Category: Word of the Day

Definition: (noun) A branch that flows into the main stream.

Synonyms: confluent, tributary, affluent.

Usage: This stream in which he stood was a feeder to the Coppermine River, which in turn flowed north and emptied into Coronation Gulf and the Arctic Ocean.

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Definition: (adjective) Smoothly agreeable and courteous with a degree of sophistication.

Synonyms: bland, smooth, suave.

Usage: He was too politic to quarrel with so important a personage.

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Definition: (adjective) Showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others.

Synonyms: canny, clever.

Usage: The jurors saw right through the cagey lawyer’s attempt to divert their attention away from the evidence.

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Definition: (noun) Thoughtful consideration; meditation.

Synonyms: study.

Usage: After much cogitation he rejected the offer, deciding instead to pursue his dream of becoming an artist.

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Definition: (adjective) Appearing as such but not necessarily so.

Synonyms: seeming, apparent.

Usage: The ostensible reason of his appearance was the discovery, the very night before, of a “perfect little house.”

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Definition: (noun) The trait of acting unpredictably and more from whim or caprice than from reason or judgment.

Synonyms: arbitrariness, flightiness, whimsicality, capriciousness.

Usage: She was an odd girl, prone to sudden flights of whimsy, and she floated through life cocooned in her own fantastic world.

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Definition: (adjective) Functioning in a supporting capacity.

Synonyms: subsidiary, supplemental, supplementary.

Usage: The main library and its auxiliary branches serviced the needs of the large community.

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Definition: (adjective) Admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding; having only one meaning or interpretation and leading to only one conclusion.

Synonyms: univocal, unambiguous.

Usage: Franz complimented Albert, who looked at himself in the glass with an unequivocal smile of satisfaction.

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Definition: (noun) A discharge from a number of firearms, fired simultaneously or in rapid succession.

Synonyms: burst, salvo, volley.

Usage: Our warriors then rushed up to the roofs of the buildings which we occupied and followed the retreating armada with a continuous fusillade of deadly fire.

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Definition: (noun) An opening, especially to a cavity or passage of the body; a mouth or vent.

Synonyms: opening, porta.

Usage: The nose was but a gaping orifice above a deformed and twisted mouth.

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