[Word Powers] Daily Words - January 2009

hieroglyphic (hī'ər-ə-glĭf'ĭk) (Noun): picture writing The discovery of the Rosetta Stone enabled scholars to read the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Histrionic (hstr-nk) (Adj): 1. Of or relating to actors or acting. 2. Excessively dramatic or emotional; affected. He was proud of his histrionic ability and wanted to play the role of Hamlet.

Apathy (AP-uh-thee) (noun): 1. Absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement. 2. Lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting. Why are you showing so much apathy towards writing your resume? You wouldn’t get a job unless you do so. Pathetic (puh-THET-ik) (adj): 1. Causing feelings of sadness, sympathy or sometimes lack of respect, especially because a person or an animal is suffering 2. Causing a lack of respect, often because unsuccessful or lacking ability, effort or bravery The refugees were a pathetic sight - starving, frightened and cold.

Fiefdom (feef'dum) (noun): An organization that is controlled by a dominate person or group “It is important for an organization to have distributed leadership so that some can focus on the structure and some on the non-structure. The distributed leadership must be emotionally secure - its members must have a higher sense of purpose that they are not creating fiefdom” – Mr. Subroto Bagchi on his Gardener’s Role
Shenanigan (shu'nanigun) (noun): 1. The use of tricks to deceive someone 2. Reckless or malicious behavior that causes discomfort or annoyance in others It’s an Irony that Satyam which got the “Golden Peacock” award from the World Council of Corporate Governance, find itself in mess because of the financial Shenanigans committed by its top management.
Bellicose (bel-i-kohs) (adjective): Warlike in nature; aggressive; hostile. Showing or having the impulse to be combative. The United States has criticized what it calls "bellicose rhetoric" from Russia over US plans to develop a missile shield in Europe.
Autocratic (aw-tuh-krat-ik) (adjective): Characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule; having absolute sovereignty. Offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power; "an autocratic person"; "autocratic behavior". Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, has been increasingly isolated by the United Nations and most developed countries because of his autocratic rule.
Pliant (Pli-ant) (Adj): Easily influenced; flexible Catherine's disposition was pliant; she was like putty in her suitor's hands.
Platonic (pla-ton-ic) (Adj): purely spiritual; theoretical; without sensual desire Accused of impropriety in his dealings with female students, the professor maintained he had only a platonic interest in the women involved.
Embezzle (em-bez-uh) (verb): To take (money, for example) for one's own use in violation of a trust. The chairman of Satyam Computer Services, Ramalinga Raju has confessed financial embezzlement in a letter written to company's board.
Larceny (lahr-suh-nee) (noun): 1. The wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods of another from his or her possession with intent to convert them to the taker's own use. 2. The unlawful taking and removing of another's personal property with the intent of permanently depriving the owner; theft. The President of Retail Design and Display Inc. received a sentence for grand larceny involving retail client.
King (king) (noun): A male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom. If a country has a king or a queen, which means it is a monarchy. A country which a king or queen rules is called a kingdom.
Emperor (empuru(r)) (noun): The male ruler of an empire The only emperor in the world today is the ruler of Japan. In history, many countries had emperors at different times, including China, Rome, Germany, Ethiopia, Turkey, India, France and Russia.
Pranayama (Noun): Pranayama is the combination of the Sanskrit words prana = lifeforce and ayama = control or mastering. ALL pranayamas for mortal human beings on earth remains an eternal secret to be given by God ONLY after developing divine love above all and in all situations.
kutashta (Noun): The center of the soul within the human physical body. Focusing all your mind into kutashta during meditation helps to fully withdraw all life-force from distracting senses and direct your complete awareness toward God.
Karma(Noun): 1. Action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: one of the means of reaching Brahman. 2. Fate; destiny As the truck stopped at the red light, the driver wondered when karma would deliver for all the good deeds & heavy labor he had been doing lately.
Awakening (Adjective): A recognition, realization, or coming into awareness of something: a rude awakening to the disagreeable facts. A renewal of interest in religion, esp. in a community; a revival. Visions make for an awakening between the mental consciousness and the physical consciousness.
Deism (DEE-iz-uhm) (noun): 1. Belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation. 2. Belief in a God who created the world but has since remained indifferent to it. Historical and modern deism is defined by the view that reason, rather than revelation or tradition, should be the basis of belief in God. Deists reject organized religion and promote reason as the essential element in making moral decisions.
Pantheism (PAN-thee-iz-uhm) (adj): 1. The doctrine that the universe, taken or conceived of as a whole, is God. 2. The doctrine that there is no God but the combined force and laws which are manifested in the existing universe. Pantheism literally means "God is All" and "All is God". It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent God; or that nature and God are equivalent.

