Thursday, April 26, 2012

Interesting Words

sinophile
n.
    One who admires China, its people, or its culture


perspicacity
n.
    Acuteness of perception, discernment, or understanding


adversary
n. pl. ad·ver·sar·ies
  1. An opponent; an enemy.
  2. Adversary The Devil; Satan. Often used with the.


protagonist
n.
    The main character in a drama or other literary work


iconoclast
n.
  1. One who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions
  2. One who destroys sacred religious images


affliction
n.
  1. A condition of pain, suffering, or distress
  2. A cause of pain, suffering, or distress


plebiscite
n.
  1. A direct vote in which the entire electorate is invited to accept or refuse a proposal
  2. A vote in which a population exercises the right of national self-determination.


skeptical
adj.
  1. Marked by or given to doubt; questioning: a skeptical attitude; skeptical of political promises.
  2. Relating to or characteristic of skeptics or skepticism.


salacious
adj.
  1. Appealing to or stimulating sexual desire; lascivious.
  2. Lustful; bawdy.


despot
n.
  1. A ruler with absolute power.
  2. A person who wields power oppressively; a tyrant.
    1. A Byzantine emperor or prince.
    2. An Eastern Orthodox bishop or patriarch.


positivisms
n.
  1. Philosophy
    1. A doctrine contending that sense perceptions are the only admissible basis of human knowledge and precise thought.
    2. The application of this doctrine in logic, epistemology, and ethics.
    3. The system of Auguste Comte designed to supersede theology and metaphysics and depending on a hierarchy of the sciences, beginning with mathematics and culminating in sociology.
    4. Any of several doctrines or viewpoints, often similar to Comte's, that stress attention to actual practice over consideration of what is ideal: "Positivism became the 'scientific' base for authoritarian politics, especially in Mexico and Brazil" (Raymond Carr).
  2. The state or quality of being positive.


locum
n.
    Someone (physician or clergyman) who substitutes temporarily for another member of the same profession


olympic
adj
  1. (General Sporting Terms) of or relating to the Olympic Games
  2. of or relating to ancient Olympia


miasma
n. pl. mi·as·mas or mi·as·ma·ta
  1. A noxious atmosphere or influence: "The family affection, the family expectations, seemed to permeate the atmosphere . . . like a coiling miasma" (Louis Auchincloss).
    1. A poisonous atmosphere formerly thought to rise from swamps and putrid matter and cause disease.
    2. A thick vaporous atmosphere or emanation: wreathed in a miasma of cigarette smoke.


miasma
n pl -mata [-m?t?], -mas
  1. an unwholesome or foreboding atmosphere
  2. pollution in the atmosphere, esp noxious vapours from decomposing organic matter


pediatrics
n. (used with a sing. verb)
    The branch of medicine that deals with the care of infants and children and the treatment of their diseases.


dire
  1. j (usually prenominal)
  1. Also direful disastrous; fearful
  2. desperate; urgent a dire need
  3. foreboding disaster; ominous a dire warning


recalcitrant
adj.
    Marked by stubborn resistance to and defiance of authority or guidance. See Synonyms at unruly.
n.
    A recalcitrant person.


edification
n.
    Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment


suffrage
n.
    1. The right or privilege of voting; franchise.
    2. The exercise of such a right.
  1. A vote cast in deciding a disputed question or in electing a person to office.
  2. A short intercessory prayer.


cathartic
adj. n.
    An agent for purging the bowels, especially a laxative.


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