Greek Poets[CR][CR]Afflatus is from Latin afflatus, past participle of afflare, "to blow at or breathe on," from ad-, "at" + flare, "to puff, to blow." Other words with the same root include deflate (de-, "out of" + flare); inflate (in-, "into" + flare); soufflé, the "puffed up" dish (from French souffler, "to puff," from Latin sufflare, "to blow from below," hence "to blow up, to puff up," from sub-, "below" + flare); and flatulent. 'Word Group Nine - Definitions to Words [PA] cupidity eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth. ?cupidity \kyoo-PID-uh-tee\, noun: Eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth; greed; avarice.[CR][CR]Curiosity was a form of lust, a wandering cupidity of the eye and the mind. --John Crowley, "Of Marvels And Monsters," Washington Post, October 18, 1998[CR][CR]At the end, all but rubbing his hands with cupidity, Rockefeller declares he will now promote abstract art--it's better for business. --Stuart Klawans, "Rock in a Hard Place," The Nation, December 27, 1999[CR][CR]This strain of cupidity sprang from the mean circumstances of his youth in the Finger Lakes district of upstate New York. --Jack Beatty, "A Capital Life," New York Times, May 17, 1998[CR][CR]For such is human cupidity that we Thoroughbreds have but one chance to survive it -- to run so fast and to win so much money that we are retired in comfort in our declining days. --William Murray, "From the Horse's Mouth," New York Times, August 8, 1993[CR][CR]Myself, I have always believed that BMWs achieve their presence (and their grip on the collective imagination and cupidity of the middle classes) because they combine an athletic, masculine bulk and stance with feminine details and lines. --Stephen Bayley, "The evolution of the curve," Independent, October 22, 1998[CR][CR]Cupidity ultimately comes from Latin cupiditas, from cupidus, "desirous," from cupere, "to desire." It is related to Cupid, the Roman god of love. intransigent uncompromising. ?intransigent \in-TRAN-suh-juhnt; -zuh-\, adjective: Refusing to compromise; uncompromising.[CR][CR]He was intransigent at times, and almost playfully yielding at others. --"The Decline and Fall of a Sure Thing," New York Times, September 10, 1989[CR][CR]Sometimes I was intransigent, and proud of it. At other times I seemed to myself to be nearly devoid of any character at all, timid, uncertain, without will. --Edward W. Said, Out of Place: A Memoir[CR][CR]The dispute brewed through the summer as Nehru remained intransigent and U.S. officials confronted an unbending legal mandate. --George Perkovich, India's Nuclear Bomb[CR][CR]Intransigent is from French intransigeant, from Spanish intransigente, from in-, "not" (from Latin) + transigente, present participle of transigir, "to compromise," from Latin transigere, "to come to an agreement," from trans-, "across" + agere, "to drive." cynosure a center of attention. ?cynosure \SY-nuh-shoor; SIN-uh-shoor\, noun: 1. Anything to which attention is strongly turned; a center of attraction. 2. That which serves to guide or direct. 3. [Capitalized]. The northern constellation Ursa Minor, which contains the North Star; also, the North Star itself.[CR][CR]The monarch, at the apex of court power and centre of its ritual, and the greatest patron of the arts, was the cynosure of this culture, standing (or, more usually, sitting) at the centre of a system of artistic practice intended to represent his or her sacred omnipotence and monopoly of power. --John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination[CR][CR]Lucy is very pretty and becomes the cynosure not only of the aforementioned characters, but also of several faceless and epicene young men who also loiter about. --John Simon, "Stealing Beauty," National Review, July 15, 1996[CR][CR]Then, feeling himself the cynosure of every eye in the library, he extemporized a brief speech on his "lucky day." --Peter Schneider, Eduard's Homecoming[CR][CR]Cynosure derives from Latin cynosura, from Greek kunosoura, "dog's tail, the constellation Ursa Minor," from kuon, kun-, "dog" + oura, "tail." refulgent brilliant; resplendent. ?refulgent \rih-FUL-juhnt\, adjective: Shining brightly; radiant; brilliant; resplendent.[CR][CR]If Moore was not quite a burned-out case, his once refulgent light flickered only dimly in his sad last years. --Martin Filler, "The Spirit of '76," New Republic, July 9, 2001[CR][CR]With its improbable towers tilting against themselves and its titanium sheathing in full refulgent glow, it brings on a question that the world has not enjoyed asking itself since the first moon landings: If this is possible, what isn't? --Richard Lacayo, "The Frank Gehry Experience," Time, June 26, 2000[CR][CR]To the Renaissance, they [the Middle Ages] were nothing but a dank patch of history, a barren stretch of time between luminous antiquity and an equally refulgent present. --Justin Davidson, "On the Record," Newsday, January 19, 1997[CR][CR]Refulgent comes from the present participle of Latin refulgere, "to flash back, to shine brightly," from re-, "back" + fulgere, "to shine." concomitant accompanying; attending. ?concomitant \kuhn-KOM-uh-tuhnt\, adjective: Accompanying; attendant; occurring or existing concurrently. noun: Something that accompanies or is collaterally connected with something else; an accompaniment.