Word of the day

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Saturday, December 12, 2009

palliate \PAL-ee-ayt\, transitive verb:

1. To make (an offense or crime) seem less serious; extenuate.
2. To make less severe or intense; mitigate.
3. To relieve the symptoms of a disease or disorder.

I had held a hope that she would take my class, that I would have the chance not only to cope with but to help palliate her pain.
-- Steven Polansky, "Pantalone", Harper's Magazine, February 1997

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Sunday, December 13, 2009

largess \lar-ZHES; lar-JES; LAR-jes\, noun;
also largesse:

1. Generous giving (as of gifts or money), often accompanied by condescension.
2. Gifts, money, or other valuables so given.
3. Generosity; liberality.

Four years after her marriage she exclaimed giddily over her father-in-law's largess: "He has given Waldorf the Waldorf Astoria Hotel for a birthday present!"
-- Stacy Schiff, "Otherwise Engaged", New York Times, March 19, 2000

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Monday, December 14, 2009

numinous \NOO-min-us; NYOO-\, adjective:

1. Of or pertaining to a numen; supernatural.
2. Filled with or characterized by a sense of a supernatural presence.
3. Inspiring awe and reverence; spiritual.

Smoking is a ritual, and it has all the numinous force of a ritual.
-- Thomas W. Laqueur, The New Republic, September 18, 1995

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Tuesday, December 15, 2009

appellation \ap-uh-LAY-shun\, noun:

1. The word by which a particular person or thing is called and known; name; title; designation.
2. The act of naming.

For as long as Olympia can remember, her mother has been referred to, within her hearing and without, as an invalid -- an appellation that does not seem to distress her mother and indeed appears to be one she herself cultivates.
-- Anita Shreve, Fortune's Rocks

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 16, 2009

doff \DOF\, transitive verb:

1. To take off, as an article of clothing.
2. To tip or remove (one's hat).
3. To put aside; to rid oneself of.

After I finished sweeping, I grabbed my check, went to the locker room, and doffed the monkey suit, slipped into my jeans, sneakers and T-shirt and broke camp.
-- Reginald McKnight, White Boys: Stories

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Thursday, December 17, 2009

paroxysm \PAIR-uhk-siz-uhm\, noun:

1. (Medicine) A sudden attack, intensification, or recurrence of a disease.
2. Any sudden and violent emotion or action; an outburst; a fit.

But when he's on target -- and more often than not he is -- he can send you into paroxysms of laughter.
-- William Triplett, "Drawing Laughter from a Well of Family Pain", Washington Post, June 13, 2002

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Friday, December 18, 2009

diaphanous \dy-AF-uh-nuhs\, adjective:

1. Of such fine texture as to allow light to pass through; translucent or transparent.
2. Vague; insubstantial.

The curtains are thin, a diaphanous membrane that can't quite contain the light outside.
-- Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Saturday, December 19, 2009

capricious \kuh-PRISH-us; -PREE-shus\, adjective:

Apt to change suddenly; whimsical; changeable.

Molly was a capricious woman. Her moods were unpredictable, her anger petty and vicious.
-- Rand Roberts and James Olson, John Wayne: American

[Hopefloats]

Hey jules...I just came across this thread. What a GREAT idea. I love words, so it is fun to read this.
Thanks..
Hope

[2jules7]

I love words too, but I cant take credit for this thread. It wasnt my idea and i've been slacking a lot with it. Glad you enjoy reading it though.

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Sunday, December 20, 2009

iota \eye-OH-tuh\, noun:

1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding to the English i.
2. A very small quantity or degree; a jot; a bit.

Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler taught us that the Earth moves and rotates while the heavens stand still, but this did not change by one iota our direct perception that the heavens do move and that the Earth does not budge.
-- Julian Barbour, The End of Time

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Monday, December 21, 2009

dolorous \DOH-luh-ruhs\, adjective:

Marked by, causing, or expressing grief or sorrow.

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

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Tuesday, December 22, 2009

collude \kuh-LOOD\, intransitive verb:

To act in concert; to conspire; to plot.

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

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 23, 2009

clinquant \KLING-kunt\, adjective:

1. Glittering with gold or silver; tinseled.

noun:
1. Tinsel; imitation gold leaf.

Leaves flicker celadon in the spring, viridian in summer, clinquant in fall, tallying the sovereign seasons, graying and greening to reiterate the message of snow and sun.
-- Ann Zwinger, Beyond the Aspen Grove

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Thursday, December 24, 2009

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
There, in the lambent glow of flashlight or lantern, you find the fragile rock walls covered

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Friday, December 25, 2009

embonpoint \ahn-bohn-PWAN\, noun:

Plumpness of person; stoutness.

With his embonpoint, Mr Soames appears to be wearing a quadruple-breasted suit.
-- Simon Hoggart, "Roll up, roll up, to explore the Soames Zone", The Guardian, February 1, 2000

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Saturday, December 26, 2009

hauteur \haw-TUR; (h)oh-\, noun:

Haughty manner, spirit, or bearing; haughtiness; arrogance.

My 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

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Sunday, December 27, 2009

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.

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

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Monday, December 28, 2009

surreptitious \suhr-uhp-TISH-uhs; suh-rep-\, adjective:

1. Done, made, or gotten by stealth.
2. Acting with or marked by stealth.

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

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Tuesday, December 29, 2009

cajole \kuh-JOHL\, transitive verb:

To persuade with flattery, repeated appeals, or soothing words; to coax.

If Robert had been an ordinary ten-year-old he would have cajoled and whined, asked and asked and asked until I snapped at him to keep quiet.
-- Anna Quindlen, Black and Blue