MensaGrrl's Guide to a Smart Vocabulary

exigency

2011-03-29T01:19:00.001-07:00

exigency (n)

1. The quality or state of requiring immediate aid or action; urgency.

2. A case demanding immediate action or remedy; a pressing or urgent situation.

3. That which is demanded or required in a particular situation -- usually used in the plural.

bedaub

2011-03-29T01:06:00.000-07:00

bedaub (vt)

1. to smear all over; besmear; soil.

2. to ornament gaudily or excessively.

Special Post: Potassium Iodide for Radiation Protection

2011-03-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

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Potassium Iodide for Protection from Radiation

palanquin

2008-05-03T14:48:00.001-07:00

palanquin (n)

1. A covered type of litter for a stretched-out passenger, carried on four poles on the shoulders of four or more bearers, as formerly used (also by colonials) in eastern Asia.

antidisestablishmentarianism

2007-01-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

antidisestablishmentarianism (n)

1. A political philosophy opposed to the separation of church and state, esp. opponents in 19th century England against separating the Anglican church from the state.

2. Referred to as an atypically long word for showing intellectual pretence.

pedantic

2007-01-27T20:03:00.000-08:00

pedantic (adj)

1. Like a pedant, overly concerned with formal rules and trivial points of learning.

2. Being showy of one’s knowledge, often in a boring manner.

3. Often used to describe a person who emphasizes his/her knowledge through the use of vocabulary; ostentatious in one’s learning.

4. Being finicky or picky with language.

eschew

2007-01-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

eschew (vt)

1. To avoid; to shun (usually applied to ideas or concepts and not to concrete objects).

sanguine

2007-01-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

sanguine (adj)

1. (color) Having the color of blood; red.

2. Characterized by abundance and active circulation of blood.

3. Warm; ardent.

4. Anticipating the best; not despondent; confident; full of hope.

5. (Obsolete): irresponsibly mirthful; indulgent in pleasure to the exclusion of important matters.

sanguine (n)

1. (colour) Blood color; red.

2. Anything of a blood-red color, as cloth.

3. Bloodstone.

4. Red crayon.

sanguine (vt)

1. To stain with blood; to impart the color of blood to; to ensanguine.

lilliputian

2007-01-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

lilliputian (adj)

1. Very small, diminutive.

2. Trivial, petty.

lilliputian (n)

A very small person or being.

tintinnabulation

2007-01-27T19:54:00.001-08:00

tintinnabulation (n)

A tinkling sound, as of a bell or bells.

eleemosynary

2007-01-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

eleemosynary (adj)

1. Relating to charity, alms, or almsgiving; intended for the distribution of charity.

2. Given in charity or alms; having the nature of alms; as, eleemosynary assistance.

3. Supported by charity; as, eleemosynary poor.

Verfremdungseffekt

2007-01-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

Verfremdungseffekt (plural Verfremdungseffekte) (n)

1. Brecht's alienation effect, sometimes translated as the estrangement effect.

2. (theater) Distance between the audience and the performers.

apraxia

2007-01-27T19:48:00.001-08:00

apraxia (n)

1. Total or partial loss of the ability to perform coordinated movements or manipulate objects in the absence of motor or sensory impairment; specifically, a disorder of motor planning.

bellicose

2007-01-27T19:47:00.001-08:00

bellicose (adj)

1. Warlike in nature; aggressive; hostile.

2. Showing or having the impulse to be combative.

hypertrophy

2007-01-27T19:46:00.000-08:00

hypertrophy (n)

1. (medicine) An increase in the size of an organ due to swelling of the individual cells.

