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REVIEW WORDS P - Z
PACIFIC adj.- tending to make peace; conciliatory - PALIMPSEST n.- a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text - PALINDROME n.- word, phrase, or number that reads the same backward or forward - . . . rats live on no evil star . . . PALLID adj.- pale, wan, faint or deficient in color; lacking in vitaliy or interest - PANACHE n.- an ornamental plume of feathers, tassels, or the like, esp. one worn on a helmet or cap; 2) a grand or flamboyant manner; verve; style; flare - PANDER n.- a go-between in amorous intrigues; pimp; a person who caters to or profits from the weaknesses or vices of others - v.t.- to act as a pander for - v.i.- to act as a pander; cater basely - . . . to pander to the tastes of vulgar persons . . . PANDOWDY n.- a pudding or deep pie made with apples, and usually sweetened with molasses - PANTHEON n.- a public building containing tombs or memorials of the illustrious dead of a nation; 2) the place of the heroes or idols of any group, individual, movement, party, etc. - . . . in the pantheon of French literature . . . PARIAH n.- an outcast; a member of a low caste or of no caste in southern India - PARLANCE n.- a way or manner of speaking; vernacular; idiom; speech, esp. a formal discussion or debate - PARLOUS adj.- perilous; dangerous; 2) clever; shrewd - . . . given Chrysler's parlous finances, gambling on design . . . PARODY n.- a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing; 2) the genre of literary composition represented by such imitations - PARSE v.- to describe grammatically, telling the part of speech, inflectional form, syntactic relations, etc. - . . . people whose sentences I could not parse. . . PARSIMONIOUS adj.- sparing or frugal; stingy; miserly - PARVENU n.- a person who has recently or suddenly acquired wealth, importance, position, but has not yet developed the apporpriate manners, dress, surrouindings, etc. - PATRICIAN n.- a member of an influential and hereditary ruling class in certain medieval German, Swiss, and Italian free cities; 2) any person of noble or high rank; aristrocrat - PEDAGOGUE n.- schoolteacher; 2) a person who is pedantic, dogmatic, and formal - PEDANT n.- a person who makes an excessive or inappropriate show of learning; a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details; a person who adheres rigidly to book knowledge without regard to common sense - On the surface, an imperious pedant, inside he is vulnerable. PEDERASTY n.- unnatural sexual relations between two males, esp. when one is a young boy - . . . articles on pederastic priests . . . PEJORATIVE adj.- having a disparaging effect or force; deprecatory - PENETRANT n.- one who or that which penetrates; 2) a substance that lowers the surface tension of water; wetting agent - . . . random but penetrant reflections on art and life . . . PENSEE (pan-say) n.- (Fr.) a reflection or thought - Dale suffers him with seigneurial aplomb, cadging money for booze in exchange for rambling, impenetrable pensees on the nature of art and the universe. PENURY n.- extreme poverty; destitution; 2) scarcity; dearth; inadequacy; insufficiency - Penury and fear of the big city drove the young family to Nashville. PERFIDIOUS adj.- deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful; disloyal - . . . a perfidious lover . . . PERIPATETIC adj.- of or pertaining to Aristotle, who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens; 2) of or pertaining to the Aristotelian school of philosophy; 3) walking or traveling about; itinerant - PERNICIOUS adj.- ruinous; injurious; 2) deadly; fatal - PERSPICACITY n.- keenness of mental perception; discernment; penetration - PETULANT adj.- sudden, impatient irritation, esp. over some trifling annoyance; peevish; pettish - PHAETON n.- an automobile of the touring-car type; 2) a light four wheeled carriage - PHANTASM (fantasm) n.- an apparition or specter; 2) a creation of the imagination or fantasy; 3) an illusive likeness of something; ghost; vision; hallucination; illusion - PHANTASMAGORIA n.- a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream, or as created by the imagination; a changing scene made up of many elements; optical illusions that are produced by a magic lantern or the like and in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other, dissolve, etc. - We have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience. PHLEGMATIC adj.- not easily excited to action or display of emotion; apathetic; sluggish; self-possessed; cool; stoical - PHOENIX n.