Word of the Day

Definition: (adjective) Having a magical quality or charm; fairylike.
Synonyms: fey.
Usage: The ballerina moved across the dimly lit stage with elfin grace.
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Definition: (noun) A nearby, surrounding, or adjoining region.
Synonyms: locality, neck of the woods, neighborhood.
Usage: The plane crashed in the vicinity of Asheville, and investigators spent weeks interviewing residents who had witnessed the disaster.

Definition: (adjective) Strikingly appropriate and relevant.
Synonyms: apt, pertinent.
Usage: The governor approached the warriors humbly and proclaimed their heroism loudly, flattering them with his well-timed and apposite compliments.

Definition: (adjective) Resembling an oracle in obscurity of thought.
Synonyms: enigmatic.
Usage: As the teacher read aloud, enchanted by the oracular sayings of Victorian poets, the class became progressively more confused.

Definition: (adjective) Willing to carry out the orders or wishes of another without protest.
Synonyms: biddable.
Usage: She was too acquiescent to challenge authority and did everything she was told.

Definition: (adjective) Incapable of erring.
Synonyms: infallible.
Usage: Many traditional theologians insist that biblical texts are the literal Word of God and as such are inerrant and infallible.

Definition: (adjective) Lacking grace or ease of movement or form.
Synonyms: clumsy, clunky, gawky, unwieldy.
Usage: He was a gawky lad with long ungainly legs, but she thought he was the most handsome boy she had ever seen.

Definition: (adjective) Threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments.
Synonyms: menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening, forbidding.
Usage: He sprang on the horse of a Blackfoot warrior whom he had slain, and escaping at full speed, brought home the baleful tidings to his village.

Definition: (adjective) Incapable of being expressed.
Synonyms: indescribable, unspeakable, untellable, unutterable, indefinable.
Usage: There was an expression of ineffable sadness on her face as she spoke, and I could not but feel that she knew that I knew her secret.

Definition: (adjective) Serving to set in motion.
Synonyms: initiative, initiatory, maiden, first.
Usage: The magazine's inaugural issue sold out in a matter of days, prompting the owners to publish the second issue in larger numbers.

Definition: (noun) Powerful and effective language.
Synonyms: fluency, smoothness.
Usage: The preacher's eloquence attracted a large congregation.

Definition: (noun) Something that issues from a source.
Synonyms: emission.
Usage: The sulphuretted hydrogen emanations, which Captain Burton mentions, could be distinctly smelt.

Definition: (verb) Furnish with a preface or introduction.
Synonyms: preface, premise, introduce.
Usage: She always precedes her lectures with a joke.

Definition: (adjective) Lively and playful; frisky.
Synonyms: frolicky, frolicsome, rollicking, sportive.
Usage: The substitute teacher found himself entirely overwhelmed by the energetic seventh-graders, whose coltish antics disrupted the lesson time and time again.

Definition: (adjective) Open or liable to objection or debate; debatable.
Synonyms: objectionable.
Usage: We can't have perfection; and if I keep him, I must sustain his administration as a whole, even if there are, now and then, things that are exceptionable.

Definition: (adjective) Rough or irregular; textured.
Synonyms: homespun, nubby, slubbed, tweedy.
Usage: The seamstress preferred the nubbly, matte surface of raw silk to the glossy, smooth look of satin.

Definition: (noun) An earnest request or petition; a plea.
Synonyms: appeal, prayer.
Usage: Nothing is wanting but to have you here, and it is our particular wish and entreaty that you would come to us as soon as you can.

Definition: (adjective) Filled with or expressing grief.
Synonyms: mournful.
Usage: The poor child's doleful eyes compelled me to buy him expensive toys and bags of candy in the hopes of cheering him up.

Definition: (noun) Irrepressible liveliness and good spirit.
Synonyms: irrepressibility.
Usage: With his natural buoyancy of spirits, he began to hope again.

Definition: (noun) The mark on the surface of the abdomen of mammals where the umbilical cord was attached during gestation.
Synonyms: bellybutton, omphalos, umbilicus.
Usage: The first-graders were awed by Tom's navel, which protruded outward in classic "outie" fashion.