Word Power

[TW]

December 30, 2007

gelid \JEL-id\, adjective:
Extremely cold; icy.

[TW]

December 31, 2007

ebullient \ih-BUL-yuhnt\, adjective:
1. Overflowing with enthusiasm or excitement; high-spirited.
2. Boiling up or over.

[TW]

January 1, 2008

Zeitgeist \TSYT-guyst; ZYT-guyst\, noun:
[Often capitalized] The spirit of the time; the general intellectual and moral state or temper characteristic of any period of time.

[TW]

January 2, 2008

faineant \fay-nay-AWN\, adjective:
1. Doing nothing or given to doing nothing; idle; lazy.

noun:
1. A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard.

[TW]

January 3, 2008

arcanum \ar-KAY-nuhm\, noun;
plural arcana \-nuh\:
1. A secret; a mystery.
2. Specialized or mysterious knowledge, language, or information that is not accessible to the average person (generally used in the plural).

[TW]

January 4, 2007

obdurate \OB-duh-rit; -dyuh-\, adjective:
1. Hardened in wrongdoing; stubbornly wicked. Hardened in feelings; hard-hearted.
2. Resistant to persuasion; unyielding.
3. Hard; harsh; rugged; rough.

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January 5, 2008

lacuna \luh-KYOO-nuh\, noun;
plural lacunae \luh-KYOO-nee\ or lacunas::
1. A blank space; a missing part; a gap.
2. (Biology) A small opening, depression, or cavity in an anatomical structure.

[TW]

January 6, 2008

friable \FRY-uh-buhl\, adjective:
Easily crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder.

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January 7, 2008

scrabble \SKRAB-uhl\, intransitive verb:
1. To scrape or scratch with the hands or feet.
2. To struggle by or as if by scraping or scratching.
3. To proceed by clawing with the hands and feet; to scramble.
4. To make irregular, crooked, or unmeaning marks; to scribble; to scrawl.

transitive verb:
1. To mark with irregular lines or letters; to scribble on or over.
2. To make or obtain by scraping together hastily.

noun:
1. The act or an instance of scrabbling.
2. A scribble.

[TW]

January 8, 2008

mimetic \mim-ET-ik\, adjective:
1. Apt to imitate; given to mimicry; imitative.
2. Characterized by mimicry; -- applied to animals and plants; as, "mimetic species; mimetic organisms."

[TW]

January 9, 2008

pertinacious \puhr-tin-AY-shuhs\, adjective:
1. Holding or adhering obstinately to any opinion, purpose, or design.
2. Stubbornly or perversely persistent.

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January 10, 2008

remonstrate \rih-MAHN-strayt; REH-mun-strayt\, intransitive verb:
1. To present and urge reasons in opposition to an act, measure, or any course of proceedings -- usually used with 'with'.

transitive verb:
1. To say or plead in protest, opposition, or reproof.

[TW]

January 11, 2008

imprimatur \im-prih-MAH-tur; -MAY-\, noun:
1. Official license or approval to print or publish a book, paper, etc.; especially, such a license issued by the Roman Catholic episcopal authority.
2. Approval; sanction.
3. A mark of approval or distinction.

[TW]

January 12, 2008

raillery \RAY-luh-ree\, noun:
1. Good-humored banter or teasing.
2. An instance of good-humored teasing; a jest.

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January 13, 2008

supplicate \SUP-luh-kayt\, intransitive verb:
1. To make a humble and earnest petition; to pray humbly.

transitive verb:
1. To seek or ask for humbly and earnestly.
2. To make a humble petition to; to beseech.