luminary
Definition: (noun) A person who is an inspiration to others. Synonyms: notable, guiding light, leading light, notability. Usage: He is considered a luminary in his …
Category: Today’s Word
Today’s Word
bezant
Definition: (noun) A gold coin of the Byzantine Empire; widely circulated in Europe in the Middle Ages. Synonyms: solidus. Usage: The gold coin I found …
pileus
Definition: (noun) The umbrellalike fruiting structure forming the top of a stalked fleshy fungus, such as a mushroom; the cap. Synonyms: cap. Usage: The recipe …
third rail
noun: 1. A topic believed to be too controversial or charged to discuss. 2. A rail that runs near a railroad track to supply high-voltage …
fancier
Definition: (noun) A person having a strong liking for something. Synonyms: enthusiast. Usage: I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen …
chicken feed
noun: A small amount of something, especially money.
twelvemonth
Definition: (noun) A year. Synonyms: year. Usage: But wilt thou not give me another twelvemonth to pay my debt? Discuss
hotheaded
adjective: 1. Easily angered. 2. Very angry. 3. Rash.
harmonium
Definition: (noun) An organlike keyboard instrument that produces tones with free metal reeds actuated by air forced from a bellows. Synonyms: reed organ. Usage: She …
Taj Mahal
noun: Something, especially a building, that is luxurious or an extraordinary example of its kind.
teetotum
Definition: (noun) A top, usually having four lettered sides, that is used to play various games of chance. Synonyms: spinning top, whirligig, top. Usage: The …
rose-colored
adjective: 1. Optimistic or cheerful, especially naively or to an unrealistic degree. Often used in the form “to see through rose-colored glasses”. 2. Of a …
excursus
Definition: (noun) A message that departs from the main subject. Synonyms: digression, divagation, parenthesis, aside. Usage: After yet another long excursus on the subject of …
ophthalmologist
Definition: (noun) A medical doctor specializing in the treatment of diseases of the eye. Synonyms: oculist, eye doctor. Usage: The ophthalmologist asked the patient to …
tegument
Definition: (noun) A natural outer covering; an integument. Synonyms: skin, cutis. Usage: When it became apparent that the burn victim would need a skin graft, …
Godzilla
noun: 1. Someone or something of enormous size. 2. Someone or something fierce, frightening, monstrous, etc.
gastropod
Definition: (noun) Any of various mollusks of the class Gastropoda, such as the snail, slug, cowrie, or limpet, characteristically having a single, usually coiled shell …
Mad Max
adjective: Dystopian, post-apocalyptic, anarchic.
flunky
Definition: (noun) A person of unquestioning obedience. Synonyms: stooge, yes-man. Usage: I liked the play, but I felt that the character of Joe was too …
King Kong
noun: Something or someone of great size, strength, etc. adjective: Huge.
stripling
Definition: (noun) A juvenile between the onset of puberty and maturity. Synonyms: adolescent, teenager. Usage: He appeared on a jutting headland by the shore of …
rashomon
adjective: Relating to differing accounts or subjective interpretations of an event.
footpad
Definition: (noun) A thief who preys on pedestrians. Synonyms: padder. Usage: The footpad was known to local police, as he had a habit of preying …
groundhog day
noun: A situation in which events are repeated as if in a loop, especially when such events are of a tedious or monotonous nature.
embrocation
Definition: (noun) A medicinal liquid that is rubbed into the skin to relieve muscular stiffness and pain. Synonyms: liniment. Usage: The dressings on my wound …
planchet
Definition: (noun) A flat disk of metal ready for stamping as a coin; a coin blank. Synonyms: coin blank. Usage: Occasionally, a planchet will escape …
coppice
Definition: (noun) A thicket or grove of small trees or shrubs, especially one maintained by periodic cutting or pruning to encourage suckering, as in the …
decalcomania
noun: 1. The process of transferring a design from a specially prepared paper onto another surface. 2. A decal: a design on a specially prepared …
amylum
Definition: (noun) A complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice. Synonyms: …
recurse
verb tr., intr.: 1. To describe, define, or perform something in terms of itself. 2. To perform an operation by repeated application of a technique, …
gaberdine
Definition: (noun) A loose coverall (coat or frock) reaching down to the ankles. Synonyms: dust coat, smock, duster. Usage: He was an unshaven little man …
irredentist
noun: One advocating the restoration of territory that earlier belonged to one’s country.
cinder
Definition: (noun) A fragment of incombustible matter left after a wood or coal or charcoal fire. Synonyms: clinker. Usage: Ella loved to read by the …
miniate
verb tr.: 1. To decorate a manuscript, book, etc., with colors, gold, silver, etc. 2. To paint in red, titles, headings, or important parts of …
hothouse
Definition: (noun) A heated greenhouse for plants that require an even, relatively warm temperature. Synonyms: conservatory, indoor garden. Usage: When those young ladies left your …
plutography
noun: The genre that chronicles the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
rubella
Definition: (noun) A mild contagious eruptive disease caused by a virus and capable of producing congenital defects in infants born to mothers infected during the …
clavus
Definition: (noun) A hard thickening of the skin (especially on the top or sides of the toes) caused by the pressure of ill-fitting shoes. Synonyms: …
flapjack
Definition: (noun) A flat cake of thin batter fried on both sides on a griddle. Synonyms: flannel-cake, battercake, flapcake, hotcake, pancake, griddlecake. Usage: His flapjacks …
chevachee
noun: An expedition, raid, or campaign.