Definr Word of the Day

Definr Word of the Day http://definr.com/definr/wotd_rss A novel word every day! en-us vitiate definition <p><br /> vitiate (<a href="http://definr.com/vitiate">http://definr.com/vitiate</a>)<br /> <br />      v 1: corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality; "debauch<br />           the young people with wine and women" [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/corrupt">corrupt</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/pervert">pervert</a>,<br />            <a href="http://definr.com/demoralize">demoralize</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/demoralise">demoralise</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/debauch">debauch</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/debase">debase</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/profane">profane</a>,<br />            <a href="http://definr.com/deprave">deprave</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/misdirect">misdirect</a>]<br />      2: make imperfect; "nothing marred her beauty" [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/mar">mar</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/impair">impair</a>,<br />          <a href="http://definr.com/spoil">spoil</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/deflower">deflower</a>]<br />      3: take away the legal force of or render ineffective; <br />         "invalidateas a contract" [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/invalidate">invalidate</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/void">void</a>]<br />         [ant: <a href="http://definr.com/validate">validate</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>If I were a right-wing blogger, and I found out that Barack Obama was wearing Ferragamo loafers that cost $520, I would spend about 50% of my waking hours making sure everyone knew this. I would mock him for being an out-of-touch elitist and make jokes like, “If you think that’s a lot, you should see how much his purse costs ” I would send the link to Drudge and wait for Instapundit to pick it up, and then watch gleefully as Fox News ran segments about how Barack Obama’s $500 loafers vitiate his entire economic platform.</p> <p>-- <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blogs/jstreet/340726/let_s_play_if_i_were_a_right_wing_blogger">Chris Hayes</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-08-01 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-08-01 avoirdupois definition <p><br /> avoirdupois (<a href="http://definr.com/avoirdupois">http://definr.com/avoirdupois</a>)<br /> <br />      n 1: a system of weights based on the 16-ounce pound (or 7,000<br />           grains) [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/avoirdupois weight">avoirdupois weight</a>]<br />      2: excess bodily weight; "she found fatness disgusting in<br />         herself as well as in others" [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/fatness">fatness</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/fat">fat</a>]<br />         [ant: <a href="http://definr.com/leanness">leanness</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>The war came on and he plead his avoirdupois was against his marching. He was too heavy for cavalry service, hence he chose the navy.</p> <p>-- The History of Mecklenburg County: From 1740 to 1900 by John Brevard Alexander</p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-24 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-24 chaplet definition <p><br /> chaplet (<a href="http://definr.com/chaplet">http://definr.com/chaplet</a>)<br /> <br />      n : flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage<br />          or flowers for ornamental purposes [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/wreath">wreath</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/garland">garland</a>,<br />           <a href="http://definr.com/coronal">coronal</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/lei">lei</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>Eh, gentlemen, let us reckon upon accidents! Life is a chaplet of little miseries which the philosopher counts with a smile. Be philosophers, as I am, gentlemen; sit down at the table and let us drink. Nothing makes the future look so bright as surveying it through a glass of chambertin.</p> <p>-- Athos in The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas)</p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-23 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-23 blithe definition <p><br /> blithe (<a href="http://definr.com/blithe">http://definr.com/blithe</a>)<br /> <br />      adj 1: lacking or showing a lack of due concern; "spoke with blithe<br />             ignorance of the true situation"<br />      2: carefree and happy and lighthearted; "was loved for her<br />         blithe spirit"; "a merry blithesome nature"; "her<br />         lighthearted nature"; "trilling songs with a lightsome<br />         heart" [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/blithesome">blithesome</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/lighthearted">lighthearted</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/lightsome">lightsome</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>Barnum, ever the brilliant manipulator of people, devised an "exit strategy" to help him keep the turnstiles going. On the rear exit door he painted the words, "This Way To The Egress!" in bold letters. His customers were not all sufficiently sophisticated to appreciate that the word "Egress" meant exit. So, Barnum's customers blithely passed through the door hoping to see the exotic, three-headed Egress that they were sure lurked on the other side.