cite / site / sight
All are good for research papers: cite is short for citation, site is a place, and sight is what your eyeballs are for. The Web has a lot to answer for, good and bad. One item in the minus column is the increased popularity of site and people throwing these sound-alikes all over the place!
Cite is a verb to mean to quote, to summon officially, to mention formally, or even to compliment. It's also the noun form of the same things: a formal summons, or an official mention. You have to cite your sources when you write a paper, but it's also a nod to wherever you got your idea. Check out what cite can do:
The band, formed in Ohio 10 years ago, cite numerous influences in different genres fromhip-hop to rock and blues. ( Reuters )
He was taken to his residence in Bellevue, cited and released. ( Seattle Times )
A site is a specified place, such as a building site , but it's also short for Website, which is a collection of Web pages that are found within the same URL. Either way it's somewhere you can go:
It's taken nearly nine years, but large-scale commercial redevelopment of the World Trade Center site is tantalizingly close to taking off. ( New York Post )
The death also was reported on the singer's web site . ( Seattle Times )
Sight , of course, is vision or something that can be seen. If something is outta sight then it's fabulous whether you can see it or not. Here's an example of sight :
Visually impaired servers who have some sight wear blindfolds. ( New York Times )
Though cite, site, and sight were confused before the Internet, we are more likely to use site for all of them because we use it so often for Website. If you can remember cite is short for citation and site is a location, whether it's online or off, you'll have the sight to use the words correctly.
NAUSEOUS
If you're nauseous, you feel queasy and sick to your stomach, and you might feellike vomiting. Could be the stomach flu or too much food before that roller-coaster ride.
Choose Your Words:
nauseated / nauseous
If you're nauseated you're about to throw up, if you're nauseous , you're a toxic funk and you're going to make someone else puke. These words are used interchangeably so often that it makes word nerds feel nauseated Nauseous comes from the Latin word nausea, which means "seasickness." That's certainly one reason for getting nauseous, but we don't limit this word to the seafaring world anymore. Not only do we use this adjective when we're feeling queasy, but we also use itto describe whatever is making us feel queasy. A smell that turns your stomach is a nauseous smell. We also use nauseous figuratively when we're "grossed out" by someone who's overly romantic or self-involved.
DEFINITIONS OF:
nauseous
1
adj causing or able to cause nausea
" nauseous offal"
Synonyms:
loathsome , nauseating , noisome , offensive , queasy , sickening , vile
unwholesome
detrimental to physical or moral well-being
adj feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit
Synonyms:
nauseated , queasy , sick , sickish
ill , sick
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
NAUSEATED
When you're nauseated , you're queasy, or you feel like you might vomit. If you have the flu, you'll probably spend a day or two feeling nauseated .
Choose Your Words:
nauseated / nauseous
If you're nauseated you're about to throw up, if you're nauseous , you're a toxic funk and you're going to make someone else puke. These words are used interchangeably so often that it makes word nerds feel nauseated !Queasy. Sick to your stomach. Barfy. All of these describe the uncomfortable feeling of being nauseated. Riding on a roller coaster three times in a row could make you feel nauseated, and if you sat down and ate an entire three-layer birthday cake by yourself, you'd definitely be nauseated by the time you finished. The Latin root word nausea originally described seasickness.
DEFINITIONS OF:
nauseated
1
adj feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit
Synonyms:
nauseous , queasy , sick , sickish
ill , sick
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
insidious / invidious
Neither insidious nor invidious are happy words: insidious describes something that lies in wait to get you, and invidious is something offensive or defamatory. Cancer can be insidious , lurking in your body without your knowing it. Invidious doesn't hide; it's hateful right away.
Insidious didn't fall too far from the tree – it comes directly from the Latin word insidiosus meaning "deceitful, cunning, artful," from insidiae "plot, snare, ambush." Something insidious can even be attractive while doing harm, like an insidious plot to befriend your crush's girlfriend, so you can break them up. But often it's not attractive, just sneaky:
Storms like Agnes and Irene are insidious, often striking slowly over time in ways that can be unpredictable and far more damaging than anticipated. ( Salon )
An insidious new email virus infiltrated high-profile US companies Thursday. ( Toronto Star )
Rather, it is the insidious silence and insensitivity that surrounds so many of the most excruciating diseases of the mind that so often trigger suicide. ( CNN )
Invidious comes from the Latin for ill will or envy. Some bouncers probably love the invidious task of not letting good-looking people into their clubs. It's often paired with segregation, but other things can be invidious as well:
Arnold is in an invidious position, and has tried to create a very different type of museum on the proverbial shoestring. ( New York Times)
"After an old-fashioned, all-round team performance ... it might seem invidious to single out one player," admits the paper before singling out one player. ( Guardian )
The cheap shots against the Democrats and Obama at the beginning were unnecessary and invidious . ( Washington Post )
Joining the cheerleading squad so you can poison the football team is insidious . Yelling,"Teams like yours always lose!" at the game is invidious.
Harassment
If someone is abusing, insulting, or otherwise harming you on a regular basis, it's called harassment . Cruel and usually really annoying, harassment is also illegal in some cases.
Harassment is a word that describes any kind of ongoing torment. At school, harassment is often known as bullying. In the workplace, employees need to be careful about intercourseual harassment. Harassment involves persistent attacks or abuse, and can range from shouting racial slurs to crank calling your ex-boyfriend every night at 3am. Even teasing your kid sister about her braces could be considered harassment. DEFINITIONS OF:
harassment
1
n the act of tormenting by continued persistent attacks and criticism
Synonyms:
molestation
Types:
show 6 types...