- a mythical bird of great beauty, the only one of its kind, fabled to live 500 or 600 years in the Arabian wilderness, to burn itself on a funeral pile, and to rise from its ashes in the freshness of youth and live through another cycle of years; often an emblem of immortality; a person or thing of peerless beauty or excellence; paragon; a person or thing that has become renewed or restored after suffering calamity or apparent annihilation - PHONEME n.- smallest distinguishable unit of speech - PLACATE v.t.- to appease or pacify; conciliate; satisfy - PLAINTIVE adj.- expressing sorrow or melancholy; wistful - PLENIPOTENTIARY adj.- invested with full power or authority, as a diplomatic agent - . . . Increasingly, ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary and their consorts are having to ask . . . PLINTH n.- a slablike member beneath the base of a column or pier; 2) a square base or a lower block, as of a pedestal - . . . architects erected bizarre plinths . . . POGROM n.- an organized massacre, esp. of Jews - It doesn't have to be a pogrom to be unbearable for us. POLEMIC n.- a controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc.; a person who argues in opposition to another; controversialist - She lacks the wit to leaven her outrage and the polemical skills to make it persuasive. POLITY n.- a particular form or system of government; 2) a state or other organized community or body - POLLYANNA n.- an excessively or blindly optimistic person - POMPOSITY n.- pompous parading of dignity or importance; an instance of being pompous, as by ostentatious loftiness of language, manner, or behavior - POMPOUS adj.- ostentatiously lofty or high-flown; inflated, turgid, bombastic - POPINJAY n.- a person given to vain displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop - POSEUR (po zur') n.- one who attempts to impress others by assuming or affecting a manner, degree of elegance, sentiment, etc., other than his true one - PREDICATE v.t.- to proclaim, declare, affirm, assert; to connote, imply - His retraction predicates a change of attitude. v.t.- to found; to base on - She predicated her behavior on her faith in humanity. v.i.- to make an affirmation or assertion - PREDILECTION n.- a preexisting tendency to think favorably of something - If all relations are suffused with power plays, then a personal predilection, like celibacy, becomes a political imperative. And simplistically equating the personal and political spheres not only allows you to tell other people how to conduct their lives, it also transforms your problems and preferences into important public issues. So Sally Cline (Women, Passion & Celibacy) can girlishly list her favorite "passions" in the belief that she's engaging in political debate. (Wendy Kaminer, NYT 5-8-94 -- author of "I'm Dysfunctional, Your Dysfunctional") PREPOSSESS v.- to possess or dominate mentally beforehand, as a prejudice does; 2) to prejudice or bias, esp. favorably; 3) to impress favorably beforehand or at the outset - . . . the unprepossessing seeing eye assistant . . . PRESTIDIGITATION n.- sleight of hand, legerdemain - PRETENSE n.- pretending or feigning; make-believe; a false show of something; insincere or false profession - PRETENSION n.- an allegation of doubtful veracity; a claim or title to something - PRETENTIOUS adj.- characterized by assumption of dignity or importance; pompous; showy - PRETERNATURAL adj.- out of the ordinary; exceptional or abnormal - The IDLER is the work of young minds prematurally wise and preternaturally arch. PREVARICATE v.i.- to speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie; evade; shift - PRIAPISM n.- continuous erection of the penis, esp. due to disease - PRIG n.- one who displays or demands of others pointlessly precise conformity, fussiness about trivialities, or exaggerated propriety, esp. in a self-righteous or irritating manner - PRINCOX n.- a self-confident young fellow; coxcomb - PROGENITOR n.- a biologically or nonbiologically related ancestor; forefather; 2) one who or that which first indicates a direction, originates something, or serves as a model; predecessor - PROLETARIAT n.- the unpropertied class; the class that is dependent for support on daily or casual employment; 2) the working class; the class of manual workers who do not possess capital or property and must sell their labor to survive - PROLOGUE n.- preliminary discourse; introduction - PROPINQUITY n.- the state of being close to someone or something; proximity - PROPITIOUS adj.