Category: Word of the Day

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Word of the Day – Amphigory

  • Noun: Amphigory

    1. a nonsense verse or composition : a rigmarole with apparent meaning which proves to be meaningless
  • Synonyms:
    1. balderdash
    2. baloney
    3. bosh
    4. bull
    5. bunk
    6. cant
    7. drivel
    8. gibberish
    9. hooey
    10. rigmarole
    11. rubbish
    12. Allow me to add, before someone comments, what the polite Thesaurus did not include… bullshit
  • Usage:
    1. “Well?” she repeated more firmly

      This time I openly stared.”Is that cantilevering natural? Or is there an invisible bra, you being in fact the sole support of two dependents?”

      She glanced down, looked up and grinned. “They do stick out, don’t they? Your comment is rude, crude, unrefined, and designed to change the subject.””What subject?  I made a polite inquiry;  you parried it with amphigory.”

      “`Amphigory’ my tired feet!  I answered precisely.”

      “`Amphigory,'” I repeated. “The operative symbols were `mad, ‘`scientist,’ `beautiful,’ and `daughter.’ The first has several meanings –the others denote opinions. Semantic content: zero.”

  • Encountered:
    1. While reading The Number Of The Beast by Robert A. Heinlein

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

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Word of the Day – Latitudinarian

  • Noun: Latitudinarian

    1. not insisting on strict conformity to a particular doctrine or standard : tolerant specifically
    2. tolerant of variations in religious opinion or doctrine
  • Synonyms:
    1. enlightened
    2. flexible
    3. humanistic
    4. lenient
    5. permissive
    6. radical
    7. reformist
    8. tolerant
  • Usage:
    1. “For example, Kevin Roose, a reporter with the New York Times, often posts (on Twitter) a list of the top 10 posts shared on Facebook in the past 24 hours, which almost always come predominantly from conservative voices, including Fox News, Ben Shapiro, ForAmerica, and the right-wing conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza. On the other hand, Twitter has largely become the voice of the left, where the most shared stories, content, videos, and opinions are often much more latitudinarian in nature.”
  • Encountered:
    1. While reading Vanity Fair article How Facebook Became the Social Media Home of the Right

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

 

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Word of the Day –Vociferate

  • Verb: Vociferate
    1. to speak or cry out loudly or noisily; shout; bawl
  • Synonyms:
    1.  bellow
    2. call
    3. clamor
    4. cry
    5. howl
    6. protest
    7. shriek
    8. utter
    9. yell
  • Usage:
    1. “This become clearly apparent in the past week, when Jack Dorsey finally decided to start labeling Trump’s most dangerous posts as “glorifying violence” and even fact-checking other posts where Trump lied about mail-in ballots contributing to voter fraud (they don’t). At the same time Mark Zuckerberg chose to go in the completely opposite direction, ceding that he is not the arbiter of free speech, and even going as far as to have a call with Trump himself to vociferate Facebook’s stance. Conversely, Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap, announced that he will no longer promote any of Trump’s posts on the platform. “We simply cannot promote accounts in America that are linked to people who incite racial violence, whether they do so on or off our platform,” Spiegel said in a memo to employees.”
  • Encountered:
    1. While reading Vanity Fair article How Facebook Became the Social Media Home of the Right

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

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Word of the Day – Philoprogenitiveness

  • Noun: Philoprogenitiveness
  • Adjective: Philoprogenitive
    1.  tending to produce offspring : prolific
    2. of, relating to, or characterized by love of offspring
  • Synonyms:
    1.   Profilic
    2. Fructuous
    3. Fertile
    4. Fruitful
  • Usage:
    1. “Philoprogenitiveness, says we, is strong in semi-rural communities; therefore, and for other reasons, a kidnapping project ought to be better there than in the radius of newspapers that send reporters out in plain clothes to stir up talk about such things.”
  • Encountered:
    1. While reading O. Henry’s short story, The Ransom of Red Chief

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

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Word of the Day – Gaslight

  • Verb: Gaslight
    1. manipulate (someone) by psychological means into questioning their own sanity. As in, Carl made Mary think she was crazy, even though she clearly caught him cheating. He gaslit her.
  • Synonyms:
    1.   interesting I did not find any synonyms. Do you have some, let me know.
  • Usage:
    1. “’And so we are about to be gaslit in a truly unprecedented way. It starts with a check for $1,200 — don’t say I never gave you anything — and then it will be so big that it will be bigly. And it will be a one-two punch from both big business and the big white house — inextricably intertwined now more than ever and being led by, as our luck would have it, a Marketer-in-Chief. ’”
  • Encountered:
    1. While reading an opinion piece by Julio Vincent Gambuto: Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting

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

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Word of the Day – Opprobrious

  • Adjective:  Opprobrious
    1. conveying or expressing opprobrium ( harsh criticism or censure), as language or a speaker: opprobrious invectives.
    2. outrageously disgraceful or shameful:  opprobrious conduct
  • Synonyms:
    1.   abusive
    2. contumelious
    3. invective
    4. scurrilous
    5. truculent
    6. vitriolic
    7. vituperative
    8. vituperatory
    9. wee what a list of words…several Words of the Day in there
  • Usage:
    1. “’It does Mr. Peters,’ says she. ‘I might have known you wouldn’t have gone into anything that wasn’t opprobrious. But what will my duties be? Do I have to reject personally these 3,000 ramscallions you speak of, or can I throw them out in bunches?’”
  • Encountered:
    1. While reading O. Henry’s short story, The Exact Science of Matrimony

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

Just as an aside, I have spent 50 or 60 years thinking William Sydney Porter’s pen name was O’Henry not O. Henry.  Live and learn.   I’ll let you figure out what the O stands for.

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Word of the Day – Solipsism

  • Noun:  Solipsism
    1. a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing also
    2. extreme egocentrism
  • Synonyms:
    1. egoism
    2. self-containment
    3. subjectivity
    4. egocentricity
    5. ipseity
    6. narcissism
    7. self-absorption
    8. self-reliance
    9. autonomy
  • Usage:
    1. “But what has taken me by surprise and torn me up inside are the aloofness, arrogance, pettiness, meanness, narcissism and solipsism that persist in Trump — that flourish in him — even during a once-in-a-lifetime emergency that demands something nobler. Under normal circumstances, these traits are galling. Under the current ones, they’re gutting.”
  • Encountered:
    1. New York Times editorial –Has Anyone Found Trump’s Soul? Anyone?

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

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Word of the Day – Conurbation

  • Noun:  Conurbation
    1.   an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities
  • Synonyms:
    1. capital
    2. center
    3. downtown
    4. metropolis
    5. municipality
    6. megalopolis
    7. boom town
    8. metropolitan area
    9. polis
    10. urban place
    11. urbs
  • Usage:
    1. “In the midst of this planetary pandemic, nobody wants to meet any more at the “Crossroads of the World”. A city known for its infectious energy, a city that likes to boast it never even has to sleep, has been forced into hibernation. With more cases than any other American conurbation, this city is once again Ground Zero, a term no New Yorker ever wanted applied here again. With manic suddenness, our world has been turned upside down, just as it was on September 11th..”
  • Encountered:
    1. Article on BBC.COM news site –Coronavirus: What this crisis reveals about US – and its president

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

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Word of the Day – Outré

  • Adjective:  Outré
    1.   violating convention or propriety : bizarre
  • Synonyms:
    1. bizarro
    2. crazy
    3. eccentric
    4. far-out
    5. funky
    6. off-kilter
    7. outlandish
    8. peculiar
    9. quirk
    10. weird
  • Usage:
    1. “Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories by two masters of the form who share an outré sensibility. Humor, humanity, and fantasy all combine in four tales of things gone wrong.”
  • Encountered:
    1. Written introduction to this week’s episode of  the Selected Shorts podcast –Embracing Disaster: Joyce Carol Oates and Etgar Keret

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

Just as an aside, if you love short stories you need to check out the Selected Shorts podcast.  I have listened to some truly remarkable stories over my years of listening to this show.  Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Their description of their show: “Its story time for adults with PRI’s award-winning series of short fiction read by the stars of stage and screen. Recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in NYC and on tour. A co-production of Symphony Space and WNYC Radio.”

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Word of the Day – Horologist

  • Noun:  Horologist
    1.  a person skilled in the practice or theory of horology (the study and measurement of time; the art of making clocks and watches)
    2. a maker of clocks or watches
  • Synonyms:
    1. watchmaker
    2. clockmaker
    3. horologer
    4. timekeeper
  • Usage:
    1. Witness on the stand to Prosecuting Attorney, “Yes I am a horologist, but the correct pronunciation of my profession is ho·rol·o·gist, not whore·rol·o·gist.”
  • Encountered:
    1. In dinner conversation with an horologist

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