30 April 2015
chintzy
[chint-see]
adjective, chintzier, chintziest.
1. of, like, or decorated with chintz.
2. cheap, inferior, or gaudy.
3. stingy; miserly:
a chintzy way to entertain guests.
Origin of chintzy
1850-1855; chintz + -y1; cf. chinchy, which has reinforced figurative senses
Synonyms
3. cheap, close, niggardly, stinting.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for chintzy
– Only a true icon makes every other product in its category seem chintzy and dated, if not totally obsolete.
– And unlike other, flimsier slider phones, the plastic hardware isn’t chintzy.
– Despite the notebook’s mostly plastic construction, it doesn’t come off as chintzy.
Anagram
thy zinc
29 April 2015
importunate
[im-pawr-chuh-nit]
adjective
1. urgent or persistent in solicitation, sometimes annoyingly so.
2. pertinacious, as solicitations or demands.
3. troublesome; annoying:
importunate demands from the children for attention.
Origin of importunate
1520-1530; importune (adj.) + -ate1
Related forms
importunately, adverb
importunateness, noun
unimportunate, adjective
unimportunately, adverb
unimportunateness, noun
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for importunate
– The palace was fairly besieged all day by importunate persons appealing for some last favor before the curtain drops.
– Willy gives away his meager inheritance to the needy and importunate.
Anagram
minaret pout
top ruminate
eruption mat
unto a permit
28 April 2015
apologue
[ap-uh-lawg, -log]
noun
1. a didactic narrative; a moral fable.
2. an allegory.
Origin of apologue
Middle French, Latin, Greek
1545-1555; (< Middle French) < Latin apologus < Greek apólogos fable. See apo-, -logue
Related forms
apologal, adjective
Dictionary.com
Anagram
Ague Loop
27 April 2015
habile
[hab-il]
adjective
1. skillful; dexterous; adroit.
Origin of habile
late Middle English Latin
1375-1425; late Middle English habyll < Latin habilis handy, apt; see able
Dictionary.com
Anagram
hail be
hi able
26 April 2015
spy
[spahy]
noun, plural spies.
1. a person employed by a government to obtain secret information or intelligence about another, usually hostile, country, especially with reference to military or naval affairs.
2. a person who keeps close and secret watch on the actions and words of another or others.
3. a person who seeks to obtain confidential information about the activities, plans, methods, etc., of an organization or person, especially one who is employed for this purpose by a competitor:
an industrial spy.
4. the act of spying.
verb (used without object), spied, spying.
5. to observe secretively or furtively with hostile intent (often followed by on or upon).
6. to act as a spy; engage in espionage.
7. to be on the lookout; keep watch.
8. to search for or examine something closely or carefully.
verb (used with object), spied, spying.
9. to catch sight of suddenly; espy; descry:
to spy a rare bird overhead.
10. to discover or find out by observation or scrutiny (often followed by out).
11. to observe (a person, place, enemy, etc.) secretively or furtively with hostile intent.
12. to inspect or examine or to search or look for closely or carefully.
Origin of spy
Middle English, Old French
1200-1250; (v.) Middle English spien, aphetic variant of espien to espy; (noun) Middle English, aphetic variant of espy a spy < Old
French espie
Related forms
spyship, noun
outspy, verb (used with object), outspied, outspying.
superspy, noun, plural superspies.
unspied, adjective
unspying, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for spy
– That brings about the reason why she is being suspected as a spy for vermillion.
– Agent provocateur a police spy who infiltrates a group to disrupt or discredit it.
– The outlaws surrendered once being identify by the soldiers with the help of a spy.
25 April 2015
soldier
[sohl-jer]
noun
1. a person who serves in an army; a person engaged in military service.
2. an enlisted man or woman, as distinguished from a commissioned officer:
the soldiers’ mess and the officers’ mess.
3. a person of military skill or experience:
George Washington was a great soldier.
4. a person who contends or serves in any cause:
a soldier of the Lord.
