ebullience

en-noun

ebullience (usually uncountable, plural ebulliences)

Borrowed from Latin ēbullientem + English -ence (suffix meaning ‘having the state or condition of’). Ēbullientem is the accusative feminine or masculine singular of ēbulliēns (“boiling”), the present participle of ēbulliō (“to boil”) (from ē- (prefix meaning ‘out, away’) + bulliō (“to bubble; to boil”) (from bulla (“bubble; bubble-shaped object”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to blow; to inflate”))) + -ēns.

der

Sophia did not ſee his Behaviour in ſo very diſadvantageous a Light, and was perhaps more pleaſed with the violent Raptures of his Love [...] than ſhe was offended with the reſt; and indeed ſhe imputed the whole to the Extravagance, or rather Ebullience, of his Paſſion, and to the Openneſs of his Heart.

1749, Henry Fielding, “The Escape of Sophia”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume IV, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book X, pages 81–82:

[H]is friend, with great ebullience of paſſion, many praiſes of his own good play, and many maledictions on the power of chance, took up the cards, and threw them into the fire.

1771, [Henry Mackenzie], “His Skill in Physiognomy”, in The Man of Feeling, 2nd edition, London: Printed for T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 94:

The first ebullience of parental joy at his return, together with the congratulations of his affectionate brethren, having gradually subsided, few days were indeed allowed for idle recreation; and the same industrious course was persevered in.

1830 August 15, “Delta” [pseudonym], “The Probationer of Lochievale”, in The Atheneum; or Spirit of the English Magazines, volume IV (Third Series), number 10, Boston, Mass.: John Cotton, […], →OCLC, page 390, column 2:

O! how shall I describe that exquisite ebullience and overflow of youthful life, wafted on over the laughing waves of pleasure and prosperity, as a wanton beauty that distorts the face on which she knows her lover is gazing enraptured, and wrinkles her forehead in the triumph of its smoothness!

a. 1835, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Notes and Lectures upon Shakespeare, and Some of the Old Poets and Dramatists, […] [Romeo and Juliet]”, in Mrs. H[enry] N[elson] Coleridge, [William Greenough Thayer] Shedd, editors, The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […] In Seven Volumes, volumes IV (Lectures upon Shakespeare and Other Dramatists), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1854, →OCLC, page 112:

About John Marin, there move sad, disgruntled beings, full of talk and lamentations. [...] They bewail the fact that in America, soil is poor and unconducive to growth, and men remain unmoved by growing green. But Marin persists, and what ebullience and good humour, in the rocky ungentle loam?

1922 April, Paul Rosenfeld, “The Water-Colours of John Marin: A Note on the Work of the First American Painter of the Day”, in John Peale Bishop, editor, Vanity Fair, volume 18, number 2, New York, N.Y.: Vanity Fair Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 48, column 2:

But if jazz was in one sense a music of rejoicing, of liberated ebuillence, it was at the same time, even in New Orleans, still a music of protest: [...]

1975, Wilfrid Mellers, “Heterophony and Improvisation: The New Orleans Jazz Band and King Oliver; Bessie Smith and the Urban Blues”, in Music in a New Found Land: Themes and Developments in the History of American Music, New Brunswick, N.J., London: Transaction Publishers, published 2011, →ISBN, page 281:

The actual lives led by most African Americans were much different from the grinning masks and the ebullience displayed on stage.

1999, Christine Rauchfuss Gray, “Afterword”, in Willis Richardson, Forgotten Pioneer of African-American Drama (Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies; no. 190), Westport, Conn., London: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 105:

When I first met him in the wee hours of the morning of this very day, I sensed he possessed an ebullience and intelligence that I had not encountered for the longest time.

2010 June, Michael Salvatore, chapter 1, in Between Boyfriends, New York, N.Y.: Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 3:

Although it is invariably urban in its setting, Carnival is bigger than any one city or religion. Its ebullience and dynamism is a natural florescence of dense communities.

2012, P. D. Smith, “History”, in City: A Guidebook for the Urban Age, London, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 64:

(figuratively) The quality of enthusiastic or lively expression of feelings and thoughts.


hee

"Good evening, Kristen," said I; "what are you telling that creates such fun?" "Hee, hee, hee!" screamed the youngsters, with great glee depicted in their faces; "Kristen has told us about the smith and the devil, and then about the lad who got him into the nut, and now he says he's going to tell us about Peter Sannum, whose horse the fairies stopped on the Asmyr hill."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 251:

(onomatopoeia) An expression of laughter.


endgame

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

TJLC’ers’ strong belief in Johnlock as endgame was intrinsically linked with their trust in the show’s creators, which enabled them to interpret the repeated denial of the subtext in Sherlock as part of the game.

2017, Suzanne Frenk, "Telling The True Story: Queerbaiting, representation, and fan resistance in the BBC Sherlock fandom", thesis submitted to Tilburg University, page 50

I think the fans and I were pretty aligned with who we wanted as endgame couples.

2020, Marlene King, quoted in Sara K. Day & Summer Melody Pennell, "#PLLQueerTheory: Fans’ reactions to queer representation in Pretty Little Liars", The Journal of Fandom Studies, Volume 8, Number 2, June 2020

One user, for example, posted, “Bughead haters can suck it. They’re endgame.”

2021, Emily Burkhardt, Verity Trott, Whitney Monaghan, “'#Bughead Is Endgame': Civic Meaning-Making inRiverdale Anti-Fandom andShipping Practices on Tumblr”, in Television & New Media:

(fandom slang, of a ship) Having become canon by the end of the plot of a work of fiction or speculated to be intended to become such.


tetraphobia

Custom of avoiding the number four (4) commonly seen in East Asian countries in which the words for "4" and "death" are paronymous or homophonous.


greediness

en-noun

greediness (usually uncountable, plural greedinesses)

From Middle English gredynesse, from Old English grǣdiġnes; equivalent to greedy + -ness.

Thereto the body of a dog she had, / Full of fell ravin and fierce greedinesse […]

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:


peevishness

peevishness (usually uncountable, plural peevishnesses)

Moreover, it were ungenerous, having bred thee up freakish and fiery, to dismiss thee to want or wandering, for shewing that very peevishness and impatience of discipline which arose from thy too delicate nurture.

1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XV, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 332:


equable

en-adj

equable (comparative more equable, superlative most equable)

more equable (comparative)
most equable (superlative)

Learned borrowing from Latin aequābilis, from aequō (“make level”), from aequus (“even, level”).

(of emotions etc) Not easily disturbed; tranquil.


love feast

From love + feast, partial calque of Latin agape and Koine Greek ἀγάπη (agápē).

(Christianity, historical) A symbolic communal meal held by early Christians in commemoration of the eucharist.


ruefulness

en-noun

ruefulness (usually uncountable, plural ruefulnesses)

This was the second time she had mentioned money, but now there was no trace of ruefulness in her voice, she spoke as if merely stating a fact.

2009, Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger, Virago Press (2018), page 46:


horrifying

en-adj

horrifying (comparative more horrifying, superlative most horrifying)

more horrifying (comparative)
most horrifying (superlative)

2009: Stuart Heritage, Hecklerspray, Friday the 22ⁿᵈ of May in 2009 at 1 o’clock p.m., “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”
Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: 1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and 2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying tangent.

Tending to inspire horror; that horrifies; horrific.


affright

affright (comparative more affright, superlative most affright)

more affright (comparative)
most affright (superlative)

From Middle English afright, from Old English āfyrht (“terrified; afraid”), past participle of āfyrhtan (“to terrify; make afraid”).

inh

So that thou shalt not need I say, to feare or be affright, of all the shafts that Hie by day, nor terrours of the night.

“Do not be afright,” he continued, after a pause; “do not be afright, my dear young ladies, I am quite harmless—a harmless old man—I would not shed a pigeon's blood.

1856, Mrs. S. C. Hall, Popular tales and sketches, page 29:


high-spirited

en-adj

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

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

Their poor mother was, I believe, naturally a lighthearted, sociable, high-spirited little creature; and her gay and childish nature pined in the isolation and gloom of her lot.

1861, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, chapter 1, in Ultor De Lacy: A Legend of Cappercullen:

Though she was nineteen she gave the effect of a high-spirited precocious child, and in the present glow of her youth and beauty all the men and women she had known were but driftwood on the ripples of her temperament.

1920 May 27, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “The Offshore Pirate”, in Flappers and Philosophers, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published September 1920, →OCLC, part III, page 16:

Last week a group of four high-spirited folksters known as the Weavers had succeeded in shouting, twanging and crooning folk singing out of its cloistered corner.

1950 September 25, “Music: Out of the Corner”, in Time:


reminiscence

en-noun

reminiscence (countable and uncountable, plural reminiscences)

From Late Latin reminīscentiae (“remembrances”), from Latin reminīscēns, present active participle of reminīscor (“remember”); see reminiscent.


vore

Me, I like vore and unbirth. But then, I'm strange […]

2005, Lord Flame Stryke, “Re: Curious”, in alt.fan.dragons (Usenet):

Many of his videos include the classic vore image of a woman's legs in stockings and high heels sticking out of the mouth of one of his monsters[…]

2009, Zack Parsons, Your Next-Door Neighbor Is A Dragon, page 211:

(informal, slang) The genre of creative work appreciated by vorarephiles, or any creative works that fall under this category.


bad-tempered

en-adj

bad-tempered (comparative worse-tempered or more bad-tempered, superlative worst-tempered or most bad-tempered)

worse-tempered (comparative)
more bad-tempered (comparative)
worst-tempered (superlative)
most bad-tempered (superlative)

His bad-tempered outburst caught his friends by surprise.

Jack is the most bad-tempered and violent man I know.

Of or pertaining to bad temper; showing anger easily or customarily.


unhinged

unhinged (comparative more unhinged, superlative most unhinged)

more unhinged (comparative)
most unhinged (superlative)

an unhinged door


ethnophilia

1994, Yuri Slezkine, "The USSR as a Communal Apartment, or How a Socialist State Promoted Ethnic Particularism," Slavic Review, Vol. 53, No. 2., 414-415 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6779%28199422%2953%3A2%3C414%3ATUAACA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V
"Non-Russian nationalism of all kinds appeared so natural and the Russian version of marxist universalism appeared so natural or so universalist, that most of these scholars failed to notice the chronic ethnophilia of the Soviet regime…"

2000, Alberto Spektorowski, "The French New Right: Differentialism and the Idea of Ethnophilian Exclusionism," Polity, Vol. 33, No. 2., 293 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0032-3497%28200024%2933%3A2%3C283%3ATFNRDA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q
"This shift from National-Socialism and "racist ethnophobia" to cultural ethnophilia does not transform the New Right into a non-racist movement."

