Johnson's Dictionary of Difficult Words

Word 3084: Illuviation

2010-12-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

noun Soil Science
the introduction of salts or colloids into one soil horizon from another by percolating water

Word 3083: Aperçu

2010-12-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

noun ( pl. -çus pronunc. same)
a comment or brief reference that makes an illuminating or entertaining point

Word 3082: Decussate

2010-12-01T18:53:00.000-08:00

adjective
shaped like an X
• Botany (of leaves) arranged in opposite pairs, each pair being at right angles to the pair below

Word 3081: Mimesis

2010-12-01T18:52:00.002-08:00

noun formal or technical
imitation, in particular
• representation or imitation of the real world in art and literature
• the deliberate imitation of the behavior of one group of people by another as a factor in social change
• Zoology another term for mimicry

Word 3080: Fanfaronade

2010-12-01T18:52:00.001-08:00

noun
arrogant or boastful talk

Word 3079: Telegraphese

2010-12-01T18:51:00.001-08:00

noun informal
the terse, abbreviated style of language used in telegrams

Word 3078: Smolt

2010-12-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

noun
a young salmon (or trout) after the parr stage, when it becomes silvery and migrates to the sea for the first time

Word 3077: Epigone

2010-12-01T18:47:00.002-08:00

noun ( pl. epigones or epigoni)
a less distinguished follower or imitator of someone, esp. an artist or philosopher

Word 3076: Officinal

2010-12-01T18:47:00.001-08:00

adjective chiefly historical
(of an herb or drug) standardly used in medicine

Word 3075: Metanoia

2010-12-01T18:46:00.002-08:00

noun
change in one's way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion

Word 3074: Plaint

2010-12-01T18:46:00.001-08:00

noun Brit. Law
an accusation; a charge
• chiefly poetic/literary a complaint; a lamentation

Word 3073: Cleat

2010-12-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

noun
a T-shaped piece of metal or wood, esp. on a boat or ship, to which ropes are attached
• one of a number of projecting pieces of metal, rubber, or other material on the sole of a shoe, designed to prevent the wearer from losing their footing
• ( cleats) athletic shoes with a cleated sole, typically used when playing football
• a projection on a spar or other part of a ship, to prevent slipping
• a small wedge, esp. one on a plow or scythe

Word 3072: Hyperborean

2010-12-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

noun poetic/literary
an inhabitant of the extreme north
• ( Hyperborean) Greek Mythology a member of a race worshiping Apollo and living in a land of sunshine and plenty beyond the north wind

Word 3071: Dithyramb

2010-12-01T18:41:00.002-08:00

noun
a wild choral hymn of ancient Greece, esp. one dedicated to Dionysus
• a passionate or inflated speech, poem, or other writing

Word 3070: Lèse-majesté

2010-12-01T18:41:00.001-08:00

noun
the insulting of a monarch or other ruler; treason

Word 3069: Naiant

2010-12-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

adjective [ postpositive] Heraldry
(of a fish or marine creature) swimming horizontally

Word 3068: Palingenesis

2010-12-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

noun
1. Biology the exact reproduction of ancestral characteristics in ontogenesis
2. rebirth or regeneration

Word 3067: Mugwump

2010-12-01T18:36:00.001-08:00

noun
a person who remains aloof or independent, esp. from party politics

Word 3066: Cockalorum

2010-12-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

noun ( pl. -rums) informal dated
a self-important little man

Word 3065: Gi

2010-12-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

noun ( pl. gis)
a lightweight two-piece white garment worn in judo and other martial arts. A gi typically consists of loose-fitting pants and a jacket that is closed with a cloth belt

Word 3064: Groundling

2010-12-01T18:31:00.001-08:00

noun
1. a spectator or reader of inferior taste, such as a member of a theater audience who traditionally stood in the pit beneath the stage
2. a person on the ground as opposed to one in a spacecraft or aircraft
3. a fish that lives at the bottom of lakes and streams, esp. a gudgeon or loach
4. a creeping or dwarf plant

Word 3063: Alameda

2010-12-01T18:30:00.001-08:00

noun
(in Spain and Spanish-speaking regions) a public walkway or promenade shaded with trees

Word 3062: Pluvial

2010-12-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

adjective chiefly Geology
relating to or characterized by rainfall.

