Word of the Week – Page 31 – Princeton Writes

palimpsest (PĂL-ĭmp-sĕst)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-07-27T12:00:25-04:00

Definition (Noun) A parchment or other writing surface on which the original text has been effaced or partially erased, and then overwritten by another; a manuscript in which later writing has been superimposed on earlier (effaced) writing. In Context "Every visible pen stroke, crease, and blemish of the palimpsest had come under his magnifying glass, until he knew its parchment terrain as intimately as that of his home city." Alan Hirshfeld, Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes, 2009.

palimpsest (PĂL-ĭmp-sĕst)Stephanie Whetstone2015-07-27T12:00:25-04:00

celerity (sə-LĔR-ĭ-tē)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-07-20T12:00:45-04:00

Definition (Noun) Swiftness, speed. Now chiefly (as distinguished from velocity) with reference to the movements or actions of living beings. In Context "The new arrangements were more masterly, men less obnoxious were nominated to situations of trust, and business was dispatched with greater celerity." Willem Lodewyk Van Ess, The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte: Volume 3, 1810.

celerity (sə-LĔR-ĭ-tē)Stephanie Whetstone2015-07-20T12:00:45-04:00

oxymoron (ŏk-sē-MÔR-ŏn)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-07-13T12:00:59-04:00

Definition (Noun) A figure of speech in which a pair of opposed or markedly contradictory terms are placed in conjunction for emphasis. In Context "Pianoforte (or sometimes fortepiano) – the original name of the musical instrument now called simply a piano – is also a one-word oxymoron because in music the Italian piano means soft and forte (pronounced FOR-tay) means loud." Charles Harrington Elster, Word Workout: Building a Muscular Vocabulary in 10 Easy Steps, 2014.

oxymoron (ŏk-sē-MÔR-ŏn)Stephanie Whetstone2015-07-13T12:00:59-04:00

quondam (KWŎN-dəm)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-07-06T12:00:43-04:00

Definition (Adjective) Of things, qualities, conditions, etc.: that once was or existed; former, erstwhile. In Context "For over a century, the formerly Portuguese colony of Macao has been much overshadowed by its neighbor, the quondam British colony of Hong Kong, always far larger in both area and population." Michael Share, Where Empires Collided: Russian and Soviet Relations with Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao, 2007.

quondam (KWŎN-dəm)Stephanie Whetstone2015-07-06T12:00:43-04:00

picayune (pĭk-ə-YŌŌN)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-29T12:00:49-04:00

Definition (Adjective) Of little value; paltry, petty, trifling; unimportant, trivial; mean; contemptible. In Context "Although Wardall recovered well over $4,000,000 in his campaign for restitution, the sum was a picayune contribution to the company's solvency." Charles Keats, Magnificent Masquerade: The Strange Case of Dr. Coster and Mr. Musica, 1964. This word was suggested by Jeff Bergman in the Office of Human Resources.

picayune (pĭk-ə-YŌŌN)Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-29T12:00:49-04:00

pelagic (pə-LĂJ-ĭk)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-22T12:00:05-04:00

Definition (Adjective) Of or relating to the open sea, as distinguished from the shallow water near the coast; dwelling on or near the surface of the open sea or ocean; oceanic. In Context "The tiny red pelagic crabs came ashore with the high tide this week, scampering across the sands, bobbing in the shallow waters and adding a splash of color to the beachfront." Hannah Fry, "Thousands of Fiery Red Crabs Wash Ashore in Newport Beach," Los Angeles Times, January 22, 2015.

pelagic (pə-LĂJ-ĭk)Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-22T12:00:05-04:00

beguile (bĭ-GĪL)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-15T12:00:33-04:00

Definition (Verb) To win the attention or interest of (any one) by wiling means; to charm, divert, amuse; to wile (one) on, or into any course. In Context "Even though Washington and Beijing want Mr. Hu's visit to be 'successful,' no positive words can disguise the fact that China is unlikely ever to beguile the U.S. quite as she did from the 1970s through to the '90s." Arthur Waldron, "Guess Hu's Coming to the White House," The Jerusalem Post, May 2, 2002.

beguile (bĭ-GĪL)Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-15T12:00:33-04:00

farrago (fə-RÄ-gō)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-08T12:00:05-04:00

Definition (Noun) A confused group; a medley, mixture, hotchpotch. In Context "Between these two dates an obscure man of letters, Edouard Drumont, had published La France Juive (1886), a farrago of nonsense that purported to demonstrate the Jewish hold on France and its destructive effects." Eugen Weber, France: Fin de Siècle, 1986.

farrago (fə-RÄ-gō)Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-08T12:00:05-04:00

consternation (kŏn-stər-NĀ-shən)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-01T11:59:10-04:00

Definition (Noun) Amazement and terror such as to prostrate one's faculties; dismay. In Context "Four days out of Macassar we first saw the volcano, with its distinctive tufts of white steam, a sight which brought both excitement and consternation." Nicholas Drayson, Confessing a Murder, 2002.

consternation (kŏn-stər-NĀ-shən)Stephanie Whetstone2015-06-01T11:59:10-04:00

bête noire (bĕt NWÄR)

Stephanie Whetstone2015-04-06T12:00:10-04:00

Definition (Noun) A person or thing that is the bane of a person or his life; an insufferable person or thing; an object of aversion. In Context "The President kept India's bête noire, John Foster Dulles, in the background." Dennis Kux, India and the United States: Estranged Democracies, 1941-1991, 1992.

bête noire (bĕt NWÄR)Stephanie Whetstone2015-04-06T12:00:10-04:00

Contact Info