2. (bodybuilding) Increase in muscle size through increased numbers of muscle fibers; a result of strict diet, weightlifting, and other exercise.

orrery

2007-01-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

orrery (n)

1. A clockwork model of the solar system.

coruscate

2007-01-27T19:44:00.002-08:00

coruscate (vi)

1. To give off light; to reflect in flashes; to sparkle.

2. To exhibit brilliant technique or style.

excrescence

2007-01-27T19:44:00.001-08:00

excrescence (n)

1. Something, usually abnormal, which grows out of something else.

2. A disfiguring or unwanted mark or adjunct

defenstrate

2007-01-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

defenstrate (vi)

1. (computing) (slang) To stop using the Windows operating system.

defenestrate (vt)

1. To eject or throw (someone or something) from a window.

anaphora

2007-01-27T19:40:00.001-08:00

anaphora (n)

1. The repetition of a phrase at the beginning of phrases, sentences, or verses, used for emphasis.

2. (linguistics) An expression that refers to another expression, especially a preceding one. An example is a pronoun that refers to its antecedent.

anthropomorphic

2007-01-27T19:39:00.001-08:00

anthropomorphic (adj)

1. (of inanimate objects, animals, or other non-human entities) Given human attributes.

catafalque

2007-01-27T19:38:00.001-08:00

catafalque (n)

1. A platform used to display or convey a coffin during a funeral, often ornate.

qualia

2007-01-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

qualia (n)

1. Properties not defineable with numbers. A quality.

2. Properties, as redness, which are considered independent from things having the property.

3. Plural form of quale

heterophenomenology

2007-01-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

heterophenomenology (n)

1. Phenomenology of the Other.

2. The method of studying the consciousness of other people.

satyriasis

2007-01-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

satyriasis (n)

1. Uncontrollable sexual desire, found in a man (contrast to nymphomania).

2. The quality of excessive sexual passion in a male.

amative

2007-01-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

amative (adj)

1. Pertaining to love; amorous.

boustrophedon

2007-01-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

boustrophedon (adv)

1. Of writing, in a fashion such that the reading direction changes from right-to-left to left-to-right every line.

boustrophedon (adj)

1. Written from right-to-left and left-to-right on alternate lines.

2. (figurative) Changing direction, going back and forth.

keratinization

2007-01-27T19:27:00.002-08:00

keratinization (n)

1. The process in which cells from beneath the skin are converted to hair and nails (made of keratin).

eschar

2007-01-27T19:27:00.001-08:00

eschar (n)

1. A dry, dark scab or scar, especially as a result of burning.

algedonic

2007-01-27T19:26:00.001-08:00

algedonic (adj)

1. Pertaining to both pleasure and pain.

aboulia

2007-01-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

aboulia (n)

1. Absence of will-power or decisiveness, especially as a symptom of mental illness.

peregrinate

2007-01-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

peregrinate (vi)

1. To travel from place to place, or from one country to another, especially on foot; hence, to sojourn in foreign countries.

peregrinate (vt)

2. To travel through a specific place.

diatribe

2007-01-27T19:20:00.001-08:00

diatribe (n)

1. An abusive, bitter denunciation.

2. A speech or writing which bitterly denounces something.

syzygy

2007-01-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

syzygy (n)

1. (astronomy) A kind of unity, namely an alignment of three celestial bodies (for example, the Sun, Earth, and Moon) such that one body is directly between the other two, such as an eclipse.

2. (psychology) An archetypal pairing of contrasexual opposites, symbolizing the communication of the conscious and unconscious minds.

3. (mathematics) A relation between generators of a module.

4. (medicine) The fusion of some or all of the organs.

5. (zoology) The association of two protozoa end-to-end or laterally for the purpose of asexual exchange of genetic material.

6. (zoology) The pairing of chromosomes in meiosis.

oniochalasia

2007-01-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

oniochalasia (n)

1. The purchasing of objects as a form of mental relaxation

indelible

2007-01-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

indelible (adj)

1. Having the quality of being difficult to remove, wash away, blot out, or efface.

2. Incapable of being canceled, lost, or forgotten.

3. Incapable of being annulled.

epigenetics

2007-01-27T19:10:00.000-08:00

epigenetics (n)

1. (genetics) The study of the processes involved in the genetic development of an organism, especially the activation and deactivation of genes.

