frenemy
noun: Someone with whom one is friendly, despite feeling hostility.
Category: Today’s Word
Today’s Word
scruple
Definition: (noun) An uneasy feeling arising from conscience or principle that tends to hinder action. Synonyms: misgiving, qualm. Usage: Lady Macbeth is impatient with her …
balustrade
Definition: (noun) A rail and the row of balusters or posts that support it, as along the front of a gallery. Synonyms: banister, handrail. Usage: …
schism
Definition: (noun) A separation or division into factions. Synonyms: discord, split. Usage: Heretics were burned for attempting to create a schism in the Catholic Church. …
penetralia
noun: The innermost, secret, or hidden parts of something.
virid
Definition: (adjective) Bright green with or as if with vegetation. Synonyms: verdant. Usage: The lake was virid with bright algae on the surface. Discuss
cock of the walk
noun: A person who behaves in an arrogant and domineering manner in a group.
mercurial
Definition: (adjective) Quick and changeable in temperament. Synonyms: quicksilver, erratic, fickle, volatile. Usage: Her mercurial nature made it difficult to gauge how she would react. …
twattle
noun: Idle talk; nonsense. verb intr.: To talk idly.
moire
Definition: (adjective) Having a wavy or rippled surface pattern. Used of fabric. Synonyms: watered. Usage: As the lady sat down, the folds of her moire …
titubation
noun: 1. Unsteady movement, such as the staggering, lurching, or nodding of the head or the body. 2. Stuttering or stammering
chattel
Definition: (noun) An article of movable personal property. Synonyms: personalty. Usage: Slaves were treated as chattel by plantation owners, who bought, sold, and even bet …
nudum pactum
noun: An unenforceable contract, one that’s void because of lack of consideration (something of value promised in exchange).
opprobrious
Definition: (adjective) Expressing contemptuous reproach; bringing disgrace. Synonyms: abusive, scornful, shameful, ignominious. Usage: His opprobrious conduct during an assembly earned him a series of Saturday …
sentient
Definition: (adjective) Endowed with feeling and unstructured consciousness. Synonyms: animate. Usage: The living knew themselves just sentient puppets on God's stage. Discuss
smarmy
Definition: (adjective) Hypocritically, complacently, or effusively earnest. Synonyms: fulsome, oleaginous, unctuous. Usage: His smarmy speech left no doubt that he actually felt superior to those …
abligurition
noun: Extravagance, especially in matters of food and drink.
flummox
Definition: (verb) To confuse; perplex. Synonyms: baffle, bewilder, nonplus, puzzle. Usage: The game was designed to flummox its players, presenting them with a series of …
odontalgia
noun: Toothache.
turgid
Definition: (adjective) Excessively ornate or complex in style or language. Synonyms: bombastic, declamatory, orotund, tumid, large. Usage: Growing impatient with the politician's turgid prose, she …
piscine
adjective: Fishy.
spurious
Definition: (adjective) Lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine. Synonyms: specious, unauthentic. Usage: The professor explained to the student that her essay …
hebdomadal
adjective; Weekly.
wastrel
Definition: (noun) One who wastes, especially one who wastes money; an idler or a loafer. Synonyms: prodigal, profligate. Usage: Despite his parents' best efforts to …
ceraceous
adjective: Waxy.
trepidation
Definition: (noun) A state of alarm or dread. Synonyms: apprehension. Usage: With trepidation, the children approached the haunted house. Discuss
excoriate
Definition: (verb) To censure strongly. Synonyms: abrade, condemn, denounce. Usage: The newspaper printed an editorial that excoriated the administration for its inaction. Discuss
grovel
Definition: (verb) To lie or creep in a prostrate position, as in subservience or humility. Synonyms: cower, cringe, fawn. Usage: The prisoners groveled before the …
pompous
Definition: (adjective) Characterized by excessive self-esteem or exaggerated dignity. Synonyms: overblown, grandiloquent, portentous. Usage: He read the proclamation aloud in a pompous voice, although nobody …
meridian
noun: 1. A line connecting the North Pole to the South Pole or a circle passing through the two poles. 2. Midday. 3. The highest …
gallimaufry
Definition: (noun) A jumble; a hodgepodge. Synonyms: patchwork, melange, ragbag. Usage: Inside the chest, he found a gaudy gallimaufry of old dresses, feathers, and sequins. …
witching hour
noun: Midnight.
tryst
Definition: (noun) An agreement, as between lovers, to meet at a certain time and place. Synonyms: assignation, rendezvous. Usage: They tried to keep their weekly …
yealing
noun: Someone who is the same age as oneself.
prolix
Definition: (adjective) Tediously prolonged; tending to speak or write at excessive length. Synonyms: voluble, wordy. Usage: She was engaged in editing a prolix manuscript, trying …
timeous
adjective: In good time.
hermitage
Definition: (noun) The habitation of a hermit or group of hermits. Synonyms: abbey, monastery, retreat. Usage: He spent two years in his hermitage near the …
circumlocution
Definition: (noun) The use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language. Synonyms: ambage, periphrasis, evasion. Usage: He is long-winded and prone to circumlocution in his public …
lobe
Definition: (noun) A rounded projection, especially an anatomical part. Synonyms: projection. Usage: She fastened her earrings, three brilliant pendants that glistened most beautifully, through the …
paywall
noun: A system of restricting access to online content or services, making them accessible only upon payment.