Recently Added Articles Page #116

aphorism - vocabulary

aphorism - noun A terse saying that embodies a general truth, as in (with apologies to Lord Acton) Power corrupts and Power Point corrupts absolutely.Note: In The World in a Phrase, his 2005 history of the form, James Geary laid down his "Five Laws o...

apposite - vocabulary

apposite - adjective Appropriate, well-suited, apt, relevant, suitable. The opposite is inapposite, often used by lawyers to put down opponents’ arguments. Like most writers, [Millard] Kaufman is an avid reader; he calls F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The ...

approbation - vocabulary

approbation - noun Approval, commendation, official sanction. Superstars strive for approbation; heroes walk alone. Superstars crave consensus; heroes define themselves by the judgment of a future they see it as their task to bring about. Superstars ...

apostasy, apostate - vocabulary

apostasy, apostate - noun Apostasy: a total departure from one’s religious, political, or personal beliefs and principles.Apostate: a person who forsakes his or her religious, political, or personal beliefs and principles.Note: Apostate can also be...

arrogate - vocabulary

arrogate - verb To take, demand, or claim, especially presumptuously or without reasons or grounds. This second source of men, while yet but few, . . . Shall lead their lives, and multiply apace, . . . Shall spend their days in joy unblamed, and dwel...

ascetic - vocabulary

ascetic - adjective Given to severe self-denial and practicing excessive abstinence and devotion. Hester sought not to acquire anything beyond a subsistence, of the plainest and most ascetic description, for herself, and a simple abundance for her ch...

askance - vocabulary

askance - adverb Usually describes the act of looking or glancing; with suspicion or mistrust, as in He looked askance at his boss, who seemed to bring bad tidings. “Do you suppose he can possibly recover?” said Levin, watching a slender tress at...

assiduous - vocabulary

assiduous - adjective Constant or unremitting activity, as in assiduous exercise; constant in application or effort; diligent or persevering, as in an assiduous medical student. Callendar's concern was pursued in the 1950s by numerous American scient...

assuage - vocabulary

assuage - verb To cause to be less harsh, severe, or violent, usually in reference to appetite, pain, disease, or excitement, as in She assuaged the pain of her terminally ill patient. As psychologists begin to explore the boundaries of regret, marke...

astringent - vocabulary

astringent - noun A substance that contracts canals or tissues in the body; in cosmetics, a substance that cleans the skin and constricts the pores.adjectiveHarsh in disposition or character; in medicine, constricting or contracting. About the size a...

audacious - vocabulary

audacious - adjective Fearless, bold, daring, as in an audacious explorer; extremely original or inventive, as in his audacious vision for improving the tax laws. The Bush administration's audacious plan to rebuild Iraq envisions a sweeping overhaul ...

augur - vocabulary

augur - verb Note: Used as either a transitive verb (where the verb requires an object) or an intransitive verb (where the verb does not require an object). Also note the spelling. The noun auger is a drill.Augur (transitive): to divine, predict, or ...

avarice - vocabulary

avarice - noun An unquenchable desire for riches; a miserly desire. By avarice and selfishness, and a groveling habit, from which none of us is free, of regarding the soil as property, or the means of acquiring property chiefly, the landscape is defo...

aver - vocabulary

aver - verb To assert or affirm with confidence; to declare in a preemptory or positive manner. In law, to allege something as a fact, often followed by a that clause, as in The plaintiff averred that defendant was negligent. So General Grant, after ...

averse - vocabulary

averse - adjective Strongly disinclined, a strong feeling of opposition, as in She was averse to taking the risk.Note: Often used with the negative not, as in I am not averse to having yet another glass of fine pinot noir. I've never downloaded a pod...

banal - vocabulary

banal - adjective Drearily commonplace, hackneyed, trite, lacking in originality. If you killed off Lizzie McGuire's entire family and sent her to live with an evil stepmother and two stepsisters in the Valley, you'd have the basic setup for "A Cinde...

belie - vocabulary

belie - verb To misrepresent, to show to be false; to refute, disprove, gainsay. Often used to show an action directly contrary to the true situation, as in His shaking hands belied his calm smile and voice. Hitler's outward hatred for Jews and Russi...

bemoan - vocabulary

bemoan - verb To lament; to express grief or distress over; to regard with disapproval or regret. Back in May, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly admonished young folks for thinking of work as a "four-letter word," prompting a shaming from her own ...

beset - vocabulary

beset - verb To attack on all sides, to assail, to harass, as in beset by financial difficulties; to surround or hem in, as in the little town beset on all sides with housing developments; to place or set upon, as in the ring beset with diamonds.Note...

bilateral - vocabulary

bilateral - adjective Pertaining to two sides, parties, or factions, as in a bilateral treaty. In law, a bilateral contract binds two parties to reciprocal duties. Recently, President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed a joint commu...

blaspheme - vocabulary

blaspheme - verb To speak irreverently of God or sacred things or beliefs; to speak evil of someone or something. Used as either a transitive verb (with object), as in She blasphemed the pastor of her church, or an intransitive verb (without object)...

boorish - vocabulary

boorish - adjective Like a boor, insensitive, crude; without good manners, as in His boorish behavior offended everyone at the party. Today’s New York Times features a story on the boorish and disgusting behavior by large bunches of drunk and rowdy...

cabal - vocabulary

cabal - verb To hatch a scheme, to plot.nounA small group of plotters who hatch a scheme against the government or persons in authority. The word also refers to the scheme itself. But now the British say Santa's corpulence isn't cute, it's a health h...

cacophony - vocabulary

cacophony - noun A harsh and discordant sound; a meaningless mixture of sounds. Poets who know no better rhapsodize about the peace of nature, but a well-populated marsh is a cacophony.—Bern Keating “Birders’ Heaven” Connoisseur, April 1986 N...

calumny - vocabulary

calumny - noun A false and misleading statement designed to destroy the reputation of someone or something; the act of uttering calumnies. It is harder to kill a whisper than even a shouted calumny.—Mary Stewart The Last Enchantment (1979) Note: Yo...