Word of the Day-chaste0 评论
Chaste (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['cheyst] Definition: Morally pure, decent and modest; celibate, virginal; pure or austere in design. Usage: Chaste has a verb form, as well: "to chasten." We often use the verb "chasten" to simply mean "punish." However, remember that it shares the last definition of today's word: in order to make a pure or simply designed work, one must chasten it, or refine excess from it. "Chastely" is the adverb and "chastity," the noun, a popular feminine name back in the days when the idea was popular. A chastener is someone who or something that chastens. Suggested Usage: Although feminine chastity still plays an important role in some societies, the chastity of women is less remarkable today in the industrialized West. The new twist on today's word is "pure and simple in design," which we might use in: "Hector's chaste leadership model caused consternation among his subordinates for the security of their sinecures (for which see the Archives)." Purification is also a sense that has survived in today's word: "Hillbourne strove to chasten his mind with scotch and classical music when he sat down to work on his novel." Word of the Day-pinchbeck0 评论
pinchbeck \PINCH-bek\, noun, adjective:
1. an alloy of zinc and copper used to imitate gold in jewelry-making; by extension, something counterfeit; an imitation 2. not genuine; fake Watch out for the pinchbeck on the auction site. We laughed at the pinchbeck heroism in the movie. Word of the Day-myopia0 评论
myopia \mahy-OH-pee-uh\, noun:
1. an abnormal eye condition in which only closeup objects are seen clearly; nearsightedness 2. shortsightedness; lack of foresight She wears contact lenses for myopia. His myopia left him without supplies after the storm. by 1727, medical Latin, from Late Greek myopia, from myops "near-sighted," from myein "to shut" + ops "eye" myopia=my+opia(我的眼睛阿) Word of the Day-expurgate0 评论
expurgate \EK-sper-geyt\, verb:
to remove objectionable words or passages from a document Grimms(格林)' fairy tales have been expurgated for children. Word of the Day-queasy0 评论
Definition: (adjective) Having the feeling that one is about to vomit.
Synonyms: nauseated, nauseous, sick Usage: Just the thought of being on a cruise ship makes me queasy. Word of the Day-asunder0 评论
Definition: (adverb) Into separate parts or pieces.
Synonyms: apart Usage: The powerful wind tore the sails asunder, and the ship was nearly lost at sea. Word of the Day-umpire0 评论
Definition: (noun) A person appointed to settle a dispute that mediators have been unable to resolve.
Synonyms: arbiter, arbitrator Usage: Who shall settle the terms of peace, and in case of disputes what umpire shall decide between them and compel acquiescence? Word of the Day-obdurate0 评论
Obdurate (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['ahb-dyu-rêt] Definition: Stubbornly wicked (impenitent) or wickedly stubborn (intractable). (带贬义) Usage: Shelley wrote in 'Revolt of Islam' (iv.9) "Custom maketh blind and obdurate The loftiest hearts." The adverb is "obdurately" and the noun, "obduracy." They all come from the transitive and intransitive verb obdure "to harden." Suggested Usage: The neutral sense can be used where you might otherwise use "dyed-in-the-wool," e.g. "His father was a union leader and he has been an obdurate Labourite since childhood." Of course, Tories might think this the pejorative usage. Here is a clearer example of that first meaning, "I. D. Nye was born to politics; his father was an obdurate card sharp until his death." Word of the Day-sonsy0 评论
Sonsy (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['sahn-si or 'son-si] Definition: Fortunate, lucky, having sonse (= good fortune); sensible, shrewd; (of girls) zaftig (zaftig definition) - (previous Word of the Day) (full-figured) and comely. Usage: The noun is "sonse." There is no verb and it wouldn't be sensible—or sonsy—to say "sonsible." A rhyming antonym, donsy ['dahn-si] "unfortunate, unlucky" from Gaelic donas "bad luck," is available for lexical mischief if you are up to it. This latter adjective has no noun, though nothing prevents inventing "donsiness" if you wish to use it. Suggested Usage: The first meaning of today's word is "lucky," "Fielding placed a sonsy bet at the track and won enough to pay for three-months of gamblers rehabilitation." It also means plump and pretty, "Matilda is a sonsy lass with a golden voice that brightens up evenings at the pub." Now for some mischief with the antonym: "I've had a sonsy-donsy day," would mean a day with ups and downs, with some good luck and some bad. senescence 衰老 Word of the Day-saturnine0 评论
Saturnine (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['sæt-ê(r)-nIn] Definition: Pertaining to the planet Saturn (archaic); born under the influence of Saturn, hence gloomy, grumpy, sour, and with a sarcastic attitude. Usage: Although today's word comes from the name of the planet Saturn, we rarely use it in reference to the planet these days. To say, "The Mercurial day is twenty-four hours long but the Saturnine, only ten," would sound as though we were speaking of quick versus slow and sulky time periods. The adverb is "saturninely" and, yes, someone has succeeded in publishing the noun "saturninity," so you may use it, too. Suggested Usage: Here are both our recent planetary adjectives used in their contemporary senses: "You would expect General Newsance to be less saturnine after such a mercurial rise to the top rank," implying he enjoyed rapid promotion which left him, for some odd reason, rather grumpy. Today's adjective brings the agent noun "curmudgeon" to mind, "That saturnine old curmudgeon wouldn't give his grandmother the time of day." Word of the Day-rhapsody0 评论
Rhapsody (noun)
