Charles Harrington Elster - Verbal Advantage (Disc 12)

preclude pri klood

verb [ with obj. ] prevent from happening; make impossible: the secret nature of his work precluded official recognition. (preclude someone from) (of a situation or condition) prevent someone from doing something: his difficulties preclude him from leading a normal life.Castigate.

preclude
verb his difficulties preclude him from leading a normal life: prevent, make it impossible for, rule out, stop, prohibit, debar, bar, hinder, impede, inhibit, exclude.

colloquial |k lkwl|
adjective (of language) used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary.

colloquial
adjective she just loved the colloquial expressions of her Southern inlaws: informal, conversational, everyday, nonliterary; unofficial, idiomatic, slangy, vernacular, popular, demotic. ANTONYMS formal.

obfuscate

bfskt verb [ with obj. ]

render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible: the spelling changes will deform some familiar words and obfuscate their etymological origins. bewilder (someone): it is more likely to obfuscate people than enlighten them.

obfuscate
verb 1 mere rationalizations to obfuscate rather than clarify the real issue: obscure, confuse, make unclear, blur, muddle, complicate, muddy, cloud, befog. ANTONYMS clarify. 2 her work became more and more obfuscated by mathematics and jargon: bewilder, mystify, puzzle, perplex, confuse, baffle, confound, bemuse, befuddle, nonplus; informal flummox.

facile

fasl|

adjective 1 (esp. of a theory or argument) appearing neat and comprehensive only by ignoring the true complexities of an issue; superficial. (of a person) having a superficial or simplistic knowledge or approach: a man of facile and shallow intellect. 2 (of success, esp. in sports) easily achieved; effortless: a facile victory. acting or done in a quick, fluent, and easy manner: he was revealed to be a facile liar.

facile
adjective 1 a facile explanation: simplistic, superficial, oversimplified; shallow, glib, jejune, naive; dime-store. 2 he achieved a facile victory: effortless, easy, undemanding, unexacting, painless, trouble-free.

convivial |kn vivl, kn vivyl|

adjective (of an atmosphere or event) friendly, lively, and enjoyable. (of a person) cheerful and friendly; jovial.

convivial
adjective our convivial host: friendly, genial, affable, amiable, congenial, agreeable, good-humored, cordial, warm, sociable, outgoing, gregarious, companionable, clubby, hail-fellow-wellmet, cheerful, jolly, jovial, lively; enjoyable, festive.

eschew es

oo

verb [ with obj. ] deliberately avoid using; abstain from: he appealed to the crowd to eschew violence.

eschew
verb he firmly eschewed political involvement: abstain from, refrain from, give up, forgo, shun, renounce, steer clear of, have nothing to do with, fight shy of; relinquish, reject, disavow, abandon, spurn, wash one's hands of, drop; informal kick, pack in; formal forswear, abjure.

prodigious |pr dijs|

adjective 1 remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree: the stove consumed a prodigious amount of fuel. 2 archaic unnatural or abnormal: rumors of prodigious happenings, such as monstrous births.

prodigious
adjective prodigious quantities of food: enormous, huge, colossal,

immense, vast, great, massive, gigantic, mammoth, tremendous, inordinate, monumental; amazing, astonishing, astounding, staggering, stunning, remarkable, phenomenal, terrific, miraculous, impressive, striking, startling, sensational, spectacular, extraordinary, exceptional, breathtaking, incredible; informal humongous, stupendous, fantastic, fabulous, mega, awesome, ginormous; literary wondrous. ANTONYMS small, unexceptional.

