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Word of the Day for Thursday July 27, 2006

apologia \ap-uh-LOH-jee-uh; -juh\, noun:
Pronunciation:

`apu'lowjeeu


A formal defense or justification, especially of one's opinions, position, or actions.
Mr. Arbatov is well aware that he was perceived in this country as a spokesman at best and toady at worst for the regime. And he clearly wants this book to serve as his apologia.
-- Bernard Gwertzman, "When Soviet Bureaucrats Were the Last to Know",
New York Times, August 20, 1992

I should hasten to add that this volume is neither a dreary academic summary nor a tedious apologia by a politician who has just left office.
-- Jack F. Matlock Jr., "Chinese Checkers",
New York Times, September 13, 1998

John F. Lehman Jr. has written a lively and provocative apologia, in the classic sense of the word, to defend and justify his stewardship as Secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987.
-- Richard Halloran, "Floating a Few Proposals",
New York Times, February 19, 1989

The work is "a classic apologia, an aggressive defense of Roth's moral stance as an author," Harold Bloom said in The Book Review last year.
-- Patricia T. O'Conner,
New York Times, September 14, 1986
 
Word of the Day for Friday July 28, 2006
germane \juhr-MAYN\, adjective:
Pronunciation:

jur'meyn

or gEr men



Appropriate or fitting; relevant.

The issue is not germane to the present discussion.
As long as the argument remains germane, he listens attentively, putting on and removing heavy tortoise-shell glasses and leaning across the bench.

In times of catastrophe we allow public officials to declare "states of emergency" that replace some normal rules . . . with a more germane set.

I have many secrets, most of which are not at all germane to the topic . . . and would probably be completely inappropriate to tell.


describes ideas or information connected with and important to a particular subject or situation:
Her remarks could not have been more germancussion.


also see:

Definition1.having relevance to a given matter; pertinent; significant. Crossref. Syn. to the point , applicable , relevant , pertinent Related Words incident , apt , apropos , apposite , appropriate Derived Forms germanely, adv. ; germaneness, n.
 
Word of the Day for Saturday July 29, 2006

eschew \es-CHOO\, transitive verb:
Pronunciation:

es'choo


To shun; to avoid (as something wrong or distasteful).
In high school and college the Vassar women had enjoyed that lifestyle, but afterward they had eschewed it as shallow.

While teaching in Beijing, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in the late 1920s, he helped launch what became known as the "new poetry" movement, which eschewed traditional forms and encouraged topics based on everyday life.
Finally, the first American diplomats . . . made a point of eschewing fancy dress, titles, entertainments, and all manner of protocol, so as to be walking, talking symbols of republican piety.


to avoid something intentionally, or to give something up:
We won't have discussions with this group unless they eschew violence.


Also see:
Definition
1.
to avoid or forgo; shun.


Example
A dieter eschews fattening foods.

Crossref. Syn.
shun , renounce , forgo , evade , boycott , help




Related Words
balk , avoid , abjure , resist , ignore




Derived Forms
eschewal, n. ; eschewer, n.


 
Word of the Day for Sunday July 30, 2006
heterogeneous \het-uh-ruh-JEE-nee-uhs; -JEE-nyuhs\, adjective:
Pronunciation: "he-t&-'rä-j&-n&s
heh tE ro ji ni Es
heh tE ro jin yEs

Consisting of dissimilar elements, parts, or ingredients -- opposed to homogeneous.


According to the historian Albert Fein, New York embodied "the challenge of a democratic nation's capacity to plan for and maintain an urban environment to meet the needs of a uniquely heterogeneous population."
-

He worked texture and color into the mortar and cement with heterogeneous bits of found junk, from seashells and stones to busted chunks of Phillips' Milk of Magnesia bottles.

Fragmentation was inevitable within such a heterogeneous group, whose members
Definition2.different in nature; not belonging together; incongruous. Related Words various , assorted , diverse , motley , multifarious , miscellaneous Derived Forms heterogeneously, adv. ; heterogeneousness, n.
Antonym: homogeneous
 
contretemps \KAHN-truh-tahn\, noun;
Pronunciation: 'kän-tr&-"tän, kOn-tr&-tän
plural contretemps
\-tahnz\:
An inopportune or embarrassing situation or event; a hitch.

