My own evolving dictionary has a new update: each time I come across some interesting new words of which I don’t know the meaning, I will list them first in this dictionary. So, as new words crop up, they will appear first and the old words will drop down into the alphabetical list.
I trust this will be as informative for you as it is for me.
Callow – inexperience and immature – a young person. E.g. “I was still of the callow – and fundamentally lazy – youthful opinion that ….”.
Bower – a pleasant and shady place under trees or climbing plants in a garden or wood. E.g. ” … a tiny plot of land that was like a bower.”
Enigmatic – difficult to interpret or understand / mysterious. E.g. ” … with an enigmatic grin as she slipped my ring into her pocket …”
Sanguine – an optimistic or positive view especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.
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Ameliorate – make something better (that which is bad or unsatisfactory).
Assiduity – constant and/or close attention to what one is doing. E.g. “This idea has been flogged in South Africa for many years, more assiduously that anywhere else.”
Banal – not at all exceptional.
Chimeras – something hoped or wished for but is illusory and impossible to attain, a fantasy. E.g. “ Some people chase chimeras and behave in ways that certainly will end in disaster”.
Clandestine – done secretively or kept covert (especially because illicit).
Effrontery – insolent or impertinent behaviour e.g. the student had the effrontery to challenge the lecturer’s decision.
Facile – appears neat and comprehensive but ignores the complexity – superficial.
Fatuous – silly and pointless. E.g. “A fatuous comment.”
Laudable – deserving of praise or commendation.
Meretricious – one who may appear attractive but in reality has no value or integrity – in other words attracts attention in a vulgar or trashy way – this can apply to an object as well.
Obtuse – someone who is being annoyingly insensitive or infuriatingly slow to understand.
Potable – drinkable. E.g. there is no supply of potable water available.
Quotidian – boring or mundane daily happenings. E.g. “It relieves one from having to deal with a hundred quotidian problems or to make many little, unimportant choices.”
Serendipitous – an occurrence that is discovered by chance – always in a happy or beneficial way for all parties.
Verbose – when one uses more words than are necessary to describe something.
In Microsoft Word, use your synonyms option while resting on a particular word to get a list of the dictionary (thesaurus) alternatives.
Try looking at my other blog posts that offer help on academic writing such as hectic hyphens and grammar gremlins.