Category: Today’s Word

Definition: (noun) A false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation. Synonyms: aspersion, defamation, denigration, slander. Usage: When it became clear that he could not …

verb tr.: To make a word by dropping an apparent affix from a longer word.

Definition: (noun) A comfortable or complacent member of the middle class. Synonyms: bourgeois. Usage: From the serfs of the Middle Ages sprang the chartered burghers …

adjective: Having five syllables.

Definition: (noun) A long-stemmed sacred or ceremonial tobacco pipe used by certain Native American peoples. Synonyms: peace pipe. Usage: Among the Blackfeet warriors who advanced …

adjective: 1. Obsolete. 2. Stale. 3. Faded.

Definition: (noun) An iced cocktail of rum, lime or lemon juice, and sugar. Synonyms: rum cocktail. Usage: They knew he was lying about being a …

adjective: 1. Having two barrels mounted side by side, as in a gun. 2. Having two parts, purposes, impacts, etc.

Definition: (noun) A method of betting, as on a horserace, in which the bettor must correctly pick those finishing in the first and second places …

adjective: Having only one meaning.

Definition: (adjective) Strong and muscular. Synonyms: hefty, sinewy, muscular, powerful. Usage: The muscles of his brawny arms showed through the sleeves of his light summer …

Definition: (noun) A connoisseur of good food and drink. Synonyms: epicure, epicurean, foodie, gourmet, bon vivant. Usage: He was quite the gastronome, and restaurant chefs …

Definition: (noun) The group following and attending to some important person. Synonyms: entourage, cortege, suite. Usage: Guillaume Lejean…reached Karthoum by way of the Red Sea, …

noun: The inability to concentrate.

Definition: (noun) One that supports a cause, especially vehemently. Synonyms: partisan, zealot. Usage: The editor of the newspaper was an unabashed drumbeater for the cause. …

noun: A person who kills someone important, especially for political or ideological reasons.

Definition: (noun) The panel of prospective jurors from which a jury is selected. Synonyms: panel. Usage: Most of the people on the venire just wanted …

noun: 1. Utopia. 2. Heaven. 3. The collective term for the Jewish people. 4. The religious and cultural practices and beliefs of Judaism. 5. A …

Definition: (noun) A group of cells that make up a section or unit of a prison. Synonyms: ward. Usage: At the prison, one cellblock was …

noun: 1. A love song sung directly to one’s love interest. 2. A composition for such a performance. verb tr.: To sing such a song.

Definition: (adjective) Thin and bony; angular. Synonyms: cadaverous, haggard, pinched, skeletal, wasted. Usage: A gaunt Wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened to …

noun: The right of a warring nation to seize the property, for example, ships, of a neutral country, provided compensation is paid.

Definition: (adjective) Of or characterized by one color; (of light or other electromagnetic radiation) having only one wavelength. Synonyms: monochromatic. Usage: The room appeared dull …

Definition: (noun) A soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot. Synonyms: quagmire, mire, quag. Usage: The path from the wood leads to a …

noun: Change occurring over a period of time.

Definition: (adjective) Tending towards an earlier worse condition; declining or deteriorating. Synonyms: deteriorating, backward, regressive, retrogressive. Usage: It would be a retrograde step to revert …

noun: The area between the eyebrows, just above the nose.

Definition: (noun) A message that departs from the main subject. Synonyms: divagation, excursus, parenthesis, aside. Usage: The lecture on animal behavior was interesting until the …

noun: Something, such as a shape, curve, pattern, etc., where smaller parts have the same characteristics. adjective: Having the form or qualities of a fractal.

Definition: (noun) A laudatory speech or written tribute, especially one praising someone who has died. Synonyms: encomium, paean, panegyric. Usage: Mournfully and low the man …

noun: Two hands cupped together.

Definition: (noun) A singer of popular ballads. Synonyms: crooner. Usage: The balladeer sang about the tragic fate of the star-crossed lovers. Discuss

noun: 1. A jest or trick. 2. A stream of saliva. verb tr., intr.: 1. To play a trick. 2. To discharge a stream of …

Definition: (noun) A public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice. Synonyms: judge, magistrate, justice. Usage: A very humane jurist once …

Definition: (adjective) Having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force. Synonyms: all-powerful, almighty. Usage: Doug lived in the shadow of his seemingly omnipotent father. Discuss

Definition: (noun) A newborn infant, especially one less than four weeks old. Synonyms: newborn. Usage: The doctor examined the writhing neonate with great care but …

adjective: Of high quality, amount, or degree. verb intr.: To steal, especially by taking high-quality parts from something.

Definition: (noun) An aromatic gum resin obtained from various Arabian or East African trees; formerly valued for worship and for embalming and fumigation. Synonyms: gum …

verb intr.: To stay in a place temporarily. noun: A temporary stay.

Definition: (noun) A translucent quartz spangled with bits of mica or other minerals. Synonyms: aventurine. Usage: He loved the red gold of the sunstone, and …