- presenting favorable conditions; disposed to bestow favors or forgive; auspicious - PROSCENIUM n.- (in theater) a decorative arch, sometimes including the wall, that separates the stage from the auditorium - . . . deathbed was a proscenium from which to issue one last dramatic utterance . . . PROSCRIBE v.t.- to denounce or condemn a thing a dangerous or harmful; prohibit; to put outside the protection of the law; outlaw; to banish or exile; to announce the name of a person as condemned to death and subject to confiscation of property - PROSELYTE n.- a person who has changed from one opinion, religious belief, sect, or the like, to another; convert; neophyte; disciple - PROTEAN adj.- readily assuming different forms or characters; extremely variable; 2) changable in shape or form as an amoeba; 3) versatile; able to play many kinds of roles - PROVENANCE n.- place or source of origin - PROVIDENCE n.- the foreseeing care and guardianship of God over his creatures; 2) provident or prudent management of resources - PRURIENT adj.- characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires; 2) causing lasciviousness or lust; 3) having a restless desire or longing - PSALM n.- a sacred song or hymn; a poem of similar nature to the hymns or prayers in the Book of Psalms - PURLIEU n.- a piece of land on the border of a forest; a place where one may range at large; one's bounds; one's haunt or resort - PURLIEUS n.- environs or neighborhood - . . . the pedestrian purlieus of Jamaica, Queens . . . PYGMALION n.- from classical mythology - a sculptor who carved an ivory statue of a maiden and fell in love with it. It was brought to life in response to his prayer, by Aphrodite, and was called Galatea. 2) a 1916 comedy by George Bernard Shaw. The 1938 musical and 1964 movie "My Fair Lady" was based on this Bernard Shaw classic. 3) a man who tries to craft or change a woman into a more perfect or desireable or refined person - QUID PRO QUO n.- one thing in return for another; substitute - The idea of withdrawing missles from Turkey as a quid pro quo for the Soviet Union remained appealing to the president. QUINTESSENCE n.- the pure and concentrated essence of a substance; 2) the most perfect embodiment of something - QUIXOTIC adj.- resembling or befitting Don Quixote; extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical; fanciful - People are reluctant to tilt at windmills, and I think they do feel that this is a quixotic enterprise. QUOTIDIAN adj.- something recurring daily ; everyday ; ordinary - Dancers washed in the the surf of sound, dappled and splashed by light, shed the dull gravitational tug of quotidian life, and lost themselves in what was at once a voyeuristic jostle, like a fairground, and a domain of the self-absorbed, like a ballet for prima donnas only. RAFFISH adj.- garish, vulgar - RAMPANT adj.- violent in action or spirit; raging; furious; 2) in full sway; prevailing unbridled - RAMPART n.- anything serving as bulwark or defense; fortification - REBUKE v.- to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand; censure; admonish - RECEIVED STANDARD n.- the form of educated English spoken generally in southern England and specifically in the English public schools and at Oxford and Cambridge Universities - RECEIVED WISDOM n.- wisdom that is received from others that is as yet unverified by personal observation or experience - RECIDIVISM n.- the chronic tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behavior patterns - RECOMPENSE n.- remuneration, reward as for service, compensation - What is often described as an epidemic of anorexia may well be women's recompense for sexual freedom, not the backlash to new economic opportunity it is commonly supposed to be. (Wendy Kaminer) RECONDITE adj.- dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter; beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding, esoteric; obscure - RECUMBENT adj.- lying down, reclining, leaning; inactive, idle - REDOLENT adj.- having a pleasant odor ; suggestive or reminiscent - The book is redolent of saddness. RELIQUARY n.- a repository or receptacle for relics - REMISS adj.- negligent; careless; lacking force or energy; sluggish - RENOUNCE v.t.- to give up or put aside voluntarily; to repudiate, disown; abdicate; disown; forsake; forsware - REPRISAL n.- retaliation against an enemy, for injuries received, by the infliction of equal or greater injuries; 2) using force, short of war, against another nation, to secure redress of a grievance - REQUITE v.t.- to make repayment or return for service; to make retaliation for a wrong; avenge; to give or do in return - RESIDUAL adj.