Category: Today’s Word

Definition: (noun) Invalid or incorrect reasoning. Synonyms: inconsequence. Usage: Often have I, the modern, been perturbed and vexed by the foolishness, illogic, obtuseness, and general …

adjective: Relating to or happening at puberty.

Definition: (noun) A part of a broadcast serial. Synonyms: episode. Usage: The latest installment of my favorite television show will air this Thursday. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Resembling or made to resemble leather; tough but pliable. Synonyms: leatherlike. Usage: Natalie ran her fingers lightly across the plant's large, coriaceous leaves. …

Definition: (noun) An art movement in sculpture and painting that began in the 1950s and emphasized extreme simplification of form and color. Synonyms: reductivism. Usage: …

adjective: Having a large belly: fat.

Definition: (adjective) Suggesting human characteristics for animals or inanimate things. Synonyms: humanlike. Usage: My comic strip features an anthropomorphous frog that walks upright, wears a …

adjective: Blockheaded or thickheaded.

Definition: (verb) Censure severely. Synonyms: castigate, chastise, objurgate, correct. Usage: His mother will undoubtedly chasten him for those insensitive remarks. Discuss

noun: 1. A servant who does menial work in a kitchen, such as washing dishes. 2. A lowly or contemptible person.

Definition: (verb) Oppose and mitigate the effects of by contrary actions. Synonyms: countervail, neutralize, counteract. Usage: That gentleman grew every day fonder of little Tommy, …

adjective: Dull.

Definition: (adjective) Marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners. Synonyms: jaunty, natty, raffish, rakish, spiffy, spruce, dashing, snappy. Usage: He smiled pleasantly upon her, looking …

noun: One whose mental faculties have deteriorated, especially due to old age.

Definition: (noun) The act of refusing an offer. Synonyms: nonacceptance. Usage: The turndown was polite but very firm, leaving no doubt that Roger thought our …

Definition: (adjective) Difficult to deal with. Synonyms: contrarious. Usage: Gabriel Grub was an ill-conditioned, cross-grained, surly fellow—a morose and lonely man, who consorted with nobody …

Definition: (noun) An aircraft without wings that obtains its lift from the rotation of overhead blades. Synonyms: eggbeater, helicopter, chopper. Usage: The boy's remote-controlled whirlybird …

noun: A substance producing harmful effects in someone because it is believed to be harmful, but which in reality is harmless.

Definition: (adjective) Aggressively and persistently persuasive. Synonyms: forceful, aggressive, compelling, intensive, persistent, persuasive. Usage: I do not usually buy cologne, but the high-pressure salesman eventually …

noun: The substitution of a harsher, deprecating, or offensive term in place of a relatively neutral term.

Definition: (verb) Prevent the occurrence of; prevent from happening. Synonyms: deflect, head off, avert, avoid, debar, obviate. Usage: Norman of Torn, if you are not …

noun: 1. The removing of flesh, especially from a corpse before burial. 2. The supposed separation of the soul from the body at death.

Definition: (noun) The reversal of the normal order of words. Synonyms: inversion. Usage: Anastrophe, when used correctly, can give writing an impact that traditional sentence …

noun: The state of being or existing nowhere.

Definition: (adjective) Having or exerting a malignant influence. Synonyms: malevolent, malign, evil. Usage: I would bet my life that Amelia's grades would improve if she …

noun: A positive, beneficial form of stress.

Definition: (noun) One of a set of parallel slats in a door or window to admit air and reject rain. Synonyms: fin. Usage: Rain will …

Definition: (adjective) Stunned or confused and slow to react (as from blows or drunkenness or exhaustion). Synonyms: foggy, logy, stuporous, dazed. Usage: Groggy from lack …

Definition: (verb) Work with in an amateurish manner. Synonyms: smatter, play around. Usage: She dabbles in astronomy, but she does not have any formal training …

adjective: Having a bizarre, subjective, idiosyncratic style, especially in journalism.

Definition: (adjective) Composed of or covered with particles resembling meal in texture or consistency. Synonyms: grainy, granular, gritty, coarse-grained, mealy. Usage: My husband's cooking efforts …

adjective: Having the capability of molding diverse ideas or things into unity.

Definition: (noun) Agreement on a secret plot. Synonyms: collusion. Usage: If you escaped, Salensus Oll would know that only through my connivance could you have …

noun: The property of not being superimposable on its mirror image: dissymmetry.

Definition: (verb) Beg persistently and urgently. Synonyms: insist. Usage: She had come to the conclusion that he spoke no other English, and so she ceased …

noun: A utensil that is a combination of a fork and spoon. Also known as a spork. adjective: Shaped like a combination fork and spoon.

Definition: (verb) Cause to deteriorate due to the action of water, air, or an acid. Synonyms: rust, eat. Usage: Nothing can be a stronger proof …

noun: A day other than one’s birthday.

Definition: (noun) Someone who gossips indiscreetly. Synonyms: talebearer, tattler, tattletale. Usage: If you share that secret with a blabbermouth like Joe, then he will turn …

Definition: (verb) Force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action. Synonyms: drag in, sweep up, tangle. Usage: Any hostilities could further embroil …