Word Power

[TW]

April 10, 2008


pugnacious \puhg-NAY-shuhs\, adjective:
Inclined to fight; combative; quarrelsome.

[TW]

April 11,2008


caesura \sih-ZHUR-uh; -ZUR-\, noun;
plural caesuras or caesurae \sih-ZHUR-ee; -ZUR-ee\:
1. A break or pause in a line of verse, usually occurring in the middle of a line, and indicated in scanning by a double vertical line; for example, "The proper study || of mankind is man" [Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man].
2. Any break, pause, or interruption.

[TW]

April 12, 2008


salubrious \suh-LOO-bree-us\, adjective:
Favorable to health; promoting health; healthful.

[TW]

April 13, 2008


abulia \uh-BOO-lee-uh; uh-BYOO-\, noun:
Loss or impairment of the ability to act or to make decisions.

[TW]

April 14, 2008


pin money \pin money\, noun:
1. An allowance of money given by a husband to his wife for private and personal expenditures.
2. Money for incidental expenses.
3. A trivial sum.

[TW]

April 15, 2008


miasma \my-AZ-muh; mee-\, noun:
1. A vaporous exhalation (as of marshes or putrid matter) formerly thought to cause disease; broadly, a thick vaporous atmosphere or emanation.
2. A harmful or corrupting atmosphere or influence; also, an atmosphere that obscures; a fog.

[TW]

April 16, 2008


objurgate \OB-juhr-gayt\, transitive verb:
To express strong disapproval of; to criticize severely.

[TW]

April 17, 2008


roister \ROY-stur\, intransitive verb:
1. To engage in boisterous merrymaking; to revel; to carouse.
2. To bluster; to swagger.

[TW]

April 18, 2008


inveigle \in-VAY-guhl; -VEE-\, transitive verb:
1. To persuade by ingenuity or flattery; to entice.
2. To obtain by ingenuity or flattery.

[TW]

April 19, 2008


portent \POR-tent\, noun:
1. A sign of a coming event or calamity; an omen.
2. Prophetic or menacing significance.
3. Something amazing; a marvel.

[TW]

April 20,2008


lambaste \lam-BAYST\, transitive verb:
1. To give a thrashing to; to beat severely.
2. To scold sharply; to attack verbally; to berate.

[TW]

April 212008


chimera \ky-MIR-uh\, noun:
1. (Capitalized) A fire-breathing she-monster represented as having a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
2. Any imaginary monster made up of grotesquely incongruous parts.
3. An illusion or mental fabrication; a grotesque product of the imagination.
4. An individual, organ, or part consisting of tissues of diverse genetic constitution, produced as a result of organ transplant, grafting, or genetic engineering.

[TW]

April 22, 2008


lionize \LY-uh-nyz\, transitive verb:
To treat or regard as an object of great interest or importance.

[TW]

April 23, 2008


ubiquitous \yoo-BIK-wih-tuhs\, adjective:
Existing or being everywhere, or in all places, at the same time.

[TW]

April 24, 2008


winsome \WIN-suhm\, adjective:
1. Cheerful; merry; gay; light-hearted.
2. Causing joy or pleasure; agreeable; pleasant.