Recently Added Articles Page #119

penurious - vocabulary

adjectiveExcessively sparing in the use of money; extremely stingy; extremely poor or destitute. These new "malefactors of great wealth" are not just distant figures hurrying toward their private jets bound for some purchased paradise; no, in many ca...

pernicious - vocabulary

adjectiveCausing serious ruin or harm; injurious; deadly. The machine has had a pernicious effect upon virtue, pity, and love, and young men used to machines which induce inertia, and fear, are near impotents.—Edward Dahlberg ”No Love and No Than...

perquisite - vocabulary

nounA payment, advantage, benefit, or privilege received beyond regular income or salary; something claimed as an exclusive right.Note: The expression “perk” comes from perquisite. Assassination is the perquisite of princes.—A nineteenth-centur...

perspicacious, perspicacity - vocabulary

adjectivePerspicacious: having a keen mental understanding or perception; shrewd; astute; discerning.nounPerspicacity: keen mental understanding or perception; shrewdness; astuteness.Note: Do not confuse perspicacious with perspicuous or perspicacity...

perusal, peruse - vocabulary

nounPerusal: the act of reading carefully or thoughtfully; scrutiny; survey.verbPeruse: to read thoroughly and carefully; to examine or survey in detail. Call it the Pulitzer Early Warning System. In perusing the list of well-achieved journalistic Pu...

petulant - vocabulary

adjectiveShowing sudden or impatient irritation, especially over something trifling; irritable, peevish, fretful, petty. The faces of most American women over thirty are relief maps of petulant and bewildered unhappiness.—F. Scott Fitzgerald Letter...

phlegmatic - vocabulary

adjectiveNot easily roused to feeling, emotion, or action; composed, calm, self-possessed; having a sluggish, unemotional temperament. Phlegmatic natures can be inspired to enthusiasm only by being made into fanatics.—Friedrich Nietzsche Sämtliche...

pique - vocabulary

verbTo excite a degree of anger and resentment, as in She was piqued by their refusal to attend the party; to excite interest or curiosity in; to arouse or provoke to action. "It naturally happens this time of year that people get interested in IRAs,...

plebeian - vocabulary

adjectiveCommonplace, vulgar or coarse in nature; of or associated with the great masses of people; relating to or belonging to the ancient Roman plebs.nounA member of the common people; also a member of the ancient Roman plebs. The modern picture of...

poignant - vocabulary

adjectiveProfoundly touching or moving; strong in mental appeal; affecting the emotions. There are few sorrows, however poignant, in which a good income is of no avail.—Logan Pearsall Smith “Life and Human Nature” Afterthoughts (1931)...

portend - vocabulary

verbTo indicate in advance, especially by previous signs; to presage, foreshadow; to signify, mean. “Rise in Cases of West Nile May Portend an Epidemic” —Denise Grady New York Times Headline, July 26, 2007...

portent - vocabulary

nounAnything that indicates what is about to happen; a significant threat; a marvel or prodigy, something amazing. Self-parody is the first portent of age.—Larry McMurtry Some Can Whistle (1989)...

precarious - vocabulary

adjectiveDependent on circumstances beyond one’s control; lacking in stability or security; subject to change; based on unproved premises; perilous. A politician never forgets the precarious nature of elective life. We have never established a prac...

precedence, precedent, precedential - vocabulary

nounPrecedence: the fact or act of preceding, as in The first patent application receives precedence in Europe; priority in place, time, or rank because of superiority, as in The company relied on its precedence as the leading producer of computer ch...

preclude - vocabulary

verbTo prevent the occurrence or existence of something; to exclude from something. Anyone who has breast-fed knows two things for sure: The baby wants to be fed at the most inopportune times, in the most inopportune places, and the baby will prevail...

precocious - vocabulary

adjectiveUnusually mature or advanced in development, especially in mental aptitude; usually in reference to children. What might be taken for a precocious genius is the genius of childhood. When the child grows up, it disappears without a trace. It ...

precursor - vocabulary

nounA person or thing that precedes; a person, animal, or thing indicating the approach of something or someone, a harbinger. In his very rejection of art Walt Whitman is an artist. He tried to produce a certain effect by certain means and he succeed...

predilection - vocabulary

nounA tendency or inclination to think favorably about something, a preference, as in a predilection for Mozart. The parrot holds its food for prim consumption as daintily as any debutante, [with] a predilection for pot roast, hashed-brown potatoes, ...

premise - vocabulary

nounA proposition on which an argument is based or from which a conclusion is drawn. In law, premises refers to land and buildings on the land.verbTo assume or state as a proposition in an argument. The utopian male concept which is the premise of ma...

prerogative - vocabulary

nounExclusive privilege or right, obtained or exercise because of rank or office, as in prerogatives of a member of Congress. Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possess...

prescience, prescient - vocabulary

nounPrescience: knowledge of events before they take place.adjectivePrescient: perceiving significance of events before they take place.Note: The first syllable is pronounced either pree- or presh-. He said, I’m just out of hospital, but I’m stil...

presumption, presumptuous - vocabulary

nounPresumption: that which may be logically assumed to be true until disproved; an assumption. In law, a fact assumed because of the proof of other facts; in patent law, for example, a patent enjoys a “presumption of validity” because it was iss...

prevaricate - vocabulary

verbTo use ambiguous or evasive language for the purpose of deceiving or diverting attention; to tell a falsehood; to lie. Lying is the same as alcoholism. Liars prevaricate even on their deathbeds.—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov Letter to the writer A.N....

principal, principle - vocabulary

nounPrincipal: the head of a school; also means “money” or “the balance on your mortgage.” As an adjective, principal means “main.”Principle: acts only as a noun. It means “rule” or “moral tenet.”Use this trick:A principal should ...

privity, privy - vocabulary

nounPrivity: knowledge shared with another or others regarding a private matter. In law, a relationship between or among parties, typically to a contract.Privy: an outhouse; a person having an interest in a legal transaction or legal relationship. As...