[CR][CR]For a filmmaker so obsessed with these issues, it is a sad irony that his fear of things going wrong--and his concomitant mania for clockwork control--should have been a major reason for the failure of . . . his final film. --Michiko Kakutani, "A Connoisseur of Cool Tries to Raise the Temperature," New York Times, July 18, 1999[CR][CR]In short, the inevitable concomitant of autocracy . . . is aggression and imperialism. --Martin Malia, Russia Under Western Eyes[CR][CR]Concomitant comes from the present participle of Latin concomitari, "to accompany," from com- (used intensively) + comitari, "to accompany," from comes, comit-, "a companion." ribald characterized by, or given to, vulgar humor. ?ribald \RIB-uld; RY-bawld\, adjective: Characterized by, or given to, vulgar humor; coarse. noun: A ribald person; a lewd fellow.[CR][CR]Barrymore delights you with his own delight in his silly, ribald jokes (most of which are unprintable here). --Ben Brantley, "A Dazzler of a Drunk, Full of Gab and Grief," New York Times, March 26, 1997[CR][CR]His sense of humor is sharp and ribald; he never passes up an opportunity to insert a salty story. --Frederick Luciani, "No Jail Could Hold Him," New York Times, October 25, 1998[CR][CR]Audacious ribald: your laughter will finish in hideous boredom before morning. --Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman[CR][CR]Ribald derives from Old French ribaud, from riber, "to be wanton," from Old High German riban, "to be amorous" (originally, "to rub"). sesquipedalian (of words) long; having many syllables. ?sesquipedalian \ses-kwuh-puh-DAYL-yuhn\, adjective: 1. Given to or characterized by the use of long words. 2. Long and ponderous; having many syllables. noun: A long word.[CR][CR]As a sesquipedalian stylist, he can throw a word like 'eponymous" into a sentence without missing a beat. --Campbell, Patty, "The sand in the oyster," The Horn Book Magazine, May 15, 1996[CR][CR]Plus he has a weakness for what we can mischievously call sesquipedalian excess: Look out for such terms as "epiphenomenal," "diegetic" and "proprioceptive." --Jabari Asim, "Reel Pioneer," Washington Post, November 19, 2000[CR][CR]They walk and speak with disdain for common folk, and never miss a chance to belittle the crowd in sesquipedalian put-downs or to declare that their raucous and uncouth behavior calls for nothing less than a letter to the Times, to inform proper Englishmen of the deplorable state of manners in the Colonies. --William C. Martin, "Friday Night in the Coliseum," The Atlantic, March 1972[CR][CR]. . . her eccentric family's addiction to sesquipedalians (that big word for "big words"), and her furtive passion for flossy mail-order-catalog prose. --David Browne, "Books/The Week," Entertainment Weekly, October 23, 1998[CR][CR]Sesquipedalian comes from Latin sesquipedalis, "a foot and a half long, hence inordinately long," from sesqui, "one half more, half as much again" + pes, ped-, "a foot." deleterious harmful. ?deleterious \del-uh-TIR-ee-us\, adjective: Harmful; destructive; pernicious.[CR][CR]Heat, especially year-round heat, has an even more deleterious consequence: it encourages the proliferation of life forms hostile to man. --David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations[CR][CR]Hikers can minimize the deleterious effects of high altitudes by spending two days acclimatizing themselves at spots around 8,000 feet. --Nancy Stedman, "The Good and Bad of Sun Exposure," New York Times, May 4, 1999[CR][CR]Deleterious is derived from Greek deleterios, from deleisthai, "to hurt, to damage." temerity unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger. ?temerity \tuh-MER-uh-tee\, noun: Unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger; rashness.