Enlightenment (en'lIt(u)nmunt): (Spiritual) Realizing one's true nature beyond five-senses, body, mind and intellect (noun) Education that results in understanding and the spread of knowledge The Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment, is considered to be the oldest and the most venerated tree in the world ->http://flickr.com/photos/48034592@N00/409620007/

Consciousness (kónshusnus) (noun): (Spiritual) The source of everything. All changing things experienced in this changing world are known by light of Consciousness, which carries on unchanged in all apparent change. (noun) Having knowledge of Transcendental Consciousness has been found by physiological research to be a fourth major state of consciousness, a state of restful alertness, distinct from the commonly experienced states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.

Henotheism (hen-uh-thee-iz-uhm) (noun): 1. The worship of a particular god, as by a family or tribe, without disbelieving in the existence of others. 2. Ascription of supreme divine attributes to whichever one of several gods is addressed at the time. Henotheism is a primitive religion in which each of several divinities is regarded as independent, and is worshiped without reference to the rest.
Proselytism (pros-uh-li-tiz-uhm,-lahy-) (noun): The act of becoming or the condition of being a convert to an opinion, political party, or religious group. The making of converts to a religion or a religious sect, or to any opinion, system, or party. Newly aggressive forms of proselytism, especially by evangelical Christian groups, continue to generate political controversies in Russia, China and India.
Odious (oh-dee-uhs) (adjective): Deserving or causing hatred; hateful; detestable Instilling hatred or intense displeasure Mark was assigned the odious task of cleaning the cat’s litter box.
Officious (uh-fish-uhs) (adjective): Offering one’s services when they are neither wanted nor needed. Mary resented Vipin’s officious behavior when he selected colors that might best improve her artwork.
Perspicacious (pur-spi-KEY-shuhs) (adj): Having the power of seeing clearly or having keen mental perception and understanding; clear-sighted. The brilliant lawyer was known for his perspicacious deductions.
Perspicuous (per-SPIK-yoo-uhs) (adj): 1. Clearly expressed or presented; easy to understand; lucid 2. Expressing oneself clearly and effectively Her perspicuous comments eliminated all possibility of misinterpretation.
Banister (banistur) (noun): A handrail supported by posts running along the outside edge of a staircase. As the lift was out of order, older people climbed upstairs supporting their bodyweight with an arm along the banister.
Scaffold (skafuld) (noun): A temporary framework of poles and planks that is used to support workers and materials when they are working during construction/repair of a building In India, construction work in many high rise buildings is still carried out on scaffolding constructed by loosely joined wooden poles and planks and often results in accidents at sites.
Turgid (tur-jid) (Adj): 1. swollen; distended; tumid 2. inflated, overblown, or pompous; bombastic Shyam is a turgid writer as he expresses a simple thought in lofty language.
Turbid (tur-bid) (Adj): 1. not clear or transparent because of stirred-up sediment or the like 2. confused; muddled; disturbed With alarm and dismay, Evelyn saw that the turbid floodwaters had started seeping into her kitchen.
Brigand (brig-uhnd) (Noun): 1. A bandit, esp. one of a band of robbers in mountain or forest regions. According to folklore, Robin Hood and his band of brigands robbed the rich and gave to the poor and fought against injustice and tyranny.
Buccaneer (buhk-uh-neer) (Noun): 1. Any of the piratical adventurers who raided Spanish colonies and ships along the American coast in the second half of the 17th century. 2. Any pirate Johnny Depp, played the role of a buccaneer, Captain Jack Sparrow in the movie ‘pirates of the Caribbean’.