The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate (4 page)

Related words:
analogize
(
e
-NAL-
e
-
J
I
Z
)
verb
;
analog
(AN-
e
-
LOG
),
analogue, analogism
(
e
-NAL-
e
JIZ
-
e
m),
analogist
(
e
-NAL-
e
-jist), and
analogousness
(
e
-NAL-
e
-g
e
s-nis)
all nouns
;
analogous
adjective
,
analogously
adverb
.

Ananias
(
AN
-
e
-N
I
-
e
s)
noun

1. a habitual liar.

2. in the New Testament the man who “with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price” (that is, did not give all of the proceeds to the community's common fund) and was struck dead for this act.

anaphrodisiac
(an-
AF
-r
e
-DEE-zee-
AK
)
noun

a drug that reduces sexual desire.

Related words:
anaphrodisia
(an-
AF
-r
e
-DEE-zh
e
)
noun
,
anaphrodisiac
(an-
AF
-r
e
-DEE-zee-
AK
)
adjective
.

anchorite
(ANG-k
e
-
R
I
T
)
noun

a hermit or recluse, especially a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.

ancilla
(an-SIL-
e
)
noun, plural
ancillas

an accessory or adjunct.

ancillary
(AN-s
e
-
LER
-ee)
adjective

1. subsidiary, subordinate, subservient.

2. (
noun
) an ancilla.

3. something that serves in an ancillary capacity.

androgynous
(an-DROJ-
e
-n
e
s)
adjective

1. hermaphroditic.

2. exhibiting both masculine and feminine characteristics.

3. neither clearly masculine nor clearly feminine.

Related word:
androgyny
(an-DROJ-
e
-nee)
noun
.

anile
(AN-
I
l)
adjective

1. like a doddering, foolish old woman.

2. imbecilic.

Related word:
anility
(
e
-NIL-i-tee)
noun
.

animadversion
(
AN
-
e
-mad-VUR-zh
e
n)
noun

1. the act of criticizing or censuring.

2. blame, censure, reproof.

Related words:
animdaversional
adjective
,
animadvert
(
AN
-
e
-mad-VURT)
verb
.

animus
(AN-
e
-m
e
s)
noun

1. strong dislike or enmity; hostility.

2. animating spirit, purpose.

3. animosity shown in action or speech.

anomalous
(
e
-NOM-
e
-l
e
s)
adjective

1. irregular.

2. abnormal.

3. not fitting into a familiar pattern of behavior; unusual.

Related word:
anomaly
(
e
-NOM-
e
-lee) and
anomalousness
both nouns
.

anorexia nervosa
(
AN
-
e
-REK-see-
e
nur-VOH-s
e
)

a symptom of emotional disturbance characterized by pathological fear of becoming fat and leading to excessive dieting.

See
bulimia
.

anserine
(AN-s
e
-
R
I
N
)
adjective
, also given as
anserous
(AN-s
e
-r
e
s)

1. gooselike.

2. silly, foolish; stupid.

antediluvian
(
AN
-tee-di-LOO-vee-
e
n)
adjective

old-fashioned, utterly out of date; belonging to the period before the Flood.

antepenultimate
(
AN
-tee-pi-NUL-t
e
-mit)
adjective

last but two; third from the end, especially said of a syllable.

Related word:
antepenult
(
AN
-tee-PEE-nult)
noun
.

anteprandial
(
AN
-tee-PRAN-dee-
e
l)
adjective
, also given as
preprandial
(pree-PRAN-dee-
e
l)

before a meal.

anthropomorphism
(
AN
-thr
e
-p
e
-MOR-fiz-
e
m)
noun

an attribution of human form or personality to God, an animal, etc.

Related words:
anthropomorphic
adjective
,
anthropomorphize
verb
,
anthropomorphosis
(
AN
-thr
e
-p
e
-MOR-f
e
-sis)
noun
.

anthropophagy
(
AN
-thr
e
-POF-
e
-jee)
noun

the eating of human flesh; cannibalism.

Related words:
anthropophagite
(
AN
-thr
e
-POF-
e
-
J
I
T
)
noun
;
anthropophagic
(
AN
-thr
e
-p
e
-FAJ-ik),
anthropophagical
, and
anthropophagous
(
AN
-thr
e
-POF-
e
-g
e
s)
all adjectives
;
anthropophagously
adverb
.

antipathy
(an-TIP-
e
-thee)
noun, plural
antipathies

a natural or habitual aversion.

Related words:
antipathetic
(
AN
-ti-p
e
-THET-ik)
adjective
,
antipathetically
adverb
,
antipatheticalness
and
antipathist
(an-TIP-
e
-thist)
both nouns
.

antonomasia
(
AN
-t
e
-n
e
-MAY-zh
e
)
noun

1. use of an epithet or other name in place of a proper name.

2. use of a proper name out of its original application.

Related words:
antonomastic
(
AN
-t
e
-noh-MAS-tik) and
antonomastical
both adjectives
,
antonomastically
adverb
.

anxious
(ANGK-sh
e
s)
adjective

troubled, uneasy in mind; greatly worried.

Many dictionaries give
eager
as one of the meanings of
anxious
, therefore implicitly advising that the two adjectives may be used interchangeably. There is, however, good reason for keeping the two words separate, thus maintaining for
anxious
exclusive rights to
troubled, uneasy in mind
etc., while giving full privileges to
eager
in the sense of
extremely desirous
. The mingling of the two words may stem from the fact that, in sentence after sentence, a narrow difference in meaning may separate them. Think about it. Are we always sure that in a construction such as “We are anxious to see the matter settled,” the state of mind of the person saying this may be construed either as
eager
or as
uneasy in mind
? Well, that depends, doesn't it? Yet, when we say we are
eager
, no reader would misconstrue the thought as expressing
anxiety
. To avoid conveying the wrong impression in your own speech and writing, therefore, choose between the two words deliberately and consistently. Remember that a home-owner who is
eager
to sell the family home may be
anxious
that potential buyers will notice the unmistakable evidence of a basement that floods after every heavy rain.

Related words:
anxiety
(ang-Z
I
-i-tee) and
anxiousness
both nouns
,
anxiously
adverb
.

apiarist
(AY-pee-
e
-rist)
noun