Word of the Day – 29 April 2011

Feckless
[fek-lis] (adj.) having no sense of responsibility; indifferent; lazy.

* From the 1590s, from feck, meaning “effect, value, vigor”

“I always do my best work, so as not to be labeled feckless.”

~brought to you by Dr. Rapoport’s former Reading 110 student, Courtney Pendergrass

Word of the Day – 28 April 2011

Acuity
[uh-kyoo-i-tee] (n.) sharpness; acuteness; keenness.

* From Latin acuere, meaning “to sharpen.”

“For a pilot, visual acuity is essential to flying a plane safely.”

Word of the Day – 4/27/11

Academic Skills Center

 Word of the Day:

Guile
[gahyl] (n.) insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity.

* From the Old Frisian wigila, meaning “sorcery, witchcraft.”
 
“Full of wiles, full of guile, at all times, in all ways, Are the children of Men.”

 

~Aristophanes

 

Word of the Day – 26 April 2011

Enigmatic
[en-ig-mat-ik, ee-nig-] (adj.) perplexing; mysterious

• 1640s, from the late Latin aenigmaticus, from aenigmat-, stem of aenigma

  “The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.”

-Aldous Huxley

Word of the Day–04/25/2011

Denouement

[dey-noo-mahn] (n.) the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.

* From the French dénouer, meaning “untie.”
 
“But this invites the occult mind, Cancels our physics with a sneer, And spatters all we knew of denouement, Across the expedient and wicked stones.”

~Karl Shapiro

 

Word of the Day, 4/20/11

Garish

[gair-ish, gar-] (adj.) crudely or tastelessly colorful, showy, or elaborate.

*perhaps from the Old Norse gaurr, meaning “rough fellow”

“Hide me from day’s garish eye / While the bee with honied thigh / That at her flowery work doth sing.”

~John Milton

Word of the Day – 4/19/2011

Discrete
[dih-skreet] (adj.) apart or detached form others;
separate; distinct.

*From the Latin discretus, meaning “separated, distinct.”

“Life defies our phrases: it is infinitely continuous and subtle and shaded whilst our verbal terms are discrete, rude, and few.”

~William James

Word of the Day – 4/18/11

Academic Skills Center

Word of the Day:

Discrete
[dih-skreet] (adj.) apart or detached form others;
separate; distinct.

*From the Latin discretus, meaning “separated, distinct.”

“Life defies our phrases: it is infinitely continuous and subtle and shaded whilst our verbal terms are discrete, rude, and few.”

~William James

 

Word of the Day–4/15/2011

Fastidious

[fa-sti-dee-us] (adj.) difficult to please.

* From the from the Latin, fastidious, from fastidium, meaning “disgust.”
 
“A lot of girls set a list of fastidious goals they wish to have in the guy they want.” 

~brought to you by Dr. Rapoport’s former Reading 110 student, Alexis Lucas

 

Word of the Day – 4/14/11

Academic Skills Center

Word of the Day:

Mollify
[mol-uh-fahy]

(v.) to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease.

 

*From the Latin mollis, meaning “soft” and facere, meaning “to make.”