| nihilist [ NAHY-uh'-list ] | | | [ noun ] | | | MEANING : | | | 1. one who rebels against established laws and institutions
2. an anarchist
3. one who advocates that the destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement | | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | | The unruly mob led by the nihilists started destroying the council hall.
| | | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | | In one of the funniest scenes in the film "The Big Lebowski," the hot-headed Vietnam veteran Walter Sobchak, played by John Goodman, explains to the Dude, played by Jeff Bridges, how much he hates nihilists because they don't believe in anything, they have no "ethos."
CNN, Commentary: Ted Kennedy was a true believer, Julian E. Zelizer, 27 August 2009. | | | | prolixity [ proh-LIK-si-tee ] | | | [ noun ] | | | MEANING : | | | 1. a verbose speech or piece of writing
2. tediously long-winded | | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | | He received less marks in his composition paper due to the prolixity of his answers.
| | | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | | But Tommy's contribution does serve to reinforce the message in the forefront of all our minds that constant vigilance is necessary to eliminate all unnecessary and superfluous examples of prolixity or verbosity.
BBC, Clear as mud: The plot thickens, 17 November 1998. | | | | lewd [ lood ] | | | [ adjective ] | | | MEANING : | | | 1. indecent
2. obscene or vulgar
3. lecherous | | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | | The principal insisted that a measure of decorum had to be maintained on campus and warned that lewd behaviour in any form would not be tolerated.
| | | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | | The teenager grabbed her arm and made lewd suggestions.
BBC, Teenager sought over lewd remarks, 17 November 2009. | | | | bravado [ bruh'-VAH-doh ] | | | [ noun ] | | | MEANING : | | | 1. a false display of bravery
2. a pretentious show of courage
3. defiant behaviour
4. a disposition toward defiant behaviour or false display of bravery. | | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | | The bravado of the striking workers was effective as management conceded to most of their demands.
| | | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | | Suddenly all our bravado deserted us and we decided to turn back.
The Telegraph, Britain at War: It was very dark because of the blackout and suddenly all our bravado deserted us, 14 Aprol 2009. | | | | defoliate [ v. dee-FOH-lee-eyt; adj. dee-FOH-lee-it, -eyt ] | | | [ adjective, intransitive verb, transitive verb ] | | | MEANING : | | | 1. (tr. v.) to strip or remove the leaves from
2. (tr. v.) to cause the leaves to fall off
3. (intr. v.) to lose leaves
4. (adj.) having naturally lost its leaves | | | USAGE EXAMPLE 1 : | | | He said the plants in his garden were defoliated because of caterpillars.
| | | USAGE EXAMPLE 2 : | | | The larvae can defoliate berberis shrubs.
The Telegraph, Tree trouble ahead, Ursula Buchan, 19 March 2009. | | |
Spelled Pronunciation Key Stress marks: [ CAPS ] indicates the primary stressed syllable, as in newspaper [NOOZ-pey-per ] and information [ in-fer-MEY-shuh' n ] | CONSONANTS | | [b] | boy, baby, rob | | [d] | do, ladder, bed | | [f] | food, offer, safe | | [g] | get, bigger, dog | | [h] | happy, ahead | | [j] | jump, budget, age | | [k] | can, speaker, stick | | [l] | let, follow, still | | [m] | make, summer, time | | [n] | no, dinner, thin | | [ng] | singer, think, long | | [p] | put, apple, cup | | [r] | run, marry, far, store | | [s] | sit, city, passing, face | | [sh] | she, station, push | | [t] | top, better, cat | | [ch] | church, watching, nature, witch | | [th] | thirsty, nothing, math | | [th'] | this, mother, breathe | | [v] | very, seven, love | | [w] | wear, away | | [hw] | where, somewhat | | [y] | yes, onion | | [z] | zoo, easy, buzz | | [zh] | measure, television, beige | | | | VOWELS | | [a] | apple, can, hat | | [ey] | aid, hate, day | | [ah] | arm, father, aha | | [air] | air, careful, wear | | [aw] | all, or, talk, lost, saw | | [e] | ever, head, get | | [ee] | eat, see, need | | [eer] | ear, hero, beer | | [er] | teacher, afterward, murderer | | [i] | it, big, finishes | | [ahy] | I, ice, hide, deny | | [o] | odd, hot, woffle | | [oh] | owe, road, below | | [oo] | ooze, food, soup, sue | | [oo'] | good, book, put | | [oi] | oil, choice, toy | | [ou] | out, loud, how | | [uh] | up, mother, mud | | [uh'] | about, animal, problem, circus | | [ur] | early, bird, stirring | | | | FOREIGN SOUNDS | | [a*] | Fr. ami | | [kh*] | Scot. loch, Ger. ach or ich | | [œ] | Fr. feu, Ger. schön | | [r*] | Fr. au revoir, Yiddish rebbe | | [uh*] | Fr. oeuvre | | [y*] | Fr. tu, Ger. über | | | | | SAMPLE NASALIZED VOWELS | | [an*] | Fr. bien | | [ahn*] | Fr. croissant | | [awn*] | Fr. bon | | [œn*] | Fr. parfum | | [in*] | Port. Principe | | | |
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