Pronunciation: ['ræp-sê-dee] Definition: An epic poem or major part of one; a work of art composed of miscellaneous pieces strung together; an exalted expression of feeling lacking logic or structure, such as a piece of music or literature. Usage: Today's melodious word comes from a musical family: the adjective is "rhapsodical" and the verb is "rhapsodize." The wanderers who recited the odes of Homer and Hesiod by heart, preserving them for posterity, are generally referred to as "rhapsodists." Swinburne, however, wrote in one of his essays published in 1867, "There has been since Chaucer no second teller of tales, no second rhapsode, comparable to the first." Suggested Usage: Today our word refers most frequently to an effusive panegyric as opposed to a reasoned exposition: "Our presentation should be a rhapsody of New Monia as the perfect location for a medical center rather than a detailed economic analysis of the town." Rhapsodies run more on enthusiasm than organized thought: "Patsy spun such a rhapsody of her family life that no one believed her. Word of the Day-droll0 评论
Droll (Adjective)
Pronunciation: ['drol] Definition: Quaintly amusing, mischievously facetious, exhibiting the qualities of a droll. Usage: This is a qualitative adjective, which means it may be compared: droll, droller, drollest. It has borne three nouns meaning essentially the same thing, "drollery," "drollity," and "drollness," plus the adverb is "drolly." A person who is habitually droll is a droll (the origin of the adjective) and what a droll does is, well, droll around with his friends. Suggested Usage: Although "droll" is often listed as a synonym of "funny," "facetious," "amusing," it has a personality of its own. It refers to harmlessly mischievous humor, humor with a dexterity that skirts effrontery: "Hans is a droll creature who enjoys everyone he meets. His droll laughter brightens up any conversation." Remember, though, this makes Hans himself a droll. The noun is slipping ever deeper into obscurity, so let us use it more: "Frieda isn't all that funny; she's just a simple droll." Word of the Day-uxorious0 评论
Uxorious (Adjective)
Pronunciation: [êk-'sor-ee-yês or êg-'zor-ee-yês] Definition: Overly devoted or submissive to one's wife. Usage: Here is a relatively recent quotation. "Because she is set off against this unremitting uxoriousness, this Valentine's card of a campaign, Hillary seems so very alone." -- Maureen Dowd, "Lonely Passion of Hillary," NYT, October 1, 2000. Suggested Usage: Now, at last, we have a substitute for colloquial "hen-pecked." "The combination of his wife's wealth and ego left him hopelessly uxorious." "Poor Ned uxioriously carried out Susan's commands one after another." Now you can actually say things like this in front of Ned and Susan (if they do not subscribe to yourDictionary's Word of the Day). Word of the Day-adventitious0 评论
Pronunciation: [æd-ven-'ti-shês]
Definition: (1) An extraneous part of a system found in an unusual place, as adventitious roots growing from the trunk of a tree; (2) added extraneously, not inherent or natural, out of place. Usage: Today's word resembles "adventurous" and you might be tempted to confuse the two. Although both derive from the same source (see Etymology), the two words are distinct. The adverb for today's word is "adventitiously" and the noun is "adventitiousness." Suggested Usage: Today's word should be useful for the gardener who often roots stock for transplanting, "The twig that I started rooting last week already has developed adventitious roots." Still, there is more than enough room for metaphorical maneuvering: "Melanie arrived in a matching skirt and sweater outfit, leather pumps, and an adventitious yellow purse that raised more than one eyebrow." Word of the Day-bedizen0 评论
Pronunciation: [be-'dI-zên]
Definition: To dress up in a flashy fashion, to deck (oneself) out brazenly in gaudy clothes. Usage: Today's nifty little word has the same meaning with and without the prefix be-. "Dizen" means the same thing as "bedizen," though the prefix gives it the beat that goes with its meaning. There is a noun, "bedizenment" and the participles, "bedizening" and "bedizened," may be used as adjectives, as a bedizened strumpet or a bedizening experience trying on clothes in a hippy boutique. Suggested Usage: Today's word is most often used as a haughty comment on vulgar, flashy feminine dress, "April May can't step out of her apartment unless she bedizens herself with cheap furs and gobs of costume jewelry." (As Dolly Parton once put it, "It takes a lot of money to look so cheap." ) However, there is no reason to exclude men: "We all went to a costume party at which all the guests were bedizened as Persian royalty of the 13th century." Word of the Day-ogle0 评论
Ogle (verb)
Pronunciation: ['o-gêl] Definition: To stare at in an obvious fashion with eyes wide open, especially out of salacious interest. (See the Archives for "salacious.") Usage: Ogling members of the opposite sex is but a step away from voyeurism. The difference between the two is that ogling by definition is controllable while voyeurism is perceived as a fetish. Someone who ogles is an ogler who engages in ogling. The current slang for ogling is "scoping out." Suggested Usage: Ogling is not restricted to 'scoping out' the opposite sex: "The kid kept ogling my ice cream cone until I had to give it to him." Spoken with a wry smile on the face, however, it usually does: "Randolph's blatant ogling has already earned him several slaps in the face and a lonely life." Sometimes it is difficult to tell which sense of the word is intended, "Dusty Rhodes wasted another afternoon ogling the latest models at the Detroit auto show." Word of the Day-pervious0 评论
Pervious (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['pê(r)-vi-ês] Definition: (1) Permeable, penetrable, allowing passage through itself; (2) susceptible to reason, approachable, can be reasoned with. Usage: Many think that "impervious" is another orphan negative like "ineffable," "nonplussed," "inert." In point of fact, however, there are pervious and impervious jungles and pervious and impervious arguments. The adverb is "perviously" and the noun, "perviousness." Suggested Usage: A pervious object allows some element to pass through it, "The curtains were so pervious to light that it was impossible to sleep in the room during the day." Water is another substance that enjoys exploring pervious objects, "They discovered during the first rain that the roof of the new house was quite pervious." But we constantly bump into people who are pervious and impervious (to reason), "Janet is a pervious supervisor; approach her calmly and rationally and she’ll listen to you."
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