Word 3061: Fino

2010-12-01T18:26:00.002-08:00

noun ( pl. -os)
a light-colored dry sherry

Word 3060: Homologate

2010-12-01T18:26:00.001-08:00

verb [ trans.] formal
express agreement with or approval of
• approve (a car, boat, or engine) for sale in a particular market or use in a particular class of racing

Word 3059: Maquette

2010-12-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

noun
a sculptor's small preliminary model or sketch

Word 3058: Tog

2010-12-01T18:23:00.000-08:00

verb ( be/get togged up/out)
be or get dressed for a particular occasion or activity

Word 3057: Cofferdam

2010-12-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

noun
a watertight enclosure pumped dry to permit construction work below the waterline, as when building bridges or repairing a ship

Word 3056: Duende

2010-12-01T18:18:00.001-08:00

noun
a quality of passion and inspiration
• a spirit

Word 3055: Anthophilous

2010-12-01T18:16:00.002-08:00

adjective Zoology
(of insects or other animals) frequenting flowers

Word 3054: Divers

2010-12-01T18:16:00.001-08:00

adjective [ attrib.] archaic or poetic/literary
of varying types; several

Word 3053: Viol

2010-12-01T18:15:00.000-08:00

noun
a musical instrument of the Renaissance and baroque periods, typically six-stringed, held vertically and played with a bow

Word 3052: Causerie

2010-12-01T18:12:00.001-08:00

noun ( pl. -ries pronunc. same)
an informal article or talk, typically one on a literary subject

Word 3051: Grub Street

2010-12-01T18:10:00.000-08:00

noun
used in reference to a world or class of impoverished journalists and writers

Word 3050: Jitney

2010-12-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

noun ( pl. -neys) informal
a bus or other vehicle carrying passengers for a low fare

Word 3049: Fipple

2010-11-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

noun
the mouthpiece of a recorder or similar wind instrument that is blown endwise, in which a thin channel cut through a block directs a stream of air against a sharp edge. The term has been applied to various parts of this, including the block and the channel

Word 3048: Fluvial

2010-11-27T08:01:00.001-08:00

adjective chiefly Geology
of or found in a river

Word 3047: Plaint

2010-11-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

noun Brit. Law
an accusation; a charge
• chiefly poetic/literary a complaint; a lamentation

Word 3046: Cognoscenti

2010-11-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

plural noun
people who are considered to be especially well informed about a particular subject

Word 3045: Tisane

2010-11-15T20:57:00.001-08:00

noun
an herbal tea, consumed esp. for its medicinal properties

Word 3044: Mansuetude

2010-11-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

noun archaic
meekness; gentleness

Word 3043: Philistine

2010-11-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

noun
1. a member of a non-Semitic (perhaps originally Anatolian) people of southern Palestine in ancient times, who came into conflict with the Israelites during the 12th and 11th centuries BC.
According to the Bible, the Philistines, from whom the country of Palestine took its name, came from Crete and settled the southern coastal plain of Canaan in the 12th century BC
2. (usu. philistine) a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them

Word 3042: Gravamen

2010-11-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

noun ( pl. -vamina) chiefly Law
the essence or most serious part of a complaint or accusation
• a grievance

Word 3041: Pyrite

2010-11-15T20:49:00.000-08:00

noun
a shiny yellow mineral consisting of iron disulfide and typically occurring as intersecting cubic crystals

Word 3040: Fig

2010-11-15T20:46:00.000-08:00

noun (in phrase full fig)
smart clothes, esp. those appropriate to a particular occasion or profession

Word 3039: Éclaircissement

2010-11-15T20:44:00.000-08:00

noun archaic or poetic/literary
an enlightening explanation of something, typically someone's conduct, that has been hitherto inexplicable

Word 3038: Coterie

2010-11-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

noun ( pl. -ries)
a small group of people with shared interests or tastes, esp. one that is exclusive of other people