5. Also called button man. Slang. a low-ranking member of a crime organization or syndicate.
6. Entomology.
a member of a caste of sexually underdeveloped female ants or termites specialized, as with powerful jaws, to defend the colony from invaders.
a similar member of a caste of worker bees, specialized to protect the hive.
7. a brick laid vertically with the narrower long face out.
Compare rowlock (def 2).
verb (used without object)
9. to act or serve as a soldier.
10. Informal. to loaf while pretending to work; malinger:
He was soldiering on the job.
Verb phrases
11. soldier on, to persist steadfastly in one’s work; persevere:
to soldier on until the work is done.
Origin of soldier
Middle English, Old French
1250-1300; Middle English souldiour < Old French soudier, so (l) dier, equivalent to soulde pay (< Latin solidus; see sol2) + -ier -ier2
Related forms
soldiership, noun
nonsoldier, noun
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for soldier
– With the introduction of the bayonet, each soldier could be both pikeman and musketeer.
– There’s the shopworn military cliche about every soldier being a sensor.
– They used the captured scientist and soldier avatars as hostages when the military approached.
Anagram
red soil
or slide
re idols
24 April 2015
tailor (1)
[tey-ler]
noun
1. a person whose occupation is the making, mending, or altering of clothes, especially suits, coats, and other outer garments.
verb (used with object)
2. to make by tailor’s work.
3. to fashion or adapt to a particular taste, purpose, need, etc.:
to tailor one’s actions to those of another.
4. to fit or furnish with clothing.
5. Chiefly U.S. Military. to make (a uniform) to order; cut (a ready-made uniform) so as to cause to fit more snugly; taper.
verb (used without object)
6. to do the work of a tailor.
Origin of tailor (1)
Middle English,Anglo-French, Old French
1250-1300; Middle English (noun) < Anglo-French tailour, Old French tailleor, equivalent to taill (ier) to cut (< Late Latin tāliāre, derivative of Latin tālea a cutting, literally, heel-piece; see tally ) + -or -or2
tailor (2)
[tey-ler]
noun, British Dialect
1. a stroke of a bell indicating someone’s death; knell.
Origin
alteration by folk etymology of teller
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for tailor
– Blues musicians frequented local hairdressers, tailor shops and clothing stores.
– Add any of the following enhancements to tailor your job ad to your unique hiring needs.
– It should be possible to tailor these so that sound waves are bent such that no echo results.
Anagram
to rail
oil art
23 April 2015
tinker
[ting-ker]
noun
1. a mender of pots, kettles, pans, etc., usually an itinerant.
2. an unskillful or clumsy worker; bungler.
3. a person skilled in various minor kinds of mechanical work; jack-of-all-trades.
4. an act or instance of tinkering:
Let me have a tinker at that motor.
5. Scot., Irish English.
a gypsy.
any itinerant worker.
a wanderer.
a beggar.
6. chub mackerel.
verb (used without object)
7. to busy oneself with a thing without useful results:
Stop tinkering with that clock and take it to the repair shop.
8. to work unskillfully or clumsily at anything.
9. to do the work of a tinker.
verb (used with object)
10. to mend as a tinker.
11. to repair in an unskillful, clumsy, or makeshift way.
Origin of tinker
Middle English
1225-1275; Middle English tinkere (noun), syncopated variant of tinekere worker in tin
Related forms
tinkerer, noun
untinkered, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for tinker
– For them, the news that scientists could soon genetically tinker more easily and more extensively is anything but good.
– But the details have been fuzzy because it’s difficult to tinker with the mixture of hydrocarbons that decorate the flies.
– If one must tinker with hormone-replacement therapy, one may-briefly, in moderation.
Anagram
trek in
22 April 2015
silvery
[sil-vuh-ree]
adjective
1. resembling silver; of a lustrous grayish-white color:
the silvery moon.
2. having a clear, ringing sound like that of silver :
the silvery peal of bells.
3. containing or covered with silver :
silvery deposits.
Origin of silvery
1590-16001590-1600; silver + -y1
Related forms
silveriness, noun
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for silvery
– After all, those silvery tubes continue to work even today.
