Search found 7461 matches
- Fri May 23, 2008 11:31 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: TENDENTIOUS
- Replies: 4
- Views: 8344
TENDENTIOUS
• tendentious • Pronunciation: ten- den -chês • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Showing a strong bias, from a strongly held point of view, didactic. Notes: Today's Good Word is an adjective for the noun tendency and is a near synonym of a rarely heard word, tendential. Tendential is a m...
- Thu May 22, 2008 10:31 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: PLASTIC
- Replies: 6
- Views: 8653
PLASTIC
• plastic • Pronunciation: plæs -tik • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Malleable, soft, pliable, molding easily, as a plastic clay. 2. Adaptive, able to adapt to new or changing conditions, as a plastic imagination. 3. Made of the synthetic material, plastic, as a plastic umbrella. 4...
- Wed May 21, 2008 11:16 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: JUKEBOX
- Replies: 4
- Views: 7535
JUKEBOX
• jukebox • Pronunciation: juk -bahks • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: An automatic record or CD player, decorated with a colorful display of flashing lights, that plays a song for a coin. Notes: Today's word is based on an African word for "bad", juke, also found in juke joint, t...
- Tue May 20, 2008 11:43 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: FRAUGHT
- Replies: 1
- Views: 4587
FRAUGHT
• fraught • Pronunciation: frawt • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Laden, having a lot of, heavy or filled (with). 2. Over-wrought, nervous, tense, on the brink of breaking down, as someone nervous and fraught. Notes: Today's Good Word is an odd little adjective fraught with the comm...
- Mon May 19, 2008 10:39 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: SOS
- Replies: 11
- Views: 15321
CQ
In addition to too little info on the number of "clicks" in the Morse alphabet, I couldn't find any information on what "CQ" stood for--if it stood for anything. Does anyone know?
- Mon May 19, 2008 10:37 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: BUGABOO
- Replies: 4
- Views: 6587
BUGABOO
• bugaboo • Pronunciation: bêg -ê-bu • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: Something frightening or threatening. Notes: Today's Good Word is a member of a family of semantically related words that are probably historically related, too, including bugbear , bogy , bogyman and regional boogerman ....
- Sat May 17, 2008 11:03 pm
- Forum: Good Word Suggestions
- Topic: Good Words for May and June
- Replies: 1
- Views: 4883
Good Words for May and June
We have quite a backlog of suggested words, over 100. However, I have just added about 35 more suggestions from this shop in the Agora. Whether they appear now depends on whether they tell a good story. Just so you know that you are not being neglected, here is a list of those that made the first cu...
- Sat May 17, 2008 10:47 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: SOS
- Replies: 11
- Views: 15321
SOS
• SOS • Pronunciation: es-o- es • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: An emergency distress signal to elicit help; a mayday. Notes: Notice that we spell today's word without periods even though it is widely taken to be an abbreviation. Many think that it stands for "save our ship", &qu...
- Sat May 17, 2008 12:05 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Prodigal
- Replies: 4
- Views: 10126
Prodigal
• prodigal • Pronunciation: prah -dê-gêl • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Recklessly extravagant, wastefully lavish. 2. Profuse, superabundant. Notes: Today's Good Word is probably encountered most often in the crystallized phrase prodigal son for reasons provided in the Word Histor...
- Wed May 14, 2008 11:59 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: PURFLE
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3943
PURFLE
• purfle • Pronunciation: pêr -fêl • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A decorative border or trim, decoration along the edge, as in the picture of the veil below. 2. A line or narrow strip inlaid or otherwise added as decoration. Notes: Purfles today are added to veils, countertops, and es...
- Tue May 13, 2008 11:24 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: IGNORAMUS
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3719
IGNORAMUS
• ignoramus • Pronunciation: ig-nê- ray -mês • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. An ignorant person, a person lacking basic knowledge. 2. (Legal Latin) The status of a grand jury indictment in cases where evidence is insufficient to send the case to jury trial. The Latin word means "we...
- Mon May 12, 2008 11:38 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: BICAMERAL
- Replies: 1
- Views: 3609
BICAMERAL
• bicameral • Pronunciation: bay- kæ -mê-rêl • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Today's Good Word does not refer to an animal with two humps but to 1. a legislature or other organization with two distinct bodies, as the US Congress with its House of Representatives and Senate, or 2. anyt...
- Mon May 12, 2008 12:00 am
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: TELEOLOGY
- Replies: 9
- Views: 13995
TELEOLOGY
• teleology • Pronunciation: te-li- ah -lê-ji • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, mass Meaning: The causal factors in the development of things or the study of these factors, which is to say, the study of how phenomena get to be the way they are. Notes: Everyone wants to know why the things around us ...
- Sat May 10, 2008 11:52 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: MOTHER
- Replies: 2
- Views: 4660
MOTHER
• mother • Pronunciation: mê -dhêr • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: The female parent, a woman who bears and/or primarily raises a child. Notes: Mother, the word, has born a large and happy family of derivational offspring. The adjective and adverb of this noun are both motherly , which has...
- Fri May 09, 2008 11:02 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: SURLY
- Replies: 2
- Views: 5352
SURLY
• surly • Pronunciation: sêr -li • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Churlish, gruff, very grumpy. 2. Crass if not even a bit thuggish, threatening. Notes: Today's Good Word comes with a noun, surliness and an adverb surlily . The latter is rarely used since it sounds a bit silly and c...