Mirific
mirific
adjective
mi·rif·ic | (ˈ)mī¦rifik
variants: or less commonly mirifical -fə̇kəl
Definition of mirific
: working wonders : marvelous
his mirific adventures
— W. J. Locke
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Tag: Definition
Word of the Day
fore·shad·ow
[fôrˈSHadō]
Definition of foreshadow
transitive verb
: to represent, indicate, or typify beforehand : prefigure
The hero’s predicament is foreshadowed in the first chapter.
VERB
foreshadows (third person present) · foreshadowed (past tense) · foreshadowed (past participle) · foreshadowing (present participle)
be a warning or indication of (a future event).
“it foreshadowed my preoccupation with jazz”
synonyms:
augur · presage · portend · prognosticate · foreshow · foretell · indicate · suggest · signal · herald · forewarn · warn of · promise · point to · anticipate · forebode · foretoken · betoken · harbinger · prefigure
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ser·pen·tine
[ˈsərpənˌtēn, ˈsərpənˌtīn]
ADJECTIVE
of or like a serpent or snake.
“serpentine coils”
winding and twisting like a snake.
“serpentine country lanes”
synonyms
winding · windy · zigzag · zigzagging · twisting · twisty · turning · meandering · curving · sinuous · snaking · snaky · tortuous · anfractuous · flexuous · meandrous · serpentiform
antonyms:
straight
complex, cunning, or treacherous.
“his charm was too subtle and serpentine for me”
synonyms:
complicated · intricate · complex · involved · tortuous · convoluted · tangled · elaborate · knotty · confusing · bewildering · baffling · inextricable · entangled · impenetrable · Byzantine · Daedalian · Gordian · involute · involuted
antonyms:
straightforward · simple
NOUN
a dark green mineral consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate, sometimes mottled or spotted like a snake’s skin.
a riding exercise consisting of a series of half-circles made alternately to right and left.
historical
a kind of cannon, used especially in the 15th and 16th centuries.
VERB
serpentines (third person present) · serpentined (past tense) · serpentined (past participle) · serpentining (present participle)
move or lie in a winding path or line.
“fresh tire tracks serpentined back toward the hopper”
ORIGIN
late Middle English: via Old French from late Latin serpentinus ( see serpent).
Word of the day
quip
noun
Definition
1 a : a clever usually taunting remark : gibe
b : a witty or funny observation or response usually made on the spur of the moment
2 : quibble, equivocation
3 : something strange, droll, curious, or eccentric : oddity
Did You Know?
Quip is an abbreviation of quippy, a noun that is no longer in use. Etymologists believe that quippyderived from the Latin quippe, a word meaning “indeed” or “to be sure” that was often used ironically. The earliest sense of quip, referring to a cutting or sarcastic remark, was common for approximately a century after it first appeared in print in the early 1500s. It then fell out of use until the beginning of the 19th century, when it underwent a revival that continues to the present day.
Examples
To almost every comment I made, Adam responded with a quip and a smile.
“The cancellation of the CW network’s ‘Veronica Mars’ after three precious, ratings-starved seasons was a TV tragedy. Viewers reluctantly moved on, but we did not forget the girl who was quick with a quip, and perhaps even quicker with a taser.” — Karla Peterson, The San Diego Union Tribune, 25 Aug. 2018
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philomath
Also found in: Thesaurus, Wikipedia.
philomath
(ˈfɪləˌmæθ)
n
a person who enjoys learning new facts and acquiring new knowledge
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. | philomath – a lover of learning
bookman, scholar, scholarly person, student – a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines
|
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Word of the day
Word of the Day : October 3, 2018
Weltschmerz
noun VELT-shmairts
Definition
1 often capitalized Weltschmerz : mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state
2 often capitalized Weltschmerz : a mood of sentimental sadness
Did You Know?
The word weltschmerz initially came into being as a by-product of the European Romanticism movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A combining of the German words for “world” (Welt) and “pain” (Schmerz), weltschmerz aptly captures the melancholy and pessimism that often characterized the artistic expressions of the era. The term was used in German by the Romantic author Jean Paul (pseudonym of Johann Paul Friedrich Richter) in his 1827 novel Selina, but it wasn’t adopted into English until the middle of the 19th century.
Examples
Carson found himself plunging into a state of Weltschmerz as he grew older and discovered that the world was much more complicated than he had envisioned as a youth.
“The mad narrator or central figure is in a world that may be experienced as confusing, grotesque or volatile; above all, it is private, closed in on itself, unavailable to outsiders.… The notion of insanity as a kind of extreme loneliness is good for a wallow in adolescent-romantic weltschmerz, if not much else.” — Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed, 29 June 2018
Word of the day
quietus
noun
qui·etus | \ kwī-ˈē-təs ,
-ˈā-
\
Definition of quietus
1
: final settlement (as of a debt)
2
: removal from activity
especially : death
3
: something that quiets or represses
put the quietus on their celebration
Synonyms
curtains, death, decease, demise, dissolution, doom, end, exit, expiration, fate, grave, great divide, passage, passing, sleep
Antonyms
birth, nativity
Did You Know?
In the early 1500s, English speakers adopted the Medieval Latin phrase quietus est (literally “he is quit”) as the name for the writ of discharge exempting a baron or knight from payment of a knight’s fee to the king. The expression was later shortened to “quietus” and applied to the termination of any debt. William Shakespeare was the first to use “quietus” as a metaphor for the termination of life: “For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, … When he himself might his quietus make / With a bare bodkin?” (Hamlet). The third meaning, which is more influenced by “quiet” than “quit,” appeared in the 19th century. It often occurs in the phrase “put the quietus on” (as in, “The bad news put the quietus on their celebration”).
Examples of quietus in a Sentence
was granted a quietus on the remainder of the debt in the old man’s will
her unshakable belief in a blissful afterlife allowed her to meet her quietus without the slightest tinge of fear or regret
First Known Use of quietus
1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1
History and Etymology for quietus
Middle English quietus est, borrowed from Medieval Latin, “he is quit,” formula of discharge from obligation
Word of the day
https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/manifesto-2018-10-01
Word of the Day : October 1, 2018
manifesto
noun man-uh-FESS-toh
Definition
: a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer
Did You Know?
Manifesto is related to manifest, which occurs in English as a noun, verb, and adjective. Of these, the adjective, which means “readily perceived by the senses,” is oldest, dating to the 14th century. Both manifest and manifesto derive ultimately from the Latin noun manus (“hand”) and -festus, a combining form of uncertain meaning that is also found in the Latin adjective infestus (“hostile”), an ancestor of the English infest. Something that is manifest is easy to perceive or recognize, and a manifesto is a statement in which someone makes his or her intentions or views easy for people to ascertain. Perhaps the most well-known statement of this sort is the Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to outline the platform of the Communist League.
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Examples
“Mr. Eddie Lampert, the chairman of Sears Holdings and mastermind of the Kmart/Sears merger … famously published a 15-page manifesto in 2009 which covered everything from the economic meltdown to civil liberties, and contained a suggested reading list that included free-market Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek.” — Mary Jane Quirk, Consumerist, 8 Jan. 2013
“American Audacity is the rare example of a collection that coheres into a manifesto. Its essays were published during the last seven years, many in The New Republic and The Daily Beast, on topics as various as the art of hate mail, Herman Melville’s life and the Boston Marathon bombing….” — Nathaniel Rich, The New York Times, 19 Aug. 2018
Mws R Writings 