Mrs. Post was the center of a notable contretemps when she spilled a spoonful of berries at a dinner of the Gourmet Society here in 1938.
-- "Emily Post Is Dead Here at 86; Writer was Arbiter of Etiquette", New York Times, September 27, 1960

He looked worried, distressed, more distressed than one should look in the face of a slight contretemps.
-- Anita Brookner, Undue Influence

Nathan was a fiercely ambitious and competitive man, as quick to take offenceas to give it in his business dealings, and it is not difficult to imagine him responding impetuously to such a contretemps.
 
Word of the Day for Tuesday August 1, 2006

p Pronunciation: "prI-m&-'fA-sh&, -shE, -sE also -shE-"E, -sE-"E rima facie \PRY-muh-FAY-shee; -shuh\, adverb:

1. At first view; on the first appearance.
adjective:
1. True, valid, or adequate at first sight; as it seems at first sight; ostensible.
2. Self-evident; obvious.
3. (Law) Sufficient to establish a fact or a case unless disproved.

Rather, they are the product of considerable artistry in the analysis and exposition of statistical data, giving the conclusions a prima facie credibility.
-- Arnold R. Weber, "Keeping Management Awake",
New York Times, June 10, 1984

With all rich men and women there is, of course, a substantial body of populist literature that concludes that their riches were won from the labor of others, or that the structure of capitalist society ensured that the rich would grow richer as the poor grew poorer, or that riches are prima facie evidence of unethical behavior.
-- Robin W. Winks,
Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation

Consumers pick up a CD at the store and think the difference between the 60 cents it takes to make a disk and the $16 retail price is prima facie evidence of gouging. But the dreary economic facts are these: Subtract all the costs and the overhead that serves to support other artists under the same roof, and the net profit that the record company retains is about 59 cents per CD.
 
Word of the Day for Wednesday August 2, 2006

supercilious \soo-puhr-SIL-ee-uhs\, adjective:
Pronunciation:

`soopur'sileeus


Disdainfully arrogant; haughty.
adjective DISAPPROVING
behaving as if or showing that you think that you are better than other people, and that their opinions, beliefs or ideas are not important:
He spoke in a haughty, supercilious voice.
The girl has a supercilious expression, and seems to be looking down her nose at the camera.
Russian emissaries used to be received at European courts and chanceries with a supercilious courtesy as representatives of a lower social and political culture seeking to be patronized by European elites.

Cooper and Trollope arrived like avenging angels at the Guardian Hay Festival to put snobs and supercilious critics in their place.
-- Fiachra Gibbons, "Queens of the bonkbuster and Aga saga defend the art - and heart

Will I be interviewed by a supercilious don who will make fun of my accent?



Definition:

1. [adj] expressive of contempt; "curled his lip in a supercilious smile"; "spoke in a sneering jeering manner"; "makes many a sharp comparison but never a mean or snide one"
2. [adj] having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy; "some economists are disdainful of their colleagues in other social disciplines"; "haughty aristocrats"; "his lordly manners were offensive"; "walked with a prideful swagger"; "very sniffy about breaches of etiquette"; "his mother eyed my clothes with a supercilious air"; "shaggy supercilious camels"; "a more swaggering mood than usual"- W.L.Shirer


1. Having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy
"his mother eyed my clothes with a supercilious air"
- disdainful, haughty, lordly, prideful, sniffy, swaggering

2. Expressive of contempt
"curled his lip in a supercilious smile"
- sneering, snide



Synonyms:

disdainful, haughty, lordly, prideful, proud, sneering, snide, sniffy, swaggering, uncomplimentary



 
Word of the Day for Thursday August 3, 2006

concatenation \kon-kat-uh-NAY-shuhn; kuhn-\, noun:
noun [C] FORMAL
a series of events, ideas or things that are connected:
a concatenation of circumstances/events
Pronunciation:

kân`kat'neyshun


A series of links united; a series or order of things depending on each other, as if linked together; a chain, a succession.
But at this stage the accident appears to have been just that, a dreadful concatenation of random events.


