resourceful

resourceful (comparative more resourceful, superlative most resourceful)

more resourceful (comparative)
most resourceful (superlative)

With a resourceful use of space and a fresh coat of paint, the room became a pleasant library with a comfortable seating area.

Capable or clever; able to put available resources to efficient or ingenious use; using materials at hand wisely or efficiently.

vindingryk

capable or clever; able to put available resources to efficient or ingenious use


pernickety

en-adj

pernickety (comparative more pernickety, superlative most pernickety)

more pernickety (comparative)
most pernickety (superlative)

From Scots pernickety, persnickety, apparently from per- + nick (“a notch, mark, cutting retort”) + -et (“-ed”) + -y; equivalent to English per- + nick + -ety ("marked up, overly precise, pernickety). The alternative form persnickety, with s, may be due to substitution of Scots sneck (“a cut, notch”) for nick.
Compare also Scots variants pernicked, pernicket, pirnicky, and pernicky.

gl

‘You must forgive me,’ he said. ‘I take a ridiculous pleasure in what I eat and drink. It comes partly from being a bachelor, but mostly from a habit of taking a lot of trouble over details. It’s very pernickety and old-maidish really, but then when I’m working I generally have to eat my meals alone and it makes them more interesting when one takes trouble.’

1953, Ian Fleming, chapter 8, in Casino Royale, page 48:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Fussy; paying undue attention to minor details; fastidious.


winsome

en-adj

winsome (comparative winsomer, superlative winsomest)

winsomer (comparative)
winsomest (superlative)

Inherited from Middle English wynsom, winsom, winsome, winsum, wunsum (“beautiful; agreeable, gracious, pleasant; generous; of situations: favourable, propitious”), from Old English wynsum (“joyful, merry, pleasant; winsome”), from Proto-West Germanic *wunnjusam (“joyful”). By surface analysis, winne (“delight, joy, pleasure”) + -some.

surf

[…] lifting her winsome eyes to my face with that sort of look which turns off bad temper, even when one has all the right in the world to indulge it.

1847, Emily Brontë, chapter IX, in Wuthering Heights:

Will ye keep your troth to me, / Winsome Annie Ramsay? / Will ye keep your troth to me, / Winsome Annie Ramsay? / Will ye keep your troth to me? / My ain true luve will ye be? / Then meet me at the trysting tree, / Winsome Annie Ramsay.

1851 October, Jonathan Freke Slingsby [pseudonym; John Francis Waller], “Slingsby in Scotland. Part II.—Conclusion.”, in The Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal, volume XXXVIII, number CCXXVI, Dublin: James McGlashan, 50 Upper Sackville-St.; London: W[illia]m S[omerville] Orr, →OCLC, stanza I, page 494:

Gerty MacDowell who was seated near her companions, lost in thought, gazing far away into the distance was in very truth as fair a specimen of winsome Irish girlhood as one could wish to see.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 13, Nausicaa]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 333:

He [Ching Keng Lee] is a man of fine physique and above the height of the average Straits-born, with a shrewd business head, and affable and winsome manners, and continues to take a keen interest in public affairs.

1923, Song Ong Siang, “The Ninth Decade (1899–1909): Second Part”, in One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore: […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 377:

The pink wallpaper of the nursery was decorated with a Noah's Ark of friendly lions and comical giraffes and winsome elephants.

1961, David Alexander, “When the Rain Stops”, in Hangman’s Dozen, New York, N.Y.: Roy Publishers, →OCLC, page 216:

Charming, engaging, winning; inspiring approval and trust, especially if in an innocent manner.


inflexible

en-adj

inflexible (comparative more inflexible, superlative most inflexible)

more inflexible (comparative)
most inflexible (superlative)

Borrowed from Middle French inflexible, from Latin īnflexibilis. See also in- + flexible.

Not willing to change, e.g. one's opinion or habits.


imperturbable

imperturbable (comparative more imperturbable, superlative most imperturbable)

more imperturbable (comparative)
most imperturbable (superlative)

/ˌɪmpəˈtɜːbəbəl/

From Middle English imperturbable, from Middle French imperturbable and directly from Late Latin imperturbābilis, from im- + perturbō + -bilis. By surface analysis, im- + perturbable.

[T]he good Dominie bore all his disasters with gravity and serenity equally imperturbable. "Prodi-gi-ous!" was the only ejaculation they ever extorted from the much-enduring man.

1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, page 116:

"We may keep it by us," replied the pawnbroker, "for months; there is no demand for such articles." "But," exclaimed she, eagerly, "I shall soon redeem it!" "So you all say," returned the man, with imperturbable coolness.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Poverty”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 280:

This sort of thing is meat and drink to the born Controller—and Controllers are born with the right imperturbable temperament for the job; hence the fact that they are recruited from many different grades of operating staff, and some recruits don't stay the course.

1962 August, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic Control on the Great Northern Line”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 132:

Not easily perturbed, excited, or upset; calm and collected, even under pressure


imperturbable

Learned borrowing from Late Latin imperturbābilis.


judicious

en-adj

judicious (comparative more judicious, superlative most judicious)

more judicious (comparative)
most judicious (superlative)

From French judicieux, ultimately derived from Latin iudico. Related to judge, judicial.

Such practices as Theſe, too groſs to lye / Long unobſerv'd by each diſcerning Eye, / The more judicious Iſraelites Unſpell'd, / Though ſtill the Charm the giddy Rabble held, [...]

1682, [Nahum Tate; John Dryden], The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 5:

One hall called Civil Law Hall or School, flouriſhed about this time (though in its buildings decayed) by the care of the learned and judicious Dr. Will. Warham Principal or Moderator thereof [...]

1792, Anthony à Wood, “An. Dom. 1503, 18–19 Hen. VII”, in The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford: […], volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Gutch, →OCLC, page 661:

This project has stripped away modern PVCu and aluminium shop fronts to reveal original or 1930s Art Deco work, with judicious repairs and replacements as necessary, plus stonework repairs and the restoration of traditional London Transport signage.

2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Great Western Railway Craft Skills Award: Victoria Arcade”, in RAIL, number 946, page 59:

Having, characterized by, or done with good judgment or sound thinking.

ذِهْنِيّ

having or characterized by good judgment or sound thinking


polished

polished (comparative more polished, superlative most polished)

more polished (comparative)
most polished (superlative)

a polished performance

We may be well assured, that a writer, conversant with the world, would never have ventured to expose the gods of his country to public ridicule, had they not already been the objects of secret contempt among the polished and enlightened orders of society.

1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol I, ch 2-pt i:

"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."

She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had expected to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven, burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.

1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 2:


honorable

honorable (comparative more honorable, superlative most honorable)

more honorable (comparative)
most honorable (superlative)

From Middle English honourable, from Old French honorable, honurable, from Latin honōrābilis, from honōrō (“I honour”); cognate with Italian onorabile, Spanish honorable. By surface analysis, honor + -able. In this sense, largely displaced Old English ārfæst.

Behaving in a manner that shows honor; decent, having integrity.

In confinement ladies are attended, not by the ordinary doctors, but by women especially devoted to the calling, who regard their profession as honorable and humanitary.

1887, The Popular Science Monthly, volume 31, page 629:

hoogedelgestreng

member of parliament, provincial governor

Uncheered by friends, unhissed by foes, the honorable member blandly continued his speech […]

1872, Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, The Unkind Word, and Other Stories, page 145:

cabinet minister
cabinet minister#English

minister of state
minister of state#English

(politics) A courtesy title, given in Britain and the Commonwealth to a cabinet minister, minister of state, or senator, and in the United States to the president, vice president, congresspeople, state governors and legislators, and mayors.


honorable

Inherited from Old French [Term?], borrowed from Latin honōrābilis.


dignified

dignified (comparative more dignified, superlative most dignified)

more dignified (comparative)
most dignified (superlative)

Having an attitude or bearing that connotes respectability and poise.


quietus

la-part

quiētus (feminine quiēta, neuter quiētum, comparative quiētior, superlative quiētissimus); first/second-declension participle

quiētus (canonical)
quiēta (feminine)
quiētum (neuter)
quiētior (comparative)
quiētissimus (superlative)
quiētus (masculine nominative singular)
quiēta (feminine nominative singular)
quiētum (neuter nominative singular)
quiētī (masculine nominative singular)
quiētae (feminine nominative plural)
quiēta (neuter nominative plural)
quiētī (genitive masculine singular)
quiētae (feminine genitive singular)
quiētī (genitive neuter singular)
quiētōrum (genitive masculine singular)
quiētārum (feminine genitive plural)
quiētōrum (genitive neuter plural)
quiētō (dative masculine singular)
quiētae (dative feminine singular)
quiētō (dative neuter singular)
quiētīs (dative feminine masculine neuter)
quiētum (accusative masculine singular)
quiētam (accusative feminine singular)
quiētum (accusative neuter singular)
quiētōs (accusative masculine singular)
quiētās (accusative feminine plural)
quiēta (accusative neuter plural)
quiētō (ablative masculine singular)
quiētā (ablative feminine singular)
quiētō (ablative neuter singular)
quiētīs (ablative feminine masculine neuter)
quiēte (masculine singular vocative)
quiēta (feminine singular vocative)
quiētum (neuter singular vocative)
quiētī (masculine singular vocative)
quiētae (feminine plural vocative)
quiēta (neuter plural vocative)

desctree

→ Old French: quite
Middle French: quitte
French: quitte
→ Middle English: quit, quite
English: quit, quite
→ Old Galician-Portuguese: quite, quieto, quito, quita
Portuguese: quite

Balkan Romance:

Aromanian: ãntset

Romanian: chet, închet

Italo-Romance:

Italian: cheto

Sicilian: cuetu

Padanian:

Friulian: cuiet

Lombard: quet

Venetan: chieto, chiet, cet

Gallo-Romance:

Old Catalan: quet

Franco-Provençal: quièt

French: coi

→ English: coy

Ibero-Romance:

Asturian: quedu

Galician: quedo

Portuguese: quedo

Spanish: quedo

Insular Romance:

Sardinian: chetu

⇒ Vulgar Latin: *quiētiāre (see there for further descendants)

Borrowings:

→ Asturian: quietu

→ Catalan: quiet

→ English: quiet, quietus

→ French: quiet

→ Galician: quieto

→ Portuguese: quieto

→ Spanish: quieto

From Proto-Italic *kʷjētos, perfect passive participle of quiēscō (“repose, lie still”).


frisky

en-adj

frisky (comparative friskier, superlative friskiest)

friskier (comparative)
friskiest (superlative)

It was the shots. It had to be. LeClair had declined to explain what was in them, but they'd all been feeling energized, sharper, friskier since the injections. Something to do with McInnis' promise of advanced Foundation healthcare, he supposed. Maybe even O5 shit. Well, no harm done so far.

