Category: Word of the Day

Definition: (adjective) Incapable of being expressed.

Synonyms: indescribable, unspeakable, untellable, unutterable, indefinable.

Usage: There was an expression of ineffable sadness on her face as she spoke, and I could not but feel that she knew that I knew her secret.

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Definition: (adjective) Serving to set in motion.

Synonyms: initiative, initiatory, maiden, first.

Usage: The magazine’s inaugural issue sold out in a matter of days, prompting the owners to publish the second issue in larger numbers.

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Definition: (noun) Powerful and effective language.

Synonyms: fluency, smoothness.

Usage: The preacher’s eloquence attracted a large congregation.

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Definition: (noun) Something that issues from a source.

Synonyms: emission.

Usage: The sulphuretted hydrogen emanations, which Captain Burton mentions, could be distinctly smelt.

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Definition: (verb) Furnish with a preface or introduction.

Synonyms: preface, premise, introduce.

Usage: She always precedes her lectures with a joke.

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Definition: (adjective) Lively and playful; frisky.

Synonyms: frolicky, frolicsome, rollicking, sportive.

Usage: The substitute teacher found himself entirely overwhelmed by the energetic seventh-graders, whose coltish antics disrupted the lesson time and time again.

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Definition: (adjective) Open or liable to objection or debate; debatable.

Synonyms: objectionable.

Usage: We can’t have perfection; and if I keep him, I must sustain his administration as a whole, even if there are, now and then, things that are exceptionable.

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Definition: (adjective) Rough or irregular; textured.

Synonyms: homespun, nubby, slubbed, tweedy.

Usage: The seamstress preferred the nubbly, matte surface of raw silk to the glossy, smooth look of satin.

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Definition: (noun) An earnest request or petition; a plea.

Synonyms: appeal, prayer.

Usage: Nothing is wanting but to have you here, and it is our particular wish and entreaty that you would come to us as soon as you can.

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Definition: (adjective) Filled with or expressing grief.

Synonyms: mournful.

Usage: The poor child’s doleful eyes compelled me to buy him expensive toys and bags of candy in the hopes of cheering him up.

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