Category: Today’s Word

adjective: Related to climbing.

Definition: (verb) Corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones. Synonyms: dilute, debase, …

Definition: (adjective) Showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings. Synonyms: granitic, obdurate, stony. Usage: He maintained a hard, careless deportment, indicative of neither joy nor sorrow: …

Definition: (verb) To insert between other elements. Synonyms: interpose, throw in, come in, inject, put in. Usage: He listened thoughtfully, interjecting only the odd word. …

noun: A symbol used to incite people to partisan outrage or animosity.

Definition: (adjective) Extremely painful. Synonyms: agonizing, excruciating, harrowing. Usage: Losing someone you love is a torturous experience. Discuss

noun: A very poor person.

Definition: (adjective) Existing as an essential constituent or characteristic. Synonyms: inherent, integral, constitutional. Usage: I have learned to tame it, but competitiveness is a built-in …

noun: A radical or revolutionary.

Definition: (adjective) Using all available resources. Synonyms: full-scale. Usage: Holding nothing back, the candidate launched an all-out attack on his critics. Discuss

noun: Someone who presents as being obnoxiously clever.

Definition: (adjective) Cut or impressed into a surface. Synonyms: engraved, etched, inscribed, incised. Usage: The lines from the corners of his mouth seemed graven into …

noun: A college athlete who practices with the team, but does not take part in official games. verb tr., intr.: 1. To extend eligibility by …

Definition: (noun) Unusual largeness in size or extent or number. Synonyms: vastness, enormousness, grandness, greatness, wideness. Usage: This projectile was but an atom in the …

Definition: (adjective) Joyously unrestrained. Synonyms: ebullient, exuberant. Usage: These beer busts were a diversion of these high-spirited young fellows whereby they whiled away the tedium …

Definition: (adjective) Free from artificiality. Synonyms: natural. Usage: The mannequin's appearance is so lifelike that customers often mistake it for a salesperson. Discuss

adjective: Cultured; refined; sophisticated. noun: Refinement; sophistication.

Definition: (adjective) Feeling or showing profound hopelessness, dejection, discouragement, or gloom. Synonyms: heartsick. Usage: I did my best to take Mike's mind off his problems, …

noun: 1. A fraudulent scheme or practice. 2. A wild party.

Definition: (verb) Lower someone's spirits; make downhearted. Synonyms: cast down, deject, depress, dismay, demoralize. Usage: I try to maintain a positive outlook, but the sad …

noun: A sharp turn or angle in a zigzag course. verb intr.: To make a sharp turn.

Definition: (noun) Someone with a habitually sullen or gloomy expression. Synonyms: picklepuss, sourpuss. Usage: What will it take for you to stop being such a …

verb intr.: To swagger, bluster, behave recklessly, etc.

Definition: (noun) Something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose. Synonyms: reserve, backlog. Usage: Over the years, Gina has amassed quite …

adjective: Bearing the author’s name; named.

Definition: (adjective) Tall and thin and having long slender limbs. Synonyms: lanky, rangy. Usage: The gangly man's suit sleeves and pant legs flapped like empty …

Definition: (adjective) Emotionally hardened. Synonyms: callous, pachydermatous. Usage: My father was once an affectionate man, but he returned from the war cold and indurate. Discuss

Definition: (noun) A brief light sleep. Synonyms: catnap, forty winks, nap. Usage: Carey had retired as usual after dinner for a little snooze in the …

adjective: 1. Covered with iron. 2. Inflexible, unbreakable, or indisputable.

noun: Practical details; essentials; realities.

Definition: (verb) Suggest that someone is guilty. Synonyms: inculpate, imply. Usage: Every paper which would incriminate him was destroyed before he left the house. Discuss

noun: Someone who pretends to have money, skill, influence, etc. adjective: Inferior or insignificant, while pretending to be otherwise.

Definition: (adjective) (Of clothing) custom-made. Synonyms: tailored, made-to-order. Usage: The cost of a bespoke suit is prohibitive, but if I am to interview for an …

noun: Inherited wealth.

Definition: (noun) Abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter, deep-seated ill will. Synonyms: invective, vitriol. Usage: From one open shop …

noun: Someone or something unworthy that is excessively esteemed.

Definition: (verb) Be earlier in time; go back further. Synonyms: antecede, forego, precede, predate. Usage: No man can antedate his experience, or guess what faculty …

Definition: (verb) Prove to be false. Synonyms: disprove. Usage: He took out a packet of old letters and began turning them over as if in …

Definition: (noun) An examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease. Synonyms: autopsy, postmortem. Usage: …

noun: 1. The study of aging and related decline. 2. The study of a species approaching extinction.