- pertaining to or constituting a residue or remainder; leftover - RESOLUTE adj.- firmly resolved or determined; set in purpose or opinion; 2) characterized by firmness and determination - RETRIBUTION n.- requital according to merits or deserts, esp. for evil; retaliation; repayment; recompense - REVELATOR n.- a person who makes a revelation - REVELATORY adj.- showing or disclosing an emotion, belief, or quality - . . . a poem revelatory of the author's deep personal sorrow . . . RHEUM n.- a thin, serous or catarrhal discharge; 2) catarrh; cold - Lurching from ponderous historical lessons to thick satire, the movie has a rheumy muzziness. Maybe Wajda (the director) had a ten week head cold. ROBUST adj.- strong and healthy; hearty; vigorous - ROT n.- moral or social decay or corruption; nonsense - RUSE n.- trick SACCHARINE adj.- of a sugary sweetness: a saccharine smile - SACROSANCT adj.- especially or superlatively sacred or inviolable; made holy by sacred rite - We are sacrosanct, we are ends in ourselves. SALACIOUS adj.- lustful or lecherous; obscene; grossly indecent; lewd, wanton, lascivious, libidinous - . . . could have been presented in sensationalist, even salacious terms . . . Lolita was written by Nabakov as a serious novel but sold well for salacious reasons. SALUBRIOUS adj.- favorable to or promoting health - SALUTARY adj.- (esp. with reference to something unwelcome or unpleasant) producing good effects; beneficial - SANGFROID n.- coolness of mind; calmness; composure - . . . uttered with such sangfroid that it is easy to understand the fear she inspires . . . SARDONIC adj.- characterized by bitter or scornful derision; expressing disdain; cynical; sneering; mordant; contemptuous - War is the "classic male experience" as he sardonically labels it. SATIRE (see lampoon & parody) n.- the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.; 2) a literary genre comprising such compositions - SCHADENFREUD n.- joy in the suffering of others - SCINTILLA n.- a spark, a minute particle, trace - There isn't one scintilla of evidence. SCREED n.- a long discourse or essay, esp. a diatribe; 2) an informal letter, account, or other piece of writing; 3) a board or form used to mold or shape concrete or plaster while it dries - "Playing God in Yellowstone" is a screed that decries the N.P.Service. SCRIMMAGE n.- a rough or vigorous struggle - . . . the social scrimmage--the dinner party, the cocktail scene, the promenade . . . SEDITION n.- incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government; any action, esp. in speech or writing, promoting such discontent or rebellion; insurrection; mutiny - SEDULOUS adj.- diligent in application or attention; persevering; persistently or carefully maintained; assiduous; tireless - SEGUE n.- an uninterrupted transition made between one musical section or composition and another; performed at once without a break; performed in the manner or style of the preceeding section - . . . his playfully ornate production includes delicate segues between the 14 songs and intriguing textures coaxed from . . . SEIGNEUR n.- (Fr.) a feudal lord; a member of the landed gentry - Dale suffers him with seigneurial aplomb, cadging money for booze in exchange for rambling impenetrable pensees on the nature of art and the universe. SEMINAL adj.- having possibilities of future development; highly original and influencing the development of future events - James Fallows wrote a seminal article observing that the burden of the Vietnam war fell mainly on lower-class kids without the wit or connections to avoid the draft. SEMIOTIC (often SEMIOTICS) adj.- pertaining to signs - n.- a general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics - SENTENTIOUS adj.- abounding in pithy aphorisms or maxims; given to excessive moralizing; self-righteous - Younger's confidence falters and he resorts to some sententious profit-taking. SEPTIC adj.- a wound or part of the body infected with bacteria; denoting a drainage system incorporating a septic tank - SHIBBOLETH n.- a peculiarity of pronounciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., which distinguishes a particular class or set of persons - Today's movies generally subserve the fashionable ideologies and spout the current shibboleths. SHIBUMI n.- in Japanese culture, a simplicity of spirit; an attitude of refinement without pretension, honesty without apology, beauty without artifice - SIBILANT adj. - hissing sound - SIMULACRUM n.