Word 3037: Pale

2010-11-15T20:38:00.002-08:00

noun
1. a wooden stake or post used as an upright along with others to form a fence
• figurative a boundary
2. Heraldry a broad vertical stripe down the middle of a shield

Word 3036: Twee

2010-11-15T20:38:00.001-08:00

adjective Brit., chiefly derogatory
excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental

Word 3035: Devoir

2010-11-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

noun archaic
a person's duty
• ( pay one's devoirs) pay one's respects formally

Word 3034: Morganatic

2010-11-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

adjective
of or denoting a marriage in which neither the spouse of lower rank nor any children have any claim to the possessions or title of the spouse of higher rank

Word 3033: Funicle

2010-11-14T09:32:00.000-08:00

noun Botany
a filamentous stalk attaching a seed or ovule to the placenta
• Entomology a filamentous section of an insect's antenna, supporting the club

Word 3032: Middlebrow

2010-11-14T09:31:00.002-08:00

adjective
(of art or literature or a system of thought) demanding or involving only a moderate degree of intellectual application, typically as a result of not deviating from convention

Word 3031: Infra dig

2010-11-14T09:31:00.001-08:00

adjective [ predic.] informal
beneath one; demeaning

Word 3030: Barmecidal

2010-11-14T09:30:00.001-08:00

adjective [ attrib.] rare
illusory or imaginary and therefore disappointing

Word 3029: Stile

2010-11-14T09:27:00.002-08:00

noun
an arrangement of steps that allows people but not animals to climb over a fence or wall

Word 3028: Hansel

2010-11-14T09:27:00.001-08:00

noun
a gift given for good luck at the beginning of the year or to mark an acquisition or the start of an enterprise
• the first installment of a payment

Word 3027: Diluvial

2010-11-14T09:26:00.001-08:00

adjective
of or relating to a flood or floods, esp. the biblical Flood

Word 3026: Nepenthes

2010-11-14T09:25:00.000-08:00

noun (also nepenthe) poetic/literary
a drug described in Homer's Odyssey as banishing grief or trouble from a person's mind
• any drug or potion bringing welcome forgetfulness

Word 3025: Drey

2010-11-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

noun ( pl. dreys)
the nest of a squirrel, typically in the form of a mass of twigs in a tree

Word 3024: Amerce

2010-11-14T09:22:00.002-08:00

noun historical English Law
a fine

Word 3023: Schnorrer

2010-11-14T09:22:00.001-08:00

noun informal
a beggar or scrounger; a layabout

Word 3022: Flivver

2010-11-14T09:21:00.001-08:00

noun informal dated
a cheap car or aircraft, esp. one in bad condition

Word 3021: Ceilometer

2010-11-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

noun
a device for measuring and recording the height of clouds

Word 3020: Kvetch

2010-11-14T09:18:00.000-08:00

noun informal
a person who complains a great deal
• a complaint

Word 3019: Abulia

2010-11-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

noun
an absence of willpower or an inability to act decisively, as a symptom of mental illness

Word 3018: Pangloss

2010-11-14T09:16:00.002-08:00

noun
a person who is optimistic regardless of the circumstances

Word 3017: Babbitt

2010-11-14T09:16:00.001-08:00

noun dated
a materialistic, complacent, and conformist businessman

Word 3016: Roc

2010-11-14T09:11:00.002-08:00

noun
a gigantic mythological bird described in the Arabian Nights

Word 3015: Perpend

2010-11-14T09:11:00.001-08:00

noun
a vertical layer of mortar between two bricks

Word 3014: Gormandize

2010-11-14T09:10:00.001-08:00

verb [ intrans.]
indulge in good eating; eat greedily

Word 3013: Apotheosis

2010-11-14T09:09:00.000-08:00

noun ( pl. -ses) [ usu. in sing.]
the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax
• the elevation of someone to divine status; deification

Word 3012: Macédoine

2010-11-14T09:04:00.000-08:00

noun
a mixture of vegetables or fruit cut into small pieces and served as a salad
• figurative a medley or jumble

