Search found 7475 matches
- Mon Mar 25, 2024 9:37 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Contraband
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1862
Contraband
• contraband • Pronunciation: kahn -trê-bænd • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. Smuggled goods, goods legally or otherwise prohibited from importation. 2. Smuggling, traffic in illegal goods. 3. Before the Civil War, a fugitive or captured slave. Notes: This word is closely associated with...
- Sun Mar 24, 2024 10:02 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Virgule
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1829
Virgule
• virgule • Pronunciation: vêr -gyul • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. (Typography) Forward slash (/). 2. (Typography) Pipe (|), used mostly to mark poetic meter. Notes: Today's virgule is an extended version of a shorter slash used from the 13th to the 17th centuries that also developed ...
- Sun Mar 24, 2024 12:42 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Sultry
- Replies: 3
- Views: 937
Re: Sultry
Jean Philippe Suter sent me a question which I will post here: Is the root swel behind today's good word also the origin of "sweat," the body's response to sultry conditions? It's a tempting connection to make. It doesn't seem so. Sweat seems to have come from PIE sweid- "to sweat,&qu...
- Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:29 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Sultry
- Replies: 3
- Views: 937
Sultry
• sultry • Pronunciation: sêl -tree • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Oppressively hot and humid, sweltering. 2. (of women) Sensual, sexually attractive, arousing desire in men. Notes: Today's Good Word comes with the usual adverb and noun, sultrily and sultriness . It is paralleled ...
- Fri Mar 22, 2024 7:47 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Ribald
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1810
Ribald
• ribald • Pronunciation: rai -bawld or rib -êld • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Bawdy, raunchy risqué, coarsely funny, borderline obscene. Notes: Today's rather tawdry word started its life in the 13th century as a noun referring to the lowest servants in the royal court. Its meaning...
- Thu Mar 21, 2024 7:08 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Parasite
- Replies: 2
- Views: 897
Parasite
• parasite • Pronunciation: pæ -rê-sait • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. An organism that depends on a host for its own survival, contributing nothing to the host. 2. A person who lives at the expense of another person or other people without contributing anything in return, a sponger, a...
- Wed Mar 20, 2024 9:34 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Bygone
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1863
Bygone
• bygone • Pronunciation: bai -gawn • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Temporarily gone by, chronologically passed, past, implying outmoded, old fashioned. Notes: Today's is a word used in so few familiar phrases, like 'bygone days' and 'bygone years' that we seem to have forgotten it is...
- Tue Mar 19, 2024 6:57 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Ashram
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1772
Ashram
• ashram • Pronunciation: ah -shrahm • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A place of religious retreat and sanctuary, especially a Hindu retreat. 2. A hermitage, a secluded dwelling of a Hindu sage. Notes: This word is seldom heard in conversations; it is more often read in published works. ...
- Mon Mar 18, 2024 6:45 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Enteric
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1870
Enteric
• enteric • Pronunciation: en- ter -rik • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Pertaining to the intestines or, more generally, the digestive tract. 2. Designed to pass through the stomach unaltered and disintegrate in the intestines. Notes: Here is a word that has become much more useful...
- Sun Mar 17, 2024 6:20 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Bonkers
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1890
Bonkers
• bonkers • Pronunciation: bawng -kêrz • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Crazy. nuts, balmy, daft, loony, bananas, meshuga. 2. (British navy slang) Tipsy, light-headed, mildly drunk. Notes: Today's word is a rather funny synonym of crazy. It contains a very rare suffix, -ers, which p...
- Sat Mar 16, 2024 10:09 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Blarney
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1915
Blarney
• blarney • Pronunciation: blahr -nee • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, mass Meaning: 1. Persuasive cajolery, eloquent flattery, silver tongued speech. 2. Nonsense, poppy-cock; foolish, misleading talk. Notes: Today's word is a lexical orphan, albeit an unusual one. It is unusual for a noun to refer...
- Fri Mar 15, 2024 5:15 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Obfuscate
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1246
Obfuscate
• obfuscate • Pronunciation: ahb -fê-skayt • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb, transitive Meaning: 1. To dim or darken, to obscure by light deprivation or other means. 2. To make confusing, to obscure the meaning of, to make less comprehensible. Notes: The spelling of this word is rather easy since th...
- Thu Mar 14, 2024 9:01 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Relic
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1334
Relic
• relic • Pronunciation: re -lik • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. An object or idea that has survived history in ways others in their class have not, a remnant. 2. An object or idea cherished for its association with a famous historical or religious figure, a memento. Notes: Today's word...
- Wed Mar 13, 2024 6:53 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Funambulism
- Replies: 0
- Views: 1324
Funambulism
• funambulism • Pronunciation: fê- næm -byê-li-zêm • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. Rope or wire walking, tightrope or slack-rope, highwire, or skywalk. 2. A delicate complicated maneuver requiring a balancing act between two opposing forces. Notes: I love words that lead us down the gar...
- Tue Mar 12, 2024 10:49 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Hypocorism
- Replies: 3
- Views: 387
Hypocorism
• hypocorism • Pronunciation: hai-pê- kor -ri-zêm • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A pet name, a nickname, an unofficial affectionate label. 2. The use of such names. Notes: Here is the word for all shortened names and some labels, including diminutive nicknames like Billy or Jimmy , or ...