Word Of The Day A ab ovo: from the beginning abominate: to detest intensely abstemious: temperate 7-18-08 acuity: acuteness of perception or vision 7-20-08 adumbrate: to outline; to foreshadow 7-12-08 aegis: a shield; protection 8-09-08 aesthete: one who cultivates great sensitivity to beauty affable: easy to speak to agitprop: propaganda agon: struggle; conflict amalgam: an alloy of mercury with other metals ameliorate: to make or grow better apothegm: a short, witty, and instructive saying 7-31-08 appellation: a name, title, or designation asperity: roughness of surface, sound, or manner assiduous: constant in application or attention auspicious: favorable 7-30-08 autocrat: a ruler with unlimited authority avuncular: resembling an uncle, as in kindness or indulgence B badinage: light, playful talk bedizen: to dress or adorn in gaudy manner beholden: obliged bellwether: a leader or leading indicator benignant: kind; gracious; favorable bifurcate: to divide into two branches bon vivant: a person with refined and sociable tastes boulevardier: a man-about-town brio: vigor buss: a kiss C canorous: melodious; musical 8-06-08 cavil: to raise trivial objections censorious: harshly critical choleric: easily angered comestible: suitable to be eaten complaisant: exhibiting a desire to please compunction: anxiety or unease from guilt concatenation: a succession condign: deserved 7-21-08 constitutional: a walk taken for one's health 8-14-08 contrite: feeling or expressing grief and regret for sins or offenses convivial: relating to or fond of festivity and good company copious: large in quantity copse: a thicket of small trees countermand: to revoke (a former command) or recall by a contrary order 8-26-08 countervail: to counteract 7-14-08 crabwise: sideways 8-1-08 cupidity: eager or excessive desire, especially for wealth cursory: hastily or superficially performed D dapple: a small contrasting blotch defenestrate: to throw out of a window 8-03-08 demagogue: a leader who obtains power by means of appeals to the sentiments of the populace desideratum: something desired dictum: an authoritative statement 8-08-08 dilettante: an admirer or lover of the fine arts doppelganger: a ghostly double dour: stern or unyielding or gloomy 7-26-08 dudgeon: a state or fit of intense indignation E eddy: a current running contrary to a main current or in a circular direction emolument: the wages or perquisites arising from office, employment, or labor encumbrance: something that burdens or impedes ennui: a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest ephemeron: something short-lived epicene: having the characteristics of both the male and the female errant: deviating from an appointed course, or from a direct path 8-21-08 ersatz: being a substitute or imitation evince: to show in a clear manner exculpate: to clear from alleged fault or guilt excursus: a digression expiate: to make amends for F facile: easily done or performed factitious: artificial; not authentic or genuine farrago: an assortment febrile: feverish felicitous: apt or appropriate; delightful 8-22-08 flaneur: one who strolls about aimlessly foofaraw: excessive or flashy ornamentation forlorn: sad and lonely because deserted, abandoned, or lost 8-27-08 fortuitous: happening by chance friable: easily crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder 7-17-08 flummery: mumbo jumbo, nonsense 7-25-08 G garrulous: talkative gauche: lacking social polish 7-19-08 gravitas: high seriousness H harridan: a scolding, vicious woman hobbledehoy: an awkward, gawky young fellow 8-07-08 homily: a sermon or lecture hugger-mugger: secret hyperboleDefinition:extravagant exaggeration I ignoble: not noble imbue: to dye; to instill profoundly impassive: devoid of emotion inchoate: partly but not fully in existence or operation 8-11-08 ineffectual: without effect, weak inscrutable: difficult to fathom or understand internecine: destructive; especially, mutually destructive 8-04-08 intractable: not easily governed, managed, or directed introspection: the act or process of self-examination 7-23-08 inveigle: to persuade or obtain by ingenuity or flattery inveterate: deep-rooted 7-28-08 J jocund: light-hearted K L lacuna: a blank space largess: generous giving; gifts of money or other valuables lenity: the state or quality of being lenient luminary: any body that gives light; a person of eminence or brilliant achievement M malapropism: the humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound malodorous: having a bad odor mazy: resembling a maze; intricate or confusing metier: an occupation, especially in which one excels moribund: dying N nebbish: a weak-willed, timid, or ineffectual person neophyte: a novice noisome: offensive or disgusting nostrum: a questionable remedy 8-17-08 nuptial: of or pertaining to marriage O objurgate: to scold or rebuke sharply 8-18-08 P pandemic: affecting a whole people or a number of countries pantheon: the collective gods of a people peccant: sinning pejorative: disparaging; belittling perfunctory: done routinely physiognomy: the face or appearance pin money: money for incidental expenses 8-10-08 plangent: beating with a loud or deep sound; expressing sadness 8-12-08 posit: to postulate preponderate: to exceed in weight, influence, importance, amount, etc. 7-29-08 prepotency: predominance prevaricate: to depart from or evade the truth primogeniture: the state of being the firstborn propitious: presenting favorable circumstances pugilist: a boxer 8-15-08 puissant: powerful pukka: authentic,genuine pulchritude: beauty 8-25-08 pule: to whimper punctilio: a fine point of exactness in conduct, ceremony, or procedure 8-02-08 putative: commonly thought or deemed 7-22-08 Pyrrhic victory: a victory achieved at great cost 7-11-08 Q quandary: a state of difficulty or perplexity 7-27-08 quash: to annul quidnunc: a gossip quiescent: at rest; still; inactive R raffish: tawdry rapine: the act of plundering rara avis: a rare or unique person or thing 7-13-08 recrudescent: breaking out again 8-23-08 remunerate: to pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, or expense ribald: characterized by, or given to, vulgar humor 7-24-08 rotund: round; rounded in figure S salmagundi: a mixture or assortment 7-16-08 sang-froid: coolness in trying circumstances 8-13-08 sapient: wise; sage; discerning schadenfreude: a malicious satisfaction in the misfortunes of others scintilla: a tiny amount sempiternal: everlasting; eternal skulduggery: devious, dishonest, or unscrupulous behavior or activity solace: comfort in grief sonorous: yielding sound sotto voce: spoken low or in an undertone spoony: foolishly or sentimentally in love stormy petrel: a type of seabird 8-20-08 suasion: the act of persuading succinct: brief T termagant: a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman terminus: the end of a transportation line or route tete-a-tete: a private conversation titivate: to smarten up; to spruce tmesis: in grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a compound word trenchant: forceful and vigorous trencherman: a hearty eater trepidation: a state of dread or alarm turgid: swollen, bloated tutelary: guardian; protecting 7-15-08 U ukase: an edict 8-24-08 V valetudinarian: a weak or sickly person vapid: flat; dull; spiritless varicolored: having a variety of colors variegated: having marks or patches of different colors venal: capable of being bought verbose: wordy 8-05-08 vitiate: to make faulty or imperfect 8-16-08 votary: one devoted to some pursuit, worship, study, or way of life W wizened: shriveled; withered wraith: a ghost; something insubstantial or shadowy wunderkind: one who achieves success or acclaim during youth X Y yen: a strong desire or inclination 8-19-08 Z