Monday, December 20, 2010

Furtive

fur·tive  (fûrtv) ...free online dictionary
adj.
1. Characterized by stealth; surreptitious.
2. Expressive of hidden motives or purposes; shifty. See Synonyms at secret.
 
furtive·ly adv.
furtive·ness n.
 
 
 
Once Santa placed the last Christmas present under the tree, he walked over to the fireplace, cast a furtive glance behind, and then quick as a wink, up the chimney he rose!
 
Santa by Christopher Penn
 

Friday, December 17, 2010

Pungent

pun·gent....from dictionary.com

[puhn-juhnt] Show IPA
–adjective
1.sharply affecting the organs of taste or smell, as if by a penetrating power; biting; acrid.
2. acutely distressing to the feelings or mind; poignant.
3.caustic, biting, or sharply expressive: pungent remarks.
4. mentally stimulating or appealing: pungent wit.
5. Biology . piercing or sharp-pointed.
...When I closed my eyes, the pungent odor of the gardenias placed me elsewhere in  my mind.
Gardenia by Framboise

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Perfunctory

per·func·to·ry....thanks to dictionary.com

[per-fuhngk-tuh-ree] Show IPA
 
–adjective
 
1. performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial: perfunctory courtesy.
2. lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm; indifferent or apathetic: In his lectures he reveals himself to be merely a perfunctory speaker.
 
 

Origin:
1575–85; < LL perfūnctōrius  negligent, superficial, deriv. of perfungī  to do one's job, be done, equiv. to per- per- + fung-,  base of fungī  to perform, function + -tōrius -tory1

per·func·to·ri·ly, adverb
per·func·to·ri·ness, noun

1, 2.  negligent, heedless, thoughtless, uninterested.
1, 2.  careful, diligent.
 
Every morning just before he leaves for work, my husband comes and finds me in my little corner of the world. Sitting in my favorite leather chair, dog at my feet, laptop warming my legs. He plants a perfunctory kiss and off he goes to slay dragons.
 
photo by mugley
 

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Ignorant

ig·no·rant

adj \ˈig-n(ə-)rənt\

Definition of IGNORANT....from Mirriam-Webster

1a : destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified <parents ignorant of modern mathematics> b : resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence <ignorant errors>
 
ig·no·rant·ly adverb
ig·no·rant·ness noun

Examples of IGNORANT

  1. He is an ignorant old racist.
  2. She was ignorant about the dangers of the drug.
  3. It was an ignorant mistake.
  4. … the World Series of the wild-card era is the pull of a slot-machine lever, a game of chance ignorant of form. Regularly populated now with second-place clubs or flavor-of-the-month teams more than dominant regular-season franchises … —Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated, 30 Oct. 2006

I'm fairly ignorant when it comes to football; whereas shopping for bargains....now there's something I'm an expert at!


Friday, December 10, 2010

Melancholy

mel·an·chol·y [ méllən kòllee ]


adjective 
Definition: (msn dictionary)
 
feeling or causing sadness: feeling or making somebody feel a thoughtful or gentle sadness


noun 
Definition:
 
1. pensive sadness: a thoughtful or gentle sadness
2. gloomy character: the gloomy character of somebody said to have an excess of black bile, one of the four bodily humors that were once thought to determine people's health and emotional state
3. medicine  ( archaic )
Same as  black bile

[14th century. Directly or via French mélancholie< late Latin melancholia< Greek melankholia< melan- "black" + kholē "bile"]

<>
mel·an·chol·i·ly adverb
mel·an·chol·i·ness noun


Even though new family traditions provide happiness abound and fuzzy feelings; every now and then a Christmas song, sight or smell evokes tender melancholy, and I long for those days of innocent enchantment.


photo by rchappo2002


Thursday, December 9, 2010

Concise

con·cise.....dictionary.com

[kuhn-sahys] Show IPA

–adjective
expressing or covering much in few words; brief in form but comprehensive in scope; succinct; terse: a concise explanation of the company's retirement plan.
 
 
I think of people who are terse as generally crabby, whereas I think concise people are intelligent! Not entirely true of course....
 
 
My husband often wishes that I would be more concise; unfortunately for him, he doesn't always keep his thoughts to himself.
 
photo by Weaselcmcfee
 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Tenacious

te·na·cious

[tuh-ney-shuhs] Show IPA
–adjective
 
 
 
1. holding fast; characterized by keeping a firm hold (often fol. by of ): a tenacious grip on my arm; tenacious of old habits.
2. highly retentive: a tenacious memory.
3. pertinacious, persistent, stubborn, or obstinate.
4. adhesive or sticky; viscous or glutinous.
5. holding together; cohesive; not easily pulled asunder; tough.
 
 
If I'm going to lose that 4 pounds (oh sigh....) by Christmas, I'm going to have to be a little bit more tenacious than I have been.
 

by aussiegall
definition from dictionary.com
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Insipid

Definition of INSIPID

1: lacking taste or savor : tasteless <insipid food>
2: lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate, or challenge : dull, flat <insipid prose>
 
 
in·si·pid·i·ty\ˌin-sə-ˈpi-də-tē\ noun
in·sip·id·ly\in-ˈsi-pəd-lē\ adverb
See insipid defined for English-language learners »
 

Examples of INSIPID

  1. The soup was rather insipid.
  2. <an apple pie with a mushy, insipid filling that strongly resembled soggy cardboard>
  3. While it is fashionable to write off that decade as an insipid time, one long pajama party, the '50s, in sport at least, were a revolutionary age. —Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated, 27 Dec. 1999–31 Jan. 2000
Since I love stupid stuff....here is a sentence to help you remember the meaning of "insipid."


If you are a connoisseur of hot chocolate, don't use those little packets;  I mixed one up last night and it was so insipid that I could-n-sip-id. 


photo by DeathByBokeh


Monday, December 6, 2010

Discombobulate

dis·com·bob·u·late  


tr.v. dis·com·bob·u·lat·ed, dis·com·bob·u·lat·ing, dis·com·bob·u·lates
To throw into a state of confusion.

Adj.1.discombobulated - having self-possession upset; thrown into confusion; "the hecklers pelted the discombobulated speaker with anything that came to hand"; "looked at each other dumbly, quite disconcerted"- G.B.Shaw
discomposed - having your composure disturbed; "looked about with a wandering and discomposed air"

I think this is a pretty practical word and I think it's also an agreeable word since it means pretty much what you might expect it to mean if you weren't familiar with it and had to take a stab at its meaning (not at all like supercilious). I thought it was a pretty common word but several people I've mentioned it to over the past week or two aren't familiar with it. I tend to use it quite a bit since I often find myself rather discombobulated , especially on Monday's.

are you familar with it? do you use it?

Discombobulated.....by Kristian D.

today's definition is from thefreedictionary.com

Friday, December 3, 2010

Fervid

Fervid...definition from Mirriam-Webster's

[fur-vid] Show IPA
–adjective   


1. heated or vehement in spirit, enthusiasm, etc.: a fervid orator.
2. burning; glowing; intensely hot.



In lieu of my fervid desire to be punctual for my hike with friends this morning; this sentence is going to be short and sweet.


Mohonk Mountainhouse (10 minutes from where we live)


Have a fantastic weekend everybody!!  See you Monday!