To abase something or someone is to humiliate them — no, more than just humiliate them. If you abase another person you are bringing them low, humbling them in a mean, base manner. Not nice at all.

Abase means to bring someone down, often either in their job or their self-esteem. The early Latin bassus, which meant "thick, low," evolved into the Old French abaissier, meaning "to make lower in value or status." The important clue to the word is "base." Consider that the base of anything is the bottom, and you get an idea as to the meaning of the word abase, which means to make someone feel low.

Definition of abase

verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
synonyms:chagrin, humble, humiliate, mortify
see less

types: show 4 types...

type of: bruise, hurt, injure, offend, spite, wound hurt the feelings of

An aberration is something strange that rarely occurs. An example of an aberration is when the temperature in Minnesota hits 90 degrees in January — it's nice and warm, but it's really strange.

The noun aberration often refers to something that doesn't fit with current moral standards, or is something that shows a mental lack of control. Aberration comes from the Latin word that means "to wander, go astray." Today, you'd say it was an aberration to send little children to work in coal mines and factories and not to school, which was common in the nineteenth century. There's a very old poem called "The Chimney Sweep" about a boy who cleans chimneys and is only about five years old!

Definitions of aberration

noun a state or condition markedly different from the norm
synonyms:aberrance, aberrancy, deviance

noun a disorder in one's mental state

noun an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image
synonyms: distortion, optical aberration
see less

types: chromatic aberration

an optical aberration in which the image has colored fringes

spherical aberration

an optical aberration resulting in a distorted image

type of: optical phenomenon

\a physical phenomenon related to or involving light

If you abhor something, it gives you a feeling of complete hatred. Chances are you abhor that kid who used to torture the frogs in biology class.

Abhor is from Latin abhorrere — "to shrink back in horror." It is the strongest way in English to express hatred, even stronger than loathe. We only use abhor in formal contexts; you might say "I abhor that man," but you would be less likely to say "I abhor spinach" unless you tend to express yourself in highfalutin terms no matter what the occasion.

Definitions of abhor

verb find repugnant
“She abhors cats”
synonyms:abominate, execrate, loathe
type of: detest, hate dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards

If it reeks of humiliation or looks like the lowest of lows, then you can safely describe it as abject.

The pronunciation of abject is up for debate: you can decide whether to stress the first or the second syllable. But what's more important is understanding how extreme this adjective is. Abject means absolutely miserable, the most unfortunate, with utter humiliation. You might have heard the phrase abject poverty, which is the absolute worst, most hopeless level of poverty you've ever seen.

Definitions of abject

1. adjective of the most contemptible kind
   “abject cowardice”
   synonyms:low, low-down, miserable, scummy, scurvy
   contemptible, misbegotten
   deserving of contempt or scorn

2. adjective most unfortunate or miserable
   “the most abject slaves joined in the revolt”
   “abject poverty”
   Synonyms:
   unfortunate
   not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune

3. adjective showing utter resignation or hopelessness
   “abject surrender”
   synonyms:unhopeful
   hopeless
   without hope because there seems to be no possibility of comfort or success

4. adjective showing humiliation or submissiveness
   “an abject apology”
   Synonyms:
   submissive
   inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others or showing such inclination

What does an obnoxious person have in common with sandpaper? Both are abrasive. Anything that grates or irritates — physically or metaphorically — can be described using this adjective.

The history of the word abrasive illustrates how a word typically enters the English language and then changes with time. The English verb abrade, "to wear down by scraping," entered the language from Latin abradere, "to scrape off," in the late 1600s. Some 200 years later, the adjective form of the word — abrasive — came into use to describe a type of grinding tool. By the 1920s, abrasive had acquired the more figurative sense of annoying and infuriating. If you find someone abrasive, he or she grinds away at your nerves.

Definitions of abrasive

adjective causing abrasion
synonyms:scratchy
rough, unsmooth
having or caused by an irregular surface

adjective sharply disagreeable; rigorous
“an abrasive character”
synonyms:harsh
disagreeable
not to your liking

noun a substance that abrades or wears down
synonyms:abradant, abrasive material
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types: show 4 types...

type of: material, stuff the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object

If you abstain from something, you restrain yourself from consuming it. People usually abstain from things that are considered vices — like eating French fries every day for lunch.

Roots of the word abstain are from the 14th-century French, "to withhold oneself," and the word often refers to people who hold themselves back from indulging in habits that are bad for them, physically or morally. Abstain can also mean to withhold a vote, and sometimes a difficult decision is stalled when government representatives abstain from voting one way or another.

Definitions of abstain

verb choose not to partake in or consume
“I abstain from alcohol”
synonyms:desist, refrain

verb refrain from voting
type of: forbear, refrain resist doing something

Use the adjective abstract for something that is not a material object or is general and not based on specific examples.

Abstract is from a Latin word meaning "pulled away, detached," and the basic idea is of something detached from physical, or concrete, reality. It is frequently used of ideas, meaning that they don't have a clear applicability to real life, and of art, meaning that it doesn't pictorially represent reality. It is also used as a noun, especially in the phrase "in the abstract" (a joke has a person laying down a new sidewalk saying "I like little boys in the abstract, but not in the concrete"), and as a verb (accented on the second syllable), meaning "to remove."

Definitions of abstract

1. adjective existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment
   “abstract words like `truth' and `justice'”
   Synonyms:
   conceptional, ideational, notional
   being of the nature of a notion or concept
   conceptual
   being or characterized by concepts or their formation
   ideal
   constituting or existing only in the form of an idea or mental image or conception
   ideologic, ideological
   concerned with or suggestive of ideas
   nonrepresentational
   of or relating to a style of art in which objects do not resemble those known in physical nature
   impalpable, intangible
   incapable of being perceived by the senses especially the sense of touch
   see more

2. adjective not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature
   “a large abstract painting”
   synonyms:abstractionist, nonfigurative, nonobjective
   nonrepresentational
   of or relating to a style of art in which objects do not resemble those known in physical nature

3. adjective dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention
   “abstract reasoning”
   “abstract science”
   Synonyms:
   theoretical
   concerned with theories rather than their practical applications

4. verb consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically
   see more

5. verb consider apart from a particular case or instance
   “Let's abstract away from this particular example”
   see more

6. noun a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance
   “he loved her only in the abstract--not in person”
   synonyms:abstraction
   see more

7. noun a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory
   synonyms:outline, precis, synopsis
   see more

8. verb give an abstract (of)
   see more

9. verb make off with belongings of others
   synonyms:cabbage, filch, hook, lift, nobble, pilfer, pinch, purloin, snarf, sneak, swipe

On Halloween, you can find candy in abundant supply. Use abundant to describe something that exists in large amounts that are more than what's needed.