Type of:
mistreatment
the practice of treating (someone or something) badly
n a feeling of intense annoyance caused by being tormented
"so great was his harassment that he wanted to destroy his tormentors"
Synonyms:
torment
Type of:
annoyance , chafe , vexation
anger produced by some annoying irritation
conscious / conscience
Both words have to do with the mind, but it's more important to be conscious , or awake, than conscience, or aware of right and wrong. Remain conscious while listening to your friend's moral dilemma so you can use your conscience to give good advice.
Conscious, pronounced "KAHN-shuhs," means being aware of yourself or the world around you. It also means being sensitive to something or being awake, not asleep or insensible:
Witnesses say he was bleeding profusely but conscious and talking. ( Washington Post )
He was even horribly conscious of a slow pallor creeping over his face. ( Bertram Mitford )
Conscience, pronounced "KAHN-shuhns," is a moral understanding, an inner feeling, of right and wrong. If you were a cartoon, your conscience would be that little angel on your shoulder, telling you the right thing to do (and to ignore the little devil on the other side). See the word in action:
They went out guiltily, as men whose consciences troubled them. ( Richard Marsh )
Passports are not required, but a social conscience probably is. ( New York Times )
To help keep conscious and conscience straight, try emphasizing the second n in conscience, remembering that the conscience deals with your inner thoughts.
conscious
Conscious is an adjective that simply means alert and awake. If you fall from a tree and smack your head on the side of the wheelbarrow, there's a good chance you won't be conscious afterward. Conscious is a Latin word whose original meaning was "knowing" or "aware." So a conscious person has an awareness of her environment and her own existence and thoughts. If you're "self-conscious," you're overly aware and even embarrassed by how you think you look or act. But that sounds better than being unconscious, or totally unaware and out of it.
PRIMARY MEANINGS OF:
conscious
1 adj
knowing and perceiving; having awareness of surroundings and sensations and thoughts
2 adj
intentionally conceived
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: conscious
1
adj knowing and perceiving; having awareness of surroundings and sensations and thoughts
"remained conscious during the operation"
" conscious of his faults"
"became conscious that he was being followed"
Synonyms
awake
not in a state of sleep; completely conscious
aware , cognisant , cognizant
(sometimes followed by `of') having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception
self-aware , self-conscious
aware of yourself as an individual or of your own being and actions and thoughts
semiconscious
partially conscious; not completely aware of sensations
sentient
consciously perceiving
sensible , sensitive
able to feel or perceive
voluntary
of your own free will or design; done by choice; not forced or compelled
Antonyms:
unconscious
not conscious; lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception as if asleep or dead
show more antonyms...
adj (followed by `of') showing realization or recognition of something
"few voters seem conscious of the issue's importance"
" conscious of having succeeded"
""the careful tread of one conscious of his alcoholic load"- Thomas Hardy"
Synonyms
aware , cognisant , cognizant
(sometimes followed by `of') having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception
2
adj intentionally conceived
"a conscious effort to speak more slowly"
"a conscious policy"
Synonyms:
witting
intended
resulting from one's intentions
conscience
A conscience is a built-in sense of what's right and what's wrong. That sick feeling in your stomach after you meanly told your younger brother the truth about Santa Claus? That might be your conscience bothering you. The word conscience contains the word science , which comes from the Latin word scientia , meaning "to know" or "knowledge."You can think of your conscience as your knowledge of yourself, especially when it comes to your own morals, or your feelings about right and wrong. Pangs of conscience, which feel like an uncomfortable inner voice, are helpful when you're trying to decide the right thing to do in a particular situation.
DEFINITIONS OF:
conscience
1
n motivation deriving logically from ethicalor moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions
Synonyms:
moral sense , scruples , sense of right and wrong
Types:
superego
(psychoanalysis) that part of the unconscious mind that acts as a conscience
small voice , voice of conscience , wee small voice
an inner voice that judges your behavior
sense of duty , sense of shame
a motivating awareness of ethical responsibility
Type of:
ethical motive , ethics , morality , morals
motivation based on ideas of right and wrong
n conformity to one's own sense of right conduct
"a person of unflagging conscience "
Types:
conscientiousness
the quality of being in accord with the dictates of conscience
unconscientiousness
the quality of being willing to ignore the dictates of conscience
religiousness
the quality of being extremely conscientious
Type of:
morality
concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong; right or good conduct
n a feeling of shame when you do something immoral
"he has no conscience about his cruelty"
Type of:
shame
a painful emotion resulting from an awareness of inadequacy or guilt
pretension
Pretension is what you're guilty of when you boorishly try to impress other people with how important or clever you are.
When you speak with pretension, you're boastful and you puff yourself up as someone very important or of great worth. If you have literary pretentions, you mostly likely think you're a great writer, but you most likely are not. As you might imagine, thisword has the same Latin roots as pretend and pretense . A pretension can also be the advancing of a claim.
DEFINITIONS OF:
pretension
1
n the advancing of a claim
"his pretension to the crown"
"the town still puts forward pretensions as a famous resort"
Type of:
claim
an assertion of a right (as to money or property)
n a false or unsupportable quality
Synonyms:
pretence , pretense
Type of:
artificiality
the quality of being produced by people and not occurring naturally
n the quality of being pretentious (behaving or speaking in such a manner as to create a false appearance of great importance or worth)
Synonyms:
largeness , pretentiousness
Antonyms:
unpretentiousness
the quality of being natural and without pretensions
Types:
ostentation
pretentious or showy or vulgar display
Type of:
unnaturalness
the quality of being unnatural or not based on natural principles
nirvana
Nirvana is a place of perfect peace and happiness, like heaven. In Hinduism and Buddhism, nirvana is the highest state that someone can attain, a state of enlightenment, meaning a person's individual desires and suffering go away.
