flippant

flippant (comparative more flippant, superlative most flippant)

more flippant (comparative)
most flippant (superlative)

1595, from Northern English dialectal flippand (“prattling, babbling, glib”), present participle of flip (“to babble”), of North Germanic origin. Cognate with Icelandic fleipa (“to babble, prattle”), Swedish dialectal flepa (“to talk nonsense”). Alteration of -and suffix (a variant of the participial -ing) to -ant probably due to influence from words in -ant.

a sort of flippant, vain discourse

1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:

The conversations had grown more adult over the years—she was less flippant, at least.

1998, Sylvia Brownrigg, The Metaphysical Touch:

In the mid-1950s we both wrote for the same weekly, where her contributions were a good deal more serious and less flippant than mine.

2000, Anthony Howard, Jason Cowley, Decline and Fall, New Statesman, March 13, 2000:

Our society treats smoking flippantly as a slightly distasteful habit that can injure your health. It is not. It is drug addiction.

2004, Allen Carr, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, page 147:

Showing disrespect through a casual attitude, levity, and a lack of due seriousness; pert.


supine

en-adj

supine (comparative more supine, superlative most supine)

more supine (comparative)
most supine (superlative)

The adjective is borrowed from Latin supīnus, from *sup- (see sub (“under”)) + -īnus (“of, pertaining to”). The word is cognate with Catalan supí, Italian supino, Old French sovin, Middle French souvin, Anglo-Norman supin, Old Occitan sobin, sopin, Portuguese supino, Spanish supino. Partly displaced Old English upweard (“upward, supine”), whence Modern English upward.
The noun is from Late Middle English supin (“supine of a Latin verb”) or Middle French supin (“(grammar) supine”), from Latin supīnum, (ellipsis of supīnum verbum (“supine verb”)), from supīnus; further etymology above.

der

Data, in part previously reported by this laboratory (2, 9), on the effects of mannitol loads in supine subjects, and of saline infusions in both supine and standing subjects, have also been used in the construction of Table III and Figures 1 and 2.

1973 January 26, Paul C. Walter, Jon E. Villaume, Thomas J. Taylor, Phosphates: A Monograph (GRAS Monograph Series; nos. 86–88), [Philadelphia, Pa.?]: Franklin Institute Research Laboratories, →OCLC, page 16:

Posterior displacement of the sternum can produce a deformity of the heart, particularly anterior indentation of the right ventricle. [...] The physical work capacity in pectus excavatum at a given heart rate was significantly lower in the sitting than the supine position.

2009, Robert C. Shamberger, “Chest Wall Deformities”, in Thomas W. Shields, Joseph LoCicero III, Carolyn E. Reed, Richard H. Feins, editors, General Thoracic Surgery, 7th edition, volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Wolters Kluwer, →ISBN, part A (The Lung, Pleura, Diaphragm, and Chest Wall), section IX (The Chest Wall), page 603, column 1:

[W]hen Man was fallen, and had abandoned his primitive Innocence, [...] he became puſillanimous, and was eaſily ruffled with every little Paſſion within: ſupine, and as openly expoſed to any Temptation or Aſſault from without.

1695, John Woodward, “Part II. Concerning the Universal Deluge. That These Marine Bodies were then Left at Land. The Effects It Had upon the Earth.”, in An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth: […], London: Printed for Ric[hard] Wilkin […], →OCLC, pages 85–86:

The Academics talk always of Doubts and ſuſpense of Judgment, of Danger in haſty Determinations, of confining to the very narrow Bounds the Enquiries of the Understanding, and of renouncing all Speculations that lie not within the Limits of common Life and Practice. Nothing, therefore, can be more contrary than ſuch a Philoſophy to the ſupine Indolence of the Mind, its raſh Arrogance, its lofty Pretenſions, and its ſuperſtitious Credulity.

1748, [David Hume], “Essay V. Sceptical Solution of These Doubts.”, in Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, part I, page 70:

In times of inſurrection or invaſion it would be natural and proper that the militia of a neighbouring ſtate ſhould be marched into another to reſiſt a common enemy or to guard the republic againſt the violences of faction or ſedition. [...] If the power of affording it be placed under the direction of the Union, there will be no danger of a ſupine and liſtleſs inattention to the dangers of a neighbour, till its near approach had ſuperadded the incitements of ſelf preſervation to the too feeble impulſes of duty and ſympathy.

1788, Publius [pseudonym; Alexander Hamilton], “Number XXIX. Concerning the Militia.”, in The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, […] , volume I, New York, N.Y.: […] J. and A. M‘Lean, […], →OCLC, page 184:

In A v. UK, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that Part 4 of the 2001 Act [the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001] was not a strictly necessary response to the acknowledged emergency evidenced by the attacks in the USA and that the detention of the applicants was in breach of Article 5 [of the European Convention on Human Rights]. This conclusion is noteworthy given that the European Court has in the past adopted a deferential if not supine approach when assessing the legality of derogations under Article 15.

2009 July, Mark Elliott, “Torture, Deportation and Extra-judicial Detention: Instruments of the ‘War on Terror’”, in Cambridge Law Journal, volume 68, number 2, →DOI, pages 245 at 245–246:

A single slice of this could leave you supine in front of the Queen's speech without even the wherewithal to reach for the remote control.

2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2018-01-02:

While they ultimately came to the same conclusion, the pre-emptive tweet made it harder to rebut the court's judgment that they were “supine servants of an overweening master”.

2024 May 18, Tabby Kinder, Stephen Morris, “Tesla chair on Musk: ‘I might wake up to a tweet. I don't wake up to a strategy shift’”, in FT Weekend, page 15:

(figuratively) Reluctant to take action due to indifference or moral weakness; apathetic or passive towards something.


supine

The three conjugations are distinguished principally by the ending of the supine. In the first conjugation the supine ends in at, as: tala speak talat spoken. In the second conjugation the supine ends in t after a consonant, as: köpa buy köpt bought. In the third conjugation the supine ends in it, as: taga take tagit taken.

[1849], A[lfred] May, “Etymology”, in A Practical Grammar of the Swedish Language, with Reading- and Writing-exercises, Stockholm: A. Bonnier, →OCLC, page 42:

There are two non-finite forms in Swedish, the infinitive and the supine. […] The supine has two basic allomorphs: -t (weak verbs) and -it (strong verbs). […] The supine verb phrase serves as complement of the perfect auxiliary ha 'have' (hon hade bundit honom) which can be deleted, though, in subordinate clauses (eftersom hon [hade] bundit honom 'since she had bound him'). (The supine has existed as a morphologically distinct category in standard Swedish language at least since the 19th c.; cf. art. 155.)

2005, Ulf Teleman, “The Standard Languages and Their Systems in the 20th Century IV: Swedish”, in Herbert Ernst Wiegand, editor, The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages (Händbucher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 22.2), volume 2, Berlin, New York, N.Y.: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, part XVI (The Nordic Languages in the 20th Century), pages 1613–1614:

(grammar, also attributively) In Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic and Old Norse: a verb form that combines with an inflection of ha/hafa/hava to form the present perfect and pluperfect tenses.

(grammar, also attributively) (obsolete terminology) The 'to'-prefixed infinitive in English or other Germanic languages, so named because the infinitive was regarded as a verbal noun and the 'to'-prefixed form of it was seen as the dative form of the verbal noun; the full infinitive.


suave

en-adj

suave (comparative suaver, superlative suavest)

suaver (comparative)
suavest (superlative)

From Middle English suave, borrowed from Latin suāvis (“sweet, pleasant”); doublet of sweet.

a man with a suave demeanor


suave

→ Romanian: suav

Inherited from Middle French suave, borrowed from Latin suāvis (“sweet, pleasant”), replacing the inherited form souef (in use until the 17th century), from Old French soef, suef (“sweet, mild, agreeable, tranquil, peaceful”), descendants of which live on in other Oïl languages.

(especially of persons and their speech) smooth and graceful, polite, polished, suave


well-bred

well-bred (comparative better-bred or more well-bred, superlative best-bred or most well-bred)

better-bred (comparative)
more well-bred (comparative)
best-bred (superlative)
most well-bred (superlative)

Ideally you should relax—though well-bred English people do no feel entirely at ease in a room full of naked strangers beating one another.

1986, Marc Polonsky, Russell Taylor, USSR, From an Original Idea by Karl Marx, Faber and Faber, →ISBN:

(by extension) Well-mannered and refined because of a good upbringing and education.


well-mannered

well-mannered (comparative better-mannered or more well-mannered, superlative best-mannered or most well-mannered)

better-mannered (comparative)
more well-mannered (comparative)
best-mannered (superlative)
most well-mannered (superlative)

Compare Middle English wel ymanerede, wel y-manerit.

A well-mannered gentleman always allows others first.

Having good manners; polite, courteous, and socially correct; conforming to standards of good behaviour.


pretentious

pretentious (comparative more pretentious, superlative most pretentious)

more pretentious (comparative)
most pretentious (superlative)

From French prétentieux, from prétention, from Latin praetēnsus (“false or hypocritical profession”), past participle of praetendō.
Note that pretentious is spelled with a ‘t’, unlike related pretense, pretension. This is due to the French spelling: *-sious does not occur as an English suffix, though -sion and -tion both do.

prætentious

pedantic or (esp. self-referentially) humorous

Her dress was obviously more pretentious than comfortable.

I recall the height of comfort attained by the green-cushioned "first" with starched white antimacassars and a pretentious grey floor mat on which it seemed a sacrilege to stand, as it was embellished with the North Western conception of Britannia, complete with trident.

1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, pages 703-704:

Motivated by an inappropriate, excessive, or unjustified desire to impress others.


witty

en-adj

witty (comparative wittier, superlative wittiest)

wittier (comparative)
wittiest (superlative)

From Middle English witty, witti, from Old English wittiġ, witiġ, ġewittiġ (“clever, wise”), from Proto-West Germanic *witīg, *witag, from Proto-Germanic *witagaz, *wītagaz (“knowing, wise, clever”), equivalent to wit + -y. Cognate with Middle Low German wittich, gewittich (“knowing, clever, wise, understanding”), German witzig (“funny, witty”), Norwegian Bokmål vettig, Norwegian Nynorsk vittig (“witty”).

