Word of the Day

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday September 4, 2005CE

sybarite

\SIB-uh-ryt\, noun:
A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.

This worldly cleric, nicknamed "the sybarite of Saumane", friend of Voltaire and a social luminary in Paris and Avignon, lived a high old life within the medieval fortifications of his chateau in Provence.
--"The dubious charms of Citizen Sade," Irish Times, April 17, 1999

Beneath the prudish disapproval that colored Upton Sinclair's assessment of California's wealthy sybarites was an amused astonishment at how hard they worked at having fun, at how deadly serious they were about pleasure.
--Richard White, "What California taught America," The New Republic, December 1, 1997

And when the final blessing of a perfect French cook appeared to make our domestic picture complete, we became utter sybarites, frank worshippers of the splendors of the French cuisine.
--Samuel Chamberlain, Clémentine in the Kitchen


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sybarite is derived from Greek Sybarites, from Sybaris, an ancient Greek city noted for the luxurious, pleasure-seeking habits of many of its inhabitants.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday September 5, 2005CE

deride

\dih-RYD\, transitive verb:
To laugh at with contempt; to subject to ridicule or make sport of; to mock; to scoff at.

She was inclined to deride Mr. Hemingway's mania for firearms and thereby often hurt his feelings.
--"Hemingway's Prize-Winning Works Reflected Preoccupation With Life and Death," New York Times, July 3, 1961

I had no desire to endorse idiocy -- but neither could I be seen to deride a colleague.
--Michael Foley, Getting Used to Not Being Remarkable

It is in the nature of tyranny to deride the will of the people as the voice of the mob, and to denounce the cry for freedom as the roar of anarchy.
--William Safire, "The Counter-Revolution," New York Times, May 22, 1989


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Deride comes from Latin deridere, from de-, "down from" + ridere, "to laugh." It is related to ridiculous. Derision is the act of deriding, or the state of being derided.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 6, 2005CE

cavil

\KAV-uhl\, intransitive verb:
To raise trivial or frivolous objections; to find fault without good reason.

transitive verb:
To raise trivial objections to.

noun:
A trivial or frivolous objection.

Insiders with their own strong views, after all, tend to cavil about competing ideas and stories they consider less than comprehensive.
--Laurence I. Barrett, "Dog-Bites-Dog," Time, October 30, 1989

It may seem churlish, amid the selection of so much glory, to cavil at a single omission, but I do think a great opportunity has been missed.
--Tom Rosenthal, "Rome sweet Rome," New Statesman, February 5, 2001

He was determined not to be diverted from his main pursuit by cavils or trifles.
--William Safire, Scandalmonger


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Cavil comes from Latin cavillari, "to jeer, to quibble," from cavilla, "scoffing."

Synonyms: quibble, carp, nitpick.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday September 7, 2005CE

farrago

\fuh-RAH-go; fuh-RAY-go\, noun;
plural farragoes:
A confused mixture; an assortment; a medley.

Ivan Illich writes "a farrago of sub-Marxist cliches, false analogies, non sequiturs, false or bent facts and weird prophesies."
--"The Paul Johnson Enemies List," New York Times, September 18, 1977

Roy Hattersley will upset much of Scotland by calling Walter Scott's lvanhoe "a farrago of historical nonsense combined with maudlin romance."
--"Literary classics panned by critics," Independent, January 18, 1999

From the moment the story of the Countess of Wessex and the Sheikh of Wapping broke, there has been a farrago of rumour, speculation and fantasy of which virtually every newspaper should be ashamed.
--Roy Greenslade, "A sting in the tale," The Guardian, April 9, 2001


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Farrago comes from the Latin farrago, "a mixed fodder for cattle," hence "a medley, a hodgepodge," from far, a kind of grain.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday September 8, 2005CE

demagogue

\DEM-uh-gog\, noun:
1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.
2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.

This was to have held a sculpture of a Roman charioteer driving four horses, but the work was never completed, leaving behind what looks like a diving board or a futurist balcony, ideally suited for a demagogue exhorting a throng below.
--Michael Z. Wise, "A Fascist Utopia Adapted for Today," New York Times, July 11, 1999

A consummate demagogue, McCarthy played upon cold war emotions and made charges so fantastic that frightened people believed the worst.
--Arthur Herman, Joseph McCarthy

Even when he showed his true colors as a demagogue and trickster, Stalin did so in such a crisp and weighty, confidence-inspiring manner that he bewitched not only his conversational partner but himself as well.
--Milovan Djilas, Fall of the New Class


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Demagogue derives from Greek demagogos, "a leader of the people," from demos, "the people" + agogos, "leading, one who leads," from agein, "to lead."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday September 9, 2005CE

quaff

\KWOFF; KWAFF\, transitive verb:
To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts.

intransitive verb:
To drink largely or luxuriously.

noun:
A drink quaffed.

