adapt
3 uses
But I have a feeling it's not much protection against the intelligence and adaptability of the modern virus.†
adaptability = the degree to which something can change to fit a different situation
Definition
Generally adapt means:change to fit a different situation; or make suitable
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 10 |
| 1st use | Part 2 |
condescending
3 uses
He gave me a condescending smile.
condescending = a manner that treats others as inferiors
Definition
Generally condescending means:treating others as inferior; or doing something considered beneath one's position or dignity
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Part 2 |
context
5 uses
How stupid and out of context.†
out of context = misleading because something is presented without the setting or situation in which it occurred
Definition
Generally context means:the setting or situation in which something occurs
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
dwell
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
a modest dwelling
I met Murray after his car crash seminar and we wandered along the fringes of the campus, past the cedar-shingled condominiums set in the trees in their familiar defensive posture—a cluster of dwellings blending so well with the environment that birds kept flying into the plate-glass windows.†
dwellings = houses or shelters in which people live
Definition
Generally this sense of dwelling means:a house or shelter in which someone lives
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Part 3 |
environment
2 uses
1 —2 uses as in:
conditions in that environment
We are quartered in Centenary Hal l, a dark brick structure we share with the popular culture department, known officially as American environments.†
environments = instances of surrounding conditions
Definition
Generally this sense of environment means:surrounding conditions (such as:)
- conditions in a geographic area
- conditions that affect a particular activity — such as business, learning, or raising children
- conditions that create a certain mood — such as one of romance or competition
- conditions that impact a particular computer system, subsystem, or program
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
epic
7 uses
I want to believe he lay in his tent, wrapped in animal skins, as in some internationally financed movie epic, and said brave cruel things to his aides and retainers.†
epic = an outstanding work of literature or film
Definition
Generally epic means:something that is outstanding — especially a literary work that is long and heroic
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
Hitler
50 uses
I am chairman of the department of Hitler studies at the College-on-the-Hill.†
Hitler = German Nazi dictator during World War II; murdered millions of Jews and others who were not of the Aryan race (1889-1945)
Word Statistics
| Book | 50 uses |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
inclined
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
I'm inclined to
What habits, fetishes, addictions, inclinations ?†
inclinations = tendencies (attitudes favoring)
Definition
Generally this sense of inclined means:a tendency; in the mood; or an attitude that favors something
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 10 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Part 3 |
irony
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
situational irony
The third and related irony is that it's the most complex and neurotic and difficult women that I am invariably drawn to.
irony = when what happens is very different than what might be expected
Definition
Generally this sense of irony means:when what happens is very different than what might be expected; or when things are together that seem like they don't belong together — especially when amusing or an entertaining coincidence
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 13 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
narrator
2 uses
I'd been pushed away from the narrator by people crowding in to listen, well over a hundred of them, dragging their shoulder bags and garment bags across the dusty floor.†
narrator = someone who tells a story—especially the main voice in a documentary, or a character who talks directly to the audience in a movie, play or other performance
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
nostalgia
8 uses
Fool, you're supposed to look at me in a fond and nostalgic way, smiling ruefully.†
nostalgic = happiness that come with the memory of good times combined with a hint of sadness that those times are over
Word Statistics
| Book | 8 uses |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Part 3 |
passage
1 use
A stewardess pinned to the bulkhead by the sharp angle of descent was trying to find the relevant passage in a handbook titled "Manual of Disasters."†
passage = a short part of a longer written work
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
perspective
2 uses
1 —2 uses as in:
Look at it from her perspective
They were all Hitler majors, members of the only class I still taught, Advanced Nazism, three hours a week, restricted to qualified seniors, a course of study designed to cultivate historical perspective, theoretical rigor and mature insight into the continuing mass appeal of fascist tyranny, with special emphasis on parades, rallies and uniforms, three credits, written reports.†
perspective = way of seeing and thinking about things
Definition
Generally this sense of perspective means:a particular way of seeing or thinking about things
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 100 |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
prescribe
10 uses
The doctor prescribed thirty pills.†
prescribed = of a medical doctor: to give medical instructions — such as writing that a patient should have antibiotics
or:
to recommend — especially with expertise
or:
to require by rule
or:
to recommend — especially with expertise
or:
to require by rule
Word Statistics
| Book | 10 uses |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
relevant
1 use
A stewardess pinned to the bulkhead by the sharp angle of descent was trying to find the relevant passage in a handbook titled "Manual of Disasters."†
relevant = relating in a meaningful way to the issue in question
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 10 |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
revise
1 use
Maybe the scientists were right in the first place, with their original announcements, before they revised upward.†
revised = changed
Definition
Generally revise means:to change (and hopefully improve) — most frequently to improve a written document, but it can be any intentional change such as a change in an estimated amount, a plan, or a series of procedures
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 10 |
| 1st use | Part 2 |
simulate
12 uses
They didn't prepare us for this at the death simulator in Denver.†
simulator = something that imitates something else
Definition
Generally simulate means:make an imitation or representation of
Word Statistics
| Book | 12 uses |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
| 1st use | Part 3 |
static
1 use
...what could emergency technicians do, people trained to leap on chests and pound at static hearts?
static = not moving (not pumping or beating)
(editor's note: This book also uses static with other better-known meaning.)
(editor's note: This book also uses static with other better-known meaning.)
Definition
Generally this sense of static means:not moving or not changing
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Part 1 |
toxic
43 uses
II The Airborne Toxic Event .†
toxic = poisonous or harmful
Word Statistics
| Book | 43 uses |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Part 2 |
visceral
3 uses
1 —3 uses as in:
visceral muscles
Enter unannounced, gain his confidence, wait for an unguarded moment, take out the Zumwalt, shoot him three times in the viscera for maximum slowness of agony, put the gun in his hand to suggest a lonely man's suicide, write semi-coherent things on the mirror, leave Stover's car in Treadwell's garage.†
viscera = internal organs
Definition
Generally this sense of visceral means:relating to or affecting the viscera (internal organs)
Word Statistics
| Book | 3 uses |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Part 3 |