2023 October 22, HarryBlank, “Waiting to Happen”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-05-23:


bête

Inherited from Middle French beste, from Old French beste, probably partially borrowed from Classical Latin bēstia (“beast”), or less likely from an alternative Vulgar Latin bēsta (“animal”). Compare biche (probably from Old French bisse, itself from Vulgar Latin bīstia; compare Italian biscia).

Je dis ça, mais depuis quelques semaines elle est moins bête. Même avec moi

1999, Chrystine Brouillet, Les Fiancées de l'Enfer, →ISBN, page 69:

I say that, but these last few weeks she hasn't been as nasty [lit: "less of a beast"]. Even with me.

(Canada, informal) grumpy (having a bad character or in a bad mood; showing great displeasure in interacting with people)


kurteis

is-adj

kurteis (comparative kurteisari, superlative kurteisastur)

kurteisari (comparative)
kurteisastur (superlative)
kurteis (masculine nominative strong)
kurteis (feminine nominative strong)
kurteist (neuter nominative strong)
kurteisan (accusative masculine strong)
kurteisa (accusative feminine strong)
kurteist (accusative neuter strong)
kurteisum (dative masculine strong)
kurteisri (dative feminine strong)
kurteisu (dative neuter strong)
kurteiss (genitive masculine strong)
kurteisrar (feminine genitive strong)
kurteiss (genitive neuter strong)
kurteisir (masculine nominative strong)
kurteisar (feminine nominative strong)
kurteis (neuter nominative strong)
kurteisa (accusative masculine strong)
kurteisar (accusative feminine strong)
kurteis (accusative neuter strong)
kurteisum (dative strong)
kurteisra (genitive strong)
kurteisi (masculine nominative weak)
kurteisa (feminine nominative weak)
kurteisa (neuter nominative weak)
kurteisa (masculine weak)
kurteisu (feminine weak)
kurteisa (neuter weak)
kurteisu (plural weak)
kurteisari (comparative masculine singular weak)
kurteisari (comparative feminine singular weak)
kurteisara (comparative neuter singular weak)
kurteisari (comparative plural weak)
kurteisastur (masculine nominative strong superlative)
kurteisust (feminine nominative strong superlative)
kurteisast (neuter nominative strong superlative)
kurteisastan (accusative masculine strong superlative)
kurteisasta (accusative feminine strong superlative)
kurteisast (accusative neuter strong superlative)
kurteisustum (dative masculine strong superlative)
kurteisastri (dative feminine strong superlative)
kurteisustu (dative neuter strong superlative)
kurteisasts (genitive masculine strong superlative)
kurteisastrar (feminine genitive strong superlative)
kurteisasts (genitive neuter strong superlative)
kurteisastir (masculine nominative strong superlative)
kurteisastar (feminine nominative strong superlative)
kurteisust (neuter nominative strong superlative)
kurteisasta (accusative masculine strong superlative)
kurteisastar (accusative feminine strong superlative)
kurteisust (accusative neuter strong superlative)
kurteisustum (dative strong superlative)
kurteisastra (genitive strong superlative)
kurteisasti (masculine nominative superlative weak)
kurteisasta (feminine nominative superlative weak)
kurteisasta (neuter nominative superlative weak)
kurteisasta (masculine superlative weak)
kurteisustu (feminine superlative weak)
kurteisasta (neuter superlative weak)
kurteisustu (plural superlative weak)

Morðinginn var afar kurteis og baðst velvirðingar á því að hafa brotið vasann og drepið hundinn.

The killer was most polite and apologized for breaking the vase and killing the dog.


prudent

en-adj

prudent (comparative more prudent, superlative most prudent)

more prudent (comparative)
most prudent (superlative)

From Middle English prudent, from Old French prudent, from Latin prūdēns, contracted from prōvidēns (“foresight”) (English providence), the past participle of prōvideō (“I forsee”). Unrelated to prude. Doublet of provident.

His prudent career moves reliably brought him to the top.

A prudent man foreseeth the euill, and hideth himselfe: but the simple passe on, and are punished.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 22:3:


prudent

fr-adj

prudent (feminine prudente, masculine plural prudents, feminine plural prudentes)

prudente (feminine)
prudents (masculine plural)
prudentes (feminine plural)


hearty

en-adj

hearty (comparative heartier, superlative heartiest)

heartier (comparative)
heartiest (superlative)

a hearty welcome; hearty in supporting the government.

We, full of hearty tears / For our good father's loss

c. 1603, John Marston, The Malcontent, act IV, scene I:

Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well.

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

Warm and cordial towards another person.

a hearty appetite

a hearty fellow

a hearty handshake; a hearty timber


manly

manly (comparative manlier, superlative manliest)

manlier (comparative)
manliest (superlative)

From Middle English manly, manli, manlich, from Old English *manlīċ (suggested by adverb manlīċe (“in a way befitting a person; nobly, stately”)), from Proto-Germanic *mannlīkaz, equivalent to man + -ly.
Cognate with Old High German manlīh (“manly”) (whence German männlich), Dutch mannelijk, Old Norse mannligr (“human”) (Danish mandlig, Swedish manlig).

মরদ

having the qualities of a man such as courage

Let's briefly put on manly readiness.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

Serene and manly, harden'd to sustain / The load of life.

1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fifteenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:

Without a successful defense of one's city, none of the other virtues would be possible; manly courage seems to be a precondition for anything else worth achieving in life.

2001, Thomas W. Smith, Revaluing Ethics: Aristotle's Dialectical Pedagogy, page 86:

Having qualities viewed as befitting a man; manful; courageous, resolute, noble.


manly

English: manly

Scots: manly

From Old English *manlīċ, from Proto-West Germanic *mannlīk, from Proto-Germanic *mannlīkaz; equivalent to man + -ly (adjectival suffix).


acer

la-adj

ācer (feminine ācris, neuter ācre, comparative ācrior, superlative ācerrimus, adverb ācriter); third-declension three-termination adjective

ācer (canonical)
ācris (feminine)
ācre (neuter)
ācrior (comparative)
ācerrimus (superlative)
ācriter (adverb)
ācer (masculine nominative singular)
ācris (feminine nominative singular)
ācre (neuter nominative singular)
ācrēs (feminine masculine nominative)
ācria (neuter nominative plural)
ācris (feminine genitive masculine neuter singular)
ācrium (feminine genitive masculine neuter)
ācrī (dative feminine masculine neuter singular)
ācribus (dative feminine masculine neuter)
ācrem (accusative feminine masculine singular)
ācre (accusative neuter singular)
ācrēs (accusative feminine masculine)
ācrīs (accusative feminine masculine)
ācria (accusative neuter plural)
ācrī (ablative feminine masculine neuter singular)
ācribus (ablative feminine masculine neuter)
ācer (masculine singular vocative)
ācris (feminine singular vocative)
ācre (neuter singular vocative)
ācrēs (feminine masculine vocative)
ācria (neuter plural vocative)

Ancient borrowings:

→ Old Irish: aicher

Irish: aichear

Later borrowings:

→ Catalan: acre

→⇒ English: acrid, acrylic

→ Esperanto: akra

→ French: âcre

→ Italian: acre

→ Portuguese: acre

→ Spanish: acre

From Proto-Italic *akris, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ḱrós (“sharp”). The change from o-stem to i-stem declension is irregular and not fully explained. Likewise, Latin has irregular lengthening of the vowel. Cognate with Ancient Greek ἄκρος (ákros).


blustery

en-adj

blustery (comparative more blustery, superlative most blustery)

more blustery (comparative)
most blustery (superlative)

Duke Wilhelm […] seems to have been of a headlong, blustery, uncertain disposition; much tossed about in the controversies of his day.

1858, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II of Prussia, London: Chapman and Hall, Volume 1, Book 3, Chapter 12, pp. 295-296:

He talks in a rather loud, blustery way and has a nervous, irritable manner.

1930, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 1, in The Maltese Falcon, New York: Knopf:

Uncle Miles wished only to dodge the issue that had hurled them apart, offering an effusive and blustery hospitality as an alternative to the air-clearing discussion which the situation so urgently called for.

1937, Lloyd C. Douglas, chapter 16, in Forgive Us Our Trespasses, London: Peter Davies, page 290:

Vayu was a large, strong, blustery character, full of drive and energy but mercurial in temperament.

1989, Shashi Tharoor, chapter 22, in The Great Indian Novel, New York: Arcade, published 2011:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued this week to use a blustery “we will go it alone if we must” rhetoric publicly.

2024 May 9, Howard LaFranchi, “Historic Israeli desire to ‘go it alone’ is tested by Gaza and Iran”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

(of a person) Pompous or arrogant, especially in one's speech; given to outbursts.


fickle

fickle (comparative fickler or more fickle, superlative ficklest or most fickle)

fickler (comparative)
more fickle (comparative)
ficklest (superlative)
most fickle (superlative)

From Middle English fikil, fikel, from Old English ficol (“fickle, cunning, tricky, deceitful”), equivalent to fike + -le. More at fike.

inh

O Fortune, Fortune, all men call thee fickle, / If thou art fickle, what doſt thou with him / That is renown'd for faith? be fickle Fortune: / For then I hope thou wilt not keepe him long, / But ſend him backe.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], page 69:

Still onward winds the dreary way;
I with it; for I long to prove
No lapse of moons can canker Love,
Whatever fickle tongues may say.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXVI, page 43:

As night has such a local ring / And love and rock are fickle things

2010, James Murphy (lyrics and music), “Home”, in This Is Happening, performed by LCD Soundsystem:

Quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance; insincere; not loyal or reliable.

հեղհեղուկ

quick to change one’s opinion or allegiance


risqué

fr-adj

risqué (feminine risquée, masculine plural risqués, feminine plural risquées)

risquée (feminine)
risqués (masculine plural)
risquées (feminine plural)

→ English: risqué


upbeat

en-adj

upbeat (comparative more upbeat, superlative most upbeat)

more upbeat (comparative)
most upbeat (superlative)

Though he had bad news, he ended with an upbeat forecast for the future.

He sounded upbeat when I talked to him.

But Murphy remains upbeat about the longer-term prospect of recovery and a resumption of the record growth in passenger volumes experienced in the UK in the two decades following privatisation.