</p> <p>-- <a href="http://mrtmag.com/mag/radio_regulating_technology_egress/">Regulating Technology: This way to the egress! - MRT Magazine</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-22 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-22 betide definition <p><br /> betide (<a href="http://definr.com/betide">http://definr.com/betide</a>)<br /> <br />      v : become of; happen to; "He promised that no harm would befall<br />          her"; "What has become of my children?" [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/befall">befall</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/bechance">bechance</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>Yet one thing secures us, Whatever betide, The scripture assures us, The Lord will provide.</p> <p>-- John Newton</p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-21 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-21 fey definition <p><br /> fey (<a href="http://definr.com/fey">http://definr.com/fey</a>)<br /> <br />      adj 1: slightly insane [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/touched">touched(p)</a>]<br />      2: suggestive of an elf in strangeness and otherworldliness;<br />         "thunderbolts quivered with elfin flares of heat<br />         lightning"; "the fey quality was there, the ability to see<br />         the moon at midday"- John Mason Brown [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/elfin">elfin</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>The fey wonders of the world only exist while there are those with the sight to see them. </p> <p>-- Charles de Lint</p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-18 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-18 dreck definition <p><br /> dreck (<a href="http://definr.com/dreck">http://definr.com/dreck</a>)<br /> <br />      n : (slang) merchandise that is shoddy or inferior [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/schlock">schlock</a>,<br />           <a href="http://definr.com/shlock">shlock</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>[On the American tax code] If I wanted to be bored by 6,000 pages of unreadable dreck, I'd read War and Peace four times.</p> <p>-- Lewis Black</p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-17 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-17 frisson definition <p><br /> frisson (<a href="http://definr.com/frisson">http://definr.com/frisson</a>)<br /> <br />      n : an almost pleasurable sensation of fright; "a frisson of<br />          surprise shot through him" [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/shiver">shiver</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/chill">chill</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/quiver">quiver</a>,<br />           <a href="http://definr.com/shudder">shudder</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/thrill">thrill</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/tingle">tingle</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>Today, I believe there's a kind of frisson of ambiguity. People think that ambiguity is somehow wonderful in its own right, an excuse for failing to investigate.</p> <p>-- Errol Morris</p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-16 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-16 avuncular definition <p><br /> avuncular (<a href="http://definr.com/avuncular">http://definr.com/avuncular</a>)<br /> <br />      adj 1: being or relating to an uncle<br />      2: like an uncle in kindness or indulgence; "showed avuncular<br />         concern"</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>First there was the Ron Paul revolution, in which an avuncular 10-term Representative from Brazoria County, Texas, raised more than $34 million as a pseudo-Republican candidate, garnered more than a million primary votes and outperformed Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson, all on the back of a get-government-off-my-back platform.</p> <p>-- <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1821675,00.html">Libertarians: A (Not So) Lunatic Fringe - TIME</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-15 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-15 subjugate definition <p><br /> subjugate (<a href="http://definr.com/subjugate">http://definr.com/subjugate</a>)<br /> <br />      v 1: put down by force or intimidation; "The government quashes<br />           any attempt of an uprising"; "China keeps down her<br />           dissidents very efficiently"; "The rich landowners<br />           subjugated the peasants working the land" [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/repress">repress</a>,<br />            <a href="http://definr.com/quash">quash</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/keep down">keep down</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/subdue">subdue</a>, <a href="http://definr.com/reduce">reduce</a>]<br />      2: make subservient; force to submit [syn: <a href="http://definr.com/subject">subject</a>]</p> <h3>Notable quote</h3> <blockquote> <p>Don't mock me my friend. It's a condition of mental divergence. I find myself on the planet Ogo, part of an intellectual elite, preparing to subjugate the barbarian hordes on Pluto. But even though this is a totally convincing reality for me in every way, nevertheless Ogo is actually a construct of my psyche.</p> <p>-- "L.J. Washington", character from Twelve Monkeys (movie)</p> </blockquote> <p>Send your <em>Definr Word of the Day</em> suggestions to cvonkleist at gmail dot com.</p> Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0000 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-14 http://definr.com/definr/wotd/2008-07-14