It hath beene a witty invention[…]to establish and ordaine certaine vaine and worthles markes, therewith to honor and recompence vertue[…].

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 7, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

(archaic) Possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity; intelligent, skilful, ingenious.

սրամիտ

possessing a strong intellect or intellectual capacity

His speech was both witty and informative.

She may have grown older, but she has grown no less witty.

Quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits.

съобразителен

quick of mind; insightful; in possession of wits


droll

droll (comparative droller, superlative drollest)

droller (comparative)
drollest (superlative)

From French drôle (“comical, odd, funny”), from drôle (“buffoon”) from Middle French drolle (“a merry fellow, pleasant rascal”) from Old French drolle (“one who lives luxuriously”), from Middle Dutch drol (“fat little man, goblin”), itself from Old Norse troll, from Proto-Germanic *truzlą. Doublet of drôle.

der

Oddly humorous; whimsical, amusing in a quaint way; waggish.


piquant

en-adj

piquant (comparative more piquant, superlative most piquant)

more piquant (comparative)
most piquant (superlative)

Borrowed from Middle French piquant (“pricking, stimulating, irritating”), present participle of piquer, possibly from Old French pikier (“to prick, sting, nettle”). Doublet of picong. Related to pike.

der

Their husbands […] leave home to seek for more agreeable, may I be allowed to use a significant French word, piquant society […]

1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC:

He looked after her as she retreated, with a fondness which was rendered more piquant, as it were, by the mixture of a certain scorn which accompanied it.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 55, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

Stimulating to the senses; engaging; charming.


piquant

fr-adj

piquant (feminine piquante, masculine plural piquants, feminine plural piquantes)

piquante (feminine)
piquants (masculine plural)
piquantes (feminine plural)


jealous

en-adj

jealous (comparative jealouser or more jealous, superlative jealousest or most jealous)

jealouser (comparative)
more jealous (comparative)
jealousest (superlative)
most jealous (superlative)

First attested in 1382. From Middle English jelous, gelous, gelus, from Old French jalous, from Late Latin zelosus, from Ancient Greek ζῆλος (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”). Doublet of zealous.

der

She stopped, and laid her hand upon his golden head, and then bent down and kissed his brow with a chastened abandonment of tenderness that would have been beautiful to behold had not the sight cut me to the heart - for I was jealous!

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover's or spouse's fidelity.

zili

suspecting rivalry in love; fearful of being replaced, in position or in affection


bumptious

en-adj

bumptious (comparative more bumptious, superlative most bumptious)

more bumptious (comparative)
most bumptious (superlative)

Probably from bump, on the pattern of words like fractious or presumptious.

1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), chapter II (The Science of Deduction), page 14:

From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

She could stand it no longer. It was full of prying old women, she said, who stared in one's face, and of bumptious young men who trod on one's toes.

1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography, London: The Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished as Orlando: A Biography (eBook no. 0200331h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, July 2015:

No doubt of it, Edmund was at grips with that bumptious little hairy dog. They were going it at the very top note of sadistic fury, screaming and snip-snapping in such a lightning mixture of black and white murder that the eye could not follow it.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 140:

(UK) Obtrusively pushy; self-assertive to a pretentious extreme.


malevolent

malevolent (comparative more malevolent, superlative most malevolent)

more malevolent (comparative)
most malevolent (superlative)

From Middle English *malevolent (suggested by Middle English malevolence), from Old French malivolent and Latin malevolentem, from male (“badly, wrongly”) + volens (“willing, wishing”), from velle (“to wish”).

Vela, Javier Hernández and Lozano switched positions with a thrillingly malevolent sense of purpose.

2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2019-08-05:


gourmand

fr-noun

gourmand m (plural gourmands, feminine gourmande)

→ Czech: gurmán

→ Portuguese: gourmand

→ Romanian: gurmand

From Middle French gourmant (“glutton”), originally an adjectival form, from Old French, where it had the sense of trencherman, but of uncertain ultimate origin.

a person who eats a lot, or who has refined tastes in food


congenial

en-adj

congenial (comparative more congenial, superlative most congenial)

more congenial (comparative)
most congenial (superlative)

No sluggish tide congenial to the glooms; / This, as it frothed by, might have been a bath / For the fiend's glowing hoof - to see the wrath / Of its black eddy bespate with flakes and spumes.

1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section XIX:

Having the same or very similar nature, personality, tastes, habits or interests.


malo

es-noun

malo m (plural malos, feminine mala, feminine plural malas)

malos (plural)
mala (feminine)
malas (feminine plural)

Inherited from Latin malus. Cognate with Ladino malo, Italian malo, Galician mao, Portuguese mau.


wrathful

en-adj

wrathful (comparative more wrathful, superlative most wrathful)

more wrathful (comparative)
most wrathful (superlative)


dramatic

dramatic (comparative more dramatic, superlative most dramatic)

more dramatic (comparative)
most dramatic (superlative)

→ Japanese: ドラマティック (doramatikku)

From Ancient Greek δραματικός (dramatikós), from δρᾶμα (drâma, “drama, play”), from δράω (dráō, “I do, accomplish”). By surface analysis, drama + -tic.

Having a powerful, expressive singing voice.

դրամատիկական

having a powerful, expressive singing voice


scapegrace

From scape (“(archaic) escape”) + grace (“grace of god”).

compound

He is now laden with that superabundant energy which makes a fool of a man, and a scapegrace of a boy, and he wants to work it off.

1859, George Meredith, chapter 4, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:

An infantry officer in the trenches, Graves wrote of his rocky and scapegrace return to civilian life: "I still had the Army Habit of commandeering anything of uncertain ownership that I found lying about; also a difficulty in telling the truth--it was always easier for me now, when charged with any fault, to lie my way out in Army style."

2002, Jonathan Shay, Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming:

A wild and reckless person (especially a boy); a scoundrel.


scrupulous

en-adj

scrupulous (comparative more scrupulous, superlative most scrupulous)

more scrupulous (comparative)
most scrupulous (superlative)

From Middle French scrupuleux, from Latin scrupulosus.

He is scrupulous in his finances.

He is a scrupulous businessman and always acts in the best interest of his company.


vengeful

vengeful (comparative more vengeful, superlative most vengeful)

more vengeful (comparative)
most vengeful (superlative)

His chains now broken, the prisoner turned a vengeful eye toward his former captors.

A vengeful mother-of-three has been jailed for 168 days after being convicted of killing a neighbour's kitten by microwaving the 10-week-old pet.

2011 December 14, Steven Morris, “Devon woman jailed for 168 days for killing kitten in microwave”, in Guardian:


fractious

fractious (comparative more fractious, superlative most fractious)

more fractious (comparative)
most fractious (superlative)

From fraction (“discord”) (now obsolete) + -ous.

af

1841 Western Farmer and Gardener, Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, and Rural Economy. Ed. Thomas Affleck. vol. II. Oct. 1840 to Sept. 1841.
Fractious boys should be taught to govern their own tempers before they have the full control of oxen; and fractious men should remember that he who controls his own spirit is mightier than many who govern whole cities.

[…] to him, in his present fractious mood, she dared whisper no observations, nor ask of him any information.

1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter IX, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 236:

That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past.

2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times:

Flair and invention were very much at a premium, suffocated by the relentless pace and often fractious nature of proceedings. The absence of James Morrison from the centre of Scotland’s midfield, the West Brom man ruled out on the morning of the game by illness, had already diminished the creative capacity of the home side in that department.

2014 November 14, Stephen Halliday, “Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero”, in The Scotsman:

COP stands for conference of the parties under the UNFCCC, and the annual meetings have swung between fractious and soporific, interspersed with moments of high drama and the occasional triumph (the Paris agreement in 2015) and disaster (Copenhagen in 2009).

2019 December 2, Fiona Harvey, “Climate crisis: what is COP and can it save the world?”, in The Guardian:

With his twin notes, Mr. Musk waded directly into a fractious debate over the right way for corporations to bring workers back to the office during the coronavirus pandemic.

2022 June 1, Ryan Mac, “Elon Musk to Workers: Spend 40 Hours in the Office, or Else”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

After a fractious party conference and dire opinion polls for the Tories, the prime minister attempted to speak directly to the public, saying: “I want what you want.”

2022 October 5, Rowena Mason, “Liz Truss promises ‘growth, growth and growth’ in protest-hit speech”, in The Guardian:

German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s fractious centre-left coalition has received a sharp rebuke from voters in the key states of Bavaria and Hesse, with economic woes and immigration fears boosting the opposition conservatives and the far right.

2023 October 8, “German state elections: voters turn to the right in rebuke to Scholz’s coalition”, in The Guardian, sourced from Reuters, →ISSN:

Up to 250 trains will be needed to modernise all these lines, though the current government's fractious relationship with London Mayor Sadiq Khan makes that massive investment difficult to envisage in the short term.

2024 March 20, Ben Jones, “Suppliers' uncertain wait for new trains”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 38:


vicious

en-adj

vicious (comparative more vicious or viciouser, superlative most vicious or viciousest)

more vicious (comparative)
viciouser (comparative)
most vicious (superlative)
viciousest (superlative)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English vicious, from Anglo-Norman vicious, (modern French vicieux), from Latin vitiōsus, from vitium (“fault, vice”). Equivalent to vice + -ous.

He had always been remarkably immune from such little ailments, and had only once in his life been ill, of a vicious pneumonia long ago at school. He hadn't the faintest idea what to with a cold in the head, he just took quinine and continued to blow his nose.

1922, Michael Arlen, “2/9/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:


flamboyant

flamboyant (comparative more flamboyant, superlative most flamboyant)

more flamboyant (comparative)
most flamboyant (superlative)

Borrowed from French flamboyant (“flaming, wavy”), participle of flamboyer (“to flame”), from Old French flamboier, from flambe (“flame”). The architectural style derives its name from the flame-like shapes in the tracery.

When we see some of the monstrous and flamboyant blossoms that enrich the equatorial woods, we do not feel that they are conflagrations of nature; silent explosions of her frightful energy. We simply find it hard to believe that they are not wax flowers grown under a glass case.

1902, G. K. Chesterton, “The Optimism of Byron”, in Twelve Types:

1920, Frederic Taber Cooper, The Craftsmanship of Writing, Chapter VI: The Question of Clearness,
But a scorn of flamboyant neckties and checkerboard trousers is no excuse for going to the opposite extreme of a blue flannel shirt and overalls; […] .

The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase.

1962 May 12, Douglas MacArthur, Duty, honor, country:

Health of flamboyant media tycoon who led three Italian governments had deteriorated in recent years[.]

2023 June 12, Angela Giuffrida, Lorenzo Tondo, “Silvio Berlusconi, scandal-ridden former Italian prime minister, dies aged 86”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Showy, bold or audacious in behaviour, appearance, style, etc.; ostentatious.

ярък

showy, bold or audacious in behaviour, appearance, etc.


flamboyant

fr-adj

flamboyant (feminine flamboyante, masculine plural flamboyants, feminine plural flamboyantes)

flamboyante (feminine)
flamboyants (masculine plural)
flamboyantes (feminine plural)

→ Danish: flamboyant

→ English: flamboyant

→ German: flamboyant

→ Romanian: flamboiant


villainous

en-adj

villainous (comparative more villainous, superlative most villainous)

more villainous (comparative)
most villainous (superlative)

From Middle English vileinous, from Old French vileneus. By surface analysis, villain + -ous.

Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […]

1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act III:

Bah! to this toilet for the villainous boredom of church.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 9:

Wicked, offensive, or reprehensible in nature or behaviour; nefarious.


timid

timid (comparative timider, superlative timidest)

timider (comparative)
timidest (superlative)

From Middle French timide, from Latin timidus (“full of fear, fearful, timid”), from timeō (“I fear”).

der

John's a very timid person. I doubt he'll be brave enough to face his brother.

When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him.[…]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:


puissant

fr-adj

puissant (feminine puissante, masculine plural puissants, feminine plural puissantes)

puissante (feminine)
puissants (masculine plural)
puissantes (feminine plural)

Old present participle of the verb pouvoir (formed with the stem puis-; compare the modern form pouvant), from Old French puissant, pussant.


effervescent

en-adj

effervescent (comparative more effervescent, superlative most effervescent)

more effervescent (comparative)
most effervescent (superlative)

From French effervescent, from Latin effervēscō (“boil up”).

(of a liquid) Giving off bubbles; fizzy.

"It is rarely in human life," rejoined Douglas, "we realize the inimitable paintings our imaginations form, and less so during the effervescent period of youth. The bright impression glows upon the fancy, ravishes the mental view, but ere long vanishes, and leaves the prospect desolate and forlorn."

1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XVII, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 223:

The effervescent Suarez then went close again as he worked space for a shot after a mazy run but could not keep his close-range shot below the crossbar.

2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:

(figurative) Vivacious and enthusiastic.


ebullient

ebullient (comparative more ebullient, superlative most ebullient)

more ebullient (comparative)
most ebullient (superlative)

Borrowing from Latin ēbulliēns, present participle of ēbulliō (“I boil”), from bulliō (“I bubble up”) (English boil). Compare bubbling, bubbly, and perky, which use a similar metaphor.

The Spring will come with its ebullient blood, / With flush of roses and imperial eyes

1908, James Ryder Randall, “Ashes”, in Maryland, my Maryland, and other poems, Baltimore, Md., New York: John Murphy Company, page 45:

Marina's oddly ebullient words seemed to come to her slow as balloons

2001, Joyce Carol Oates, Middle Age: A Romance, paperback edition, Fourth Estate, page 233:

Boris Johnson, the ebullient editor of the Spectator and Tory MP for Henley, is at the centre of a Scotland Yard inquiry over an allegedly racist article by the columnist Taki which provoked death threats against a leading black lawyer.

2003 February 28, Nick Hopkins, “Spectator and its Tory MP editor may face charges over Taki race rant”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

But now, as an ebullient Mr. Milei declares his government the most successful in history and assures Argentines they’ll soon collect on the economic revival he pledged would follow the pain, the bar is getting higher even as risks remain.

2024 December 10, Isabel Depre, “After President Milei’s first year, Argentina’s economy is looking strangely ... normal”, in The Christian Science Monitor:


tranquilo

es-adj

tranquilo (feminine tranquila, masculine plural tranquilos, feminine plural tranquilas)

tranquila (feminine)
tranquilos (masculine plural)
tranquilas (feminine plural)

El campo es tranquilo.


emotional

en-adj

emotional (comparative more emotional, superlative most emotional)

more emotional (comparative)
most emotional (superlative)

/ɪˈməʊʃənəl/

/ɪˈmoʊʃənəl/

She’s an emotional person.


unruly

unruly (comparative unrulier, superlative unruliest)

unrulier (comparative)
unruliest (superlative)

From Middle English unruly (“unquiet, restless”), equivalent to un- + rule + -ly (compare Middle English ruly, reuli (“subject to a religious rule, regular”)), but also representing a modified continuation of earlier Middle English unrouly, unroly (“unquiet, restless”), equivalent to un- + roolie. The latter is perhaps from or influenced by Old Norse *úróligr, related to Danish urolig (“restless”), Swedish orolig (“restless”), Icelandic órólegur (“agitated”). Compare also Middle English unroo, unro (“unrest”). More at roo.

inh

The police gathered to contain the unruly mob.

Unruly boys who will not grow up / Must be taken in hand / Unruly girls who will not settle down / They must be taken in hand

1985, Morrissey & Johnny Marr (lyrics and music), “Barbarism Begins at Home”, in Meat Is Murder, performed by The Smiths:

Richard DeLongpre: Are you okay, my boy angel?
Allen Gregory DeLongpre: I have a broken heart. And undergarments filled with my own unruly waste.

2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1)


protective

en-adj

protective (comparative more protective, superlative most protective)

more protective (comparative)
most protective (superlative)

Mother bears are famously protective of their cubs.

Wishing to protect; defensive of somebody or something.


undaunted

undaunted (comparative more undaunted, superlative most undaunted)

more undaunted (comparative)
most undaunted (superlative)

From Middle English ondauntit, undauntdid; equivalent to un- + daunted.

Undaunted in the court stands Didymus, virtuously proud of rescued innocence.

1750, “Theodora”, Thomas Morell (lyrics), George Frideric Handel (music):

[…] for even the undaunted faith and energy of the Chicagoese cannot greatly accelerate the processes of nature in making' trees, or robing their trunks with moss.

1881, Edwin Hodder, Cities of the world, page 318:

Not shaken, discouraged or disheartened.


indépendant

fr-adj

indépendant (feminine indépendante, masculine plural indépendants, feminine plural indépendantes)

indépendante (feminine)
indépendants (masculine plural)
indépendantes (feminine plural)


peaceful

en-adj

peaceful (comparative more peaceful or peacefuller or peacefuler, superlative most peaceful or peacefullest or peacefulest)

more peaceful (comparative)
peacefuller (comparative)
peacefuler (comparative)
most peaceful (superlative)
peacefullest (superlative)
peacefulest (superlative)

From Middle English peesful, pesful, paisful, pesefull, equivalent to peace + -ful.

Attractive cottages look out on a scene so peaceful that lapping wavelets, stirred by the breeze, are often the loudest sound to be heard.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 220, about Hanmer, Wales:


naive

naive (comparative more naive, superlative most naive)

more naive (comparative)
most naive (superlative)

Borrowed from French naïve, feminine form of naïf, from Latin nativus (“native, natural”). Doublet of native.

just fell off the back of a turnip truck

We have experiments of running our matching algorithm and a naive matching algorithm for such a term tree and a tree, and have compared the performance of the two algorithms.

2007, Takao Terano, Huan Liu, Arbee L.P. Chen, Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, →ISBN:

(computing) Intuitive; designed to follow the way ordinary people approach a problem.


audacious

audacious (comparative more audacious, superlative most audacious)

more audacious (comparative)
most audacious (superlative)

shy

antonym(s) of “willing to take bold risks”

From Latin audacia (“boldness”), from audax (“bold”), from audeō (“I am bold, I dare”).


cautious

cautious (comparative more cautious, superlative most cautious)

more cautious (comparative)
most cautious (superlative)

From caution (“from Latin cautus”) + -ous.

He took a few cautious steps toward the cave.

Using or exercising caution; careful; tentative


improvident

improvident (comparative more improvident, superlative most improvident)

more improvident (comparative)
most improvident (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-improvident.wav

From the Latin improvidens, equivalent to in- + provident.

When Benjamin Bunny grew up, he married his Cousin Flopsy. They had a large family, and they were very improvident and cheerful.

1909, Beatrix Potter, The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies:

failing to provide for the future; reckless


gracieux

fr-adj

gracieux (feminine gracieuse, masculine plural gracieux, feminine plural gracieuses)

gracieuse (feminine)
gracieux (masculine plural)
gracieuses (feminine plural)

Inherited from Old French gracieus, borrowed from Latin gratiōsus.

à titre gracieux


irreverent

en-adj

irreverent (comparative more irreverent, superlative most irreverent)

more irreverent (comparative)
most irreverent (superlative)

From Latin irreverēns. By surface analysis, ir- + reverent.

an irreverent new work

an irreverent examination of reviewing

Beyond the hut a clump of myalls loomed spectral and wraith-like, and round them a gang of crows cawed noisily, irreverent of the great silence.

1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 28:

Lacking respect; not having or not showing respect for or seriousness towards something that is usually treated with respect; going against conventional precepts.


picky

picky (comparative pickier, superlative pickiest)

pickier (comparative)
pickiest (superlative)

I am very picky about the way my kitchen is laid out.

Most of the pickiest children were actually in the middle weight group, though a few were underweight and a few were overweight.

2018 June 4, Perri Klass, M.D., “When New Means No: Picky Eating as a Normal Toddler Phase”, in The New York Times:

Singletons have become 'pickier' about their potential partners following the pandemic, one dating expert has claimed - insisting they are now even more concerned about the 'pink flags' that could lead to 'red flag scenarios'.

2021 December 12, Jessica Green, “The subtle signs YOUR relationship is set to fail: Relationship expert reveals the 'less-obvious' warning signals - including watching TOO much TV and not taking photos together”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-12-19:

Fussy; particular; demanding to have things just right.


talkative

talkative (comparative more talkative, superlative most talkative)

more talkative (comparative)
most talkative (superlative)

From Middle English talkatyve, equivalent to talk + -ative.

a talkative girl

a talkative TV show

ثَرْثَار

tending to talk or speak freely or often


sarcastic

sarcastic (comparative more sarcastic, superlative most sarcastic)

more sarcastic (comparative)
most sarcastic (superlative)

Her eyes slanted a little... and were sometimes full of fiery determination and sometimes dull and opaque. Her expression was never altogether amiable; was often, indeed, distinctly sullen, or, when she was animated, sarcastic.