Unnatural obsession with ethnicity or race.


Nipponophile

[…] Strauss had become something of a Nipponophile and had returned to Japan for a sabbatical in 1958.

1997, Errol C. Friedberg, Correcting the Blueprint of Life: An Historical Account of the Discovery of DNA Repair Mechanisms, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, →ISBN, page 114:

CALL ME A NIPPONOPHILE—a secret admirer of Japan, a worshiper from afar.

2003, William Illsey Atkinson, Nanocosm: Nanotechnology and the Big Changes Coming from the Inconceivably Small, Amacom, →ISBN, page 213:

The place was actually set up by a Nipponophile Englishman, but the kitchen staff are all Japanese and its Far Eastern credentials bear scrutiny.

2003 October, Charles Campion, The Rough Guide to London Restaurants: 2004, 6th edition, Penguin Putnam, →ISBN, page 29:

One who loves Japan or Japanese culture.


scaredy-cat

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

I don't care — I wouldn't be such a scaredy-cat for anything.

1918, Florence Kiper Frank, “The Child and the Little Sister”, in The Midland, volume 4, page 61:

Oh, yes, do let's dance together—it's so nice to meet a man who isn't a scaredy-cat about catching my beri-beri.

A coward; a person who is easily frightened or high-strung and easily scared.

pelkuri

a coward; a person who is easily frightened or high-strung and easily scared


horrified

horrified (comparative more horrified, superlative most horrified)

more horrified (comparative)
most horrified (superlative)

No one was more horrified than Chauncey Goodrich, scion of an old, elite family in Hartford

2003, John E. Ferling, A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic, page 358:


mwah-mwah

en-verb

mwah-mwah (third-person singular simple present mwah-mwahs, present participle mwah-mwahing, simple past and past participle mwah-mwahed)

mwah-mwahs (present singular third-person)
mwah-mwahing (participle present)
mwah-mwahed (participle past)
mwah-mwahed (past)

(colloquial) To kiss in an exaggerated fashion, especially without making contact.


even-tempered

en-adj

even-tempered (comparative more even-tempered, superlative most even-tempered)

more even-tempered (comparative)
most even-tempered (superlative)

Who has not known some even-tempered old man or woman who seemed to have drunk of the fountain of youth?

1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars:

If you just want to hear beautiful music, this album is delightful. It is in the same general style of the Paul Winter Consort and the albums from Windham Hill, being lovely, even-tempered but not dispassionate music which stimulates relaxation and thoughtfulness.

1984 December 15, Maida Tilchen, “Women's Music Goes Global”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 22, page 8:

Remaining calm even in situations that would cause many others to become angry, frustrated, panicky, etc.


broken heart

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

It took all the strength I had, not to fall apart / Just tryin' hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart

1978, Dino Fekaris, Freddie Perren (lyrics and music), “I Will Survive”, in Love Tracks, performed by Gloria Gaynor:

Last night a DJ saved my life / Last night a DJ saved my life from a broken heart

1982, Michael Cleveland (lyrics and music), “Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life”, performed by Indeep:

A feeling of grief or loss, especially after a failed romantic relationship.


beamish

beamish (comparative more beamish, superlative most beamish)

more beamish (comparative)
most beamish (superlative)

And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
If your Snark be a Boojum!

1876, Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark […] , London: Macmillan, Fit the Third. The Baker's Tale:

(nonce word) Radiantly beaming; happy; cheerful.


pouty

pouty (comparative poutier, superlative poutiest)

poutier (comparative)
poutiest (superlative)

1799, Cassandra Leigh Cook, Battleridge, London: Cawthorn, Volume 1, Chapter 5, p. 77,
‘My dear Doctor,’ said he, ‘this wrathful man thinks you have been unsuccessful, and is primed to be pouty; let us enjoy the pleasure of discovery by a little delay; […] ’

Long ago when Jade used to come for holiday visits, Margaret found her awkward and pouty, but now that she was grown up, she was pretty and a lot of fun.

1981, Tony Morrison, Tar Baby, New York: New American Library, published 1983, page 72:

Tending to pout; angry in a childish or cute way; showing mock anger. (of a person)


aquaphobia

A fear of water, especially a morbid fear of drowning.


slough of despond

en-noun

slough of despond (plural sloughs of despond)

Carska Bara
Henry Altemus Company
John Bunyan
The Pilgrim's Progress

From the name of a bog in The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by English writer and preacher John Bunyan (1628–1688).

Amy laughed too, and, kissing her mother, said, 'Well, I never had such a "Day of Misfortunes" as Rosamund's. I think it is because I have got such a dear darling mother that she helps me out of my troubles, my "Sloughs of Despond," as Clara calls them, quicker.' / 'The best thing is to try not to fall into sloughs of despond, and the way to do that is to examine carefully how you have come to get into them.[…]'

1870, Mrs. George Tylee, “Amy's Home”, in Amy's Wish, and What Came of It: A Fairy Tale, London: Griffith and Farran, successors to Newbery and Harris, corner of St. Paul's Churchyard, →OCLC, page 6:

Thus the colony - for owing to its enormous area the Territory can claim to be considered something more than a settlement - was at last attracting notice, and rising from the Slough of Despond into which different causes had placed it.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 263:

Only after he had ceased dreaming of them and thrown off his crushing burden of transcendental morality – only thus and then could he hope to rise out of the slough of despond in which he wallowed.

1908, Henry L[ouis] Mencken, “[Nietzsche the Philosopher.] The Superman.”, in The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, Boston, Mass.: Luce and Company, →OCLC, page 116:

If there is one feature common to all religions, it may be the message that there is a way out, a way up, from the slough of despond or the cave of presumption.

1987, Joseph J. Godfrey, “Epilogue on Some Religious and Theological Thought”, in A Philosophy of Human Hope, Dordrecht, Boston, Mass.: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, →ISBN, page 226:

Why could Johnson not drag himself out of this slough of despond?

2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason (Studies in Philosophy and Religion; 9), London: Penguin Books, published 2004, →ISBN, page 183:

(figuratively) A state of disheartening hopelessness; pit of despair.


ambedo

From albedo, a physics term that describes the proportion of light reflected by a substance (from the Latin term for whiteness). Ambedo refers to the tendency both to reflect and to absorb. Coined by American author and neologist John Koenig in 2012, whose project, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, aims to come up with new words for emotions that currently lack words.

coin

Later that day, E.K. was sitting on the concrete porch that was the face of his house, basking in ambedo—he became vividly entranced by the seemingly meaningless things around him.

2014 December 22, Tommy McMahon, Hero of the Day, Author House, →ISBN, page 71:

The intense, nutty aroma of freshly brewed coffee was still lingering in the air of my modest den. With my back against my hulking bookshelf, I, now in ambedo, watched the rain drip-drop on the window pane. But the pattering of the rain against the glass door of the balcony was so intense and unsettling that for a brief moment, I experienced chrysalism.

2021, Nishita Patil, MEET YOURSELF, SpotWrite Publications, page 12:

Ambedo, a melancholic trance.
Fight of the Elements.
It was quiet like never before. Kailash was moving towards the north. Oce was quiet, silently helping the movement. All the mountain children back in their ambedo.

2021 February 1, Priyanka Pareek, AMAIRA, Blue Rose Publishers, →ISBN, page 106:

Ambedo. That's what he was feeling as he ran after Selena through the tall grass (having awakened with a knot on his head to find her fleeing) and tried not to think about the danger. Ambedo: that trance-like state in which one became became so absorbed by their surroundings—the wind massaging the green hills so that they undulated like sea anemones or the red-gold chiaroscuro sky lending palette and poetry to everything or the sun glaring over the horizon like a burning but indifferent god—that they forgot what they were doing or even why they were there.

2022 January 22, Wayne Kyle Spitzer, Riders on the Storm, Hobb's End Books, page 743:

A kind of melancholic trance in which a person becomes completely absorbed in vivid sensory details.


love affair

He was involved in a love affair with a married woman.

An affair; a usually adulterous relationship between people who are not married to each other.

I've always had a love affair with stamps.

And if his love affair with Old Trafford was strained by the saga of his demand to leave earlier this season, the bond was rekindled as United claimed a vital victory.

2011 February 12, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 2 - 1 Man City”, in BBC:

Also in 1955 came the paralysing two-week ASLEF pay strike, which did even more to end the love affair between the railways and its regular customers.

2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 53:

A feeling of enthusiasm or strong liking for something; a fondness.


cupboard love

1788, Anna Seward, Letter to Mrs Knowles April 20, 1788 read in Archibald Constable (editor), Letters of Anna Seward: Written Between the Years 1784 and 1807, Archibald Constable & Co, and Longman, etc. (1811) p. 103,
This last and long-enduring passion for Mrs Thrale was, however, composed equally perhaps of cupboard-love, Platonic love, and vanity tickled and gratified from morn to night by incessant homage.

Besides, Sandy includes a little cupboard love in the detail of his sentiments. Nothing can be a more undeniable proof of the truth of this statement than the trials of Mrs. K—— and Mrs. D——. In both instances the lovers were nice, attentive fatherly men.

1818, Thomas Brown, Bath, a satirical novel, page 114:

I stump down my field, not the lane past Mike's, and the ewes think it's feeding time. I let them bombard me, grateful for the noisy bleating of their cupboard love.

2006, Hilary Lloyd, A Necessary Killing, UKA Press, →ISBN, page 30:

You don't owe them anything Stephen, its just cupboard love...suddenly they need you...you said it yourself, they never contacted you before.

2006, Neil A. Harris, The Council of Elders: The Halfling Chronicles Book 1, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 191:

Insincere (and usually fickle) love pretended in the hope of gaining something useful in exchange.

grá don ailp

insincere love pretended in the hope of gaining something useful in exchange


surliness

en-noun

surliness (usually uncountable, plural surlinesses)

There has been an escalation of police harassment in the gay community: five brutal busts at the Crystal Hotel; the closing of sex clubs without notice; beatings of women outside Amelia's Bar in January and surliness and assaults against lesbians by off duty officers at Peg's Club later.

1979 August 4, Carl Wittman, “Streets of San Francisco”, in Gay Community News, page 12:


guiltiness

guiltiness (countable and uncountable, plural guiltinesses)

From Middle English giltines; equivalent to guilty + -ness.

those speculative relapsers, that have, out of policy, or guiltiness, abandoned a known and received truth

c. 1626, Joseph Hall, Saint Paul's Combat (sermon)


discomfiture

discomfiture (countable and uncountable, plural discomfitures)

From Old French desconfiture (“rout, defeat”); compare French déconfiture.

der

Some of us are concerned because as yet the South shows no penitence. But what exactly do we mean by this? Since down to the close of the war she never confessed any for braving it, the only penitence now left her is that which springs solely from the sense of discomfiture; and since this evidently would be a contrition hypocritical, it would be unworthy in us to demand it.