[CR][CR]The elaborate caution with which the British commander now proceeded stands out in striking contrast with the temerity of his advance upon Bunker Hill in the preceding year. --John Fiske, "Washington's Great Campaign of 1776," The Atlantic, January 1889[CR][CR]When English merchants had the temerity to set up a trading post or 'factory' -- junior merchants were known as factors -- the Dutchmen defended their monopoly by massacring them. --Anthony Read and David Fisher, The Proudest Day[CR][CR]Drivers with the temerity to accelerate out of turns are likely to encounter torque steer, an unsettling glitch in control as the engine fights to take charge of the steering. --Peter Passell, "Mitsubishi Diamante: Back From Down Under," New York Times, February 23, 1997[CR][CR]Throughout the anti-trust trial its executives treated the courts and the US government with sneering contempt, coupled with a ratty annoyance that any public authority should have the temerity to interfere in its business. --John Naughton, "Gates must not win at monopoly," The Observer, October 28, 2001[CR][CR]Temerity comes from Latin temeritas, from temere, "blindly, rashly." Synonyms: Rashness; audacity; foolhardiness. Find more at Thesaurus.com. extirpate to eradicate; to destroy. ?extirpate \EK-stur-payt\, transitive verb: 1. To pull up by the stem or root. 2. To destroy completely. 3. To remove by surgery.[CR][CR]A plant growing where it shouldn't is a weed. An object for which you have no need or sentimental attachment is garbage. Extirpate the one, toss the other. --Philip Kennicott, "The Symphony's Misbegotten 'Moon,'" Washington Post, January 14, 2000[CR][CR]There had been no great missionary impulse in the Turkish incursions, no urge to extirpate the old ways. --Fouad Ajami, "The Glory Days of the Grand Turk," New York Times, May 2, 1999[CR][CR]If Soviet espionage or capitalist plots against the Soviet Union are malignant growths, it requires a professional to extirpate them by methods as unkind to random bystanders as radiation may be to healthy tissue. --Robert Leachman, "Super Thrillers and Super Powers," New York Times, February 19, 1984[CR][CR]Extirpate derives from Latin ex(s)tirpare, "to tear up by the root, hence to root out, to extirpate," from ex-, "from" + stirps, "the stalk or stem or a tree or other plant, with the roots." lineament a distinguishing or characteristic feature. ?lineament \LIN-ee-uh-muhnt\, noun: 1. One of the outlines, exterior features, or distinctive marks of a body or figure, particularly of the face. 2. A distinguishing or characteristic feature; -- usually in the plural.[CR][CR]If she saw herself, even in her memory, she did not see the brightness that had been hers as a wife; she saw the lined and ageing woman she had become, as if these lineaments had been waiting to emerge since her features had first been formed. --Anita Brookner, Visitors[CR][CR]Biography -- and, by definition, autobiography -- is the form of the moment. In the shape of a well-lived, well-told life we can discern the lineaments of the day and even, if the life to hand signifies more than itself, the age. --Fred Inglis, "No Discouragement: An Autobiography," New Statesman, December 6, 1996[CR][CR]Crazy wooden galleries common to the backs of half a dozen houses, with holes from which to look upon the slime beneath; windows, broken and patched, with poles thrust out, on which to dry the linen that is never there; rooms so small, so filthy, so confined, that the air would seem too tainted even for the dirt and squalor which they shelter; wooden chambers thrusting themselves out above the mud, and threatening to fall into it--as some have done; dirt-besmeared walls and decaying foundations; every repulsive lineament of poverty, every loathsome indication of filth, rot, and garbage; all these ornament the banks of Folly Ditch. --Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist[CR][CR]Lineament comes from Latin lineamentum, "feature, lineament," from linea, "line." monomania obsession with a single subject. ?monomania \mon-uh-MAY-nee-uh; -nyuh\, noun: 1. Pathological obsession with a single subject or idea. 2. Excessive concentration of interest upon one particular subject or idea.[CR][CR]One of the themes in the book was the necessity for a leader to be passionate about the work. And sometimes in a corporate setting, passion becomes monomania. --"Balancing the Personal and the Professional," New York Times, October 10, 1999[CR][CR]It is a monomania that approaches a frenzy in which girlfriends or wife, family and sleep, mean nothing. --Newgate Callendar, "Crime," New York Times, January 4, 1987[CR][CR]He was . . . a rather impossible person -- self-absorbed to the point of monomania (when lesser beings presumed to take part in his monologues, he would say "Quite" and then continue along his solitary path). --Thomas M. Disch, "Later Auden," Washington Post, July 4, 1999[CR][CR]After visiting American prisons Tocqueville and his traveling companion, Gustave de Beaumont, wrote that social reformers in the United States had been swept up in "the monomania of the penitentiary system," convinced that prisons were "a remedy for all the evils of society." --Eric Schlosser, "The Prison-Industrial Complex," The Atlantic, December 1998[CR][CR]Monomania is derived from the Greek elements mono-, "one, single, alone" + mania, "madness, frenzy, enthusiasm." pari passu at an equal pace or rate. ?pari passu \PAIR-ee-PASS-oo; PAIR-ih-PASS-oo\, adverb: At an equal pace or rate.