vocabflex

[vocabflex]

refusal

noun

an act of refusing to do something."he became tired of his friend's refusal to see him" Similar:withholding failure to grant denial veto turn down the thumbs down Opposite:granting

an expression of unwillingness to accept or grant an offer or request."an appeal against the refusal of a licence"Similar:non-acceptance no dissent demurral negation rebuff turn down regret sknock-back brush-off declinature Opposite:acceptance

an instance of a horse stopping short or running aside at a jump."Dollar Girl hit several fences and had a refusal"

[vocabflex]

litigious

adjective

tending or too ready to take legal action to settle disputes."our increasingly litigious society"

concerned with lawsuits or litigation.

suitable to become the subject of a lawsuit.

late Middle English: from Old French litigieux or Latin litigiosus from litigium ‘litigation’, from lis, lit- ‘lawsuit’.

[vocabflex]

consolation

noun

the comfort received by a person after a loss or disappointment."there was consolation in knowing that others were worse off"

a person or thing providing consolation.plural noun: consolations"the Church was the main consolation in a short and hard life"

BRITISH(in sport) a goal scored at a point when it is no longer possible for the scoring team to win.noun: consolation goal; plural noun: consolation goals"two minutes from time Moore grabbed a consolation goal for the losers"

Similar:comfort solace sympathy compassion pity commiseration fellow feeling relief help aid support moral support encouragement reassurance fortification soothing easement succour assuagement alleviation

[vocabflex]

parlance

noun

a particular way of speaking or using words, especially a way common to those with a particular job or interest."dated terms that were once in common parlance"

late 16th century (denoting speech or debate): from Old French, from parler ‘speak’, from Latin parabola ‘comparison’ (in late Latin ‘speech’).

Similar: jargon language phraseology idiom speak talk speech way/manner of speaking vocabulary vernacular tongue idiolect patter

[vocabflex]

fodder

noun

food, especially dried hay or straw, for cattle and other livestock.

verb

give fodder to (cattle or other livestock)."the animals need foddering"

foddering

give fodder to (cattle or other livestock)."the animals need foddering"

Old English fōdor, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch voeder and German Futter, also to food.

[vocabflex]

bucolic

adjective

relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life."the church is lovely for its bucolic setting"

noun

a pastoral poem.

[vocabflex]

amorphous

adjective

without a clearly defined shape or form."an amorphous, characterless conurbation"synonyms:shapeless, formless, unformed, unshaped, structureless, unstructured, indeterminate, indefinite, vague, nebulous"an amorphous grey mass which proved to be mashed potato"

lacking a clear structure or focus."an amorphous and leaderless legislature"

MINERALOGY • CHEMISTRY (of a solid) not crystalline, or not apparently crystalline."an amorphous polymer"

mid 18th century: from modern Latin amorphus, from Greek amorphos ‘shapeless’ (from a- ‘without’ + morphē ‘form’) 

[vocabflex]

frenetic

adjective

fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way."a frenetic pace of activity"

synonyms: frantic, wild, frenzied, hectic, fraught, feverish, fevered, mad, manic, hyperactive, energetic, intense, fast and furious, turbulent, tumultuous, confused, confusing; 

antonyms: calm

Origin late Middle English (in the sense ‘insane’): from Old French frenetique, via Latin from Greek phrenitikos, from phrenitis ‘delirium’, from phrēn ‘mind’

[vocabflex]

phalanx

noun

a body of troops or police officers standing or moving in close formation."six hundred marchers set off, led by a phalanx of police"

a group of people or things of a similar type forming a compact body."he headed past the phalanx of waiting reporters to the line of limos"

(in ancient Greece) a body of Macedonian infantry drawn up in close order with shields touching and long spears overlapping.

ANATOMY a bone of the finger or toe.

[vocabflex]

loquacious

adjective

tending to talk a great deal; talkative."never loquacious, Sarah was now totally lost for words"synonyms:talkative, garrulous, voluble, over-talkative, long-winded, wordy, verbose, profuse, prolix, effusive, gushing, rambling; communicative; chatty, gossipy, gossiping, chattering, chattery, babbling, blathering, gibbering; informal with the gift of the gab, having kissed the blarney stone, yakking, big-mouthed, gabby, gassy, talky; rare multiloquent, multiloquous"he was a loquacious and precocious boy"

[vocabflex]

bitumen

noun

a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation. It is used for road surfacing and roofing.

AUSTRALIAN informal a tarred road surface."a kilometre and a half of bitumen"

late Middle English (denoting naturally occurring asphalt used as mortar): from Latin.

[vocabflex]

antipathy

noun

a deep-seated feeling of aversion."his fundamental antipathy to capitalism"synonyms:hostility, antagonism, animosity, aversion, animus, opposition, enmity, dislike, distaste, ill will, ill feeling, hatred, hate, abhorrence, loathing, repugnance, odium;  antonyms:liking, affinity, rapport

late 16th century (in the sense ‘opposition of feeling, nature, or disposition’): from French antipathie, or via Latin from Greek antipatheia, from antipathēs ‘opposed in feeling’, from anti ‘against’ + pathos ‘feeling’.

[vocabflex]

concomitant

adjective

1.naturally accompanying or associated."she loved travel, with all its concomitant worries"synonyms:attendant, accompanying, associated, collateral, related, connected, linked; 

noun

1.a phenomenon that naturally accompanies or follows something."he sought promotion without the necessary concomitant of hard work"

Originearly 17th century: from late Latin concomitant- ‘accompanying’, from concomitari, from con- ‘together with’ + comitari, from Latin comes ‘companion’.

[vocabflex]

metonymy

noun

the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant, for example suit for business executive, or the turf for horse racing.

mid 16th century: via Latin from Greek metōnumia, literally ‘change of name’.

[vocabflex]

torque

noun

MECHANICS a force that tends to cause rotation."the three-litre engine has lots of torque"

variant spelling of torc.

verb

apply torque or a twisting force to (an object)."he gently torqued the hip joint"

late 19th century: from Latin, torquere

‘to twist’.

torc

noun

a neck ornament consisting of a band of twisted metal, worn especially by the ancient Gauls and Britons.

Origin

mid 19th century: from French

torque, from Latin

torques (see torch).

[vocabflex]

metastable

adjective

PHYSICS 

(of a state of equilibrium) stable provided it is subjected to no more than small disturbances."the amount of supercooling a liquid can accept while remaining in metastable equilibrium is limited"

(of a substance or particle) theoretically unstable but so long-lived as to be stable for practical purposes."the occurrence of metastable olivine and deep earthquakes in subducting lithosphere"

[vocabflex]

soma

noun

BIOLOGY the parts of an organism other than the reproductive cells.

the body as distinct from the soul, mind, or psyche.

late 19th century: from Greek sōma ‘body’.

noun HINDUISM

soma

an intoxicating drink prepared from a plant and used in Vedic ritual, believed to be the drink of the gods.

a plant used to make soma.plural noun: somas; noun: soma plant; plural noun: soma plants

(in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World ) a narcotic drug which produces euphoria and hallucination, distributed by the state in order to promote content and social harmony.

Sanskrit sōma .