1866, Herman Melville, Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War, Supplement:

One of them ended its career as a passenger carrying vehicle in 1907, by freezing in Kemp Town Tunnel, to the discomfiture of some important season ticket holders, who did not hesitate to let the directors know what they thought about the incident.

1952 April, “Notes and News: Petrol Railcars on the L.B.S.C.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 279:

Other countries are not so much angry as avid to exploit the discomfiture of the US or the chaos in the region or both.

2023 October 22, Jason Burke, “The week the world tried to stop Gaza spinning out of control”, in The Observer, →ISSN:

An emotional state similar to that arising from defeat; frustration, disappointment, perplexity or embarrassment.

объркване

a feeling of frustration, disappointment, perplexity or embarrassment


shipper

From a clipping of relationshipper. Relationshipper emerged in early online fandom of the television series The X-Files as a term for fans who supported the possibility of a Mulder/Scully romance. It was shortened to r'shipper, then 'shipper, and finally shipper. By surface analysis, ship (“to create a fictional romantic relationship”) + -er.

surf

For creative fans and committed 'shippers^([sic]), fanfiction continues the interaction — the dialogue, the conversation, the story […]

2013, Jennifer K. Stuller, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, page 42:

(fandom slang) A person who supports a romantic or sexual relationship between fictional characters or real people.


cyberphobia

Overcoming cyberphobia is not easy, but any effort to automate professionals must address their resistance and concerns or be doomed to failure.

1982 Oct 3, Bruce E. Bergen, Increasing Proudctivity and Comfort, in New York Times, pAS26

In the march to the future, these ex-assembly line laborers are being joined by white-collar workers suffering from cyberphobia (fear of computers), a growing number of functionally illiterate high school graduates and a new flood of illegal and poorly educated immigrants from Latin America.

1983 June 12, Bruce Nussbaum, “‘Reskilling’ Workers”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Past studies have been performed to investigate the phenomena^([sic]) of cyberphobia, to measure cyberphobia, and to examine the demographic and psychological variables related to cyberphobia […]

1991, T. B. Barrier, “Assessing the Role of Cyberphobia”, in Managing Information Technology in a Global Society, page 169:

Moreover most young people who have grown up with computers find this cyberphobia difficult to understand.

2001, Donald Hugh Parkerson, Jo Ann Parkerson, Transitions in American Education, page 213:


gametophobia

One phobia they don't have is gametophobia (marriage). No living-in-sin for them, only licit thrills.

1998, Rose Dorrance Beser, Why Some People Act So Stupid and What You Can Do About It, Dewey Publishing, →ISBN, page 69:

No, but supposedly i have gametophobia

2005 May 14, ChicKita [username], “Re: Are you paraskevidekatriaphobic?”, in alt.support.stop-smoking (Usenet):

The Houston vet returns to the game to confess that he suffers from gametophobia, the fear of marriage.


smugness

en-noun

smugness (countable and uncountable, plural smugnesses)

(uncountable) The state or quality of being smug.


short-tempered

en-adj

short-tempered (comparative more short-tempered, superlative most short-tempered)

more short-tempered (comparative)
most short-tempered (superlative)

She is so short-tempered that people avoid her company.

Easily angered; frequently losing one's temper.


slasher

With the success of the first film and the third one already in production, Warner Bros. is more likely to greet Harry Potter slashers with more takedown orders than tolerance.

2002 December 21, Christopher Noxon, “What to do about Harry Potter Porn?”, in The Vancouver Sun, page 96:

The same aspects that made buddy shows attractive to relationship-oriented fans also made them attractive to slashers; the fact that these shows were set in an era of tight jeans and unbuttoned shirts, and of the loosening of formerly strict standards of acceptable male behavior, only provided additional evidence for homoerotic interpretation.

2006, Francesca Coppa, “Writing Bodies in Space: Media Fan Fiction as Theatrical Performance”, in Kristina Busse, editor, Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays, page 49:

In other words denied their own voice by a conservative misogynist culture, the original female slashers and vidders needed male characters as surrogates to express their own identity and desires.

2014, Kathryn Hill, “'Easy to Associate Angsty Lyrics with Buffy': An Introduction to a Participatory Fan Culture: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vidders, Popular Music and the Internet”, in Mary Kirby-Diaz, editor, Buffy and Angel Conquer the Internet: Essays on Online Fandom, page 182:

(fandom slang) One who writes slash fiction and/or supports male/male ships.


love is blind

A person who is in love can see no faults or imperfections in the person whom they love.

あばたもえくぼ

(when in love) even pockmarks are dimples

любо́вь зла — полю́бишь и козла́ (ljubóvʹ zla — poljúbišʹ i kozlá) (love is evil, you'll fall even for a he-goat (i.e. bastard))


yuri

Borrowed from Japanese 百合(ゆり) (yuri, “lily”), by analogy to 薔薇(バラ) (bara, “rose”), indicating love. See Yuri (genre) § “Terminology and etymology” at Wikipedia.

(slang) A narrative or visual work featuring a romance or sexual relationship between two or more women.

Yuri (genre)
Yuri (genre)#Terminology and etymology

ガールズラブ (gāruzu rabu, literally “girls' love”)

가르즈라부 (gareujeurabu, literally “girls' love”)


pedophobia

Children embarrass us because they point ever too cleverly and clearly to our denial of personal, material, and maternal history. This accounts, in part, for academia's pedophobia and the hush-hush we maintain about parenting.

1998, Michael Rectenwald, “Reading around the Kids”, in Constance Coiner, Diana Hume George, The Family Track: Keeping Your Faculties While You Mentor, Nurture, Teach, and Serve, page 112:

In 1997, Mariemont asked her to teach at the elementary school, but she said she could not do so because of her pedophobia.

2015 February 11, Raymond Kethledge writing for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Waltherr-Willard v. Mariemont City Schools, case 14-3168

(psychology, rare) An irrational, obsessive fear or dislike of children.


caginess

And as a much better NYT comment piece on queerbaiting put it last year: “As self-serving as some celebrity caginess can be, you can’t build a world in which everyone feels free to self-identify by ordering everyone to self-identify.”

2024 January 10, Laura Snapes, “Taylor Swift’s people shut down speculation about her sexuality – but risked rebuking her LGBTQ fans”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


topophilia

From Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos, “place”) + -philia. Coined by British-American poet W. H. Auden in 1947, used by French phenomenologist Gaston Bachelard (1958), and made popular by Chinese-American geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in his essay and book Topophilia (1961 and 1974).

coin

What I feel towards my grandmother's house could be described as topophilia.

Topophilia might not be associated with your childhood home, however. For me, all synesthetic tendencies take me not to Seattle but to Barcelona, the city where I lived in my 20s, where I got married, and the only place I have returned to year after year (except for 2020, due to the pandemic).

2021 January 14, Arthur C. Brooks, “Find the Place You Love. Then Move There.”, in The Atlantic:

A strong sense of place, often combined with a sense of cultural identity.


retrogaming

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

(video games) The hobby of playing or collecting older video games and computer games.


plushophilia

Plushophilia began for him when he was around seven years old, even though he didn't own any stuffed animals

2003, Edward Ksenych, Forbidden Desires: Deviance and Social Control, page 52:

Plushophilia is a modern concept and describes an obsession with stuffed animal toys. For some people, plushophilia also extends to a fascination with large, furry animal suits.

2013, Julie Peakman, The Pleasure's All Mine: A History of Perverse Sex, page 205:

These misconceptions have made their way into academic works with researchers associating Furries with plushophilia: […]

2021, Jessica Ruth Austin, Fan Identities in the Furry Fandom, page 28:

The sexual attraction towards, or paraphilia for large, soft furry toys, or plushies.


cautiousness

en-noun

cautiousness (usually uncountable, plural cautiousnesses)

This extreme cautiousness, which was, indeed, the most remarkable feature in his character, still made itself prominent after his elevation.

1853, Daniel Parish Kidder, The Lives of the Popes:


chariness

One great thing undoubtedly was, the chariness of herself and her conduct, which an unmarried female always observes.

1855, Washington Irving, The Crayon Reading Book:


pan

When she publicly acknowledged that she is pan, it educated citizens near and far on what that sexuality meant and the importance of being proud of who you are.

2012 December 28, Anna Waugh, “Texas got a pansexual legislator”, in Dallas Voice, volume 29, number 33, page 9:

Another anonymous pansexual disclosed, "Sometimes I feel really left out because I'm pan. […] "

2013, Alejandra Rodriguez, "Isn't That Bisexual?", Outwrite, Fall 2013, page 7

A similar experience is shared by individuals who identify their sexuality as pan, bi or queer.

2013, Megan Hertner, "Understanding Gender and Sexuality", Grapevine (Huron University College), December 2013, page 19


laughing stock

From laughing + stock (“source, supply; butt, target”). Compare also whipping-stock, jesting-stock.

compound

Pray you let us not be
laughing-stocks to other men's humours.

c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

When he talked, he talked nonsense, and made himself the laughing-stock of his hearers.

1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

If anyone can restore dignity to a franchise that has been close to a laughing stock in the last few years, it's Gibbs.

2004 September 12, Judy Battista, “Pro Football: NFL Matchups, Week 1”, in New York Times, retrieved 2009-04-19:

The split was supposedly triggered by racism — specifically anti-Jewish racism. But on this front, the Independent Group have already become a laughingstock.

2019 February 19, Annie Cohen, 'Yes, There’s Anti-Semitism In Labour. No, Those Politicians Didn’t Quit Over It.', The Forward (retrieved 21 February 2019)

Toronto Transit Corporation had real issues. [...] My boss was removed in a coup three months after my arrival. I stood in and my learning curve went through the roof. Over five years, we went from being a laughing stock to winning awards.

2020 December 2, Andy Byford talks to Paul Clifton, “I enjoy really big challenges...”, in Rail, page 54:

(idiomatic) An object of ridicule, someone who is publicly ridiculed; the butt of a joke.


sorehead

en-noun

sorehead (countable and uncountable, plural soreheads)

From sore + head, perhaps specifically from the simile like (or mad as) a bear with a sore head.

Sorehead is a prevailing trouble in Hawaii, but I am convinced that much sorehead, if not all of it, can be averted if we keep our chicks off the ground until they are at least three months old.

1905, F. L. Hoogs, Paradise of the Pacific, volumes 18-19, page 45:

1922, University of Hawaii (Honolulu), Agricultural Dept, Annual Report of the Agricultural Department, Volume 4, page 103,
The two principal causes of death among chicks has been sorehead and coccidiosis.