2. (genetics) The study of heritable changes caused by the activation and deactivation of genes without any change in DNA sequence.

statism

2007-01-27T19:09:00.000-08:00

statism (n)

1. A belief in the importance of the power of the state over an individual, used to describe more extreme views.

brume

2007-01-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

brume (n)

1. (literary) Mist, fog, vapor.

concatenation

2007-01-27T19:06:00.001-08:00

concatenation (n)

1. A series of links united; a series or order of things depending on each other, as if linked together; a chain, a succession.

ekstasis

2007-01-27T19:04:00.001-08:00

ekstasis (plural ekstases) (n)

1. (mysticism and philosophy) The state of being beside one's self or rapt out of one's self.

alpenglow

2007-01-27T19:03:00.001-08:00

alpenglow (n)

1. A rosy or reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of mountains, especially snow covered mountains.

agon

2007-01-27T19:01:00.001-08:00

agon (plural agonies) (n)

1. A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work.

2. A test of will; a conflict.

3. A contest in ancient Greece, as in athletics or music, in which prizes were awarded.

roborant

2007-01-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

roborant (adj)

1. Invigorating, strengthening, or energizing.

foment

2007-01-25T17:31:00.001-08:00

foment (vt)

1. To apply a poultice to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge.

2. To cherish and promote, to encourage; to instigate.

fecundate

2007-01-25T17:29:00.001-08:00

fecundate (vt)

1. To make fertile.

2. To inseminate.

onomatopoeia

2007-01-25T17:28:00.001-08:00

onomatopoeia (n)

1. The property of a word of sounding like what it represents.

2. A word which has the property of onomatopoeia, such as "moo" or "hiss".

extirpate

2007-01-25T17:24:00.000-08:00

extirpate (vt)

1. To pull up by the roots; uproot.

2. To destroy completely; to annihilate.

3. To surgically remove.

extemporize

2007-01-25T17:11:00.000-08:00

extemporize (vi)

1. To make or create extempore.

2. (music) To compose extemporaneously or improvise.

extemporize (vt)

1. To do something, particularly to perform or speak, without prior planning or thought; to act in an impromptu manner; to improvise.

2. To do something in a makeshift way.

ensonify

2007-01-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

ensonify (vt)

1. To fill with sound.

efface

2007-01-25T17:08:00.000-08:00

efface (vt)

1. To erase (as anything impressed or inscribed upon a surface); to render illegible or indiscernible.

2. To cause to disappear as if by rubbbing out or striking out.

3. (reflexive) To make oneself inobtrusive as if due to modesty or diffidence.
Always the shy violet, Edna effaced herself in front of her sister, of whom she was in awe.

4. (medicine) Of the cervix during pregnancy, to thin and stretch in preparation for labor.

excoriate

2007-01-25T17:07:00.000-08:00

excoriate (vt)

1. To wear off the skin of; to chafe or flay.

2. To strongly renounce or censure.

enounce

2007-01-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

to enounce (vt)

1. To say or pronounce; to enunciate.

2. To declare or proclaim.

3. To state unequivocally.

excarnate

2007-01-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

excarnate (adj)

1. Deprived of flesh.

excarnate (vt)

1. To deprive of flesh.

perpetuate

2007-01-25T17:03:00.001-08:00

perpetuate (vt)

1. To make something perpetual.

2. To prolong the existence of something.

infer

2007-01-25T15:50:00.000-08:00

infer (vi)

1. To draw a conclusion (by reasoning).

infer (vt)

1. To conclude by reasoning or deduction, as from premises or evidence.

2. To surmise or reason from circumstance.

educe

2007-01-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

educe (vt)

1. To draw out or bring out; elicit.

cachinnate

2007-01-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

cachinnate (vi)

1. To laugh loudly, immoderately, or too often.

circumambulate

2007-01-25T15:39:00.001-08:00

circumambulate (vt)

1. To walk around something in a circle, especially for a ritual purpose.

ablation

2007-01-25T15:33:00.000-08:00

ablation (n)

1. A carrying or taking away; removal.

2. (medicine) The surgical removal of a body part; amputation.

3. (geology) The erosion of a glacier.