[CR][CR]Expand the state and [its] destructive capacity necessarily expands too, pari passu. --Paul Johnson, Modern Times: The World From the Twenties to the Eighties[CR][CR]Independent hedge funds can sell their holdings in a stock all at once, but if a hedge fund is part of a mutual fund company, it generally must sell pari passu . . . with the company's mutual funds that hold the same stock, constraining flexibility. --Geraldine Fabrikant, "Should You Bristle at These Hedges?" New York Times, November 8, 1998[CR][CR]Pari passu literally means "with equal step," from Latin pari, ablative of par, "equal" + passu, ablative of passus, "step." prelapsarian pertaining to the time or state before the Fall. ?prelapsarian \pree-lap-SAIR-ee-uhn\, adjective: Pertaining to or characteristic of the time or state before the Fall.[CR][CR]Because artifice connotes civilization to the Chinese elite, it doesn't have quite the negative meaning it has for Europeans brought up on stories of prelapsarian Eden and on Romantic conceptions of nature. --Yi-Fu Tuan, Escapism[CR][CR]No visible tourists (apart from ourselves), no hotels or apartments in sight, high rise or otherwise; it was possible to imagine we were in a prelapsarian Mediterranean paradise. --Annalena McAfee, "High and dry," The Guardian, March 2, 2002[CR][CR]The mid-twenties were, in general, a prelapsarian period, before the stock market crash of 1929 and the depression of the 1930s. --Mark Lawson, "Beautiful and damned," The Guardian, June 26, 1995[CR][CR]Prelapsarian is derived from Latin pre-, "before" + lapsus, "fall." coeval existing during the same period of time; also, a contemporary. ?coeval \koh-EE-vuhl\, adjective: Of the same age; originating or existing during the same period of time -- usually followed by 'with'. noun: One of the same age; a contemporary.[CR][CR]According to John Paul, this longing for transcendent truth is coeval with human existence: All men and women "shape a comprehensive vision and an answer to the question of life's meaning." --"Culture, et cetera," Washington Times, October 6, 2000[CR][CR]Coeval with human speech and found among all peoples, poetry appeals to our sense of wonder, to our unending quest for answers to the timeless questions of who we are and why we are. --Mark Mathabane, "A Poet Can Lead Us Toward Change," Newsday, January 20, 1993[CR][CR]Unhappily, however, the writers speak almost wholly to those who already regard Lewis as not just the coeval but the equal of T. S. Eliot, Joyce and Pound. --Julian Symons, "Prophecy and Dishonor," New York Times, February 10, 1985[CR][CR]The 1,500 years of [Barcelona's] existence had produced only five names that came easily to mind: the cellist Pau Casals, the artist Joan Miró and his somewhat tarnished coeval Salvador Dali, both of whom were still very much alive, and the dead architect Antoni Gaudí. --Nicholas Shrady, "Glorious in Its Very Stones," New York Times, March 15, 1992[CR][CR]Coeval comes from Medieval Latin coaevus, from Latin co- + aevum, "a period of time, lifetime." immure to enclose within or as if within walls. ?immure \ih-MYUR\, transitive verb: 1. To enclose within walls, or as if within walls; hence, to shut up; to imprison; to incarcerate. 2. To build into a wall. 3. To entomb in a wall.[CR][CR]Not surprisingly, Sally shuddered at the thought of being immured in the black cave, to die slowly and hopelessly, far below the sunny hillside. --Peter Pierce, "The Fiction of Gabrielle Lord," Australian Literary Studies, October 1999[CR][CR]True, there was a Mughal emperor in Delhi until 1857, but he was emperor in name only, the shadow of a memory, described by Lord Macaulay as 'a mock sovereign immured in a gorgeous state prison'. --Anthony Read, The Proudest Day[CR][CR]When I tried to think clearly about this, I felt that my mind was immured, that it couldn't expand in any direction. --Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon[CR][CR]Immured by privilege in a way of life that offered little scope, army wives were often enfeebled by boredom. --Frances Spalding, Duncan Grant: A Biography[CR][CR]Immure comes from Medieval Latin immurare, from Latin in-, "in" + murus, "wall." It is related to mural, a painting applied to a wall. Synonyms: cloister; imprison; incarcerate. Find more at Thesaurus.com. bumptious crudely, presumptuously, or noisily self-assertive. ?bumptious \BUMP-shuhs\, adjective: Crudely, presumptuously, or loudly self-assertive.