Such ailments as sorehead and pip also took their toll. Children learned early not to throw watermelon rinds where the chickens could peck them: pecking watermelon rinds gave chickens sorehead.

1977, Kathryn Tucker Windham, Southern Cooking to Remember, page 106:


love letter

Dr Martin says the address the package has been sent to will likely get a "love letter" in the post from Customs.

2016 August 2, Nick Jarvis, “What Happens if You're Caught Getting Drugs in the Mail?”, in Vice:

(US, slang) A notice from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection informing about the seizure of a personal shipment as contraband.


bwahaha

Bwahaha, they guffaw as they crush overheads into the corners with the same disdain they display when the clown ahead of them at the airport car-rental counter rents a Hyundai.

2002, Dave Whitehead, The Tennis Junkie's Guide (to Serious Humor), page 41:

“Bwa-ha-ha-ha,” came the unholy mirth from the cold white mask.

2005, Ron Fortier, Brother Grim, page 142:

written with spaces between the syllables

more additional instances of ha to the end

or by adding additional instances of the letter a in any syllable

(onomatopoeia, slang) Literary device used to express a fit of overwhelming or uncontrollable laughter, most frequently with a sinister connotation, see: evil laugh.


ochlophobia

From Ancient Greek ὄχλος (ókhlos, “crowd”) + -phobia.

Those who suffer enochlophobia, demophobia or ochlophobia–the fear of crowds–are not being entirely irrational.

2003 January 31, The Daily Telegraph, Sydney:

A phobia, or fear, of mob-like crowds, as opposed to simply open spaces like agoraphobia or large crowds as with enochlophobia.


panicky

en-adj

panicky (comparative more panicky, superlative most panicky)

more panicky (comparative)
most panicky (superlative)

Banning the king from Cop27 looks clumsy. News that Sunak could make a U-turn dash to Egypt having learned that Johnson may go looks panicky.

2022 November 1, Polly Toynbee, “Rishi Sunak’s only been in office for a few days – and the errors are already piling up”, in The Guardian:


discontentment

A state of dissatisfaction or discontent.


glumness

en-noun

glumness (countable and uncountable, plural glumnesses)


gladsome

en-adj

gladsome (comparative gladsomer, superlative gladsomest)

gladsomer (comparative)
gladsomest (superlative)

From Middle English gladsom, equivalent to glad + -some.

I was not surprised, when I ran down into the hall, to see that a brilliant June morning had succeeded to the tempest of the night; and to feel, through the open glass door, the breathing of a fresh and fragrant breeze. Nature must be gladsome when I was so happy.

1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter IX, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 218:

Marked by joy or gladness; happy, joyous, or light-hearted.


vorarephile

From Latin vorare (“to devour”) + -phile.


in a bake

O, Dedalus, he cried, Doyle is in a great bake about you.

1916 December 29, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC:


dreamgirl

/ˈdɹiːmɡɜːl/

Coordinate term: dreamboy

The daughter of an Irish bricklayer became the American ideal: the dreamgirl of young, upward-bound males who yearned for the finer things of life

1989, Joseph M. Curran, Hibernian Green on the Silver Screen:

(informal) One's ideal vision of a female companion.


cool-headed

cool-headed (comparative more cool-headed, superlative most cool-headed)

more cool-headed (comparative)
most cool-headed (superlative)

The best headteachers are like submarine captains – cool-headed, astute decision-makers – who trust their colleagues and surroundings to indicate where their ship is headed.

2014 September 23, A teacher, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian:

Calm and imperturbable, especially under pressure.


punch drunk

The fighter looked harmlessly punch drunk, but he was only faking and suddenly threw a vicious, skillful, blow.

Dizzy or confused due to repeat blows to the head.


crossness

en-noun

crossness (countable and uncountable, plural crossnesses)

Elizabeth […] wished he were beside her, and was so glad to think he would soon be beside her always, with all his humours and weaknesses, all his little crossnesses and complainings[…]

1863, Dinah Maria Craik, Mistress and maid:

At any other time Jessamy would have laughed at the expressions that chased each other over his freckled face: crossness left over from his struggle with the baby; incredulity; distress; and finally delight.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 122:


emotionless

en-adj

emotionless (comparative more emotionless, superlative most emotionless)

more emotionless (comparative)
most emotionless (superlative)


brokenhearted

brokenhearted (comparative more brokenhearted, superlative most brokenhearted)

more brokenhearted (comparative)
most brokenhearted (superlative)

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

Although it's always crowded
You still can find some room
For broken-hearted lovers
To cry there in their gloom.

1956, “Heartbreak Hotel”, Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley (lyrics), performed by Elvis Presley:

Grieved and disappointed, especially with the loss of a beloved person or thing, such as the repudiation of a romantic relationship.


atychiphobia

From Ancient Greek ᾰ̓τῠχής (atukhḗs, “unfortunate”) + -phobia.


furiousness

The state or quality of being furious or outraged; enragement; inflamedness.


blithesome

en-adj

blithesome (comparative more blithesome, superlative most blithesome)

more blithesome (comparative)
most blithesome (superlative)

Fare not the birds well, as from spray to spray / Blithsome they bound—yet find their simple food / Scattered abundantly?

1794, Robert Southey, Wat Tyler. A Dramatic Poem. In Three Acts, London: J[ohn] M‘Creery, […] for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], published 1817, →OCLC, Act I, page 9:

She made herself as blithesome as a lark, and at last she offered him two hundred dollars if he would sell her the whistle, and tell her how she should manage to get it safe home with her.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 175:

[']Take the Adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!' 'Tis but a banging of the door behind you, a blithesome step forward, and you are out of the old life and into the new!

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, “Wayfarers All”, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 211:


distraughtness

The state or quality of being distraught or agitated; distressedness.


L-bomb

“Then take her on a tour of places that are special to the two of you — the bar where you had your first date, the park where you dropped the L-bomb, [...]”

2003, Joe Kita, Guy Q: 1,305 Totally Essential Secrets You Either Know, Or You Don’t, Rodale, →ISBN, page 139:

(idiomatic) The word love, or an expression of love, usually one that provokes a significant change in a relationship.


creepers

"Oh, creepers, Mom, that's part of getting to know the gang," Bain said. "Why they used to call Bill 'Cheese,' and he didn't let it bother him."

1961, Presbyterian Life, volume 14, page 43:

An expression of surprise, fear, or excitement


Japanophobia

Perhaps this is one of the reasons of their Japanophobia. But if Japan became the ally of France, all this fear and suspicion of Japan would disappear, ...

1906, Edward Albert Bell, These meddlesome attorneys:

This would require discarding the extreme Japanophobia that characterises the so-called “revisionists” who are really “regressionists” twice over.

1999, Jagdish Bhagwati et.al., Trading Blocs: Alternative Approaches to Analyzing Preferential Trade Agreements:

A fear or hate of Japan and Japanese people or culture.


good-tempered

good-tempered (comparative more good-tempered, superlative most good-tempered)

more good-tempered (comparative)
most good-tempered (superlative)


automatonophobia

Fear of humanlike figures, such as mannequins, wax figures, statues, dummies, animatronics, or robots.


dysmorphophilia

From Greek dysmorphos (= badly formed) + philia (= love).

Sexual arousal arising from deformed, mentally impaired, or physically impaired partners.

δυσμορφοφιλία

sexual arousal arising from deformed or impaired partners


genophilia

Apparently coined by Sir Francis Galton, from geno- + -philia.

Although cultural Marxists have tried to extirpate it from Western man's memory, there remains the ancient, conservative notion of a nation, one rooted in ancestry, kith and kin, and genophilia.

2007 September 11, MFOgilvie, “Genocide Against Westerners”, in alt.fan.rush-limbaugh (Usenet):

Some critics have maintained that (unlike modern nationalism, which is a creation of the 19th century nation state) authentic nationalism (as the Latin 'natio' would suggest) must be based in some form of genophilia and the sharing of ancestors in which sense The Vatican does not qualify as a nation-state since membership of Catholicism are scattered all over the world with no possible ties of ancestry pedigree.

2013, James Ohwofasa Akpeninor, Merger Politics of Nigeria and Surge of Sectarian Violence, →ISBN, page 317:

Neocons celebrate this Marxist notion of a 'propositional nation,' because it removes the historic prerequisites of nationhood: borders, a common language, history and genealogy, blood and soil, kith and kin, and genophilia (instinctive attachment to family and tribe)

2013 May, Moisés Damián Perales Escudero, “Teaching intercultural awareness in the English as a foreign language classroom: a case study using critical reading”, in Intercultural Education:

There are certain ethnic groups who choose to form relatively exclusive communities based on their race. Most Australians are even OK with this. However, there are some who do not extend the freedom to express genophilia to white Australians.

2016 January 25, “Open Drum: Blood on the Southern Cross”, in ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) News:

(rare) Love of one's own relations, tribe, kind or race.


neophobia

en-noun

neophobia (countable and uncountable, plural neophobias)

/niːəˈfəʊbɪə/

[T]he murdering of Mormons and the massacring of Armenians, express much rather that aboriginal human neophobia, […] than they express the positive piety of the various perpetrators.

1902, William James, “Lectures XIV and XV: The Value of Saintliness”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 338:

In response to the other July/August request, for a word to describe a "fear of inadvertently throwing something valuable out with the garbage," many, many phobias arrived. Evidently the readers who sent them in suffer from neither doxophobia (fear of expressing opinions) nor neophobia (fear of anything new or novel), and some would even seem to be remarkably free of catagelophobia (fear of being ridiculed).

2001 December, Barbara Wallraff, “Word Fugitives”, in Michael Kelly, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:

The fear or hatred of novelty, new things, innovation, or unfamiliar places or situations.


fretfulness

fretfulness (usually uncountable, plural fretfulnesses)


compersion

/kəmˈpɜːʒən/

Coined by Kerista Community in the 1970s, probably following the model of dispersion. Less likely a derivation from the root of the Latin verb partior (“to divide, to share”) + prefix com- (“with”).
Another hypothesis that it may be derived from French compère (“partner”) + -sion, based on an earlier use of the French compérage to denote the practice of brothers-in-law sharing wives observed among Tupi people of the Brazilian Amazon, is less plausible: not only does it not correspond to any known morphological process, but a website run by former members of the community clearly states that neither the word compérage nor Lévi-Strauss's book were known to them at the time.

coin

A major component of jealousy, for many people, is the suspicion or resentment of the rival. In Kerista, on the other hand, the relationship that every man had with the other men and that every woman had with the other women elicited what they called “compersion” rather than jealousy.