The origin of the word nirvana relates to religious enlightenment; it comes from the Sanskrit meaning "extinction, disappearance"of the individual to the universal. Achieving nirvana is to make earthly feelings like suffering and desire disappear. It's often used casually to mean any place of happiness,like if you love chocolate, going to Hershey's Park would be nirvana. On the other hand, if you're a Buddhist monk, it may take you years of meditating to reach nirvana.
DEFINITIONS OF:
nirvana
1
n (Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness
Synonyms:
enlightenment
Type of:
beatification , beatitude , blessedness
a state of supreme happiness
n any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
Synonyms:
Eden , Shangri-la , heaven , paradise , promisedland
Type of:
part , region
the extended spatial location of something
compact
A compact is a signed written agreement that binds you to do what you'vepromised. It also refers to something small or closely grouped together, like the row of compact rental cars you see when you wanted a van.
As a verb, compact means "to compress or squeeze together," like how the garbage truck compacts your bags of trash. Compact , the adjective, describes something that is tightly packed together, like your luggage that is so compact it fits in the overhead compartment. Compact can also describe a brief summary, like a compact explanation of how the universe began that lasted only 10 minutes!
PRIMARY MEANINGS OF:
compact
1 adj v n
closely and firmly united or packed together
2 n
a signed written agreement between two or more parties (nations) to perform some action
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: compact
1
adj closely and firmly united or packed together
" compact soil"
" compact clusters of flowers"
Synonyms
clayey , cloggy , heavy
(used of soil) compact and fine-grained
close-packed
packed especially tightly
consolidated
forming a solid mass
impacted , wedged
wedged or packed in together
packed
pressed together or compressed
serried
(especially of rows as of troops or mountains) pressed together
tight
packed closely together
concentrated
gathered together or made less diffuse
Antonyms:
loose
not compact or dense in structure or arrangement
show more antonyms...
adj having a short and solid form or stature
"a wrestler of compact build"
Synonyms:
heavyset , stocky , thick , thickset
little , short
low in stature; not tall
adj briefly giving the gist of something
"a compact style is brief and pithy"
Synonyms:
compendious , succinct , summary
concise
expressing much in few words
v make more compact by or as if by pressing
Synonyms:
compress , pack together
Antonyms:
decompress , uncompress
restore to its uncompressed form
Types:
pack , tamp , tamp down
press down tightly
Type of:
force , squeeze , wedge
squeeze like a wedge into a tight space
v squeeze or press together
Synonyms:
compress , constrict , contract , press , squeeze
Types:
show 9 types...
Type of:
tighten
become tight or tighter
v compress into a wad
Synonyms:
bundle , pack , wad
pack
have the property of being packable or of compacting easily
Types:
puddle
work a wet mixture, such as concrete or mud
Type of:
arrange , set up
put into a proper or systematic order
v have the property of being packable or of compacting easily
"This powder compacts easily"
Synonyms:
pack
bundle , pack , wad
compress into a wad
Type of:
be
have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
n a small and economical car
Synonyms:
compact car
Type of:
auto , automobile , car , machine , motorcar
a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
n a small cosmetics case with a mirror; to be carried in a woman's purse
Synonyms:
powder compact
Type of:
case
a portable container for carrying several objects
2
n a signed written agreement between two or more parties (nations) to perform some action
Synonyms:
concordat , covenant
Examples:
Lateran Treaty
the agreement signed in the Lateran Palace in1929 by Italy and the Holy See which recognized the Vatican City as a sovereign and independent papal state
Type of:
written agreement
a legal document summarizing the agreement between parties
You must be an English teacher because you are so good at it.Nyc work.Please keep it up
Thanx,the fact is that i am not a teacher but a student of futa studying applied geophysics.those words are all adapted from a professional site, i dont want only me to benefit from that site so that is why i created this thread for member to learn new words and buid their vocabulary.
mitigate
Choose the verb, mitigate, when something lessens theunpleasantness of a situation. You can mitigate your parents' anger by telling them you were late to dinner because you were helping your elderly neighbor.
The somewhat formal verb, mitigate, comes from the Latin roots mītis "soft" and agere "todo/act," which add up to "to soften." It is often used with words that indicate an outcome or something harmful. When you buy car insurance, you are trying to mitigate the risks involved with driving. Sunscreen is used to mitigate the effects of the sun on your skin.
DEFINITIONS OF:
mitigate
1
v lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
Synonyms:
extenuate , palliate
Type of:
apologise , apologize , excuse , justify , rationalise , rationalize
defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning
v make less severe or harsh
" mitigating circumstances"
Types:
lighten , relieve
alleviate or remove (pressure or stress) or make less oppressive
Type of:
decrease , lessen , minify
make smaller
representation
A representation acts or serves on behalf or in place of something. A lawyer provides legal representation for his client. A caricature is an exaggerated representation or likeness of a person.
Representation comes from the Latin repraesentare meaning "bring before, exhibit." A representation is an exhibit, whether it comes in the form of legal guidance or in the form of artistic expression. The act of representation has to do with replacing or acting on behalf of an original. Elected officials serve as the representation for their constituency — or at least it's supposed to work that way.
