Word Of The Day

[Dr T]

Improvident \im-PROV-uh-duhnt; -dent\, adjective:

Lacking foresight or forethought; not foreseeing or providing for the future; negligent or thoughtless.

Elizabeth's husband . . . had been a reckless, improvident man, who left many debts behind him when he died suddenly of a consumption in September 1704.

-- David Nokes, Jane Austen: A Life

Dr. T

Defs will be from Dictionary.com unless otherwise noted.

[Princess3dward]

I learned a new word!

[Dr T]

That's great Des. Try and use it in a sent. today. :)

Dr. T

[Dr T]

Nescience \NESH-uhn(t)s; NESH-ee-uhn(t)s\, noun:

Lack of knowledge or awareness; ignorance.

The ancients understood that too much knowledge could actually impede human functioning -- this at a time when the encroachments on global nescience were comparatively few.

-- Cullen Murphy, "DNA Fatigue", The Atlantic, November 1997

or

The notion has taken hold that every barometric fluctuation must demonstrate climate change. This anecdotal case for global warming is mostly nonsense, driven by nescience of a basic point, from statistics and probability, that the weather is always weird somewhere.

-- Gregg Easterbrook, "Warming Up", The New Republic, November 8, 1999

Nescience is from Latin nescire, "not to know," from ne-, "not" + scire, "to know." It is related to science. Nescient is the adjective form.

I'm not sure how this thread will be received. I thought it might be fun to use some familiar and hopefully new words once in awhile. When I see a "word of the day" used in a post, I'll give that person a point. I look forward to feedback on this.

Thanks,

Dr. T

[79scholar]

Thanks for the vocab! There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

[Princess3dward]

AHHH! ONE WORD A DAY!

I am having a mini overload!

[Dr T]

exiguity \ek-suh-GYOO-uht-ee\, noun:

Scantiness; smallness; thinness;the quality of being meager.

--EXIGUOUS, adjective

An exiguity of cloth that would only allow of miniature capes

-- George Eliot

The soldiers' pay is in the highest degree exiguous; not above three half-pence a day.

-- Carlyle

Exiguity derives from the Latin exiguitas, itself from exiguus, meaning "strictly weighed," which came to signify "too strictly weighed"; hence, "meager." Related to exact ("precisely weighed or determined").

Try and use it.

Dr. T

[Princess3dward]

try and use it???

I can't even say it!

[Dr T]

LOL Des. That was great.

[Ray]

You are offering one point per word???

You might think I have nescience for what you are offering, but I think it’s an exiguous offering, or maybe it just seems improvident to me.

I’ll give you 1000 points to say “Thank you”. :)

[Dr T]

Ray,

Well done. thank you Can you use the words (appropriately) in other threads?

(3 points to Ray)

Dr. T

[Dr T]

lissom \LISS-uhm\, adjective;

alsolissome:

1. Limber; supple; flexible.

2. Light and quick in action; nimble; agile; active.

Raphaelle Boitel moves with the lissom, contortionist plastique of a snake-woman.

-- Nadine Meisner, "Clowns real and imagined", Independent, April 20, 2001

Lissom is an alteration of lithesome, which derives from Old English lithe, "flexible, mild, gentle."

Dr. T

[Dr T]

This next word has multiple uses. It may be familiar but it's a good word.

umbrage \UHM-brij\, noun:

1. Shade; shadow; hence, something that affords a shade, as a screen of trees or foliage.

2. a. A vague or indistinct indication or suggestion; a hint.

3. b. Reason for doubt; suspicion.

4. Suspicion of injury or wrong; offense; resentment.

Burr finally took umbrage, and challenged him to a duel.

-- Richard A. Samuelson, "Alexander Hamilton: American", Commentary, June 1999

In almost all the walks of his life, he appears to have been both astoundingly rude and genuinely astonished that anyone should take umbrage.

-- Robert Winder, "A dying game", New Statesman, June 19, 2000

He had a devastating smile, which could wipe away the slightest umbrage.

-- Alec Guinness, A Positively Final Appearance

The river tumbling green and white, far below me; the dark high banks, the plentiful umbrage, many bronze cedars, in shadow; and tempering and arching all the immense materiality, a clear sky overhead, with a few white clouds, limpid, spiritual, silent.

-- Walt Whitman, Specimen Days & Collect

Umbrage is derived from Latin umbra, "shade."

[JoshuaFKon]

This next word has multiple uses. It may be familiar but it's a good word.

umbrage \UHM-brij\, noun:

Hey! I know that one! :)

Josh B)

[Dr T]

Cool Josh! Lest see it used in another thread (if possible). :)

[Dr T]

tenebrous \TEN-uh-bruhs\, adjective:

Dark; gloomy.

And lurking behind our every move is the knowledge of our own mortality. It gives life its edgy disquiet, its tenebrous underside.

-- Douglas Kennedy, "Sudden death", Independent, June 3, 1999

Tenebrous derives from Latin tenebrosus, from tenebrae, "darkness."

[Princess3dward]

I feel tenebrous today.

I wish I had chips. Those always help!

[Dr T]

Chips. What kind of chips, Des?

[Princess3dward]

Hmm... anything rippled!

[Dr T]

Oh! Not poker chips. Ruffles?

Dr. T

[Dr T]

objurgate \OB-juhr-gayt\, transitive verb:

To express strong disapproval of; to criticize severely.

I objurgate the centipede,

A bug we do not really need.

-- Ogden Nash, "The Centipede"

The act about to be objurgated here calls on the Food and Drug Administration to oversee a broad revision of food labeling.

-- Daniel Seligman, "Federal Food Follies", Fortune, July 1, 1991

Objurgate comes from the past participle of Latin from objurgare, "to scold, to blame," from ob-, "against" + jurgare, "to dispute, to quarrel, to sue at law," from jus, jur-, "law" + -igare (from agere, "to lead").

[Princess3dward]

I objurgate this month...

[Dr T]

seriatim \sir-ee-AY-tim; -AT-im\, adverb:

In a series; one after another.

Mr. and Mrs. Kenwigs thanked every lady and gentleman, seriatim, for the favour of their company.

-- Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickelby

In his company one found oneself supposing, on hearing Walters handle German and Spanish, French and Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian, that his mind traveled from any one language to any other seriatim, because his mind worked that way, taking it all in.

-- William F. Buckley Jr., "###### Walters R.I.P.", National Review, February 15, 2002

Seriatim derives from the Latin series, meaning "row, chain," and is formed on the same model as verbatim ("word for word") and literatim ("letter for letter").

[Princess3dward]

I am not sure if I totally get that word... so... if I saw my fave book is in a series.. I say My faveorite book is seriatim?

[JoshuaFKon]

I am not sure if I totally get that word... so... if I saw my fave book is in a series.. I say My faveorite book is seriatim?

not "series" like a collection, like one after another. one by one....

I think

Josh B)