Subscribe to the Definr Word of the Day RSS feed with your newsreader, or read Definr's daily picks here.
apophthegm (http://definr.com/apophthegm)
n : a short pithy instructive saying [syn: aphorism, apothegm]
It is an apophthegm of Goethe that "He who is acquainted with no foreign tongue knows nothing of his own."
-- Lectures on the English Language: First series by George Perkins Marsh
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
embonpoint (http://definr.com/embonpoint)
adj : euphemisms for slightly fat; "a generation ago...buxom
actresses were popular"- Robt.A.Hamilton; "chubby
babies"; "pleasingly plump" [syn: buxom, chubby, plump,
zaftig, zoftig]
n : the bodily property of being well rounded [syn: plumpness]
[S]he created a furore by wearing a series of strategically cut dresses that exposed her magnificent embonpoint ... Willoughby's career has risen in trajectory with her burgeoning curves.
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
bellwether (http://definr.com/bellwether)
n 1: someone who assumes leadership of a movement or activity
2: sheep that leads the herd often wearing a bell
After the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 is the most widely watched index of large-cap US stocks. It is considered to be a bellwether for the US economy and is a component of the Index of Leading Indicators.
-- Wikipedia
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
post-haste (http://definr.com/post-haste)
adv : as fast as possible; with all possible haste; "send it to me
post-haste"
His fangs are sharp. He likes your taste. Your party better move post-haste.
-- Jumanji (movie)
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
pliant (http://definr.com/pliant)
adj 1: capable of being influenced or formed; "the plastic minds of
children"; "a pliant nature" [syn: plastic]
2: able to adjust readily to different conditions; "an
adaptable person"; "a flexible personality"; "an elastic
clause in a contract" [syn: elastic, flexible, pliable]
3: capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking;
"a flexible wire"; "a pliant young tree" [syn: bendable,
pliable]
4: capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; "ductile
copper"; "malleable metals such as gold"; "they soaked the
leather to made it pliable"; "pliant molten glass"; "made
of highly tensile steel alloy" [syn: ductile, malleable,
pliable, tensile, tractile]
Yet there does seem a vaguely depressing irony in governments insisting that constant surveillance is essential to prevent our being overrun by repressive regimes ... It's these initiatives that drive even the most pliant members of society to dream of taking ... precaution[s] themselves, if only for a bit of privacy.
-- Marina Hyde in The Guardian - "This surveillance onslaught is draconian and creepy"
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
deracinate (http://definr.com/deracinate)
v 1: move (people) forcibly from their homeland into a new and
foreign environment; "The war uprooted many people"
[syn: displace, uproot]
2: pull up by or as if by the roots; "uproot the vine that has
spread all over the garden" [syn: uproot, extirpate, {root
out}]
[What actually happened in 1915-16] was no accident, this was not a marginal or small thing, it was not a geographically or demographically limited thing, virtually the entirety of Ottoman Armenians has been ordered to be rounded up, socially deracinated, uprooted, dispossessed, and deported for no reason other than that they were Armenians ...
-- Halil Berktay
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
cloture (http://definr.com/cloture)
n : a rule for ending debate in a deliberative body [syn: closure,
gag rule]
v : terminate debate by calling for a vote; "debate was
closured"; "cloture the discussion" [syn: closure]
Mr. President: I rise—once again—to voice my strong opposition to the misguided FISA legislation before us today. ... I am here today to implore my colleagues to vote against cloture in the morning.
-- Senator Dodd Speaks in Opposition to FISA Bill on Floor of U.S. Senate
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
misnomer (http://definr.com/misnomer)
n : an incorrect or unsuitable name
If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals — if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories.
-- Ronald Reagan
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
lapidary (http://definr.com/lapidary)
adj : of or relating to precious stones or the art of working with
them; "the ring is of no lapidary value"- Lord Byron;
"lapidary art"
n 1: an expert on precious stones and the art of cutting and
engraving them [syn: lapidarist]
2: a skilled worker who cuts and engraves precious stones [syn:
lapidist]
I fancy I need more than another to speak (rather than write), with such a formidable tendency to the lapidary style. I build my house of boulders.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.
delectation (http://definr.com/delectation)
n 1: a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction; "his delight
to see her was obvious to all" [syn: delight]
2: act of receiving pleasure from something [syn: enjoyment]
No possession can surpass, or even equal, a good library to the lover of books. Here are treasured up for his daily use and delectation, riches which increase by being consumed, and pleasures which never cloy.
-- John Alfred Langford
Send your Definr Word of the Day suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.