1998, Ayala Malach Pines, Romantic Jealousy: Causes, Symptoms, Cures, Routledge, →ISBN, page 140:

There is nothing either magical or wrong with sex with more than one person at the same time. […] The beautiful thing about this dynamic is that it offers opportunities for compersion (the opposite of jealousy) and is symbolic of the expansiveness and unity we can feel in our love for each other.

2003, Mystic Life, Spiritual Polyamory, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 46:

I think this is the easiest way to teach compersion, to immerse oneself in the unconditional approval of another person’s pleasure.
We usually seek compersion in the context of our lover being sexual with another person, which can be very beautiful, but equally scary.
Compersion is the coveted secret elixer of emotions because it promises to turn the pain of jealousy into an ecstatic calm, or ecstatic release.

2005, Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio, editor, Plural Loves, Haworth Press, →ISBN, page 174:

Some polyamorous people experience compersion, which means feeling joy that one’s partner is sharing closeness with another person (Keener, 2004; Polyamory Society, 1997). Keener’s (2004) study participants noted an absence of worry as to whether their partners might be cheating […]

2006, Ronald C. Fox, Ph.D. (editor), Affirmative Psychotherapy with Bisexual Women and Bisexual Men, Haworth Press, page 140

(neologism) Vicarious joy associated with seeing one's partner have a joyful romantic or sexual relation with another.

myötäilo

joy about partner's relation with another


happy as a lark

Derived from comparison to the cheerful-sounding birdsong of a lark.

She's happy as a lark with her ten dollar pay raise, even though the long-term prospects for the business are not good.

(simile, colloquial) Very happy (sometimes with the extra connotations of being carefree or unaware of grimmer realities).


fit to be tied

From fit (“proper, suitable; prepared, ready”) and tied (“attached or fastened by string or the like; bound”), probably referring to someone being so agitated or angry that they need to be physically restrained to prevent harm to themselves or others.

[…] Mrs. Pepper reprimanded the master in the middle of the Park, before all the quality—Sunday afternoon, and the band playing, and the officers laughing, and he fit to be tied.

1838 April, “Ensign O’Donoghue’s Packet from Belgium”, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume XVII, number C, London: James Fraser, […], →OCLC, page 446, column 2:

A thought struck him: he would play off the old lady for her ill-breeding, and he imparted his plan to Filagree. Shortly, they were whisked into a [train] tunnel, and all was darkness. Smack! Smack! from Cromwell, and ditto, ditto, from the Muffin, as they faithfully imitated loud kissing. It was pitch dark, and the old lady was "fit to be tied." "Girls, what are you about?" Smack! Smack! again.

1849, [Sir Richard Levinge, 7th Baronet], chapter VI, in Cromwell Doolan; or, Life in the Army. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 132:

Rage, frenzy and grief, fluctuated in my breast with a terrible power. I was as one distraught, as one fit to be tied.

1859 April 2, “The Reverend Alfred Hoblush Finds a New Broom”, in Charles Dickens, editor, Household Words. A Weekly Journal, volume XIX, number 471, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC, page 425, column 2:

Some girls can set around until they're blue moulded, and never a feller to ask 'em, and others the boys'll fret and pleg until they're fit to be tied, with nerves!

1915, Kathleen Norris, chapter VIII, in The Story of Julia Page, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, page 368:

[…] I was fit to be tied though I wouldnt give in with that gentleman of fashion staring down at me with his glasses and him the other side of me talking about [Baruch] Spinoza […]

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 18: Penelope]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 719:

I’m fit to be tied right now. I’d like to throw my cap up into the air and yell Blue Blazes.

1932, Edgar Wallace, Merian C[aldwell] Cooper, novelization by Delos W[heeler] Lovelace, chapter 6, in King Kong, trade softcover edition, Nevada City, Calif.: Underwood Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 40:

A man has a lot of time to think about a wife's anger during a long commute, […] You have all the way in to work to let it get into your head. And then if you've also been caught in a traffic jam, you're maybe fit to be tied by the time you get to work in the morning of you get home at night. You get the most depressing, down thoughts.

2007 June 3, Michael Leahy, “Driven to Extremes”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-03-05:

You can run! / You can hide! / But we'll be right on your tail, / And we're all fit to be tied!

2020 March 21, Random Encounters (lyrics and music), “Goose on Holiday: An Untitled Goose Game Song”performed by Random Encounters, Adriana Figueroa, and FamilyJules, YouTube, archived from the original on 2023-03-21:

(idiomatic, informal) Very agitated or distressed; also, very angry; enraged, furious.


romantic friendship

en-noun

romantic friendship (countable and uncountable, plural romantic friendships)

An intensely emotional love relationship between two people, in which sexuality is unimportant and typically absent, but there is greater physical affection or emotional communication than is typical for friendship.


aphenphosmphobia

Unknown element(s) + -phobia. The initial aphe- element is likely based on Ancient Greek ἁφή (haphḗ, “touch”), the same root as haphephobia. There is no Greek root φοσμ- (phosm-) or φωσμ- (phōsm-), and φῶς (phôs, “light”) can be eliminated on semantic grounds, so the middle element is probably a fanciful invention or error.

"What have you been treating Maureen for?"
"Aphenphosmphobia. She is...she was scared of having her throat touched."

2005, Christine Spindler, Faces of Fear, an Inspector Terry Mystery, Hard Shell Word Factory, page 65:

Since the stabbing she had struggled most with aphenphosmphobia, a morbid fear of physical contact with other human beings.

2011, Craig Russell, The Carnival Master, page 107:


arachibutyrophobia

From Latin arachis (“peanut”) + butyro- (“butter”) + -phobia.

Odds and ends I've come across in the course of an education: That arachibutyrophobia is an unnatural fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. I have no idea how many people suffer from this.

1977 March 31, Ball State Daily News, page 4:

Her ARACHIBUTYROPHOBIA had been getting worse lately. She finally chose a jar of creamy style peanut butter, knowing it would never be opened once she got it home.

1981, John E. Readence, Thomas W. Bean, R. Scott Baldwin, Content Area Reading: An Integrated Approach, →ISBN, page 67:

Do you suffer from Arachibutyrophobia? Or does peanut butter just freak you out?

2003, Richard Waters, Phobias: Fear and Loathing Revealed and Explained, →ISBN:

He took a bite of sandwich, chewed, and grinned at her. "Arachibutyrophobia. Look it up."

2005, Lawana Blackwell, A Table By the Window, →ISBN:

Look, if people can suffer from arachibutyrophobia, which is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth, then I have no doubt there's a clinical name for being afraid to leave your baby with a sitter for a half hour while you run to 7-Eleven.

2006, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay: And Other Things I Had to Learn as a New Mom, →ISBN, page 88:

Imagine the situation had this bear suffered from arachibutyrophobia!

2012, Manish Gupta, English Bites!, →ISBN:

Similarly, arachibutyrophobia, the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth, can probably be dealt with by not eating peanut butter, or just eating it carefully.

2013, John Connolly, The Creeps: A Samuel Johnson Adventure, →ISBN, page 51:

Arachibutyrophobia—fear of peanut butter being stuck to the top of your mouth. [...] Trust me when I say there is a fear of everything.

2015, James Egan, 100 Ways to Stop Sabotaging Your Life, →ISBN, page 70:

(humorous, rare) Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one's mouth.


romcom

Shortening of romantic comedy. Probably based on the earlier sitcom.


engladden

en-verb

engladden (third-person singular simple present engladdens, present participle engladdening, simple past and past participle engladdened)

engladdens (present singular third-person)
engladdening (participle present)
engladdened (participle past)
engladdened (past)

/ɛnˈɡlædə̆n/

From en- + gladden; see en- (“intensifying prefix”).

(chiefly literary) To gladden, to render glad.


self-sacrifice

en-noun

self-sacrifice (countable and uncountable, plural self-sacrifices)

Caring for a loved one with a chronic illness inevitably involves self-sacrifice.

Whatever he was suffering, it was she who had caused it; he had vacated his house on account of her. She was not worth such self-sacrifice; she should not have accepted it of him.

1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, chapter VIII, in The Woodlanders […], volume III, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 165:

Some of those boys came straight from the cornfields with only a summer’s wages in their pockets, hung on through the four years, shabby and underfed, and completed the course by really heroic self-sacrifice.

1918, Willa Cather, My Ántonia, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Book 3, Chapter 1, p. 292:

Turians have a strong inclination towards public service and self-sacrifice, so they tend to be poor entrepreneurs.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Turians: Culture Codex entry:

[…] he turned his resourceful mind away from the serene life of a don on grass lawns in Cambridge to one of self-sacrifice and pure devotion in the thorny bushes of Africa.

2012, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, chapter 15, in In the House of the Interpreter, New York: Anchor Books, published 2015, pages 43–44:

The giving up of one's own benefit for the good of others.

His brave self-sacrifice won him a posthumous medal, but I think he'd have preferred to receive it in person.

[Scott’s Last Expedition] had been one of my own favourite books. It seemed curiously dated now, this heroism with only the ice for enemy, self-sacrifice that involved no deaths beyond one’s own.

1951, Graham Greene, The End of the Affair, New York: Pocket Books, Book 5, Chapter 6, p. 215:

However, something once happened on the railway there which showed the very best of mankind: heroism, duty, self-sacrifice and calm professionalism under terrible pressure. It is a story which gives us far, far better reasons for remembering this attractive little town, which without these heroes would have been blown to smithereens in a gigantic explosion. (Two railwaymen lost their lives in 1944 when a wagon in an ammunition train caught fire and blew up, an even worse disaster was averted however.)

2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

The act of making the ultimate sacrifice of giving up one's life for a cause.


teasy

en-adj

teasy (comparative more teasy, superlative most teasy)

more teasy (comparative)
most teasy (superlative)

(colloquial, UK, Cornwall) Irritable or angry.


biphobia

/ˈbaɪˌfəʊbiːə/


bashert

Borrowed from Yiddish באַשערט (bashert), from Middle High German beschern. Compare German bescheren.


Islamophobia

en-noun

Islamophobia (usually uncountable, plural Islamophobias)


overjoy

en-verb

overjoy (third-person singular simple present overjoys, present participle overjoying, simple past and past participle overjoyed)

overjoys (present singular third-person)
overjoying (participle present)
overjoyed (participle past)
overjoyed (past)

The prospect of writing three exams in a row without a break does not overjoy me.

This salutation ouerioyes my heart.

1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

In overjoying me, you are grown sad;

c. 1612–1615?, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, revised by Philip Massinger, “Loves Cure or, The Martial Maid”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene ii, page 143:

1711, Alexander Pope, Letter to Henry Cromwell dated 25 June, 1711, in Mr. Pope’s Literary Correspondence, London: E. Curll, 1735, Volume 2, p. 10,
If my Letter pleas’d you, your’s overjoy’d me;

(transitive) To give great joy, delight or pleasure to.

