WORD OF THE DAY: Paroxysm

Posted on October 25, 2016 ·
paroxysm Audio Pronunciation
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\PAR-uh k-siz-uh m\
noun
1. any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion: paroxysms of rage.
2. Pathology. a severe attack or a sudden increase in intensity of a disease, usually recurring periodically.
Quotes
But oh, ye powers! into what a paroxysm of passion did each new outrage of the Yankees throw the choleric little governor!
— Washington Irving, A History of New York, 1809
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WORD OF THE DAY: Rollick

Posted on October 25, 2016 ·
rollick Audio Pronunciation
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\ROL-ik\
verb
1. to move or act in a carefree, frolicsome manner; behave in a free, hearty, lively, or jovial way.
Quotes
They decided to rollick off to a party on Jefferson Street.
— Thomas Pynchon, V., 1963
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WORD OF THE DAY: Stalwart

Posted on October 25, 2016 ·
stalwart Audio Pronunciation
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\STAWL-wert\
adjective
1. firm, steadfast, or uncompromising: a stalwart supporter of the U.N.
2. strong and brave; valiant: a stalwart knight.
Quotes
Throughout Europe, Social Democrats have long since shifted from the kind of stalwartideology that Sanders now pushes toward what Germans called the Neue Mitte (New Center) and those in other countries referred to as the Third Way.
— Russell Shorto, “Bernie Sanders’s Forty-Year-Old Idea,” The New Yorker, April 17, 2016
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WORD OF THE DAY: Thunderstruck

Posted on October 25, 2016 ·
thunderstruck Audio Pronunciation
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\THUHN-der-struhk\
adjective
1. overcome with consternation; confounded; astounded: He was thunderstruck by the news of his promotion.
2. Archaic. struck by a thunderbolt.
Quotes
He seemed awed,—stunned,—crushed. He had all the bearing and mien of one who, having defiantly predicted a calamity, was thunderstruck by the verification of his prophecy.
— Charles King, From the Ranks, 1887
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WORD OF THE DAY: compunction

Posted on October 25, 2016 ·
compunction Audio Pronunciation
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\kuh m-PUHNGK-shuh n\
noun
1. a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse.
2. any uneasiness or hesitation about the rightness of an action.
Quotes
It might be supposed that he would feel some compunction at robbing his stepmother of her all. Whatever her faults, she was devoted to him. But Willis Ford had a hard, selfish nature, and the only thought that troubled him was the fear that he might be found out.
— Horatio Alger Jr., Helping Himself, 1886
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WORD OF THE DAY: mutable

Posted on October 19, 2016 ·
\MYOO-tuh-buh l\
adjective
1. given to changing; constantly changing; fickle or inconstant: the mutable ways of fortune.
2. liable or subject to change or alteration.
Quotes
… we are all, I think, betrayed by those eyes of memory which are as mutable and particular as the ones with which we regard the material world, the vision altering, as it so often does, from near in youth to far in age.
— Gore Vidal, Messiah, 1954
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WORD OF THE DAY: apotheosis

Posted on October 19, 2016 ·
\uh-poth-ee-OH-sis, ap-uh-THEE-uh-sis\
noun
1. the ideal example; epitome; quintessence: This poem is the apotheosis of lyric expression.
2. the elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god.
Quotes
… his favorite phrase was “see it through”; he considered his novel about Frederick the Great to be the very apotheosis of this command, which he looked upon as the quintessence of the virtue that remains active in spite of suffering.
— Thomas Mann (1875–1955), Death in Venice, translated by Stanley Appelbaum, 1995
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WORD OF THE DAY: harum-scarum 

Posted on October 19, 2016 ·

\HAIR-uh m-SKAIR-uh m, HAR-uh m-SKAR-uh m\
adjective
1. reckless; rash; irresponsible: He had a harum-scarum youth.
2. disorganized; uncontrolled.

Quotes
… he warn’t bad, so to say–only mischeevous. Only just giddy and harum-scarum, you know. He warn’t any more responsible than a colt.
— Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 1876

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Word of the day: IGNOMINY

Posted on October 16, 2016 ·

Ignominy
\IG-nuh-min-ee, ig-NOM-uh-nee\

noun
1. disgrace; dishonor; public contempt.
2. shameful or dishonorable quality or conduct or an instance of this.
Quotes
Walking in the shadow of a dream, as it were, and perhaps actually under the influence of a species of somnambulism, Mr. Dimmesdale reached the spot, where, now so long since, Hester Prynne had lived through her first hour of public ignominy.
— Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, 1850

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WORD OF THE DAY: Bailiwick

Posted on October 12, 2016 ·
Definitions for bailiwick
  1. a person’s area of skill, knowledge, authority, orwork: to confine suggestions to one’s ownbailiwick.
  2. the district within which a bailie or bailiff hasjurisdiction.
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WORD OF THE DAY: opuscule

Posted on October 12, 2016 ·

opuscule [oh-puhs-kyool]

/ɒˈpʌskjuːl/
noun
 
1. a small or minor work.
2. a literary or musical work of small size.
3. (rare) a small or insignificant artistic work
Derived Forms opuscular, adjective
Word Origin via French from Latin opusculum, from opus work
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