[Word Powers] Today's Words

Whimsical (wim-zi-kul) (adjective):

 

1.            Oddly out of the ordinary; fanciful; freakish

 

2.            Subject to sudden change; unpredictable

 

Scientific discoveries often seem rather whimsical to the layman.           

 

Whiz (wiz):

 

1. (verb) Make a soft swishing sound

 

When bullets whiz by and hit things, the speakers act up.

 

2. (noun) Someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field

 

We also need a computer whiz kid to keep our online ads up to date to ensure we receive calls from the public.

---

http://www.mindtree.com/email/disclaimer.html

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Slake (sleyk) (verb):

 

1.            To satisfy; to quench; to extinguish; as, to slake thirst.

2.            To cause to lessen; to make less active or intense.

 

After he finished the strenuous exercise, it took several cups of water to slake his thirst.             

 

Gelid (jel-id) (Adj): Extremely cold; frozen

 

The weather in the Swiss Alps during winter is mostly gelid.

---

http://www.mindtree.com/email/disclaimer.html

[Word Powers] Today's Words

 Ratiocinate (rash-ee-OS-uh-neyt) (verb):

To reason methodically and logically. To carry on a process of reasoning.

Man has the ability to ratiocinate certain situations, whereas animals act on mere impulse.

Sophism (SOF-iz-uhm) (noun):

1.       An argument which seems true but is really false and is used to deceive people.
2.       Any false argument; fallacy.

He confuses people with his sophisms.

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Skulduggery (skuhl-duhg-uh-ree) (noun):  Underhand dealing, Trickery.

A story detailing the financial skulduggery in the awarding of television rights for the IPL is doing the rounds on the Internet.
 
Pastiche (pa-steesh) (noun): Blend, mixture, combination of materials, forms taken from various sources.

My blog contains a pastiche of musings on philosophy, poetry, prose, love, life and beyond.

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Exchequer (eks-chek-er) (Noun):

1) A treasury, as of a nation or organization

The security at the national exchequer is extremely well equipped to deal with threats.

2) Financial resources, funds [informal]

I would love to go for the movie but the exchequer in my pocket is a bit low.
  
Valet (va-ley) (Noun):
 
1) A male servant who attends to the personal needs of his employer like cleaning, pressing, laundering, parking cars etc., manservant

The valet at the Prestige Hotel is very efficient and well behaved.

 

[Word Powers] Today's Words

 Nascent [nas-uhnt] (Adjective): Being born, beginning, emerging

The cloud of ash from an Iceland volcano is casting a shadow over the nascent economic recovery in Europe as the cancellation of flights in key markets entered its fifth day.  
 

 Altercation [awl-ter-key-shuhn] (noun): A heated or angry dispute; noisy argument or controversy.

The football match ended in utter mayhem following a major altercation.

 

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Pelf (pelf) (noun):

Money; riches; gain; -- generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten.

He is a master manipulator who will twist and dodge around the clock to keep the privileges of power and pelf.

 

Quotidian (kwoh-tid-ee-uh n):

1. (Adj) daily; recurring every day
2. (noun) Anything, esp. a fever, that recurs

Quotidians like malaria are chronic diseases.

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Ensue (en-SOO) (verb):

 To happen after something else, especially as a result of it

When those two friends meet, a battle of wits ensues.

 Psychosomatic (sahy-koh-suh-MAT-ik) (adj):

 1.       of or pertaining to a physical disorder that is caused by or notably influenced by emotional factors.

 2.       pertaining to or involving both the mind and the body.

 Her illness is psychosomatic. It is caused by stress.
 

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Acrostic (uh-kros-tik):

 1)     [Noun] A series of lines or verses in which the first, last, or other particular letters when taken in order spell out a word, phrase, etc.

         He is well known for creating acrostics while uploading testimonials about his friends on Orkut.

2)     [Adj] Of, like, or forming an acrostic

 Acrostic poetry can be used to mask secret messages in plain sight!

 Miff (mif):

 1)     [Noun] A petty quarrel or argument, tiff

There's no point wasting time on the occasional miff that you might have with your friends – life is short. Get over it.

2)     [Verb] To offend or annoy, irritate, vex

 Pavan was miffed with his manager as she didn't approve his casual leaves.

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Purview [pur-vyoo] (noun):

The range of operation, authority, control; range of vision, insight, or understanding.

The provisions of the Income Tax Act extend the purview of taxation to include not only the owner, but even the deemed owner of a property.
   
Pinnacle [pin-uh-kuhl] (adjective) :

 A lofty peak, the highest or culminating point.

As old man Wilson reached the pinnacle of his homemade roller coaster track, he realized there was a fatal flaw.

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Jape ( jeyp):

1. (noun) To joke; jest

2. (verb) To play tricks on; fool

He tried to defuse each petty crisis with a merry jape.
  
Nocuous (nok-yoo-uh s) (Adj): Harmful; poisonous; noxious

The bile of nocuous or venomous snakes is the most powerful antidote to their venom.

 

[Word Powers] Today's Words

 Chortle (CHAWR-tl) (verb):

1.       (verb) To laugh, showing pleasure and satisfaction, often at someone else's bad luck

 2.       (noun) A snorting, joyful laugh or chuckle.

I thought I heard a chortle at the back of the room.

Exultant  (ig-zuhl-tnt) (adj):

1.       Marked by great joy or jubilation; triumphant.

 2.       Very happy, especially at someone else's defeat or failure

 The news of Jeremy's failure made her chortle exultantly.

 

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Garnish (gahr-nish)  (verb): To provide (a food) with something that adds flavor, decorative color.

Fresh black pepper is used to garnish our soups.

Exacerbate (ig-zas-er-beyt) (Adj): To increase the severity, bitterness, or violence of

The IPL appears like a roadside tamasha, where excessive attention away from cricket exacerbates and bemuses in equal measure.

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Trepidation (trep-i-dey-shuhn) (Noun):

 1)    Tremulous fear, alarm or agitation, perturbation

 Once the enemy launched its nuclear missiles, the trepidation of facing death became very evident on the faces of the natives.

2)    Involuntary trembling or quivering movement, tremor, shaking

 Bodily trepidations are very easily visible in people suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Azure (azh-er) (Adj):

 1)    Of or having a light, purplish shade of blue, like that of a clear and cloudless sky

The most beautiful fish in that aquarium has a deep azure tinge to its skin.

 

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Whet (wet) (verb):

    1. Make keen or more acute

    2. Sharpen by rubbing, as on a whetstone


The book should certainly whet your appetite to learn more about the remarkable colony of Australia.
   
Incessant (in-sesunt) (Adjective):

1. Uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing

Irritants like incessant power cuts, bad roads and delayed projects seem to have hardly affected the voters.

[Word Powers] Today's Words

Methuselah (muh-thoo-zuh-luh) (noun):

   1. An extremely old man.

   2. A large wine bottle, esp. one for champagne, holding about 6 liters.

Methuselah is a Pine tree that grows in the White Mountains of California, and is almost 5,000 years old. The tree is named after the Biblical figure, Methuselah, who lived to be 969 years old.
   
Barrack (bar-uh k) (noun):

1.    A building or group of buildings for lodging soldiers, esp. in garrison.

2.    A large, plain, often temporary building for housing workmen, police, etc.

 They all slept in one room in the old barrack where they were living until the new house was habitable.