He gets drunk with his guides, makes eyes at the girls and gamely quaffs snake wine.
--Pico Iyer, "Snake Wine and Socialism," New York Times, December 15, 1991

If you were patient and kept your nose clean, you could slowly, almost effortlessly, rise from serf to squire and maybe even all the way to knight, in which case you, too, would be entitled to quaff bowl-size martinis at midday.
--Charles McGrath, "Office Romance," New York Times Magazine, March 5, 2000

Instead they consume caviar, feed off foie gras, chomp exotic cheeses, and quaff champagne.
--"Internet Shopper," Times (London), August 11, 2000


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Quaff is of unknown origin.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday September 10, 2005CE

hirsute

\HUR-soot; HIR-soot; hur-SOOT; hir-SOOT\, adjective:
Covered with hair or bristles; shaggy; hairy.

The Bear . . . makes the rounds of the clubs "disguised" in trench coat and broad-brimmed hat, hoping (successfully, it seems) to be mistaken for a rather hirsute human.
--Richard M. Sudhalter, "'The Bear Comes Home': Composing the Words That Might Capture Jazz," New York Times, August 29, 1999

"First of all, your nose is nearly covered with your bloody moustache and your beard," Mr Gogarty replied. Mr Allen apologised for his "hirsute" appearance.
--Paul Cullen, "No ambush sprung on returning Gogarty," Irish Times, March 23, 1999

He was incredibly hirsute: there was even a thick pelt of hair on the back of his hands.
--Tama Janowitz, By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee


Hirsute comes from Latin hirsutus, "covered with hair, rough, shaggy, prickly."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday September 11, 2005CE

tenebrous

\TEN-uh-bruhs\, adjective:
Dark; gloomy.

He found the Earl, who is eight feet tall and has the family trait of a Cyclops eye, standing stock still, dressed from head to foot in deepest black, in one of the most tenebrous groves in all his haunted domains.
--Peter Simple, "At Mountwarlock," Daily Telegraph, March 20, 1998

We are so used to the tenebrous atmosphere that can be created in indoor theatres that it's a shock to realise that this murkiest of tragedies first saw the literal light of day at the Globe theatre.
--Paul Taylor, "Cool, calm, disconnected," Independent, June 7, 2001

And lurking behind our every move is the knowledge of our own mortality. It gives life its edgy disquiet, its tenebrous underside.
--Douglas Kennedy, "Sudden death," Independent, July 3, 1999


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Tenebrous derives from Latin tenebrosus, from tenebrae, "darkness."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Monday September 12, 2005CE

ostentation

\os-ten-TAY-shuhn\, noun:
Excessive or pretentious display; boastful showiness.

In a city where the wealthy are known for ostentation, many are now buying low-profile economy cars to fool kidnappers and thieves.
--Anthony Faiola, "Brazil's Elites Fly Above Their Fears," Washington Post, June 1, 2002

After his marriage, when Francis finally had enough money to indulge his tastes, his extravagance and ostentation in matters of dress frequently occasioned comment.
--Lisa Jardine and Alan Stewart, Hostage to Fortune

It is too early to probe the cause or say how far the staggering ostentation of the wealthy fomented the sullen disaffection of the poor.
--Stephen McKenna, Sonia

The Puritan leadership was especially distressed by the sartorial ostentation of the lower classes, who were supposed to content themselves with "raiment suitable to the order in which God's providence has placed them."
--Patricia O'Toole, Money & Morals in America: A History


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ostentation comes from Latin ostentatio, ostentation-, from ostentare, "to display," frequentative of ostendere, "to hold out, to show," from ob-, obs-, "in front of, before," + tendere, "to stretch, to stretch out, to present."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Tuesday September 13, 2005CE

[B[officious[/B]

\uh-FISH-uhs\, adjective:
Marked by excessive eagerness in offering services or advice where they are neither requested nor needed; meddlesome.

Ian Holm plays a well-meaning but officious lawyer who tries to make the grieving families sue for damages.
--John Simon, "Minus Four," National Review, February 9, 1998

The guy was an officious twerp, but Luke and Pete were vagrants, and a railroad employee had the right to throw them out.
--Ken Follett, Code to Zero

"Why don't you mind your own business, ma'am?" roared Bounderby. "How dare you go and poke your officious nose into my family affairs?"
--Charles Dickens, Hard Times


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Officious comes from Latin officiosus, "obliging, dutiful," from officium, "dutiful action, sense of duty, official employment," from opus, "a work, labor" + -ficere, combining form of facere, "to do, to make." It is related to official, "of or pertaining to an office or public trust."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Wednesday September 14, 2005CE

afflatus

\uh-FLAY-tuhs\, noun:
A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration.