Ah, child, thou art but half thy darling mother’s;
Hers couldst thou wholly be,
My light in thee would outglow all in others;
She would relive to me.
But niggard Nature’s trick of birth
Bars, lest she overjoy,
Renewal of the loved on earth
Save with alloy.

1898, Thomas Hardy, “To an Orphan Child”, in Wessex Poems and Other Verses, New York and London: Harper, page 163:

(transitive, rare) To give too much joy to.


overjoy

to salute my king / With ruder terms, such as my wit affords / And over-joy of heart doth minister

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

a. 1631, John Donne, Letter to Robert Karre in Letters to Severall Persons of Honour, London: Richard Marriot, 1651, p. 299,
I beginne to bee past hope of dying: And I feele that a little ragge of Monte Magor, which I read last time I was in your Chamber, hath wrought prophetically upon mee, which is, that Death came so fast towards mee, that the over-joy of that recovered mee.

1835, William Wordsworth, “The Russian Fugitive” in Yarrow Revisited, and Other Poems, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, p. 143,
Amazement rose to pain, / and over-joy produced a fear / Of something void and vain,

The katydids express their overjoy / Down in knee-high maturing August grasses;

1975, Jesse Stuart, “No Warning from the Wind”, in The World of Jesse Stuart: Selected Poems,, New York: McGraw-Hill, page 158:

Restraint of the organs of sense, on which success in study and discipline depends, can be enforced by abandoning lust, anger, greed, vanity (māna), haughtiness (mada) and overjoy (harṣa).

1963, B. A. Saletore, Ancient Indian Political Thought and Institutions, Asia Publishing House, page 318:

The knowledge that some are deprived tempers overjoy or overdesire.

1991, Robert F. Morneau, Mantras from a Poet: Jessica Powers, Kansas City: Sheed & Ward, page 5:

The emotional extremes of overexcitement, overjoy, depression, and anxiety are all blockages in the Message Center.

2006, Zhi Gang Sha, chapter 6, in Soul Mind Body Medicine, Novato, CA: New World Library, page 158:


dolefulness

From Middle English doolfulnes, dolfulnesse, equivalent to doleful + -ness.

The characteristic of being doleful; sadness.


Teutophobia

The antipathy toward, or fear of, Germans or German things.


feel sorry for

feel sorry for (third-person singular simple present feels sorry for, present participle feeling sorry for, simple past and past participle felt sorry for)

feels sorry for (present singular third-person)
feeling sorry for (participle present)
felt sorry for (participle past)
felt sorry for (past)

I am down, down, down / I feel so sorry for myself / I get down, down, down / And I need somebody's help

2011, Rachel Platten (lyrics and music), “Overwhelmed”, in Be Here:

leidtun

subject is the person felt sorry for; indirect object is the person feeling sorry


other woman

Remembering the turmoil she experienced when her father left her mother, she vowed she would never be the other woman.

The other woman finds time to manicure her nails / The other woman is perfect where her rival fails

1956, “The Other Woman”, Jessie Mae Robinson (lyrics)performed by Sarah Vaughan:

(informal) A woman who is romantically involved with someone (usually a man) already in a committed relationship with another woman, especially a woman having an affair with a married man.

小三

woman who is romantically involved with a man already in a committed relationship

Geliebte

all ambiguous, can also refer to a normal girlfriend


ithyphallophobia

From Ancient Greek ἰθύφαλλος (ithúphallos) (from ἰθύς (ithús, “straight”), a variant of εὐθύς (euthús), + φαλλός (phallós, “penis”)) + English phobia.

So, do you use your violence fantasies to mask your medorthophobia, your ithyphallophobia, or your medomalacuphobia?

2002 September 13, maf1029 [username], “Re: Homosexuals have phobias”, in alt.politics.homosexuality (Usenet):

(Nocturnal erections are probably good if you suffer from 'Ithyphallophobia', the morbid fear of seeing, having or thinking about an erect penis.)

2013, Tom Cutler, Slap and Tickle: The Unusual History of Sex and the People Who Have it, Constable, published 2012, →ISBN:

“Mommy, I know that you don't suffer from ithyphallophobia, so you can stop pretending that you do.”

2013, Eric Jerome Dickey, Decadence, Dutton, →ISBN:

The fear of having or seeing an erect penis.


moodiness

en-noun

moodiness (usually uncountable, plural moodinesses)

Either inherited from Middle English modinesse (“pride”), from Old English mōdiġnes, or formed anew from moody + -ness.


worked up

en-adj

worked up (comparative more worked up, superlative most worked up)

more worked up (comparative)
most worked up (superlative)

I know it's difficult when things get this busy, but there's really no need to get so worked up over it.

'Brother Wu gets worked up when you banter him off in anyway shape or form. Particularly his shoddy brand, football opinions or taste in clothes.'

(idiomatic, informal) Excessively emotional, excited, aroused or angry.


immodesty

en-noun

immodesty (usually uncountable, plural immodesties)

The state of being immodest; a lack of modesty.


golden oldie

(colloquial) Something, especially a record, that was very popular in a former era.


Minnesota nice

Minnesota+nice, coined by radio personality Garrison Keillor.

Their new anchor, or family member, as they call him, isn't resonating with the viewers, who aren't sure he's Minnesota nice

2006 July 28, Brooke Gladstone, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, On the Media, WNYC

(US) Pleasant, courteous, cooperative, and helpful (as associated with Minnesota culture).


butthurt

en-adj

butthurt (comparative more butthurt, superlative most butthurt)

more butthurt (comparative)
most butthurt (superlative)

From butt + hurt. First use appears c. 1996 in the Usenet group alt.graffiti. See cite below.

"... oh my. dont get so butthurt, ... i cant even remember what i wrote. anyhow, no i've never been to newyork. and yes i know that graffiti started there.."

1996 November 12, kev...@aol.com, “WRITERS WITH HALF A BRAIN”, in alt.graffiti (Usenet):

(Internet slang, vulgar) Overly annoyed or bothered by a perceived insult or injustice; needlessly offended.

tøsefornærmet

(slang) overly annoyed or bothered by a perceived insult; needlessly offended


butthurt

He's just full of butthurt because he wasn't allowed to join the society.

The amount of butthurt in this scenario was phenomenal […]

2015, J. S. Frankel, Picture (im)perfect, page 138:

(Internet slang, vulgar) A feeling of offense caused by a perceived insult or injustice.

mielensäpahoitus

(slang) upset caused by a perceived insult or injustice

бомбану́тый пука́н

neologisms, slang, no established equivalents exist


grind one's gears

en-verb

grind one's gears (third-person singular simple present grinds one's gears, present participle grinding one's gears, simple past and past participle ground one's gears)

grinds one's gears (present singular third-person)
grinding one's gears (participle present)
ground one's gears (participle past)
ground one's gears (past)

It really grinds my gears when inconsiderate people litter.

Yes it has a clickbaity title, and yes, this show will grind the gears of thousands – but it should. It will open everyone’s eyes to the segregated world of dating[.]

2017 July 17, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, “Is Love Racist? The TV show laying our biases bare”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


pusillanimity

en-noun

pusillanimity (countable and uncountable, plural pusillanimities)

From pusillanim(ous) + -ity, from Middle French pusillanimité, from the ecclesiastical Latin pusillanimis, from pusillus (puny) + animus (spirit) + -ous. A translation of the Greek ὀλιγόψυχος (oligópsukhos, “faint-hearted”).

The ſecond property of your excellent ſherris, is the vvarming of the blood, vvhich before (cold & ſetled) left the lyuer vvhite & pale, vvhich is the badge of puſilanimitie and covvardize: but the ſherris vvarmes it, and makes it courſe from the invvards to the partes extreames, […]

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

[…] Puſillanimity; by vvhich that ſeems great to him, vvhich other men think a trifle: and vvhatſoever is nevv, or great, and therefore thought fit to be told, vvithdravves a man by degrees from the intended vvay of his diſcourſe.

1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Vertues Commonly Called Intellectual; and Their Contrary Defects”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Of Man), page 33:

1685. Dr. Michael de Molinos: The Spiritual Guide which Disentangles the Soul, and Brings it by the Inward Way To The Getting of Perfect Contemplation and the Rich Treasure of Internal Peace, CHAP. XVIII: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/molinos/guide.html.
132. And although thou often fallest, and seest thy Pusillanimity, and endeavour to get courage, and afflict not thy self; because what God doth not do in forty Years, he sometimes doth in an instant, with a particular Mystery, that we may live low and humble, and know that ‘tis the Work of his powerful Hand, to free us from Sins.

Instead of being confined within the walls of fortified cities, which the Romans considered as the refuge of weakness or pusillanimity, the legions were encamped on the banks of the great rivers, and along the frontiers of the barbarians.

1776, Edward Gibbon, “I, Part III”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:

their hectorings against an absent enemy, and their pusillanimity on his approach

1809, Diedrich Knickerbocker [pseudonym; Washington Irving], A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), New York, N.Y.: Inskeep & Bradford, […], →OCLC:

What I did through indolence and in some degree, I confess, through pusillanimity, I had a fancy to make it appear (by dint of much whistling, as it were, and easy thrusting of my hands into my pocket) that I did through a sort of generous condescension.

1872 October, Henry James, “Guest's Confession”, in The Atlantic Monthly:

The quality or state of being pusillanimous; the vice of being timid and cowardly, and thus not living up to one's full potential; pusillanimousness.


apeirophobia

My view is free from apeirophobia, the horror of the infinite, which colored so much of what was written at the beginning of this century about the foundations of mathematics.

1990, Reinhardt Grossman, The Fourth Way: A Theory of Knowledge, Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 227:

The clearest evidence of Aristotle's apeirophobia is to be found in the Posterior Analytics, book 1, chapters 19-22.

1998, P. Christopher Smith, The Hermeneutics of Original Argument: Demonstration, Dialectic, Rhetoric, Northwestern University Press, →ISBN, page 192:

Apeirophobia (fear of infinity) seems here to prod thanatophobia (fear of death) and necrophobia (fear of corpses) into being and later nonbeing, […]

1999, Spencer Golub, Infinity (Stage), University of Michigan, published 2001, →ISBN, page 14:

2016, Bobby Azarian, "Apeirophobia: The Fear of Eternity", The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/09/apeirophobia-the-fear-of-eternity/498368/


love-hate

The adjective is a calque of German Liebe-Hass (now more commonly Hassliebe (“love-hate relationship”)), from Liebe (“love; relationship of love”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love”)) + Hass (“hate; hatred”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂d- (“anger; hatred”)).
The verb is derived from the adjective.

der

The krogan have had a love-hate relationship with varren for millennia, alternately fighting them for territory and embracing them as treasured companions.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Varren Codex entry:

I loathe reviews in which a critic claims to have love-hate feelings about a work of art. It’s a way of having no opinion at all. But I love and hate “Taipei.”

