The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate (6 page)

assiduity
(
AS
-i-DOO-i-tee)
noun, plural
assiduities
(
AS
-i-DOO-i-teez)

1. diligence, industry.

2. the continuing application of attention.

Related words:
assiduous
(
e
-SIJ-oo-
e
s)
adjective
,
assiduously
adverb
,
assiduousness
noun
.

assignation
(
AS
-ig-NAY-sh
e
n)
noun

1. an appointment, especially a lovers' secret rendezvous.

2. the act of assigning; an assignment.

assuage
(
e
-SWAYJ)
verb

1. make less severe.

2. satisfy, appease.

3. soothe, mollify.

Related words:
assuagement
and
assuager
both nouns
.

atavism
(AT-
e
-
VIZ
-
e
m)
noun

1. reversion to an earlier type.

2. a reappearance of characteristics resembling those of one's grandparents or even more remote ancestors of one's parents.

Related words:
atavistic
(
AT
-
e
-VIS-tik)
adjective
,
atavistically
adverb
.

athanasia
(
ATH
-
e
-NAY-zh
e
)
noun
, also given as
athanasy
(
e
-THAN-
e
-see) immortality; deathlessness.

atrabilious
(
A
-tr
e
-BIL-y
e
s)
adjective
, also given as
atrabiliar
(
A
-tr
e
-BIL-y
e
r)

1. melancholy.

2. morbid.

Related word:
atrabiliousness
noun
.

augur
(AW-g
e
r)
verb

predict; portend.

Do not confuse
augur
with
auger
, a noun that means
a tool used in boring
. Perhaps a sentence will help you remember the difference: “The carpenter's discovery that all his
augers
had been stolen did not
augur
well for the day's work that lay before him.”

auspicious
(aw-SPISH-
e
s)
adjective

1. propitious, favorable.

2. of good omen, promising success.

Do not confuse
auspicious
with
inauspicious
, which means
unfavorable, not of good omen
. Perhaps a sentence will help you use the two words correctly: “Morning sunshine was taken as an
auspicious
sign that the game would go well for the Yankees, but soon enough there came the
inauspicious
report that their star pitcher had a lame arm.”

Related words:
auspiciously
adverb
,
auspiciousness
noun
.

autarchy
(AW-tahr-kee)
noun
, also given as
autarky
,
plural
autarchies
and
autarkies

1. despotism; absolute sovereignty.

2. self-government.

3. a national policy of economic independence or self-sufficiency.

Related words:
autarchic
(aw-TAHR-kik) and
autarchical
(aw-TAHR-k
e
-k
e
l)
both adjectives
,
autarchically
adverb
,
autarchist
(AW-tahr-kist)
noun
.

autochthon
(aw-TOK-th
e
n)
noun, plural
autochthons
or
autochthones
(aw-TOK-th
e
-
NEEZ
)

an aboriginal inhabitant of a place; an earliest known inhabitant of a place.

autochthonous
(aw-TOK-th
e
-n
e
s)
adjective
, also given as
autochthonal
(aw-TOK-th
e
-n
e
l) and
autochthonic
(
AW
-tok-THON-ik)

aboriginal, indigenous

Related words:
autochthonously
(aw-TOK-th
e
-n
e
s-lee)
adverb
,
autochthonism, autochthony
, and
autochthonousness
all nouns
.

auto-da-fé
(
AW
-toh-d
e
-FAY)
noun, plural
autos-da-fé
(
AW
-tohz-d
e
-FAY)

1. the public declaration of judgment passed on persons tried in the courts of the Spanish Inquisition.

2. the execution by civil authorities of the sentences imposed by the courts of the Inquisition.

autodidact
(
AW
-toh-D
I
-dakt)
noun

a self-taught person, especially one who has mastered a subject without benefit of formal education.

Related words:
autodidactic
(
AW
-toh-d
I
-DAK-tik)
adjective
,
autodidactically
(
AW
-toh-d
I
-DAK-ti-klee)
adverb
.

avarice
(AV-
e
r-is)
noun

inordinate desire to acquire and hoard wealth.

Related words:
avaricious
(
AV
-
e
-RISH-
e
s)
adjective
,
avariciously
adverb
,
avariciousness
noun
.

avatar
(AV-
e
-
TAHR
)
noun

1. an embodiment, incarnation, or personification, as of a principle or view of life.

2. in Hindu mythology, the descent of a deity to earth in bodily form.

averse
(
e
-VURS)
adjective

See
adverse
.

aversion
(
e
-VUR-zh
e
n)
noun

1. a strong feeling of dislike or antipathy.

2. an object or cause of strong dislike.

3. a person strongly disliked.

Related words:
aversive
(
e
-VUR-siv)
adjective
,
aversively
adverb
,
aversiveness
noun
.

avidity
(
e
-VID-i-tee)
noun

1. eagerness, dedication, enthusiasm.

2. greediness.

Related words:
avid
(AV-id)
adjective
,
avidly
adverb
,
avidness
noun
.

avuncular
(
e
-VUNG-ky
e
-l
e
r)
adjective

of or pertaining to an uncle.

Related words:
avuncularity
(
e
-
VUNG
-ky
e
-LAR-
e
-tee)
noun
,
avuncularly
(
e
-VUNG-ky
e
-l
e
r-lee)
adverb
.

badinage
(
BAD
-
e
-NAHZH)
noun

banter, humorous ridicule.

bagatelle
(
BAG
-
e
-TEL)
noun

1. a trifle, something of little value; formerly a game resembling pinball.