– After a quick breath at the surface, dolphins swim to the bottom of the pool and expel a long, silvery ring of air.
– Its flowers are tiny, greenish-yellow and globular, and its indented leaves have a silvery -gray sheen.
– Her silvery voice contrasted with his raspy singing.
21 April 2015
supererogate
[soo-per-er-uh-geyt]
verb (used without object), supererogated, supererogating.
1. to do more than duty requires.
Origin of supererogate
Late Latin
1730-1740; < Late Latin superērogātus (past participle of superērogāre to pay out in addition), equivalent to super- super- + ērogātus past participle of ērogāre to pay out, equivalent to ē- e-1+ rog (ere) to ask + -ātus -ate1
Related forms
supererogation, noun
supererogator, noun
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for supererogate
– As was stated in substance in an early case, the court cannot be called upon to perform a work of mere supererogation.
– Is so universal and its merits so well known that it scorns a work of supererogation to endorse it.
Anagram
peerage tours
goatee purser
pour steerage
opera gesture
a sure protege
20 April 2015
pinnate
[pin-eyt, -it]
adjective
1. resembling a feather, as in construction or arrangement; having parts arranged on each side of a common axis:
a pinnate branch; pinnate trees.
2. Botany. (of a leaf) having leaflets or primary divisions arranged on each side of a common stalk.
Also, pinnated.
Origin of pinnate
Latin
1695-1705; < Latin pinnātus feathered, winged. See pinna, -ate1
Related forms
pinnately, pinnatedly, adverb
multipinnate, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for pinnate
– Leaves are alternate, about six inches long, pinnate lobed or coarsely toothed.
– Subsequent rosette leaves oblanceolate, entire to pinnate -lobed.
– The leaves are alternate, odd- pinnate, and the five-nine leaflets are glandular-dotted.
Anagram
neat pin
an inept
tape inn
19 April 2015
rangy
[reyn-jee]
adjective, rangier, rangiest.
1. (of animals or people) slender and long-limbed.
2. given to or fitted for ranging or moving about, as animals.
3. mountainous.
Origin of rangy
1865-1870; range + -y1
Related forms
ranginess, noun
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for rangy
– He was a rangy, charming workhorse of a photographer.
– It’s in the blood of a rangy stud, and the heart of a mustang mare.
– The tall, rangy shrubs are creosote bush, an incredibly durable desert plant that forms clones in an expanding ring.
Anagram
angry
18 April 2015
collywobbles
[kol-ee-wob-uh lz]
noun, ( used with a singular or plural verb) Informal.
1. intestinal cramps or other intestinal disturbances.
2. a feeling of fear, apprehension, or nervousness.
3. (Australian) – used to describe Australian Football League (AFL) team, Collingwood and their habit of losing finals matches.
Origin of collywobbles
1815-1825; coinage presumably based on colic, wobble; see -s3
Dictionary.com
Anagram
wobbly cellos
blob cows yell
17 April 2015
bombastic
[bom-bas-tik]
adjective
1. (of speech, writing, etc.) high-sounding; high-flown; inflated; pretentious.
Also, bombastical.
Origin of bombastic
1695-1705; bombast + -ic
Related forms
bombastically, adverb
unbombastic, adjective
unbombastically, adverb
Synonyms
pompous, grandiloquent, turgid, florid, grandiose. Bombastic, flowery, pretentious, verbose all describe a use or a user of language more elaborate than is justified by or appropriate to the content being expressed. Bombastic suggests language with a theatricality or staginess of style far too powerful or declamatory for the meaning or sentiment being expressed: a bombastic sermon on the evils of cardplaying. Flowery describes language filled with extravagant images and ornate expressions: a flowery eulogy. Pretentious refers specifically to language that is purposely inflated in an effort to impress: a pretentious essay designed to demonstrate one’s sophistication. Verbose characterizes utterances or speakers that use more words than necessary to express an idea: a verbose speech, speaker.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for bombastic
– They are quite traditionally liberal in their views–optimistic and indeed bombastic in their beliefs.
– When her narrators are bombastic, they are usually winningly bombastic.
– You are correct that my analogy was a little too bombastic.
Word Origin and History for bombastic
adj.
1704, “inflated,” from bombast + -ic. Meaning “given to bombastic language” is from 1727.
Anagram
bobcat ism
bimbo cats
a bomb tics
16 April 2015
deprecate
[dep-ri-keyt]
verb (used with object), deprecated, deprecating.
1. to express earnest disapproval of.
2. to urge reasons against; protest against (a scheme, purpose, etc.).
3. to depreciate; belittle.
4. Archaic. to pray for deliverance from.
Origin of deprecate
Latin
1615-1625; < Latin dēprecātus prayed against, warded off (past participle of dēprecārī), equivalent to dē- de- + prec (ārī) to pray + -ātus -ate1
Related forms
deprecatingly, adverb
deprecation, noun
deprecator, noun
half-deprecating, adjective
half-deprecatingly, adverb
Can be confused
deprecate, depreciate (see usage note at the current entry)
Synonyms
1. condemn, denounce, disparage. See decry.
Usage note
An early and still the most current sense of deprecate is “to express disapproval of.” In a sense development still occasionally criticized by a few, deprecate has come to be synonymous with the similar but etymologically unrelated word depreciate in the sense “belittle”: The author modestly deprecated the importance of his work.In compounds with self-, deprecate has almost totally replaced depreciate in modern usage: Her self-deprecating account of her career both amused and charmed the audience.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for deprecate
– Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
– To use this tactic is merely to deprecate the motives of one’s opponents rather than to argue the evidence.
– The first and fully accepted meaning of deprecate is to express disapproval of.
Anagram
aced peter
deter cape
deep trace
15 April 2015
piquant
[pee-kuh nt, -kahnt, pee-kahnt]
adjective
1. agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor; pleasantly biting or tart:
a piquant aspic.
2. agreeably stimulating, interesting, or attractive:
a piquant glance.
3. of an interestingly provocative or lively character:
a piquant wit.
4. Archaic. sharp or stinging, especially to the feelings.
Origin of piquant
Italian
1515-1525; < French: literally, pricking (see pique1, -ant ); replacing pickante < Italian piccante
Related forms
piquancy, piquantness, noun
piquantly, adverb
Synonyms
1. spicy. 2. intriguing. 3. sharp, clever.
Antonyms
1. insipid.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for piquant
– Unusual settings give a piquant, humorous tilt to her characters’ misery.
– Green sauces are invariably piquant and herbacious.
– It’s much more piquant to read that two powerful and rich ladies are feuding than a couple of small-town, small-time ones.
Anagram
quit nap
14 April 2015
adumbrate
[a-duhm-breyt, ad-uh m-breyt]
verb (used with object), adumbrated, adumbrating.
1. to produce a faint image or resemblance of; to outline or sketch.
2. to foreshadow; prefigure.
3. to darken or conceal partially; overshadow.
Origin of adumbrate
Latin
1575-1585; < Latin adumbrātus shaded (past participle of adumbrāre), equivalent to ad- ad- + umbr (a) shade, shadow + -ātus -ate1
Related forms
adumbration, noun
Dictionary.com
Anagram
A drumbeat
trauma bed
at Bermuda
bad mature
a mute bard
13 April 2015
venerate
[ven-uh-reyt]
verb (used with object), venerated, venerating.
1. to regard or treat with reverence; revere.
Origin of venerate
Latin
1615-1625; < Latin venerātus, past participle of venerārī to solicit the goodwill of (a god), worship, revere, verbal derivative of vener-, stem of venus, presumably in its original sense “desire”; see Venus )
Related forms
venerator, noun
unvenerated, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for venerate
– And when fans search the past, they look to venerate artists who were once pariahs.
– We venerate those willing to shake up the status quo.
– Obey and venerate the old people, particularly your parents.