Near synonyms are plentiful, emphasizing "large amounts," and ample, emphasizing "more than enough." The adjective abundant is commonly followed by the prepositions with or in, to mean "filled with or rich in something": a region abundant in natural resources. Abundant comes from Middle English aboundant, from Old French abondant, from Latin abundāns, form of abundāre "to overflow."

Definitions of abundant

1. adjective present in great quantity
   “an abundant supply of water”
   Synonyms:
   abounding, galore
   existing in abundance
   ample, copious, plenteous, plentiful, rich
   affording an abundant supply
   copious, voluminous
   large in number or quantity (especially of discourse)
   easy
   obtained with little effort or sacrifice, often obtained illegally
   exuberant, lush, luxuriant, profuse, riotous
   produced or growing in extreme abundance
   thick
   abounding; having a lot of
   long
   having or being more than normal or necessary:"long on brains"
   overabundant, plethoric, rife
   excessively abundant
   plentiful
   existing in great number or quantity
   rampant
   (of a plant) having a lush and unchecked growth
   rank
   growing profusely
   superabundant
   most excessively abundant
   teeming
   abundantly filled with especially living things
   torrential
   pouring in abundance
   verdant
   characterized by abundance of verdure
   ample
   more than enough in size or scope or capacity
   rich
   possessing material wealth

Antonyms: scarce deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand

To accentuate something is to emphasize it. If you want someone to know you’re from the American South, accentuate your accent by laying it on thick, y’all.

When you accentuate, you draw attention to something. You could wear a green shirt to accentuate your green eyes, for example. You can also accentuate words when you give them added stress. An actor might accentuate certain words in a monologue in order to emphasize the character's anger. This word traces all the way back to the Latin verb canere, "to sing."

Definitions of accentuate

1. verb stress or single out as important
   synonyms:accent, emphasise, emphasize, punctuate, stress
   see more

2. verb put stress on; utter with an accent
   synonyms:accent, stress
   see less

3. type of: articulate, enounce, enunciate, pronounce, say, sound out speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way

When you acclimate yourself to a situation, you become used to it. It usually means getting accustomed to a particular new climate, but it can also mean getting used to other situations, such as a new school.

The word climate in the word acclimate should give you a clue as to the word's meaning: to get used to a specific climate. Nature allows the human body to acclimate itself to various weather conditions. For example, people moving to higher altitudes will develop more red blood cells in order to absorb oxygen better. This is their bodies' way of acclimating to the thinner air. It takes a while for the body to become acclimated to a new climate.

Definitions of acclimate

1. verb get used to a certain climate
   synonyms:acclimatise, acclimatize
   see less

type of: adapt, adjust, conform adapt or conform oneself to new or different conditions

An accomplice is a cooperator or participator, commonly in criminal acts. So you’re an accomplice to the gas station robbery if you distracted the store manager while your partner in crime raided the registers for cash.

Coming from the Old French word complice, which means “a confederate,” an accomplice is an ally or partaker, sometimes in wrongdoing. Novelist Saul Bellow famously said that "when we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.” What he means, in more direct terms, is that we run potential plans by others because we're looking for approval or someone to go along with us, not because we truly want their opinion.

Definitions of accomplice

1. noun a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan (especially an unethical or illegal plan)
   synonyms:confederate
   see less

types: decoy, steerer a beguiler who leads someone into danger (usually as part of a plot)

roper - a decoy who lures customers into a gambling establishment (especially one with a fixed game)

shill - a decoy who acts as an enthusiastic customer in order to stimulate the participation of others

type of: assistant, help, helper, supporter a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose

An accord is an agreement between groups or even nations, like a formal peace accord that prevents war or the accord between you and your sister specifying who gets to use the car on which days.

Accord is an agreeable word. If you and your best friend are always in accord, you agree about everything. And if you do something of your own accord, you do it without prompting from someone else. As a verb, accord means to be in harmony or agreement, or to allow. Perhaps your enhanced vocabulary will accord you, or allow you, a better understanding of language.

Definitions of accord

1. noun concurrence of opinion
   “we are in accord with your proposal”
   synonyms:accordance, conformity

2. noun sympathetic compatibility

3. noun harmony of people's opinions or actions or characters
   synonyms:agreement
   see more

4. noun a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
   synonyms:pact, treaty
   see more

5. verb be harmonious or consistent with
   synonyms:agree, comport, concord, consort, fit in, harmonise, harmonize
   agree, check, correspond, fit, gibe, jibe, match, tally
   be compatible, similar, or consistent; coincide in their characteristics
   see more

6. verb allow to have
   synonyms:allot, grant

If you say something acerbic, or harshly bitter, to someone, it can leave a bitter taste in your own mouth that lingers, and the acerbic, or acidic, words can eat away at the person on the receiving end too.

It is fitting that the first part of acerbic sounds like the first part of "acid," because the Latin source of acerbic is acerbus, "sour-tasting." Acerbic speech is like acid, because it is sour and corrodes, or weakens, relationships. There are ways to use sharp words for humor, and some comedians are known for their "acerbic wit," but just as you would take safety precautions in using acid in a science lab, you should be cautious about using acerbic language in conversation.

Definitions of acerbic

1. adjective sour or bitter in taste
   synonyms:acerb, astringent
   sour
   having a sharp biting taste

2. adjective harsh or corrosive in tone
   “an acerbic tone piercing otherwise flowery prose”
   synonyms:acerb, acid, acrid, astringent, bitter, blistering, caustic, sulfurous, sulphurous, virulent, vitriolic
   unpleasant
   disagreeable to the senses, to the mind, or feelings

When something is at the very peak of perfection, reach for this noun from Greek: acme. A brilliant violinist might reach the acme of her career, but eventually she might become unstrung.

This noun referring to the highest point of something might sound comical because it has shown up so often in cartoons as the name of a company, such as the one that makes Wile E. Coyote's contraptions in the old Warner Brothers cartoons. But the word is actually a serious-minded import from Greek. Near synonyms for high points include zenith, summit, pinnacle, apex, and peak, but acme has a special nuance for an ultimate point of perfection.