idiosyncrasy id siNGkrs
noun ( pl. idiosyncrasies ) (usu. idiosyncrasies) a mode of behavior or way of thought peculiar to an individual: one of his little idiosyncrasies was always preferring to be in the car first. a distinctive or peculiar feature or characteristic of a place or thing: the idiosyncrasies of the prison system. Medicine an abnormal physical reaction by an individual to a food or drug.Approbation

idiosyncrasy
noun traveling with her own fruitcake is one of the queen's idiosyncrasies | Fenway's Green Monster is perhaps the most recognizable ballpark idiosyncrasy: peculiarity, oddity, eccentricity, mannerism, trait, singularity, quirk, tic, whim, vagary, caprice, kink; fetish, foible, crotchet, habit, characteristic; individuality; unorthodoxy, unconventionality.

approbation apr bS approbation

noun

n|

noun formal approval or praise: the opera met with high approbation.

at age 45, he was still seeking his parents' approbation: approval, acceptance, endorsement, appreciation, respect, admiration, commendation, praise, congratulations, acclaim, esteem, applause; consent; rare laudation.

Pagan: noun
a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions. dated, derogatory a non-Christian. an adherent of neopaganism. adjective of or relating to such people or beliefs: a pagan god.
DERIVATIVES

paganish adjective, paganism |-nizm|noun, paganize |-nz verb ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin paganus villager, rustic, from pagus country district.Latin paganus also meant civilian, becoming, in Christian Latin, heathen (i.e., one not enrolled in the army of Christ).

Pagan |p gn|
ruins in Burma (Myanmar), located on the Irrawaddy River southeast of Mandalay. It is the site of an ancient city that was the capital of a powerful Buddhist dynasty from the 11th to the 13th centuries. noun Pagans worshiped the sun: heathen, infidel, idolater, idolatress; archaic paynim. adjective the pagan festival: heathen, ungodly, irreligious, infidel, idolatrous.

Mischief:

mischief

mis

if

noun playful misbehavior or troublemaking, esp. in children: she'll make sure Danny doesn't get into mischief . playfulness that is intended to tease, mock, or create trouble: her eyes twinkled with irrepressible mischief. harm or trouble caused by someone or something: she was bent on making mischief . archaic a person responsible for harm or annoyance. ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting misfortune or distress): from Old French meschief, from the verb meschever, from mesadversely + chever come to an end (from chef head).

mischief
noun 1 the boys are always getting into mischief: naughtiness, bad behavior, misbehavior, mischievousness, misconduct, disobedience; pranks, tricks, capers, nonsense, devilry, funny business; informal monkey business, shenanigans, carryings-on. 2 the mischief in her eyes: impishness, roguishness, devilment.

defile
verb 1 her capacity for love had been defiled: spoil, sully, mar, impair, debase, degrade; poison, taint, tarnish; destroy, ruin. ANTONYMS purify. 2 the sacred bones were defiled: desecrate, profane, violate; contaminate, pollute, debase, degrade, dishonor. ANTONYMS sanctify. 3 archaic she was defiled by a married man: rape, violate; literary ravish; dated deflower.
Myriad

pernicious |pr niS

adjective

s|

having a harmful effect, esp. in a gradual or subtle way: the pernicious influences of the mass media.
DERIVATIVES

perniciously adverb, perniciousness noun

pernicious
adjective a pernicious influence on society: harmful, damaging, destructive, injurious, hurtful, detrimental, deleterious, dangerous, adverse, inimical, unhealthy, unfavorable, bad, evil, baleful, wicked, malign, malevolent, malignant, noxious, poisonous, corrupting; literary maleficent. ANTONYMS beneficial

sentiment

sen(t)mnt|

noun 1 a view of or attitude toward a situation or event; an opinion: I agree with your sentiments regarding the road bridge. general feeling or opinion: the council sought steps to control the rise of racist sentiment. archaic the expression of a view or desire esp. as formulated for a toast. 2 a feeling or emotion: an intense sentiment of horror. exaggerated and self-indulgent feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia: many of the appeals rely on treacly sentiment.