Anagram
nerve tea
ever neat
12 April 2015
burnish
[bur-nish]
verb (used with object)
1. to polish (a surface) by friction.
2. to make smooth and bright.
3. Engraving. to flatten and enlarge the dots of (a halftone) by rubbing with a tool.
noun
4. gloss; brightness; luster:
the burnish of brass andirons.
Origin of burnish
Middle English, Middle French, Anglo-French
1275-1325; Middle English burnissh < Anglo-French burniss-, Middle French bruniss- (long stem of burnir, brunir to darken, polish), equivalent to brun- brown + -iss- -ish2
Related forms
burnishable, adjective
burnishment, noun
unburnished, adjective
Synonyms
1. buff, shine.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for burnish
– He must be careful not to trade away his goal of near-universal coverage to burnish his credentials as a deficit-cutter.
– The burnish of private money also helped make the college more of a supportive community.
– It is also keen to burnish its anti-inflation credentials.
Anagram
brush in
burn his
shun rib
11 April 2015
fracas
[frey-kuh s; British frak-ah]
noun
1. a noisy, disorderly disturbance or fight; riotous brawl; uproar.
Origin of fracas
French, Italian
1720-1730; < French < Italian fracasso, derivative of fracassare to smash, equivalent to fra- (< Latin infrā among) completely + cassare to break; see cassation
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for fracas
– The fracas is occurring amid the release of the first comprehensive industrywide study of commercial costs.
– When it responded with subtraction, a public-relations fracas ensued.
– But more worrying is what the fracas reveals about the bank’s management.
Anagram
a scarf
10 April 2015
univocal
[yoo-niv-uh-kuh l, yoo-nuh-voh-]
adjective
1. having only one meaning; unambiguous.
Origin of univocal
Late Latin
1535-1545; < Late Latin ūnivōc (us) ( ūni- uni- + -vōcus, adj. derivative of vōx, stem vōc-, voice ) + -al1
Related forms
univocally, adverb
Dictionary.com
9 April 2015
idiosyncratic
[id-ee-oh-sin-krat-ik, -sing-]
adjective
1. pertaining to the nature of idiosyncrasy, or something peculiar to an individual:
The best minds are idiosyncratic and unpredictable as they follow the course of scientific discovery.
Related forms
idiosyncratically, adverb
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for idiosyncratic
– In short, there is no problem, except tolerating his idiosyncratic presence.
– More than a few presentations still stand out in my memory, perhaps for idiosyncratic reasons.
– It becomes much more systematic, rather than idiosyncratic.
Anagram
nosy diacritic
acidic iron sty
is do intricacy
Arc Idiocy Nits
8 April 2015
vulpine
[vuhl-pahyn, -pin]
adjective
1. of or resembling a fox.
2. cunning or crafty.
Origin of vulpine
Latin
1620-1630; < Latin vulpīnus, equivalent to vulp (ēs) fox + -īnus -ine1
Dictionary.com
Anagram
liven up
evil pun
7 April 2015
bugbear
[buhg-bair]
noun
1. any source, real or imaginary, of needless fright or fear.
2. a persistent problem or source of annoyance.
3. Folklore. a goblin that eats up naughty children.
Origin of bugbear
1570-1580; bug2+ bear2
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for bugbear
– What had once been a bugbear was now a bullish sign of growth.
– Then came tho report of the committee on demands, anticipation of which has been a sort of bugbear to the delegates.
– He avers that this civil service pension list is simply a bugbear held up by the opponents of reform.
Anagram
bub rage
bare bug
be a grub
6 April 2015
bugaboo
[buhg-uh-boo]
noun, plural bugaboos.
1. something that causes fear or worry; bugbear; bogy.
Origin of bugaboo
1730-1740; earlier buggybow. See bogy, boo
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for bugaboo
– Because of that old museum curator’s bugaboo : ultraviolet light.
– Now, free parking is a favorite bugaboo of a certain strain of microeconomists and economically minded commentators.
– As always, the bugaboo is lift, since every additional measure of weight requires a vast addition of volume to hold gas.
Anagram
ago bubo
5 April 2015
circumlocution
[sur-kuh m-loh-kyoo-shuh n]
noun
1. a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.
2. a roundabout expression.
Origin of circumlocution
late Middle English Latin
1375-1425; late Middle English < Latin circumlocūtiōn- (stem of circumlocūtiō). See circum-, locution
Related forms
circumlocutory [sur-kuh m-lok-yuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], circumlocutional, circumlocutionary, adjective
uncircumlocutory, adjective
Synonyms
1. rambling, meandering, verbosity, prolixity.
Dictionary.com
Anagram
comic uncoil rut
occur tunic limo
4 April 2015
instantiate
[in-stan-shee-eyt]
verb (used with object), instantiated, instantiating.
1. to provide an instance of or concrete evidence in support of (a theory, concept, claim, or the like).
Origin of instantiate
Latin
1945-1950; < Latin instanti (a) (taken as combining form of instance ) + -ate
Related forms
instantiation, noun
instantiative, adjective
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for instantiate
– Advocates of this perspective instantiate their claims to the health benefits accrued therefrom.
– We present formal models of both processes and instantiate each in computer simulations.
– Of course, the user has to take care of the engine objects he is going to instantiate.
Anagram
A titan stein
tin satan tie
a saint it ten
3 April 2015
apocalypse
[uh-pok-uh-lips]
noun
1. (initial capital letter) revelation (def 4).
2. any of a class of Jewish or Christian writings that appeared from about 200 b.c. to a.d. 350 and were assumed to make revelations of the ultimate divine purpose.
3. a prophetic revelation, especially concerning a cataclysm in which the forces of good permanently triumph over the forces of evil.
4. any revelation or prophecy.
5. any universal or widespread destruction or disaster:
the apocalypse of nuclear war.
Origin
Middle English, Late Latin, Greek
1125-1175; Middle English < Late Latin apocalypsis < Greek apokálypsis revelation, equivalent to apokalýp (tein) to uncover, reveal ( apo- apo- + kalýptein to cover, conceal) + -sis -sis
Dictionary.com
Anagram
papacy sole
soapy place
cosy appeal
calypso ape
2 April 2015
apposition
[ap-uh-zish-uh n]
noun
1. the act of placing together or bringing into proximity; juxtaposition.
2. the addition or application of one thing to another thing.
3. Grammar. a syntactic relation between expressions, usually consecutive, that have the same function and the same relation to other elements in the sentence, the second expression identifying or supplementing the first. In Washington, our first president, the phrase our first president is in apposition with Washington.
4. Biology. growth of a cell wall by the deposition of new particles in layers on the wall.
Compare intussusception (def 2).
Origin
late Middle English Latin Late Latin
1400-1450; late Middle English apposicioun < Late Latin appositiōn- (stem of appositiō) < Latin apposit (us) (see apposite ) + -iōn- -ion
Related forms
– appositive, noun – a word or phrase in apposition.(e.g. If I write, “The car, a Lamborghini, sped away,” “a Lamborghini” is an appositive. It names “the car,” the noun that came right before it. – See more by Grammar Girl at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/where-do-i-use-commas?page=1#sthash.vik9agAW.dpuf)
– appositional, adjective
– appositionally, adverb
Can be confused
apposition, opposition.
Dictionary.com
Anagram
pita poison
piano posit
1 April 2015
dreg
[dreg]
noun
1. dregs, the sediment of liquids; lees; grounds.
2. Usually, dregs. the least valuable part of anything:
the dregs of society.
3. a small remnant; any small quantity.
4. (Brit, slang) a despicable person
Origin
Middle English, Old Norse
1250-1300; Middle English < Old Norse dreg yeast (plural dreggjar dregs); cognate with Old Swedish dräg dregs
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for dreg
– Spring was dominated by the coverage of the war, summer by the dregs of reality.
– His people like him who embrace a lack of imagination that are the dregs of industrial design.
– We assembled our dregs of cash, bought one of the new locks and went to work.