- a slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance; 2) an effigy, image, or representation - . . . a simulacra of success . . . SINUOUS adj.- having many turns, curves, or bends, winding; indirect, devious; serpentine; roundabout - SKEIN n.- a length of yarn or thread wound on a reel or swift preparatory for use in manufacturing - SMALL adj.- characterized by littleness of mind or character; mean-spirited; petty - . . . a small, miserly man . . . SMARMY adj.- excessively or unctiously flattering, ingratiating, servile - SNUFFLE v.- to draw air into the nose for the purpose of smelling something; snuff; 2) to draw the breath or mucus through the nostrils in an audible or noisy manner - SODDEN adj.- soaked with liquid or moisture; saturated; 2) heavy, lumpy, or soggy, as food that is poorly cooked; 3) expressionless, dull, or stupid - SOLICITOUS adj. anxious or concerned; 2) anxiously desireous; 3) eager - He was always solicitous to please. SOLIPSISM n.- the theory that only the self exists, or can be proven to exist - In the end, the movie "Vagabond" may be just as pictorial as those other films, only in a different style: coolly solipsistic & merely esthetic. SOMNOLENT adj.- sleepy; drowsy; 2) tending to cause sleep Liberal writers are also yearning for "committed" youth and disgusted with the somnolent, materialistic majority who are not. SONORITY n.- impressive sound; loud, deep or rich in sound - SONOROUS adj.- giving out or capable of giving out a sound, esp. a deep resonant sound, as a thing or place; 2) rich and full in sound, as language, verse, etc.; 3) high-flown; grandiloquent - . . . a sonorous address . . . SOOTHSAYER n.- a person who professes to foretell events - SOUK n.- an Arab marketplace or bazaar - SPADES n.- in the extreme; positively; without restraint; outspokenly - If Stone wanted to breathe life into the debate over classical antiquity he succeeded in spades. SPECIOUS adj.- apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing; plausible; 2) pleasing to the eye, but deceptive - SPECTER n.- a visible incorporeal spirit, esp. one of a terrifying nature; ghost; phantom; apparition; 2) some object or source of terror or dread - STENTORIAN adj.- very loud or powerful in sound - She declared in stentorian tones that the time had arrived. STIGMATA n.- (pl. of stigma) characteristic marks or signs of defect, degeneration, disease, etc.; 2) marks resembling the wounds of the crucified body of Christ, said to be supernaturally impressed on the bodies of certain persons, esp. nuns, tertiaries, and monastics - The agile wrist fluttering before me was free of any stigmata of arthritis. STRIDENT adj.- making or having a harsh sound; grating; creaking - STULTIFY v.t. - to make, or cause to appear, foolish or ridiculous; 2) to render absurdly or wholly futile or ineffectual, esp. by degrading or frustrating means - SUBJUGATE v.t.- to bring under complete control or subjection, conquer, master; to make submissive or subservient, enslave; overpower, vanquish - SUBSTRATE n.- something which underlies or serves as a basis or foundation - SUBTERFUGE n.- an artiface or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc. - I think there is too much subterfuge and indirectness in our lives. SUBVERT v.- to overthrow; 2) to cause the downfall, ruin, or destruction of; 3) to undermine the principles of; corrupt - SUCCOR n.- help; relief; aid; assistance - SUGGESTIBLE adj.- subject to or easily influenced by suggestion; gullible - SULLY v.- to soil, stain, or tarnish; 2) to mar the purity or luster of; defile - . . . to sully a reputation . . . SUPERCILIOUS adj.- haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person, his expression, bearing, etc.; arrogant; scornful - SUPERSTITION n.- irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, esp. in connection with religion; 2) any blindly accepted belief or notion - SUPINE adj.- a person lying face upward; having the front or ventral part upward; a hand with the palm upward; failing to act or protest as a result of moral weakness or indolence - SUPPLICATE v.t.- to pray humbly; make humble and earnest entreaty or petition; to seek or ask for by humble entreaty - SUPRA adv.- above, esp. when used in referring to parts of a text - SUPRARATIONAL adj.- not understandable by reason alone; beyond rational comprehension - SURFEIT n.- excess; an excessive amount; overindulgence in eating or drinking; 2) general disgust caused by excess or satiety - SUZERAIN n.- a sovereign or a state exercising political control over a dependent state - Due to a lack of planned development, each shelter works as a separate suzerainty. SYBARITIC adj.