Welcome to Lauren's Dictionary containing words she found whilst looking through the dictionary. Some of the words difinitions are fascinating, or fun to pronounce. Click on the links below to proceed to your favourite letter.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZAfflatus- n. A divine impartation of knowledge; supernatural impulse; inspiration.
Aggrandize- v. 1. To make great; to enlarge; to increase; as, to aggrandize our conceptions , athority, distress. 2. To make great or greater in power, rank, honor, or wealth; -- applied to persons, countries, et cetera et cetera. 3. To make appear great or greater; to exalt.
Antineoplastic- adj. Inhibiting the growth or spread of neoplasms.
Antineutrion- n., pl. -nos. The antiparticle of the neutron.
Aplomb- n. Assurance of manner or of action; self-possession; confidence; coolness
Apotheosis- n., pl -ses 1. Exaltion to devine rank or stature: deification. 2. An exalted or glorified example: He was the apotheosis of courage
Atone- v. 1. To make amends, as for a sin or fault. 2. To agree. -tr. 1. To expiate. 2. To conciliate; apease. 3. Obsolete. To reconcile or harmonize.
Autocrat- n. 1. An absolute sovereign; a monarch who holds and excercises the powers of government by claim of absolute right, not subject to restriction. 2. One who rules with undispute sway any company or relation; a despot.
Baedeker- n. A guidebook.
Big bang theory- n. A cosmological theory holding that the inverse originated billions of years ago from the violent eruption of a point source.
Biomorphemic- adj. Consisting of two morphemes.
Biomial theorem- n. A mathematical theorem that specifies the expansion of a binomial to any power without requiring the explicit multiplication of the binomial terms.
Blandishment- n. Flattery intended to persuad; a flattering word or act.
Bombast- n. High-sounding words; an inflated style; language above the dignity of the occassion.
Cavitation n. 1. The sudden formation and collapse of low-pressure bubles in liquids by means of mechanical forces, as thoses resulting from rotation of marine propeller. 2. The formation of cavities in tissue or an organ, especially as a result of disease.
Celestial equator- n. A great cicle on the celestial shpere in the same plane as the earth's equator.
Circumlocution- n. The use of many words to express an idea that might be expressed by few.
Chancelor- n., pl. -ies. 1. The rank or position of a chancellor. 2. a. The office or department of a chancellor. b. The building in which it is consulate.
Cheapy- adj. Cheaper than something more expensive. Often used to describe a store brand of Chee Toes.
Cunctation- n. Procrastination; delay.
Cupidity- n. Eager or inrodinate disire, especially for wealth; greed of gain; avarice;coventousness.
Czar- n. 1. A male monarch or emperor, expecially one of the emperors who ruled Russia until the revolutino fo 1917. 2. A person having great power; an autocrate. 3. Informal An appointed official having special power to regulate or supervise an activity.
Czarina- n. 1. The daughter of a czar. 2. The wife of a czarevitch (The eldest son of a czar).
Dame- n. 1. A title formerly given to a woman in authority or to the mistress of a household. 2. A married woman; matron. 2. a. Archaic/ The legal title of the wife or widow of a knight or baronet. b. A title of a woman equivelent to that of a knight.
Darwinism- m. A theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Darwin and others, stating that species of plants and animals develop through natural selection of variation that increase the organism's ability to survive and reproduce.
Decimate- tr.v. 1. To destroy or kill a large part of. 2. To select by lot and kill one in every ten of. 3. A punishment sometimes inflicted by Roman commanders for showing cowardness in battle.
Demagogue- n. 1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudives of the populuce. 2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.
Diadem- n. 1. A crown or head band. 2. Royal power or dignity.
Dialation- n. The effect of traveling at the speed of light.
Dimension- n. 1. A measure of spatial extent, especially width, height, or length. 2. Often dimensions. Extent; amgnitude; size; scope. 3. Math a. Any of the least number of independant coordinates required to specify a point in space uniquely. b. The range of any of these coordinates. 4. Physics. A physical property, often mass, length, time, or a combination thereof, regarded as a fundamental measure or as one of a set of fundamental measures of phusical quantity.
Dynamism- n. 1. Any of various theories of philosophical systems that explain the universe in terms of force or energy. 2. A process or mechanism responsible of development or motion of a system. 3. The quallity of being dynamic.
Equivocate- v. To be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or to aviod committing oneseft to anything definite.
