acclaim
1 use
Isaac Moritz, acclaimed author of six novels including The Remedy, which won the National Book Award, died Tuesday night.
acclaimed = popularly and enthusiastically praised
Definition
Generally acclaim means:to praise enthusiastically and publicly — sometimes choosing without opposition or a formal vote
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
cursory
1 use
A few hours later, the first of many passersby gave it a cursory glance as they went by the window.
cursory = hasty and without attention to detail
Definition
Generally cursory means:quick—not thorough (without attention to detail)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
decorum
1 use
Only a last scrap of decorum keeps me from it.
decorum = proper manners and conduct
Definition
Generally decorum means:manners and conduct considered to be proper and in good taste
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
dispute
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
their border dispute
I knew that her father wanted her to learn how to play the piano, but that she wanted to learn the violin, and that this dispute remained unsettled, with both sides standing their ground, until...
dispute = disagreement
Definition
Generally this sense of dispute means:disagreement, argument, or conflict
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
diverge
1 use
Two rabbis diverged in a yellow wood.
diverged = moved apart
Definition
Generally diverge means:to move apart; or be or become different
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
elaborate
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
elaborate on your plan
Dr. Vishnubakat said That's interesting, can you elaborate?
elaborate = add details (say more about it)
Definition
Generally this sense of elaborate means:add details or explain in detail
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 500 |
frenetic
1 use
...that had been the inspiration for countless frenetic variations.
frenetic = fast, energetic
Definition
Generally frenetic means:fast, energetic — often with confusion
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
incredulous
1 use
... he repeated, incredulous,
incredulous = unbelieving; or having difficulty accepting something so unexpected
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 11 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
innovate
1 use
While some critics saw it as a boldly innovative departure, others ... called the collection a failure.
innovative = introducing things that are new and different
(editor's note: The suffix "-ive" converts a word into an adjective; though over time, what was originally an adjective often comes to be used as a noun. The adjective pattern means tending to and is seen in words like attractive, impressive, and supportive. Examples of the noun include narrative, alternative, and detective.)
(editor's note: The suffix "-ive" converts a word into an adjective; though over time, what was originally an adjective often comes to be used as a noun. The adjective pattern means tending to and is seen in words like attractive, impressive, and supportive. Examples of the noun include narrative, alternative, and detective.)
Definition
Generally innovate means:bring something new to an environment
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
lament
1 use
At that moment ... Jacob launches into a lament, a single, ecstatic paragraph, unbroken over five pages, that Time magazine called one of the most "incandescent, haunting passages" in contemporary literature.
lament = expression of grief
Definition
Generally lament means:to express grief or regret
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
languish
1 use
The careless owner hardly noticed it, and for some years it languished on the shelves, acquiring a pattern of mildew across the cover.
languished = suffered in a bad situation for a long time
Definition
Generally languish means:to suffer in a bad situation for a long time
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
nostalgia
2 uses
attacks of nostalgia
nostalgia = longing for something past
Definition
Generally nostalgia means:happiness that come with the memory of good times combined with a hint of sadness that those times are over
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 5 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
obscure (2 meanings)
2 meanings, 2 uses
1 —1 use as in:
the view or directions are obscure
After Uncle Julian left, my mother became more withdrawn, or maybe a better word would be obscure, as in faint, unclear, distant.
obscure = not easily detected (not easily seen, heard, understood...)
Definition
Generally this sense of obscure means:not clearly seen, understood, or expressed
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
2 —1 use as in:
knows the famous and the obscure
But, with a dreadful feeling, she remembered how it had been her who'd insisted that he publish the book. He'd argued with her, saying it was too personal, a private matter, but she'd pushed and pushed, softening his resistance until he finally broke down and agreed. Because wasn't that what wives of artists were meant to do? Husband their husbands' work into the world, which, without them, would be lost to obscurity?
obscurity = a condition of not being known by many people (in this case, hardly known to anyone)
Definition
Generally this sense of obscure means:not known to many people; or unimportant or undistinguished
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
persist
1 use
And yet I persist like a stubborn mule in my efforts.
persist = continue
Definition
Generally persist means:to continue — often despite difficulty
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 11 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
prolific
1 use
And no one could accuse him of not being prolific in his chosen metier.
prolific = highly productive (creating abundantly)
(editor's note: Metier means "area of expertise".)
(editor's note: Metier means "area of expertise".)
Definition
Generally prolific means:producing abundantly
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
rebuttal
1 use
Sometimes Litvinoff found himself disagreeing with someone's argument, and in his head he delivered a brilliant rebuttal.
rebuttal = argument in opposition
Definition
Generally rebuttal means:a statement arguing against something
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
speculate
5 uses
1 —5 uses as in:
don't know, but I'll speculate
This is because they argue about what it means to be among the Living, and because they don't know they can only speculate,
speculate = guess or theorize
Definition
Generally this sense of speculate means:to think about, wonder, guess or theorize with much uncertainty
Word Statistics
| Book | 5 uses |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
spontaneous
2 uses
The fifth time they met, under the spell of Rosa's youthful spontaneity—halfway through a heated discussion...—Litvinoff surprised himself by proposing they go hear a concert together.
spontaneity = behaving in an instinctive, uninhibited manner
Definition
Generally spontaneous means:behaving in an instinctive, uninhibited manner
or:
happening naturally (without planning or external force)
or:
happening naturally (without planning or external force)
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
vestige
2 uses
The anatomical illusion that had seemed so real slowly disappeared and—like so much we no longer need but can't give up—became vestigial.
vestigial = a trace of something that was previously there
Definition
Generally vestige means:a remaining trace (little bit of something) that was previously abundant
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |