(1) In utter disorder or confusion: “There is something delightfully and liberatingly ludicrous about parading higgledy-piggledy in a line of walkers of all shapes and sizes”
(2) Topsy-turvy; jumbled.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Monday, June 27, 2005
Panoply
(1) A splendid or striking array: a panoply of colorful flags.
(2) Ceremonial attire with all accessories: a portrait of the general in full panoply.
(3) Something that covers and protects: a porcupine's panoply of quills.
(4) The complete arms and armor of a warrior.
(2) Ceremonial attire with all accessories: a portrait of the general in full panoply.
(3) Something that covers and protects: a porcupine's panoply of quills.
(4) The complete arms and armor of a warrior.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Draconian
Exceedingly harsh; very severe: a draconian legal code; draconian budget cuts.
[From the name Draco, an Athenian politician who codified the laws of Athens (c. 621). Lauded for its impartiality, his code was unpopular for its severity.]
[From the name Draco, an Athenian politician who codified the laws of Athens (c. 621). Lauded for its impartiality, his code was unpopular for its severity.]
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Jamais vu
The experience of being unfamiliar with a person or situation that is actually very familiar. Antonym: deja vu
Monday, June 06, 2005
Friday, June 03, 2005
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Highfalutin
Pompous or pretentious: “highfalutin reasons for denying direct federal assistance to the unemployed”
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Monday, May 09, 2005
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Spoonerism
The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words.
Some examples:
-- The Lord is a shoving leopard ["loving shepherd"].
-- It is kisstomary to cuss ["customary to kiss"] the bride.
-- Is the bean dizzy ["dean busy"]?
-- Let me sew you to your sheet ["show you to your seat"].
Some examples:
-- The Lord is a shoving leopard ["loving shepherd"].
-- It is kisstomary to cuss ["customary to kiss"] the bride.
-- Is the bean dizzy ["dean busy"]?
-- Let me sew you to your sheet ["show you to your seat"].
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Osculate
(1) To kiss.
(2) Mathematics. To have three or more points coincident with.
(3) To come together; contact.
(2) Mathematics. To have three or more points coincident with.
(3) To come together; contact.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Complicit
Associated with or participating in a questionable act or a crime; having complicity: newspapers complicit with the propaganda arm of a dictatorship.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Miscegenation
(1) The interbreeding of different races or of persons of different racial backgrounds.
(2) Cohabitation, sexual relations, or marriage involving persons of different races.
(3) A mixture or hybridization: “There was musical miscegenation at a time when segregation was the common rule”
(2) Cohabitation, sexual relations, or marriage involving persons of different races.
(3) A mixture or hybridization: “There was musical miscegenation at a time when segregation was the common rule”