Word of the Day!

[Noblejanobii]

Word of the Day: Mordant

Definition:
Adjective-
1. sharply caustic or sarcastic, as wit or a speaker; biting.
2. burning; corrosive.
3. having the property of fixing colors, as in dyeing.
Noun-
1. a substance used in dyeing to fix the coloring matter, especially a metallic compound, as an oxide or hydroxide, that combines with the organic dye and forms an insoluble colored compound or lake in the fiber.
2. an adhesive substance for binding gold or silver leaf to a surface.
3. an acid or other corrosive substance used in etching to eat out the lines, areas, etc.
4. Music a melodic embellishment consisting of a rapid alternation of a principal tone with the tone a half or a whole step below it, called single or short when the auxiliary tone occurs once and double or long when this occurs twice or more.
Verb-
1. to impregnate or treat with a mordant.

Examples:
1. "Such seemingly effortless—and mordant —improvisation can be a marvel to behold."
The Stacks: Robin Williams, More Than A Shtick Figure Joe Morgenstern August 15, 2014

2. "I like that the emotional lives of women are tinged with a kind of mordant humor for the most part."
Broadway's Comeback Kid Kevin Sessums November 1, 2011

3. "Bradlee is, at times, funny, mordant, surprisingly perceptive and disturbingly naïve."
An Ordinary, Extraordinary Life Barbara Kantrowitz March 30, 2009

[Noblejanobii]

Word of the Day:: Minatory

Definition:
1. Having a menacing quality

Examples:
1. The novel's protagonist is haunted by a minatory black specter.

Did You Know?
Knowing that minatory means "threatening," can you take a guess at a related word? If you're familiar with mythology, perhaps you guessed Minotaur, the name of the bull-headed, people-eating monster of Crete. Minotaur is a good guess, but as terrifying as the monster sounds, its name isn't related to minatory. The relative we're searching for is actually menace. Minatory and menace both come from derivatives of the Latin verb minari, which means "to threaten." Minatory was borrowed directly from Late Latin minatorius. Menace came to English via Anglo-French manace, menace, which came from Latin minac-, minax, meaning "threatening."

[Suicune's Fire]

XD Really, who's surprised that it's Latin? Oh, Latin. You sneaky language, you. I really like that word though! And you're right; I did think of Minotaur. xD Interesting to know!

[Noblejanobii]

XD Really, who's surprised that it's Latin? Oh, Latin. You sneaky language, you. I really like that word though! And you're right; I did think of Minotaur. xD Interesting to know!

There wasn't much to the word definition and sentence wise so I thought I'd throw in a fun fact for good measure.

[Suicune's Fire]

There wasn't much to the word definition and sentence wise so I thought I'd throw in a fun fact for good measure.

It was entertaining! 8D I love learning random little things like that.

[Noblejanobii]

Word of the Day: Jejune

Definition:
1. Not interesting
2. Too Simple
3. Lacking nutritive value
4. Devoid of significance or interest
5. Juvenile, puerile

Examples:
1. She made jejune remarks about life and art.
2. <another moralizing tale filled with jejune platitudes>

Did You Know:
Starved for excitement? You won't get it from something jejune. That term derives from the Latin jejunus, which means "empty of food," "meager," or "hungry." Back in the 1600s, English speakers used "jejune" in senses very similar to those of its Latin parent, lamenting "jejune appetites" and "jejune morsels." Something that is meager rarely satisfies, and before long "jejune" was being used not only for meager meals or hunger, but for things wanting in intellectual or emotional substance. The word most likely gained its "childish" sense when people confused it with the look-alike French word jeune, which means "young."

[Noblejanobii]

Word of the Day: Petulant

Definition:
1. Moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance.
2. Irritable, impatient, or sullen in a peevish or capricious way

Examples:
1. A petulant toss of the head.
2. "I thought he carried it a little too long and began slip into petulant Rick mode, but he tied Romney for the best night." -Romney Rises Rich Galen January 26, 2012
3. "And Gunn reserves special contempt for Mizrahi, whom he portrays as a petulant, insufferable diva." -Tim Gunn's Tell-All Book Rebecca Dana September 5, 2010
4. "And like petulant preschoolers, Wall Street craves—and needs—rules, and the discipline to enforce them consistently." -Wall Street: Please Treat Us Like Five-Year-Olds Randall Lane July 20, 2010

[Noblejanobii]

Word of the Day: Gustatory

Definition:
1. Relating to taste or the sense of taste
2. Having to do with taste or eating

Examples:
1. The dinner was a gustatory pleasure for the palate.
2. The party included an array of gustatory desserts paired with wine.
3. The chef was trying to teach his students about the gustatory arts.

Did You Know:
Gustatory is a member of a finite set of words that describe the senses with which we encounter our world, the other members being visual, aural, olfactory, and tactile. Like its peers, gustatory has its roots in Latin-in this case the Latin word gustare, meaning "to taste." Gustare is a somewhat distant relative of several common English words, among them choose and disgust, but is a direct ancestor only of gustatory, gustation, meaning "the act or sensation of tasting," and degustation, meaning "the action or an instance of tasting especially in a series of small portions."

[Noblejanobii]

Word of the Day: Nyctophobia

Definition:
1. An abnormal fear of night or darkness.
2. A fear of night, darkness; also called noctiphobia

Examples:
1. For nyctophobia, try facing the darkness with another person that brings a feeling of safety, such as a parent or good friend.
2. Other standard phobias are nyctophobia, a fear of the dark, and ochlophobia a fear of crowds, from the Greek words for night and crowd respectively.
3. Nyctophobia is mostly present in young children, and starts out with night terrors and a healthy fear of the boogeyman.
4. The American Medical Association believes adult Ncytophobia is very rare and usually treatable with hypnosis and believe it or not, yes prescription drugs.

[Noblejanobii]

Word of the Day:: Sepulchral

Definition:
1. Of, relating to, or serving as a tomb.
2. Of or relating to burial.
3. Proper to or suggestive of a tomb; funereal or dismal.
4. Hollow and deep

Examples:
1. Sepulchral tones
2. One person described the atmosphere inside the network as “sepulchral.” - Collapse at CBS News Rebecca Dana August 30, 2010
3. Wilde called on a sepulchral Jefferson Davis at his Mississippi Plantation. - Wilde Ride Anthony Paletta January 2, 2013
4. The conical cairn must have been in use in Scotland during a longer period than any other sepulchral memorial. - The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland Daniel Wilson