Word Power

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August 6, 2008


spoony \SPOO-nee\, adjective:
1. Foolish; silly; excessively sentimental.
2. Foolishly or sentimentally in love.

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August 7, 2008


asperity \as-PAIR-uh-tee\, noun:
1. Roughness of surface; unevenness.
2. Roughness or harshness of sound; a quality that grates upon the ear.
3. Roughness of manner; severity; harshness.

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August 8, 2008


vexillology \vek-sil-AHL-uh-jee\, noun:
The study of flags.

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August 9, 2008


tittle-tattle \TIT-uhl TAT-uhl\, noun:
1. Idle, trifling talk; empty prattle.
2. An idle, trifling talker; a gossip.

verb:
1. to talk idly; to prate.

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August 10, 2008


exalt \ig-ZOLT\, verb:
1. To praise, glorify, or honor.
2. To heighten or intensify.
3. To raise in rank, character, or status; as, "exalted the humble shoemaker to the rank of King's adviser."

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August 11, 2008


provenance \PROV-uh-nuhn(t)s\, noun:
Origin; source.

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August 12, 2008


enervate \EN-ur-vayt\, transitive verb:
1. To deprive of vigor, force, or strength; to render feeble; to weaken.
2. To reduce the moral or mental vigor of.

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August 13, 2008


chichi \SHEE-shee\, adjective:
Affectedly trendy.

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August 14, 2008


lackadaisical \lack-uh-DAY-zih-kuhl\, adjective:
Lacking spirit or liveliness; showing lack of interest; languid; listless.

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August 15, 2008


blackguard \BLAG-uhrd\, noun:
1. A rude or unscrupulous person; a scoundrel.
2. A person who uses foul or abusive language.

adjective:
1. Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, "blackguard language."

transitive verb:
1. To revile or abuse in scurrilous language.

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August 16, 2008


supernumerary \soo-puhr-NOO-muh-rair-ee; -NYOO-\, adjective:
1. Exceeding the stated, standard, or prescribed number.
2. Exceeding what is necessary or desired; superfluous.

noun:
1. A supernumerary person or thing.
2. An actor without a speaking part, as a walk-on or an extra in a crowd scene.

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August 17, 2008


philter \FIL-tur\, noun:
1. A potion or charm supposed to cause the person taking it to fall in love.
2. A potion or charm believed to have magic power.

transitive verb:
1. To enchant or bewitch with or as if with a magic potion or charm.

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August 18, 2008

knell \NEL\, verb:
1. The stoke of a bell tolled at a funeral or at the death of a person; a death signal; a passing bell; hence, figuratively, a warning of, or a sound indicating, the passing away of anything.

intransitive verb:
1. To sound as a knell; especially, to toll at a death or funeral; hence, to sound as a warning or evil omen.

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August 19, 2008


aestival \ES-tuh-vuhl\, adjective:
Of or belonging to the summer; as, aestival diseases. [Spelled also estival.]

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August 20. 2008


bruit \BROOT\, transitive verb:
To report; to noise abroad.