Category: Word of the Day

Definition: (adjective) Feigning piety or righteousness.

Synonyms: holier-than-thou, pharisaic, pietistic, self-righteous.

Usage: With a sickeningly sanctimonious smile and a tap of the fork on her glass, she began the first meeting of the Society of Suburbanites Saving the World.

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Definition: (noun) The quality or condition of being scanty or meager.

Synonyms: leanness, meagerness, poorness, scantiness.

Usage: With an exiguity of cloth that would allow only one dress to be made, she selflessly offered that her sister go to the ball in her stead.

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Definition: (adjective) Having a magical quality or charm; fairylike.

Synonyms: fey.

Usage: The ballerina moved across the dimly lit stage with elfin grace.

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Definition: (noun) A nearby, surrounding, or adjoining region.

Synonyms: locality, neck of the woods, neighborhood.

Usage: The plane crashed in the vicinity of Asheville, and investigators spent weeks interviewing residents who had witnessed the disaster.

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Definition: (adjective) Strikingly appropriate and relevant.

Synonyms: apt, pertinent.

Usage: The governor approached the warriors humbly and proclaimed their heroism loudly, flattering them with his well-timed and apposite compliments.

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Definition: (adjective) Resembling an oracle in obscurity of thought.

Synonyms: enigmatic.

Usage: As the teacher read aloud, enchanted by the oracular sayings of Victorian poets, the class became progressively more confused.

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Definition: (adjective) Willing to carry out the orders or wishes of another without protest.

Synonyms: biddable.

Usage: She was too acquiescent to challenge authority and did everything she was told.

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Definition: (adjective) Incapable of erring.

Synonyms: infallible.

Usage: Many traditional theologians insist that biblical texts are the literal Word of God and as such are inerrant and infallible.

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Definition: (adjective) Lacking grace or ease of movement or form.

Synonyms: clumsy, clunky, gawky, unwieldy.

Usage: He was a gawky lad with long ungainly legs, but she thought he was the most handsome boy she had ever seen.

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Definition: (adjective) Threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments.

Synonyms: menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening, forbidding.

Usage: He sprang on the horse of a Blackfoot warrior whom he had slain, and escaping at full speed, brought home the baleful tidings to his village.

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