[CR][CR]The clown in the girl is bumptious as can be: bouncing about in the peaked cap and oversized coat of a boy she hasn't learned to love yet, pacing in lockstep behind a fellow-lodger for the sheer love of badgering him, blowing out her cheeks like a fussed walrus when crossed. --Walter Kerr, "'Anne Frank' Shouldn't Be Anne's Play," New York Times, January 7, 1979[CR][CR]Still a tremendous singer and a man so confident of his own sex appeal that he could make the most outrageously bumptious behaviour seem not only engaging but also entirely natural. --David Sinclair, "Larger than life and twice as rocky," Times (London), March 13, 2000[CR][CR]Wells did not meet his father until he was an adult, by which time he had developed his own blunt, sometimes bumptious personality. --George Vecsey, "An Outsider Who Became an Insider," New York Times, October 7, 1998[CR][CR]Bumptious is perhaps a blend of bump and presumptuous. apostasy desertion or departure from one's faith, principles, or party. ?apostasy \uh-POS-tuh-see\, noun: Total desertion or departure from one's faith, principles, or party.[CR][CR]Party loyalty was fierce, political apostasy despised, and breakaway movements and third parties rarely exercised more than temporary influence. --Edward Ranson, "Electing a president, 1896," History Today, October 1, 1996[CR][CR]The French were advancing the holy cause of liberty; any American who criticized them was guilty of "apostasy" and "heresies." --Richard Brookhiser, "In Love With Revolution," New York Times, November 17, 1996[CR][CR]No sooner did it become clear that this was how I really felt, and that I fully intended to carry on with the war I had started against those ideas, than the exculpatory explanation for my apostasy was dropped, and in its place came shock and a deep sense of betrayal. --Norman Podhoretz, Ex-Friends[CR][CR]Apostasy is derived from Greek apostasis, "a standing away from, a defection, a revolt," from aphistanai, "to stand off or away from, to revolt," from apo-, "from, away from" + histanai, "to stand." importunate troublesomely urgent. ?importunate \im-POR-chuh-nit\, adjective: Troublesomely urgent; overly persistent in request or demand; unreasonably solicitous.[CR][CR]An emperor penguin in captivity starved to death by feeding all his rations -- about six pounds of fish daily -- to an importunate chick. --Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, The Emperor's Embrace[CR][CR]The play is a cacophony of importunate ringing doorbells and telephones, of pleas both professional and romantic from an exasperating assortment of colleagues and admirers. --Ben Brantley, "Present Laughter," New York Times, November 19, 1996[CR][CR]Jokes form a kind of currency, such that a wise-crack from the most importunate beggar may bring instant reward. --Max Rodenbeck, Cairo: The City Victorious[CR][CR]Importunate is derived from Latin importunus, "unsuitable, troublesome, (of character) assertive, insolent, inconsiderate." busker a street musician or performer. ?busker \BUS-kur\, noun: A person who entertains (as by playing music) in public places.[CR][CR]Jakub is a student of mathematics, a likable but callow young man who seduces a blind busker, Alzbeta, who plays for the tourists in modern Prague. --Andrew Miller, "Waiting for Something to Happen," New York Times, October 24, 1999[CR][CR]When Singapore decided to legalize street performances in 1997, artists were required to audition and to donate any money collected to charity. The government recently lifted a ban on audience participation, but the streets remain largely busker-free. --Wayne Arnold, "In Singapore, the Start-Up Dance Is Still Difficult to Do," New York Times, September 19, 1999[CR][CR]. . . a busker who simultaneously plays the drums, cymbals, bells and a mouth organ. --Murray Bail, Homesickness: A Novel[CR][CR]Busker is from busk, "to seek to entertain by singing and dancing," probably from Spanish buscar, "to seek." disconcert to disturb the composure of. ?disconcert \dis-kuhn-SURT\, transitive verb: 1. To disturb the composure of. 2. To throw into disorder or confusion; as, "the emperor disconcerted the plans of his enemy."[CR][CR]In steering a small boat before a heavy gale, don't look back -- it may disconcert you. --Frank Arthur Worsley, Shackleton's Boat Journey[CR][CR]I wander away, disconcerted by this sudden sense of having been cut short, frozen in mid-flow. --Paul Golding, The Abomination[CR][CR]They were disconcerted each time they saw him change from one evening to the next from a dramatic role to a comic one, from the part of a good man to that of the villain, as if he were thereby revealing some incomprehensible mutability in his being; but every time, after just a few lines, they would become wholly engrossed in the new fiction, convincing themselves that this was just how he was. --Paola Capriolo, The Woman Watching[CR][CR]Disconcert is derived from Old French desconcerter, from des-, "dis-" + concerter, from Old Italian concertare, "to act together, to agree." malfeasance wrongdoing, misconduct, or misbehavior. ?malfeasance \mal-FEE-zuhn(t)s\, noun: Wrongdoing, misconduct, or misbehavior, especially by a public official.