Genius Words
Terms
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- effluvium
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n.:a vapor which smells bad; a waste
product; the gas given off by decaying material - popinjay
- n.:a vain person who talks a lot
- throttlebottom
- n.:a useless vice president
- grand guignol
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n.:a type of drama that emphasizes the
macabre - spoonerism
-
n.:a transposition of the consonant sounds
in two words, esp. if the resulting words have some sort of comic
effect - quisling
-
n.:a traitor who betrays his own country by helping
an enemy who occupies his country - strappado
-
n.:a torture in which a
person has his hands tied behind his back and is lifted and then dropped
with all the weight on the tied hands - lickspittle
- n.:a toady, sycophant
- soupçon
- n.:a tiny bit, a trace, a hint, a suspicion
- tincture
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n.:a tiny bit of something, a hint v.:to dye; to
infuse with some characteristic - septum
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n.:a thin dividing wall that separates two cavities or
areas of soft tissue in an organism - fustian
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n.:a thick, twilled cloth (e.g. corduroy); pompous
speech or writing; adj.:made of such cloth; pompous - meliorism
-
n.:a theory that holds the world can be
improved with well-directed human action. - occam's razor
-
n.:a theory in science and philosophy
that when presented with two or more theories, the simplest should be
considered the best, and that any new, unknown phenomenon can only be
understood through that which is already understood - solipsism
-
n.:a theory in philosophy
that only the self can be known to exist; extreme focus on the self as
opposed to relationships with others - proclivity
-
n.:a tendency or inclination,
predisposition - donnybrook
- n.:a tempestuous brawl
- deconstruction
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n.:a system of literary criticism
in which a work of art is examined to extract hidden meanings that may
not have been the author's intention - toady
-
n.:a sycophant, one who flatters someone for his own
purposes v.:to fawn or act in a servile manner - tumescence
- n.:a swelling; swelling fullness
- gamin
- n.:a street urchin
- dither
-
n.:a state of nervous indecisiveness; v.:to act with
confusion or indecision - lassitude
-
n.:a state of lethargy, weariness or
listlessness - desuetude
- n.:a state of being unused or abandoned
- picayune
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n.:a Spanish coin worth about six
cents and used in the Southern U.S. in the nineteenth century;
something of the least value adj.:paltry, trivial; petty - dingle
- n.:a small, wooded valley
- bodkin
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n.:a small, but sharply pointed tool for making holes
in leather or fabric; a long hairpin. In England, bodkin is used
figuratively to describe a person squished tightly between two others. - truckle
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n.:a small wheel used to make it easier to move
heavy furniture, a caster v.:to be subservient or servile - boîte
- n.:a small restaurant, a joint
- cockalorum
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n.:a small man with a big opinion of
himself - codex
- n.:a volume in manuscript, esp. an ancient one
- panjandrum (pan JAN druhm)
- n.:a self-important person
- camorra (kuh MAWR ruh
-
n.:a secret Neapolitan society organized in the
1820s similar to the Mafia; any secret group - pedagogue (PED uh gahg)
- n.:a schoolmaster, a teacher of children
- pastiche
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n.:a satirical, dramatic, literary, or musical
piece that imitates, usually deliberately, the works of others with
sardonic intent; a farrago, a hodgepodge from different sources - pasquinade (pas kwuh NAYD)
-
n.:a satire that ridicules a specific person,
traditionally posted in public v.:to ridicule through posting a satire - nabob (NAY bahb)
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n.:a ruler in India during the Mogul Empire; a person
of great wealth or prominence - pantheon (PAN thee ahn)
-
n.:a Roman temple built in 27 B.C. that is
circular and meant to honor all of the gods; all the gods of a people; a
group of people who are considered major contributors to a field - cortege (KAWR tezh)
- n.:a retinue; a group of attendants
- patois (PA twah)
-
n.:a regional dialect of a language that differs from
standard speech; the language used by a particular group; jargon - fusillade (FYOO suh layd)
-
n.:a rapid or simultaneous discharge of many
firearms or a firing squad; by extension, a rapid outburst in quick
succession - riposte (ri POHST)
-
n.:a quick counterthrust given after parrying an
opponent's attack in fencing; a retaliatory action, a quick retort v.:to
make such a retaliatory action - termagant (TUHR muh guhnt)
- n.:a quarrelsome woman, a shrew, a nag
- ziggurat (ZIG uh rat)
-
n.:a pyramid constructed by the ancient Assyrians
and Babylonians - rebus (REE buhs)
-
n.:a puzzle in which pictures or symbols are used to
represent words - paronomasia (par uh noh MAY zyuh)
- n.:a pun or punning
- satrap (SAY trap)
-
n.:a provincial governor in ancient Persia, any
governor of a larger power; one with authority; a henchman - voir dire (vwahr dihr)
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n.:a preliminary questioning process to determine
the suitability of prospective witnesses or jurors - mugwump (MUH gwuhmp)
-
n.:a politician who acts independently or
neutrally; one who can't make up his mind - miasma (mye AZ muh or mee AZ muh)
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n.:a poisonous vapor that was supposed
to rise out of decaying material and cause malaria; any poisonous
atmosphere or influence - threnody (THREH noh dee)
- n.:a poem or song of mourning, a dirge
- phenomenology (fi nawm uh NAWL oh jee)
-
n.:a philosophical theory based
on the idea that phenomena should only be experienced subjectively
through intuition, that any attempt at rational analysis of facts can get in
the way of understanding - dasein (DAH zyen)
- n.:a philosophical term for existence or being
- epistemology (uh PIS tuh muh law jee)
-
n.:a philosophic study of the
origin, nature and methods of knowledge, esp. concerned with limits and
validity - cassandra (kuh SAN druh)
-
n.:a person whose predictions or prophecies go
unheeded - vassal (VA suhl)
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n.:a person who in return for his obedience, took care
of the land of and received protection from a feudal lord; a slave; a
subordinate - arriviste (a ree VEEST or A ree veest)
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n.:a person who has achieved a
high position through unscrupulous means; one who seeks such a position;
a social climber - cenobite (SEN uh byet)
-
n.:a person who belongs to a convent (also
coenobite) - groak (GROHK)
-
n.:a person or animal that hangs around watching hopefully
for some food - absinthe (AB sinth or AB suhnth)
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n.:a perennial herb called Wormwood
(Artemisia absinthium) found in Europe; a green liquor, with a high
percentage of alcohol - penumbra (pi NUHM bruh)
-
n.:a partially shaded area in an eclipse
(usually) between full sun and full shade; an area where something exists in
an uncertain degree, fringe - amicus curiae
- n.:a non-involved participant in a court case
- recusant
-
n.:a non-conformist; used in English history to
refer to a Catholic who would not worship in the Church of England
adj.:refusing to conform or submit to authority; refusing to attend the
Church of England - borborygmus (bawr buh RIG muhs)
-
n.:a noise made by one's stomach when
gas moves through the intestine