Definitions of acme

1. noun the highest point (of something)
   synonyms:apex, peak, vertex, zenith

2. noun the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development
   “his landscapes were deemed the acme of beauty”
   “the artist's gifts are at their acme”
   synonyms:elevation, height, meridian, peak, pinnacle, summit, superlative, tiptop, top, zenith

To acquiesce is to agree to something or to give in. If your kid sister is refusing to hand over the television remote, you hope she acquiesces before your favorite show comes on.

The verb acquiesce comes from the Latin word acquiescere, meaning “to rest.” If you “rest” or become passive in the face of something to which you object, you are giving tacit agreement. In other words, you acquiesce. If you want to go hiking with your family and your children are not interested, it will be a very tough day on the trail until they acquiesce.

Definitions of acquiesce

verb agree or express agreement
synonyms:accede, assent

Antonyms: dissent withhold assent

types: connive encourage or assent to illegally or criminally

type of: agree consent or assent to a condition, or agree to do something

To baffle is to confuse. If you are completely puzzled as to what baffle means, you might say that this word baffles you.

Baffle means "confuse," but it can also mean "amaze." A magician might baffle you with an impressive magic trick. Additionally, this verb can mean "to spoil, thwart, or defeat by means of confusion." In a debate, you might baffle the opposition by introducing new information that your opponents are not familiar with. Baffle can also be used like stump. If you are stumped by a question on a test, then you’ve been baffled by that question.

Definitions of baffle

1. verb be a mystery or bewildering to
   synonyms:amaze, beat, bewilder, dumbfound, flummox, get, gravel, mystify, nonplus, perplex, pose, puzzle, stick, stupefy, vex

2. noun a flat plate that controls or directs the flow of fluid or energy
   synonyms:baffle board

3. verb check the emission of (sound)
   synonyms:regulate

4. verb hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
   synonyms:bilk, confound, cross, foil, frustrate, queer, scotch, scuttle, spoil, thwart

Baleful means the foreshadowing of tragic or evil events. If no one's listening in class and your teacher reprimands you with a baleful glance, expect a pop quiz.

If your car breaks down and you take refuge in a deserted mansion, you might huddle under a dusty blanket and find yourself thinking that the wind moaning at the windows sounds baleful — maybe it's really the voice of a young woman murdered in the very bed where you sleep?

Definitions of baleful

1. adjective threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
   “a baleful look”
   synonyms:forbidding, menacing, minacious, minatory, ominous, sinister, threatening
   alarming
   frightening because of an awareness of danger

2. adjective deadly or sinister
   “the Florida eagles have a fierce baleful look”
   synonyms:baneful
   maleficent
   harmful or evil in intent or effect

If you balk at your mother's suggestion that you take on more responsibility, you're saying no to added chores. To balk means to refuse to go along with.

A donkey balks when it refuses to move forward. This is a good picture for balk which is often used in conjunction with demands. Demands are something people often balk at like a donkey refusing to move. In baseball, a pitcher balks when he or she begins a pitch by winding up, but does not complete it. It is as if he is refusing to complete a started pitch, and it is against the rules.

Definitions of balk

1. verb refuse to comply
   synonyms:baulk, jib, resist

2. verb show unwillingness towards
   synonyms:decline, refuse

3. noun something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress
   synonyms:baulk, check, deterrent, handicap, hinderance, hindrance, impediment

4. noun an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base

5. noun the area on a billiard table behind the balkline
   “a player with ball in hand must play from the balk”
   synonyms:baulk

6. noun one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof
   synonyms:baulk, rafter

A ballad is a song that tells a story, and it can be dramatic, funny, or romantic. You can find ballads in a variety of musical styles, from country-western to rock n' roll.

The ballad is an old musical form. Ballads are often by anonymous composers, passed down from generation to generation. You may know “The Ballad of Jesse James," about the notorious bank robber, which dates from the 1880s and has been recorded by everybody from Woody Guthrie to Springsteen. A ballad can also be a slow, romantic song, the kind of thing crooners like Johnny Mathis and Bing Crosby made famous. The word ballad comes from medieval French balade, a dancing song.

Definitions of ballad

1. noun a narrative poem of popular origin
   synonyms:lay

2. noun a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
   synonyms:lay

The verb to ban means to forbid something from being or happening. The word can also be used as a noun. A school board might put a ban on all books that refer to Jefferson's mistress if they don't want anyone reading about her.

If your parents are upset by how much time you spend online, they might ban computers in the house. But if you're smart, you can just use your phone or laptop at school. To ban something is to put a ban on it. Something with a ban on it is said to be banned. A ban can vary from your grandmother's ban on people wearing shoes in her house to a government's ban on printing certain stories in the newspaper.

Definitions of ban

1. verb prohibit especially by legal means or social pressure
   “Smoking is banned in this building”

2. verb forbid the public distribution of ( a movie or a newspaper)
   synonyms:censor

3. verb expel from a community or group
   synonyms:banish, blackball, cast out, ostracise, ostracize, shun

4. verb ban from a place of residence, as for punishment
   synonyms:banish
   see more

5. noun an official prohibition or edict against something
   synonyms:banning, forbiddance, forbidding

6. noun a decree that prohibits something
   synonyms:prohibition, proscription

7. noun 100 bani equal 1 leu in Moldova

8. noun 100 bani equal 1 leu in Romania

If something is boring and unoriginal, it's banal. Banal things are dull as dishwater.

Ever notice how some TV shows, songs, and even phrases are boring and unoriginal? It's like you've seen or heard the same thing a million times. Anything that's unoriginal and dull is banal — a fancy word for things that bore you to tears. When you're writing, try not to be banal. Clichés and dull topics are banal. New ideas, fresh language, and unusual subject matter can keep your writing from being dreary and banal.

Definitions of banal

1. adjective repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
   synonyms:commonplace, hackneyed, old-hat, shopworn, stock, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, well-worn
   unoriginal
   not original; not being or productive of something fresh and unusual

The noun bane refers to anything that is a cause of harm, ruin, or death. But we often use it for things that aren't that bad, just feel like it. You might say mosquitoes are the bane of your existence.

The source of this word is Middle and Old English bana, meaning "destroyer, murderer." The now obsolete meaning of "deadly poison" is seen in the names of poisonous plants such as wolfsbane and henbane. Although "bane of my existence" is a commonly heard phrase, there's something deliciously archaic about the word bane. It conjures up villages preyed upon by dragons, or witches adding one bane or another to a steaming kettle.

Definitions of bane

1. noun something causing misery or death
   “the bane of my life”
   synonyms:curse, nemesis, scourge

To banish is to get rid of. Think very carefully before you banish someone from your group. Someday, you may want that person around again.

Banish rhymes with vanish, which is exactly what happens when you banish someone. Suppose a king, angry with some of his subjects, banishes them. They have to leave the kingdom and vanish — not just go home and wait for the king to change his mind. Banish comes from the Old French word banir, which means “proclaim as an outlaw.” It is serious and absolute. You can see the word ban in banish, but to ban something is not as harsh as banishing it.

Definitions of banish

1. verb expel, as if by official decree
   “he was banished from his own country”
   synonyms:bar, relegate

2. verb expel from a community or group
   synonyms:ban, blackball, cast out, ostracise, ostracize, shun

3. verb ban from a place of residence, as for punishment
   synonyms:ban

4. verb drive away
   “banish bad thoughts”
   “banish gloom”

Good friends usually banter back and forth easily, like they're trying to keep a step ahead of each other in witty responses. This type of banter is their special language of friendship.

Banter is both a noun and a verb about talking. It comes from unknown origins, but even as a word, it seems to be playful and teasing. You can engage in banter with friends, siblings, parents, and even good-natured strangers. Banter usually ends with everyone feeling better for the talk and verbal play. Joking, joshing, and teasing are all related to banter.

Definitions of banter

1. noun light teasing repartee
   synonyms:backchat, give-and-take, raillery

2. verb be silly or tease one another
   synonyms:chaff, jolly, josh, kid

Things that are barbaric, are uncivilized and brutal. People have different opinions about hunting — for some, it's a way of life, and for others it's barbaric.

You can use the adjective barbaric to describe anything that's needlessly cruel, whether it's the inhumane treatment of people by a barbaric government, or the barbaric way your neighbor treats his dog. Another, milder, definition of barbaric is unsophisticated or uncivilized, like the barbaric behavior of someone who belches loudly in a fancy restaurant. This meaning is echoed in the Greek root barbaros, which means "foreign or rude."

Definitions of barbaric

1. adjective without civilizing influences
   “barbaric practices”
   synonyms:barbarian, savage, uncivilised, uncivilized, wild
   noncivilised, noncivilized
   not having a high state of culture and social development

2. adjective unrestrained and crudely rich
   “barbaric use of color or ornament”
   Synonyms:
   tasteless
   lacking aesthetic or social taste

A barrage is something that comes quickly and heavily — as an attack of bullets or artillery, or a fast spray of words.

Sometimes in movies or news footage, the audience gets a glimpse from behind a mounted weapon and sees a heavy rain of bombs or bullets — called a barrage — going toward a target, sending as much POW! as possible to hit a wide area. Words become a barrage when spoken or written in uncontrollable anger or with overflowing emotion: "Her human-rights speech was a barrage of passion. It was hard to keep up with, but we felt the intensity of her cause."

Definitions of barrage

1. noun the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target
   “they laid down a barrage in front of the advancing troops”
   synonyms:barrage fire, battery, bombardment, shelling

2. noun the rapid and continuous delivery of linguistic communication (spoken or written)
   “a barrage of questions”
   synonyms:bombardment, onslaught, outpouring

3. noun an overwhelming number or amount
   synonyms:deluge, flood, flurry, inundation, torrent

4. verb address continuously or persistently, as if with a barrage
   “The speaker was barraged by an angry audience”
   synonyms:bombard

Drive through a forest that's just been destroyed by a fire, and you'll get an idea of what barren means — stripped of vegetation and devoid of life.

Not to be confused with a baron, a kind of nobleman, barren is often used to describe an area of land that lacks any signs of life. A barren wilderness is dry and empty, with no foliage or twittering birds to be found. An old-fashioned and unflattering word for a woman who is unable to have children is barren.

Definitions of barren

1. adjective completely wanting or lacking
   “writing barren of insight”
   synonyms:destitute, devoid, free, innocent
   nonexistent
   not having existence or being or actuality

2. adjective providing no shelter or sustenance
   “barren lands”
   synonyms:bare, bleak, desolate, stark
   inhospitable
   unfavorable to life or growth

3. noun an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation
   “the barrens of central Africa”
   synonyms:waste, wasteland
   see more

4. adjective not bearing offspring
   “a barren woman”
   Synonyms:
   infertile, sterile, unfertile
   incapable of reproducing

When the battle is getting long and the odds are getting longer, retreat to your bastion to regroup and prepare for the next round of fighting. A bastion is a stronghold or fortification that remains intact.

French Independence Day, or Bastille Day (July 14), commemorates the storming in 1789 of the French king's prison/fort, the Bastille. Bastion and Bastille share the root bast, which means "build." Bastion can refer to any place to which one turns for safety; that can include not only buildings but also concepts, ideas, and even beliefs. The Church, for example, is a bastion of many religious beliefs.

Definitions of bastion

1. noun projecting part of a rampart or other fortification

2. noun a stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle
   synonyms:citadel

3. noun a group that defends a principle
   “a bastion against corruption”
   “the last bastion of communism”

Bathetic describes something that's overly sentimental, gushy, and worse yet — insincere. Soap operas are known for their bathetic emotionalism, because the characters cry and wail and scheme over the silliest things.

Bathetic (the noun is bathos) comes from the Greek word for "depth” but not as in the ocean floor but as in “anticlimax, a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous.” Being bathetic is usually not done on purpose. A bathetic scene in a movie might have a character fall to her knees and scream, “Nooooooo!” because her son left his socks on the floor again. Don't confuse bathetic with pathetic, which means "pitiful."

Definitions of bathetic

1. adjective effusively or insincerely emotional
   “a bathetic novel”
   synonyms:drippy, hokey, kitschy, maudlin, mawkish, mushy, sappy, schmaltzy, schmalzy, sentimental, slushy, soppy, soupy
   emotional
   of more than usual emotion

When you walk into a room with your shoulders straight and your head up, people might say you have a noble bearing. Bearing is the way you hold your body, and it often means you hold it well.

Bearing has many uses, but they mostly involve support and/or direction. Bearing, for example, is the name given to a mechanical part that supports a moving joint — like a ball bearing. In buildings, bearings are walls or beams that support the building. In the same way, when you carry your body, you are bearing yourself up. Bearing also is used to talk about direction and travel: you could step off the sidewalk and nearly be run over by a car bearing north.

Definitions of bearing

1. noun characteristic way of bearing one's body
   synonyms:carriage, posture

2. noun a person's manner or conduct
   synonyms:comportment, mien, presence

3. adjective (of a structural member) withstanding a weight or strain
   Synonyms:
   load-bearing, supporting
   capable of bearing a structural load

4. noun a rotating support placed between moving parts to allow them to move easily

5. noun relevant relation or interconnection
   “those issues have no bearing on our situation”

6. noun the direction or path along which something moves or along which it lies
   synonyms:aim, heading

7. noun a person's awareness of self with regard to position and time and place and personal relationships
   synonyms:orientation

8. noun heraldry consisting of a design or image depicted on a shield
   synonyms:armorial bearing, charge, heraldic bearing

The adjective cacophonous describes loud, harsh sounds, like the cacophonous racket your brother and his band mates make while trying to learn how to play their instruments.

To correctly pronounce cacophonous, accent the second syllable: "cuh-CAW-fuh-nus." It is related to the Greek words kakos, meaning "bad, evil," and phone, or "voice." You may feel like you're facing something evil if you’re bombarded by the cacophonous sounds of, say, political pundits yelling at one another, or the chaotic sounds of traffic and voices on a busy urban street. Cacophonous is the opposite of harmonious.

Definitions of cacophonous

1. adjective having an unpleasant sound
   “"as cacophonous as a henyard"- John McCarten”
   synonyms:cacophonic
   cackly, squawky
   like the cackles or squawks a hen makes especially after laying an egg
   croaky, guttural
   like the sounds of frogs and crows
   grating, gravelly, rasping, raspy, rough, scratchy
   unpleasantly harsh or grating in sound
   gruff, hoarse, husky
   deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
   jangling, jangly
   like the discordant ringing of nonmusical metallic objects striking together
   jarring
   making or causing a harsh and irritating sound
   raucous, strident
   unpleasantly loud and harsh
   rending, ripping, splitting
   resembling a sound of violent tearing as of something ripped apart or lightning splitting a tree
   noisy
   full of or characterized by loud and nonmusical sounds

Cadaverous means looking corpse-like, from being sick or too skinny, like an aging rock star or a Halloween ghoul.

The adjective cadaverous literally means "like a cadaver." It's from the Latin word, well, cadaver (dead body), that comes from another Latin word cadere meaning "to fall." That's some fall! You don't have to be dead to look cadaverous, though, if your cheeks are sunken and your ribs poke through your torn tee-shirt, you look cadaverous and it's not a compliment (unless you're a Goth). On Halloween, you might go for a cadaverous look with green-tinted makeup and black circles under your eyes.

Definitions of cadaverous

1. adjective of or relating to a cadaver or corpse
   “we had long anticipated his cadaverous end”
   synonyms:cadaveric

2. adjective very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold
   synonyms:bony, emaciated, gaunt, haggard, pinched, skeletal, wasted
   lean, thin
   lacking excess flesh

Use the word calamity to describe an event that causes great harm and misery, or a general state of distress or misery: the calamity of war.

Near synonyms are catastrophe and disaster. The noun calamity is from Middle English calamytey, from Latin calamitas, a word which might be related to Latin clades "destruction." Calamity Jane was the nickname of a 19th-century woman living on the U.S. frontier. She claimed to have some very exciting adventures.

Definitions of calamity

1. noun an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
   “the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity”
   synonyms: cataclysm, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy

If you're a rookie or new to something, you could be described as callow — like callow freshmen in high school or the callow receptionist who can't figure out how to transfer a call.

The word callow comes from the Old English word calu, which meant "bald or featherless." It was used to describe young, fledgling birds. Over time, the meaning expanded to include young, inexperienced people. You'll most often see the adjective paired with the noun youth. Think of the callow youth as people who haven't tested their wings yet.

Definitions of callow

1. adjective young and inexperienced
   synonyms: fledgling, unfledged
   inexperienced, inexperient
   lacking practical experience or training

Straightforward and truthful talk might be described with the adjective candid. If you're always candid, your parents will know that they can trust you.

A serious-minded politician might suggest engaging in a "candid discussion" about a complicated topic like health care or the environment, because candid means "open" or "frank." Remember that TV show Candid Camera? It was called that because its hidden cameras supposedly showed a candid view of reality. In photography, candid has become a noun meaning "an unposed photo." The word comes from Latin candidus, meaning "white," which was later extended to mean "pure." Candid talk provides the pure, unvarnished truth.

Definitions of candid

1. adjective openly straightforward and direct without reserve or secretiveness
   “his candid eyes”
   synonyms:heart-to-heart, open
   artless, ingenuous
   characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious

2. adjective characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
   “I gave them my candid opinion”
   synonyms:blunt, forthright, frank, free-spoken, outspoken, plainspoken, point-blank, straight-from-the-shoulder
   direct
   straightforward in means or manner or behavior or language or action

3. adjective informal or natural; especially caught off guard or unprepared
   “a candid photograph”
   “a candid interview”
   Synonyms:
   uncontrived, unstudied
   not by design or artifice; unforced and impromptu

To capitulate means to give in to something. If your parents refuse to raise your allowance, you might try to argue until they capitulate. Good luck!

To capitulate is to surrender outright or to give in under certain terms. Either way, you’re agreeing to something you don’t really want. The word comes from the Latin roots caput ("head") and capitulum ("headings"), a reference to the official agreement drawn up when someone formally surrendered.

Definitions of capitulate

1. verb surrender under agreed conditions

Capricious is an adjective to describe a person or thing that's impulsive and unpredictable, like a bride who suddenly leaves her groom standing at the wedding altar.

You can criticize a fickle-minded person as capricious, but it could just as well describe quickly changing weather, as in "capricious spring storms." It's the adjective form of the noun caprice, which means a sudden change of mood. Caprice might come from capra, the Italian word for "goat" (because goats are frisky), or from capo, "head" + riccio, "hedgehog." Why bring hedgehogs into it? If you have a "hedgehog head," you are so scared that your hair is standing straight on end. A scared person makes sudden starts this way and that, just as a capricious person does.

Definitions of capricious

1. adjective determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
   “a capricious refusal”
   “authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious”
   synonyms:impulsive, whimsical
   arbitrary
   based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice

2. adjective changeable
   “a capricious summer breeze”
   synonyms:freakish
   unpredictable
   not capable of being foretold

Capricious is an adjective to describe a person or thing that's impulsive and unpredictable, like a bride who suddenly leaves her groom standing at the wedding altar.

You can criticize a fickle-minded person as capricious, but it could just as well describe quickly changing weather, as in "capricious spring storms." It's the adjective form of the noun caprice, which means a sudden change of mood. Caprice might come from capra, the Italian word for "goat" (because goats are frisky), or from capo, "head" + riccio, "hedgehog." Why bring hedgehogs into it? If you have a "hedgehog head," you are so scared that your hair is standing straight on end. A scared person makes sudden starts this way and that, just as a capricious person does.

Definitions of capricious

1. adjective determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
   “a capricious refusal”
   “authoritarian rulers are frequently capricious”
   synonyms:impulsive, whimsical
   arbitrary
   based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice

2. adjective changeable
   “a capricious summer breeze”
   synonyms:freakish
   unpredictable
   not capable of being foretold

Unless you’re the one guy in America who actually asks for directions, you’ve probably broken down and used a map at some point in your life. The cartographer is the person you should thank for getting you un-lost — the mapmaker.

A cartographer is a person who creates maps, whether they’re of the world, the local bus routes, or buried pirate treasure. It comes to us from the Latin word charta-, which means “tablet or leaf of paper,” and the Greek word graphein, meaning to write or draw. These days, a cartographer doesn’t have to work on paper––it's all computers, making electronic maps as part of GPS software. Technically, a cartographer can make charts, too.

Definitions of cartographer

1. noun a person who makes maps
   synonyms:map maker

Use castigate when you mean "to reprimand in an especially harsh way." If you accidentally spill coffee all over your sister's favorite sweater, you might worry that she's going to castigate you as soon as she finds out.

Castigate means punish, and punish harshly, but the punishment is always a severe scolding. Sometimes it means criticize severely. Politicians in the Senate are always castigating each other for their alliances and opinions. Castigate and chasten, which also means "to reprimand" but is less severe, share the Latin root castus which means "pure." Ideally, if you castigate someone, you mean to guide someone away from the wrong path and toward a more pure one. But it sure doesn't feel like that when you're being castigated!

Definitions of castigate

1. verb inflict severe punishment on

2. verb censure severely
   synonyms:chasten, chastise, correct, objurgate

Use castigate when you mean "to reprimand in an especially harsh way." If you accidentally spill coffee all over your sister's favorite sweater, you might worry that she's going to castigate you as soon as she finds out.

Castigate means punish, and punish harshly, but the punishment is always a severe scolding. Sometimes it means criticize severely. Politicians in the Senate are always castigating each other for their alliances and opinions. Castigate and chasten, which also means "to reprimand" but is less severe, share the Latin root castus which means "pure." Ideally, if you castigate someone, you mean to guide someone away from the wrong path and toward a more pure one. But it sure doesn't feel like that when you're being castigated!

Definitions of castigate

1. verb inflict severe punishment on

2. verb censure severely
   synonyms:chasten, chastise, correct, objurgate

Use the noun catharsis to refer to the experience a person can have of releasing emotional tension and feeling refreshed afterwards.

Conceived by Aristotle as the cleansing effect of emotional release that tragic drama has on its audience, catharsis stems from a Greek verb meaning "to purify, purge." Today, it can be used to describe any emotional release, including a good long laugh or cry that is followed by a sense of balance and freshness afterwards.

Definitions of catharsis

1. noun purging the body by the use of a cathartic to stimulate evacuation of the bowels
   synonyms:katharsis, purgation

2. noun (psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions
   synonyms:abreaction, katharsis

To cease is to stop or end. Your gym teacher may have trained the class so well that all chattering will cease every time she blows her whistle.

Cease comes from the Old French cesser, which means "come to an end," "go away," "give up," or "yield." Although cease often appears in the past tense with "-ed," cease is common for talking about things as they come to an end. A dead plant has ceased living, and if you cease watering the rest of the plants, they will cease to exist too.

Definitions of cease

1. verb put an end to a state or an activity
   synonyms:discontinue, give up, lay off, quit, stop

2. verb have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical
   synonyms:end, finish, stop, terminate

3. noun (`cease' is a noun only in the phrase `without cease') end

To cede is to give up or surrender land, position, or authority. "She reluctantly ceded the coveted position as the baby of the family to her brother when he was born. She would not, however, cede her bedroom to him."

Cede is a word often used in discussing diplomatic issues. It is more commonly used in reference to actual physical things, like geographic areas or objects, but can also be used in reference to attitudes or opinions. "The rebels ceded territory after the siege failed." "Dad tried but finally ceded control and let me have my own Facebook account."

Definitions of cede

1. verb give over; surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another
   synonyms:concede, grant, yield

2. verb relinquish possession or control over
   synonyms:deliver, give up, surrender

Chagrin is a noun that represents an emotion or feeling and it's an uncomfortable one. If you feel chagrin, it means that you are embarrassed or distressed as a result of a failure.

The word chagrin, a noun, comes from the French word of the same spelling and means "melancholy, anxiety, vexation." An odd fact about the word in English is that it had been thought to be related to another, similar-sounding word, shagreen, "rough, untanned leather." When one mistakes one word as a relative of another, it's called "false etymology."

Definitions of chagrin

1. noun strong feelings of embarrassment
   synonyms:humiliation, mortification

2. noun a feeling of annoyance or distress due to disappointment or failure

3. verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
   synonyms:abase, humble, humiliate, mortify

Dally means “to waste time.” When you dally, you will cause a delay because of your dawdling.

You have probably heard the expression "to dilly-dally" — which means “to dawdle.” Well, if you take the dilly out of dilly-dally to get just dally — you still have pretty much the same meaning. Dally has other common definitions, such as “to flirt” (especially without care of the result) or “to play.” The light tone is probably an echo of its origin, which is likely the French word dalier, meaning “to amuse oneself.”

Definitions of dally

1. verb behave carelessly or indifferently
   synonyms:flirt, play, toy
   play, trifle
   consider not very seriously

2. verb consider not very seriously
   synonyms:play, trifle
   flirt, play, toy
   behave carelessly or indifferently

3. verb waste time
   “Get busy--don't dally!”
   synonyms:dawdle

4. verb talk or behave amorously, without serious intentions
   synonyms:butterfly, chat up, coquet, coquette, flirt, mash, philander, romance

A neatly and stylishly dressed man can be described as dapper. If you like to wear a well-made fedora, you appreciate clothes. Place a brightly colored feather in the brim and you’re dapper.