Whatever happened to passion and vision and the divine afflatus in poetry?
--Clive Hicks, "From 'Green Man' (Ronsdale)," Toronto Star, November 21, 1999

Aristophanes must have eclipsed them . . . by the exhibition of some diviner faculty, some higher spiritual afflatus.
--John Addington Symonds, Studies of the Greek Poets

The miraculous spring that nourished Homer's afflatus seems out of reach of today's writers, whose desperate yearning for inspiration only indicates the coming of an age of "exhaustion."
--Benzi Zhang, "Paradox of origin(ality)," Studies in Short Fiction, March 22, 1995


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Afflatus is from Latin afflatus, past participle of afflare, "to blow at or breathe on," from ad-, "at" + flare, "to puff, to blow." Other words with the same root include deflate (de-, "out of" + flare); inflate (in-, "into" + flare); soufflé, the "puffed up" dish (from French souffler, "to puff," from Latin sufflare, "to blow from below," hence "to blow up, to puff up," from sub-, "below" + flare); and flatulent.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Thursday September 15, 2005CE

quorum

\KWOR-uhm\, noun:
1. Such a number of the officers or members of any body as is legally competent to transact business.
2. A select group.

The extraordinary powers of the Senate were vested in twenty-six men, fourteen of whom would constitute a quorum, of which eight would make up a majority.
--Akhil Reed Amar, The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction

What other quorum in American history, save those who wrote our constitution, could claim as much impact on our day-to-day lives?
--Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Quorum comes from the Latin quorum, "of whom," from qui, "who." The term arose from the wording of the commission once issued to justices of the peace in England, by which commission it was directed that no business of certain kinds should be done without the presence of one or more specially designated justices.

Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for quorum

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Friday September 16, 2005CE

hauteur

\haw-TUR; (h)oh-\, noun:
Haughty manner, spirit, or bearing; haughtiness; arrogance.

[M]y silence, I hoped, would be taken as expressive of the hauteur of a man who was above it all -- a man with a mission, in fact, a mission authorized from somewhere on high.
--Jeffrey Tayler, Facing the Congo

Sheikhs and presidents have often heard little about the royal family's follies, and don't object to the hauteur and self-importance that remain its inextinguishable traits.
--Hugo Young, "Blair and the Queen," The Guardian, April 10, 2001

That self-deprecation and lack of hauteur are typical of the earthy style that enables Powell to get close to his troops in a way that many top brass never do.
--"Colin Powell: The master planner of Desert Shield is ready for its ultimate test," People, December 31, 1990


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hauteur is from the French, from haut, "high," from Latin altus, "high." It is thus related to altitude.

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Saturday September 17, 2005CE

xenophobia

\ZEN-uh-FOE-bee-uh\, noun:
Fear or hatred of strangers, people from other countries, or of anything that is strange or foreign.

After calling for peace in 61 languages and beseeching the world to end racism and xenophobia, the pope made a surprise announcement.
--"Will the Next Pope Be Catholic?" SF Weekly, April 26, 2000

In Europe today, it is xenophobia and the political manipulation of fear of foreigners that pose the greatest threat to democracy, or at least to the quality of democracy.
--Kofi Annan, "Democracy: An international issue," UN Chronicle, June-August, 2001

The news, the incidents and accidents of everyday life, can be loaded with political or ethnic significance liable to unleash strong, often negative feelings, such as racism, chauvinism, the fear-hatred of the foreigner or, xenophobia.
--Pierre Bourdieu, On Television

In the embattled atmosphere of wartime France, Apollinaire's quenchless appetite for the new was not widely shared. Xenophobia reigned.
--Ruth Brandon, Surreal Lives: The Surrealists 1917-1945


The word xenophobia was formed from the Greek elements xenos "guest, stranger, foreigner" + phobos "fear."

[Lazy Agnostic]

Word of the Day for Sunday September 18, 2005CE

bacchanalia

\bak-uh-NAIL-yuh\, noun:
1. (plural, capitalized) The ancient Roman festival in honor of Bacchus, celebrated with dancing, song, and revelry.
2. A riotous, boisterous, or drunken festivity; a revel.

Alpha Epsilon brothers began their bacchanalia with an off-campus keg party featuring "funneling," in which beer is shot through a rubber hose into the drinker's mouth.
--Adam Cohen, "Battle of the Binge," Time, September 8, 1997

This is not at all to suggest that the Revolution was a sort of non-stop bacchanalia, but that partial drunkenness was often an important component in a certain type of revolutionary excitability, particularly in meetings or committees.
--Richard Cobb, The French and Their Revolution


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Bacchanalia comes from Latin, from Bacchus, god of wine, from Greek Bakkhos. The adjective form is bacchanalian. One who celebrates the Bacchanalia, or indulges in drunken revels, is a bacchanal \BAK-uh-nuhl; bak-uh-NAL\, which is also another term for a drunken or riotous celebration.