PRIMARY MEANINGS OF:
representation
1 n
the act of representing; standing in for someone or some group and speaking withauthority in their behalf
2 n
a factual statement made by one party in order to induce another party to enter into a contract
3 n
the state of serving as an official and authorized delegate or agent
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: representation
1
n the act of representing; standing in for someone or some group and speaking withauthority in their behalf
Types:
proportional representation
representation of all parties in proportion to their popular vote
Type of:
cooperation
joint operation or action
n a presentation to the mind in the form ofan idea or image
Synonyms:
internal representation , mental representation
Types:
show 44 types...
Type of:
cognitive content , content , mental object
the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned
n an activity that stands as an equivalent of something or results in an equivalent
Types:
show 14 types...
Type of:
activity
any specific behavior
n a creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something
Examples:
Trojan Horse
a large hollow wooden figure of a horse (filled with Greek soldiers) left by the Greeks outside Troy during the Trojan War
Types:
show 116 types...
Type of:
creation
an artifact that has been brought into existence by someone
n a performance of a play
Synonyms:
histrionics , theatrical , theatrical performance
Types:
matinee
a theatrical performance held during the daytime (especially in the afternoon)
Type of:
performance , public presentation
a dramatic or musical entertainment
2
n a factual statement made by one party in order to induce another party to enter into a contract
"the sales contract contains several representations by the vendor"
Type of:
statement
a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forthparticulars or facts etc
n a statement of facts and reasons made in appealing or protesting
"certain representations were made concerning police brutality"
Type of:
statement
a message that is stated or declared; a communication (oral or written) setting forthparticulars or facts etc
3
n the state of serving as an official and authorized delegate or agent
Synonyms:
agency , delegacy
Types:
free agency
(sports) the state of a professional athlete who is free to negotiate a contract to play forany team
legal representation
personal representation that has legal status
virus
a harmful or corrupting agency
Type of:
state
the way something is with respect to its mainattributes
n the right of being represented by delegates who have a voice in some legislative body
Type of:
right
an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature
n a body of legislators that serve in behalf of some constituency
"a Congressional vacancy occurred in the representation from California"
Type of:
body
a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity
empathy / sympathy
Empathy is heartbreaking — you experience other people's pain and joy. Sympathy is easier because you just have to feel sorry for someone. Send a sympathy card if someone's cat died; feel empathy if your cat died, too.
Empathy was first used to describe how a viewer's appreciation of art depends on her ability to project her personality onto the art. These days it applies to anything you can basically "project your personality" on. When you feel what someone else feels, that's empathy . It's a good skill for doctors, actors, and characters from Star Trek:
Nearly all medical schools teach the importance of listening to patients and showing empathy . ( New York Times )
"I've always thought of acting as more of an exercise in empathy ." (Edward Norton)
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Commander Deanna Troi was an empath: shecould psychically sense other people's emotions. She experienced their emotions as they did.
Sympathy is an older word, from the Greek sympatheia , for "having a fellow feeling." It's a snuggly, comforting word. It's nice to get sympathy if you're feeling under the weather.To feel sympathy for someone is to feel bad for them:
This has already proved effective at drawing attention and sympathy . ( Slate)
Police show no sympathy for "polite bandit." ( Chicago Tribune )
So many dramas resort to cadging sympathy for their troubled characters by killing off loved ones. ( Time )
If you're feeling empathy , you're in (em) the feeling. If it's s ympathy , you're feeling s orry for s omeone.
empathy
Use empathy if you're looking for a noun meaning"the ability to identify with another's feelings." When Bill Clinton famously told people "I feel your pain" during his 1992 election campaign, some praised and others ridiculed him for displaying empathy , the sharing or understanding of feelings. Empathy is different from sympathy , which is pity or sorrow for others' misfortunes. They share a common root in -pathy , from the Greek pathos , "feeling." Where they differ is in theirprefixes: sym- means "with," while em- means"in." If you can empathize with someone, it's because you have been in their place: you've"walked a mile in their shoes," as the saying goes.
DEFINITIONS OF:
empathy
1
n understanding and entering into another's feelings
Type of:
fellow feeling , sympathy
sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish) sympathy
Sympathy is a feeling of pity or sense of compassion — it's when you feel bad for someone else who's going through something hard. The ability to feel sympathy for others is a great part of what make us human, and it's what compels us to reach out and offer help. So have sympathy for people who confuse this word with empathy — they're awfully close in meaning. Feeling sympathy means you feel sorry for someone's situation, even ifyou've never been there yourself. Empathy is when you truly understand and can feel whatanother person is going though.
DEFINITIONS OF:
sympathy
1
n a relation of affinity or harmony between people; whatever affects one correspondingly affects the other
"the two of them were in close sympathy "
Types:
mutual affection , mutual understanding
sympathy of each person for the other
Type of:
affinity , kinship
a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character
n sharing the feelings of others (especially feelings of sorrow or anguish)
Synonyms:
fellow feeling
Types:
show 12 types...
Type of:
feeling
the experiencing of affective and emotional states
n an inclination to support or be loyal to orto agree with an opinion
"his sympathies were always with the underdog"
Synonyms:
understanding
Type of:
disposition , inclination , tendency
an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others
oxymoron
Jumbo shrimp? Open secret? Use oxymoron to refer to a word or phrase that contradicts itself, usually to create some rhetorical effect.
When Shakespeare's Juliet says, "Parting is such sweet sorrow," she is using an oxymoron; her apparently self-contradictory turn of phrase actually makes a neat kind of sense. Oxymoron is sometimes used to describe a word combination that strikes the listener as humorously contradictory, even if the speaker didn't intend it that way — perhaps the most famous example is "militaryintelligence." The word oxymoron is itself an oxymoron; in Greek, oxy- means "sharp" or"wise," while moros means "foolish."