2022 August 24, Steve Murphy tells Paul Stephen, “Rail + property: a winning combination”, in RAIL, number 964, page 48:

Having a positive, lively, or perky tone, attitude, etc.


reticent

reticent (comparative more reticent, superlative most reticent)

more reticent (comparative)
most reticent (superlative)

Latin reticēns, present participle of reticeō (“to keep silence”).

They are slow and reticent, and are like a dull good horse which lets every nag pass him, but with whip and spur will run down every racer in the field.

1856, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Result”, in English Traits, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:

But he was a reticent as well as an eccentric man; and he made no mention of a certain evening when he warmed his hands at the gatehouse fire, and looked steadily down upon a certain heap of torn and miry clothes upon the floor.

1870 April–September, Charles Dickens, chapter XXIII, in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1870, →OCLC:

She had told him she was not now at Marlott, but had been curiously reticent as to her actual address, and the only course was to go to Marlott and inquire for it.

1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC:

The milkman had been released, I read, and the true criminal, about whose identity the police were reticent, was believed to have got away from London by one of the northern lines.

1915 August–September, John Buchan, chapter 3, in The Thirty-Nine Steps, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, published October 1915, →OCLC:

The inhabitants of that street impressed me peculiarly; At first I thought it was because they were all silent and reticent; but later decided it was because they were all very old.

1922, H. P. Lovecraft, The Music of Erich Zann:

But they were not reticent enough to prevent the circulation of certain uneasy rumours and extravagant stories of discreditable adventures.

1922, Rafael Sabatini, “chapter XXV”, in Captain Blood: His Odyssy:

Keeping one's thoughts and opinions to oneself; reserved or restrained.


imprudent

fr-adj

imprudent (feminine imprudente, masculine plural imprudents, feminine plural imprudentes)

imprudente (feminine)
imprudents (masculine plural)
imprudentes (feminine plural)

From Latin imprūdentem. Morphologically analyzable as im- + prudent.


creeper

From Middle English crepere, from Old English crēopere, equivalent to creep + -er. Slang usage derived from phrase give the creeps or creep out (distinct from merely one who creeps).

Standing Waters[…] are most unwholesome, putrified, and full of mites, creepers, slimy, muddy, uncleane, corrupt, impure, by reason of the Suns heat, and still standing;

1638 [1621], Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, page 71:

With his presence marked by shots of children’s toys overlaid with ominous music, Z is more of a creeper than a reaper—until a shocking, sudden moment midway through the film.

2020 May 7, Katie Rife, “If you’re looking to jump in your seat, make a playdate with Z”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 2020-05-16:

A person or a thing that crawls or creeps.

(often in the plural) A one-piece garment for infants designed to facilitate access to the wearer's diaper.

Strophitus undulatus, a freshwater mussel of the eastern United States.

Don't go to a nightclub to find a boyfriend. They're all creepers there.

(derogatory, slang) A person who creeps people out; a creepy person.


high-strung

en-adj

high-strung (comparative more high-strung, superlative most high-strung)

more high-strung (comparative)
most high-strung (superlative)

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

Three cups of coffee made him a fidgety and high-strung lecturer.

"Why, you're shakin' all over!" "I suppose I wouldn't be a medium if I wasn't high strung."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(informal, idiomatic) Nervous; anxious; excited or excitable.


extrovert

/ˈɛkstɹəˌvəɹt/

Alteration of earlier extravert (by influence of introvert), from German Extravert, popularized in psychology by Phyllis Blanchard's 1918 "Psycho-Analytic Study of August Comte". By surface analysis, extro- + -vert.

In order to understand the marked contract between Comte's mental attitude during his early years and that of his later life, we must keep in mind Jung's hypothesis of the two psychological types, the introvert and extrovert,—the thinking type and the feeling type.

1918 April, Phyllis Blanchard, “A Psycho-Analytic Study of August Comte”, in American Journal of Psychology, page 163:

He cannot find the fabled boatman, but he does come across the two stone images that belong to the boatman, and in rage and frustration, the great heroic extrovert, the man who is used to acting out whatever he feels inside, smashes the stones.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 201:

(informal psychology) An extroverted person: one who is outgoing, sociable, and concerned with outer affairs.


extrovert

extrovert (comparative more extrovert, superlative most extrovert)

more extrovert (comparative)
most extrovert (superlative)

(informal psychology) Alternative form of extroverted: outgoing.


introvert

From New Latin intrōvertere, from intro- (“within”) and vertere (“to turn”). Popularized as a psychological term by the German works of Carl Jung. By surface analysis, intro- + -vert.

An Extravert can hardly conceive the necessity which compels the Introvert to conquer the world by means of a system.

1916, Constance Ellen Long trans. Carl Jung as Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology, p. 349

All works of the imagination are conceived by men of the introvert type.

The introvert abstracts from the object and deals with it by concepts concentrating upon the inner world of thought.

1925, Charles Fox, Educational Psychology, page 254:

This softly spoken but fluent communicator describes himself as an introvert who prefers not to shout from the rooftops.

2021 January 13, Paul Clifton, “Delivering a basis for rail changes”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 30:

(psychology) An introverted person: one who is considered more thoughtful than social, with a personality more inwardly than outwardly directed; one who often prefers to have time in non-social situations.

اِنْطِوَائِيّ

one who focuses primarily on their own mind, feelings, or affairs


Panglossian

Panglossian (comparative more Panglossian, superlative most Panglossian)

more Panglossian (comparative)
most Panglossian (superlative)

From Dr. Pangloss, a character in Voltaire's Candide, + -ian.

Though he took a Panglossian view of the world in his youth, he became jaded as he grew older.

(derogatory) Naively or unreasonably optimistic.


disciplined

disciplined (comparative more disciplined, superlative most disciplined)

more disciplined (comparative)
most disciplined (superlative)

The authors believe the saleman^([sic]) of the 1970s will be a man practicing "consultative selling," a three-disciplined role, in which he acts as a business planner, profit improver, and negotiator for his customers.

1970, Sales Management, volume 105, numbers 7-13, page 37:

(in combination) Relating to a specified kind or number of disciplines.


guarded

guarded (comparative more guarded, superlative most guarded)

more guarded (comparative)
most guarded (superlative)

guarded prognosis

(medicine, often euphemistic) When the practitioner formulating the opinion does not have enough information to know, or to foretell, what the outcome may be.


forthright

forthright (comparative more forthright, superlative most forthright)

more forthright (comparative)
most forthright (superlative)

/ˈfɔːθˌɹaɪt/

/ˈfɔɹθˌɹaɪt/

From Middle English forþright, forþriʒt, forþriht, from Old English forþriht (“direct, plain”); equivalent to forth + right.

The witness was considered eminently credible thanks to her forthright answers.

Straightforward; not evasive; candid and direct.

TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes was typically forthright in his criticism by claiming that Sunak had "blatantly failed" to cure "a growing tragedy", as "every single day, more and more families can't make ends meet".

2022 April 6, “Network News: Spring Statement: Sunak accused of making rail less competitive”, in RAIL, number 954, page 8:


forthright

From Middle English forthright, forþriʒt, forthricte, from Old English forþrihte (“straightway, at once, plainly”), from forþriht + -e (“adverbial suffix”).


unflappable

en-adj

unflappable (comparative more unflappable, superlative most unflappable)

more unflappable (comparative)
most unflappable (superlative)

From un- + flap (“to upset, stir”) + -able.

The whole thing looked remarkably like an implacable force meeting an unflappable object.

It was for this reason that when Lord Hailsham first described Harold Macmillan as "unflappable'", it became an instant catchword, distancing the incoming Prime Minister from his predecessor

1978, James D. Margach, The abuse of power: the war between Downing Street and the media from Lloyd George to Callaghan:

Whereas his predecessor was impetuous, Obama was praised for being contemplative and unflappable. Bush had a gut; Obama had a brain.

2010 September 26, Gary Younge, “Obama won as cool and unflappable. But presidents need to act angry too”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

It took a lot to get Wheeler's pulse going, but Lillian's dangerous joke had done the job. The otherwise unflappable woman was flushed with adrenaline.

2023 October 22, HarryBlank, “Waiting to Happen”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 2024-05-23:

Remaining composed and level-headed at all times; impossible to fluster; not becoming frustrated or irritated easily.

невъзмутим

remaining composed and level-headed at all times


thoughtful

thoughtful (comparative more thoughtful, superlative most thoughtful)

more thoughtful (comparative)
most thoughtful (superlative)

From Middle English thoȝtful, thohtful, equivalent to thought + -ful. Compare Dutch gedachtenvol, Swedish tankfull.

Most thoughtful people eventually solve the puzzle.

Now the New Year reviving old Desires,
The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires,
Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough
Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires.

1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 2:

But Richmond, his grandfather's darling, after one thoughtful glance cast under his lashes at that uncompromising countenance appeared to lose himself in his own reflections.

1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

Demonstrating thought or careful consideration.

عَمِيق اَلتَّفْكِير

demonstrating thought or careful consideration

Preparing dinner is a thoughtful gesture for a new mother.

Demonstrating kindness or consideration for others.


egotistical

egotistical (comparative more egotistical, superlative most egotistical)

more egotistical (comparative)
most egotistical (superlative)

All hanar have two names. The Face Name is known to the world; the Soul Name is kept for use among close friends and relations. Hanar never refer to themselves in the first person in conversation with someone they know on a Face Name basis. To do so is considered egotistical, so instead they refer to themselves as "this one", or the impersonal "it".

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Hanar Codex entry:

Believing oneself to be better and more important than others due to one's position, popularity, wealth, appearance, etc.

egotista

believing oneself to be better and more important than others


yenta

Please don't tell your girlfriend what I said; she's a yenta!

And you had to marry that yenta West Side broad from a family of ward politicians and punchboard gamblers of candy-store kikes and sewer inspectors.

1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 201:

A woman who meddles in the business of others; a busybody; a female gossipmonger.


hateful

hateful (comparative hatefuller or more hateful, superlative hatefullest or most hateful)

hatefuller (comparative)
more hateful (comparative)
hatefullest (superlative)
most hateful (superlative)

From Middle English hateful, equivalent to hate + -ful.


compassionate

compassionate (comparative more compassionate, superlative most compassionate)

more compassionate (comparative)
most compassionate (superlative)

A pseudo-Latin form of French compassionné, past participle of compassionner (“feel sorry for”).

The Compassionate, the All-Compassionate (names given to God in Islam)

As a compassionate Turcoyse which doth tell
By looking pale, the wearer is not well,

1611, John Donne, An Anatomy of the World, London: Samuel Macham:

1675, Robert South, A Sermon preached at Christ-Church, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, London: Thomas Bennett, 1692, p. 574,
[…] there never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender, and compassionate.

He was by nature so exceedingly compassionate of anyone who seemed to be ill at ease […] that he shook hands with Mr. Micawber, at least half-a-dozen times in five minutes.

1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 49, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 502:

[…] the compassionate pangs I felt for soon-to-be redundant workers were not overwhelming in their frequency; our job required a degree of commitment that left one with rather limited time for such distractions.

2007, Mohsin Hamid, chapter 7, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Orlando: Harcourt, page 99:

Having, feeling or showing compassion (to or toward someone).


trusting

trusting (comparative more trusting, superlative most trusting)

more trusting (comparative)
most trusting (superlative)

From Middle English trustyng, trostinge, tristynge, equivalent to trust + -ing.

Inclined to believe the claims or statements of others; inclined to confide readily; trustful.


bully

bully (comparative bullier, superlative bulliest)

bullier (comparative)
bulliest (superlative)

From 1530, as a term of endearment, probably a diminutive ( + -y) of Dutch boel (“lover; brother”), from Middle Dutch boel, boele (“brother; lover”), from Old Dutch *buolo, from Proto-Germanic *bōlô (compare Middle Low German bôle (“brother”), Middle High German buole (“brother; close relative; close relation”) (whence German Buhle (“lover”)), Old English Bōla, Bōlla (personal name), diminutive of expressive *bō- (“brother, father”). Compare also Latvian bālinš (“brother”). More at boy.
The term acquired a negative connotation during the 17th century; first ‘noisy, blustering fellow’ then ‘a person who is cruel to others’. Possibly influenced by bull (“male cattle”) or via the ‘prostitute's minder’ sense. The positive senses are dated, but survive in phrases such as bully pulpit.

onomatopoeic

expressive

Bless thee, bully doctor!

1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, act II, scene iii:

(slang, obsolete) Jovial and blustering.


grouchy

en-adj

grouchy (comparative grouchier, superlative grouchiest)

grouchier (comparative)
grouchiest (superlative)

US 1895. From grouch + -y. Originally US college student slang.

His boss gets grouchy when deadlines draw near.

Not that young Pat had a nasty temper, or was grouchy as his father had feared.

1911, Jack London, chapter III, in The Abysmal Brute:

He went in to mumble that he was "sorry, didn't mean to be grouchy," and to inquire as to her interest in movies.

1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XXXI, in Babbitt:

In Berlin I once heard Susie Clemens—ill-fated, talented girl, who died so young—say to her father: "Grouchy again! They do say that you can be funny when company is around—too bad that you don't consider Henry Fisher company."

1922, Henry William Fischer, “Author's Preface”, in Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field:

(originally university slang) Irritable; easily upset; angry; tending to complain.

knorrig

irritable; easily upset; angry; tending to complain


diva

From Italian diva (“diva, goddess”), from Latin dīva (“goddess”), female of dīvus (“divine, divine one; notably a deified mortal”), from Old Latin deivā, from Proto-Italic *deiwā (“goddess”), feminine of *deiwos (“god”), from Proto-Indo-European *deywós (“god”).

(slang, derogatory, informal) A person with an inflated sense of self, who has high expectations of others, and who is extremely demanding and fussy when it comes to personal privileges.

diva

person who considers herself much more important than others


self-important

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

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

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

The assistant manager was a self-important fellow who strutted about the office barking instructions.

But despite its plague of tunnels, the run-in on this route is of unusual interest to the locomotive enthusiast: besides the hordes of self-important saddle-tanks shunting in the extensive yards, there was at one time the chance of seeing those slender little North London engines, with their large outside cylinders and no visible storage place for coal, and also an occasional South Eastern locomotive sporting a lot of polished brass.

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

Having, or behaving as if having, too high of an opinion of one's own importance.

itsetärkeä

having too high an opinion of one's own importance


mauvais

fr-adj

mauvais (feminine mauvaise, masculine plural mauvais, feminine plural mauvaises, comparative pire, superlative le pire)

mauvaise (feminine)
mauvais (masculine plural)
mauvaises (feminine plural)
pire (comparative)
le pire (superlative)

Inherited from Middle French maulvais, from Old French malvais, malveis (“evil, wicked, bad, of poor or inferior quality", later also "unlucky”), from Late Latin malifātius (“unfortunate”, 4th c.), from Latin malus (“bad”) + fātum (“fate”). According to some sources, influenced in meaning by Frankish *balwīg (“evil, wicked, of poor quality”), which was suspected to have become altered to *malwīg under influence of Latin malus (“bad”).

ncog

un mauvais ouvrier a toujours de mauvais outils

Il a choisi la mauvaise réponse.


foolhardy

en-adj

foolhardy (comparative foolhardier or more foolhardy, superlative foolhardiest or most foolhardy)

foolhardier (comparative)
more foolhardy (comparative)
foolhardiest (superlative)
most foolhardy (superlative)

From Middle English folehardy, foolhardi, folherdi, from Old French fol hardi (“foolishly bold”), from Old French fol (“foolish, silly; insane, mad”) (from Latin follis (“bellows; purse, sack; inflated ball; belly, paunch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”)) + Old French hardi (“durable, hardy, tough”) (past tense of hardir (“to harden”), from the unattested Frankish *hartjan, from Proto-Germanic *harduz (“hard; brave”)), equivalent to fool + hardy. Compare fool-bold, fool-large, etc.

der

The master's pulse stood still, and he stared helplessly. The buzz of study ceased. The pupils wondered if this fool-hardy boy had lost his mind.

1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VI, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 68:

In the middle distance several foolhardy souls in wet suits were surfing toward some foamy outbursts on the rocky headland; nearer in, a scattering of paddlers was being continually and, it seemed, happily engulfed by explosive waves.

2000, Bill Bryson, chapter 1, in In a Sunburned Country, 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, →ISBN, page 14:

It is a reckless, foolhardy leap into the unknown and the prelude, perhaps, to what the existentialist writer Albert Camus described in La chute – a fall from grace, in every conceivable sense.

2017 March 26, “The Observer view on triggering article 50: As Britain hurtles towards the precipice, truth and democracy are in short supply”, in The Observer, London, archived from the original on 2017-08-30:

Marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger; boldly rash; hotheaded.

безразсъдно смел

marked by unthinking recklessness with disregard for danger


charismatic

/ˌkæɹɪzˈmætɪk/

/ˌkɛɹəzˈmætək/

From Ancient Greek χάρισμα (khárisma, “grace, favour, gift”) + -ic.

uder

At a time when mainline denominations are engaged in massive closures of small rural churches, independent charismatics are strategically helping to rechurch rural Canada.

2010, Steven M. Studebaker, Pentecostalism and Globalization:

Charismatic Movement
Charismatic Movement


facilis

la-adj

facilis (neuter facile, comparative facilior, superlative facillimus, adverb facile); third-declension two-termination adjective

facile (neuter)
facilior (comparative)
facillimus (superlative)
facile (adverb)
facilis (feminine masculine nominative singular)
facile (neuter nominative singular)
facilēs (feminine masculine nominative singular)
facilia (neuter nominative plural)
facilis (feminine genitive masculine neuter singular)
facilium (feminine genitive masculine neuter)
facilī (dative feminine masculine neuter singular)
facilibus (dative feminine masculine neuter)
facilem (accusative feminine masculine singular)
facile (accusative neuter singular)
facilēs (accusative feminine masculine singular)
facilīs (accusative feminine masculine singular)
facilia (accusative neuter plural)
facilī (ablative feminine masculine neuter singular)
facilibus (ablative feminine masculine neuter)
facilis (feminine masculine singular vocative)
facile (neuter singular vocative)
facilēs (feminine masculine singular vocative)
facilia (neuter plural vocative)

→ Catalan: fàcil

→ Dalmatian: fázil

→ Middle French: facile

French: facile

→ English: facile

→ Friulian: facil

→ Galician: fácil

→ Italian: facile

Lombard: fazzil

→ Piedmontese: facil

→ Portuguese: fácil

→ Romanian: facil

→ Spanish: fácil

[ˈfäkɪlʲɪs̠]


dauntless

en-adj

dauntless (comparative more dauntless, superlative most dauntless)

more dauntless (comparative)
most dauntless (superlative)

[...] And yet / Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set, / And blew "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came."

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


jocund

jocund (comparative more jocund, superlative most jocund)

more jocund (comparative)
most jocund (superlative)

/ˈd͡ʒəʊkənd/

From Old French jocond, from Latin iūcundus (“pleasant, agreeable”).

Nights candles are burnt out, and iocond Day / Stands tiptoes on the myſtie mountaine tops.

c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:

Thou mak'ſt me merry: I am full of pleaſure, / Let vs be iocond. Will you troule the Catch / You taught me but whileare?

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 12, column 2:

There was once a widdow faire, young, free, rich, and withall very pleaſant and iocund, that fell in loue with a certaine round and well-ſet ſeruant of a Colledge: […]

1612, [Miguel de Cervantes], “Which Treates of the Strange Aduentures that Hapned to the Knight of the Mancha, in Sierra Morena: And of the Penance He Did there, in Imitation of Belti Nebros”, in Thomas Shelton, transl., The History of the Valorous and Wittie Knight-errant Don-Quixote of the Mancha. […], London: […] William Stansby, for Ed[ward] Blount and W. Barret, →OCLC, part 3, page 243:

First in his train is jocund Health,
Content, who o'er her distaff sings,
And from the plough that honest Wealth
Which scorns the tear-bought robe of kings.—

1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, Toil, page 107:

I was feeling blithe, almost jocund.

1876 June, Mark Twain, “The Facts Concerning the Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut”, in The Atlantic:

Jovial; exuberant; lighthearted; merry and in high spirits; exhibiting happiness.

весел

jovial, exuberant, lighthearted; merry and in high spirits


joueur

fr-adj

joueur (feminine joueuse, masculine plural joueurs, feminine plural joueuses)

joueuse (feminine)
joueurs (masculine plural)
joueuses (feminine plural)


social butterfly

en-noun

social butterfly (plural social butterflies)

In reference to a butterfly's habit of flitting from one flower to the next.

A gregarious person who likes to attend parties and other social gatherings; a people person.


puckish

en-adj

puckish (comparative more puckish, superlative most puckish)

more puckish (comparative)
most puckish (superlative)

From Puck + -ish, after the mischievous fairy in English folklore who is also a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Wolfowitz spoke softly to Yasa, who evidently had no idea who he was but responded with a puckish smile.

2007 April 2, John Cassidy, “The Next Crusade”, in The New Yorker:

“Chandler Bing,” wrote Matthew Perry in his puckish, self-mocking memoir, “changed the way that America spoke”.

2023 October 29, Zoe Williams, “‘An ironic, self-deprecating metrosexual’: how Matthew Perry captured the spirit of the age”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


overconfident

overconfident (comparative more overconfident, superlative most overconfident)

more overconfident (comparative)
most overconfident (superlative)

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

The downturn triggered by putting everyday life on hold to halt the infection should, we were told, be V-shaped: a shock, but one from which we’d soon bounce back. Like many comforting predictions in the early days of this pandemic, that is beginning to look alarmingly over-confident.

2020 April 9, Gaby Hinsliff, “We used to moan about normal life, now our fear is we'll never get it back”, in The Guardian:

By propagating a "reality distortion field"—that is, mesmerizing potential employees, investors, and strategic partners so they focus on a startup's world-changing potential rather than on its real-world risks—overconfident and charismatic founders in particular are able to persuade people to commit resources under terms favorable to their new venture.

2021, Tom Eisenmann, Why Startups Fail, Crown, →ISBN, page 41:

Presumptuous, cocksure, rude and disrespectful.

無禮的 /无礼的

presumptuous, cocksure, rude, disrespectful


lourd

fr-adj

lourd (feminine lourde, masculine plural lourds, feminine plural lourdes)

lourde (feminine)
lourds (masculine plural)
lourdes (feminine plural)

Inherited from Middle French lourd, from Old French lorz, lourt, from Late Latin lurdus, lordus, probably from Latin lūridus (“sallow”), possibly influenced by Frankish *lort (“crooked, clumsy”); related to Old English lort (“crooked”).

Ce type est vraiment lourd, il arrête pas de me parler sans remarquer que je m’en fous.

This guy is really annoying, he won’t stop talking to me and doesn’t notice that I don’t give a shit.


politic

en-adj

politic (comparative more politic, superlative most politic)

more politic (comparative)
most politic (superlative)

From Middle French politique, from Latin politicus, from Ancient Greek πολιτικός (politikós), from πολίτης (polítēs, “citizen”). Cognate with German politisch (“political”). Doublet of politico.

But as he headed for the front of the line one of his minders whispered that it might be politic to go to the back.

1999 February 28, Chris McGreal, “Nigerians give two cheers for flawed election”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

But campaigners in Florida accused him of turning a blind eye to the real issues with his "politic" appearance before the commission.

2001 January 12, Jane Martinson, “Jeb Bush grilled on voting irregularities”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

What a politician likes to do for fun (or judges it politic to pretend he does) is seen as a clue to their personality, or even their politics.

2010 April 20, Mark Lawson, “Politicians' pop-culture love-in”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Shrewd, prudent and expedient; showing policy.

A unanimous exclamation called upon Evelyn himself to speak; and, after a minute's politic pause, he went on to state his plan.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 25:

Deferential, glad to be of use, / Politic, cautious, and meticulous; […]

1915 June, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, in Prufrock and Other Observations, London: The Egoist […], published 1917, →OCLC, page 15:


streetwise

streetwise (comparative more streetwise, superlative most streetwise)

more streetwise (comparative)
most streetwise (superlative)

Where's the streetwise Hercules / to fight the rising odds?

1986, Bonnie Tyler (lyrics and music), “Holding Out for a Hero”, in Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire:

Having the necessary knack, personality and instinct for survival in rough, urban environments.


spoilsport

From the verbal expression spoil sport (“ruin the amusement”).

I know I am a sad spoilsport, but it would make me wretched.

1908, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter XIV, in A Room with a View, London: Edward Arnold, →OCLC:

He looks a spoilsport. There are men in whose presence it is impossible to have any fun: men who are a sort of walking conscience.

1912 February 6 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Androcles and the Lion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act II, page 31:

Someone who puts an end to others' fun, especially harmless fun.


antipathetic

antipathetic (comparative more antipathetic, superlative most antipathetic)

more antipathetic (comparative)
most antipathetic (superlative)

/ˌæntɪpəˈθɛtɪk/

Causing a feeling of antipathy; repugnant.


gamey

gamey (comparative more gamey or gamier, superlative most gamey or gamiest)

more gamey (comparative)
gamier (comparative)
most gamey (superlative)
gamiest (superlative)


bitchy

bitchy (comparative bitchier, superlative bitchiest)

bitchier (comparative)
bitchiest (superlative)

He’s really bitchy in the morning.


ungodly

ungodly (comparative more ungodly or ungodlier, superlative most ungodly or ungodliest)

more ungodly (comparative)
ungodlier (comparative)
most ungodly (superlative)
ungodliest (superlative)

From Middle English ungodli [and other forms], from un- (prefix meaning ‘not’), + godli (“belonging to God; resembling God, godlike”). Godli is derived from Old English godlīċ (“divine, godlike; godly”), from god (“god”) + -līċ (“suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘characteristic of, pertaining to’”). The English word may be analysed as un- + godly, and is cognate with Middle Dutch ongodelijc (modern Dutch ongoddelijk), Middle High German ungötlich (modern German ungöttlich), Old Norse óguðligr (“ungodly”) (Danish ugudelig, Icelandic óguðlegur), Swedish ogudlig.

inh

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

We had to start our journey at an ungodly hour.

It is a vast picnic in honour of the Virgin. [...] A heaving ebb and flow of humanity fills the eye; fires are flickering before extempore shelters, and an ungodly amount of food is being consumed, as traditionally prescribed for such occasions—"si mangia per divozione."

1915, Norman Douglas, “A Mountain Festival”, in Old Calabria, London: Martin Secker […], →OCLC, pages 151–152:

The minibus pulled up to an upscale hotel, whose bell staff were awake, even at this ungodly hour.

1998 August 3, Tom Clancy, “The Games Begin”, in Rainbow Six, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, published September 1999, →ISBN:


conceited

en-adj

conceited (comparative more conceited or (informal) conceiteder, superlative most conceited or (informal) conceitedest)

more conceited (comparative)
conceiteder (comparative informal)
most conceited (superlative)
conceitedest (informal superlative)

If you think me too conceited / Or to passion quickly heated.

c. 1732, Jonathan Swift, Epistle to a Lady:

Conceited of their own wit, and science, and politeness.

1692, Richard Bentley, [A Confutation of Atheism] (please specify the sermon), London: [Thomas Parkhurst; Henry Mortlock], published 1692–1693:

And another asked me if I had come to get a Canadian sweetheart; and a third, one of the impudentest, most conceitedest fellows I ever did set eyes upon, nudged me, so that I spilled my coffee all over my second-best damask-silk apron—the one with bugle fringe, you know, Miss Capel—and says he, ‘Is it a case of Barkis is willin'?'

1877, Emma Jane Worboise, “The New Evangeline”, in The Grey House at Endlestone, London: James Clarke and Co., […]; Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 480:

Having an excessively favourable opinion of one's abilities, appearance, etc.; egotistical and vain.

مُتَعَصِّب

having an excessively favorable opinion of oneself

Conceited wit showed its character towards the end of the fifteenth century in the work of poets who made it their aim to exercise their hearers' minds with cleaver plays of metaphor and ingenious reasoning.

2006, A. J. Smith, Metaphysical Wit, page 20:

(rhetoric, literature) Having an ingenious expression or metaphorical idea, especially in extended form or used as a literary or rhetorical device.

AN EXCELLENT conceited Tragedie OF Romeo and Iuliet. As it hath been often (with great applause) plaid publiquely

c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

He was […] pleasantly conceited, and sharp of wit.

1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

(obsolete) Endowed with fancy or imagination.


aimant

fr-adj

aimant (feminine aimante, masculine plural aimants, feminine plural aimantes)

aimante (feminine)
aimants (masculine plural)
aimantes (feminine plural)

Un mari aimant.


brown noser

A metaphorical image: when kissing the buttocks of another person, one's nose is liable to be covered in brown feces.

“Unbelievable. Boimler's cozying up with those brownnosers to get out of trash day? Such a great call.” “More trash for the rest of us. I smell adventure.”

2021 September 16, John Cochran, “The Spy Humongous” (4:58 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 2, episode 6, spoken by Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome):

“W-wait, why isn't Gumball in here with us?” [Laszlo chuckles] “Because Guillermo is the only one out of all of you that has ever shown me any kindness.” “[coughs] Brownnoser.” “And yet you all treat him so shabbily that even after all this time of waiting to become one of you... he's force to give up and take matters into his own hands.”

2023 August 31, William Meny & Paul Simms, “A Weekend at Morrigan Manor” (19:48 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 9, spoken by Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch):

(idiomatic) One who brownnoses (flatters or humors somebody in an obsequious manner for personal gain); one who sucks up; a bootlicker, dickrider, ass-kisser, sycophant.


big mouth

Shut your big mouth or I'll shut it for you.

(idiomatic, often derogatory) The mouth of someone who talks too much, especially by making exaggerated claims or by inappropriately revealing information.


unsociable

en-adj

unsociable (comparative more unsociable, superlative most unsociable)

more unsociable (comparative)
most unsociable (superlative)


гений

See synonyms at өйдөөх (öydööq).


scatterbrained

scatterbrained (comparative more scatterbrained, superlative most scatterbrained)

more scatterbrained (comparative)
most scatterbrained (superlative)

Having the qualities of a scatterbrain: absent-minded, forgetful, easily distracted.


viril

fr-adj

viril (feminine virile, masculine plural virils, feminine plural viriles)

virile (feminine)
virils (masculine plural)
viriles (feminine plural)


prissy

en-adj

prissy (comparative prissier, superlative prissiest)

prissier (comparative)
prissiest (superlative)

1895, either an alteration of precise, blend of prim + sissy, or a blend of prim + fussy; first attested in American writer Joel Chandler Harris.

As women post en masse over the course of the day and long into the night, the mood changes: The daylight crowd tends to be prissier; the night crowd rowdier (and drunker); the late-night crowd surrealistic and unpredictable, made up of the extremely sleep deprived, from mothers of newborns to insomniacs in the midst of a divorce.

2007, Steven Levy, The Best of Technology Writing 2007, page 48:

You drive like one of those prissy ladies at lunch who won't take the last cookie in case somebody else wants it.

2010, J. D. Robb, Visions In Death, page 19:

I may – I forget now – have suffixed it slightly; with a well-rounded 'Stuff you!' or 'But my car, you bastard!'. But then again, surely not. This was my boss, after all. More likely I would have said something more prissy, like 'Oh, really It may be only a car to you,' etc., before dissolving, which was what I actually did, into a flurry of impotent fury and tears.

2014, Lynne Barrett-Lee, One Day Someday:


genteel

genteel (comparative more genteel, superlative most genteel)

more genteel (comparative)
most genteel (superlative)

Borrowed from French gentil (“gentile”), from Latin gentīlis (“of or belonging to the same people or nation”), from gēns (“clan; tribe; people, family”) + adjective suffix -īlis (“-ile”). Doublet of gentle, gentile, and jaunty. See also gens, gender, genus, and generation.


creepy

en-adj

creepy (comparative creepier, superlative creepiest)

creepier (comparative)
creepiest (superlative)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der.
Proto-Germanic *kreupaną
Proto-West Germanic *kreupan
Old English crēopan
Middle English crepen
English creep
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English creepy
From creep + -y.

etymon

creepy ghosts

(informal) Producing an uneasy fearful sensation, as of things crawling over one's skin.

That creepy old man keeps leering at me!

"He doesn't look creepy," I said. "Kind of nerdy, in a harmless way.
"Looks can be deceiving. See that camera? He was always going around with that camera, snapping pictures. Some girls caught him trying to get 'up skirt' shots while they sat at their desks.[…]"

2022, Scott Bell, Pest Cemetery, page 235:

(informal, especially) Causing discomfort through exhibiting sexually inappropriate behavior.

“I felt creepy and afraid,” continued the other, with conviction. “I had the sensation of being seen by someone—as if someone, I mean, was watching me. […]

(informal, uncommon) Feeling an uneasy fearful sensation; creeped out.


needy

en-adj

needy (comparative needier, superlative neediest)

needier (comparative)
neediest (superlative)

confident

antonym(s) of “desiring constant affirmation”

From Middle English nedy, nedi (“necessitous”), from Old English nēdiġ, *nīediġ ("of need, obligated, compelled"; found in the derivative nīediġnes (“obligation”)), from Proto-Germanic *naudigaz (“of need, forced, compelled”), equivalent to need + -y. Cognate with Scots nedy, neidy (“needy, necessitous, impoverished”), Saterland Frisian niedich (“miserable, poor, wretched, needy”), Saterland Frisian nöödich (“necessary, needful”), West Frisian nedich (“needful, needed”), Dutch nodig (“necessary”), Middle Low German nōdich (“necessary, urgent, by requirement”), German nötig (“necessary, needful”), Danish nødig (“necessary”), Swedish nödig (“necessary”), Icelandic nauðugur (“constrained”).

gloss

"of need, obligated, compelled"; found in the derivative <i class="Latn mention" lang="ang">nīediġnes</i> (“obligation”)

cog

It's emotionally exhausting to be around her because she's so needy.

Desiring constant affirmation; lacking self-confidence.


nosy

en-adj

nosy (comparative nosier or more nosy, superlative nosiest or most nosy)

nosier (comparative)
more nosy (comparative)
nosiest (superlative)
most nosy (superlative)

They built tall fences, yet the nosy neighbors always seemed to know everything about them.

Prying, inquisitive or curious in other’s affairs; tending to snoop or meddle.

فُضُولِيّ

prying, inquisitive or curious in other’s affairs; tending to snoop or meddle


condescending

condescending (comparative more condescending, superlative most condescending)

more condescending (comparative)
most condescending (superlative)

Quit talking to me in that condescending tone! You always treat me like a child!

The housekeeper, a very decorative brunette of thirty-five with a pseudo-English accent, greeted him with a mixture of grateful effusion and condescending patronage.

1946, William Hatfield, Buffalo Jim, Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege, page 70:

As for the IRP, Secretary of State Grant Shapps continues to peddle snake oil, smoke and mirrors. His reaction to near-universal IRP condemnation from politicians, local and national media, and all but a few rail specialists was to dismiss the lot of us (in the condescending and patronising tone we have now come to expect) as "critics and naysayers".

2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:

Assuming a tone of superiority, or a patronizing attitude.

paternalista

assuming a tone of superiority or a patronizing attitude


organized

organized (comparative more organized, superlative most organized)

more organized (comparative)
most organized (superlative)

/ˈɔɹɡənaɪzd/

/ˈɔːɡənaɪzd/

Your desk is so neat and tidy — I've never met someone so organized before!

(of a person) Characterised by efficient organization.


sympathique

→ Dutch: sympathiek

→ Romanian: simpatic

→ Russian: симпатичный (simpatičnyj)

→ Turkish: sempatik

Inherited from Middle French sympathic, from sympathie, from Late Latin sympathia, from Ancient Greek συμπάθεια (sumpátheia), from συν- (sun-, “with, together”) + πάθος (páthos, “suffering”).


kooky

kooky (comparative kookier, superlative kookiest)

kookier (comparative)
kookiest (superlative)

His kooky behavior seemed charming at first, but soon got on our nerves.

In a move to make his exam more interesting, sociology instructor Abraham Kovler borrowed the Atco disk from deejay "Big Jim Pappas," WALL, Middletown, N.Y., and based eight questions on the record's lyrics. […] Pappas played up the project big on his show and nominated it for a "Kooky Exam of the Year" award.

1959 March 30, “‘Kooky exam’: Students quizzed on teen wax”, in The Billboard: The Amusement Industry's Leading Weekly, New York, N.Y.: Billboard Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20:

Juke box playin' in the jungle / No charge, absolutely free / Soft drinks bubbling down a mountain / To the Carabean^([sic – meaning Caribbean]) sea: / What A Kookie Little Paradise / What A Kookie Little Paradise / Never was an island half as nice / As my Kookie Little Paradise.

1960, “A Kookie Little Paradise”, Bob Hilliard (lyrics), Lee Pockriss (music), New York, N.Y.: Skidmore Music Co., →OCLC:

If you are an Audrey Hepburn fan – who isn't? – you may have some difficulty in picturing her as a New York playgirl. Miss Hepburn, an elegant thoroughbred, just doesn't look like the type of girl who would live strictly for kicks. Yet here she is, turning out the performance of her life, in a new picture, Breakfast at Tiffany's, as – what the Americans call – 'a real kookie dame!'

1961 July, Photoplay, New York, N.Y.: Macfadden Publications, →OCLC, page 54:

MOON PILOT. (Disney—Buena Vista) Charlie, a chimpanzee, has just circled the moon three times successfully; it is now time for a man to go. When the chimp sticks Astronaut Rick Talbot, in the seat of the pants, Rick stands up at the wrong time and is accepted as a volunteer. The chimp meantime is getting kookier and kookier—crazy, man.

1962 February, Fran Smith, “On the Screens: Movies and TV”, in Boys' Life, volume LII, number 2, New Brunswick, N.J.: Boy Scouts of America, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 58:

Your child will use your crazy answers as a model for inventing his or her own. That's why the more imaginative and far-out your answers are, the kookier your child's answers will be. And the kookier the better—because in this game, kookiness stretches the imagination.

1984, Peggy Kaye, Games for Reading: Playful Ways to Help Your Child Read, New York, N.Y.: Pantheon Books, →ISBN:

While the animation is often pretty awful, the "Aesop and Son" cartoons are a delight to the ear. […] [W]ithin the cartoons, he [Daws Butler] did some of the kookiest character voices he ever played, matched beautifully by Bill Scott, who costarred in all the fables. Most of them, in fact, are really dialogues between Butler and Scott, who together played what amounted to an entomologist's and zoologist's life study—an incredible range of animals.

2000, Keith Scott, The Moose that Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN:

There's a KANGAROO jumping on a trampoline. / Isn't that a KOOKY thing, / To see a KANGAROO jumping on a trampoline?

2008 June, Mary Pansini La Haye, A Wizard Sleeping on a Watermelon and Other Wondrous Sights, Mequon, Wis.: Nightengale Press, →ISBN:

[A]s a moose-hunting former beauty queen, [Sarah] Palin is a kooky character – precisely the sort of person a producer would home in on at the auditions like a dog sniffing meat.

2009, Charlie Brooker, “In which Ethnicity is Admired for the Sake of It, Christianity is Misrepresented, and Dale Winton Threatens to Bring It on the Wall”, in The Hell of It All, London: Faber and Faber for Guardian Books, →ISBN, page 195:

"I want you to eat more balanced meals and exercise more often. I don't think you need to lose weight, at least not by going on some kooky crash diet." / She brushed off his reply and started walking. "It's not kooky. […] I'm not going on a kooky diet. I plan to eat sensibly, just smaller portions, and cut out comfort food entirely."

2011, Jackie Braun, chapter 3, in Mr. Right There All Along (Harlequin Romance (Fun Factor); 4258), Toronto, New York, N.Y.: Harlequin, →ISBN:

(slang) Eccentric, strange, or foolish; crazy or insane; kookish.


unfriendly

unfriendly (comparative unfriendlier or more unfriendly, superlative unfriendliest or most unfriendly)

unfriendlier (comparative)
more unfriendly (comparative)
unfriendliest (superlative)
most unfriendly (superlative)

From Middle English unfrendly, unfrendli, unfrendely, from Old English *unfrēondlīċ (suggested by derivative unfrēondlīċe (“in an unfriendly manner; unfriendly”, adverb)), equivalent to un- + friendly. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uunfrüntelk, uunfjuntelk (“unfriendly”), West Frisian ûnfreonlik (“unfriendly”), Dutch onvriendelijk (“unfriendly”), German Low German unfrünnelk (“unfriendly”), German unfreundlich (“unfriendly”), Faroese ófryntligur (“unfriendly”), Icelandic ófrýnilegur (“ugly; disturbing”).

cog

Shrekkies will notice that the musical is going off-piste from the film right from the start when the curtain rises to reveal a seven-year-old Shrek turfed out into an unfriendly world by his parents.

2008 November 3, Tom Leonard, “Will Shrek be a monster hit on Broadway?”, in The Daily Telegraph, number 47,718, page 29:

The reputations of our universities and our research base are already under threat because of the fallout from the EU referendum result, which is making the UK an unfriendlier place for overseas scholars and students, as well as cutting off access to an important stream of research funding and to a vibrant and well-developed ecosystem for collaborative work.

2016 October 18, Stephen Curry, “Why the Higher Education and Research Bill must be amended”, in The Guardian:

I thought of him as a young man in Washington for the first time, first job with McCarthy, and that that was probably one of the unfriendliest spaces at the time for a gay person.

2020 June 17, Charles Bramesco, “Bully, coward, victim? Inside the sinister world of Trump mentor Roy Cohn”, in The Guardian:


susceptible

Évite de le critiquer, il est très susceptible.

Avoid criticising him, he's very touchy.


pigheaded

en-adj

pigheaded (comparative more pigheaded, superlative most pigheaded)

more pigheaded (comparative)
most pigheaded (superlative)

"[…]I know yeh, yeh pig-headed devil. Yeh wanta go trompin' off with a bad hurt. It ain't right—now—Tom Jamison—it ain't.

1895 October, Stephen Crane, chapter X, in The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 105:

(mildly derogatory) Obstinate and stubborn to the point of stupidity.


sophisticated

sophisticated (comparative more sophisticated, superlative most sophisticated)

more sophisticated (comparative)
most sophisticated (superlative)

First English usage circa 1601. From Medieval Latin sophisticatus.

Of a person: having obtained worldly experience, and lacking naiveté; cosmopolitan, worldly-wise.


hoity-toity

en-noun

hoity-toity (countable and uncountable, plural hoity-toities)

Probably from hoit (“to behave frivolously and thoughtlessly; to play the fool”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. The noun is attested earlier than the adjective.

suffix

(flighty behaviour):

(noisy merriment):

The VViddovvs I observ'd that vvere marching off, vvith the marque out of their mouths, vvere hugely concern'd to be thought Young, and ſtill talking of Maſques, Balls, Fiddles, Treats; Chanting and Jigging to every tune they heard, and all upon the Hoyty-Toyty like mad vvenches of fifteen.

1667, Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, “The Fourth Vision of Loving Fools”, in R[oger] L[’Estrange], transl., The Visions of Dom Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, […], London: […] H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, page 123:

And I'll divert ye with my Hoyty toyty; / With Fortune's choicest Blessings may regale ye, / And Wealth, and Wine, and Women, never fail ye.

1719, [Thomas] d’Urfey, “An Epilogue. For Crab and Gillian: In One of My Comedies.”, in Songs Compleat, Pleasant and Divertive; […], volume I, London: […] W. Pearson, for J[acob] Tonson, […], published 19th century, →OCLC, page 354:

If this [Georges] Danton were to burst your meshwork!—Very curious indeed to consider. It turns on a hair: and what a Hoitytoity was there, Justice and Culprit changing places; and the whole History of France running changed!

1837, Thomas Carlyle, “Danton, No Weakness”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume III (The Guillotine), London: James Fraser, […], →OCLC, book VI (Thermidor), page 358:

(uncountable, obsolete) Flighty, giddy, or silly behaviour; also, noisy merriment.

Whily Kate the Brown, the Plump, / The Frowzy Browzy, / Hoyty Toyty, / Covent-Garden Harridan, / Soon made poor Jockey’s Head to Ake, / And spoyl’d him for a merry Man.

1719, [Thomas] d’Urfey, “The Scotch Cuckold: A New Song to a Northern Tune”, in Songs Compleat, Pleasant and Divertive; […], volume I, London: […] W. Pearson, for J[acob] Tonson, […], published 19th century, →OCLC, page 255:

(countable, British, dialectal) A young woman regarded as flighty, giddy, or silly.


hoity-toity

en-adj

hoity-toity (comparative hoity-toitier, superlative hoity-toitiest)

hoity-toitier (comparative)
hoity-toitiest (superlative)

[S]ee what hoity-toity airs she took[…].

1819 (date written), John Keats, “The Cap and Bells; or, The Jealousies”, in [Horace Elisha Scudder], editor, The Complete Poetical Works and Letters of John Keats, Cambridge edition, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], published 1899, →OCLC, stanza LXXIX, page 230, column 1:

The other models were gas fun, though they were all a bit hoity-toity.

2016, Liz Nugent, “Karen”, in Lying in Wait, [Dublin]: Penguin Ireland, →ISBN, page 113:

Affected or pretentious, sometimes with the implication of displaying an air of excessive fanciness or ostentation; pompous, self-important, snobbish; often displaying a feeling of patronizing self-aggrandizing or arrogant class superiority.

надменен

affected or pretentious, sometimes with the implication of displaying an air of excessive fanciness or ostentation — see also pompous, snobbish

[W]e have been married fifteen Years, I take it: and that hoighty toighty buſineſs ought, in Conſcience, to be over.

1690, [John] Dryden, Amphitryon; or, The Two Sosia’s. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […]; and M. Tonson […], published 1691, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 21:

(obsolete) Flighty, giddy, silly; also, merry in a noisy manner.


down-to-earth

/ˌdaʊn.ɾəˈɚθ/

He had a down-to-earth attitude that translated into a straightforward, but effective strategy.

(idiomatic) Practical; realistic; pragmatic.


insensible

Inherited from Old French insensible, from Late Latin īnsēnsibilis.


unpredictable

Other unpredictables, like the recent unexpected blizzards and those of 2 years ago, or a hurricane can cost us many thousands of dollars, and have a severe impact on equipment and facilities.

1960, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Motor Vehicle Safety: Hearing..., page 12:


zestful

zestful (comparative more zestful, superlative most zestful)

more zestful (comparative)
most zestful (superlative)

From zest + -ful (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, with the sense of being full of, tending to, or thoroughly possessing the quality expressed by the noun).

suffix

[T]here appeared a narrowly patriotic government, which presently developed into an aggressive, vindictive and pitiless dictatorship, and set itself at once to the zestful persecution of the unfortunate ethnic minorities (about a third of the entire population) caught in the net of its all too ample boundaries.

1933 September, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “Versailles: Seed Bed of Disasters”, in The Shape of Things to Come, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, 1st book (Today and Tomorrow: The Age of Frustration Dawns), page 86:

[T]he former priest, by now habituated to military life, and even zestful for it, enlisted under the new young king, with the rank of captain.

1968, Donald Barthelme, “The Dolt”, in Unspeakable Practices, Unnatural Acts, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →OCLC, page 66:

Full of zest.
(figurative) Eager, enthusiastic.


bounteous

en-adj

bounteous (comparative more bounteous, superlative most bounteous)

more bounteous (comparative)
most bounteous (superlative)

Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent

c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 184:

Be bounteous at our Meale. Giue me thy hand, / Thou haſt bin rightly honeſt, ſo haſt thou […]

c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 358, column 2:

Hail, univerſal Lord, be bounteous ſtill / To give us onely good; […]

1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:


outgoing

outgoing (comparative more outgoing, superlative most outgoing)

more outgoing (comparative)
most outgoing (superlative)

/ˈaʊtˌɡəʊɪŋ/

Tom is very outgoing and enjoys meeting people; his brother, on the other hand, is painfully shy.

Quieter parents, who prefer a less stimulating lifestyle, may be baffled and challenged by these same outgoing kids.

2003, Bernardo J. Carducci, Lisa Kaiser, The Shyness Breakthrough, page 124:

The outgoing former leader may have difficulty slowing down, being reflective, and studying and may be insensitive in a close relationship.

1996, Stanley I. Greenspan, Jacqueline Salmon, The Challenging Child: Understanding, Raising, and Enjoying the Five “Difficult” Types of Children, page 308:

Think of it this way: Some people are more outgoing, while others are more reserved.

2006, Direct Selling Women's Alliance, More Build It Big: 101 Insider Secrets from Top Direct Selling Experts, page 264:

Twelve-year-old Emma-Rose Paley has always felt very different from her bubbly, outgoing parents.

2010, Ruth Ames, This Totally Bites!, back cover:

Extroverted: talkative, friendly, and social, especially with respect to meeting new people easily and comfortably.


clement

clement (comparative more clement, superlative most clement)

more clement (comparative)
most clement (superlative)

From Old French, from Latin clēmēns (“merciful”). Equivalent to clīnō + participial suffix -menos.

I know you are more clement than vilde^([sic – meaning vile]) men, / Who of their broken Debtors take a third, / A ſixt, a tenth, letting them thriue againe / On their abatement; […]

1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv], page 393, column 2:

Your clement sentence they would account pusillanimous.

1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter [HTTP://GUTENBERG.NET.AU/EBOOKS06/0608511H.HTML 18].”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC:

The weather is clement, though there was a downpour yesterday and I was obliged to take precautions.

1984, Edna O'Brien, “The Bachelor”, in A Fanatic Heart, New York: Plume, page 66:

The earth was still dry and the air was perfectly clement.

1992, A. B. Yehoshua, translated by Hillel Halkin, Mr. Mani, New York: Doubleday, pages 314–5:

Mild (said of weather and similar circumstances).


brutish

brutish (comparative more brutish, superlative most brutish)

more brutish (comparative)
most brutish (superlative)


impractical

impractical (comparative more impractical, superlative most impractical)

more impractical (comparative)
most impractical (superlative)

"I can't leave you here alone with these cutthroats, and you certainly can't venture into the jungle with me; yet someone must go in search of your father. He is more than apt to wandering off aimlessly, regardless of danger or direction, and Mr. Philander is only a trifle less impractical than he. ...

1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes:


manipulative

manipulative (comparative more manipulative, superlative most manipulative)

more manipulative (comparative)
most manipulative (superlative)

You manipulative bitch!

(derogatory) Reaching one's goals at the expense of other people by using them.


confrontational

confrontational (comparative more confrontational, superlative most confrontational)

more confrontational (comparative)
most confrontational (superlative)

/ˌkɒnfɹənˈteɪʃənˈəl/

It was Liverpool who once again carried the momentum after the break and the recalled Rio Ferdinand was booked for a foul on Suarez, whose confrontational approach and brilliant natural ability was proving hard to handle.

2011 October 15, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 1 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:

Pertaining to a confrontation; characterized by, or given to initiating hostile encounter; in-your-face.


spunky

spunky (comparative spunkier, superlative spunkiest)

spunkier (comparative)
spunkiest (superlative)

I'm not the kind of girl you want to come across / Yo, it's Josh T with his spunky sauce

2016 May 5, “Thinking He's Hard (Little T Reply)”, performed by Soph Aspin:

(UK, slang) Pertaining to or like spunk (semen).


plucky

plucky (comparative pluckier, superlative pluckiest)

pluckier (comparative)
pluckiest (superlative)

For my military knowledge, though I'm plucky and adventury, / Has only been brought down to the beginning of the century

1890, W. S. Gilbert, “The Modern Major-General”, in Songs of a Savoyard:

"Dam' plucky of you, fixing it up like that. I kept that copper talking...give you a chance. By George, you did it perfectly."

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 231:

At the start of the hearing, Mr. Bezos introduced himself as a lucky and humble example of the success of American democracy — the son of a plucky mother and a supportive, immigrant father who “fostered my curiosity and encouraged me to dream big.”

2020 July 29, “Lawmakers From Both Sides Take Aim at Big Tech Executives”, in New York Times:

(informal) Having or showing pluck, courage or spirit in trying circumstances.


tactful

tactful (comparative more tactful, superlative most tactful)

more tactful (comparative)
most tactful (superlative)

I once found myself listening to a gay man who was saying wistfully, "I wish there was someplace you could go, maybe a club, where only masculine men would be allowed in." […] Ever tactful, I did not point out to him that if such a place existed, he probably would not be allowed into it.

1984 December 29, Duncan Mitchel, “The Cult of Gay Machismo”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 25, page 9:

Possessing tact; able to deal with people in a sensitive manner.


extroverted

extroverted (comparative more extroverted, superlative most extroverted)

more extroverted (comparative)
most extroverted (superlative)

/ɛkstɹəʊˈvəːtɪd/

/ˈɛkstɹəˌvəɹtɪd/

A variant spelling of extraverted. Popularized as a psychological term by Phyllis Blanchard's use of extrovert in her 1918 "Psycho-Analytic Study of August Comte".

She's very extroverted. She's always out meeting new people and looking for new experiences.

(informal psychology) Of or characteristic of the personality of an extrovert: outgoing, sociable.

منبسط

psychology: of or related to an extrovert


introverted

introverted (comparative more introverted, superlative most introverted)

more introverted (comparative)
most introverted (superlative)

An extraverted individual can hardly understand the necessity that forces the introverted to accomplish his adaptation by first formulating a general conception.

1915, Carl Jung, “On Psychological Understanding”, in Journal of Abnormal Psychology, number 9, page 397:

The introverted type is characterised by the fact that his libido is turned towards his own personality to a certain extent.

1916, Constance Ellen Long transl. Carl Jung as Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology, p. 348

There is a tendency to equate ‘introverted’ with ‘withdrawn’ or ‘schizoid’.

1968, Charles Rycroft, A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, page 48:

(psychology) Of or characteristic of the personality of an introvert: thoughtful, reflective.

اِنْطِوَائِيّ

psychology: Of or characteristic of an introvert


cheeky

cheeky (comparative cheekier, superlative cheekiest)

cheekier (comparative)
cheekiest (superlative)

'Shut up,' said Harrison. 'You chaps always behave as if you were jawin' us when we come to jaw you.' / 'You're a lot too cheeky,' said Craye.

1899 February, Rudyard Kipling, “The Impressionists”, in Stalky & Co., London: Macmillan & Co., published 1899, →OCLC, page 112:

The Young Turks, as might have been expected, wrote in their customary flippant, cheeky style.

1909, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 7, in The Swoop! or How Clarence Saved England:

(informal) Impudent; impertinent; impertinently bold, often in a way that is regarded as endearing or amusing.


wowser

From UK dialect. In the pro-temperance sense, Australian from early 1900s.
John Norton, an early enemy of wowsers (temperance sense), claimed it to be an acronym for "We Only Want Social Evils Remedied", but that is likely a folk etymology.
A story has it that gospellers in the streets of Clunes, Victoria in the 1870s were called rousers but one of the town councillors had a speech impediment and couldn't pronounce his "R"s, thus giving wowser. (Reference: Bill Wannan, Australian Folklore, Lansdowne Press, 1970, reprint 1979 →ISBN, under "Wowser", page 568.)

“I’d like to come with you one day up to the top end,” she said. “I suppose it’ll have to be after we’re married.”
He grinned. “Plenty of wowsers back in Willstown to talk about it, if you came before.”

1950, Neville Shute, chapter 9, in A Town Like Alice, London: The Reprint Society, published 1952, page 259:

As for the rest, the pay is not bad, coming as it does from the pockets of the three local warlords who hired me: two graziers, one of whom is also a terrible wowser (everyone calls him 'Mr Prophet', though I call him - privately, of course - Mr Brimstone, or Old Blood-and-Thunderguts); the third is the owner of the pub.

1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 65:

When they have paid attention to temperance advocates they have tended to dismiss them as ‘wowsers’ or ‘puritans’ intent on suppressing pleasure.

1999, Anna E. Blainey, “The prohibition and total abstinence movement in Australia, 1880 - 1910”, in Robert Dare, editor, Food, Power and Community, page 142:

Quite simply, to a wowser, adults should not be allowed to see, hear and read as they wished, but should only be allowed to see hear and read that which fully conforms to Australia's Christian heritage[…].

2010, Robert Cettl, Offensive to a Reasonable Adult: Film Censorship and Classification in 'Secular' Australia, page 43:

He's a bit of a prig. A wowser. Very Methodist.

2012, Deborah Burrows, A Stranger in my Street:

(Australia, New Zealand, derogatory) One with strong moral views against excessive consumption of alcohol, gambling, pornography, etc., who seeks to promulgate those views.


humble

humble (comparative humbler or more humble, superlative humblest or most humble)

humbler (comparative)
more humble (comparative)
humblest (superlative)
most humble (superlative)

From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμηλός (khamēlós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate. Displaced native Old English ēaþmōd.

der

He lives in a humble one-bedroom cottage.

17th century, Abraham Cowley, The Shortness of Life and Uncertainty of Riches
The wise example of the heavenly lark.
Thy fellow poet, Cowley, mark,
Above the clouds let thy proud music sound,
Thy humble nest build on the ground.

Roominess and unroominess in a human dwelling, even of the humblest kind, are important matters in their bearing upon man's character.

1894, Irish Builder and Engineer, volume 36, page 147:

Undoubtedly it can be said that the humble 0-6-0 has been the backbone for general service, or general utility on British railways right from their earliest days, and is likely to remain so.

1945 November and December, H. C. Casserley, “Random Reflections on British Locomotive Types—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 320:

Lucky that my lips not only mumble / They spill kisses like a fountain / Lucky that my breasts are small and humble / So you don't confuse 'em with mountains

2001 August 30, Shakira (lyrics and music), “Whenever, Wherever”, in Laundry Service:

Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.

But he giueth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proude, but giueth grace vnto the humble.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, James 4:6:

She ſhould be humble, who would pleaſe;
 And ſhe muſt ſuffer, who can love.

a. 1722 (date written), Matthew Prior, “Cloe Jealous”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, →OCLC, stanza V, page 109:

Rosol's 65 winners to Nadal's 41 was one of the crucial statistics in the 3hr 18min match that ended in a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 triumph labelled a "miracle" by Rosol, who was humble enough to offer commiserations to Nadal.

2012 June 28, Jamie Jackson, “Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal”, in The Guardian, London:

Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.


humble

You're on a corner in my district, it ain't gonna be about no humble, it ain't gonna be about no loitering charge, nothing like that. There gonna be some biblical shit happening to you on the way to that motherfucking jail wagon.

2004 October 17, Ed Burns, “Straight and True”, in The Wire, season 3, episode 5 (television production), spoken by Howard "Bunny" Colvin (Robert Wisdom), via HBO:

Years ago, guys on Baltimore's streets would have, by definition, called an arrest for loitering a "humble."

2005 April 23, Gregory Kane, “'Jive humble' arrests help fill Central Booking's cell”, in Baltimore Sun:

A humble is a cheap, inconsequential arrest that nonetheless gives the guy a night or two in jail before he sees a court commissioner. You can arrest people on “failure to obey,” it’s a humble. Loitering is a humble. These things were used by police officers going back to the ‘60s in Baltimore. It’s the ultimate recourse for a cop who doesn't like somebody who's looking at him the wrong way.

2015 April 29, “David Simon on Baltimore’s Anguish”, in The Marshall Project:

(Baltimore, slang) An arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject.


humble

en-verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

humbles (present singular third-person)
humbling (participle present)
humbled (participle past)
humbled (past)

From Middle English humblen (“to humble”), from the adjective above.

Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues have humbled to all strokes.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

Humble yourselues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God, that hee may exalt you in due time,

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Peter 5:6:

But, after the death of the master, the servant proved himself capable of supplying with eminent ability the master's place, and was renowned throughout Europe as one of the great Triumvirate which humbled the pride of Lewis the Fourteenth.

1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, pages 68–69:

(transitive, intransitive) To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of.

And you say you've been humbled in love / Cut down in your love / Forced to kneel in the mud next to me

1979 September 27, Leonard Cohen (lyrics and music), “Humbled in Love”, in Recent Songs:

The final, quiet moments of the book return to Sten; his experience of his sick son humbles him, just as his aging body humbles him, and Boyle seems to suggest this makes him a better man.

2015 April 8, Dana Spiotta, “T. C. Boyle’s ‘The Harder They Come’”, in The New York Times:

(transitive, often reflexive) To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.


humble

From Old French, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμαλός (khamalós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”).


narcissistic

en-adj

narcissistic (comparative more narcissistic, superlative most narcissistic)

more narcissistic (comparative)
most narcissistic (superlative)

Having an inflated idea of one's own importance.

narcisista

having an inflated idea of one's own importance

Anyone who goes into a voting booth on November the 8th and comes out saying, “I feel a hundred percent great about what I just did in there!,” is either lying to themselves, or did something unspeakable in that booth! And that means, as uncomfortable as this is, everyone has to own the floors of whoever you vote for, whether they are a lying handsy narcissistic sociopath, a hawkish Wall Street-friendly embodiment of everything that some people can’t stand about politics, an ill-tempered mountain molester with a radical dangerous tax plan that even he can’t defend, or a conspiracy-pandering political neophyte with no clear understanding of how government operates and who once recorded this folk rap about the virtues of bicycling.

2016, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Third Parties”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 26, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

Obsessed with one's own self image and ego.


narcissistic

Because narcissistics cannot handle failure, they will take great lengths to avoid risks and situations in which defeat is a possibility.

1996, Susan B. Gall, Bernard Beins, Alan Feldman, The Gale encyclopedia of psychology, page 247:


domineering

domineering (comparative more domineering, superlative most domineering)

more domineering (comparative)
most domineering (superlative)

Overbearing, dictatorial or authoritarian.

властен

overbearing, dictatorial or authoritarian