abhor
3 uses
And thou, O Golden-crown, Theban and named our own, O Wine-gleam, Voice of Joy, for ever more Ringed with thy Maenads white, Bacchus, draw near and smite, Smite with thy glad-eyed flame the God whom Gods abhor.†
abhor = hate or detest
Definition
Generally abhor means:to hate or detest something
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
abridge
1 use
Away to the south a wild and desolate valley opens, running up among the waste places of Helicon, a scene of inexpressible grandeur and desolation" (Jebb, abridged).†
abridged = shortened; or reduced in scope while retaining essential elements
Definition
Generally abridge means:reduce in scope while retaining essential elements — especially to a book
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
afflict
4 uses
One new as our new-come affliction, Or an old toil returned with the years?†
affliction = something that causes ongoing suffering
Definition
Generally afflict means:cause suffering — such as illness, pain, or unhappiness
Word Statistics
| Book | 4 uses |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
anguish
4 uses
She passed like one who flies In very anguish.†
anguish = extreme distress
Definition
Generally anguish means:extreme distress of body or mind
Word Statistics
| Book | 4 uses |
| Library | 13 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
askance
1 use
893-916] To ward him secretly From the arrow that slays askance?†
askance = with disapproval or distrust; or directed to one side
Definition
Generally askance means:with disapproval, distrust, or suspicion
or:
directed to one side — especially a sideways glance
or:
directed to one side — especially a sideways glance
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
assuage
1 use
She will assuage it as is well.†
assuage = to soothe (make something less unpleasant or frightening)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
banish
7 uses
For Phoebus—thou hast heard withal His message—to our envoy hath decreed One only way of help in this great need: To find and smite with death or banishing, Him who smote Laius, our ancient King.†
banishing = expelling or getting rid of
Definition
Generally banish means:to expel or get rid of
in various senses including:
in various senses including:
- to force someone to leave a country as punishment
- to push an idea from the mind
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
contemporary
2 uses
1 —2 uses as in:
they are contemporaries
Indeed, considering the general tone of his contemporaries and friends, we may safely assume that he did not.†
contemporaries = people who live or lived at the same time
Definition
Generally this sense of contemporary means:living at the same time
or:
something occurring in the same period of time as something else
or:
something occurring in the same period of time as something else
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Pref. |
crescendo
1 use
On the whole, I can only say that the work of translation has made me feel even more strongly than before the extraordinary grip and reality of the dialogue, the deftness of the construction, and, except perhaps for a slight drop in the Creon scene, the unbroken crescendo of tragedy from the opening to the close.†
crescendo = gradual increase in intensity; or maximum intensity
Definition
Generally crescendo means:a gradual increase in intensity; or the time of maximum intensity — especially in the loudness of music
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Pref. |
eminent
1 use
Oedipus himself is selected by Aristotle as the most effective kind of tragic hero, because, first, he has been great and glorious, and secondly he has not been "pre-eminently virtuous or just."†
eminently = with high standing
Definition
Generally eminent means:standing above others in attainment or reputation
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Pref. |
exile
4 uses
'tis that, hath kept thee exiled in this place?†
exiled = to force someone to live outside of their home country; or living in such a condition
or more rarely: voluntary absence from one's own country
or more rarely: voluntary absence from one's own country
Word Statistics
| Book | 4 uses |
| Library | 10 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
expound
1 use
At the present day it is not in the best manners to moralise over a man who is down, any more than it is the part of a comforter to expound and insist upon his friend's misfortunes.†
expound = explain or discuss in detail
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
grandeur
3 uses
What there is, is drama; drama of amazing grandeur and power.†
grandeur = the quality of being grand or magnificent or splendid
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Pref. |
malicious
1 use
I deny not what he saith, My Queen .... with craft and malice practising Against my life.†
malice = the desire to hurt others or see them suffer
Definition
Generally malicious means:wanting to see others suffer; or threatening evil
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 9 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Play |
mortal
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
mortal body
And none among mortals, none, Seeking to live, hath won More than to seem, and to cease Again from his seeming.†
mortals = humans (especially merely humans) or people subject to death
Definition
Generally this sense of mortal means:human (especially merely human); or subject to death
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
prophecy
7 uses
Question every cry Of birds, and all roads else of prophecy Thou knowest.†
prophecy = prediction of the future
Definition
Generally prophecy means:a prediction of the future (usually said to be obtained in a supernatural way)
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
scorn
7 uses
—Children, care For this so moves me, I have scorned withal Message or writing: seeing 'tis I ye call, 'tis I am come, world-honoured Oedipus.†
scorned = treated with strong disrespect or disdain
Definition
Generally scorn means:treat with a strong disrespect or disdain — sometimes accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 12 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Play |
subtle
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
a subtle difference or thinker
This is partly because the writing of Euripides, being less business-like and more penetrated by philosophic reflections and by subtleties of technique, actually needs more thorough re-casting to express it at all adequately; partly because there is in Sophocles, amid all his passion and all his naturalness, a certain severe and classic reticence, which, though impossible really to reproduce by any method, is less misrepresented by occasional insufficiency than by habitual redundance.†
subtleties = things that are not obvious, but noticeable by someone with adequate sensitivity and relevant knowledge
Definition
Generally this sense of subtle means:not obvious, but understandable by someone with adequate sensitivity and relevant knowledge (perhaps depending upon fine distinctions)
or:
capable of understanding things that require sensitivity and relevant knowledge (perhaps understanding fine distinctions)
or:
capable of understanding things that require sensitivity and relevant knowledge (perhaps understanding fine distinctions)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Pref. |
wrath
10 uses
_ Nay; the wrath of any stone Would rise at him.†
wrath = extreme anger
Definition
Generally wrath means:extreme anger — sometimes implying angry punishment
Word Statistics
| Book | 10 uses |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |
Zeus
10 uses
A crowd of suppliants of all ages are waiting by the altar in front and on the steps of the Palace; among them the_ PRIEST OF ZEUS.†
Zeus = Greek mythology: the most supreme of the gods
Word Statistics
| Book | 10 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Play |