Word 3011: Pis aller

2010-11-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

noun
a course of action followed as a last resort

Word 3010: Nonissue

2010-11-14T09:02:00.001-08:00

noun
a topic of little or no importance

Word 3009: Jackleg

2010-11-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

noun informal
an incompetent, unskillful, or dishonest person

Word 3008: Portière

2010-11-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

noun
a curtain hung over a door or doorway

Word 3007: Conventicle

2010-11-06T10:05:00.002-07:00

noun historical
a secret or unlawful religious meeting, typically of people with nonconformist views

Word 3006: Gymkhana

2010-11-06T10:05:00.001-07:00

noun
a day event comprising races and other competitions between horse riders or car drivers

Word 3005: Ingurgitate

2010-11-06T10:04:00.001-07:00

verb [ trans.] poetic/literary
swallow (something) greedily

Word 3004: Althorn

2010-11-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

noun
a musical instrument of the saxhorn family, esp. the alto or tenor saxhorn in E flat

Word 3003: Factum

2010-11-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

noun ( pl. -tums or -ta) Law chiefly Canadian
a statement of the facts of a case

Word 3002: Demirep

2010-11-06T09:58:00.001-07:00

noun archaic
a woman whose chastity is considered doubtful

Word 3001: Mandamus

2010-11-06T09:57:00.001-07:00

noun Law
a judicial writ issued as a command to an inferior court or ordering a person to perform a public or statutory duty

Word 3000: Aide-de-camp

2010-11-06T09:56:00.001-07:00

noun ( pl. aides-de-camp pronunc. same)
a military officer acting as a confidential assistant to a senior officer

Word 2999: Chela

2010-11-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

noun ( pl. -lae) Zoology
a pincerlike claw, esp. of a crab or other crustacean

Word 2998: Demotic

2010-11-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

adjective
denoting or relating to the kind of language used by ordinary people; popular or colloquial
• relating to or denoting the form of modern Greek used in everyday speech and writing
• relating to or denoting a simplified, cursive form of ancient Egyptian script, dating from c. 650 BC and replaced by Greek in the Ptolemaic period

Word 2997: Plume

2010-11-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

1. [ intrans.] spread out in a shape resembling a feather
• [ trans.] decorate with or as if with feathers
2. ( plume oneself) chiefly archaic (of a bird) preen itself
• figurative feel a great sense of self-satisfaction about something

Word 2996: Forswear

2010-11-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

verb ( past -swore ; past part. -sworn) [ trans.] formal
agree to give up or do without (something)

Word 2995: Vagina dentata

2010-11-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

noun
the motif of a vagina with teeth, occurring in folklore and fantasy and said to symbolize male fears of the dangers of sexual intercourse, esp. of castration

Word 2994: Decrement

2010-11-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

noun
a reduction or diminution
• an amount by which something is reduced or diminished
• Physics the ratio of the amplitudes in successive cycles of a damped oscillation

Word 2993: Solarium

2010-11-06T09:41:00.002-07:00

noun ( pl. -lariums or -laria)
a room fitted with extensive areas of glass to admit sunlight
• a room equipped with sunlamps or tanning beds that can be used to acquire an artificial suntan

Word 2992: Lapsus calami

2010-11-06T09:41:00.001-07:00

noun ( pl. same) formal
a slip of the pen

Word 2991: Dibble

2010-11-06T09:36:00.001-07:00

noun
a pointed hand tool for making holes in the ground for seeds or young plants

Word 2990: Pro rata

2010-11-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

adjective
proportional

Word 2989: Opaline

2010-11-06T09:32:00.002-07:00

adjective
another term for opalescent

Word 2988: Sequacious

2010-11-06T09:32:00.001-07:00

adjective formal
(of a person) lacking independence or originality of thought

Word 2987: Farrow

2010-11-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

noun
a litter of pigs
• an act of giving birth to a litter of pigs

Word 2986: Anomie

2010-11-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

noun
lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group

Word 2985: Deism

2010-11-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

noun
belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind