Word of the Week: persiflage (PÛR-sə-fläzh) Definition (Noun) Light raillery or mockery; bantering talk; a frivolous or mildly contemptuous manner of treating any subject. In Context "He was not accustomed to indulge in persiflage with great ladies." William Le Queux, The Intriguers, 1920.
Word of the Week: anathema (A-na-thə-mə) Definition (Noun)1a. one that is cursed by ecclesiastical authority b. someone or something intensely disliked or loathed —usually used as a predicate nominative 2. a. a ban or curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by excommunication b. the denunciation of something as accursed c. a vigorous denunciation : curse In Context "While everything pointed to an immense flood, Bretz knew such a notion would be anathema to his fellow geologists. In part that was because the quantity of water needed for such a flood would exceed the flow of all the world's [...]
Word of the Week: harpy (HÄR-pē) Definition (Noun) A rapacious, plundering, or grasping person; one that preys upon others. In Context "Like some sort of harpy, he would appear in the street and even his acquaintances, spotting him from far off, would try to dodge and avoid the encounter, saying it was enough to poison all the rest of the day." Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Translators, The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol, 1998.
Definition (noun) means or resources for purchasing or doing something; specifically : financial resources : money In Context "Typically, when a person makes more money and has more savings, they add credit such as signing up for a new card or taking on a car loan. That's because they're confident they have the financial wherewithal to pay back the debt." Janna Herron, USA Today, 5 Dec. 2018
Word of the Week: dell (dĕl) Definition (Noun) A deep natural hollow or vale of no great extent, the sides usually clothed with trees or foliage. In Context "Both sides of the dell were thickly covered with scrub oak, but glades had been cut, and at the intersection of two on the near bank stood a thatched hut." John Buchan, Midwinter, 1923.
balalaika (băl-ə-LĪ-kə) Definition (Noun) A musical instrument of the guitar kind, with a triangular body, popular in Russia and other Slav countries. In Context "Every new scene was accompanied by the ghastly twanging of a balalaika, a sound that gave the action a touch of the Devil." Anatoly Smeliansky, The Russian Theatre After Stalin, 1999.
insensate (ĭn-SĔN-sāt) Definition (Adjective) Wanting in mental or moral feeling; devoid of sensibility; unaffected, unmoved; unfeeling. (Of persons, or their qualities, actions, etc.) In Context "Beneath this polished exterior, one sensed, lived a man capable of insensate rage and unrestrained debauchery, a man who, even before arriving in the tropics, had cast off the ennobling bonds of civilization and honour." Alan Vanneman, Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra, 2002.
Word of the Week: hirsute (HÛR-sōōt) Definition (Adjective) Having rough or shaggy hair; hairy, shaggy. In Context “They despised me and my roommates, dismissing us as unkempt, hirsute hippies who had no respect for authority and refused to join fraternities.” Joe Queenan, Closing Time: A Memoir, 2009. This word was suggested by Jeff Bergman in the Office of Human Resources
cosset (KŎS-ĭt) Definition (Verb) To treat as a cosset; to fondle, caress, pet, indulge, pamper. In Context "Much of what Truman and Acheson did in the Middle East set patterns that long survived the administration, especially that of trying both to cosset Israel and to keep friendly relations with neighboring Arab states, many with oil underground." Robert L. Beisner, Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War, 2006.
Word of the Week: Yule (yōōl) Definition (Noun) Christmas and the festivities connected therewith. In Context "How has the Yule festival come to dominate our minds and pocketbooks each winter?" William B. Waits, The Modern Christmas in America: A Cultural History of Gift Giving, 1993.