(of a person) Having the personality trait of expressing sarcasm.


heady

heady (comparative headier, superlative headiest)

headier (comparative)
headiest (superlative)

From Middle English hedi, hevedi, equivalent to head + -y.

Kierkegaard is rather heady reading for a high school student.


charming

charming (comparative charminger or more charming, superlative (nonstandard) charmest or charmingest or most charming)

charminger (comparative)
more charming (comparative)
charmest (nonstandard superlative)
charmingest (superlative)
most charming (superlative)

/ˈtʃɑː(ɹ).mɪŋ/

From Middle English charmynge; equivalent to charm + -ing.

"What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society."

1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6:

In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.

2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club:


efficient

efficient (comparative more efficient, superlative most efficient)

more efficient (comparative)
most efficient (superlative)

1398, “making,” from Old French, from Latin efficientem, nominative efficiēns, participle of efficere (“work out, accomplish”) (see effect). Meaning “productive, skilled” is from 1787. Efficiency apartment is first recorded 1930, American English.

Ownership, maintenance, or use of the automobile need not be the direct and efficient cause of the injury sustained

It was well said of Plotinus, that the stars were significant, but not efficient.

1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):

causing effects, producing results; bringing into being; initiating change (rare except in philosophical and legal expression efficient cause = causative factor or agent)

ефикасен

using a particular proportion of available energy


self-possessed

self-possessed (comparative more self-possessed, superlative most self-possessed)

more self-possessed (comparative)
most self-possessed (superlative)

In full control of one's faculties, and having a firm belief in one's abilities; confident, assured and poised.


straightedge

straightedge (comparative more straightedge, superlative most straightedge)

more straightedge (comparative)
most straightedge (superlative)


philosophical

philosophical (comparative more philosophical, superlative most philosophical)

more philosophical (comparative)
most philosophical (superlative)

From philosophy + -ical, from Ancient Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophía, “love of knowledge, scientific learning”). Displaced native Old English ūþwitlīċ.

uder

She bore the desertion with philosophical indifference.

1911, Hector Hugh Munro, The Schartz-Metterklume Method:


clumsy

en-adj

clumsy (comparative clumsier, superlative clumsiest)

clumsier (comparative)
clumsiest (superlative)

Possibly from an alteration of clumsed (“benumbed”) or from clumse (“a stupid fellow; lout”) + -y. More at clumse.

He's very clumsy. I wouldn't trust him with carrying the dishes.

Awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous.

أَخْرَق

awkward, lacking coordination, not graceful, not dextrous


sincere

sincere (comparative more sincere or sincerer, superlative most sincere or sincerest)

more sincere (comparative)
sincerer (comparative)
most sincere (superlative)
sincerest (superlative)

From Middle French sincere, from Latin sincerus (“genuine”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- + *ḱer- (“grow”), from which also Ceres (“goddess of harvest”) from which English cereal.
Unrelated to sine (“without”) + cera (“wax”) (folk etymology); see Wikipedia page.

I believe he is sincere in his offer to help.

Tumid blustering, with more or less of sincerity, which need not be entirely sincere, yet the sincerer the better, is like to go far.

1837, Thomas Carlyle, chapter III, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume II (The Constitution), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book I (The Feast of Pikes), page 19:

My sincerest apologies to Brother Ron Smith in the December ish.

1967 June, Drake Maynard, If, volume 17, number 6, page 160:

If you choose to pull the trigger, should your drama prove sincere
Do it somewhere far away from here

2003, “The Outsider”, performed by A Perfect Circle:

Genuine; meaning what one says or does; heartfelt.


lax

lax (comparative laxer, superlative laxest)

laxer (comparative)
laxest (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin laxus (“wide, roomy, loose”).

The rules are fairly lax, but you have to know which ones you can bend.

Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions.

1886, John Addington Symonds, Philip Sidney:

Lenient and allowing for deviation; not strict.

մեղմ

not strict; lenient; allowing for deviation


grumpy

grumpy (comparative grumpier, superlative grumpiest)

grumpier (comparative)
grumpiest (superlative)

The old man was grumpy because he couldn’t find his glasses.


brainiac

Blend of brain + maniac, with influence from ENIAC, the name of an early computer. The term was coined in the Superman comic book and first appeared in Action Comics #242 in July, 1958.

With all the brainiacs in the world ... you'd think somebody would come up with a sunblock for ice cream.

2009 July 18, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):

With nearly 900,000 Twitter followers, Popova is a member of a rare pantheon of “influencers” for the brainiac crowd. Miraculously, she makes a living writing a blog about science, literature, philosophy, feminism and whatever else takes her voracious and generous fancy.

2019 February 8, Margaret Wertheim, “Minds that explore the beauty of math and the logic of art”, in Washington Post, →ISSN:

(slang, sometimes derogatory) A very intelligent and usually studious, erudite person.

մոզգ

a very intelligent and usually studious, erudite person


captious

captious (comparative more captious, superlative most captious)

more captious (comparative)
most captious (superlative)

From Middle English capcious, from Middle French captieux, or its source, Latin captiōsus, from captiō.

...not an irritable word had escaped him; and as every captious conclusion and petulant observation had been in days past always attributed, very justly, by Isabella either to the dyspepsia, brought on by his grief for Margarita, or the fever he sustained from the climate,...

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter LI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 23:

But Peter Petrovich did not accept this retort. On the contrary, he became all the more captious and irritable, as though he were just hitting his stride.

1968, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, translated by Sidney Monas, Crime and Punishment, published 1866:

The "Our Bold" column, nitpicking at errors in other periodicals, can look merely captious, and its critics often seem to be wildly and collectively wrong-headed.

2009 January 24, Anne Karpf, The Guardian:

Having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections; cavilling, nitpicky.

մանրախնդիր

having a disposition to find fault unreasonably or to raise petty objections


fearful

fearful (comparative fearfuller or fearfuler or more fearful, superlative fearfullest or fearfulest or most fearful)

fearfuller (comparative)
fearfuler (comparative)
more fearful (comparative)
fearfullest (superlative)
fearfulest (superlative)
most fearful (superlative)

From Middle English ferful, fervol, equivalent to fear + -ful.

Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me,
But let them hear what fearful words I utter.

c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

In the later Hebrew midrash Lilith is presented as the woman who knows how to recite the fearful name of God to work calamity; that this little girl cries out the fearful name of the sun god and thereby causes an earthquake would indicate that this girl is linked in the structure of the myth with Lilith.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 184:

But every day after dinner, for an hour, we were all together, and then the Favourite and the rest of the Royal Hareem competed who should most beguile the leisure of the Serene Haroun reposing from the cares of State — which were generally, as in most affairs of State, of an arithmetical character, the Commander of the Faithful being a fearful boggler at a sum.

1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:

kings ſhall crouch vnto our conquering ſwords,
And hoſtes of Souldiers ſtand amazd at vs,
When with their fearfull tongues they ſhall confeſſe
Theſe are the men that al the world admires,

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

Those two great champions did attonce pursew / The fearefull damzell with incessant payns […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

(now rare) Frightened; filled with terror.


noncommittal

noncommittal (comparative more noncommittal, superlative most noncommittal)

more noncommittal (comparative)
most noncommittal (superlative)

The Major's face was noncommittal.

The noncommittal Indians would give no counsel as to fording.

[He] is candid, open-hearted, and hardly non-commmittal enough for his own interest at times.

1818, S.R. Wells, The American Phrenonological Journal, and other miscellany, volume 10, page 234:

A United Nations spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, has previously said the organization would not divulge its sources of information, but welcomed any additional information from the coalition. The United Nations has been noncommittal on the Saudi proposal to send its experts to Riyadh.

2016 June 22, Somini Sengupta, “Saudis Question U.N. Leader Over Report on Rights Violators”, in The New York Times:

Tending to avoid commitment; lacking certainty or decisiveness; reluctant to give out information or show one's feelings or opinion.


studieux

fr-adj

studieux (feminine studieuse, masculine plural studieux, feminine plural studieuses)

studieuse (feminine)
studieux (masculine plural)
studieuses (feminine plural)


raffish

en-adj

raffish (comparative more raffish, superlative most raffish)

more raffish (comparative)
most raffish (superlative)

From late 18th century raff (“persons among the lowest class in society”) + -ish, still retained in contemporary English with riffraff. From Old French raffer (“to wear away”), of Germanic origin. Compare German raffen. Compare rip (“to tear”), rap (“to snatch”).

af

Billie Eilish wants you to know she is in charge, brash and self-assured enough to scrap the raffish image that helped garner her a world of fans in favor of something a little more … adult.

2021 May 4, Ruth La Ferla, “On That Bombshell Billie Eilish Cover for British Vogue”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

The smokers' most raffish outsider, Comstock, appeared to do nothing but smoke; Chris had never seen him inside the building.

2022, Jennifer Egan, “i, the Protagonist”, in The Candy House:

Characterized by careless unconventionality; rakish.

разпасан

characterized by careless unconventionality — see also rakish


pertinacious

en-adj

pertinacious (comparative more pertinacious, superlative most pertinacious)

more pertinacious (comparative)
most pertinacious (superlative)

/ˌpɜːtɪˈneɪʃəs/

From pertinace + -ious, from Old French pertinace, from Latin pertinax, from per- (“very”) + tenax (“tenacious”).

[O]ne of the Dissenters, which I could, but forbear, to name appeared to Dr. Sanderson to be so bold, so troublesome, and so illogical in the dispute, as forced patient Dr. Sanderson, who was then Bishop of Lincoln, and a moderator with other Bishops, to say, with an unusual earnestness, "That he had never met with a man of more pertinacious confidence, and less abilities, in all his conversation."

1678, Izaak Walton, The life of Dr. Sanderson, late Bishop of Lincoln (London: Printed for Richard Marriot) [without pagination or secitons]


reserved

reserved (comparative more reserved, superlative most reserved)

more reserved (comparative)
most reserved (superlative)

He was a quiet, reserved person.

Before I met Mr. Bowen Cooke I had been given to understand that he was of a reserved nature, and on occasion could be a "bit of a martinet"; [...].

1942 July-August, Chas. S. Lake, “Some C.M.Es. I Have Known: II—C. J. Bowen Cooke”, in Railway Magazine, page 223:

(comparable) Slow to reveal emotion or opinions.


authoritarian

authoritarian (comparative more authoritarian, superlative most authoritarian)

more authoritarian (comparative)
most authoritarian (superlative)

democratic

antonym(s) of “characterised by a tyrannical obedience to an authority”

servile

antonym(s) of “tending to impose one's demands”

/ɔːˌθɒɹ.ɪˈtɛə̯.ɹɪən/

/əˌθɔɹ.əˈtɛɹ.i.ən/

/ɔˌθɔɹ.əˈtɛɹ.i.ən/

سُلْطَوِيّ

of, or relating to, absolute obedience to an authority

bossy

strictly obedient, supportive of obedience

the authoritarian personality

Of, or relating to, or exhibiting strict obedience to an authority; favoring authoritarianism over civic and individual liberties.


juguetón

es-adj

juguetón (feminine juguetona, masculine plural juguetones, feminine plural juguetonas)

juguetona (feminine)
juguetones (masculine plural)
juguetonas (feminine plural)


personable

en-adj

personable (comparative more personable, superlative most personable)

more personable (comparative)
most personable (superlative)

From Middle English personable, personabil, equivalent to person + -able. Compare Medieval Latin personabilis (“personal”), found in a late 13th century British source. The Middle French personable (“remarkable, important”) does not appear until 1528.

cog

I admit him a personable man, for I have seen him; and I will suppose him courteous and agreeable.

1822, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 19, in The Fortunes of Nigel:

Barefoot, bare-chested, radiant and personable against the shadowy woods, he called: "Hullo, Miss Honeychurch! Hullo!"

1908, E. M. Forster, chapter 12, in A Room With a View:

(of a person) Having a pleasing appearance; attractive; handsome.

Wise, warlike, personable, curteous, and kind.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 5:

I'm bound to admit that you're a personable young rascal, with the best manners I've met in a long time.

1919, Joseph A. Altsheler, chapter 5, in The Sun Of Quebec:

Aside from being incredibly funny and personable he is generous, kind and is great fun to play catch with.

2009 October 5, Randy James, “2-Min. Bio: Stephanie Birkitt: Letterman's Lover?”, in Time:

(of a person) Having a pleasant manner; friendly; amiable.


vivace

Borrowed from Latin vīvācem (“lively, vigorous”).


loving

en-adj

loving (comparative lovinger or more loving, superlative lovingest or most loving)

lovinger (comparative)
more loving (comparative)
lovingest (superlative)
most loving (superlative)

Inherited from Middle English lovynge, lovyng (“love”), from Old English lufung; equivalent to love + -ing.

his loving wife

Expressing a large amount of love to other people; affectionate.


diplomatic

diplomatic (comparative more diplomatic, superlative most diplomatic)

more diplomatic (comparative)
most diplomatic (superlative)

From French diplomatique, equal to diplomat + -ic.

Thoughtful corrections can be diplomatic as well as instructional.

Exhibiting diplomacy; exercising tact or courtesy; using discussion to avoid hard feelings, fights or arguments.


conscientious

conscientious (comparative more conscientious, superlative most conscientious)

more conscientious (comparative)
most conscientious (superlative)

/ˌkɒnʃiˈɛnʃəs/

/ˌkɑnʃiˈɛnʃəs/

From Middle French conscientieux, from Medieval Latin cōnscientiōsus. Its English equivalent could possibly be analyzed as conscient + -ous. See more at conscience.

The advice of wise and conscientious people.

Influenced by conscience; principled; governed by a strict regard to the dictates of conscience, or by the known or supposed rules of right and wrong (said of a person).


ladette

It could be argued that the rise of the socially conscious model reflects a very 2017 archetype: the “woke” young woman, who looks set to define femininity this decade in the same way that the lager-swilling ladette did in the 90s. It is also symptomatic of a broader cultural “awokening” that has reached the stuffiest institutions; even the royal family has recently relaxed its upper lip.

2017 May 15, Hannah Marriott, “Woke models: how activism became fashion's latest must-have”, in The Guardian, London, page 9:

So the rise in drinking seems to centre on gen X women, or, to give us our proper title, ladettes.

2021 September 22, Zoe Williams, “Generation X are heavy, risky drinkers. Will anything ever persuade us to stop?”, in The Guardian:

(informal) A young woman who behaves in a laddish manner, namely being boisterous and loud and drinking to excess.


slick

slick (comparative slicker, superlative slickest)

slicker (comparative)
slickest (superlative)

From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”),
from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”). Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).

cog

Our new process for extracting needles from haystacks is extremely slick.

That was a slick move, locking your keys in the car.

I leave the train at Salisbury, where (in a very slick operation) another two-car set is added to the front of the train before it heads for London.

2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 55:

(often sarcastic) Clever, making an apparently hard task easy.

изкусен

clever, making an apparently hard task easy


assertive

en-adj

assertive (comparative more assertive, superlative most assertive)

more assertive (comparative)
most assertive (superlative)

Boldly self-assured; confident without being aggressive.


stubborn

stubborn (comparative stubborner, superlative stubbornest)

stubborner (comparative)
stubbornest (superlative)

From Middle English stiborne, stibourne, stoburn, stoburne, styburne, stiborn. Origin uncertain.
One theory is that the origin may come from *stybor, *stibor, from Old English stybb (“a stump, stub”) + adj. formative -or as in Old English bitor, English bitter.

Of materials: physically stiff and inflexible; not easily melted or worked.


pliable

pliable (comparative more pliable, superlative most pliable)

more pliable (comparative)
most pliable (superlative)

From Middle French, from Old French ploiable, from ploiier (“to fold”). By surface analysis, ply + -able.

Easily persuaded; yielding to influence.


decent

decent (comparative more decent, superlative most decent)

more decent (comparative)
most decent (superlative)

bad

antonym(s) of “conforming suitably to moral standards”

Borrowed from Middle French décent, or its source, Latin decēns, present participle of decet (“it is fitting or suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to take, accept, to receive, greet, be suitable”) (compare Ancient Greek δοκέω (dokéō, “I appear, seem, think”), δέχομαι (dékhomai, “I accept”); Sanskrit दशस्यति (daśasyáti, “shows honor, is gracious”), दाशति (dāśati, “makes offerings, bestows”)). Meaning ‘kind, pleasant’ is from 1902.

cog

(of a person) Having a suitable conformity to basic moral standards; showing integrity, fairness, or other characteristics associated with moral uprightness.

saf

showing integrity, fairness, moral uprightness


nonchalant

fr-adj

nonchalant (feminine nonchalante, masculine plural nonchalants, feminine plural nonchalantes)

nonchalante (feminine)
nonchalants (masculine plural)
nonchalantes (feminine plural)

→ Danish: nonchalant

→ Dutch: nonchalant

→ English: nonchalant

→ German: nonchalant

→ Swedish: nonchalant

Present participle of Old French nonchaloir (“to have no importance”), from non + chaloir, equivalent to Latin non (“not”) + calēre (“to be warm”).


genial

en-adj

genial (comparative more genial, superlative most genial)

more genial (comparative)
most genial (superlative)

From Middle French génial, from Latin geniālis (“of or pertaining to marriage; festive, genial”), from genius (“guardian spirit”) + -ālis.

der

George Relph plays the part of the Vicar of the Parish, a railway enthusiast, who becomes amateur engine driver, with Sir Godfrey Tearle (the Bishop) as his fireman, while Stanley Holloway is the genial toper who provides the cash to buy the line.

1953 March, Baynham Honri, “Filming "The Titfield Thunderbolt"”, in Railway Magazine, page 164:


brittle

en-adj

brittle (comparative brittler or more brittle, superlative brittlest or most brittle)

brittler (comparative)
more brittle (comparative)
brittlest (superlative)
most brittle (superlative)

From Middle English britel, brutel, brotel (“brittle”), from Old English *brytel, *bryttol (“brittle, fragile”, literally “prone to or tending to break”); equivalent to brit + -le.

Cast iron is much more brittle than forged iron.

A diamond is hard but brittle.

'Do you suppose our convent, and I too,
 Are insufficient, then, to pray for you?
 Thomas, that joke's not good. Your faith is brittle.

1951, Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill, The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977, page 329:

Inflexible; liable to break, snap, or shatter easily under stress, pressure, or impact; crackly.

крехък

able to break or snap easily under stress or pressure


puerilis

la-adj

puerīlis (neuter puerīle, comparative puerīlior, superlative puerīlissimus, adverb puerīliter); third-declension two-termination adjective

puerīlis (canonical)
puerīle (neuter)
puerīlior (comparative)
puerīlissimus (superlative)
puerīliter (adverb)
puerīlis (feminine masculine nominative singular)
puerīle (neuter nominative singular)
puerīlēs (feminine masculine nominative singular)
puerīlia (neuter nominative plural)
puerīlis (feminine genitive masculine neuter singular)
puerīlium (feminine genitive masculine neuter)
puerīlī (dative feminine masculine neuter singular)
puerīlibus (dative feminine masculine neuter)
puerīlem (accusative feminine masculine singular)
puerīle (accusative neuter singular)
puerīlēs (accusative feminine masculine singular)
puerīlīs (accusative feminine masculine singular)
puerīlia (accusative neuter plural)
puerīlī (ablative feminine masculine neuter singular)
puerīlibus (ablative feminine masculine neuter)
puerīlis (feminine masculine singular vocative)
puerīle (neuter singular vocative)
puerīlēs (feminine masculine singular vocative)
puerīlia (neuter plural vocative)

Catalan: pueril

→ English: puerile

French: puéril

→ German: pueril

Italian: puerile

Portuguese: pueril

Spanish: pueril


libertine

en-adj

libertine (comparative more libertine, superlative most libertine)

more libertine (comparative)
most libertine (superlative)

Dissolute, licentious, profligate; loose in morals.


steady

steady (comparative steadier, superlative steadiest)

steadier (comparative)
steadiest (superlative)

From Middle English stedy, studi, stidiȝ, perhaps continuing Old English stæþþiġ, ġestæþþiġ (“steadfast, stable, firm, staid”), equivalent to stead + -y; or calquing Middle Low German or Middle Dutch stēdig. Cognate with Saterland Frisian stoadig (“constant, continual”), West Frisian stadich (“slow”), Danish stedig, stadig, steeg, Swedish stadig, Icelandic stöðugur, German stätig, stetig.
Sense 8 of the adjective is a semantic loan from Hokkien 在 (chāi, “steady, confident”).

sl

Thy ſteddy Temper, Portius,
Can look on Guilt, Rebellion, Fraud, and Cæſar,
In the calm Lights of mild Philoſophy;
I’m tortured, ev’n to Madneſs, when I think
On the proud Victor: […]

1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 1:

Phlegmatic, calm; not easily upset, excited, or disturbed.


pessimistic

en-adj

pessimistic (comparative more pessimistic, superlative most pessimistic)

more pessimistic (comparative)
most pessimistic (superlative)

a pessimistic estimate

However pessimistic their predictions, most scientists and scholars who warn of impending disaster are really acting from antidystopian motives.

1996, George Thomas Kurian, Graham Thomas Tate Molitor, Encyclopedia of the future, volume 1, page 212:


buoyant

buoyant (comparative more buoyant, superlative most buoyant)

more buoyant (comparative)
most buoyant (superlative)

I’m in a buoyant mood.


tomboyish

tomboyish (comparative more tomboyish, superlative most tomboyish)

more tomboyish (comparative)
most tomboyish (superlative)

Displaying behavior associated with a tomboy.


tactless

tactless (comparative more tactless, superlative most tactless)

more tactless (comparative)
most tactless (superlative)

It was tactless of you not to attend your sister's wedding.

having no tact; unaware or intentionally inconsiderate of someone else's feelings


daring

daring (comparative more daring, superlative most daring)

more daring (comparative)
most daring (superlative)

“There the cause of death was soon ascertained ; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”

1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tremarn Case”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

Adventurous, willing to take on or look for risks; overbold.

[…]By this scimitar,
That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince
That won three fields of Sultan Solyman,
I would outstare the sternest eyes that look,
Outbrave the heart most daring on earth,
Pluck the young sucking cubs from the she-bear,
Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey,
To win thee, lady. […]

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

Just what I wanted, seeing my mom in a daring bikini—or worse yet, my being in one. I had the perfect drawer I could bury it in.

2013, Randy Rawls, Best Defense, page 59:


daring

en-noun

daring (usually uncountable, plural darings)


courageous

en-adj

courageous (comparative more courageous, superlative most courageous)

more courageous (comparative)
most courageous (superlative)

/kəˈɹeɪd͡ʒəs/

From Middle English corajous, from Old French corageus, from corage + -eus.

the most courageous person I have ever met

In 1979, following Jimmy Carter’s unexpected and unreasonable decision to transfer diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, the Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act to preserve our relationship with this courageous nation. We believed that it was vital for our allies and for those who were not our allies to know that the United States would not abandon its friends.

2005, Jesse Helms, “Foreign Relations Experiences”, in Here's Where I Stand: A Memoir, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 228–229:

Of a person, displaying or possessing courage.


ladylike

ladylike (comparative more ladylike, superlative most ladylike)

more ladylike (comparative)
most ladylike (superlative)

Coniux imperioſa. Ouidius. A ladylike wife that will be obeyed. […] Dura domina, imperioſa. Cic. A rigorous and ladilike dame that will be obeyed.

1565, Thomas Cooper, Thesaurus Linguæ Romanæ & Britannicæ, […], London:

Is it ladylike to giggle? / Is it ladylike to wink? / Is it ladylike to ride a horse astraddle? / Is it ladylike to wiggle? / Is it ladylike to drink? / Is it ladylike upon the beach to paddle? […]

1906 November 29, W. D. Nesbit, “The Querist”, in Life, volume 48, number 1257, page 673:

Mirrin had lifted her second cup of tea, holding it, ladylike, with finger and thumb of her right hand while her left palm supported the saucer.

1976, Jessica Stirling [pseudonym; Hugh Crauford Rae], The Hiring Fair, Coronet Books, published 1998, →ISBN, page 271:

Pirates, these women, with their ladylike briefcases for the loot and their horsy, acquisitive teeth.

1985, Margaret Atwood, “Soul Scrolls”, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →ISBN, page 165:

Of or related to the appearance or behaviour of a well-mannered woman.

keurig

of or connected with the appearance or behaviour of a well-mannered woman


resilient

resilient (comparative more resilient, superlative most resilient)

more resilient (comparative)
most resilient (superlative)

From Middle English resilient, from Old French resilient, from Latin resiliēns, present active participle of resiliō (“I leap or spring back”).

veerkragtig

able to withstand force without cracking; elastic

veerkragtig

returning quickly to normal after damaging events or conditions; psychologically or structurally tough

Returning quickly to normal after damaging events or conditions. (of systems, organisms or people)

(psychology, neuroscience) Having the ability to recover from mental illness, trauma, etc.; having resilience.


jovial

jovial (comparative more jovial, superlative most jovial)

more jovial (comparative)
most jovial (superlative)

/ˈd͡ʒəʊ.vɪ.əl/

Borrowed from French jovial (“jolly, jovial”), from Italian gioviale (“jolly, jovial; (obsolete) born under the influence of the planet Jupiter”), from Latin ioviālis (“relating to the Roman god Jupiter”), from Iuppiter, Iovis (“the Roman god Jove or Jupiter, counterpart of the Greek god Zeus”) (from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“to be bright; heaven, sky”)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship); analysable as Jove + -ial.
Sense 1 (“cheerful and good-humoured”) refers to the fact that individuals born under the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter were believed to have that disposition.

der

A melancholy boddy is not the kindeſt nurſe for a chearely minde, (the joviall complexion is ſoverainly beholding to nature,) […]

1593, Gabriel Harvey, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London: [s.n.], 1870], →OCLC, page 161:

The moſt ſecure, happy, Ioviall & merry in the worlds eſteeme, are Princes & great men, free from melancholy, but for their cares, miſeries, ſuſpicions, Iealoſies, diſcontents, folly, & madneſſe, I referre you to Xenophons Tyrannus, where king Hieron diſcourſeth at large with Simonides the Poet, of this ſubject.

1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Democritvs Ivnior to the Reader”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, page 57:

But being ill-used by the above-mentioned widow, he was very serious for a year and a half; and though, his temper being naturally jovial, he at last got over it, he grew careless of himself, and never dressed afterwards.

1711 March 13 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, March 2, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 2; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 88:

[I]n polite ſocieties, he is the eaſy, well-bred man of faſhion; and, in the more convivial parties, he is the jovial companion.

1790 August, “Art V. The Devil upon Two Sticks in England: Being a Continuation of Le Diable Boiteux of Le Sage. 12mo. 4 Vols. about 230 Pages in each. 12s. Sewed. Walter, Piccadilly. 1790. [book review]”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume II, London: Printed for R[alph] Griffiths; and sold by T[homas] Becket, […], →OCLC, page 392:

At length, my friends, the feaſt of life is o’er; / I’ve eat ſufficient, I can drink no more: / My nigh is come; I’ve ſpent a jovial day; ’Tis time to part; but, oh!—what is to pay?

1797, Richard Graves, “On the Death of an Epicure”, in Select Epigrams. In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Printed by and for Sampson Low, […]; and sold by W. H. Lunn, […], →OCLC, page 31:

Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious. Glorious!

1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 154–155:

A long, jovial, inane laugh broke the sudden silence which had fallen over everyone.

1905 January 12, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “Lord Grenville’s Ball”, in The Scarlet Pimpernel, popular edition, London: Greening & Co., published 20 March 1912, →OCLC, page 115:

She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 267:

[A] jovial Santa Claus with an understanding heart and an attentive ear— […]

1951 December, Rock Island Lines News Digest, volume X, number 12, Chicago, Ill.: Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Company, →OCLC, page 1:

(comparable) Cheerful and good-humoured; jolly, merry.

হাঁহিৰাম

cheerful and good-humoured — see also jolly, merry


jovial

fr-adj

jovial (feminine joviale, masculine plural joviaux, feminine plural joviales)

joviale (feminine)
joviaux (masculine plural)
joviales (feminine plural)

⇒ Czech: žoviální

Borrowed from Italian gioviale, from Latin ioviālis. Unrelated to joie.

Near-synonym: gai


endearing

It was arms around, and perpetual endearings, and all that I had missed for a weary twelve-month.

1919 September, Jack London, “On the Makaloa Mat”, in On the Makaloa Mat, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 23:


gruff

en-adj

gruff (comparative gruffer, superlative gruffest)

gruffer (comparative)
gruffest (superlative)

From West Flemish and Dutch grof (“rude, coarse, rough”), from Middle Dutch grof (“coarse”), from Old Dutch *grof, of uncertain formation and relation, yet undoubtedly cognate with Saterland Frisian groaf (“rough, coarse, crude”), West Frisian grof (“rough, coarse, crude”), Low German groff (“rough, coarse, crude”), German grob (“rough, coarse, crude”), Swedish grov (“rough, coarse, crude”).
Perhaps originating from Proto-West Germanic *gahrob, from Proto-Germanic *gahrubaz, *hrubaz, related to Proto-Germanic *hreubaz (“scabby, rough, scrubby”) or alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *grob, from Proto-Germanic *grubaz (“coarse, rough”).

der

having a rough, surly, and harsh demeanor and nature.


napoleon

en-noun

napoleon (countable and uncountable, plural napoleons)

/nəˈpəʊlɪən/

Borrowed from French Napoléon (“given name, usually in reference to Napoleon Bonaparte”). In reference to coins, via French napoléon (“(slang) a coin that originally had the appearance of Napoleon's face in the obverse”). In reference to guns and possibly cards, in reference to Napoleon III.

bor

Always an eloquent speaker, Polk became known as the Napoleon of the stump.

2011, Robert Morgan, Lions of the West::

(fashion, obsolete) Clipping of Napoleon boot: a form of topboot worn by officers during the Napoleonic Wars.


courteous

en-adj

courteous (comparative more courteous, superlative most courteous)

more courteous (comparative)
most courteous (superlative)

From Middle English curteis, from Old French curteis (French courtois), from cort (“court”).

a courteous gentleman   a courteous gesture

Nectar ran / In courteous fountains to all cups outreach'd; / And plunder'd vines, teeming exhaustless, pleach'd / New growth about each shell and pendent lyre; [...]

1818, John Keats, “Book III”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 149, lines 932–935:

Showing regard or thought for others; especially, displaying good manners or etiquette.


choleric

choleric (comparative more choleric, superlative most choleric)

more choleric (comparative)
most choleric (superlative)

From Middle English colerik, from Old French colerique, from Latin cholericus. By surface analysis, choler + -ic.

And let a man beware, how he keepeth company with choleric and quarrelsome persons; for they will engage him into their own quarrels.

1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Travel”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

1640, George Herbert, Jacula Prudentum; or, Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, etc., in The Remains of that Sweet Singer of the Temple George Herbert, London: Pickering, 1841, p. 146,
From a choleric man withdraw a little; from him that says nothing for ever.

As it was clear that he was a choleric fellow in some respects, Mr Swiveller was relieved to find him in such good humour, and, to encourage him in it, smiled himself.

1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Thirty-fifth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC:

Beneath his choleric exterior Gerald O’Hara had the tenderest of hearts.

1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC:

(according to theories of the four humours or temperaments) Having a temperament characterized by an excess of choler; easily becoming angry.


pushy

pushy (comparative pushier, superlative pushiest)

pushier (comparative)
pushiest (superlative)

Pushy parents 'ruin sports days'

Overly assertive, bold, or determined; aggressively ambitious.


feisty

feisty (comparative feistier or more feisty, superlative feistiest or most feisty)

feistier (comparative)
more feisty (comparative)
feistiest (superlative)
most feisty (superlative)

1896, American, feist (“small, aggressive dog”) + -y; the term feist (now rare) itself originally meant “stink”, and earlier “fart”, from Middle English, from Old English, from Proto-Germanic, presumably from Proto-Indo-European – see feist for details.


OCD

obsessive-compulsive disorder
obsessive-compulsive disorder#English

(medicine, psychology) Initialism of obsessive-compulsive disorder.


cosmopolite

Learned borrowing from Latin cosmopolītēs, itself borrowed from Koine Greek κοσμοπολίτης (kosmopolítēs, “citizen of the world”), from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “world”) + πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”).

der

κοσμοπολίτης


finicky

en-adj

finicky (comparative finickier or more finicky, superlative finickiest or most finicky)

finickier (comparative)
more finicky (comparative)
finickiest (superlative)
most finicky (superlative)

From fr. finicking, from finical, from fine + -ical. Compare dated finikin. Perhaps suggested by Middle Dutch fijnkens 'accurately, neatly, prettily'. Cfr. also Sicilian finicchiu.

My editor is very finicky about punctuation. Every dot and comma has to be just right.

She has a finicky baby that's hard to feed.

(informal, of a person) Fastidious and fussy; difficult to please; exacting, especially about details.

primmirat

fastidious and fussy; difficult to please; exacting


sentimental

sentimental (comparative more sentimental, superlative most sentimental)

more sentimental (comparative)
most sentimental (superlative)


eloquent

eloquent (comparative more eloquent, superlative most eloquent)

more eloquent (comparative)
most eloquent (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-eloquent.wav

From Old French eloquent, from Latin eloquens (“speaking, having the faculty of speech, eloquent”), present participle of eloquor (“to speak out”), from e (“out”) + loquor (“to speak”).

der

an eloquent writer


hilaris

la-adj

hilaris (neuter hilare, comparative hilarior, superlative hilarissimus, adverb hilarē or hilariter); third-declension two-termination adjective

hilare (neuter)
hilarior (comparative)
hilarissimus (superlative)
hilarē (adverb)
hilariter (adverb)
hilaris (feminine masculine nominative singular)
hilare (neuter nominative singular)
hilarēs (feminine masculine nominative singular)
hilaria (neuter nominative plural)
hilaris (feminine genitive masculine neuter singular)
hilarium (feminine genitive masculine neuter)
hilarī (dative feminine masculine neuter singular)
hilaribus (dative feminine masculine neuter)
hilarem (accusative feminine masculine singular)
hilare (accusative neuter singular)
hilarēs (accusative feminine masculine singular)
hilarīs (accusative feminine masculine singular)
hilaria (accusative neuter plural)
hilarī (ablative feminine masculine neuter singular)
hilaribus (ablative feminine masculine neuter)
hilaris (feminine masculine singular vocative)
hilare (neuter singular vocative)
hilarēs (feminine masculine singular vocative)
hilaria (neuter plural vocative)

French: hilare
→ Romanian: ilar

Italian: ilare

Portuguese: hilário

Sicilian: ìlari

desctree

→ English: hilarious
→ Cebuano: hilaryos

→ Icelandic: Hilaríus m

[ˈhɪɫ̪ärɪs̠]

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἱλαρός (hilarós, “cheerful, merry”), from ἵλαος (hílaos, “propitious, gracious, kind”).

bor+

Nātāle hilare!

cheerful, lively, light-hearted, merry, jovial


bellicose

en-adj

bellicose (comparative more bellicose, superlative most bellicose)

more bellicose (comparative)
most bellicose (superlative)

From Middle English bellicose, from Latin bellicosus.

CHINA sent both bellicose and conciliatory signals yesterday as tension continued in the Taiwan Strait over Chinese military exercises and the deployment of US naval battle groups.

1996 March 15, James Pringle, “Peking sends out mixed signals”, in The Times, number 65,528, →ISSN, →OCLC, Overseas News, page 14, column 8:

The core Ice Age cast—wooly mammoth Manny (Ray Romano), sabertooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary), and sloth Sid (John Leguizamo)—are set adrift, sailing the high seas on a chunk of ice until they collide with a bellicose primate (Peter Dinklage).

2012 July 12, Sam Adams, “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, in AV Club:


cosmopolitan

From cosmopolite + -an. Compare metropolitan and megalopolitan.

'She is extremely rich. A cosmopolitan.'

1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 3, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 25:

A cocktail containing vodka, triple sec, lime juice and cranberry juice.

(Canada, US, dated) A butterfly of species Vanessa cardui.


bohemian

bohemian (comparative more bohemian, superlative most bohemian)

more bohemian (comparative)
most bohemian (superlative)

From French bohémien (“person from Bohemia”), from Bohême (“Bohemia”).

2001, Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce (scriptwriters), Moulin Rouge!,
Please tell me you're not one of Toulouse's oh-so-talented, charmingly bohemian, tragically impoverished protégés!

Cowell's earlier, more bohemian years are not only the most interesting, they comprise the only part of his life for which one could reasonably attempt to do the kind of work that I have tried to do here.

2002, Michael Hicks, Henry Cowell, Bohemian, University of Illinois Press, page 4:

Georgetown, a Jesuit university and a "hot big city school" (Mathews 2007:53): is popularly believed to be "hotter," wealthier, more bohemian, more liberal, and more laid back than its secular counterpart, GWU.

2014, Shabana Mir, Muslim American Women on Campus, University of North Carolina Press, page 18:

The magazine's aesthetic also bends it into more bohemian territory. Food articles often have botanical illustrations of lesser-eaten greenery like endive and watercress, drawn by artist John Burgoyne.

2017, Shawn Chandler Bingham, “Bohemian Groves, Grooves, Gardens, and Guns”, in Shawn Chandler Bingham, Lindsey A. Freeman, editors, The Bohemian South, University of North Carolina Press, page 271:

Unconventional, especially in habit or dress.


merciful

merciful (comparative more merciful, superlative most merciful)

more merciful (comparative)
most merciful (superlative)

From Middle English merciful, mercyful, equivalent to mercy + -ful. Displaced native Old English mildheort.

`Listen, Holly. Thou art a good and honest man, and I fain would spare thee; but, oh! it is so hard for woman to be merciful.'

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.

1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:


sympathetic

sympathetic (comparative more sympathetic, superlative most sympathetic)

more sympathetic (comparative)
most sympathetic (superlative)

Mid 17th century in the sense “relating to an affinity or paranormal influence”, from Latin sympathēticus. By surface analysis, sympathy + -etic (“pertaining to”); compare pathetic. Displaced native Old English efnþrōwiende.

съчувствен

of, related to, showing, or characterized by sympathy

симпатичен

of a person: attracting the liking of others

Vaublanc, in San Domingo so sympathetic to the sorrows of labour in France, had to fly from Paris in August, 1792, to escape the wrath of the French workers.

1963, C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd revised edition, page 14:

John looked very upset. I gave him a sympathetic look.

Of, related to, feeling, showing, or characterized by sympathy.

Showing approval of or favor towards an idea or action.

Attracting the liking of others. (of a person)

(construction) Designed in a sensitive or appropriate way.


go-getter

He's a promising young go-getter, but he needs to learn some things about office politics.

Tom Pitella is a go-getter and does not rely on others to prove things in the field of mathematics to him.

I must get it from my dad. Can't be from Mom, the world-class go-getter, hand shaker, and baby kisser.”

2008, Ellen Hopkins, Identical, →ISBN, page 31:

(idiomatic) An active and enterprising person; one who is motivated or inclined to excel; one who strives to achieve success or improvement.


judgmental

en-adj

judgmental (comparative more judgmental, superlative most judgmental)

more judgmental (comparative)
most judgmental (superlative)

/d͡ʒʌd͡ʒˈmɛntl̩/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-judgmental.wav

(chiefly of a person) Inclined to rashly pass judgment, critical.


sprightly

sprightly (comparative sprightlier, superlative sprightliest)

sprightlier (comparative)
sprightliest (superlative)

From spright + -ly (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘behaving like, having the nature of’). Spright is an obsolete variant of sprite (“a shade, spirit; elf, fairy, goblin; apparition, ghost”), from Middle English sprit (“principle of life; soul, especially at the point of death; immaterial being (angel, demon, apparition, ghost, etc.); divine inspiration; Holy Spirit; the mind, intellect, reason; mental faculties, senses; power of prophecy; character, disposition; courage, resolution; mood, state of mind; human will; breath; (alchemy) volatile substance”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman esprite, esprit and Middle French esprit, variants of Anglo-Norman, Middle French, Old French espirit, esperit (“spirit”), from Latin spīritus (“air; breath; breathing; ghost, spirit”), from spīrō (“to breathe; to breathe out, exhale”) (from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peys- (“to blow; to breathe”)) + -tus (“suffix forming verbal nouns from verbs”).

nb...

spreit, spreite, spret, sprete, spright, sprite, spriʒt

der

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-sprightly.wav

Next vnto lumpish Saturn, sprightlie Iove / Moves in his orbe.

c. 1614–1616, “[Certaine Poems.] Planetarum Energia.”, in J. M. Cowper, editor, compiled by R. C. [Richard Corbet?], The Times’ Whistle: Or A Newe Daunce of Seven Satires, and Other Poems: […], London: Published for the Early English Text Society, by N[icholas] Trübner & Co., […], published 1871, →OCLC, leaf 40, page 114, lines 13–14:

And ſhou’d Apollo novv deſcend and vvrite, / In Vertue’s Praiſe ’tvvou’d never paſs for Wit. / The Bookſeller perhaps vvou’d ſay, / ’Tvvas vvell: / But ’Tvvou’d not hit the Times, ’Tvvou’d never Sell: / Unleſs a Spice of Levvdneſs cou’d appear, / The ſprightly part vvou’d ſtill be vvanting there. / […] / ’Tis Love and Honour muſt enrich our Verſe, / The Modern Terms, our VVhoring to rehearſe. / The ſprightly part attends the God of VVine, / The Drunken Stile muſt blaze in every Line.

1702, [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in Reformation of Manners, a Satyr, [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 59:

[B]y the Path-way green, / A ſprightlie Troupe ſtill onward heedleſſe ſped, / In Chace of Butterflies alert and keen; / Honours, and Wealth, and Powre, their Butterflies I ween.

1767, [William Julius Mickle], “Canto II”, in The Concubine: A Poem, in Two Cantos. In the Manner of Spenser, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Daniel Prince; [s]old by J[ohn] Rivington, […]; T[homas] Payne, […]; and J[ames] Dodsley, […]; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: T. and J. Merrill, →OCLC, stanza LIV, page 70:

The Bard now tries a ſprightlier ſound, / When all the feather'd race around / Perceive the varied ſtrains; / The ſoaring lark the note purſues; / The timorous dove around him cooes, / And Philomel complains.

a. 1764, William Shenstone, “Love and Music, Written at Oxford, when Young”, in Samuel Johnson, editor, The Works of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland; […], volume VII, London: […] Andrew Miller, […], published 1800, →OCLC, page 137, column 1:

Animated, gay, or vivacious; lively, spirited.

دَجِر

animated, gay, or vivacious — see also lively

Shall our example ſloth create, / And make our Sons degenerate? / Our ſprightly youth uſeleſs in War become, / And ſleep in peace and ſlavery at home.

1685, [Francis Willis [et al.]], “Ode the 15th of the First Book of Casimire Imitated, Encouraging the Polish Knights after Their Last Conquests to Proceed in Their Victory”, in Miscellany Poems and Translations by Oxford Hands, London: […] Anthony Stephens, […], stanza VI, page 77:

This youth was ance a sprightlie boy / As ever lived in Linne.

1845, “The Heir of Linne”, in James Henry Dixon, editor, Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads (Early English Poetry, Ballads, and Popular Literature of the Middle Ages. […]; XVII, number 1), London: […] [F]or the Percy Society, by T. Richards, […], →OCLC, page 33, lines 79–80:

Methinkes it was aboutt this Date that a ſore Afflicſhon befelle my deare and formerlie merrie Siſter, the Ladye Herbert, whom my Reder will beſte recollecte as my Ladye Mother's beſte beloved Childe, the happie, ſprightlie Katie of oure School-den Daies.

1861, [Flora Frances Wylde], The Tablette Booke of Ladye Mary Keyes, Owne Sister to the Misfortunate Ladye Jane Dudlie; […], London: Saunders, Otley, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 197:

Of a person: full of life and vigour, especially with a light and springy step.

Especially of an older person: energetic and in good health; spry.

енергичен

especially of an older person: energetic and in good health


sprightly

From spright + -ly (suffix forming adverbs from adjectives).; see further at etymology 1.

suffix

In a lively and vigorous way; sprightlily.


loony

Shortened from lunatic, and likely also from loon ("rascal", and also the bird) + -y.

(informal, offensive, derogatory) An insane or very foolish person.


temperamental

en-adj

temperamental (comparative more temperamental, superlative most temperamental)

more temperamental (comparative)
most temperamental (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-temperamental.wav

(of a machine or of software, figuratively) User-unfriendly, unstable, that is complicated or has poorly written instructions and is subsequently difficult to operate; unpredictable and erratic.


temperamental

pt-adj

temperamental m or f (plural temperamentais)

Borrowed from English temperamental. By surface analysis, temperamento + -al.

temperamental (who has untimely and intense reactions)


temperament

pl-noun

temperament m inan (diminutive temperamencik)

temperamencik (diminutive)
temperament (nominative singular)
temperamenty (nominative plural)
temperamentu (genitive singular)
temperamentów (genitive plural)
temperamentowi (dative singular)
temperamentom (dative plural)
temperament (accusative singular)
temperamenty (accusative plural)
temperamentem (instrumental singular)
temperamentami (instrumental plural)
temperamencie (locative singular)
temperamentach (locative plural)
temperamencie (singular vocative)
temperamenty (plural vocative)


waggish

en-adj

waggish (comparative more waggish, superlative most waggish)

more waggish (comparative)
most waggish (superlative)

[H]ere Pen was immensely waggish, and caused hysteric giggles of delight from the ladies […]

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 48, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:


tenacious

tenacious (comparative more tenacious, superlative most tenacious)

more tenacious (comparative)
most tenacious (superlative)

From Latin tenāx (“holding fast, clinging”), from tenēre (“to hold”), + -ious.

The quagmiry road, trodden into tenacious paste by the long file of human beings ahead […]

1873, Henry Morton Stanley, My Kalulu, Prince, King, and Slave:


tenderhearted

tenderhearted (comparative more tenderhearted, superlative most tenderhearted)

more tenderhearted (comparative)
most tenderhearted (superlative)

I am tender-hearted by nature, and have found my eyes moist many a time over the scream of a wounded hare.

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

The other patients in the ward, all but the Texan, shrank from him with a tenderhearted aversion from the moment they set eyes on him the morning after the night he had been sneaked in.

1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “The Soldier in White”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 169:


inoffensive

inoffensive (comparative more inoffensive, superlative most inoffensive)

more inoffensive (comparative)
most inoffensive (superlative)

an inoffensive joke

[S]he was one of your ſoft ſpoken, canting, whining hypocrites, who with a truly jeſuitical art, could wreſt evil out of the moſt inoffenſive thought, word, look or action; […]

1765, Catherine Jemmat, The Memoirs of Mrs. Catherine Jemmat, Daughter of the Late Admiral Yeo, of Plymouth. Written by Herself, 2nd edition, volume I, London: Printed for the author, at Charing-Cross, →OCLC, page 145:

On January 7, 1964, a group of American students at Balboa High School in the Panama Canal Zone set into motion events that soon threatened our relations with Panama and endangered operation of the Panama Canal. It was, on the surface, an inoffensive act: The students raised the American flag in front of the school.

1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 180:


hyperactive

hyperactive (comparative more hyperactive, superlative most hyperactive)

more hyperactive (comparative)
most hyperactive (superlative)

attention deficit disorder
attention deficit disorder

having attention deficit disorder (no longer used by the scientific community)


hardheaded

hardheaded (comparative more hardheaded, superlative most hardheaded)

more hardheaded (comparative)
most hardheaded (superlative)

From hard + headed. First appears c. mid-15th century in the writings of Osbern Bokenam.

Coordinate term: hardhearted


headstrong

headstrong (comparative more headstrong, superlative most headstrong)

more headstrong (comparative)
most headstrong (superlative)

From Middle English heedstrong, equivalent to head + strong.

He was in that headstrong teenage phase when he felt like he knew everything.

O, there's nothing to be hoped for from her! ſhe's as headſtrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile.

1775 January 17 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], The Rivals, a Comedy. […], London: […] John Wilkie, […], published 1775, →OCLC, Act III, scene iii, page 52:

Determined to do as one pleases, and not as others want.

үҙһүҙле

determined to do as one pleases, and not as others want


goofball

He announced, with his usual goofball humor, that he'd like to marry me!


studious

studious (comparative more studious, superlative most studious)

more studious (comparative)
most studious (superlative)

Latin studiōsus. First recorded in English circa 1350.

Given to thought, or to the examination of subjects by contemplation; contemplative.

be studious to please

She is studious to find new friends and allies

(usually followed by an infinitive or by "of") Earnest in endeavors; attentive; diligent


provocateur

fr-adj

provocateur (feminine provocatrice, masculine plural provocateurs, feminine plural provocatrices)

provocatrice (feminine)
provocateurs (masculine plural)
provocatrices (feminine plural)

Borrowed from Latin provocātōrem. See provoquer, -ateur.


competitive

en-adj

competitive (comparative more competitive, superlative most competitive)

more competitive (comparative)
most competitive (superlative)

From Latin competītus (past participle of competere) + -ive.

The final remnants of the competitive spirit between companies will be eliminated, and there is no reasonable prospect that the dull uniformity of standardisation will be offset by greater efficiency in operation.

1947 January and February, “The Transport Nationalisation Bill”, in Railway Magazine, page 2:

Manchester United's Tom Cleverley impressed on his first competitive start and Lampard demonstrated his continued worth at international level in a performance that was little more than a stroll once England swiftly exerted their obvious authority.

2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:

(of someone's character) Inclined to compete.

competitive antagonist

(biochemistry) Relating to the inhibition of the effects of a chemical substance by another substance competing with it for binding or bonding.


sociable

sociable (comparative more sociable, superlative most sociable)

more sociable (comparative)
most sociable (superlative)

From Middle French sociable, from Latin sociābilis.

Is the King sociable And bids thee live ?

c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Philaster: Or, Love Lies a Bleeding”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):


sociable

Learned borrowing from Latin sociābilis.