Tag Archives: vocabulary

May 10 2012

Word(s) of The Day – Obsequious & Recalcitrant

ob·se·qui·ous/əbˈsēkwēəs/

Adjective:
Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.
Synonyms:
servile – subservient – slavish – menial – fawning

re·cal·ci·trant/riˈkalsətrənt/

Adjective:
Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority.
Noun:
A person with such an attitude.
Synonyms:
insubordinate – contumacious – refractory – disobedient
Say whatever you will about Ms James and her novels, but she sure as HELL has a handle on the english lexicon!
Oh Mr. Grey…
Apr 26 2012

Words of the Day: Impassive & Taciturn

im·pas·sive

   [im-pas-iv] Show IPA

adjective

1. without emotion; apathetic; unmoved.
2. calm; serene.
3. unconscious; insensible.
4. not subject to suffering.

tac·i·turn

   [tas-i-turn] Show IPA

adjective

1. inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation.
2. dour, stern, and silent in expression and manner.
Word courtesy or E L James and her most mysteriously yummy and equally frightening Mr. Grey.
Apr 16 2012

Word of The Day – Insalubrious

in·sa·lu·bri·ous/ˌinsəˈlo͞obrēəs/

Adjective:
(esp. of a climate or locality) Not salubrious; unhealthy.
Synonyms:
unhealthy – unwholesome – insanitary – unsound – sickly
Aside from the sex, incest, and bloody warfare, who said that watching ‘Game of Thrones’ wasn’t pretty damn educational?! I learned that big word up there AND how to catch a snitch without breaking a sweat. Hmm!
Apr 5 2012

Word(s) of the Day – Pedantic & Ostentatious

pe·dan·tic

   [puh-dan-tik]  Show IPA

adjective

1.

ostentatious in one’s learning.
2.

overly concerned with minute details or formalisms,especially in teaching.

Watching Midnight in Paris, this word came up twice. Using context clues, I kind of figured out what it was, but I figured, why not actually find the definition. 

And as I was reading that (^) definition, I realized, I never did look up the meaning for the word ‘Ostentatious:’

os·ten·ta·tious/ˌästənˈtāSHəs/

Adjective:
Characterized by vulgar or pretentious display.
Synonyms:
showy

Yup. Context clues is where its at.

Jan 26 2012

Word of the Day: Homunculus

ho·mun·cu·lus

[huh-muhng-kyuh-luhs, hoh-] Show IPA

noun, plural -li  [-lahy] Show IPA.

1. an artificially made dwarf, supposedly produced in a flask by an alchemist.
2. a fully formed, miniature human body believed, according to some medical theories of the 16th and 17th centuries, to be contained in the spermatozoon.
3. a diminutive human being.
4. the human fetus.
This word is hella funny to me…lol I love the way it sounds and at the same time, I get a slight tinge when I hear it…teehee

 

 

Jan 10 2012

Word of the Day: Hapless

hap·less/ˈhaplis/

Adjective:
(esp. of a person) Unfortunate.
Synonyms:
unfortunate – unlucky – ill-fated – unhappy – wretched

I heard this word so many times in a bunch of movies with English people or set in England and I never really gave much thought to what it might mean.

Now I know.

Jan 7 2012

Word of the Day: Brobdingnagian

Brob·ding·nag·ian

adj \ˌbräb-diŋ-ˈna-gē-ən, -dig-ˈna-\

Definition of BROBDINGNAGIAN

: marked by tremendous size
— Brobdingnagian noun

Examples of BROBDINGNAGIAN

  1. <a Brobdingnagian billboard stood at the entrance to the theme park>

They use such big words on ‘Big Bang Theory.’ Maybe if I keep watching the show, I’d become like…smarter?  I dunno…

Jan 6 2012

Word of the Day – Askance

a·skance

adverb /əˈskans/

With an attitude or look of suspicion or disapproval

  • – the reformers looked askance at the mystical tradition
  • – a waiter looked askance at Charlie’s jeans

After finishing ICELAND, I ran to my laptop in search of this word. Besty used it quite a few times and I figure that I would figure out what the hell it meant.

I also learned that they have sorrel in Iceland, which is cool. In Trinidad, we use to flower portion of the plant and boil it down into a drink. Apparently that plant is common in Iceland. Go figure!

 

You learned something new today!

-alja

Jan 5 2012

Word of the Day – Sesquipedalian

ses·qui·pe·da·li·an

adjective /ˌseskwəpəˈdālyən/

  • (of a word) Polysyllabic; long
    • – sesquipedalian surnames
  • Characterized by long words; long-winded

And how did I come to find this word? Watching a Living Single episode where Kyle is trying to help Maxine and Khadija write an article and he says “well excuse me for being sesquipedalian.” Khadija looked at him and asked him if he knew what it meant and he told her to look it up. So I did. And it’s such a $20 word that basically describes itself – long-winded. I will try to make use of this word today. Yep.