- loving luxury or sensuous pleasure, as a voluptuary - . . . to wallow in sybaritic splendor . . . SYCOPHANT n.- a self-seeking, servile flatterer, fawning parasite, toady - SYNTAX n.- the study or presentation of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a language; that branch of modern logic which studies the various kinds of signs that occur in a system, and the possible arrangements of those signs, complete abstraction being made of the meaning of the signs - SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE n.- occurs when the heart contracts (diastolic is the pressure on the arteries when the heart is at rest) - SYZYGY (siz'-ah-jee) n.- the conjunction or opposition of two or three heavenly bodies like earth, moon, and sun at time of eclipse - TALISMAN n.- a stone, ring, or other object engraved with figures or characters supposed to possess occult powers and worn as an amulet or charm; anything whose presence exercises a remarkable or powerful influence on human feelings or actions - TARN n.- a small mountain lake or pool - TCHOTCHKE n.- a small object that is decorative rather than strictly functional; a trinket; a pretty girl or woman - TENDENTIOUS adj.- having or showing a definite tendency, bias, or purpose - TENUOUS adj.- thin in form or consistency; of slight importance, unsubstantial; lacking a sound basis; lacking clarity, vague - TEPID adj.- (esp. of a liquid) only slightly warm, lukewarm; showing little enthusiasm - TERGIVERSATE v.- turn against an individual or cause one formerly supported -- TESTAMENT n.- a will, esp. one that relates to the disposition of one’s personal property; a covenant, esp. between God and man - TESTUDO n.- a tortoise shell-like portable overhead protection or shelter - THEOSOPHY Besant, Annie (Wood), 1847 - 1933, English theosophist and reformer. Rejecting Christianity and advocating free thought and socialism, Besant edited the National Reformer with Charles Bradlaugh. Her atheism and unconventionality led the courts in 1879 to take away her children. After embracing Theosophy in 1889, she went to India, where she campaigned for nationalism, founded the Central Hindu College (1898) and the Indian Home Rule League (1916), and became president (1917) of the Indian National Congress. In 1926 - 27, at age 80, Besant proclaimed the Indian mystic Jiddu Krishnamurti to be the new Messiah. She published prolifically, particularly works on theosophy. THESAURUS n.- a reference book, esp. a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms; 2) a storehouse, repository, or treasury - THRUM v.- to play on a stringed instrument by plucking the strings esp. in an idle, monotonous, or unskillful manner; 2) to drum or tap idly with the fingers; 3) to recite or tell in a monotonous way - Emmylou Harris has of course written and sung upbeat numbers and plain old love ballads and ramblin' songs, but her core repertory, and her new album thrum with self-reproach. TOADY n.- an obsequious sycophant; a fawning flatterer; yes-man; parasite - TORPID adj.- inactive or sluggish, as a bodily organ; 2) slow; dull; apathetic; lethargic; 3) dormant , as a hibernating or estivating animal - Director Peter Webber makes a confident if torpid debut here (Girl With a Pearl Earring), although his background as an editor is barely in evidence in the course of the film's long, languid scenes. TORRENT n.- a stream of water flowing with great rapidity and violence; 2) a rushing, violent, or abundant and unceasing stream of anything - . . . the release of torrents of energy . . . TOXIN n.- any of a group of poisonous, usually unstable compounds generated by microorganisms or plants or of animal orgin - TRAGUS n.- a fleshy prominence at the front of the external opening of the ear which produces bristles of hair in males of advanced age - TRANSCENDENT adj.- going beyond ordinary limits; surpassing; exceeding; superior or supreme (see ineffable) - TRANSCENDENTAL adj.- being beyond ordinary or common experience, thought, or belief; supernatural; abstract or metaphysical; idealistic, loft, or extravagant; explaning what is objective as the contribution of the mind; concerned with a priori elements in experience, which condition human knowledge - TRANSCENDENTALISM n.- any philosophy based upon the doctrine that the principles of reality are to be discovered by the study of the processes of thought; a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical; Chas. Ives was a practictioner, also Emerson, also Whitman, also Thoreau - TRAVAIL n.