assuage
1 use
During the first months of their marriage, he called Celia every night, his gentle voice assuaging her.
assuaging = soothing (making something less unpleasant or frightening)
Definition
Generally assuage means:to soothe (make something less unpleasant or frightening)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.3 |
belligerent
1 use
Even the lowly weed pullers had boasted a belligerent name: The Mechanized Offensive Brigade.
belligerent = showing an eagerness to fight
Definition
Generally belligerent means:hostile (the attitude of one eager to fight); or one already engaged in a fight or war
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.8 |
decorum
1 use
She wore her decorous dresses to morning mass, and around her neck displayed the short single strand of pearls she had received on her fifteenth birthday.
decorous = considered proper and in good taste
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 |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.3 |
despondent
1 use
Celia wiped the blood from Jorge's despondent blue eyes with a wet cloth.
despondent = depressed (very sad)
Definition
Generally despondent means:emotionally depressed — especially a feeling of grief and hopelessness after a loss
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.6 |
dissent
1 use
Cuba is still developing, she tells me, and can't afford the luxury of dissent.
dissent = disagreement
Definition
Generally dissent means:to disagree; or disagreement or conflict — typically between people who cooperate, and often with official or majority beliefs
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.16 |
doleful
1 use
Her mother's doleful rhythm followed them everywhere.
doleful = expressing or causing sadness
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 1 use in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.2 |
enigma
1 use
You know I am an expert in matters of religious enigmas.
enigmas = things that are mysterious and seem unexplainable
Definition
Generally enigma means:something mysterious that seems unexplainable
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.2 |
furtive
1 use
I buy apples and bananas in the cafeteria and eat them furtively in my room.
furtively = while taking pains to avoid being observed
Definition
Generally furtive means:taking pains to avoid being observed
or:
in a manner indicating nervousness (being cautious or appearing suspicious)
or:
in a manner indicating nervousness (being cautious or appearing suspicious)
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.14 |
hedonist
2 uses
They believed that hedonism was the only way to get rid of their sins.
hedonism = the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good
(editor's note: Later we learned that Max was wrong when he made that statement.)
(editor's note: Later we learned that Max was wrong when he made that statement.)
Definition
Generally hedonist means:someone most motivated by pleasures — often sensual pleasures
Word Statistics
| Book | 2 uses |
| Library | 0 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.9 |
impervious
1 use
We're a double helix, tight and impervious.
impervious = not capable of being affected; or not admitting passage through
Definition
Generally impervious means:not admitting passage through; or not capable of being affected
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 2 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.8 |
indifferent
7 uses
The moon glares with a vivid indifference.
indifference = without interest
Definition
Generally indifferent means:without interest
in various senses, including:
- unconcerned — as in "She is indifferent to what is served to eat."
- unsympathetic — as in "She is indifferent to his needs."
- not of good quality (which may imply average or poor quality depending upon context) — as in "an indifferent performance"
- impartial — as in "We need a judge who is indifferent."
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 15 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 1000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.3 |
malevolent
1 use
"We inhabit the eye of the swamp, Ivanito," she warns, tightening the shutters against malevolent rays.
malevolent = evil or harmful influence
Definition
Generally malevolent means:evil
- of a person — wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
- of a thing — exerting an evil or harmful influence
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.6 |
meticulous
1 use
He combs his flaxen strands meticulously from the lower left side of his head to his right temple, then swirls them round and round on his bald crown, securing them with a greasy pomade.
meticulously = in a manner that treats details with great care
Definition
Generally meticulous means:treating details with great care
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 8 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.10 |
minute
1 use
1 —1 use as in:
minute size
There's a minute scar on her cheek.†
minute = small
Definition
Generally this sense of minute means:small, exceptionally small, or insignificant
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 4 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.16 |
notorious
1 use
And in the confusion, Silvio Arroyo Pedros, a retired Spanish matador ..., and a devotee of Havana's most notorious fleshpots, broke his clavicle dancing with the widow Doña Victoria del Paso.
notorious = well known for something bad
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 9 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.15 |
obstinate
1 use
Celia saw her son age in these photographs, watched his mouth acquire his father's obstinate expression.
obstinate = stubbornly not doing what others want
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.8 |
onslaught
1 use
"You may have to act alone and firmly during the onslaught of these weighted times," Pilar reads hesitantly.
onslaught = powerful attack
Definition
Generally onslaught means:a powerful attack
or:
a sudden and enormous amount of something that must be handled — such as trouble, people or communications
or:
a sudden and enormous amount of something that must be handled — such as trouble, people or communications
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 3 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 3.16 |
recite
7 uses
Abuela knows each poem by heart, and recites them quite dramatically.
recites = to say or read something aloud
Definition
Generally recite means:to say or read something aloud — especially something previously memorized such as a poem
or:
to say in detail — especially a list of things
or:
to say in detail — especially a list of things
Word Statistics
| Book | 7 uses |
| Library | 23 uses in 10 avg bks |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.9 |
resignation (2 meanings)
2 meanings, 2 uses
1 —1 use as in:
submitted her resignation
She decides one last case before she resigns as a judge for the People's Court.
resigns = quits (leaves her job)
Definition
Generally this sense of resignation means:to quit — especially a job or position; or a document expressing such an act
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 12 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 2.10 |
2 —1 use as in:
accepted it with resignation
There's a ship leaving the harbor, its whistle resigned as an abbot in prayer,
resigned = having accepted something undesired as unavoidable or the lesser of evils
Definition
Generally this sense of resignation means:acceptance of something undesired as unavoidable or the lesser of evils
Word Statistics
| Book | 1 use |
| Library | 7 uses in 10 avg bks |
| SAT®* | top 2000 |
| 1st use | Chapter 1.5 |