Definition (Noun) Clearness of understanding or insight; great mental penetration; discernment. In Context "By now Coucy was a member of the Royal Council, clearly relied on by Charles V for his perspicacity and diplomacy." Barbara W. Tuchman, A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, 1978. This word was suggested by Jeff Bergman in the Office of Human Resources.
Definition (Adjective) Apt to catch at faults or take exception to actions; disposed to find fault, cavil, or raise objections; fault-finding, cavilling, carping. In Context "I did think the style just a shade too archaic, but considered it a captious criticism." Valerie Eliot and John Haffenden, Editors, The Letters of T. S. Eliot: Volume 3, 1926-1927, 2012.
Definition (Verb) To reason; to carry out or form judgements by a process of logical reasoning. In Context "In any rigorous or narrow sense the voters are not highly rational; that is, most of them do not ratiocinate on the matter, e.g., to the extent that they do on the purchase of a car or a home." Peter Bachrach, Editor, Political Elites in a Democracy, 1971.
Definition (Verb) To abuse, ridicule, or defame (a person or thing); to expose to public abuse or ridicule; to reproach. In Context "We live in a culture primed to pillory helicopter parents for hovering and smothering, working parents for outsourcing and neglecting, and parents of every stripe for failing to put down their phones." Heidi Stevens, "Parents Allow Less Freedom for Kids," Telegraph Herald, August 18, 2014.
Definition (Verb) To give forth intermittent or vibratory flashes of light; to shine with a quivering light; to sparkle, glitter, flash. In Context "The glowing stars grow fainter, dimmer, ceasing to coruscate like celestial jewels studding the soft, dark canopy of the sky." Frank T. Bullen, Idylls of the Sea and Other Marine Sketches, 1899.
Definition (Noun) One of the two periods in the year when the days and nights are equal in length all over the earth, owing to the sun's crossing the equator. Hence, the precise moment at which the sun crosses the equator. In Context "Easter is defined as the first Sunday after the first full moon that appears on or after the spring equinox, March 20." Jack Ewing, Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate: Exotic and Unseen Costa Rica, 2005.
Definition (Adjective) That quickly vanishes or passes away; having no permanence. Said of appearances, conditions, impressions, etc. In Context "The love I'm talking about is a simple emotion as evanescent as any other: you have the feeling towards someone for a moment, and the next moment, you're on to something else." David Hlavsa, An Actor Rehearses: What to Do When – and Why, 2006.
Definition (Noun) Something that attracts attention by its brilliancy or beauty; a centre of attraction, interest, or admiration. In Context "And as the empire expanded again in the aftermath of Yorktown, the position of the sovereign as its political flywheel, social apex and ceremonial cynosure was further enhanced." David Cannadine, Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire, 2001.
Definition (Noun) A row of balusters, surmounted by a rail or coping, forming an ornamental parapet or barrier along the edge of a terrace, balcony, etc. In Context "On the second floor rose three very high, curved windows, originally, he suspected, an open loggia but now glazed and fronted with a low stone balustrade." P. D. James, A Taste for Death, 1986.
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.
