Word of the Day

Definition: (adjective) Somewhat ill or prone to illness. Synonyms: ailing, peaked, poorly, under the weather, unwell, sickly, seedy. Usage: The princess is indisposed and has cancelled her engagements for the week to allow herself time to recuperate. Discuss

Definition: (noun) Someone making a search or inquiry. Synonyms: quester, searcher. Usage: A seeker of the truth, he never took things at face value. Discuss

Definition: (noun) Peaceful resistance to a government by fasting or refusing to cooperate. Synonyms: passive resistance. Usage: Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., were two of the most articulate advocates of nonviolence. Discuss

Definition: (verb) Impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on. Synonyms: punish. Usage: The students were penalized for their tardiness and had to stay after school for detention. Discuss

Definition: (verb) To cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral, or intellectual means. Synonyms: force, hale, pressure, squeeze. Usage: The lawsuit alleged that her boss had coerced her into resigning and that she therefore deserved compensation. Discuss

Definition: (noun) Someone concerned with the science or art or business of cultivating the soil. Synonyms: agriculturalist, grower, raiser. Usage: He soon became a land-holder, then a prosperous cultivator of the soil, and shortly after a town-officer. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Marked by a gradual progression as if step by step. Synonyms: bit-by-bit, in small stages, piecemeal, step-by-step. Usage: Quantum mechanics is a natural system of stepwise interactions that governs very small things. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse. Synonyms: banal, old-hat, stock, threadbare, timeworn, trite, well-worn, tired, shopworn, commonplace. Usage: For God's sake do not thrust upon me your hackneyed remarks, repeated to nausea, that "I was only a dreamer," while they even then had an understanding of life. Discuss

Definition: (adjective) Having a full, shapely figure. Synonyms: buxom. Usage: The fashion industry has recently increased the visibility of zaftig models. Discuss

Definition: (noun) A penetrating examination of one's motives, convictions, and attitudes. Synonyms: self-analysis. Usage: Mary's therapist told her she was going to have to be introspective and do much soul-searching if she hoped to learn what was at the root of her depression. Discuss