Recently Added Articles Page #118

dissemble - vocabulary

dissemble - verb To give a misleading or false appearance, to conceal the truth; to feign.Note: Do not confuse dissemble (to hide the truth) with disassemble (to take something apart). Consider this note from Washington State University’s website: ...

disseminate - vocabulary

disseminate - verb To spread or scatter widely, as seed is sown; to distribute, broadcast, disperse, as in disseminate information. "Nations, like individuals, wish to enjoy a fair reputation. It is therefore desirable for us that the slanders on our...

dogma, dogmatic, dogmatize - vocabulary

dogma, dogmatic, dogmatize - noun, adjective, verb  nounDogma: a systems of tenets or principles, often from a church; prescribed doctrine, as in political dogma; a settled or established belief or opinion.adjectiveDogmatic: often used to descri...

duplicity - vocabulary

duplicity - noun Deceitfulness in conduct or speech; speaking and acting in two different, opposing ways; a twofold or double quality or state.Note: The adjective duplicitous describes someone who is given to deceitful conduct or speech; a person who...

ebullient - vocabulary

ebullient - adjective Showing enthusiasm or exhilaration of feeling; excited; high-spirited. The world was kept informed of Pavarotti's joie de vivre, his ebullient flirtations and his halfhearted struggle with his weight, which fluctuated between 25...

eccentric - vocabulary

eccentric - noun One who goes his own way and cares little about the norm.adjectiveDeviating from customary or recognized character; erratic; odd; peculiar. An insight into the eccentric life of Albert Einstein has been provided in a letter written b...

efface - vocabulary

efface - verb To wipe out, do away with, obliterate, expunge, as in She effaced her most dreadful memories.Note: The related terms self-effacement and self-effacing mean to keep oneself in the background, to exhibit humility. If we work upon marble, ...

effete - vocabulary

effete - adjective Lacking in wholesome vigor, degenerate, decadent; exhausted of energy or support, worn out. A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals.—Fo...

efficacious - vocabulary

efficacious - adjective Capable of having the desired result; effective as a method, means, or remedy.Note: The noun form efficacy means effectiveness. For example, to gain FDA approval, a drug company must show the efficacy of the drug. The efficacy...

effrontery - vocabulary

effrontery - noun Unblushing impudence or boldness; barefaced audacity; “nerve.”Note: Do not confuse the noun effrontery with the verb and noun affront. The verb affront means “to insult, to offend deliberately”; the noun means “insult” a...

egoism, egotism - vocabulary

egoism, egotism - noun Egoism: a philosophical doctrine that morality has its foundations in self-interest.Egotism: an excessive preoccupation with self. Note: Egotism, egoism refer to preoccupation with one's ego or self. Egotism is the common word ...

egregious - vocabulary

egregious - adjective Extraordinary in a bad way, glaring, flagrant, as in an egregious violation of the law. On Jan. 31, 1996, the city ordered the tenants of a Harlem brownstone to move out, saying that a series of code violations had made the buil...

elicit, illicit - vocabulary

Elicit: verb, to draw out, to bring forth, to call forth or provoke.Illicit: adjective, not legally permitted or authorized, disapproved of, as in an illicit affair or illicit drug traffic. It is the story-teller’s task to elicit sympathy and a mea...

elucidate - vocabulary

verbTo bring out more clearly the facts concerning; to make lucid or clear. The chief element in the art of statesmanship under modern conditions is the ability to elucidate the confused and clamorous interests which converge upon the seat of governm...

elude, allude - vocabulary

verbElude: to evade the search or pursuit of by dexterity or artifice; to escape capture. Also, to escape the understanding of, as in The answer eluded me.Allude: to refer to casually or indirectly. If you want something, it will elude you. If you do...

emaciate - vocabulary

verbTo waste away in flesh, to make abnormally lean. Often used as a verbal adjective, as in After his diet, he looked emaciated. It never entered his head to analyse the details of the sick man’s situation, to consider how that body was lying unde...

emanate - vocabulary

verbTo flow out of, to proceed, as from a source, as in The light emanated from the lamp. As the struggle proceeded for making the ruling power emanate from the periodical choice of the ruled, some persons began to think that too much importance had ...

emigrate, immigrate - vocabulary

verbEmigrate: to move out of a country.Immigrate: to come into a country.nounEmigration: the process of leaving a country.Emigrant: the person who leaves.Immigration: process of coming into a country.Immigrant: the person who comes in.Note: Use this ...

eminent, imminent - vocabulary

adjectiveEminent: high in station or rank, prominent, distinguished; prominent; conspicuous. To show the highest in stature, use preeminent (no hyphen).In law, the power of eminent domain is the power of a government to take private property for publ...

emulate - vocabulary

verbTo imitate with the intent to equal or surpass. Gentlemen, I had hoped you might emulate your Saxon forefathers, who thought it not creditable to be unprepared for anything.—President Woodrow Wilson In Wilson: The Academic Years by Henry W. Bra...

endemic - vocabulary

adjectiveCharacteristic of or natural to a particular place or people; indigenous; native; belonging exclusively to or confined to particular place. Dr. Hooker has recently shown that in the S.E. corner of Australia, where, apparently, there are many...

enervate - vocabulary

verbTo render ineffective or inoperative; to deprive of strength or force; to weaken.Note: Do not confuse enervate with invigorate. The two words differ significantly. His musicality is evident in the fresh and lively flow of images, though his tin e...

enhance - vocabulary

verbTo intensify, to raise to a higher degree, to magnify; to raise the value of. Baseball, he determined, would be an excellent hobby. “No sense a man’s working his fool head off. I’m going out to the Game three times a week. Besides, fellow o...

enigma - vocabulary

nounAn inexplicable occurrence or situation, puzzling; a person of puzzling character; a question, saying, or picture with a hidden meaning, a riddle. I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma...

enmity - vocabulary

nounA feeling or condition of animosity, hatred, ill will. Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship.—Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892)...