Word of the Day – Pettifogger

pettifogger

  •  Noun: Pettifogger
    1. a lawyer whose methods are petty, underhanded, or disreputable :  shyster
    2. one given to quibbling over trifles
  • Synonyms:
    1. Dishonest
    2. Fraud
    3. Corruption
    4. Cheating
    5. Deception
    6. Deceit
    7. Gerrymandering
  • Usage:

“He owed me for the councillor, the pettifogger!”

  • Encountered:

While reading Twenty Years After by Alexandre

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word for the Day – Manumission

manumission

  •  Noun: Manumission
    1. the act or process of manumitting; especially : formal emancipation from slavery
  • Synonyms:
    1. emancipation
    2. liberation
    3. release
    4. rescue
  • Usage:

“However, especially after 1800, most manumissions involved select slaves, and they were often the mixed-race relatives, in one way or another , of the master.”

  • Encountered:

While reading Colors Matters edited by Kimberly Jade Norwood

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word of the Day – Cupidity

Cupidity

  • Noun: Cupidity
    1. inordinate desire for wealth : avarice, greed
    2. strong desire : lust
  • Synonyms:
    1. Greed
    2. Avarice
    3. Covetousness
    4. Rapacity
    5. Materialism
    6. Mammonism
    7. Money-grubbing
  • Usage:

“Nevertheless, knowing the weakness of her husband, and more particularly his cupidity, she did not despair of bringing him round to her purpose.”

  • Encountered:

Reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word of the Day – Loquacious

  •  Noun:  LoquaciousGarrulous
    1. full of excessive talk :  wordy
    2. :  given to fluent or excessive talk
  • Synonyms:
    1. Talkative
    2. Voluble
    3. Chatty
    4. Communicative
    5. Garrulous
  • Usage:

“Mr. Munck is a husky, loquacious man who lives about an hour south of Copenhagen.”

  • Encountered:

 While reading a New York Times editorial: Denmark’s Drug-Free Pigs

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word of the Day – Mazophilia

breasts

  • Noun: Mazophilia
    1. A paraphilia, not formally recognised in the DSM-IV, in which sexuoeroticism hinges on the female partner’s/partners’ breasts to the virtual exclusion of other physical features.
  •  Synonyms:
    1. none found
  • Usage:

“Breast fetishism is clinically known as “mazophilia.” It falls under the DSM category of partialism, meaning an exclusive focus on one part of the body. Dr. Anil Aggrawal refers to breast partialists as those with, “an exclusive or almost exclusive reliance on breasts as a stimulus for sexual arousal.” There are a number of categories breast partialists can fall into. A simple Google search demonstrates just how wide the community spans. ”

  • Encountered:

Article on AlterNet.org : Adult Breast Feeding, Anyone? Inside the World of Breast Fetishism (Article no longer there)

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word of the Day – Maleficium

ladyofthewood_kristirinier_geminimoon_watermarked_by_kristinastar-d828iu1

  • Noun: Maleficium
    1. Witchcraft; Harmful magic
    2. Legal definition (civil law): waste, damage, tort
  • Synonyms:
    1. Sorcery
    2. Witchcraft
    3. Mischief
    4. Tort
  • Usage:

“Discover whether you are guilty of maleficium and/or would have been accused of practicing witchcraft according to the laws and evidence used during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials.”

  • Encountered:

While reading 17 Signs That You’d Qualify as a Witch in 1692 at mentalfloss.com

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word of the Day – Zounds

zoiunds

  •  Interjection: Zounds
    1. Used a mild oath
  •  Synonyms:
    • None found
  • Usage:

‘”Zounds! I think it does indeed!” cried the Gascon, who reckoned upon this letter for making his way at court. “It contained my fortune!”’

  • Encountered:

Reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word of the Day – Portmanteau

portmanteau

  • Noun: Portmanteau
  1. a large suitcase
  2. a word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two or more distinct forms (as smog from smoke and fog)
  • Synonyms:
  1. Carryall
  2. carry-on
  3. grip
  4. handbag
  5. holdall [chiefly British]
  6. suitcase
  7. wallet
  • Usage:

“This doublet and hose, though new, were creased, like traveling clothes for a long time packed in a portmanteau. “

  • Encountered:

Reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word of the Day – Hegemony

  • Noun: HegemonyIRAQI MCDONALDS
    1. preponderant influence or authority over others :  domination <battled for hegemony in Asia>
    2. the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group
  •  Synonyms:
    1. leadership
    2. dominance
    3. dominion
    4. supremacy
    5. authority
    6. mastery
    7. control
    8. power
    9. sway
    10. rule
    11. sovereignty
  • Usage:
  • “Yet, in an American context, we face again a hegemony that allows us to narrate a single Jewish memory, i.e., a European one. ”

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

Word of the Day – Coquetry

Alfredo_Valenzuela_Puelma_-_Coquetería

  •  Noun: Coquetry
    1. a flirtatious act or attitude
  • Synonyms:
    1. flirting
    2. dalliance
    3. coyness
  • Usage:

“The young man felt her press his hand, and comprehended that this was a sentiment, not of coquetry, but of gratitude because of his departure.”

  • Encountered:

Reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day