- painfully difficult or burdensome work; hardship induced pain; anguish; suffering - TRIAGE n.- the allocation of medical care on the basis of those who can survive - TRIBUNE n.- a person who upholds or defends the rights of the people; 2) a raised platform for a speaker; a dias, rostrum, or pulpit - TRIVIA n.- matters or things that are very unimportant, inconsequential, or inessential; trifles - . . . trivia, such as, Who were the girlfriend and dog in the movie "Boy and His Dog"? Answer: Quilla June & Blood . . . TRUNDLE n.- a small wheel, roller or the like - v.t.- to cause to roll along; to convey in a wheeled vehicle - v.i.- to roll along; to move or run on wheels; to travel in a wheeled vehicle; to move or walk with a rolling gait - He got into his car and trundled downtown. TUMID adj.- swollen, as a part of the body; pompous or inflated, as language; turgid; bombastic - TURGID adj.- tumid - UBIQUITY n.- the state or quality of being everywhere at the same time - ULNA n.- the bone of the forearm on the side opposite to the thumb - . . . dangling fron the ulna of a tan hairdresser . . . UNCOUTH adj.- awkward, clumsy, or unmannerly; 2) strange and ungraceful in appearance or form - UNCTUOUS adj.- characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor, esp. in an affected manner; excessively smooth, suave, or smug; 2) having an oily or soapy feel, as certain minerals - UNFETTER v.t.- to relaese from fetters, free from restraint, liberate - UTILITARIANISM n.- the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest number of persons - VADE MECUM n.- something a person carries with him for frequent or regular use; a book for ready reference; manual or handbook - VAIN adj.- without real significance, value or importance; baseless or worthless; excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements; conceited - VANITAS VANITATUM vanity of vanities - VANITY n.- excessive pride in one's appearance, qualities, abilities, achievments; - a lack of real value; hollowness; worthlessness - VANQUISH v.t.- to conquer, defeat, subdue, quell, supress - VAPID adj.- lacking spirit, liveliness, or zest - VATIC adj.- pertaining to or characteristic of a prophet - VAUNT adj.- praise excessively or boastfully - . . . the vaunted Baltimore renaissance . . . VENAL adj.- willing to betray one's trust by improper use of authority or influence; corruptly open to a bribe; able to be purchased - There was no venality, no negligence. VENDETTA n.- any prolonged and bitter feud, rivalry or contention - VENERABLE adj.- deserving of respect - VENERATE v.- to regard or treat with reverence; revere - VERDANT adj.- green with vegetation, covered with green plants or grass, inexperienced, unsophisticated - VERISIMILITUDE n.- the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability; 2) something having merely the appearance of truth - VERISM n.- the theory that rigid representation of truth and reality is essential to art and literature, and therefore the ugly and vulgar must be included - VERITY n.- the state or quality of being true; accordance with fact or reality - Some difficult verities tumble from young lips. VERNACULAR adj.- native or originating in the place of its occurrence or use; nonstandard language; common, local speech - VERTIGINOUS adj.- whirling, spinning; affected with vertigo, dizzy; apt to change quickly, unstable - No wonder industry watchers get that woozy, vertiginous feeling. VET v.t.- make careful and critical examination of something - VICTORIA n. an open touring car having a folding that usually covers only the rear seat - VICTUALS n.- food supplies, provisions - The aroma suggests unforgettable victuals. VIRIDESCENT adj. slightly green, greenish - VIRULENT adj.- actively poisonous; intensely noxious; 2) highly infective; malignant or deadly - "There exists an evil that cannot be explained - a virulent, terrifying evil - and humans are the only animals to possess it. An evil that is irrational and not bound by law. Cosmic. Causeless." (Ingmar Bergman) VITRIOLIC adj.- something caustic, corrosive or biting - VOCIFEROUS adj.- crying out noisily; clamorous - VOLANT adj.- engaged in or having the power of flight; 2) moving lightly; nimble - VOLUBLE adj.- fluent, glib, talkative, wordy - VOLUPTUARY n.- a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit and enjoyment of luxury and sensual pleasure, one who is sybaritic - VORACIOUS adj.- ravenous; rapacious; craving or consuming large quantities of food - WAG | ||
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