The Vocablog

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Vicariously

pg. 131: At this point Jordan and I tried to go, but Tom and Gatsby insisted with competitive firmness that we remain- as though neither of them had anything to conceal and it would be a privilege to partake vicariously of their emotions.

vicariously: indirectly, to experience secondhand.

vicarious (adjective)

vicariousness (noun)

Am I the only mother who is aghast at parents who live vicariously in their kids “achievements” when they put their child's life at risk?

I don't have the nerve to do it so I am living vicariously through her doing it.

Disconcerting

Page 64"And then came that disconcerting ride."

Definition: to throw into confusion, to disturb the composure of

Forms of the word:disconcerting(adjective), disconcertingly(adverb), disconcertment(noun)

Bedard had felt some discomfort after a simulated game recently, which was disconcerting, but he appears to be back on track now.

I and my neighbors find this situation very disconcerting as we await the devaluation of our properties due to the construction planned on our beloved No. 10 Fairway.

Precipitately

pg. 125: His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control.

precipitately: headlong, "at a breakneck speed"

precipitate (adjective and verb)

precipitation (noun)

In Texas, the horse population has fallen even more precipitately.

With most things losing value precipitately these days, what could be more apt for today's traveller than grams of the shiny stuff at the latest prices...

Inviolate

Pg. 125: His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control.

inviolate: not violated or hurt; intact.

inviolately (adverb)

inviolateness (noun)

inviolable (adjective)

But to the abortion militia, compassion and decency are smote by their mythical yet inviolate "right to choose."

People whose plans got high marks, or even worse, won a business plan contest, tend to feel their plan is inviolate.

Florid

Pg 48 " I had expected that Mr. Gatsby would be florid and corpulent person in his middle years".

Definition:flowery; excessively ornate; showy
Forms of the Word: flo·rid·i·ty /flɔˈrɪdɪti, flə-/ Show Spelled[flaw-rid-i-tee, fluh-] Show IPA, flor·id·ness, noun
flor·id·ly, adverb
o·ver·flor·id, adjective
o·ver·flor·id·ly, adverb
o·ver·flor·id·ness, noun
un·flor·id, adjective

"A small man still florid from his daily joust with the hacking cough of a lifetime smoker, pads on feet through which little or no blood has circulated for years, into the bar".
http://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/article461112.ece/Fans-face-fado--better-than-death

"Those who promote a Victorian "style" today tend to embrace the most florid period in that time span, but in our collective memory we think of Victorian houses as ornamented within and without".
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/21/AR2010052100197.html

Vacuous

Pg 46 ...." vacuous bursts of laughter rose toward the summer sky".

Definition: purposeless; idle:
Forms of Word:vac·u·ous·ly, adverb
vac·u·ous·ness, noun
non·vac·u·ous, adjective
non·vac·u·ous·ly, adverb
non·vac·u·ous·ness, noun
un·vac·u·ous, adjective
un·vac·u·ous·ly, adverb
un·vac·u·ous·ness, noun

"While He’s Just Not That Into You dared to ponder a question or two about the nature of romance in the digital age, this vacuous mess doesn’t have a single idea in its head".
http://www.collider.com/2010/05/23/valentines-day-blu-ray-review/

But the show had slipped in the ratings; indeed, its demise was probably a foregone conclusion when its producers started burdening it with vacuous left-wing political themes.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/law_order_fadeout_lMkLvPB6kfemccrPYX9hhK#ixzz0os2QKyqA

Punctilious

Page 64 "This quality was continually breaking through his punctilious manner in the shape of restlessness."

Definition:: marked by or concerned about precise accordance with the details of codes or conventions

Forms of the word: punctiliously(adverb), punctiliousness(noun), punctilious(adjective)

"Punctilious and distinguished academics made this decision and to suggest they twisted the truth to back it up is a dangerous fantasy."

Unknown by the reading public, for whom she was anonymous, Miss Hemelrijk was the queen of the fact-checkers, a crackerjack researcher and a punctilious copy editor.

Impetuously

Pg 45 "What do you think"? he demanded impetuously.

