reproachful
Definition: (adjective) Expressing reproof or reproach especially as a corrective. Synonyms: admonishing, reproving, admonitory. Usage: The milkmaid cast many reproachful glances over her shoulder at …
Category: Today’s Word
Today’s Word
undistinguished
Definition: (adjective) Not worthy of notice. Synonyms: insignificant. Usage: In spite of a loud voice … and an implacable manner, he had been an undistinguished …
bilious
Definition: (adjective) Irritable as if suffering from indigestion. Synonyms: dyspeptic, liverish. Usage: The man walked into my shop looking bilious and ill-tempered, and it was …
alfresco
adverb, adjective: Outdoors; in the open air.
arcadian
Definition: (adjective) <i>(Used with regard to idealized country life)</i> Idyllically rustic. Synonyms: bucolic, pastoral. Usage: Often she found herself dreaming of the arcadian days of …
certes
adverb: Certainly.
friable
Definition: (adjective) Easily broken into small fragments or reduced to powder. Synonyms: crumbly. Usage: The men disturbed the loose, friable earth of the slope … …
amain
adverb: 1. With all one’s strength. 2. At full speed. 3. With great haste.
balderdash
Definition: (noun) Trivial nonsense. Synonyms: fiddle-faddle, piffle. Usage: Our earnings reports prove that the rumors of our company's imminent collapse are balderdash. Discuss
faute de mieux
adverb: For want of something better.
so-called
Definition: (adjective) Doubtful or suspect. Synonyms: alleged, supposed. Usage: The so-called master detective tripped over the murder weapon just as he was declaring the case …
eftsoons
adverb: 1. Soon after. 2. Again. 3. From time to time.
regnant
Definition: (adjective) Exercising power or authority. Synonyms: reigning, ruling. Usage: She became queen regnant upon the death of her father and soon gained a reputation …
miscue
Definition: (noun) A minor inadvertent mistake usually observed in speech or writing or in small accidents or memory lapses etc. Synonyms: parapraxis, slip-up. Usage: Any …
opulence
Definition: (noun) Wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living. Synonyms: luxuriousness, sumptuousness. Usage: The estate had formerly belonged to a gentleman of opulence and taste, who …
indagate
verb tr.: To search into; too investigate.
nitty-gritty
Definition: (noun) The choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience. Synonyms: essence, heart and soul, inwardness, gist, pith, substance, …
singultus
noun: A hiccup.
seemly
Definition: (adjective) Conforming to standards of conduct and good taste; suitable. Synonyms: becoming, comely, comme il faut, decent, decorous. Usage: Her friends think it is …
splanchnic
adjective: Of or relating to the internal organs or viscera.
impendent
Definition: (adjective) Close in time; about to occur. Synonyms: imminent, at hand. Usage: After a long and grueling career at the factory, Larry was eagerly …
exemplum
noun: 1. An example or model. 2. An anecdote used to illustrate a moral truth or support an argument.
hardihood
Definition: (noun) The trait of being willing to undertake things that involve risk or danger. Synonyms: boldness, daring. Usage: He could not walk the street …
ombrifuge
noun: Something that provides protection from the rain, especially an umbrella.
rebuff
Definition: (verb) Reject outright and bluntly. Synonyms: snub, repel. Usage: When we left school he made advances to me; I did not rebuff them, for …
calumnious
Definition: (adjective) <i>(Used of statements)</i> Harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign. Synonyms: defamatory, denigrating, libelous, slanderous. Usage: He concluded by calling for …
hypnopedia
Definition: (noun) The art or process of learning while asleep by means of lessons recorded on disk or tapes. Synonyms: sleep-learning. Usage: Hypnopedia may not …
lollapalooza
noun: An exceptional person, thing, or event.
pretermit
Definition: (verb) Leave undone or leave out. Synonyms: neglect, omit, overleap, overlook, miss, drop. Usage: Tom overslept and would need to pretermit his usual morning …
foofaraw
noun: 1. Excessive or unnecessary ornamentation. 2. Fuss; commotion.
enkindle
Definition: (verb) Call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses). Synonyms: arouse, elicit, evoke, provoke, fire, raise. Usage: Melissa's coy smile enkindled the hopes of the young …
burgeon
Definition: (verb) To grow or develop rapidly. Synonyms: increase, flower, progress, mature, thrive, flourish, bloom, bud, blossom, prosper. Usage: Our meager food supply simply cannot …
ripsnorter
noun: Something or someone remarkable in excellence, intensity, strength, etc.
lying-in
Definition: (noun) Concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child. Synonyms: childbed, confinement, parturiency, travail, labor. Usage: After …
humdinger
noun: Someone or something outstanding, remarkable, or unusual.
oppugn
Definition: (verb) Challenge the accuracy, probity, or propriety of. Synonyms: question. Usage: Given your history of rumor-mongering, I am inclined to oppugn your claims in …
finagle
Definition: (verb) To obtain or achieve by indirect, usually deceitful methods. Synonyms: wangle, manage. Usage: Howard was able to finagle an extra ten dollars out …
precognition
Definition: (noun) Knowledge of an event before it occurs. Synonyms: foreknowledge. Usage: Many envied Maya's ability to know the future, but she considered her precognition …
amaxophobia
noun: The fear of riding in a vehicle.
factious
Definition: (adjective) Of, relating to, produced by, or characterized by internal dissension. Synonyms: divisive. Usage: Fouquet has raised against your majesty a troop of factious …