Category: Today’s Word

Today’s Word

atelier

Definition: (noun) A studio especially for an artist or designer. Synonyms: artist's workroom. Usage: Joe and Delia met in an atelier where a number of …

pinna

noun: 1. The outer ear. Also known as auricle. 2. A projecting body part such as a wing, feather, or fin. 3. A leaflet or …

commissariat

Definition: (noun) A stock or supply of foods. Synonyms: provisions, viands, victuals, provender. Usage: During the war with Spain he was employed in the commissariat …

hallux

noun: The big toe. More generally, the innermost digit on the hind foot of animals.

vesicle

Definition: (noun) A small sac or cyst, especially one containing fluid. Synonyms: cyst. Usage: All living things have much in common, in their chemical composition, …

gazebo

Definition: (noun) A freestanding, roofed, usually open-sided structure providing a shady resting place. Synonyms: summerhouse. Usage: There was a gazebo about a quarter-mile away from …

fiat

Definition: (noun) A legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge). Synonyms: decree, edict, rescript, …

catkin

Definition: (noun) A usually dense, cylindrical, often drooping cluster of unisexual apetalous flowers found in willows, birches, and oaks. Synonyms: ament. Usage: Walking some forty …

nipcheese

noun: 1. A miser. 2. A ship’s purser (an official in charge of money matters).

subspecies

Definition: (noun) A taxonomic group that is a division of a species; usually arises as a consequence of geographical isolation within a species. Synonyms: race. …

lackwit

noun: One who lacks intelligence. adjective: Lacking intelligence.

jalopy

Definition: (noun) An old, dilapidated motor vehicle, especially an automobile. Synonyms: heap, bus. Usage: The jalopy didn't even make it to the junkyard, breaking into …

tractable

Definition: (adjective) Easily managed or controlled; governable. Synonyms: manipulable. Usage: I felt him become suddenly tractable again like an animal, like a good-tempered horse when …

presentiment

Definition: (noun) A sense that something is about to occur; a premonition. Synonyms: boding, foreboding, premonition. Usage: We've gone and lost your father's flat, Diana, …

tower of Babel

noun: 1. A scene of noise or confusion. 2. An ambitious or impractical plan.

compunction

Definition: (noun) A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt. Synonyms: remorse, self-reproach. Usage: This child had taken and lost her treasured amethyst brooch …

Rechabite

noun: 1. One who abstains from intoxicating drinks. 2. One who lives in tents.

quietude

Definition: (noun) A state of peace and quiet. Synonyms: tranquility, quietness. Usage: Who can tell how scenes of peace and quietude sink into the minds …

Sodom

noun: A place considered to be full of wickedness and sin.

lentigo

Definition: (noun) A small, flat, pigmented spot on the skin. Synonyms: freckle. Usage: The dermatologist advised the patient to keep an eye on the large …

christen

verb tr.: 1. To name someone or something. 2. To use something for the first time. 3. To initiate a person, especially a child, into …

Goshen

noun: A place of comfort and abundance.

regalia

Definition: (noun) Magnificent attire; finery. Synonyms: raiment, array. Usage: He arrayed himself in the regalia of millionaires and presidents. Discuss

annulus

Definition: (noun) A toroidal shape. Synonyms: doughnut, anchor ring, halo, ring. Usage: He was reclining on the red couch, blowing annuli of smoke that would …

inglenook

Definition: (noun) A nook or corner beside an open fireplace. Synonyms: chimney corner. Usage: Yet no one had retired, except the children and "old Feyther …

monomania

Definition: (noun) Pathological obsession with one idea or subject. Synonyms: possession. Usage: He thought of it constantly, so that it became a monomania. Discuss

odium

Definition: (noun) Strong dislike, contempt, or aversion. Synonyms: abhorrence, detestation, execration, loathing, abomination. Usage: He rather deserved the odium which he had incurred. Discuss

irk

Definition: (verb) To be irritating, wearisome, or vexing to. Synonyms: gall. Usage: The sight of her gave Sheldon fresh courage, and the tedious hours of …

rubricate

verb tr.: 1. To color or mark with red. 2. To highlight or decorate. 3. To provide with a rubric (a guide, rule, commentary, etc.).

honky-tonk

Definition: (noun) A cheap, noisy bar or dance hall. Synonyms: barrelhouse. Usage: The missionaries went to the honky-tonk on a Saturday night hoping to save …

ragamuffin

Definition: (noun) A shabbily clothed, dirty child. Synonyms: tatterdemalion. Usage: The wealthy bachelor had pity on the ragamuffin and handed him a wad of bills, …

credenza

Definition: (noun) A buffet, sideboard, or bookcase, especially one without legs. Synonyms: credence. Usage: There was no room on the dining table, so they placed …

terse

Definition: (adjective) Brief and to the point; effectively concise. Synonyms: laconic, curt, crisp. Usage: The officer's orders were terse, but everyone understood his instructions. Discuss

isochronal

adjective: 1. Equal in time. 2. Occurring at regular intervals.

magnanimous

Definition: (adjective) Courageously noble in mind and heart. Synonyms: greathearted. Usage: Then he imagined how, after the attack, Bogdanich would come up to him as …

epoch

noun: A distinctive time period in history.

erratum

Definition: (noun) An error in printing or writing, especially such an error noted in a list of corrections and bound into a book. Synonyms: misprint, …