DEFINITIONS OF:
oxymoron
1
n conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence')
Type of:
figure , figure of speech , image , trope
language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
ingenious / ingenuous
Quiz time! Which example uses ingenuous correctly?
YouTube Marketing An Ingenuous Thing: What You Need To Know
Indeed, even an ingenuous child cries out with remorse when caught.
Joe Muench: Ingenuous plan for using those Asarco properties
If you picked the second one, give yourself a gold star. Ingenuous means innocent, artless, simple. It could be a compliment or an insult, but it does not somehow mean clever or creative. Our second example explains that even a innocent child will feel remorse about a thing if he's caught doing it (though, if he's"caught," doesn't that imply wrongdoing?).
The sad, ingenuous path of John Locke has been trumped by the machinations of Betty Draper.
If you refuse to take part in a game of corruption that everyone around you is playing, you're taken for an ingenuous fool.
Both the first and third examples wanted ingenious, meaning something original, creative, inventive. As in:
Caffeinated Marshmallows?! Ingenious!
YouTube marketing might be just thing cleverthing to sell your product. And though you might have an innocent way of using those Asarco properties, it's not something worth bragging about. A creative use is another story. So are caffeinated marshmallows. Just don't give them to ingenuous kids. ingenious
Something ingenious shows creativity and inventiveness.If someone compares you toEinstein, they're implying that you, too, are ingenious. Ingenious comes from the Latin words for inborn talent. It started off meaning someonewho was talented or incredibly smart, but has come to mean inventive, or clever. If you can solve 146,392 * 27,453 in your head, people might call you a math genius. But if you come up with a way to turn water into fuel, you will be praised as ingenious. Ingenious can also describe thing, like an ingenious device.
DEFINITIONS OF:
ingenious
1
adj showing inventiveness and skill
"an ingenious solution to the problem"
Synonyms:
clever , cunning
adroit
quick or skillful or adept in action or thought ingenuous
Someone who is ingenuous shows a childlike innocence, trust, and openness. One of the things kindergarten teachers value is the chance to work with kids while they're still relatively ingenuous ––their open, trusting natures are a joy.
Choose Your Words:
ingenious / ingenuous
Ingenuous means innocent, artless, simple, while ingenious refers to something original, creative, inventive. Continue reading...
A near synonym is naive . Its opposite is disingenuous , which means "giving a false impression of being honest and sincere." Don't confuse the word ingenuous with the similarly spelled ingenious , which means"very smart or clever." Ingenuous is from Latin ingenuus "having the qualities of peopleborn free, noble, honest, open," ultimately formed from the prefix in- "in" plus gignere "to produce."
DEFINITIONS OF:
ingenuous
1
adj lacking in sophistication or worldliness
"his ingenuous explanation that he would not have burned the church if he had not thought the bishop was in it"
Synonyms:
innocent
naif , naive
marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience
adj characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious
"an ingenuous admission of responsibility"
Synonyms:
artless
candid , heart-to-heart , open
openly straightforward and direct without reserve or secretiveness
undistorted
without alteration or misrepresentation
sincere
open and genuine; not deceitful
naif , naive
marked by or showing unaffected simplicity and lack of guile or worldly experience
Antonyms:
artful , disingenuous
not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness
swathe
When you swathe yourself ina blanket, you are wrapping or swaddling yourself up in it. Swathe a baby up and you're creating a little cocoon where she can sleep.
The word swathe can also be spelled swath. When spelled with an e, it is pronounced like the word "bathe." When you bathe, you immerse yourself in water and when you swathe yourself, you immerse or bundle yourself in blankets. Commonly, this word canbe used to talk about how you might wrap a baby up, but it's also the word for a long strip or bandage to protect a wound.
DEFINITIONS OF:
swathe
1
v wrap in swaddling clothes
Synonyms:
swaddle
Type of:
bind
make fast; tie or secure, with or as if with a rope
n an enveloping bandage
Synonyms:
wrapping
Type of:
bandage , patch
a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body
unconfined
If something is unconfined , it's free from physical restraint. Unlike chickens in industrial chicken farms, the unconfined chickens raised on real farms get to wander all they want.
Confinement is enclosure, so something that is unconfined has no boundaries or limits. If you're super excited because you just won the lottery, your joy is unconfined. If you think that the world is tumbling into doom, then you are an unconfined pessimist. If you are released from prison after 20 years, it willfeel strange and wonderful to be unconfined.
DEFINITIONS OF:
unconfined
1
adj not confined
Synonyms
free-range
of livestock and domestic poultry; permitted to graze or forage rather than being confined to a feed lot
free
able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint
Antonyms:
confined
not free to move about
show more antonyms...
adj free from confinement or physical restraint
Synonyms:
unimprisoned
free
able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint
uncanny
If something is uncanny , it isso mysterious, strange, or unfamiliar that it seems supernatural. If you hear strange music echoing through your attic, you might refer to it as positively uncanny .
You can also use uncanny to refer to something that is so remarkable that it is beyond what is natural: as in " uncanny abilities." This adjective was formed in English from the prefix un- "not" and canny "fortunate, safe." The current meaning of English canny is "careful and clever, especially in handling money."