Exalt- v. 1. To praise, glorify, or honor. 2. To heighten or intensify. 3. To raise in rank, character, or status; as, "exalted the humble shoemaker to the rank of King's adviser".
Gree- n. Superiority; mastery.
Garrulous- adj. Talking much, especially about commonplace or trivial things; loquacious.
Inculcate- v. To teach and impress by frequent repetitions or addmonitions; to urge on the mind.
Ineluctable- adj. Impossible to avoid or evade; inevitable.
Lachrymose- adj Generating or shedding tears; given to shedding tears; suffused wit tears; tearful.
Lackadaiscial- adj. 1. Lacking spirit or liveliness. 2. Idle or indolent especially in a dreamy way; "she was annoyingly lackadaisical and impractical"; "a... lackadisical, spiritless young man-about-town"- P.G. Wodehouse
Malapropism- n. 1. Ludicrous misue of a word, expecially by confusion with one of similar sound. 2. An example of such misuse.
Matriarch- n. 1. A woman who rules a family, clan, or tribe. 2. A woman who dominates a group or activity. 3. A highly respected woman who is a mother.
Nabob- n. A person of great wealth and prominence.
Nebbish- n. A weak-willed and timid person.
Nebulous- adj. 1. Cloudy, misty, or hazy. 2. Lacking definite form or limits; vague. 3. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a nebula.
Nerd- n. Slang 1. A person regarded as stupid, inept, or unattractive. 2. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in schientific pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.
Nom de guerre- n., pl noms de guerre. A fictitious name; a pseudonym.
Nonpareil- adj Having no equal. n. 1. A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon. 2. A small, flat chocolate drop covered with white pellets of sugar.
Nefarious- adj Wicked in the extreme; abominable; iniquitous; atrociously villainous; excrable; detestably vile.
Omnipotent- adj. Having unlimited or univeral power, authority, or force; all-powerful.
Omniscient- adj. Having total knowledge; knowing everything.
Ostracize- v. 1. To expel from a community or group; to cast out from social, political or private favour. 2. (Greek Antiquity) TO exile by ostracism; to banish by a popular vote, as in Athens.
Pamper- tr.v. 1. To treat with excessive indulgence. 2. To give in to; gratify. 3. To indulge with rich food; glut.
Philomath- n. A lover of learning; a scholar.
Pixy- n. A fairylike or elfin creature, especially one that is mischievous; a playful sprite.
Polymath- n. A person with great or varied knowledge.
Prescience- n. Knowledge of events before they take place; foresight.
Serf- adj. A member of a servile, feudal class of people in Europe, bound ot the land and owned by a lord. 2. A person of servitude.
Sesquipedalian- n. 1. Given to the overuse of long words; "sesquipedalian orators" 2. (Of words) long and ponderous; having many syllables; as, "sesquipedalian technical terms" n. A very long word ( a food and a half long).
Shrewd- adj. 1. Characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical. 2. Disposed to artful and cunning practices; tricky. 3. Sharp; penetrating; a shrewd wind.
Snob- n. 1. One who overly imitates, obsequiously admire, and offensively seeks to associate only with those one regards as one's superiours and who tends to rebuff or ignore altogether those one regards as one's inferiour. 2. One who affects an offensive air of self-satisfied superiority in matters of tast or intellect.
Sojourn- v. To dwell for a time; to dwell or live in a place as a temporary resident or as a stranger, not considering the place as a permanent habitaion; to delay; to tarry. n. A temporary residence, as that of a traveler in a foreign land.
Syabrite- n. A person devoted to luxury and pleasure; a voluptuary.
Tycoon- n. 1. A wealthy and powerful businessperson or industrialist; a magate. 2. Used formerly as a title for a Japanese Shogun.
Utopia- n. 1.a. An ideally perfect place, especially in it social, political, and moral aspects. b. A work of fiction describing a utopia. 2. An impractial, idealistic scheme for social and political reform.
Vainglory- n. Excessive vanity excited by one's own performance; empty pride; undue elation of mind; vain show; boastfulness.
Vex- tr.v. 1.a. To irritate or annoy; bother. b. To bring physical discomfort to. 2. To baffle. 3. To talk about or debate at length. 4. To toss about or shake hate at length.
Wanderlust- n. A very strong or irresistible impulse to travel.
Wince- intr.v. To shrink or start incoluntarily, as in pain or distress; flinch. n. A shrinking or startled movement or gesture.
|