4. (physics) The dissipation of the heat of re-entry of a spacecraft.

ablate

2007-01-25T15:32:00.001-08:00

ablate (vi)

1. To undergo ablation.

ablate (vt)

To remove or decrease something by the process of ablation.

abjure

2007-01-25T15:29:00.000-08:00

abjure (vi)

1. To renounce on oath.

abjure (vt)

1. To renounce upon oath; to forswear; to disavow.

2. To renounce or reject with solemnity; to recant; to abandon forever; to reject; repudiate.

abberate

2007-01-25T15:27:00.002-08:00

aberrate (vi)

To go astray; to diverge; to deviate (from).

abberate (vt)

1. To distort; to cause aberration of.

advoke

2007-01-25T15:27:00.001-08:00

advoke (vt)

1. To summon or call (to a higher tribunal).

abrogate

2007-01-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

abrogate (adj)

1. (obsolete) Abrogated; abolished.

abrogate (vt)

1. To annul by an authoritative act; to abolish by the authority of the maker or his successor; to repeal; -- applied to the repeal of laws, decrees, ordinances, the abolition of customs, etc.

2. To put an end to; to do away with.

maraud

2007-01-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

maraud (vi)

1. To move about in roving fashion looking for plunder. (e.g. a marauding band).

maraud (vt)

2. To raid and pillage.

mire

2007-01-25T15:11:00.000-08:00

mire (n)

1. Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.

2. An undesireable situation, a predicament.

3. (obsolete) An ant.

mire (vt)

1. To weigh down.

mung

2007-01-25T15:09:00.000-08:00

mung (n)

1. A type of small bean.

2. A type of plant cultivated for its sprouts Vigna radiata or Phaseolus aureus.

mung (vt)

1. (computing) To make repeated changes to a file or data which individually may be reversible, yet which ultimately result in an unintentional irreversible destruction of large portions of the original data.

2. Hence to destroy.

mordant

2007-01-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

mordant (adj)

1. Biting; caustic; sarcastic; keen; severe.
2. Serving to fix colors when dyeing.

mordant (n)

1. Any substance used to facilitate the fixing of a dye to a fibre; usually a metallic compound which reacts with the dye using chelation.

mordant (vt)

1. To subject to the action of, or imbue with, a mordant.

macerate

2007-01-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

macerate (vt)

1. To soften (something), or separate (something) into pieces, by immersion in a liquid.

2. To make lean; to cause to waste away.

3. To subdue the appetites of by poor and scanty diet; to mortify.

macerate (n)

1. A macerated substance.

affine

2007-01-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

affine (adj)

1. (mathematics) Assigning finite values to finite quantities.

2. (mathematics) Describing a function expressible as f(x)=ax+b (which is not linear, but is similar).

2. Of or pertaining to a transformation that maps parallel lines to parallel lines and finite points to finite points.

affine (n)

1. (genealogy) A relative by marriage.

affine (vt)

1. To refine.

holotype

2007-01-25T14:50:00.001-08:00

holotype (n)

1. The single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to be used when the taxon was formally described.

histrionics

2007-01-25T14:49:00.003-08:00

histrionics (n)

1. Exaggerated, overemotional behaviour, especially when calculated to elicit a response; melodramatics.

dorter

2007-01-25T14:49:00.001-08:00

dorter (n)

1. (historical) A bedroom or dormitory, especially in a monastery.

dodecicosidodecahedron

2007-01-25T14:48:00.004-08:00

dodecicosidodecahedron (n)

1. A uniform polyhedron with 44 faces, 120 edges, and 60 vertices.

hoplophobia

2007-01-25T14:48:00.003-08:00

hoplophobia (n)

1. (often used derogatorily) The fear of guns.

holocoen

2007-01-25T14:48:00.001-08:00

holocoen (n)

1. An ecosystem.

weasand

2007-01-25T14:47:00.001-08:00

weasand (n)

1. The esophagus.

2. The throat in general.

heuristic

2007-01-25T14:46:00.002-08:00

heuristic (adj)

1. Pertaining to how something is discovered.

heuristic (n) (plural heuristics)
1. Any method found through discovery and observation.

