This week’s word: “Sagacious”
Pronunciation: sa·ga·cious, suh-gey-shuh s
Part of speech: adjective
Definitions:
1. Having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd: a sagacious lawyer.
2. Obsolete. keen of scent.
3. Having or showing sound judgment, and farsightedness.
4. Skillful in statecraft or management; "an astute and sagacious statesman"
5. Acutely insightful and wise; "much too perspicacious to be taken in by such a spurious argument"; "observant and thoughtful, he was given to asking sagacious questions"; "a source of valuable insights and sapient advice to educators" [syn: perspicacious]
Related forms:
sagaciously, adverb
sagaciousness, noun
Synonyms: wise, sage, discerning, clever, intelligent, judicious, acute, sharp, keen, perspicacious.
Antonym: unwise.
Etymology of sagacious: From Latin sagāx, sagāc-, of keen perception; see sāg- in Indo-European roots.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Showing posts with label Monday's Word to the Wise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monday's Word to the Wise. Show all posts
Monday, October 8, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Felicity
This Week’s Word: “Felicity”
Pronunciation: fe·lic·i·ty, fi-lis-it-tee
Part of speech: Noun
Plural: -ties
Definitions:
1. the state of being happy, esp. in a high degree; bliss: marital felicity.
2. a source of happiness.
3. a skillful faculty: felicity of expression.
4. an instance or display of this: the many felicities of the poem.
5. Archaic. good fortune.
“Felicity” and its Synonyms:
HAPPINESS, BLISS, CONTENTMENT, FELICITY imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction. Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good: the happiness of visiting one's family. Bliss is unalloyed happiness or supreme delight: the bliss of perfect companionship. Contentment is a peaceful kind of happiness in which one rests without desires, even though every wish may not have been gratified: contentment in one's surroundings. Felicity is a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind: to wish a young couple felicity in life.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Etymology of “Felicity”:
c.1385, from O.Fr. felicite, from L. felicitatem (nom. felicitas) "happiness," from felix (gen. felicis) "happy, fortunate," from L. base *fe-, equivalent of PIE *dhe(i)- "to suck, suckle, produce, yield"
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=felicity
A Fun Quote (and book recommendation):
“Confession: I have read Pride and Prejudice about 200 times. I get lost in the language–words like thither, mischance, felicity. I’m always in agony over whether Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are really going to get together. Read it – I know you’ll love it.”
-Kathleen Kelly to Joe Fox, from the movie You’ve Got Mail (This can also be considered a movie recommendation).
Pronunciation: fe·lic·i·ty, fi-lis-it-tee
Part of speech: Noun
Plural: -ties
Definitions:
1. the state of being happy, esp. in a high degree; bliss: marital felicity.
2. a source of happiness.
3. a skillful faculty: felicity of expression.
4. an instance or display of this: the many felicities of the poem.
5. Archaic. good fortune.
“Felicity” and its Synonyms:
HAPPINESS, BLISS, CONTENTMENT, FELICITY imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction. Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good: the happiness of visiting one's family. Bliss is unalloyed happiness or supreme delight: the bliss of perfect companionship. Contentment is a peaceful kind of happiness in which one rests without desires, even though every wish may not have been gratified: contentment in one's surroundings. Felicity is a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind: to wish a young couple felicity in life.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Etymology of “Felicity”:
c.1385, from O.Fr. felicite, from L. felicitatem (nom. felicitas) "happiness," from felix (gen. felicis) "happy, fortunate," from L. base *fe-, equivalent of PIE *dhe(i)- "to suck, suckle, produce, yield"
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=felicity
A Fun Quote (and book recommendation):
“Confession: I have read Pride and Prejudice about 200 times. I get lost in the language–words like thither, mischance, felicity. I’m always in agony over whether Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are really going to get together. Read it – I know you’ll love it.”
-Kathleen Kelly to Joe Fox, from the movie You’ve Got Mail (This can also be considered a movie recommendation).
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Monday's Word to the Wise, An Introduction
"$5 words," as they are sometimes called, are words that are really useful if one wants to present an air of pretense. Honestly, I don't think it is a very good idea to use big fancy words in an attempt to appear smart. If that is what you are playing at it will quickly become obvious and people will probably begin to assume that you are just depending on a thesaurus and aren't, in fact, very intelligent at all. That said I have found that cultivating one's vocabulary can be very helpful in finding the best word to convey what one actually means. With this in mind I will attempt to offer a word blog each week. Because I love words so much and want to do them justice this blog will not just consist of a big word and a generic definition, you can get that off of Joey Tribiani's word a day toilet paper! No, this blog will also include etymology, synonyms and perhaps a clever quote in which the word is used if I can find one. I intend to be fully entertained by this blog segment and I hope that anyone else who reads it and, undoubtedly, recognizes it for the horrendously cheesy segment that it is will choose to kindly and patiently indulge my cheesiness. Look for my first word blog on Monday!
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