[CR][CR]But more often than not the same board members who were removed by the chancellor for malfeasance subsequently manage to get reelected in a political process that defies any form of accountability. --Diane Ravitch and Joseph Viteritti, New Schools for a New Century[CR][CR]Cagney family conjecture was that Grandpop Nelson, with the temper of a dozen Furies, had likely committed some malfeasance in his native town forcing him to change his name when he left. --John McCabe, Cagney[CR][CR]Malfeasance is derived from Old French malfaisant, present participle of malfaire, "to do evil," from Latin malefacere, from male, "badly" + facere, "to do." intractable not easily governed, managed, or directed. ?intractable \in-TRAK-tuh-buhl\, adjective: 1. Not easily governed, managed, or directed; stubborn; obstinate; as, "an intractable child." 2. Not easily wrought or manipulated; as, "intractable materials." 3. Not easily remedied, relieved, or dealt with; as, "intractable problems."[CR][CR]Would their methods work with a child who was as violent and intractable as Helen? --Dorothy Herrmann, Helen Keller: A Life[CR][CR]The efforts of a few artistic architects to treat the cast-iron front only served to show how intractable the material was. --Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins, and David Fishman, New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age[CR][CR]Many of the problems of government and society seem intractable, while debate centered on policy issues appears fruitless. --Robert Shogan, The Double-Edged Sword[CR][CR]Intractable is from Latin intractabilis, from in-, "not" + tractabilis, "manageable," from trahere, "to draw (along), to drag, to pull." equivocate to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear. ?equivocate \ih-KWIV-uh-kayt\, intransitive verb: To be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or to avoid committing oneself to anything definite.[CR][CR]The witness shuffled, equivocated, pretended to misunderstand the questions. --Thomas Babington Macaulay, History of England[CR][CR]By equivocating, hesitating, and giving ambiguous answers, she effected her purpose. --Harriet Martineau, Letters from Ireland[CR][CR]Dr. Lindzen does not equivocate. "We don't have any evidence that this is a serious problem," he says flatly. --William K. Stevens, "Skeptic Asks, Is It Really Warmer?" New York Times, June 17, 1996[CR][CR]Equivocate is from Medieval Latin aequivocare, "to be called by the same name," from Latin aequus, "equal" + vocare, "to call," from vox, "voice." factotum a person employed to do all kinds of work. ?factotum \fak-TOH-tuhm\, noun: A person employed to do all kinds of work or business.[CR][CR]Mr. Hersey thus became Mr. Lewis's summertime factotum, copying pages of a play that Lewis was writing about Communism. --Richard Severo, "John Hersey, Author of 'Hiroshima,' Is Dead at 78," New York Times, March 25, 1993[CR][CR]She is a blind, paraplegic forensic hypnotist, and he is her brother and general factotum. --Newgate Callendar, "Spies & Thrillers," New York Times, July 31, 1994[CR][CR]Factotum is from Medieval Latin, from Latin fac totum, "do everything," from facere, "to do" + totus, "all." peregrination a traveling from place to place. ?peregrination \pehr-uh-gruh-NAY-shun\, noun: A traveling from place to place; a wandering.[CR][CR]He left Parma in the family camper-van, abandoning it in a Milan car-park to avoid its being identified at border controls before setting off on a peregrination through Switzerland, France, London, Canada, New York and eventually back to London. --Paddy Agnew, "Incident leads to crime that has baffled police," Irish Times, December 12, 1998[CR][CR]In 1890, Lafcadio Hearn settled in Japan after a lifetime of restless, melancholy peregrination. --Francine Prose, "Modern Geisha," New York Times, April 23, 2000[CR][CR]He ventures out in his pajamas and makes a dreamlike peregrination through the town's deserted streets. --Richard Eder, "Puck-ish Ramblings in Midsummer Dreams," New York Times, May 18, 2000[CR][CR]Peregrination comes from Latin peregrinatio, from peregrinari, "to stay or travel in foreign countries," from peregre, "in a foreign country, abroad," from per, "through" + ager, "land." diaphanous allowing light to pass through. ?diaphanous \dy-AF-uh-nuhs\, adjective: 1. Of such fine texture as to allow light to pass through; translucent or transparent. 2. Vague; insubstantial.