2. A method known to produce incorrect or inexact results at times but likely to produce correct or sufficiently exact results when applied in commonly occurring conditions.

diacaustic

2007-01-25T14:46:00.001-08:00

diacaustic (adj)

1. Relating to the caustic curves formed by the refraction of light.

diacaustic (n)

1. A refracting lens, which can be used to cauterise.

2. The curve or surface formed by the intersection of refracted light rays.

heirophant

2007-01-25T14:45:00.002-08:00

heirophant (n)

1. A person whose role is to bring a religious congregation into the presence of that which is deemed holy.

dysphemism

2007-01-25T14:45:00.001-08:00

dysphemism (n)

1. The use of a word or phrase to replace another and that is considered more offensive or more vulgar than the word or phrase it replaces.

2. A word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way.

dodecahedron

2007-01-25T14:44:00.002-08:00

dodecahedron (n)

1. (geometry) A polyhedron with twelve faces; the regular dodecahedron has regular pentagons as faces and is one of the Platonic solids.

docetism

2007-01-25T14:44:00.001-08:00

docetism (n)

1. (Christianity) The belief (considered a heresy by some early Christians) that Jesus only appeared to have a physical body and was ultimately of celestial substance.

xenophobia

2007-01-25T14:43:00.002-08:00

xenophobia (n)

1. Pathological fear of foreigners.

2. Pathological hatred for foreigners.

3. Pathological fear or hatred of the unknown.

doyen

2007-01-25T14:43:00.001-08:00

doyen (n)

1. The senior, or eldest male member of a group.

dispulsion

2007-01-25T14:42:00.004-08:00

dispulsion (n)

1. The act of dispelling (e.g. myths, rumors, magic), the state of being dispelled.

2. Negative propulsion, the act of reducing the effect of propulsion, the act of decelerating.

dirigisme

2007-01-25T14:42:00.003-08:00

dirigisme (n)

1. Any economy in which the government exerts a strong directive influence; a centrally planned economy.

discomfiture

2007-01-25T14:42:00.001-08:00

discomfiture (n)

1. A feeling of frustration, disappointment, perplexity or embarrassment.

dioptric

2007-01-25T14:41:00.003-08:00

dioptric (adj)

1. (obsolete) Pertaining to a diopter.

2. Acting as a medium for sight; making use of refraction (of lenses, etc.).

3. (obsolete) Capable of being seen through.

dioptric (n)

1. (in plural) The branch of optics concerned with refraction.

2. A dioptric telescope.

hebdomad

2007-01-25T14:41:00.001-08:00

hebdomad (n)

1. A group of seven.

2. A period of a seven days, a week.

3. (Gnosticism) A group of seven superhuman beings.

diminution

2007-01-25T14:40:00.001-08:00

diminution (n)
1. A lessening, decrease or reduction.
2. (music) The shortening of the notes of a melody or theme.

witenagemot

2007-01-25T14:39:00.002-08:00

witenagemot (n)

2. (historic) The assembly of the Anglo-Saxon national council.

2. Any assembly, parliament or discursive gathering.

diaclasis

2007-01-25T14:39:00.001-08:00

diaclasis (n)

1. (medicine) Osteoclasis.

2. (geology) A network of cracks in limestone rock allowing the infiltration of water and causing sinkholes.

declination

2007-01-24T00:05:00.002-08:00

declination (n)

1. At a given point, the angle between magnetic north and true north.

2. At a given point, the angle between the line connecting this point with the geographical center of the earth and the equatorial plane.

3. A refusal.

4. (archaic) Declension.

deixis

2007-01-24T00:05:00.001-08:00

deixis (n)

1. (linguistics) A reference within a sentence that relies on the context being known to interpret correctly.

definiend

2007-01-24T00:03:00.000-08:00

definiendum (n)

1. A word or phrase defined in a definition.

demesne

2007-01-24T00:02:00.000-08:00

demesne (n)

1. A lord’s chief manor place, with that part of the lands belonging thereto which has not been granted out in tenancy; a house, and the land adjoining, kept for the proprietor’s own use.

charabanc

2007-01-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

charabanc (n)

1. A horse-drawn, and then later, motorized omnibus with open sides, and often, no roof.

ceilidh

2007-01-24T00:00:00.001-08:00

ceilidh (n)

1. An Irish or Scottish informal social gathering where traditional folk music is played, with dancing and story telling.