Definition: impetuous - marked by violent force; "impetuous heaving waves
Forms of Impetuous:im·pet·u·ous·ly, adverb, im·pet·u·ous·ness, noun

Meanwhile, several of the Tibetans impetuously decide to ambush their guards, forcing the entire group to escape in a desperate attempt to reach Nepal.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Differing+degrees+desperation/3031274/story.html#ixzz0os0LV4GN

On a back wall of the brightest house on Carswell Street hangs a piece of paper, protected in plastic to keep it from crumbling. It's a promise, impetuously made nearly a decade ago by sixth graders who lived nearby.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-05-06/news/bs-ae-youth-dreamers-20100507_1_after-school-center-dream-house-youth-center

Adventitious

Page 163 “…and the adventitious authority of his voice set the key for the newspaper reports next morning.”

Definition: associated by chance and not an integral part

Forms of the word: adventitiously (adverb), adventitiousness (noun), nonadventitious (adjective), nonadventitiously (adverb), nonadventitiousness (noun)

The Washington Wizards topped the NBA Abstract this year with accepting the adventitious to yield the no. 1 over all abstract aces in 2010 which is Kentucky’s John Wall.

http://newsonfire.net/article/285

Prado is aswell a adversary in this accident and that this horse has a adventitious to win with the advice of jockey Desormeaux.

http://dailynewsonbuzz.com/?p=173

Poignant

Page 57 "...wasting the most poignant moments of night and life."

Definition: painfully affecting the feelings, deeply affecting

Forms of the word: poignant(adjective),poignantly (adverb),poignancy(noun)

African boy's return from Minnesota brings poignant moment.

It's going to be a poignant departure for the final Atlantis mission and we wish the Atlantis and all its crew a safe journe y.

Redolent

Page 148 “…and of romances that were not musty and laud away already in lavender, but fresh and breathing and redolent of this year’s shining motor-cars and of dances whose flowers were scarcely withered.”

Definition: evocative: serving to bring to mind

Forms of the word: redolence (noun), redolency (noun), redolently (adverb)

Twyla Tharp brings her kinetic heat to the cool of Frank Sinatra songs in this dazzling dance musical set in a fantasy nightclub redolent of the 1940s. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/theater/21theater.html?src=mv

And they are redolent with assumptions that people can train themselves to behave differently, a bit like a quitting smoker.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Driving+like+junk+food/3050300/story.html

Spectropscopic

p. 44 "...East Egg condescending to the West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety."

Spectroscopic: of or relating to or involving spectroscopy (the study of spectra)

Spectroscopic (adj.)
Spectroscopical (adj.)
Spectroscopically (adv.)
Spectroscopy (noun)

Spectroscopic analysis of the asteroid 24 Themis reveals it to be coated in a thin layer of water ice, confirming long-held suspicions of water on the rocky ...

Those ultraviolet spectroscopic observations, made in July 2009, showed that the wayward star is unleashing a fury of charged particles in one of the most ...

Caravansary

p.114 "So the whole caravansary had fallen in like a card house at the disapproval in her eyes."

Definition: an inn, usually with a large courtyard, for the
overnight accommodation of caravans

(noun) caravansaries

The caravansary is usually constructed outside the walls of a town or village.

There are 4 caravansaries between Tehran and Semnan, built in Safavid era

Pervading

p. 104 "But I felt an unpleasentness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn't been there before."

definition: To be present throughout; permeate

(verb) per·vad·ed
per·vad·ing

To the very end, his music was powerful and consistently excellent, with deep lyrical thought pervading every fibre of his being.

it’ll be a really unfortunate turn of events if that kind of thinking ends up pervading our culture.”

Contingencies

p. 100. "He provided for such contingencies by reposing more and more trust in Gatsby."

Definition: emergency, likelihood, predicament.

(noun)/singular: constingency

But in today’s housing market, the buyers are in charge, so sellers typically have to accept inspection contingencies if they want to get a purchase offer on their home.

The contingencies are far more than the cost of the project, which I don't think most people would consider reasonable

strident

p. 35 "...i became entagled in some wild, strident argument wich pulled me back..."

Definition: making or having a harsh sound; grating; creaking

stridence, stri·den·cy, noun

stri·dent·ly, adverb

non·stri·dent, adjective

The Kanes held strident antigovernment views and, according to Internet video and audio postings featuring them, traveled the country giving seminars on ...

The reason we do so brings us to the other part of the criticism—that the rabid and fringe voice is strident and extreme, and is therefore more saleable.