sentiment
noun 1 the comments echo my own sentiments: view, feeling, attitude, thought, opinion, belief. 2 there's no room for sentiment in this sport: sentimentality, sentimentalism, mawkishness, emotionalism; emotion,

sensibility, soft-heartedness, tenderheartedness; informal schmaltz, mush, slushiness, corniness, soppiness, sappiness.

impulse

impls|

noun 1 a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act: I had an almost irresistible impulse to giggle. the tendency to act in this way: he was a man of impulse, not premeditation. 2 a driving or motivating force; an impetus: an added impulse to this process of renewal. 3 a pulse of electrical energy; a brief current: nerve impulses | a spiral is used to convert radio waves into electrical impulses. 4 Physics a force acting briefly on a body and producing a finite change of momentum. a change of momentum so produced, equivalent to the average value of the force multiplied by the time during which it acts.

Impulse noun
1 she had an impulse to run and hide: urge, instinct, drive, compulsion, itch; whim, desire, fancy, notion, inclination, temptation. 2 passions provide the main impulse of poetry: inspiration, stimulation, stimulus, incitement, motivation, encouragement, incentive, spur, catalyst, impetus, thrust. 3 impulses from the spinal cord to the muscles: pulse, current, wave, signal.

coercion k rZHn, -SHn|

noun

the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats: it wasn't slavery because no coercion was used.

Coercion noun
Johnson claims the police used coercion to extract a confession: force, compulsion, constraint, duress, oppression, enforcement, harassment, intimidation, threats, arm-twisting, pressure.

peril

perl|

noun serious and immediate danger: his family was in peril | a setback to the state could present a peril to the regime. (perils) the dangers or difficulties that arise from a particular situation or activity: she first witnessed the perils of pop stardom a decade ago.

peril
noun a situation fraught with peril: danger, jeopardy, risk, hazard, insecurity, uncertainty, menace, threat, perilousness; pitfall, problem.

consensual |kn sen

ool|

adjective relating to or involving consent, esp. mutual consent: he admitted to having consensual sex with two women. relating to or involving consensus: decision-making was consensual.

attire | t()r|
noun clothes, esp. fine or formal ones: holiday attire.

attire
noun Thomas preferred formal attire: clothing, clothes, garments, dress, wear, outfits, garb, costume; informal gear, duds, getup, threads; formal apparel; archaic raiment, habiliments. Verb she was attired in black crepe: dress, dress up, clothe, garb, robe, array, costume, swathe, deck, deck out, turn out, fit out, trick out; archaic apparel, invest, habit.

amenity | menit, m-|

noun ( pl. amenities ) (usu. amenities) a desirable or useful feature or facility of a building or place: heating is regarded as a basic amenity. the pleasantness of a place or a person: the exertion of amenity toward the boss.

amenity
noun basic amenities: facility, service, convenience, resource, appliance, aid, comfort, benefit, feature, advantage.

Mingle:

mingle

miNGgl|

verb mix or cause to mix together: [ no obj. ] : the sound of voices mingled with a scraping of chairs | [ with obj. ] : an expression that mingled compassion and bewilderment. [ no obj. ] move freely around a place or at a social function, associating with others: over aperitifs, there was a chance to

mingle with friends old and new. ORIGIN late Middle English: frequentative of obsolete meng mix or blend (related to among), perhaps influenced by Middle Dutch mengelen .

Mingle verb
1 fact and fiction are skillfully mingled in his novels: mix, blend, intermingle, intermix, interweave, interlace, combine, merge, fuse, unite, join, amalgamate, meld, mesh; literary commingle. ANTONYMS separate, be separated. 2 wedding guests mingled in the lobby: socialize, circulate, fraternize, get together, associate with others; informal hobnob, rub elbows. ANTONYMS separate, part.

cistern

sistrn|

noun a tank for storing water, esp. one supplying taps or as part of a flushing toilet. an underground reservoir for rainwater. ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French cisterne, from Latin cisterna, from cista box.

cistern
noun a cistern of rainwater: tank, reservoir, container, butt.