[CR][CR]The curtains are thin, a diaphanous membrane that can't quite contain the light outside. -- Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian[CR][CR]She needed more than diaphanous hope, more than I could give her. --Tej Rae, "One Hand Extended," Washington Post, August 12, 2001[CR][CR]Diaphanous ultimately derives from Greek diaphanes, "showing through," from diaphainein, "to show through, to be transparent," from dia-, "though" + phainein, "to show, to appear." It is related to phantom, something apparently sensed but having no physical reality. quorum such a number of the officers or members of any body as is legally competent to transact business. ?quorum \KWOR-uhm\, noun: 1. Such a number of the officers or members of any body as is legally competent to transact business. 2. A select group.[CR][CR]The extraordinary powers of the Senate were vested in twenty-six men, fourteen of whom would constitute a quorum, of which eight would make up a majority. --Akhil Reed Amar, The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction[CR][CR]What other quorum in American history, save those who wrote our constitution, could claim as much impact on our day-to-day lives? --Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear[CR][CR]Quorum comes from the Latin quorum, "of whom," from qui, "who." The term arose from the wording of the commission once issued to justices of the peace in England, by which commission it was directed that no business of certain kinds should be done without the presence of one or more specially designated justices. relegate to assign or remove, usually to an inferior position. ?relegate \REL-uh-gayt\, transitive verb: 1. To assign to an inferior position, place, or condition. 2. To assign to an appropriate category or class. 3. To assign or refer (a matter or task, for example) to another for appropriate action. 4. To send into exile; to banish.[CR][CR]Employment discrimination locked them out of better paying jobs and relegated them to menial occupations. --Dennis C. Dickerson, Militant Mediator: Whitney M. Young Jr.[CR][CR]Worse, the party that had come to mean power itself had been relegated to a minority in the Congress as well, and lost a key governorship. --Geoffrey Mohan, "Mexico Power Shift," Newsday, July 4, 2000[CR][CR]The EPA, meanwhile, has been developing new rules that essentially would relegate agricultural runoff to the same category as pollution from concentrated sources such as factories and sewage plants. --John Lancaster, "For Big Hog Farms, Big Subsidies," Washington Post, August 17, 2001[CR][CR]Their daily care was relegated to Donato, the dozen servants, and a succession of governesses. --Tag Gallagher, The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini[CR][CR]The history of ideas can't be done without actually applying ideas; and unless we agree to relegate the writing of our history to Martians, we have to admit that a history of points of view -- which may well be religions -- can't be done without favoring at least one point of view. --William R. Everdell, "Joyful Noises," New York Times, December 26, 1999[CR][CR]When, in the minority of Carlos II., the regent mother, Maria Anna of Austria, made her German Jesuit confessor Nithard inquisitor-general, it required a popular uprising to get rid of him and relegate him to Rome, for he was speedily becoming the real ruler of Spain. --Henry Charles Lea,"The Decadence of Spain," Atlantic Monthly, July 1898[CR][CR]Relegate is from the past participle of Latin relegare, "to send away, to remove, to put aside, to reject," from re- + legare, "to send with a commission or charge." fanfaronade empty boasting; bluster. ?fanfaronade \fan-fair-uh-NAYD; -NOD\, noun: 1. Swaggering; empty boasting; blustering manner or behavior; ostentatious display. 2. Fanfare.[CR][CR]George Manahan made his debut this week as music director of New York City Opera, and it is difficult to imagine someone laying claim to a major podium with less of a fanfaronade. --Justin Davidson, "A Director's Toil Pays Some Dividends," Newsday, September 21, 1996[CR][CR]But like a demure singer in a long gown who is surrounded by chorus girls in sequined miniskirts, the statue may seem slightly lost amid the fanfaronade. --Richard Stengel, "Rockets will glare and bands blare to celebrate the statue," Time, July 7, 1986[CR][CR]Fanfaronade derives from Spanish fanfarronada, from fanfarrón, "braggart," from Arabic farfar, "garrulous." roseate cheerful; bright; also, rose-colored. ?roseate \ROH-zee-it; -ayt\, adjective: 1. Overly optimistic; bright or cheerful. 2. Resembling a rose especially in color.[CR][CR]That roseate view was shattered when the North last week detained a South Korean housewife, on a Kumkang tour with her six-year-old son, on a bizarre pretext. --Donald Kirk, "Sunshine in a Storm," Time, July 5, 1999[CR][CR]The roseate future of so many highly rated blue-chip stocks has been based on that dream. --David C. Roche, "Iceberg Dead Ahead," Time, September 14, 1998[CR][CR]Instead of being witnesses to a comical disjunction between roseate myth and gritty reality, these people were stage extras in a masquerade, whereby the Gracious Speech was converted from a government statement into an election address. --Hugo Young, "The farcical state opening of the election campaign," Guardian, December 7, 2000[CR][CR]"The lass with the roseate cheeks" had already resolved that, if she married anyone, it would be "the lad with the rubicund hair." --Ari Hoogenboom, Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President[CR][CR]Roseate comes from Latin roseus, "rosy," from rosa, "rose." 'Word Group Nine - Words to Definitions [PB] eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth. cupidity ?cupidity \kyoo-PID-uh-tee\, noun: Eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth; greed; avarice.[CR][CR]Curiosity was a form of lust, a wandering cupidity of the eye and the mind. --John Crowley, "Of Marvels And Monsters," Washington Post, October 18, 1998[CR][CR]At the end, all but rubbing his hands with cupidity, Rockefeller declares he will now promote abstract art--it's better for business. --Stuart Klawans, "Rock in a Hard Place," The Nation, December 27, 1999[CR][CR]This strain of cupidity sprang from the mean circumstances of his youth in the Finger Lakes district of upstate New York. --Jack Beatty, "A Capital Life," New York Times, May 17, 1998[CR][CR]For such is human cupidity that we Thoroughbreds have but one chance to survive it -- to run so fast and to win so much money that we are retired in comfort in our declining days. --William Murray, "From the Horse's Mouth," New York Times, August 8, 1993[CR][CR]Myself, I have always believed that BMWs achieve their presence (and their grip on the collective imagination and cupidity of the middle classes) because they combine an athletic, masculine bulk and stance with feminine details and lines. --Stephen Bayley, "The evolution of the curve," Independent, October 22, 1998[CR][CR]Cupidity ultimately comes from Latin cupiditas, from cupidus, "desirous," from cupere, "to desire." It is related to Cupid, the Roman god of love. uncompromising. intransigent ?intransigent \in-TRAN-suh-juhnt; -zuh-\, adjective: Refusing to compromise; uncompromising.[CR][CR]He was intransigent at times, and almost playfully yielding at others. --"The Decline and Fall of a Sure Thing," New York Times, September 10, 1989[CR][CR]Sometimes I was intransigent, and proud of it. At other times I seemed to myself to be nearly devoid of any character at all, timid, uncertain, without will. --Edward W. Said, Out of Place: A Memoir[CR][CR]The dispute brewed through the summer as Nehru remained intransigent and U.S. officials confronted an unbending legal mandate. --George Perkovich, India's Nuclear Bomb[CR][CR]Intransigent is from French intransigeant, from Spanish intransigente, from in-, "not" (from Latin) + transigente, present participle of transigir, "to compromise," from Latin transigere, "to come to an agreement," from trans-, "across" + agere, "to drive." a center of attention. cynosure ?cynosure \SY-nuh-shoor; SIN-uh-shoor\, noun: 1. Anything to which attention is strongly turned; a center of attraction. 2. That which serves to guide or direct. 3. [Capitalized]. The northern constellation Ursa Minor, which contains the North Star; also, the North Star itself.[CR][CR]The monarch, at the apex of court power and centre of its ritual, and the greatest patron of the arts, was the cynosure of this culture, standing (or, more usually, sitting) at the centre of a system of artistic practice intended to represent his or her sacred omnipotence and monopoly of power. --John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination[CR][CR]Lucy is very pretty and becomes the cynosure not only of the aforementioned characters, but also of several faceless and epicene young men who also loiter about. --John Simon, "Stealing Beauty," National Review, July 15, 1996[CR][CR]Then, feeling himself the cynosure of every eye in the library, he extemporized a brief speech on his "lucky day." --Peter Schneider, Eduard's Homecoming[CR][CR]Cynosure derives from Latin cynosura, from Greek kunosoura, "dog's tail, the constellation Ursa Minor," from kuon, kun-, "dog" + oura, "tail." brilliant; resplendent. refulgent ?refulgent \rih-FUL-juhnt\, adjective: Shining brightly; radiant; brilliant; resplendent.[CR][CR]If Moore was not quite a burned-out case, his once refulgent light flickered only dimly in his sad last years. --Martin Filler, "The Spirit of '76," New Republic, July 9, 2001[CR][CR]With its improbable towers tilting against themselves and its titanium sheathing in full refulgent glow, it brings on a question that the world has not enjoyed asking itself since the first moon landings: If this is possible, what isn't? --Richard Lacayo, "The Frank Gehry Experience," Time, June 26, 2000[CR][CR]To the Renaissance, they [the Middle Ages] were nothing but a dank patch of history, a barren st