Category: Word of the Day

Definition: (noun) An additional ingredient that is added by mixing with the base.

Synonyms: intermixture.

Usage: The flowers flourished in the new growing medium, a nutrient-rich soil comprised of equal parts sand and loam with an admixture of peat moss and cow manure.

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Definition: (adjective) Marked by separation of or from usually contiguous elements.

Synonyms: isolated.

Usage: The islands were like little isolated worlds, as abruptly disjunct and unexpected as a palm-shaded well in the Sahara.

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Definition: (verb) Burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color.

Synonyms: blacken, sear, scorch.

Usage: The fire charred the ceiling above the mantelpiece, and my mother had to hire a painter to cover up the discoloration.

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Definition: (adjective) Capable of soothing or eliminating pain.

Synonyms: analgesic, analgetic.

Usage: She was in intense pain following the surgery and wondered whether the anodyne properties of her medication would be sufficient.

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Definition: (adjective) Bitterly denunciatory; harshly critical.

Synonyms: vituperative.

Usage: This scathing remark caused the Prince to hide his face for shame, and Steve to erect his head in the proud consciousness that this shot was not meant for him.

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Definition: (noun) A quality, as of an experience or a work of art, that arouses feelings of pity, sympathy, tenderness, or sorrow.

Synonyms: poignancy.

Usage: The documentary film captured the pathos of the refugee’s situation, and there was not a dry eye in the theater when the movie ended.

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Definition: (adjective) Retired or ineffective because of advanced age.

Synonyms: over-the-hill, overaged.

Usage: The company has a pension plan that provides financial assistance to some of its superannuated employees.

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Definition: (noun) A superiority in numbers or amount.

Synonyms: prevalence, extensiveness.

Usage: The preponderance of the evidence strongly supports his guilt.

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Definition: (noun) The act of resting or the state of being at rest.

Synonyms: ease, relaxation, rest.

Usage: The vacationer took his repose beside the swimming pool.

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Definition: (adjective) Having or showing great emotion or zeal.

Synonyms: ardent, fervid, fiery, impassioned, perfervid, torrid.

Usage: She was a fervent opponent of the death penalty and organized a monthlong hunger strike to protest the practice.

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