ablution
n. washing or cleansing of the body, especially as part of religious rite |
abnegation
n. repudiation; self-sacrifice; renouncing your own interests in favor of interests of others |
abomasum
n. the fourth compartment of the stomach of a ruminant; the one where digestion takes place |
abstemious
a. sparing or moderation in eating and drinking; temperate |
accretion
n. growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion |
acolyte
n. someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches |
alopecia
n. loss of hair (especially on the head) or loss of wool or feathers; in humans it can result from heredity or hormonal imbalance or certain diseases or drugs and treatments (chemotherapy for cancer) |
anneal
v. bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling |
asseverate
v. state categorically |
bilious
a. suffering from indigestion; appearing as if affected by disorder; sickly |
braggadocio
n. vain and empty boasting |
bulbul
n. nightingale spoken of in Persian poetry |
camaraderie
n. good-fellowship; companionship; close friendship in friends or teammates |
campanile
n. a bell tower; usually stands alone unattached to a building |
catachresis
n. strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as `blatant' to mean `flagrant') or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: `blind mouths') |
chimerical
a. fantastically improbable; highly unrealistic; imaginative |
clerihew
n. a witty satiric verse containing two rhymed couplets and mentioning a famous person |
concessionaire
n. someone who holds or operates a concession |
concurrence
n. a state of cooperation; agreement of results or opinions; acting together |
denigrate
v. blacken; defame; attack reputation of; degrade |
deracinate
v. pull up by or as if by the roots |
ecclesiastic
n. minister or priest; cleric; one holding an office in the Christian ministry |
egregious
a. notorious; conspicuously bad or shocking |
elegy
n. poem or song expressing lamentation; mournful poem |
frangipani
n. any of various tropical American deciduous shrubs or trees of the genus Plumeria having milky sap and showy fragrant funnel-shaped variously colored flowers |
grandiloquence
n. high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation |
imbroglio
n. a very embarrassing misunderstanding |
impecunious
a. without money; poor; penniless |
implacable
a. incapable of being pacified; not to be relieved; |
incarnadine
a. red, especially blood red; of blood red color of raw flesh |
interlocutor
n. one who speaks in dialogue or takes part in conversation |
lyceum
n. a public hall for lectures and concerts |
magniloquent
a. lofty in style |
minatory
a. threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments |
monomania
n. a mania restricted to one thing or idea |
moribund
a. dying; in dying state; approaching death; about to die |
multifarious
a. varied; greatly diversified; made up of many differing parts |
munificence
n. liberality in bestowing gifts; extremely liberal and generous of spirit |
nauseous
a. feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit |
noisome
a. foul-smelling; offensive by arousing disgust; harmful or dangerous |
obstreperous
a. noisily aggressive; making great noise or outcry |
pellucid
a. transparent; limpid; easy to understand |
persiflage
n. light teasing |
physiognomy
n. the human face (`kisser' and `smiler' and `mug' are informal terms for `face' and `phiz' is British) |
portmanteau
n. a new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings |
punctilious
a. marked by precise accordance with details |
risibility
n. a disposition to laugh |
rubicund
a. inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life |
simulacrum
n. an insubstantial or vague semblance |
vituperate
v. spread negative information about |