Category: Today’s Word

Today’s Word

cockloft

noun: A small loft just below the roof.

redact

Definition: (verb) Formulate in a particular style or language. Synonyms: couch, put, frame, cast. Usage: Your presentation is solid, but I have asked Michael to …

titular

adjective: 1. Of or relating to a title. 2. In the name only: having a title without accompanying responsibilities and powers.

bambino

Definition: (noun) A young child. Synonyms: toddler, yearling, tot. Usage: Up on the hill, Aunt Joan sat with my new cousin on a picnic blanket, …

interdigitate

verb tr., intr.: To interlock like the fingers of two hands.

assiduity

Definition: (noun) Great and constant diligence and attention. Synonyms: concentration. Usage: Nell immediately applied herself with great assiduity to the decoration and preparation of the …

cutpurse

Definition: (noun) A thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places. Synonyms: pickpocket, dip. Usage: The heartless cutpurse targets commuters …

veracious

Definition: (adjective) Precisely accurate. Synonyms: right. Usage: The trial transcript provides me with a veracious account of all that transpired in the courtroom. Discuss

calash

noun: 1. A light horse-drawn carriage with a folding top. 2. The folding top of a carriage. 3. A folding bonnet formerly worn by women.

foment

Definition: (verb) Try to stir up public opinion. Synonyms: agitate, stir up. Usage: They accused him of trying to foment a revolution and threw him …

saber-rattling

noun: Threatening words or action, for example, in the form of a flamboyant display of military power.

cleaver

Definition: (noun) A butcher's knife having a large square blade. Synonyms: chopper. Usage: Beside this range was a butcher block upon which lay a great …

cavalcade

noun: 1. A procession of riders on horses, vehicles, etc. 2. A noteworthy series of events.

overblown

Definition: (adjective) Puffed up with vanity. Synonyms: pompous, grandiloquent, pontifical, portentous. Usage: The book contains a heavy dose of overblown lyrical description. Discuss

bezoar

noun: A stone-like mass formed in the stomach or intestines of some animals, formerly believed to be a remedy for poison.

farsightedness

Definition: (noun) Seeing ahead; knowing in advance; foreseeing. Synonyms: prospicience, prevision. Usage: Felicia has an uncommon farsightedness when it comes to the stock market and …

Moloch

noun: Someone or something to which extreme sacrifices are made.

rootless

Definition: (adjective) Wandering aimlessly without ties to a place or community. Synonyms: vagabond. Usage: Away the rootless hobos shuffled, bindles over their shoulders, their only …

brattle

Definition: (verb) Make a rattling sound. Synonyms: clack, clatter. Usage: Whenever I hear my dishes brattle in the cabinet, I know that the train will …

bibliophage

noun: One who loves to read books; a bookworm.

lineal

Definition: (adjective) In a straight unbroken line of descent from parent to child. Synonyms: direct. Usage: Du Bois, the present librarian of Ardis, is a …

feuilleton

noun: 1. The part of a European newspaper devoted to light literature, criticism, and the like; also something printed in this section. 2. A novel …

poultice

Definition: (noun) A soft moist mass of bread, meal, clay, or other adhesive substance, usually heated, spread on cloth, and applied to warm, moisten, or …

biblioclast

noun: One who destroys or mutilates books.

callow

Definition: (adjective) Lacking adult maturity or experience; immature. Synonyms: unfledged. Usage: Although he is 25, he still behaves like a callow youth in some ways. …

chrestomathy

noun: 1. A volume of selected literary passages, usually by one author. 2. A selection of literary passages from a foreign language, especially one assembled …

corpulent

Definition: (adjective) Bulky of body; portly. Synonyms: rotund. Usage: In his later years, the once-svelte cat took on a more corpulent frame as his mobility …

appellation

Definition: (noun) Identifying word or words by which someone or something is called and classified or distinguished from others. Synonyms: designation, denomination. Usage: When the …

self-righteous

Definition: (adjective) Excessively or hypocritically pious. Synonyms: holier-than-thou, pharisaic, sanctimonious, pietistic. Usage: My self-righteous neighbor Mary makes herself out to be a paragon of virtue …

teetotal

Definition: (adjective) Practicing complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. Synonyms: dry. Usage: I happen to be teetotal, so I will forgo the wine being served with …

laureate

adjective: Having special distinction or recognition in a field. noun: A person honored for achieving distinction in a field.

snippet

Definition: (noun) A small piece of anything (especially a piece that has been snipped off). Synonyms: piece, scrap, fragment, part, particle, snatch, shred. Usage: She …

immemorial

adjective: Very old; beyond memory or recorded history.

enlace

Definition: (verb) Spin, wind, or twist together. Synonyms: intertwine. Usage: Thanks to her naval training, Megan was able to enlace the threads and form a …

aforethought

adjective: Planned or premeditated; not by accident.

dupery

Definition: (noun) Something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage. Synonyms: hoax, put-on, humbug, fraudulence. Usage: Even the most intelligent among us …

errant

adjective: 1. Traveling, especially in search of adventure. 2. Erring, straying, or moving aimlessly.

embonpoint

Definition: (noun) The bodily property of being well rounded. Synonyms: plumpness, roundness. Usage: He had the lavish embonpoint of a pig. Discuss

ad litem

adjective: A person appointed by a court to represent someone, such as a child, who is considered incapable of representing themselves in a lawsuit.