Synonym a Day

alluring adj.: illecebrous

PMeltzer — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:28:03 +0000

[This word is usually considered rare or obsolete, but it is legitimate and has been used in the New York Times and thus is included here.]

The first hour [of Alien Empire] has to do with insects’ bodies, which confirm the rumor that God is a great engineer, and with the reproductive propensities of the randy little rascals, which humans can only envy. [The narrator is] an old-fashioned romantic waxing lyrical over the smells and sounds that lure males to females of many species. The background music [celebrates] the illecebrous [aspects of] of bugdom. (Walter Goodman, “Sex, Beauty, Home and Travel Tips on Bugs,” New York Times, 2/9/1996.)

alluring adj.: sirenic

PMeltzer — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:25:54 +0000

[In Greek mythology, the sirens were three bird-women who, through their beautiful singing, lured mariners to destruction on the rocks and cliffs surrounding their island. Today, the word often suggests something that is alluring, but dangerous if heeded; just as frequently, it refers to something simply alluring.]

The A12 to La Spezia, swirling into tunnels, soaring over bridges, resembles a white-knuckle funfair ride. A tour de force by some Leonardo of motorway design, it burrows along the Ligurian coast with tantalising glimpses of impossibly-perched villages and azure water inlets whose sirenic string of exit signs reads like a travel brochure: Camogli, Portofino, Rapallo, Sestri Levante. (Ray Kershaw, “You and Italy: The Road Movie,” Independent [London],

5/31/2003.

allegation (made without proof or support) n.: ipse dixit

PMeltzer — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:24:34 +0000

I have long been convinced that authors of pro-choice literature have no concept of the ideology and philosophy which drive pro-life activities. The January 16 editorial admits that abortion is a deeply divisive, controversial issue, then by ipse dixit, declares the pro-choice side to be the right one. (Mary Duhon, Viewpoints, Houston Chronicle, 1/23/1998.)

agitate v.t.: commove

PMeltzer — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:23:05 +0000

Twelve years ago, Fuller founded [Habitat for Humanity to] provide the poor with “simple, decent, affordable housing.’’ . . . Fuller, 53, is an Ichabod Crane look-alike who is incessantly joking, cajoling, commoving, pressing, pleading for Habitat. (Don Winbush, American Ideas: “Habitat for Humanity a Bootstrap Approach to Low-Cost Housing,” Time, 1/16/1989, p. 12.)

gloomy (and dark) adj.: tenebrous

PMeltzer — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:14:21 +0000

[In 1944, Alfred Kazin wrote an article] that will live long in the annals of that tenebrous time [i.e., the era of Nazi Germany]. “In Every Voice, in Every Ban” was a cry of outrage at the suicide of Shmuel Ziegelboim, the representative of the Bund who killed himself in London to protest the world’s indifference to the exterminationof the Jews. (New Republic, “Alfred Kazin,” 6/29/1998.)

glittering (esp. with gold or tinsel) adj.: clinquant

PMeltzer — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 05:13:10 +0000

[Harford city officials believe] that no residential owner could possibly object to having his land “upgraded” to commercial or industrial zoning. . . . Left unchallenged, however, is the assumption that business activity is the higher, more valuable use of the land. It’s a judgment often packaged in such clinquant wrappings as jobs, tax revenues, economic growth, net return to the county. (Mike Burns, “What Constitutes Best and Highest Use of Land?” Baltimore Sun, 11/5/1995.)

glance (which is flirtatious) n.: oeillade [French]

PMeltzer — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 05:11:40 +0000

[In the movie Witness, Captain Book] exchang[es] loving glances with Rachel . . . especially during a barn raising at which he carpenters and she waits on the communal tables. The two swap so many oeillades that it is a miracle the milk doesn’t end up in a Lapp’s lap, and Book’s finger nailed to the roof beam. (John Simon, review of Witness, National Review, 4/5/1985.)

glide (through the air like a glider) n., v.i.: volplane

PMeltzer — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:09:18 +0000

At a signal, the boy runs off into the field, little legs pumping, dove-white cheeks flushed, and the shadow of the hawk swells on the grass as it closes in on the child at a brisk volplane, then strikes the fake bunny. (Jay Kirk, “Fool at War: A Mirthful and Tragic Tale of Kester, the English Jester,” Harper’s, 10/1/2005.)

sand (of, relating to, or resembling; sandy) adj.: arenaceous

PMeltzer — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 05:32:00 +0000

As the tension surrounding the war in Iraq heightens, the United States continues to look for new resolutions for the arenaceous Persian Gulf chokehold. (Eric Howerton, “Bats Could Be Secret Weapon,” University Wire, 3/27/2003.)

rumor v.t.: bruit

PMeltzer — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 05:30:14 +0000

Yet [Rockefeller] remained extremely fussy about his food, taking small, sparing bites in a manner that spawned a thousand myths about his ruined system. For years it was bruited that he had a standing million-dollar offer for any doctor who could repair his stomach. (Ron Chernow, Titan, Random House [1998], p. 322.)