Dapper is a Germanic word coming from a Middle Dutch word that meant "strong," "quick," or "nimble." Think of the words dashing, jaunty and spiffy when you think of dapper as these are all near synonyms. All of these words are used specifically to describe men. Although there doesn't seem to be a parallel term for a well-dressed woman, if you call her chic or stylish, she will be pleased.

Definitions of dapper

1. adjective marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners
   “a dapper young man”
   synonyms:dashing, jaunty, natty, raffish, rakish, snappy, spiffy, spruce
   fashionable, stylish
   being or in accordance with current social fashions

A dauntless person is someone who isn't easily frightened or intimidated. If your dance moves bring to mind a marionette being jerked around by a five-year-old but you jump on the dance floor anyway, you could be considered dauntless.

The adjective dauntless is a variant of the noun daunt, which means "to intimidate or cause fear." Both words are related to another family of "D" words — dominate, domestic, domain. They all go back to the Latin root domare, which means "to tame." If you're dauntless, it means you're like a tiger or a wild horse — you can't be dominated or tamed.

Definitions of dauntless

1. adjective invulnerable to fear or intimidation
   synonyms:audacious, brave, fearless, hardy, intrepid, unfearing
   bold
   fearless and daring

There are lots of words that mean to move slowly. The point of dawdle is that one is moving too slowly, is falling behind, or is not properly focused on making progress.

One way to remember the meaning of dawdle is that it rhymes with "waddle," as in, "a duck waddles." Imagine what would happen if you waddled instead of walked. It would take a lot more time, and your companion might say, "Don't dawdle!" Dawdle implies not only taking extra time but actually wasting it. A leisurely walk in the woods is one thing, but if you have to get to the theater on time, don't dawdle along the way: you'll miss the curtain!

Definitions of dawdle

1. verb hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.
   synonyms:fall back, fall behind, lag

2. verb take one's time; proceed slowly
   synonyms:linger

3. verb waste time
   synonyms:dally

If there is a dearth of something, there is not enough of it. A dearth of cupcakes is unfortunate, but a dearth of nutritious food is a serious problem.

Dearth is an Old English noun formed from the adjective deore, "precious, costly," and the noun-forming suffix -th. Though the relationship of dearth meaning "lack, insufficient amount" to the adjective dear is not so obvious, it is still easy to imagine that something precious is probably also in short supply. Dearth is used almost exclusively in the phrase "a dearth of."

Definitions of dearth

1. noun an insufficient quantity or number
   synonyms:paucity
   see more

2. noun an acute insufficiency
   synonyms:famine, shortage

Use debacle to refer to a fiasco, disaster, or great failure. If several dogs run onto the field during the big baseball game, tripping players and chewing up the bases, you can call the whole event a debacle.

Debacle is sometimes used to describe a military defeat. If your army retreats, that's one thing. If your army is outmaneuvered and ends up huddled in a valley, surrounded on all sides by the enemy, forced to sing 90s sitcom theme songs by their savage captors — that's a debacle. Debacle comes from the French débâcler, "to clear," — the prefix des- means "completely, utterly" and the verb bacler means "to block."

Definitions of debacle

1. noun a sudden and violent collapse
   synonyms:fiasco

2. noun flooding caused by a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river during the spring or summer

3. noun a sound defeat
   synonyms:drubbing, slaughter, thrashing, trouncing, walloping, whipping

To debilitate something is to make it weaker. A bad flu may debilitate your powers of concentration, like the New Year's resolutions that temporarily debilitate bakeries' business.

The verb debilitate traces back to the Latin word debilis, meaning “lame, disabled, crippled.” It’s often used to describe what disability or illness does to a person's health, but it can describe anything that has been weakened, like the sense of community that is slowly debilitated by people working longer hours and the lack of sidewalks that in many towns make it harder to walk around and meet the neighbors.

Definitions of debilitate

1. verb make weak
   synonyms:drain, enfeeble

When you debunk something you show it to be false. Many magicians, including Houdini and Penn and Teller, have worked to debunk the idea that magic is anything other than a very clever illusion.

To debunk something is to prove it wrong. The idea that music education is frivolous and should be the first item cut from the budget is something that music teachers work hard to debunk — in fact, they've done it by proving that students perform better in schools with strong music programs. The verb debunk was first used by an American writer, William Woodward, in 1923, to mean "take the bunk out of something." Bunk means "nonsense."

Definitions of debunk

1. verb expose while ridiculing; especially of pretentious or false claims and ideas
   “The physicist debunked the psychic's claims”
   synonyms:expose

To deduce is to figure something out based on what you already know. When you see a person crying, it's easy to deduce that the person is sad. Unless they're happy, of course. Sometimes happy people cry.

Derived from the Latin ducere, meaning "to lead," a person who deduces something is "leading" their mind from one idea to the next. Deduction is a noun from the verb deduce: it's what we call something that we learn when we deduce. Sherlock Holmes, the famous investigator created by Arthur Conan Doyle, was a master of deduction. He could deduce from a few small clues all of the facts of a murder case.

Definitions of deduce

1. verb reason by deduction; establish by deduction
   synonyms:deduct, derive, infer

2. verb conclude by reasoning; in logic
   synonyms:infer

Even though Joan Jett sang about not minding her bad reputation, most of us don't want others to defame us. To defame is to gossip, even if the story is made-up, with the goal of hurting someone's image.

We usually think of fame as a positive thing. Love, admiration, and people wanting to be like you — it all comes with the territory. The de- in defame means "remove." So if someone tries to defame a person, fame — or a good reputation — is taken away. Celebrities protect themselves from those who want to defame them, arming themselves with lawyers.

Definitions of defame

1. verb charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
   “"The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation”
   synonyms:asperse, besmirch, calumniate, denigrate, slander, smear, smirch, sully

Stand up when the powers that be order you to sit down, and you've given a fine example of defiance. It happens when someone or a group of someones openly flouts or challenges authority.

Refusing to go to bed when your parents tell you to? That's an act of defiance. Defiance comes from French — specifically to the Old French word defier, which means "to defy." (Don't mix it up with deify; that means to make someone or something into a god.) If you've ever studied Latin, you'll spot the fi in fidare, "to trust."

Definitions of defiance

1. noun a hostile challenge

2. noun a defiant act

3. noun intentionally contemptuous behavior or attitude
   synonyms:rebelliousness

Defunct describes something that used to exist, but is now gone. A magazine that no longer publishes, like Sassy, the girl-power mag from the '90s, is defunct, for example.