She invested a variety of significances in the word "there," a concatenation of linked associations with space, time, and place too.

To most people the point she plays most brilliantly is the episode, which in the novel is merely one of the links in the concatenation of the plot, but in the short story is the form and substance, the very thing itself.


The process of fossilization and discovery is a concatenation of chance built upon chance. It's amazing that anything ever becomes a fossil at all.
1. The state of being linked together as in a chain; union in a linked series

2. The linking together of a consecutive series of symbols or events or ideas etc
"it was caused by an improbable concatenation of circumstances"

3. A series of things depending on each other as if linked together
"a complicated concatenation of circumstances"
- chain

4. The act of linking together as in a series or chain
Derived forms: concatenations




Synonyms:

chain


 
Word of the Day for Friday August 4, 2006

inveigh \in-VAY\, intransitive verb:
To rail (against some person or thing); to protest strongly or attack with harsh and bitter language -- usually with "against"; as, "to inveigh against character, conduct, manners, customs, morals, a law, an abuse."

It is my intention to inveigh against what seems to be the gradual (continuing?) publishing practice of making books that are so fat and windy that they sit, with some exceptions, like hefty neglected lumps on the shelves waiting for the first clever marketer to include a backpack with their purchase.


He saved it for his preaching, when he inveighed against sin and the devil.
I inveighed against the landlord, who, I thought, was trying to save electricity with those weak lightbulbs, but I suspected that I might need new glasses.

Reuther never hesitated to inveigh against "poverty, hunger, and disease."

Pronunciation
ihn ve


Inflected Forms
inveighed, inveighing, inveighs

Definition
1.
to utter angry or bitter complaints or criticism; protest vigorously (usu. fol. by against.)

Crossref. Syn.
rail




Derived Forms
inveigher, n.


 
Word of the Day for Saturday August 5, 2006

sough \SAU; SUHF\, intransitive verb:
Syllables: sough Parts of speech: intransitive verb , noun http://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?script=search&matchent=sough&matchtype=exact#headtopPart of Speech intransitive verbhttp://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?content=prontable Pronunciation sau
suhf

Inflected Forms soughed, soughing, soughs Definition1.to make a murmuring, sighing, or rustling sound. Crossref. Syn. murmur , babble Related Words moan http://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?script=search&matchent=sough&matchtype=exact#headtopPart of Speech noun Definition1.a soft murmuring, sighing, or rustling sound, as of the wind. Crossref. Syn. murmur , babble Related Words moan , buzz

1. To make a soft, low sighing or rustling sound, as the wind.
noun:
1. A soft, low rustling or sighing sound.

At a recent visit to Marsha's grave in Rathdrum, as the wind soughed through the towering pines nearby, Marsha's brother Pat left a silk bluebird by her headstone to honor her love of the outdoors.
In the dark of winter, tin roofs sough with rain.
"

This voice she hears in the fields, in the sough of the wind among the trees, when measured and distant sounds fall upon her ears.


Gunfire, cannonade, and the weeping of bereft wives and mothers might fill the air of the disunited states, but the dominant sound in greater Manhattan would be the
 
Word of the Day for Sunday August 6, 2006

avuncular \uh-VUHNG-kyuh-luhr\, adjective:

Syllables:

a-vun-cu-lar



Part of Speech

adjective

Pronunciation

EvuhngkyElEr

Definition

1.

of, concerning, or like an uncle; kind; benevolent.

Example

an avuncular doctor.


1. Of or pertaining to an uncle.
2. Resembling an uncle, especially in kindness or indulgence.
Both uncle Frank and uncle Stephen Austen had made it a point of principle to be rigorously unsentimental in the discharge of their avuncular obligations.
hornton's reputation was that of a soft-hearted and avuncular veterinarian known for getting teary-eyed while listening to even slightly sentimental stories
A man with such a nice, avuncular personality would not blow up the world.
 
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