Word of the Day

Definition: (verb) To remove from association; separate. Synonyms: disjoint, disunite, divorce. Usage: The senator dissociated herself from the organization when she found out that its president had been involved in an embezzlement scheme. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Lacking strength or energy; spiritless; weak. Synonyms: feeble. Usage: He was a weak, nerveless fool, devoid of energy and promptitude. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Working, acting, or speaking with effortless ease and fluency. Synonyms: eloquent, silver-tongued, smooth-spoken, fluent, silver. Usage: Those facile and brilliant phrases and ideas struck me as the finest things I had yet known in literature, and I borrowed the book and read it through. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Lacking a backbone or spinal column; not vertebrate. Synonyms: spineless. Usage: The sixth grade class groaned in unison as the students learned that they would be dissecting worms during their study of invertebrates. Discuss

Definition: (noun) An employee of a department store who supervises sales personnel and assists customers. Synonyms: shopwalker. Usage: Although Bill thoroughly enjoyed the raise associated with his promotion to floorwalker, he disliked answering customer complaints and sometimes wished he had remained a cashier. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Not lasting or durable; not permanent. Synonyms: temporary. Usage: After weeks of carefully constructing the beautiful sand mandala, the Tibetan monks quietly swept it away in a ceremony emphasizing the impermanent nature of existence. Discuss

Definition: (noun) Concentration of emotional energy on an object or idea. Synonyms: charge. Usage: Freud thought of cathexis as a psychic analog of an electrical charge. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Showing lack of emotional involvement. Synonyms: detached, uninvolved. Usage: Mrs. Smith was not easily impressed by excuses, and she adopted a degage pose on the arm of the easy chair as her son tried to explain why he missed dinner. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Characterized by abject fear; cowardly. Synonyms: recreant. Usage: The cowardly shopkeeper angered the revolutionaries with his craven proposal to raise the white flag and surrender. Discuss

Definition: (noun) The act of distributing by allotting or apportioning; distribution according to a plan. Synonyms: parceling, assignation, allocation, allotment. Usage: The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives is based on the relative population of each state. Discuss