Category: Today’s Word

Definition: (adjective) Requiring much effort or expense; demanding attention. Synonyms: crying, insistent, clamant, instant. Usage: The professor regarded literary questions as exigent and momentous. Discuss

Definition: (noun) A plausible but misleading or fallacious argument. Synonyms: sophism, sophistication. Usage: Though they had all been taken in by the argument, they later …

Definition: (noun) One who is habitually careless in personal appearance or work. Synonyms: slob, pig. Usage: I could better eat with one who did not …

adjective: 1. Harmful. 2. Guilty.

Definition: (verb) Cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of. Synonyms: chagrin, humiliate, humble, mortify. Usage: Today she overwhelmed me with shrill reproaches, and abased …

verb tr.: To stain, blemish, or pollute. adjective: Stained, spotted, or impure.

Definition: (noun) A unit of capacity or volume in the apothecary system equal to one eighth of a fluid ounce. Synonyms: fluidram. Usage: She measured …

adjective: 1. Involving an intervening agency; not direct or immediate. 2. Being in a middle position. verb tr., intr.: 1. To act as an intermediary …

Definition: (noun) A small stream; a brook. Synonyms: streamlet, rill, rivulet, run. Usage: He could tell from the impression carved into the landscape that the …

noun: Skill or proficiency in a situation or a task.

Definition: (noun) A preacher of the Christian gospel. Synonyms: evangelist, gospeller. Usage: The revivalist drew a crowd of devoted followers to his weekly prayer meetings. …

verb tr.: To make capable.

Definition: (noun) A usually fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague. Synonyms: plague. Usage: The place might have been desolated by a pestilence, so empty and …

Definition: (verb) To leap about playfully. Synonyms: frisk, frolic, lark, rollick, romp, cavort. Usage: Then he ran back to the shed pulling the playful young …

Definition: (noun) A person who acts independently or remains neutral, especially in politics. Synonyms: fencesitter, independent. Usage: The public relations firm believed that the key …

adjective: Drooping; nodding.

Definition: (noun) A wooden or metal strip. Synonyms: slat. Usage: Humidity and weathering had caused the spline on the edge of the door to detach. …

adjective: Like a nut.

Definition: (noun) A person who shoes horses. Synonyms: horseshoer. Usage: The farrier took a look at the limping horse and declared that a badly fitted …

noun: The study of spiritual phenomena.

Definition: (adjective) Lacking moisture, especially having insufficient rainfall to support trees or woody plants. Synonyms: waterless. Usage: Only a few succulents managed to survive in …

adjective: Nagging, pestering, annoying, or complaining.

Definition: (noun) A movable keel in a sailboat that can be pivoted upward to reduce the boat's draft in shallow water. Synonyms: drop keel, sliding …

noun: 1. Oneself; one’s own interests. 2. The highest in rank, quality, importance, etc.

Definition: (noun) Excessive or affected modesty. Synonyms: Grundyism, primness, prudishness. Usage: Casting prudery to the wind, I lifted my head, looked him in the eyes, …

Definition: (verb) To issue a thunderous verbal attack or denunciation. Synonyms: rail. Usage: He fulminated against corruption in governmental institutions. Discuss

Definition: (noun) The quality of being discerning, sound in judgment, and farsighted; wisdom Synonyms: discernment, sagaciousness, judgment. Usage: Spies cannot be usefully employed without a …

adjective: In the shape of a cross. noun: Something in the shape of a cross.

Definition: (verb) To pay (a person) a suitable equivalent in return for goods provided, services rendered, or losses incurred. Synonyms: recompense, compensate. Usage: John carefully …

adjective: 1. Stylish; fashionable; luxurious. 2. Pretentious; ostentatious.

Definition: (adjective) Feeding on animal matter; carnivorous. Synonyms: meat-eating. Usage: Zoophagous insects include predators and parasites. Discuss

adjective: Relating to placing side by side.

Definition: (adjective) Clearly expressed or presented; easy to understand. Synonyms: lucid, luculent, pellucid, crystal clear, limpid. Usage: The lawyer presented a perspicuous closing argument, clarifying …

noun: A fear of water, especially of drowning.

Definition: (noun) An opening or orifice, as in a bone or in the covering of the ovule of a plant. Synonyms: hiatus. Usage: The tribe …

noun: Grandeur, greatness, magnificence, etc.

Definition: (adjective) Slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity. Synonyms: dumb, slow, dense, dim, dull. Usage: Though he was generally regarded as obtuse by …

Definition: (noun) A relatively small amount of money given for services rendered. Synonyms: baksheesh, gratuity, tip. Usage: The bellboy waited expectantly, but no pourboire was …

Definition: (noun) A basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated. Synonyms: standard, touchstone, measure. Usage: Their criterion of a …

noun: 1. Any marine crustacean of the subclass Cirripedia that attaches itself to rocks, hulls, docks, whales, etc. 2. Someone or something that clings. verb …