alias
1 use
Later, not to be outdone, the Brigham would create a special division and another alias for pih, the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities.
alias = alternative name
Definition
Generally alias means:an alternative name
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5.24 |
defer
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
deferred the decision
...situations here where the choice to do one necessary thing also means the choice not to do another—not just to defer the other but not to do it.
defer = delay
Definition
Generally this sense of defer means:delay or postpone (hold off until a later time)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5.26 |
diligent
2 uses
Here and there boys with hoes smoothed out little patches of roadway, making shows of their diligence, then lifting their hands in the hope of reward.
diligence = hard work and care
Definition
Generally this sense of diligent means:hard work and care in tasks — often continuing when others might quit because of difficulties
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.19 |
enmity
1 use
And, as the years went on, they and others would protect him from the enmities and rules of academia.
enmities = hatred toward someone or between people — typically long-lasting
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.11 |
exemplar
1 use
"It's embarrassing that piddly little projects like ours should serve as exemplars," Farmer told me.
exemplars = examples — especially those represents the ideal
Definition
Generally exemplar means:an example — especially one that represents the ideal
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 0 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5.24 |
fastidious
1 use
Haitians, he said, are a fastidious people.
fastidious = excessively concerned with cleanliness or matters of taste
Definition
Generally fastidious means:giving careful attention to detail
or:
excessively concerned with cleanliness or matters of taste
or:
excessively concerned with cleanliness or matters of taste
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.4 |
heresy
1 use
In other words, a lot of the audience would view what Socios was doing in Carabayllo as quixotic, even heretical.
heretical = characterized by opinions or actions most people consider immoral
(editor's note: quixotic means "unrealistically idealistic")
(editor's note: quixotic means "unrealistically idealistic")
Definition
Generally heresy means:opinions or actions most people consider immoral
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.16 |
impervious
2 uses
When a patient didn't get better on standard therapy, a doctor should suspect that the tb was impervious to some drugs in the regimen and should find out which drugs as quickly as possible and substitute others.
impervious = immune (not capable of being affected by)
Definition
Generally impervious means:not admitting passage through; or not capable of being affected
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.13 |
irony (2 meanings)
2 meanings, 2 uses
1 —1 use as in:
situational irony
Ironic, I suppose, that just when his organization's endeavors had ceased to be global in theory and had become global in fact, a child had entered his life.
ironic = when what happens is very different than what might be expected
(editor's note: Kidder is saying that it is an unfortunate coincidence that there is much more need to travel just when a child makes it much more desirable to stay at home.)
(editor's note: Kidder is saying that it is an unfortunate coincidence that there is much more need to travel just when a child makes it much more desirable to stay at home.)
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 | 16 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 4.22 |
2 —1 use as in:
verbal irony
Farmer said, with sympathy, not irony, "That's all right."
irony = saying one thing while meaning something else
Definition
Generally this sense of irony means:saying one thing, while meaning the opposite or something else — usually as humor or sarcasm
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 6 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 4.23 |
laconic
1 use
Is there a more widespread notion than the one that rural people are laconic, and is there a rural place anywhere in the world whose people really are?
laconic = using few words
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.4 |
latent
2 uses
According to the best current estimates, about two billion people, one-third of humanity, have tb bacilli in their bodies, but the disease tends to remain latent.
latent = existing but not presently active
Definition
Generally latent means:potentially existing but not presently evident or active
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.13 |
pious
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
a good, pious woman
He met others like her—"church ladies," he called them—and he was impressed, not by their piety but by what they were willing to do on behalf of the migrant workers.
piety = religious belief
Definition
Generally this sense of pious means:religious or highly moral
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.6 |
proclivity
1 use
His reign was being continued now in the person of his son, Baby Doc—a little less crafty than his father but with the same proclivity for murdering political enemies and for stealing and misappropriating foreign aid.
proclivity = tendency
Definition
Generally proclivity means:a tendency, inclination, preference, or strength
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.6 |
pugnacious
1 use
In the light from the dashboard, I see his jaw stiffen, a momentarily pugnacious look.
pugnacious = appearing combative (as though ready to fight or argue)
Definition
Generally pugnacious means:quick to fight or argue
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 0 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5.26 |
reticent
1 use
If he made a cryptic or broad statement, it was best not to challenge him, because then he might grow reticent.
reticent = reluctant to speak
Definition
Generally reticent means:reluctant — especially to speak freely
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.7 |
taint
1 use
Perhaps he had eaten some tainted fish.
tainted = spoiled or contaminated
Definition
Generally taint means:to spoil something so it is not desirable — as when bacteria contaminates a food; or as when a rumor makes people distrust a person
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.17 |
trepidation
1 use
Then it's time for rounds, ... with trepidation, to the Children's Pavilion upstairs, where there always seems to be a baby with the sticklike limbs, the bloated belly, the reddish hair of kwashiorkor, a form of starvation.
trepidation = fear or anxiety about what will be found
Definition
Generally trepidation means:nervousness (fear or anxiety about what will happen)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.3 |
virulent
2 uses
What about the belief that mdr was less virulent and contagious than regular tb?
virulent = dangerous (bad)
Definition
Generally virulent means:of disease: very bad — perhaps very contagious
or
harsh or hateful
or
harsh or hateful
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.16 |
waive
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
waive the right
He had a rare congenital heart defect, which a team of surgeons fixed, waiving their fees.†
waiving = not enforcing (not collecting)
Definition
Generally this sense of waive means:not enforce something to which one would otherwise be entitled
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 0 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 5.25 |