Word of the day

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Friday, January 15, 2010

pallid \PAL-id\, adjective:

1. Having an abnormally pale or wan complexion.
2. Lacking intensity of color or luminousness.
3. Lacking in vitality or interest.

The beam was dim by the time it reached the far wall, but the light was enough to illuminate the shape of a pallid and ghostly face, staring back at them through lifeless sockets.
-- Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Saturday, January 16, 2010

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:
1. To exert force against an opposing, often bad, influence or power.

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

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Sunday, January 17, 2010

apposite \AP-uh-zit\, adjective:

Being of striking appropriateness and relevance; very applicable; apt.

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

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Monday, January 18, 2010

accord \uh-KAWRD\, intransitive verb:

1. To be in agreement or harmony; agree.

transitive verb:
1. To cause to conform or agree; bring into harmony.
2. To grant; bestow.

noun:
1. Agreement; harmony.
2. A settlement or compromise of conflicting opinions.
3. A settlement of points at issue between nations.

Eliza tried to accord this information with her own memories of Mother. Through the tunnel of time came fragmented images: Mother in the windowless room above Mrs. Swindell's shop; a small pot with a fragrant herb.
-- Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Tuesday, January 19, 2010

perambulate \puh-RAM-byuh-layt\, intransitive verb:

1. To walk about; to roam; to stroll; as, "he perambulated in the park."

transitive verb:
1. To walk through or over.
2. To travel over for the purpose of surveying or inspecting.

Every weekend, the police close off ten to fifteen blocks of some Manhattan avenue. The merchants line the curbs, and the New Yorkers slowly perambulate up and down.
-- Richard Brookhiser, "Island Bazaar", National Review, July 1, 2002

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Wednesday, January 20, 2010

lacuna \luh-KYOO-nuh\, noun;
plural lacunae \luh-KYOO-nee\ or lacunas | Lacuna is from the Latin lacuna, "a cavity, a hollow," from lacus, "a hollow.":

1. A blank space; a missing part; a gap.
2. (Biology) A small opening, depression, or cavity in an anatomical structure.

Like most other writers of his generation, he was a profoundly apolitical being, not from any lacuna in his education but as a matter of principle.
-- Walter Laqueur, "The Artist in Politics", New York Times, May 15, 1983

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Thursday, January 21, 2010

bibelot \BEE-buh-loh\, noun:

A small decorative object without practical utility; a trinket.

An inveterate collector, Feldman purchased paintings and bibelots in quantity, often sight unseen.
-- Barbara Leaming, Marilyn Monroe

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Friday, January 22, 2010

prevaricate \prih-VAIR-uh-kayt\, intransitive verb:

To depart from or evade the truth; to speak with equivocation.

Journalism has a similar obligation, particularly with men and women suddenly transferred to places of great power, who are often led to exaggerate and prevaricate, all in the name of a supposedly greater good.
-- Stephen R. Graubard, "Presidents: The Power and the Mediocrity", New York Times, January 15, 1989

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Saturday, January 23, 2010

veritable \VER-ih-tuh-bul\, adjective:

Agreeable to truth or to fact; actual; real; true; genuine.

Oh, there was a terrible storm that night, she says. "There was thunder and lightning and the rain fell in torrents, the streets turned into rushing rivers and veritable cascades. No one dared to go out . . ."
-- Hannah Green, Little Saint

[Done-With-It!]

Thanks Jules!

[2jules7]

Not a problem. :]


Word of the Day for Sunday, January 24, 2010

frangible \FRAN-juh-buhl\, adjective:

Capable of being broken; brittle; fragile; easily broken.

That's because Federal Aviation Administration regulations call for a "sturdy" but "frangible" -- or breakaway -- door. "It must be able to break away at the lock, the hinge or the door handle" to allow pilots to get out in emergencies, Olsen says.
-- Blake Morrison, "Flight decks vulnerable to passenger attacks", USA Today, January 5, 2001

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Monday, January 25, 2010

plenipotentiary \plen-uh-puh-TEN-shee-air-ee; -shuh-ree\, adjective:

1. Containing or conferring full power; invested with full power; as, "plenipotentiary license; plenipotentiary ministers."

noun:
1. A person invested with full power to transact any business; especially, an ambassador or diplomatic agent with full power to negotiate a treaty or to transact other business.

There were two accounts, one in a news article, the second in the editorial section, telling the minihistory of Pol Pot, sometime plenipotentiary ruler of Cambodia.
-- William F. Buckley Jr., The Redhunter

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Tuesday, January 26, 2010

evince \ih-VIN(T)S\, transitive verb:

To show in a clear manner; to manifest; to make evident; to bring to light.

The study showed that girls were better prepared for class, had better attendance records, and evinced more positive academic behavior overall.
-- Christina Hoff Sommers, The War Against Boys

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Wednesday, January 27, 2010

panjandrum \pan-JAN-druhm\, noun:

An important personage or pretentious official.

Needless to say, when governors and ministers and the panjandrums of British public life asked these appointed advisers and those from whose ranks they were largely drawn for their views on democratic development, they gave the answers that might have been expected.
-- Christopher Patten, East and West

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Thursday, January 28, 2010

machination \mack-uh-NAY-shuhn; mash-\, noun:

1. The act of plotting.
2. A crafty scheme; a cunning design or plot intended to accomplish some usually evil end.

He was telling me how he could have married the royal princess as a reward for his bravery in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where he was an infantryman in the Kaiserliche und Konigliche Austro-Hungarian army, but for the machinations of the evil Archduke somebody-or-other.
-- George Lang, Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Friday, January 29, 2010

verboten \ver-BOHT-n\, adjective:

Forbidden, as by law; prohibited.

I'd observed several people taking photographs of these with their camera-phones, although a sign on a tripod just inside the door announced that all photography was verboten.
-- Stephen King, Duma Key: A Novel

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Saturday, January 30, 2010

rapacious \ruh-PAY-shuhs\, adjective:

1. Given to plunder; seizing by force.
2. Subsisting on prey.
3. Grasping; greedy.

In the course of the 1650s they became progressively disenchanted with Cromwell's regime, disliking the compromises with the old order and hating what had become a rapacious army that seemed interested solely in its own well-being and future.
-- James Walvin, The Quakers

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Sunday, January 31, 2010

penchant \PEN-chunt\, noun:

Inclination; decided taste; a strong liking.

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

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Monday, February 1, 2010

mondegreen \MON-di-green\, noun:

A word or phrase resulting from a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard.

Mondegreens can be found in every area of the spoken word, from the record buyer who asks for a copy of the Queen single "Bohemian Rap City" to the schoolchild who is convinced that the Pledge of Allegiance begins "I led the pigeons to the flag."
-- Gavin Edwards, 'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy: And Other Misheard Lyrics

[2jules7]

Word of the Day for Tuesday, February 2, 2010

gelid \JEL-id\, adjective:

Extremely cold; icy.

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