Category Archives: Life as we know it

Word of the Day December 8, 2018

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turgid

(tûr′jĭd)

adj.

1. Excessively ornate or complex in style or language; grandiloquent: turgid prose.
2. Swollen or distended, as from a fluid; bloated: a turgid bladder; turgid veins.
[Latin turgidus, from turgēre, to be swollen.]
tur·gid′i·ty, tur′gid·ness n.
tur′gid·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Cite: http://www.freedictionary.com

Word of the Day October 27, 2018

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fiduciary

adj.

1.

a. Of or relating to a duty of acting in good faith with regard to the interests of another: a company’s fiduciary responsibility to investors.
b. Of or being a trustee or trusteeship.
c. Held in trust.
2. Of or consisting of fiat money.
3. Of, relating to, or being a system of marking in the field of view of an optical instrument that is used as a reference point or measuring scale.

Word of the Day August 4, 2018

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pontificate

vb (intr)

1. to speak or behave in a pompous or dogmatic manner. Also (less commonly): pontify
2. (Roman Catholic Church) to serve or officiate as a pontiff, esp in celebrating a Pontifical Mass
n

(Roman Catholic Church) the office or term of office of a pontiff, now usually the pope

Word of the Day July 28, 2018

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widdershins

(wĭd′ər-shĭnz′) or with·er·shins (wĭth′-)

adv.

In a contrary or counterclockwise direction: “The coracle whirled round, clockwise, then widdershins” (Anthony Bailey).
[Middle Low German weddersinnes, from Middle High German widersinnes : wider, back (from Old High German widar; see wi- in Indo-European roots) + sinnes, in the direction of (from sin, direction, from Old High German; see sent- in Indo-European roots).]
CITE: American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Word of the Day- July 14, 2018

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recalcitrant

adj.

1. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant: a recalcitrant prisoner.
2. hard to deal with, manage, or operate.

n.

3. a recalcitrant person.
[1835–45; < Latin recalcitrant-, s. of recalcitrāns, present participle of recalcitrāre to kick back]
re•cal′ci•trance, re•cal′ci•tran•cy, n.

Word of the Day July 7, 2018

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compunction

n.

1. a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of conscience for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse.
2. any uneasiness or hesitation about the rightness of an action; qualm.
[1350–1400; Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Late Latin compūnctiō remorse < Latin compung(ere) to prick severely (com- com– + pungere to prick; compare point)]
com•punc′tious, adj.
com•punc′tious•ly, adv.