2013 June 4, Dwight Garner, “A Literary Mind, Under the Spell of Drugs and a MacBook”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Still, the movie [Ralph Breaks the Internet] manages to locate some gentle satire in our culture's love-hate relationship with the internet. At one point, Ralph must attain a certain level of viral popularity, assisted by the BuzzFeed-esque content guru Yesss (Taraji P. Henson), and the movie is savvy about how accidental spikes in fame can turn into cynical algorithm manipulation.

2018 November 14, Jesse Hassenger, “Disney Goes Viral with an Ambitious, Overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph Sequel”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-11-21:

(originally psychoanalysis) Of a relationship: involving feelings of both love and hate, often simultaneously.


love-hate

en-verb

love-hate (third-person singular simple present love-hates, present participle love-hating, simple past and past participle love-hated)

love-hates (present singular third-person)
love-hating (participle present)
love-hated (participle past)
love-hated (past)

[…]Eric got to act out his resentment while also hating himself, really love-hating himself, and he got to do it while masquerading as a warrior for the less fortunate!

2022, Jordan Castro, The Novelist, Catapult, →ISBN:

(transitive) To feel both love and hate (for someone or something), often simultaneously.

détestaimer

to feel both love and hate (for someone or something), often simultaneously


creep out

creep out (third-person singular simple present creeps out, present participle creeping out, simple past and past participle creeped out or (nonstandard) crept out)

creeps out (present singular third-person)
creeping out (participle present)
creeped out (participle past)
creeped out (past)
crept out (nonstandard participle past)
crept out (nonstandard past)

That janitor who's always talking about blood creeps me out.

give (someone) the creeps
give someone the creeps

(informal, transitive) To make (someone) uncomfortable or afraid; to give (someone) the creeps.


lose heart

lose heart (third-person singular simple present loses heart, present participle losing heart, simple past and past participle lost heart)

loses heart (present singular third-person)
losing heart (participle present)
lost heart (participle past)
lost heart (past)

There's nothing so humbling as being a dunce in a foreign tongue, and if it weren't for her compassion, we'd have lost heart after two weeks.

2008, Sue Grafton, J is for Judgment, page 159:

To despair; to experience reduced morale.


love potion

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

One love potion was composed of the powdered navel string of a new-born baby boy.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 82:

I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth
 You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
 She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
 Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine.

1959, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (lyrics and music), “Love Potion No. 9”, performed by The Clovers:

A drink supposed to have the magic power to make the drinker fall in love with a specified person.


Rayne

A surname transferred from the given name, variant of Raine.

A city in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States

A township in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States.

A village and civil parish in Braintree district, Essex, England (OS grid ref TL7222).


Rayne

(fandom slang) The romantic pairing of the characters River Tam and Jayne Cobb from the television series Firefly.


sinophobia

Alternative letter-case form of Sinophobia


piss proud

From piss (“urine”) + proud. Appears in Francis Grose’s A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1796):
: “PISS-PROUD. Having a false erection. That old fellow thought he had an erection, but his — was only piss-proud; said of any old fellow who marries a young wife”.

And my guess is that his piss-proud father told him...

2000, Sandra Gulland, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B, page 30:

Full of the strong beer brewed at the camp, the men boasted, piss proud of their sexual exploits.

2003, Maureen Jennings, Let Loose the Dogs, page 291:

(British, vulgar, by extension) Falsely proud, implying an outward display of success or virility belies a dubious reality.


pred

en-noun

pred (countable and uncountable, plural preds)

(uncountable, medicine) Abbreviation of prednisone.

(uncountable, medicine) Abbreviation of prednisolone.

(chiefly programming) Abbreviation of predecessor.


sandboy

Drink always rubbed him the right way, and he would reach his rooms as jolly as a sandboy.

1910, O Henry, “The Rubaiyat of a Scotch Highball”, in The Trimmed Lamp:

Craw was happy as a sandboy, he reported: quite his former vile self, but a bit dazed to be bearded by Luke without warning.

1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 23:

(in similes) A proverbially happy or jolly person.


shrinking violet

shrinking violet (plural shrinking violets)

/ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪələt/

/ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪlət/

/ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪələt/

/ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪlət/

Possibly from the inconspicuous nature of the violet (genus Viola) flower and plant. The term appears to have been first used in the literal sense in the early 19th century.

June, no shrinking violet she, crossed the room and introduced herself to the newcomers.

Little Johnny Jones, he was a US pilot / And no shrinking violet was he / He was mighty proud when World War III was declared / He wasn't scared, no siree!

1965, “So Long Mom (A Song for World War III)” (track 1, side 2), in That Was the Year That Was, performed by Tom Lehrer:

(idiomatic) A very shy or timid person, who avoids contact with others if possible.


keep one's head

en-verb

keep one's head (third-person singular simple present keeps one's head, present participle keeping one's head, simple past and past participle kept one's head)

keeps one's head (present singular third-person)
keeping one's head (participle present)
kept one's head (participle past)
kept one's head (past)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you . . .

The ruffian kept his head, and though the dog's teeth were in his shoulder, he managed to get his right hand free.

1910, John Buchan, chapter 16, in Prester John:

Officials are calling the woman a hero for keeping her head and finding the only way out amid the panic of the smoke and flames.

2008 March 7, “Mother Throws 7 Kids Out Window To Save Them From Fire”, in CityNews, Canada, retrieved 2009-12-12:

(idiomatic) To remain calm, reasonable, level-headed, especially in a situation likely to cause distress.


bibble

bibble (third-person singular simple present bibbles, present participle bibbling, simple past and past participle bibbled)

bibbles (present singular third-person)
bibbling (participle present)
bibbled (participle past)
bibbled (past)

From Middle English bibben (whence bib; see there for more) + -le.


bibble

A false Yiddishism, based on no actual attested Yiddish.

"Foxes have holes,' Uncle Abner," said Daisy, " 'and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head.' Why should we worry when we have such a bully place as this tent?" "Ish ka bibble," said the Reverend Frank. "Well," said I, "about the time the mosquitoes begin to come out of the marsh, you'll begin to bibble."

1919, Herbert Quick, The Fairview Idea: A Story of the New Rural Life, page 39:


flame out

flame out (third-person singular simple present flames out, present participle flaming out, simple past and past participle flamed out)

flames out (present singular third-person)
flaming out (participle present)
flamed out (participle past)
flamed out (past)

[O]n being brought home, and giving us ground to suppose he was much worse hurt than he really was, and a fever ensuing, every one flamed out; and all was laid at my door.

1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter 4, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC:

(now rare) To become suddenly angry; to break out into indignation or similar emotion; to flare up.


pansexual

From pan- + -sexual. First attested in 1926 (with pansexualism attested since 1917), as a descriptor of the psychological theory that all human activity is based on sexuality. Used to describe a sexual orientation since at least the 1970s.

We like to attend pansexual group sex parties, which means that attendees may identify as gay or lesbian or bisexual or hetero or transgendered, but are generally comfortable and happy to play side-by-side with people whose desires may be entirely different than their own.

1998, Dossie Easton, Catherine A. Liszt, The Ethical Slut, →ISBN, page 262:

Welcoming people of all sexual orientations.


spine-tingling

en-adj

spine-tingling (comparative more spine-tingling, superlative most spine-tingling)

more spine-tingling (comparative)
most spine-tingling (superlative)

Inside the ground, they saw parachutists land on the Nursery Ground before the spine-tingling spectacle of the national anthems.

2019 July 14, Stephan Shemilt, “England win Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes stars in dramatic finale against New Zealand”, in BBC Sport, London:

(idiomatic) Scary, exciting or exhilarating.


gynaecophobia

/ɡaɪnɪkəˈfəʊbɪə/

(psychology) An irrational fear of women.


emotional intelligence

en-noun

emotional intelligence (countable and uncountable, plural emotional intelligences)

(psychology) The ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups.


false modesty

false modesty (countable and uncountable, plural false modesties)

Although having a large ego is considered undesirable, at times it is proper to take credit where it is due rather than display false modesty.

At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

Behavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering.

falsa modèstia

behavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering


Dorian

en-adj

Dorian (comparative more Dorian, superlative most Dorian)

more Dorian (comparative)
most Dorian (superlative)

Constructed like the French Doriens. From the Latin root of Dōres + -ian. Compare Ancient Greek Δωριεύς (Dōrieús, “of Doris”).

cog

while the [Dorian] love of males for males in Greece obtained moralisation, and reached the high position of a recognised social function, the [Lesbian] love of female for female remained undeveloped and unhonoured

1883, John Addington Symonds, chapter 19, in A Problem in Greek Ethics:

All the Spartan kings and generals grew up under the institution of Dorian love. Epameinondas and Alexander were notable lovers; and the names of their comrades are recorded.

1890, John Addington Symonds in A. Strahan, The Contemporary Review, page 416:

And the evidence from Symonds's Memoirs seems to suggest that 'Ionian' implied pederastic relations, as attested in ancient Athens, whereas 'Dorian' involved two virile men.

2011, Daniel Orrells, Classical Culture and Modern Masculinity, page 159:

Dorian love, on the other hand, was a love between two virile equals, and so exceptional and unique.

2012, Daniel Orrells, “Greek love, orientalism and race: intersections in Classical reception”, in The Cambridge Classical Journal, Cambridge University Press:

Gay may not be ideal, and it has acquired negative connotations in recent years. I'd much prefer the beautiful word, Dorian, which can be both noun and adjective.

2015, John Lauritsen, “Down With LGBTQ!”, in Gay Liberation, Utrecht University:

Wilde’s choice for his main protagonist’s name a “veiled reference to ‘Dorian’ or ‘Greek’ love”.

2015, Lotte Campman, chapter 1, in Greek Love and Love for All Things Greek: Gay Subtext and Greek Intertext in Works by Oscar Wilde, page 9:

"Dorian love" between two masculine adult men should now be seen as a model for modern democratic, socialist politics.

2022, Sarah Olsen & Mario Telò, chapter 1, in Queer Euripides: Re-Readings in Greek Tragedy, page 31:

(of a man) Homosexual, gay; preferring exclusively men as romantic or sexual partners; male counterpart of lesbian.


Dorian

A male given name from Ancient Greek, famously used by Oscar Wilde in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891).


iatrophobia

Though such iatrophobia has always been with us, it assumed an especially virulent form in the sixties.

1996, Leslie A. Fiedler, Tyranny of the Normal: Essays on Bioethics, Theology & Myth, page 114:

An abnormal or irrational fear of doctors or going to the doctor.


polyamorist

This lack of interest in multi-party marriage among polyamorists is particularly interesting given the fact that, as mentioned above, there is often a legal marriage between at least two of the partners in a polyfidelitous group.

2005, Kelsi Brown Corkran, “Exclusion and Expression in Marriage”, in The Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, volume 6, number 1, page 61:

An advocate or practitioner of polyamory.


Elysian

Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
Sebastiaen Vrancx

From Latin Elysium (from Ancient Greek Ἠλύσιον (Ēlúsion, “Elysium; an Elysian Field; one of the Elysian Fields”)) + -an (adjective-forming suffix).

der

O vvho of man the ſtory vvill unfold, / Ere victory and empire vvrought annoy, / In that elyſian age (miſnamed of gold) / The age of love, and innocence and joy, […]

1774, James Beattie, The Minstrel; or, The Progress of Genius. A Poem. Book the Second, London: […] Edward and Charles Dilly, […]; Edinburgh: William Creech, […], →OCLC, stanza XXXVI, page 19:

Unlike Raphael's "Galatea" and his "Three Graces", examples of Elysian happiness in a race in the state of innocence, Giulio [Romano]'s decorations resemble saturnalia of lubricity itself.

1909, Louis Gillet, “Giulio Romano”, in Charles G[eorge] Herbermann et al., editors, The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church [...] In Fifteen Volumes, volumes VI (Fathers–Gregory), New York, N.Y.: Robert Appleton Company, →OCLC, pages 572, column 2 – 573, column 1:

Mystic waves of beauty blended / With the gorgeous golden rays / Phantasies of bliss descended / In a myrrh'd Elysian haze. / In the lyre-born chords extended / Harmonies of Lydian lays.

2007 spring, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, “Astrophobos”, in John Gregory Betancourt, editor, Adventure Tales, volume 1, number 4, Rockville, Md.: Wildside Press, →ISBN, page 117:

Winchester College has an Elysian quality, doubtless appreciated by the classical masters who supplied its educational staple for most of its six-century history.

2015, David Turner, “Embracing the Examination Incubus 1945–1979”, in The Old Boys: The Decline and Rise of the Public School, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 193:


pansexuality

en-noun

pansexuality (usually uncountable, plural pansexualities)

They know nothing of flower power or meditation, pansexuality, or mind expansion.

1976 June 7, Nik Cohn, “Inside the Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night”, in New York Magazine:

A sexual orientation characterized by the potential for aesthetic attraction, romantic love and/or sexual desire for people regardless of their gender or sex.


-mancer

I’ve always thought it was a shame us Cullenmancers missed out on a romance tarot with how beautiful all their designs are.

As a Solasmancer I don't expect more, but I'd hope somehow Solas' experience with the Inquisition has an impact on him going forward.

I agreed with some and disagreed with others, so I'm putting it out there for my fellow Galemancers: what's Gale's [zodiac] sign?

2023 December 22, Theia-Euryphaessa, Reddit:

(fandom slang) A suffix attached to a video game character's name to create a word for a player who romances that character in the game.


anthropophobia

From anthropo- + -phobia. Both elements are borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “man, human”) + φόβος (phóbos, “fear”) respectively.

uder

The affection is unlike anthropophobia, because this is characterized by dislike of men, and decided aversion to sexual intercourse.

1880, Edward Bliss Foote, Plain Home Talk about the Human System, 4th edition, page 438:

It was when anthropophobia set in, when he was made uneasy by people who walked too close to him, that, sagely viewing his list and seeing how many phobias were now checked, he permitted himself to rest.

He was suffering from anthropophobia, a typical Japanese symptom which shows alienation, and liberation, from the embracing community.

2004, Toshio Kawai, “Postmodern consciousness in the novels of Haruki Murakami,”, in The Cultural Complex: Contemporary Jungian Perspectives on Psyche and Society, →ISBN, page 97:

A profound fear of human beings, or of human society.


gynophilia

Alternative form of gynephilia (“love of women”)


happy as a pig in shit

He's "happy as a pig in shit". "This is what I really enjoy, working with film-makers," he says.

1998 March 6, Nick Hasted, “Film: Will movies kill the soundtrack star?”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 2014-08-06:

And he pays generous tribute to Noble who, he says, actively encouraged him . . . to venture further into the classics with Romeo and Juliet, Othello and Henry IV. "Speaking purely as a director, I was happy as a pig in shit."

2002 January 12, Michael Billington, “Culture: ‘It's like being in love’”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 2014-08-06:

"I am as happy as a pig in shit—you can quote me on that—doing what I'm doing at the moment."

2013 September 6, David Wroe, “Abbott adviser handed new paid role as envoy”, in The Age, Australia, retrieved 2014-08-06:

Beauty products are the one thing that I waste my money on. Give me a hundred bucks and plop me in the nearest Duane Reade, and I’m happy as a pig in shit.

2014 August 5, Megan Reynolds, “Tried & Tested: 10 Hippie Beauty Treatments”, in The Frisky, US, retrieved 2014-08-06:

(chiefly UK and Ireland, idiomatic, vulgar, simile) Extremely happy; obviously satisfied and carefree.

cieszy się, jakby mu kto w kieszeń nakakał


Americanophobia

The fear of or aversion to American people.


cock-a-hoop

en-adj

cock-a-hoop (comparative more cock-a-hoop, superlative most cock-a-hoop)

more cock-a-hoop (comparative)
most cock-a-hoop (superlative)

I have to say I felt pretty cock-a-hoop straight after my epidural but, some hours later, my head felt as though someone large and heavy had been sitting on it.

2008, Lucy Cavendish, The Guardian, G2, 9th January 2008, p. 3


despiser

Be gone, thou impudent VVretch, to Hell, thy proper Place: thou art a Deſpiſer of my glorious Majeſty, and your Frame of Spirit ſavours of Blaſphemy.

1750, Joseph Bellamy, “Discourse I. Shewing the Nature of the Divine Law, and wherein Consists a Real Conformity to It.”, in True Religion Delineated; or, Experimental Religion, […], Boston, Mass.: […] S. Kneeland, […], →OCLC, section II (Shewing from what Motives True Love to God Takes Its Rise), pages 53–54:


solastalgia

/ˌsɒləsˈtæld͡ʒə/

Coined by Australian philosopher and researcher Glenn Albrecht in 2005 from Latin sōlācium (“solace, comfort”) + -algia (“pain”).

af

There are many people writing and talking about extinction now, and about solastalgia, the psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change. Artists, musicians, dancers, and screenwriters are wringing profound solastalgia from the recesses of our collective subconscious and spinning its trajectory out into the light where we can get a better sense of it.

2010, Albert Bates, The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change, New Society Publishers, →ISBN:

Part of what I feel in this city is solastalgia, not so much for buildings as for the routines I established around those buildings: the walk to visit friends in the CBD, the stroll to the cinema.

2015, Fiona Farrell, The Villa at the Edge of the Empire, →ISBN, page 342:

A form of homesickness experienced when one has not moved, but one's environment has changed.


break someone's heart

en-verb

break someone's heart (third-person singular simple present breaks someone's heart, present participle breaking someone's heart, simple past broke someone's heart, past participle broken someone's heart)

breaks someone's heart (present singular third-person)
breaking someone's heart (participle present)
broke someone's heart (past)
broken someone's heart (participle past)

Don't go breaking my heart / I couldn't if I tried / Honey if I get restless / Baby you're not that kind

1976, Elton John (lyrics and music), “Don't Go Breaking My Heart”, performed by Elton John ft. Kiki Dee:

If you break her heart, I'll break your legs.

2003 February 7, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, directed by David Dobkin, Shanghai Knights, spoken by Chon Wang (Jackie Chan):

"We're just friends," what are you sayin'? / Said "there's another," and looked right in my eyes / My first love broke my heart for the first time

2010, “Baby”, performed by Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris:

Oh no, I was doin' better alone / But when you said "Hello" / I know that was the end of it all / I should've stayed at home / 'Cause now there ain't no letting you go / Am I falling in love / With the one that could break my heart?

2020, Dua Lipa, Ali Tamposi, Stefan Johnson, Jordan K. Johnson, Andrew Watt, Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence, “Break My Heart”, in Future Nostalgia, performed by Dua Lipa:

(idiomatic) To cause a person to feel grief, disappointment or sadness.

սիրտը կոտրել

to cause a person to feel grief or sadness

разби́ть се́рдце impf (razbítʹ sérdce) (+ dative case or possessive pronouns used)


love song

A song about love; a song that expresses amorous feelings.


happy as Larry

This has been said to refer to the Australian boxer Larry Foley (1849–1917), who never lost a fight. This is not likely as the earliest reference to the phrase is in a letter to the editor of the Illawarra Mercury in Wollongong, Australia in 1857. In it the correspondent "G U A" (probably Dr. George Underwood Alley, known for regularly corresponding with newspapers) writes "...we'll all live together, like Brown's cows, and be as happy as Larry."

(simile, informal) Extremely happy and carefree.


forlornness

en-noun

forlornness (usually uncountable, plural forlornnesses)

From Middle English forlorennesse, from Old English forlorenes (“state of being forlorn, perdition, destruction”), equivalent to forlorn + -ness.

inh

The state or characteristic of being forlorn; sadness; loneliness.


amatorial

en-adj

amatorial (comparative more amatorial, superlative most amatorial)

more amatorial (comparative)
most amatorial (superlative)

Hi Steve, I have these amatorial feelings for you. Please may I lay with you?


blow one's top

en-verb

blow one's top (third-person singular simple present blows one's top, present participle blowing one's top, simple past blew one's top, past participle blown one's top)

blows one's top (present singular third-person)
blowing one's top (participle present)
blew one's top (past)
blown one's top (participle past)

When my dad found out I had failed the exams, he just blew his top.

(slang, figurative) To become explosively angry; to lose one's temper.


lose it

lose it (third-person singular simple present loses it, present participle losing it, simple past and past participle lost it)

loses it (present singular third-person)
losing it (participle present)
lost it (participle past)
lost it (past)

(informal) To lose one's mind, go crazy.

To be overcome with emotion.
To lose one's mind, go crazy.


lose one's temper

lose one's temper (third-person singular simple present loses one's temper, present participle losing one's temper, simple past and past participle lost one's temper)

loses one's temper (present singular third-person)
losing one's temper (participle present)
lost one's temper (participle past)
lost one's temper (past)

When my dad found out I had failed the exams, he completely lost his temper.

(intransitive, idiomatic) To become angry or annoyed.

Note: All terms are idiomatic unless stated otherwise.