Although defunct comes from the Latin word defunctus meaning "dead," it's not usually used to describe a person who's no longer with us, but rather institutions, projects, companies and political parties — you know, the boring stuff. Keep digging and you'll find that defunctus comes from defungi, meaning, "to finish," which is closer to how it's used today. Defunct can also refer to a rule or law that's no longer used or has become inactive, like prohibition.

Definitions of defunct

1. adjective no longer in force or use; inactive
   “a defunct law”
   “a defunct organization”
   Synonyms:
   inoperative
   not working or taking effect

2. adjective having ceased to exist or live
   “the will of a defunct aunt”
   Synonyms:
   dead
   no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life

If you're ejected from an important game, you're going to feel dejected. If you're rejected by the love of your life, you'll feel dejected again.

Dejected goes beyond down––it's having given up hope. "After the theater was burned down by Mrs. Jud, the deranged school secretary, the drama students were too dejected even to sing "Pore Jud is Daid" from Oklahoma, the only song that might have made them feel better."

Definitions of dejected

1. adjective affected or marked by low spirits
   “is dejected but trying to look cheerful”
   Synonyms:
   amort
   utterly cast down
   chapfallen, chopfallen, crestfallen, deflated
   brought low in spirit
   blue, depressed, dispirited, down, down in the mouth, downcast, downhearted, gloomy, grim, low, low-spirited
   filled with melancholy and despondency
   glum
   moody and melancholic
   lonely, lonesome
   marked by dejection from being alone
   distressed, dysphoric, unhappy
   generalized feeling of distress
   unhappy
   experiencing or marked by or causing sadness or sorrow or discontent

If something is deleterious, it does harm or makes things worse. Smoking has obvious deleterious effects on your health, not to mention your social life.

My parents were worried that their divorce would have a deleterious effect on us kids, but in the end it was less harmful than watching them fight all the time. For most plants, a lack of sunlight has very deleterious consequences, but there are some plants that actually do very well in the dark. It's a wonder, given how well-established the science is, that we continue to do things that are deleterious to the fragile ecosystem. We must be willing to live with the deleterious effects.

Definitions of deleterious

1. adjective harmful to living things
   “deleterious chemical additives”
   synonyms:hurtful, injurious
   harmful
   causing or capable of causing harm

A ballerina's quick, perfect steps? An antique porcelain teacup? A tiny sentence etched inside a silver locket? All of these have delicacy, or fineness that comes from being light, beautiful, or small.

A delicacy can also be a prized dish that is eaten on special occasions or is especially loved by those in a certain culture or place. But what is a delicacy to some (chocolate-covered crickets, anyone?) might disgust others. Remember to use delicacy, or tact, in turning down someone else's delicacies. This could help you avoid hurting someone's feelings.

Definitions of delicacy

1. noun the quality of being beautiful and delicate in appearance
   synonyms:daintiness, fineness

2. noun refined taste; tact
   synonyms:discretion

3. noun smallness of stature
   synonyms:slightness

4. noun lack of physical strength
   synonyms:fragility

5. noun lightness in movement or manner
   synonyms:airiness

6. noun subtly skillful handling of a situation
   synonyms:diplomacy, discreetness, finesse

7. noun something considered choice to eat
   synonyms:dainty, goody, kickshaw, treat

More than chipper, more than happy, more than delighted is ebullient — meaning bubbling over with joy and delight.

There are two senses of the word of ebullient. One describes an immediate, and ultimately short-lived, reaction to a particular event — for example if you've just won the lottery, you are ebullient. The other describes someone who is perpetually upbeat and cheerful, for example, as in "an ebullient personality." Watch out for ebullient personalities: they can often be "over the top" as well.

Definitions of ebullient

1. adjective joyously unrestrained
   synonyms:exuberant, high-spirited
   spirited
   displaying animation, vigor, or liveliness

She listens to hip-hop, Gregorian chant, and folk music from the '60s. He's been seen wearing a handmade tuxedo jacket over a thrift-store flannel shirt. They both have eclectic tastes.

The English word eclectic first appeared in the seventeenth century to describe philosophers who did not belong to a particular school of thought, but instead assembled their doctrines by picking and choosing from a variety of philosophical systems. Today, the word can refer to any assemblage of varied parts. You can have an eclectic group of friends (friends from diverse groups), eclectic taste in furniture (a mixture of 18th-century French chairs, Andy Warhol paintings, and Persian rugs), or enjoy eclectic cuisine (fusion cooking that uses ingredients from different national cuisines).

Definitions of eclectic

1. adjective selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
   Synonyms:
   discriminating
   showing or indicating careful judgment and discernment especially in matters of taste

2. adjective combining or composed of elements drawn from a variety of sources

3. noun someone who selects according to the eclectic method
   synonyms:eclecticist

If it’s edible, you can eat it. Many things that you may not want to eat are, in fact, edible. Certain insects are edible, which just means that you can consume them without getting sick (if it doesn't gross you out too much).

Edible comes from the Latin word edere, which means “to eat.” Anything that people can safely eat is described as edible. Long before there were complex labels on our packages of food, human predecessors were living in caves and sampling various plants and animals for their survival, all the while learning the hard way whether or not certain things were either edible or poisonous. You are most likely a descendant of the ones who found the edible stuff.

Definitions of edible

1. adjective suitable for use as food
   synonyms:comestible, eatable
   killable
   fit to kill, especially for food
   non-poisonous, nonpoisonous, nontoxic
   safe to eat
   pareve, parve
   containing no meat or milk (or their derivatives) and thus eatable with both meat and dairy dishes according to the dietary laws of Judaism
   digestible
   capable of being converted into assimilable condition in the alimentary canal
   palatable, toothsome
   acceptable to the taste or mind
   tender
   easy to cut or chew

2. noun any substance that can be used as food
   synonyms:comestible, eatable, pabulum, victual, victuals

To edify is to help someone understand, whether it is books that edify those who want to learn a new language, or the explanations that hang beside paintings at a museum that edify visitors who aren't familiar with the artist.

If you know that the noun edifice is a synonym for building, you may wonder what the related verb edify has to do with understanding. You can think of something that edifies as the building blocks of what might become a lifelong interest, like an elementary school teacher who edifies the student who becomes an Abraham Lincoln scholar, or an activity you eventually master, like the beginners' lessons that edify new ice skaters.

Definitions of edify

1. verb make understand
   synonyms:enlighten