2. in music, a brief, unpretentious composition, usually for piano.

bagnio
(BAN-yoh)
noun, plural
bagnios

1. a brothel.

2. in some European countries, a bath house.

baksheesh
(BAK-sheesh)
noun

in the Near East and Middle East, a tip or gratuity; alms.

baleful
(BAYL-f
e
l)
adjective

1. destructive, malignant.

2. full of menacing influences.

Related words:
balefully
adverb
,
balefulness
noun
.

banal
(b
e
-NAL)
adjective

devoid of freshness, commonplace, trite.

Related words:
banality
(b
e
-NAL-i-tee)
noun
,
banally
(b
e
-NAL-ee)
adverb
.

baneful
(BAYN-f
e
l)
adjective

poisonous, deadly; pernicious.

Related words:
banefully
adverb
,
banefulness
noun
.

barbarism
(BAHR-b
e
-
RIZ
-
e
m)
noun

1. a word or phrase not in accordance with normal standards; the use of such a word.

2. an uncivilized state or condition.

3. an instance of this.

4. a barbarous act.

barratry
(BAR-
e
-tree)
noun

1. in law, the offense of frequently stirring up lawsuits and quarrels.

2. in maritime law, fraud or gross criminal negligence by a captain or crew at the expense of a shipowner or of the owner of a ship's cargo.

Related words:
barratrous
(BAR-
e
-tr
e
s)
adjective
,
barratrously
adverb
.

basilisk
(BAS-
e
-lisk)
noun

1. in mythology, a reptile with lethal breath or look.

2. a small tropical American lizard.

Related words:
basiliscine
(
BAS
-
e
-LIS-in) and
basiliscan
(
BAS
-
e
-LIS-k
e
n)
both adjectives
.

bastille
(ba-STEEL)
noun

1. a fortress or prison, especially one that mistreats its convicts.

2. a fortified tower, as of a castle.

bastinado
(
BAS
-t
e
-NAH-doh)
noun, plural
bastinadoes

punishment or torture by beating on the soles of the feet.

bathos
(BAY-thos)
noun

1. in speech or writing, a ludicrous descent from the sublime to the commonplace; an anticlimax.

2. sentimentality, mawkishness.

Related word:
bathetic
(b
e
-THET-ik)
adjective
.

bawd
(bawd)
noun

1. a procuress.

2. a prostitute.

beau monde
(boh mawnd)

fashionable society.

behest
(bi-HEST)
noun

1. a command.

2. a strongly worded request.

belfry
(BEL-free)
noun, plural
belfries

a bell tower, attached to a church or other structure or standing alone.

belvedere
(BEL-vi-
DEER
)
noun

a building designed to afford a fine view.

bemuse
(bi-MYOOZ)
verb

bewilder or befuddle (someone); stupefy.

Related word:
bemusement
noun
.

beneficent
(b
e
-NEF-
e
-s
e
nt)
adjective

1. doing good, showing kindness.

2. charitable.

Related words:
beneficently
adverb
,
beneficence
noun
.

benighted
(bi-N
I
-tid)
adjective

unenlightened, ignorant.

Related words:
benightedly
adverb
,
benightedness
noun
.

benignant
(bi-NIG-n
e
nt)
adjective

1. kind, especially to subordinates or inferiors.

2. beneficial, salutary.

Related words:
benignancy
noun
,
benignantly
adverb
.

besom
(BEE-z
e
m)
noun

a broom, especially one made of twigs or brush.

besot
(bi-SOT)
verb

1. stupefy or intoxicate, usually with drink.

2. obsess, infatuate.

bête noire
(
BAYT
NWAHR),
plural
bêtes noires
(
BAYT
NWAHRZ)

a person or thing strongly disliked or dreaded; a bane.

betide
(bi-T
I
D)
verb

1. happen to (someone); befall.

2. come to pass; happen.

bhang
(bang)
noun

a narcotic and intoxicant prepared from the leaves of the Indian hemp plant.

bibelot
(BIB-loh)
noun, plural
bibelots
(BIB-lohz)

a small curio or artistic trinket.

bibulous
(BIB-y
e
-l
e
s)
adjective

addicted to
or
fond of drink.

Related words:
bibulously
adverb
,
bibulousness
and
bibulosity
(
BIB
-y
e
-LOS-i-tee)
both nouns
.

bifurcate
(B
I
-f
e
r-
KAYT
)
verb

fork, divide into two branches.

Related words:
bifurcate
(B
I
-f
e
r-kit)
adjective
,
bifurcately
(
B
I
-f
e
r-KAYT-lee)
adverb
,
bifurcation
(
B
I
-f
e
r-KAY-sh
e
n)
noun
.

billingsgate
(BIL-ingz-
GAYT
)
noun

coarsely abusive language.

biota
(b
I
-OH-t
e
)
noun

the plant and animal life of a region.

blandish
(BLAN-dish)
verb

coax or influence by gentle flattery; cajole.

Related words:
blandisher
and
blandishment
both nouns
,
blandishingly
adverb
.

blatant
(BLAYT-
e
nt)
adjective

1. brazenly obvious; flagrant.

2. obtrusive, tastelessly conspicuous.

Related words:
blatantly
adjective
,
blatancy
noun
.

blather
(BLA
TH
-
e
r)
noun

foolish loquacious talk.

Related words:
blather
verb
,
blatherer
noun
.