DEFINITIONS OF:
uncanny
1
adj surpassing the ordinary or normal
"his uncanny sense of direction"
Synonyms:
preternatural
extraordinary
beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable
adj suggesting the operation of supernatural influences
""stumps...had uncanny shapes as of monstrous creatures"- John Galsworthy"
Synonyms:
eldritch , unearthly , weird
supernatural
not existing in nature or subject to explanation according to natural laws; not physical or material
parsimony
Parsimony is a noun to us when you are watching yourmoney very carefully. So you're not just saving your pennies for a rainy day — you're clipping coupons, re-using dryer sheets, and refusing to pay full price for anything.
It's not a bad thing to engage in a little parsimony. Related to an ancient Latin word meaning "to spare," parsimony keeps your checking account in the black and your retirement plan well funded. But get a little too parsimonious and you might start to looklike Uncle Scrooge — an old miser who learned the hard way that practicing extremeparsimony doesn't win you love and admiration.
DEFINITIONS OF:
parsimony
1
n extreme stinginess
Synonyms:
closeness , meanness , minginess , niggardliness , niggardness , parsimoniousness , tightfistedness , tightness
Types:
littleness , pettiness , smallness
lack of generosity in trifling matters
miserliness
total lack of generosity with money
Type of:
stinginess
a lack of generosity; a general unwillingness to part with money
n extreme care in spending money; reluctance to spend money unnecessarily
Synonyms:
parsimoniousness , penny-pinching , thrift
Type of:
frugality , frugalness
prudence in avoiding waste
allocate
To allocate is to set aside a certain amount of money for an expense. You usually hear about the government allocating funds for education or the military, but you may personally allocate some of your allowance to buying comic books.
Aside from money, a common thing to allocate is time: "The old woman in the shoe had so many children she could only allocate 2.7 minutes per day to talk to each one individually." Resources are also often allocated. Teachers, for example, are continuously allocating their year's supply of resources so they don't run out of glue sticksand paper before the end of the school year.
DEFINITIONS OF:
allocate
1
v distribute according to a plan or set apart for a special purpose
"I am allocating a loaf of bread to everyone on a daily basis"
"I'm allocating the rations for the camping trip"
Synonyms:
apportion
almanac
An almanac is an annual publication devoted to the facts and statistics of a given subject. You might consult a sports almanac for the coming year's scheduledgames, or information on your favorite (or least favorite) player.
The background of the noun almanac is somewhat hazy, with some suggesting it came from the Greek almenichiakon and others suggesting it came from the Spanish-Arabic al-manakh , both meaning "calendar." The astronomical almanac was once a book of permanent tables, with the annual version appearing in the 16th Century. Perhaps the most famous almanacs were Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac , and the Farmer's Almanac , published continuously since 1792, which offers weather predictionsas well as astronomical tables and gardening tips.
DEFINITIONS OF:
almanac
1
n an annual publication containing tabular information in a particular field or fields arranged according to the calendar of a given year
Type of:
annual , yearbook , yearly
a reference book that is published regularly once every year
n an annual publication including weather forecasts and other miscellaneous information arranged according to the calendar of a given year
Synonyms:
farmer's calendar
Type of:
annual , yearbook , yearly
a reference book that is published regularly once every year
disembark
Use the verb disembark to describe leaving a ship, airplane or other type of vehicle, like making sure youhaven't left anything in the plane's overhead compartment before you disembark .
Embark means "putting passengers in a planeor on a boat." Disembark is its opposite. When you disembark , you leave a ship or a plane, like when you can't wait to disembark at the port in order to go sight-seeing. When you disembark, there is a transition — you walk down a gangplank to go from water to land or down a special corridor to get from the runway to the airport terminal — unlike when you get out of a car. That's why you wouldn't use disembark for getting out of a car.
DEFINITIONS OF:
disembark
1
v go ashore
"The passengers disembarked at Southampton"
Synonyms:
debark , set down
Antonyms:
embark , ship
go on board
Type of:
land , set down
reach or come to rest
Tolerance
When you practice tolerance , you accept another's ideas and beliefs. If you respect someone's opinions — even if you disagree or find them nonsensical — you display tolerance .
The noun tolerance , which stems from the Latin for "endurance," also refers to an organism's ability to stand or handle a difficult environmental condition. If you build up a tolerance, you can handle large amountsof something (from medicine to psychological abuse) without being too strongly affected. We usually use the word to refer to our need to accept others, as suggested by John F. Kennedy when he said, "Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others."
DEFINITIONS OF:
tolerance
1
n willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others
Antonyms:
intolerance
unwillingness to recognize and respect differences in opinions or beliefs
Types:
broad-mindedness
an inclination to tolerate or overlook opposing or shocking opinions or behavior
liberality , liberalness
an inclination to favor progress and individual freedom
disinterest , neutrality
tolerance attributable to a lack of involvement
Type of:
attitude , mental attitude
a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways
n a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior
Synonyms:
permissiveness
Antonyms:
restrictiveness , unpermissiveness
a lack of permissiveness or indulgence and a tendency to confine behavior within certain specified limits
Types:
show 5 types...
Type of:
disposition , temperament
your usual mood
n the power or capacity of an organism to tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions
Types:
capacity
tolerance for alcohol
Type of:
endurance
the power to withstand hardship or stress
n the act of tolerating something
Types:
lenience , leniency
lightening a penalty or excusing from a choreby judges or parents or teachers
clemency , mercifulness , mercy
leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice
Type of:
allowance
the act of allowing
n a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits
Synonyms:
allowance , leeway , margin
Type of:
disagreement , discrepancy , divergence , variance
a difference between conflicting facts or claims or opinions
self-righteous
A self-righteous person thinks their beliefs and morals are better than everyone else's. If you're quite sure the charity of others pales in comparison with yours, you might be self-righteous .
