Category: Today’s Word

Today’s Word

abreast

adverb: 1. Side by side and facing the same direction. 2. Informed; up-to-date.

escargot

Definition: (noun) Edible terrestrial snail usually served in the shell with a sauce of melted butter and garlic. Synonyms: snail. Usage: I ordered escargot in …

wailful

Definition: (adjective) Vocally expressing grief or sorrow or resembling such expression. Synonyms: lamenting. Usage: The men wavered in indecision for a moment, and then with …

barrelhouse

Definition: (noun) A cheap drinking and dancing establishment. Synonyms: honky-tonk. Usage: After dinner, we grabbed a couple of beers at the local barrelhouse and let …

unnerve

Definition: (verb) To cause to lose courage, strength, confidence, self-control, etc. Synonyms: faze, unsettle, enervate. Usage: The look on her father's face unnerved her, and …

whittle

Definition: (verb) To cut small bits or pare shavings from (a piece of wood). Synonyms: pare. Usage: For my eighth birthday, my grandfather taught me …

exterminate

Definition: (verb) Kill en masse; kill on a large scale; kill many. Synonyms: kill off. Usage: Hitler wanted to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and …

caboodle

Definition: (noun) Any collection in its entirety. Synonyms: bunch, lot. Usage: The art collection was originally going to be auctioned off piece by piece, but …

onychophagy

noun: The practice of biting one’s nails.

proscribe

Definition: (verb) Command against. Synonyms: disallow, forbid, nix, prohibit, veto, interdict. Usage: They are proscribed by federal law from owning guns. Discuss

opsomania

noun: An excessive longing for a particular food.

pulsate

Definition: (verb) Move with or as if with a regular alternating motion. Synonyms: quiver, beat. Usage: The city pulsated with music and excitement during Carnival. …

partocracy

noun: Government or rule by a single political party.

snickersnee

Definition: (noun) <i>Archaic</i> The act of fighting with knives. Synonyms: cut-and-thrust, knife fight. Usage: The snickersnee ended when one of the fighters lost consciousness due …

nomophobia

noun: 1. The fear or dislike of laws or rules. 2. The fear of not having access to or being unable to use one’s mobile …

stupefy

Definition: (verb) Make dull or stupid or muddle with drunkenness or infatuation. Synonyms: besot. Usage: He did not like whiskey, but he drank to stupefy …

homiletic

adjective: 1. Relating to a homily. 2. Relating to homiletics (the art of preaching). 3. Preachy.

half-baked

Definition: (adjective) Foolish; totally unsound. Synonyms: screwball, softheaded, crazy. Usage: I refuse to be drawn into another half-baked scheme doomed to failure. Discuss

neoplasm

Definition: (noun) An abnormal new growth of tissue in animals or plants. Synonyms: tumor. Usage: The doctor explained that a biopsy would be needed in …

orectic

adjective: Relating to appetite or desire.

dilatory

Definition: (adjective) Tending or inclined to delay or waste time. Synonyms: laggard, poky. Usage: Frank, dilatory in all his proceedings, was the last of the …

polemical

adjective: Relating to or involving strong, critical, or controversial writing or speech.

objectify

Definition: (verb) Make impersonal or present as an object. Synonyms: depersonalize. Usage: Pornography objectifies women. Discuss

scurvy

Definition: (adjective) Of the most contemptible kind. Synonyms: abject, low-down, scummy, miserable, low. Usage: It was a scurvy trick to play on a helpless old …

faithless

Definition: (adjective) Having the character of, or characteristic of, a traitor. Synonyms: traitorous, treasonous, unfaithful. Usage: They succeeded in overtaking the party of which they …

concurrence

Definition: (noun) The temporal property of two things happening at the same time. Synonyms: conjunction, co-occurrence, coincidence. Usage: In order that the will of Napoleon …

strangulate

Definition: (verb) Kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air. Synonyms: strangle, throttle. Usage: The police are searching for a …

lightning rod

noun: 1. A grounded metal rod placed at the top of a structure to protect it from lightning. 2. A person or thing that frequently …

frothy

Definition: (adjective) Emitting or filled with bubbles as from carbonation or fermentation. Synonyms: bubbly, effervescing, spumy, foamy. Usage: There is nothing better on a balmy …

millstone

noun; 1. One of a pair of round stones used for grinding grain. 2. A heavy burden or source of distress, especially one that’s hard …

maltreat

Definition: (verb) To treat badly, cruelly, or inconsiderately. Synonyms: abuse, ill-treat, ill-use, step. Usage: Despite assurances that no one would maltreat the accused mass murderer …

stile

noun: 1. A set of steps or rungs allowing a person to go across a fence or wall while denying animals access. 2. A turnstile: …

deportment

Definition: (noun) The manner in which a person behaves, especially in physical bearing. Synonyms: demeanor, conduct, behavior. Usage: Marilla had almost begun to despair of …

lace-curtain

adjective: Aspiring to or pretentiously displaying middle-class respectability.

idolize

Definition: (verb) Love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol. Synonyms: revere, worship. Usage: Naomi idolized her father as she was growing …