Search found 7453 matches
- Sun Mar 03, 2024 11:24 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Gargantuan
- Replies: 3
- Views: 775
Gargantuan
• gargantuan • Pronunciation: gahr- gæn -chu-ên • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Huge, colossal, gigantic. Notes: Today we have a large word referring to extra large objects. It is the adjective made from an archaic word, Gargantua "a giant". A gargantuist at one time referre...
- Sat Mar 02, 2024 11:32 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Hyperbole
- Replies: 1
- Views: 157
Hyperbole
• hyperbole • Pronunciation: hai- pêr -bê-lee • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: A figure of speech that exaggerates for emphasis, metaphoric overstatement. Notes: Today's Good Word belongs to a large and widespread family. The use of hyperboles is hyperbolism, which you get when you hyperbol...
- Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:17 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Geek
- Replies: 1
- Views: 161
Geek
• geek • Pronunciation: geek • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. (US Slang) A socially awkward person who devotes all his or her time to some scientific pursuit, usually involving computers. 2. (US Slang) A serious intellectual better adapted to thinking than mingling with his or her peers....
- Thu Feb 29, 2024 8:23 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Farce
- Replies: 0
- Views: 969
Farce
• farce • Pronunciation: fahrs • Hear it! Part of Speech: fahrs Meaning: 1. Stuffing, filling, force-meat. 2. An exaggerated parody of base humor, an artistic work with no redeeming social value that usually resorts to slapstick humor. Notes: Today's noun may be used as a verb in its first sense, a...
- Wed Feb 28, 2024 11:27 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Courtesan
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1879
Re: Courtesan
My answer had been "a high priced courtesan". Brilliant reply and reasoning. So how did we get to the verb “to court,” Again, the legitimate behavior in regal courts. The legal court got its name from the time when royal justice was measured out in regal courts. When the word of a king wa...
- Wed Feb 28, 2024 6:06 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Courtesan
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1879
Courtesan
• courtesan • Pronunciation: kor -tê-zên • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. A mistress supported by a member of the nobility. 2. A sophisticated prostitute with an elite, if not courtly clientele. Notes: Today's word refers to a highly successful entrepreneuse in the world's oldest profess...
- Tue Feb 27, 2024 6:45 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Luftmensch
- Replies: 4
- Views: 834
Luftmensch
• luftmensch • Pronunciation: luft -mench • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. An airhead, a contemplative person whose head is in the clouds and has little if any idea of practical matters, like earning a living. 2. A petty tradesman, peddler, unsuccessful businessperson. Notes: Today's wor...
- Mon Feb 26, 2024 7:07 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Prestige
- Replies: 3
- Views: 332
Prestige
• prestige • Pronunciation: pres- teezh • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, mass (no plural) Meaning: High level of respect, importance, great influence, high standing in the eyes of others, commanding position. Notes: Here is a French word copied by English so recently (early 19th century) that the F...
- Sun Feb 25, 2024 8:15 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Contrary
- Replies: 1
- Views: 164
Contrary
• contrary • Pronunciation: kahn -trer-ri • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Opposed, counter, extremely divergent. 2. Willful, perverse, tending to be far away from general behavior. Notes: This word is often confused with opposite. Opposite refers to things that are altogether diffe...
- Sun Feb 25, 2024 7:49 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Egoist
- Replies: 2
- Views: 240
Egoist
• egoist • Pronunciation: ee -go-ist • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: 1. Someone who is conceited, self-centered, wrapped up in him- or herself; a person with an inflated ego. 2. A person who subscribes to the theory of egoism, the philosophy that self-interest is the basis of all morality....
- Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:57 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Dehiscent
- Replies: 1
- Views: 191
Dehiscent
• dehiscent • Pronunciation: dee- hi -sênt • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Gaping open, wide open. 2. (Botany) Bursting open at ripening to allow seeds to escape, as 'a plant with dehiscent pods'. Notes: Today's word is the adjective from the verb dehisce "to gape or burst ope...
- Thu Feb 22, 2024 10:29 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Continual
- Replies: 0
- Views: 671
Continual
• continual • Pronunciation: kên- tin -yu-êl • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Repeated over a long period of time, continuing at intervals. Notes: Continual is often confused with continuous . However, the meanings of these two words differ significantly and they cannot be used correct...
- Wed Feb 21, 2024 9:06 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Bathos
- Replies: 1
- Views: 419
Bathos
• bathos • Pronunciation: bay -thos • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, mass Meaning: The major dictionaries fail to agree on the meanings of today's word, but they seem to hover about these: 1. Lowest depth, bottom. 2. A dramatic or ludicrous fall from the exalted to the ordinary. 3. Banality, triten...
- Tue Feb 20, 2024 9:10 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Flourish
- Replies: 3
- Views: 295
Flourish
• flourish • Pronunciation: flê -rish • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb, noun Meaning: 1. To grow luxuriantly, thrive. 2. To prosper, blossom, succeed excessively, to fare extremely well. 3. To make bold, sweeping movement, brandish, wave boldly. 4. (Noun) A decorative frill, ostentatiously ornamenta...
- Mon Feb 19, 2024 7:01 pm
- Forum: Good Word Discussion
- Topic: Ad-lib
- Replies: 0
- Views: 617
Ad-lib
• ad-lib • Pronunciation: æd-lib • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective, adverb, verb, noun Meaning: 1. (Adjective, adverb) Impromptu, spontaneous, as one pleases without preparation. 2. (Verb) To speak or otherwise present spontaneously, without preparation. 3. (Noun) Anything spoken or played spont...