Words Of The Day (and the day before, and the day before that)

neophyte \NEE-uh-fyt\ , noun;

1. A new convert or proselyte.

2. A novice; a beginner in anything.

Examples:

• I was a complete neophyte and knew nothing about the choreographic process, but seeing the steps pour out of this man was a revelation.
• She, the neophyte, with as yet no experience of this, had settled eagerly to the task.
• As a neophyte in politics, I didn’t understand that ducking the issues was the goal of most campaigns.

portentous \por-TEN-tus\ , adjective;

1. Foreboding; foreshadowing, especially foreshadowing ill; ominous.

2. Marvelous; prodigious; wonderful; as, a beast of portentous size.

3. Pompous.

Examples:

• This victory is without doubt a very special andportentous gift of the gods, she said, “for I believe that there now stands before you the one leader who is the single most qualified to lead us to the peace we long for.”
• Death of a Salesman has been debunked as a didactic commentary on the bankruptcy of the American dream of success, while Miller has been dismissed as an epigone of Ibsenism, a preachy, pompous and, yes,portentous writer who belongs, like Clifford Odets and Lillian Hellman, to a middlebrow, pre-modernist past.

impecunious \im-pih-KYOO-nee-uhs\ , adjective;

Not having money; habitually without money; poor.

Examples:

• Her father, Bronson, was a respected butimpecunious New England transcendentalist who had ‘no gift for money making’, according to [Louisa May] Alcott’s journal.’
• He had gotten to know Garibaldi during theimpecunious soldier’s last years and would send him woolen socks, underwear, and money.
• It may be urged that an impecunious defendant would be unable to bear the expense of an appeal and would have to let it go by default.

Word Of The Day: Lucre

lucre \LOO-kuhr\ , noun;

Monetary gain; profit; riches; money; — often in a bad sense.

-> Lucrative (adj) = profitable

Examples:

• His stories began to be published in the American Mercury before he moved to L.A., lured by the dream of Hollywood lucre.
• They ought to feel a calling for service rather than lucre.
• But surely there are other motives for writing, and they range from the desire for filthy lucre to the pleasure in doing the thing itself to the impulse to delight readers.
• Picture the place where you grew up. Now, imagine it trampled by an avalanche of capital and the stampede of lucre-crazed hordes chasing after it.

Word Of The Day: Defenestrate

defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\ , transitive verb;

To throw out of a window.

Examples:

• Some of his apparent chums . . . would still happilydefenestrate him if they caught him near a window.
• I defenestrated a clock to see if time flies!
• A woman, driven to fury by the manner in which her lover prefers to lavish his attention on a match on the telly rather than her, starts to throw his possessions out of the window. He’s finally moved to stop her when she tries to defenestrate his new Puma boots.

Origin:

Defenestrate is derived from Latin de-, “out of” + fenestra, “window.” The noun form is defenestration.

Word Of The Day: Adversary

ad·ver·sar·y [ad-ver-ser-ee]

noun,

1. opponent, enemy, foe

2. a person, group, etc., that is an opponent in a contest; contestant

3. The Adversary, the Devil; Satan.

adjective, also adversarial

4. of or pertaining to adversary

Synonyms Note:
Adversary and antagonist mean a person or a group contending against another.

Adversary suggests an enemy who fights determinedly, continuously, and relentlessly: a formidable adversary.

Antagonist suggests one who, in hostile spirit, opposes another, often in a particular contest or struggle: a duel with an antagonist.

ANT: Ally

Word Of The Day: Garrulous

garrulous \GAIR-uh-lus; GAIR-yuh-\ , adjective;

1. Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; talkative.

2. Wordy.

SYN: Talkative, loquacious, verbose

Examples:

• Without saying a single word she managed to radiate disapproval . . . the air seemed to grow heavy with it and the most garrulous talker would wilt and fall silent.
• He was as garrulous as a magpie.
• The garrulous ancient was for once holding his tongue.
• Crammed with gossip, anecdotes, and confessions . . ., his garrulous, untidy narratives read like a good novel.
• He took a great liking to this Rev. Mr. Peters, and talked with him a great deal: told him yarns, gave him toothsome scraps of personal history, and wove a glittering streak of profanity through his garrulous fabric that was refreshing to a spirit weary of the dull neutralities of undecorated speech.

Word Of The Day: Capricious

ca·pri·cious [kuh-prish-uhs, -pree-shuhs]; adjective

subject to, led by, or indicative of caprice or whim; erratic:

E.g. He’s such a capricious boss I never know how he’ll react.

SYN: variable, flighty, mercurial, whimsical, fickle, temperamental, unpredictable, volatile

ANT: steady, constant, consistent

Word Of The Day: Cozen

cozen \KUZ-un\ transitive verb;

1. To cheat; to defraud; to deceive, usually by petty tricks.

2. To obtain by deceit.

intransitive verb;

To act deceitfully.

SYN: deceive, cheat, con, defraud, trick, hoodwink, scam, swindle.

Examples:

• You would naturally not think so flat a rogue couldcozen you. But have a care! These half idiots have a sort of cunning, as the skunk has its stench.
• The men who circle endlessly around her are mostly louts and losers. We watch them, at some length, as they drink, dope, cozen each other and tirelessly mistreat women.
• Pound, discussing Loy and Moore together, made a stab: “In the verses of Marianne Moore I detect traces of emotion; in that of Mina Loy I detect no emotion whatever.” No, not absence of feeling; refusal, rather, to cozen her readers by appeal to feeling.
• The rich man, argued Fox, is ‘the greatest thief’ because he acquired his wealth ‘by cozening and cheating, by lying and defrauding’.

Word Of The Day: Potable

potable \POH-tuh-buhl\ , adjective

Fit to drink; suitable for drinking; drinkable.

Example:

The park has no showers or potable drinking water–we picked up bottled water in Kaunakakai.

Word Of The Day: Hirsute

Hirsute \HUR-soot\ , adjective

Covered with hair; set with bristles; shaggy; hairy.

SYN: hairy, bushy, shaggy, bearded, furry, pilose

Examples:

The Bear . . . makes the rounds of the clubs “disguised” in trench coat and broad-brimmed hat, hoping (successfully, it seems) to be mistaken for a rather hirsute human.

First of all, your nose is nearly covered with your bloody moustache and your beard, Mr Gogarty replied. Mr Allen apologised for his “hirsute” appearance.

He was incredibly hirsute: there was even a thick pelt of hair on the back of his hands.