Join the Old English words self, meaning"one's own person," and rightwise, meaning"virtuous," and you've got somebody who thinks very highly of their own morality. A self-righteous person thinks they can do no wrong, and goes about with a "holier-than-thou" attitude, judging and scrutinizing everyone else. A fur designer may view PETA activists as self-righteous when they picket his fashion show. You may consider a friend self-righteous when it comes to musical taste.
DEFINITIONS OF:
self-righteous
1
adj excessively or hypocritically pious
Synonyms:
holier-than-thou , pharisaic , pharisaical , pietistic , pietistical , sanctimonious
pious
having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity
Aversion
If you have an aversion to something, you have an intense dislike for it. Commonly its food, but you could have an aversion to black and white movies, driving with the windows open, taking calls from salespeople or being barefoot outdoors.
An aversion is also the person or thing that is the object of such intense dislike: her aversions included all kinds of vegetables andfruits. This noun is from Latin avertio , ultimately from avertere "to turn away," from the prefix a- "from" plus vertere "to turn." Near synonyms are repugnance and antipathy .
PRIMARY MEANINGS OF:
aversion
1 n
the act of turning yourself (or your gaze) away
2 n
a feeling of intense dislike
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: aversion
1
n the act of turning yourself (or your gaze) away
Synonyms:
averting
Type of:
avoidance , dodging , shunning , turning away
deliberately avoiding; keeping away from or preventing from happening
2
n a feeling of intense dislike
Synonyms:
antipathy , distaste
Type of:
dislike
a feeling of aversion or antipathy
Exponent
An exponent is a person whois a big promoter of something. Are you an exponent of the four-day school and work week?
You may already know the mathematical meaning of exponent : a numeric notation showing how many times a number is multiplied by itself. How did exponent come to mean a strong advocate or promoter of something? Well, its Latin ancestor was a verb meaning "to put forth" and it's easy to see how this could be generalized to refer to people. After all, aren't you an exponent of freedom of expression?
PRIMARY MEANINGS OF:
exponent
1 n
a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself
2 n
a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: exponent
1
n a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself
Synonyms:
index , power
Types:
show 7 types...
Type of:
mathematical notation
a notation used by mathematicians
2
n a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea
Synonyms:
advocate , advocator , proponent
Examples:
show 40 examples...
Types:
show 76 types...
Type of:
individual , mortal , person , somebody , someone , soul
a human being
n someone who expounds and interprets or explains
Type of:
intellect , intellectual
a person who uses the mind creatively
Theocracy
When religious doctrine is the law of the land, most likely you're living in a theocracy . There's not a lot of room for dissent in theocracies, where priests are in charge and say they are speaking for God.
Notice the similarities between theocracy and democracy ? In Greek, theo- means "God" and -kratia "power or rule." A democracy is ruled by dēmos , "the people." An autocracy is one ruled by a single person with absolute power, like a king (or your mom). In theocracies , God rules.
DEFINITIONS OF:
theocracy
1
n a political unit governed by a deity (or byofficials thought to be divinely guided)
Types:
church-state
a state ruled by religious authority
hierocracy
a ruling body composed of clergy
Type of:
form of government , political system
the members of a social organization who are in power
n the belief in government by divine guidance
Type of:
ideology , political orientation , political theory
an orientation that characterizes the thinkingof a group or nation
Hemorrhage
Medically speaking, a hemorrhage is a rapid loss ofblood. If you fall and hit your head really hard, the doctors will check to see there's no cerebral hemorrhage , or bleeding in your brain.
Hemorrhage is pronounced HEM-or-edge. Blame the Greeks for the funny spelling, because like many medical terms, this one comes from Greek roots. Besides the medical meaning, we use hemorrhage to mean the uncontrollable loss of other things. If sudden disaster is making you hemorrhage money, you'll have to cut back on fancy dinners and new shoes. Can I recommend frozen pizza?
DEFINITIONS OF:
hemorrhage
1
n the flow of blood from a ruptured blood vessel
Synonyms:
bleeding , haemorrhage
Types:
show 7 types...
Type of:
harm , hurt , injury , trauma
any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.
v lose blood from one's body
Synonyms:
bleed , shed blood
Types:
flow , menstruate
undergo menstruation
Type of:
discharge , eject , exhaust , expel , release
eliminate (a substance)
Palaver
Palaver is a type of empty nonsense. In other words, a more refined way of saying"BS."
Whether you call it malarkey, hokum, mumbo-jumbo, or truthiness, there are a lot of words for talk that cannot be trusted or believed. Palaver is part of this club. Specifically, palaver tends to be hot air — empty words from a blow hard. Palaver can also be sweet talk — a type of flattery. You can use this word as a verb too: by palavering, you might try to impress them someone or get someone themto do you a favor.
