Word of the Week – Page 11 – Princeton Writes

Word of the Week: prescient (PRĔSH-ənt)

admin2023-11-13T09:02:07-05:00

Word of the Week: prescient (PRĔSH-ənt) Definition (Adjective) Having foreknowledge or foresight; foreseeing. In Context “In 1984, written in 1948, George Orwell left a prescient description of the sort of totalitarian architecture that would soon dominate the Communist bloc, imposing and hideous: the Ministry of Truth, an ‘enormous, pyramidal structure of white concrete, soaring up terrace after terrace, three hundred metres into the air . . .’” Ben Macintyre, “Look on Those Monuments to Megalomania, and Despair,” The Times, March 30, 2007.

Word of the Week: prescient (PRĔSH-ənt)admin2023-11-13T09:02:07-05:00

Word of the Week: sugar-plum (SHŎŎG-ər-plŭm)

Stephanie Whetstone2022-10-10T12:35:54-04:00

sugar-plum (SHŎŎG-ər-plŭm) Definition (Noun) Something very pleasing or agreeable, especially when given as a sop or bribe. In Context "That was my father's way of extracting the most out of everyone -- dangling his sugar plums that would vanish when reached for." V. C. Andrews, If There Be Thorns, 1981.

Word of the Week: sugar-plum (SHŎŎG-ər-plŭm)Stephanie Whetstone2022-10-10T12:35:54-04:00

Word of the Week: brouhaha (BROO-hah-hah)

Stephanie Whetstone2022-10-03T11:29:22-04:00

Word of the Week: brouhaha (BROO-hah-hah) Definition (Noun) a state of commotion or excitement : hubbub, uproar. In Context "But where do you go, when the temperatures are soaring and you want to cool off but without all of the brouhaha that comes along with a trip to one of our more popular, crowded city beaches?" Ji Suk Yi, The Chicago Sun-Times, 25 July 2018.

Word of the Week: brouhaha (BROO-hah-hah)Stephanie Whetstone2022-10-03T11:29:22-04:00

Word of the Week: fugacious (fyoo-GAY-shus)

Stephanie Whetstone2022-10-03T11:27:20-04:00

Word of the Week: fugacious (fyoo-GAY-shus) Definition (Adjective) lasting a short time : evanescent. In Context “The maple leaves are a yellow light signaling me to slow down and take in the last pulse of color of a fugacious fall." David Johnson, The Daily News of Newburyport (MA), 26 Nov. 2013.

Word of the Week: fugacious (fyoo-GAY-shus)Stephanie Whetstone2022-10-03T11:27:20-04:00

hobgoblin (HŎB-gŏb-lĭn)

Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-14T14:47:35-04:00

Definition (Noun) A mischievous, tricksy imp or sprite; another name for Puck or Robin Goodfellow; hence, a terrifying apparition, a bogy. In Context "In the graveyard in 1815, someone reportedly saw a hobgoblin, an ugly, frightening little goblin or elf that harasses the living." Cheri Revai, Haunted New York: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Empire State, 2005.

hobgoblin (HŎB-gŏb-lĭn)Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-14T14:47:35-04:00

Word of the Week: adumbrate (ˈa-dəm-ˌbrāt )

Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-14T14:51:33-04:00

Word of the Week: adumbrate (ˈa-dəm-ˌbrāt ) Definition (verb) 1. to foreshadow vaguely : intimate 2. to suggest, disclose, or outline partially 3. overshadow, obscure In Context “His temper and tendency to violence, adumbrated in the first part of the book, lead not only to his decline as a journalist but also his inability to maintain relationships with the various women he encounters.” Gerald Early, The Washington Post, 2015

Word of the Week: adumbrate (ˈa-dəm-ˌbrāt )Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-14T14:51:33-04:00

Word of the Week: cerulean (sə-RŌŌ-lē-ən)

Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-14T14:17:35-04:00

Word of the Week: cerulean (sə-RŌŌ-lē-ən) Definition (Adjective) Of the colour of the cloudless sky, pure deep blue, azure. Chiefly poetic. In Context "It was July, and rolling waves of heat shimmered beneath a cerulean sky." Justin Marozzi, Baghdad, City of Peace, City Of Blood: A History in Thirteen Centuries, 2014.

Word of the Week: cerulean (sə-RŌŌ-lē-ən)Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-14T14:17:35-04:00

Word of the Week: satori (sə-TOR-ē)

Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-13T16:23:06-04:00

Word of the Week: satori (sə-TOR-ē) Definition (Noun) Sudden enlightenment or intuitive understanding. In Context “Twenty years later, Michael Okun’s enthusiasm is fresh as he describes his neurological satori. ‘A lot of people were saying all these pathways and everything are really complicated, and they just wanted to get through the class and get a grade. But to me it made perfect sense.’” David Noonan, Mind Craft; Smithsonian, May 2014.

Word of the Week: satori (sə-TOR-ē)Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-13T16:23:06-04:00

Word of the Week: defenestration (dee-fen-uh-STRAY-shun)

Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-13T16:15:45-04:00

Word of the Week: defenestration (dee-fen-uh-STRAY-shun) Definition (Noun) 1 : a throwing of a person or thing out of a window 2 : a usually swift dismissal or expulsion (as from a political party or office) In Context "It's possible that nobody in Hollywood works harder than Tom Cruise, who, in his latest turn as Ethan Hunt, once again finds himself in a race against time after a mission goes wrong. Expect defenestration, helicopter crashes, and exploding motorbikes." Vogue (vogue.com), 22 May 2018

Word of the Week: defenestration (dee-fen-uh-STRAY-shun)Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-13T16:15:45-04:00

Word of the Week: kaput (kuh-PUT)

Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-12T13:37:38-04:00

Word of the Week: kaput (kuh-PUT) Definition (Adjective) 1. utterly finished, defeated, or destroyed 2. unable to function : useless 3. hopelessly outmoded In Context "Sure, there are still top-billed behemoths capable of guaranteeing a strong opening, like Dwayne Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio, but for the most part, the idea of a box office movie star is kaput." Brandon Katz, The Observer, 19 May 2018

Word of the Week: kaput (kuh-PUT)Stephanie Whetstone2022-09-12T13:37:38-04:00

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