Rakish

p. 30 " her eyebrows had been plucked and then drawn on again at a more rakish angle..."

Definition: smart; jaunty; dashing

rak·ish·ly, adverb

rak·ish·ness, noun

The Blackhawks didn't get to the brink of a Stanley Cup finals appearance by strength of reputation and rakish charm and by

But, unlike those generally staid sedan, the Sonata features a rather rakish, swept-back design that has earned it plaudits among the motoring press and ...

Pastoral

p 28 "we drove over to Fifth Avenue, so warm and soft, almost pastoral, on the summer Sunday afternoon..."

Definition: having the simplicity, charm, serenity, or other characteristics generally attributed to rural areas

pas·to·ral·ly, adverb

non·pas·to·ral·ly, adverb

sem·i·pas·to·ral, adjective

Even so, while most pastors spend hours on sermons, many of us merely jot a few notes down for the pastoral prayer -- or, worse, .

The study by deanery and parish planners found that while many parishes individually lacked the means to address key pastoral priorities

expostulation

p. 138. "The circle closed up again with a running murmur of expostulation; it was a minute before I could see anything at all."

Definition: to reason earnestly with someone against something that person intends to do or has done

expostulatingly (adverb)
expostulator (noun)
expostulate (verb)

Buckley noted with approval Kirk’s warning in the last chapter that “simple expostulation and lamentation” will not suffice to resist the liberals’ planned society.

In the distance approaching me I see two women walking briskly along, one in animated expostulation and the other nodding in answer.

portentous

p. 135. "I was thirty. Before me stretched the portentous, menacing road of a new decade."

Definition: ominous, arousing awe or amazement; marvelous

portentous (adjective)

portentously (adverb)

portentousness (noun)

Gutierrez, Chairman of the Democratic Caucus Immigration Task Force, is fond of portentous pronouncements.

Based on Pete Davies's book All Played Out, it tends towards the portentous, with an epigraph from Churchill

rancor

p. 132. "Please don't." Her voice was cold, but the rancor was gone from it.

Definition: bitter, resentment or ill will; hatred; malice.

rancor (noun)
rancorous (adjective)
rancorously (adverb)

Financial regulatory reform is a hot-button topic recently, the cause of much rancor in the Congress and amongst the public.

In an e-mail to CNN.com, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes responded to the growing rancor over the site's privacy settings and policies, which underwent some changes in April.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Harlequin

p. 40 "...spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold."

Harlequin: varigate with spots or marks; a clown;

Harlequin (adj., verb, noun)

The wide-ranging exhibition at the Met covers the key areas Picasso was famed for, from harlequins to classic bathers and Cubist tabletops to delicate paper ...

This gathering of street performers is the tour de force of the young Picasso's Rose Period, with its harlequin self-portrait, fat clown, slim children and ...

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Commensurate

p.180 "...compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder."

Definition: having the same measure, proportionate

Commensurately ( adverb)

Commensurateness (noun)

Commensuration (noun)

Commensurate (adjective)

May is likely to see a commensurate fall-back in starts. This argument is given validity by the 11.5% decline in residential building permits issued in ...

we're going to have to reduce the inmate population commensurate with the remaining available staff.

Aesthetic

p.180 "...for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired..."

Definition: pertaining to or having a sense of the beautiful.

aesthetic (adjective or noun)

They read magazines and view television shows which deal with these topics and are comfortable with the idea of aesthetic improvement. ...

"Our partners across the value chain are responding very positively to the combination of economic, environmental and aesthetic benefits. ...

Interminable

p.176 "Even when the East excited me most,even when I was most keenly aware of its superiority to the bored, sprawling, swollen towns beyond the Ohio, with their interminable inquisitions which spared only the children and the very old- even then it had always for me a quality of distortion."

Definition: Incapable of being terminated

Interminable (adjective)

Interminably (adverb)

Interminableness, Interminability (noun)

... business is business, but it might not be as good business as some think to just let Allen walk out the door when this interminable NBA season ends.

The guy who penned this impressively interminable proposal swears in his comments that he's being sincere

Asunder

pg. 51 "Even Jordan's party, the quarter from East Egg, were rent asunder by dissension."

Into separate parts or pieces.

Asunder (adverb) or (adjective)

"The robot standing over your shoulders is not waiting to grab you by the ears and tear you asunder."

"This would rip open-wheel racing asunder, just when there was enough trouble maintaining prestige and popularity with one series."

Convivial

pg. 50 "When the Jazz History of the World was over, girls were putting their heads on men's shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way, girls were swooning backward playfully into men's arms, even into groups, knowing that some one would arrest their falls-but no one swooned backward onto Gatsby, and no French bob touched Gatsby's shoulder, and no singing quarters were formed with Gatsby's head for one link."

Fond of feasting, drinking, and good company; sociable.

Conviviality (noun)
Convivially (adverb)

"The purpose of the Fan Fest is to offer a safe, convenient, and convivial alternative to being at the stadium."

"We are pleased to share the warmth, charm, and convivial ways of French country life with a destination that is the heart and soul of San Diego."

Indignantly

p. 54: "But I wasn't even trying," he explained indignantly, "I wasn't even trying."

Indignant: angered at something unjust or wrong.

Indignant (adjective)
Indignantly (adverb)
Indignance (noun)

Bruno indignantly said that his use of taxpayer-paid lawyers was “totally appropriate.”

It's disappointing to see that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals lack the ethics they so indignantly demand from the rest of us.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

grassgut

" Lawd, Ah know dat grassgut liver-lipted nigger ain't done took and beat mah baby already!"

pg.22

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

In context the word sounds like an insult used back then and I couldn't find it on Dictionary.com

beaten biscuits

" Then she went to see Nanny in Mrs. Washburn's kitchen on the day for beaten biscuits."

pg.22

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

According to Dictionary.com they are hard, unleavened biscuits made to rise by pounding and folding dough.

treacherous

"An envious heart makes a treacherous ear."

pg.5

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

I've heard it used in dangerous situations such as a hurricane or a "treacherous" storm, so i think it means dangerous.

ecstatic

"She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight."

pg.11

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

According to Dictionary.com it means being in a state of ecstasy; joyful or enraptured.

lacerate

"She bolted upright and peered out of the window and saw Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss."

pg.12

Harper Perennial Modern Classics

I think this word means cutting,or cutting into too.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Languish

I think this means to become weak.

Lickin'

"Round a week later de man brought de picture for Mis' Washburn to see and pay him which she did, then give us all a good lickin'."

p.9
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

I think the means beaten. A punishment.

Mulatto

"She walked around the dence corner and went in the intimate gate with her heaping plate of mulatto rice."

p.4
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

I didn't know what this ment but, the dictionary said it was the first generation offspring of a black person and white person.

Vigorously

"She took the cloth and rubbed vigorously."

p.5
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

This means with force, or energy.

Resignation

"...Never landing until the Wtcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time."

p.1
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

an act of resigning / sign again

delerium

"she noted that even in his delerium he took good aim."
pg.183harper perenial modern classicsanother form of
delerious

Sunday, March 21, 2010

sullenly

"'Mis' Janie,'' Hezekiah began sullenly next day, ''you oughtn't 'low dat Tea
Cake tuh de house wid yuh.'"

p. 102
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

I think this means sad or maybe emo. (Sullen Cullen)

bitch's baby

"Ah'm uh bitch's baby round lady people."

p. 36
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

In this context, 'bitch's baby' means puppy.

britches

"Mah britches is just as long as his."

p. 35
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Britches are pants.

metropolis

"Ah means tuh put mah hands tuh de plow heah, and strain every nerve tuh
make dis out town de metropolis uh de state."

p. 42
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Metropolis refers to a city. (Like the metro bus in the city)

incredulous

"They tried hard to hold it in, but enough indredulous laughter burst our
of their eyes and leaked from the corners of their mouths to inform anyone of
their thoughts."

p. 37
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

This means expressing disbelief. Like "incredible!"

Newel Post

" At the newel post Janie whirled around and for the space of a thought she was lit up like a transfiguation."

Pg 105
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

This is the post at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs and it supports the handrail.

Wash Board

"When Ah come round de lake 'bout noontime mah wife and some others had ' inn flat on de ground usin' his sides fuh uh wash board."

Pg 52
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

It means a board used to hand wash clothes.

Spittoon

"There was the matter of the spittoons."

Pg 47
Harper Perennial Modern Classics

A spittoon is a bucket where people spit, mostly used by chewers of tobacco and spitting.

Hint- Spit