PRIMARY MEANINGS OF:
palaver
1 n v
loud and confused and empty talk
2 n v
flattery intended to persuade
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: palaver
1
n loud and confused and empty talk
Synonyms:
empty talk , empty words , hot air , rhetoric
Type of:
bunk , hokum , meaninglessness , nonsense , nonsensicality
a message that seems to convey no meaning
v speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly
Synonyms:
blab , blabber , chatter , clack , gabble , gibber , maunder , piffle , prate , prattle , tattle , tittle-tattle , twaddle
Types:
babble , blather , blether , blither , smatter
to talk foolishly
Type of:
mouth , speak , talk , utter , verbalise , verbalize
express in speech
v have a lengthy discussion, usually between people of different backgrounds
Type of:
parley
discuss, as between enemies
2
n flattery intended to persuade
Synonyms:
blandishment , cajolery
Type of:
flattery
excessive or insincere praise
v influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
"He palavered her into going along"
Synonyms:
blarney , cajole , coax , inveigle , sweet-talk , wheedle
Types:
soft-soap
persuade someone through flattery
browbeat , bully , swagger
discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate
Type of:
persuade
cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm
Scruples
Having scruples is kind of likehaving a conscience: your morals or scruples cause you to act in ways you think are right.
The idea of scruples has to do with ethics and morality: what is right and wrong. If you had no scruples at all, you'd just kill, steal, cheat, and do God knows what else. Scruples are a kind of moral compass that lets you know what's right. Often people use this word in an outraged way when someone does something bad: "Don't you have any scruples?" Liars, thieves, criminals, and politicians have fewer scruples than the rest of us.
DEFINITIONS OF:
scruples
1
n motivation deriving logically from ethicalor moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions
Synonyms:
conscience , moral sense , sense of right and wrong
Types:
superego
(psychoanalysis) that part of the unconscious mind that acts as a conscience
small voice , voice of conscience , wee small voice
an inner voice that judges your behavior
sense of duty , sense of shame
a motivating awareness of ethical responsibility
Type of:
ethical motive , ethics , morality , morals
motivation based on ideas of right and wrong
Posit
To posit something is to assume or suggest that it is true. You can posit an idea oropinion.
When you posit, you submit an idea or give an opinion. Scientists posit many ideas — called hypotheses — that they then try to prove or disprove through experimentation and research. In science, you hear about positing a lot, and the same is true in math and logic. When you say "If X, then Y" you're positing a proposition. Positing can also mean to put something somewhere firmly — this means to deposit, fix, or situate.
DEFINITIONS OF:
posit
1
v take as a given; assume as a postulate or axiom
"He posited three basic laws of nature"
Synonyms:
postulate
Types:
assert , insist
assert to be true
Type of:
presuppose , suppose
take for granted or as a given; suppose beforehand
v put before
Synonyms:
put forward , state , submit
Type of:
advise , propose , suggest
make a proposal, declare a plan for something
v put (something somewhere) firmly
"She posited her hand on his shoulder"
Synonyms:
deposit , fix , situate
Types:
bury
place in the earth and cover with soil
sediment
deposit as a sediment
Type of:
lay , place , pose , position , put , set
put into a certain place or abstract location
n (logic) a proposition that is accepted as true in order to provide a basis for logical reasoning
Synonyms:
postulate
Amber
Amber is a brownish yellow color. Many cats have green eyes but those with amber eyes are likely to have yellow or white fur.
Amber is also a translucent golden or honeyed-yellow colored gemstone, often used to make jewelry. That's where the color amber gets its name. Amber comes from the ocean floor — most of it is harvested from the Baltic Sea off the coast of Russia. The most likely origin of amber is the Latin word for "bitter," amarus , as the color yellow was often associated with bitterness and envy.
DEFINITIONS OF:
amber
1
n a hard yellowish to brownish translucentfossil resin; used for jewelry
Type of:
natural resin
a plant exudate
n a deep yellow color
"an amber light illuminated the room"
Synonyms:
gold
Type of:
yellow , yellowness
yellow color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of sunflowers or ripe lemons
adj of a medium to dark brownish yellow color
Synonyms:
brownish-yellow , yellow-brown
chromatic
being or having or characterized by hue
Doze
Are you sleepy? Maybe you need to doze a little. To doze is to sleep lightly or to take a nap.
To doze is to just have a little sleep: either a short nap or a very light snooze. Since doze and snooze almost rhyme — and snoring sounds a little like ZZZZZZZZZZZ — the letter Z might be a good way to remember this word.Just make sure you don't " doze off" in class.
DEFINITIONS OF:
doze
1
n a light fitful sleep
Synonyms:
drowse
Type of:
sleeping
the suspension of consciousness and decrease in metabolic rate
v sleep lightly or for a short period of time
Synonyms:
drowse , snooze
Type of:
catch a wink , catnap , nap
take a siesta
1. abjure formally reject or disavow a
formerly held belief, usually under
2. abrogate revoke formally
3. abstemious marked by temperance
in indulgence
4. acumen shrewdness shown by keen
insight
5. antebellum belonging to a period
before a war especially the American Civil
Abjure
Abjure means to swear off,
and it applies to something
you once believed. You can
abjure a religious faith, you
can abjure your love of
another person, and you
can abjure the practice of
using excessive force in
interrogation.
Abjure is a more dramatic way to declare
your rejection of something you once felt
or believed. When you see its Latin roots,
it makes sense: from ab- (meaning
"away") and jurare ("to swear"). When
you abjure something, you swear it away
and dissociate yourself with it. You might
abjure the field of astrology after
receiving a bad fortune, or you might
abjure marriage after a bitter divorce.
DEFINITIONS OF:
abjure
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USAGE EXAMPLES
1
formally reject or disavow a formerly
held belief, usually under pressure
"She abjured her beliefs"
v
Synonyms: forswear , recant , resile, retract
Type of: disown, renounce , repudiate
cast off
DEFINITIONS OF:
mangled Add to List... Thesaurus
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USAGE EXAMPLES
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1
having edges that are jagged from
injury
adj
Synonyms: lacerate, lacerated , torn
injured
harmed