romantic

→ French: romantique

→ Italian: romantico

/ɹəʊˈmæntɪk/

Oh, flowers! You're such a romantic.

Kaldor is an interesting lyricist, and it is easy to identify with her imagery. She's also an unabashed romantic of the most extreme kind, with lines like "For we can talk without speaking/we can see without light/I'll never leave you...."

1985 December 14, Maida Tilchen, Gay Community News, volume 13, number 22, page 8:

A person who is behaving romantically (in a manner befitting someone who feels an idealized form of love).


give someone the creeps

en-verb

give someone the creeps (third-person singular simple present gives someone the creeps, present participle giving someone the creeps, simple past gave someone the creeps, past participle given someone the creeps)

gives someone the creeps (present singular third-person)
giving someone the creeps (participle present)
gave someone the creeps (past)
given someone the creeps (participle past)

Walking through the graveyard late at night really gives me the creeps.

It’s the emptiness; there’s no one on the street at that time, along the river. It gives me the creeps.

1997, Roddy Doyle, The Woman Who Walked into Doors:

(idiomatic) To give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright.


wrath

en-noun

wrath (usually uncountable, plural wraths)

The noun is derived from Middle English wraththe, wreththe (“anger, fury, rage; animosity, hostility; deadly sin of wrath; distress, vexation; punishment; retribution (?)”) [and other forms], from Old English wrǣþþu (“ire, wrath”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *wraiþiþu (“anger, fury, wrath”), from *wraiþ (“angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted”) (from Proto-Germanic *wraiþaz (“angry, furious, wroth; hostile, violent; bent, twisted”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”)) + *-iþu (suffix forming abstract nouns). Effectively analysable as wroth + -th.
The verb is derived from Middle English wratthen (“to be or become angry, to rage; to quarrel; to cause wrath, offend; to become troubled or vexed; to cause grief or harm, grieve, vex”) [and other forms], from wraththe, wreththe (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
cognates
* Danish vrede (“anger”)
* Dutch wreedte (“cruelty”)
* Icelandic reiði (“anger”)
* Swedish vrede (“anger, ire, wrath”)

nb...

wraaþ, wragh, wraght, wraith, wrat, wrā̆th, wrathe, wrā̆the, wrath, wraththe, wratth, wratthe, wraugth, wretthe, (Scotland) wraith, (Southwest Midlands) wradðe, wrað, wraðe, wræððe, wraððe, wraððhe, wraðþe, wraþe, wraþþe, wreadðe, wreaððe, wredða, wredðe, wreþþe, (Early Middle English) wræþdæ

wraððo, wræððu, wræððo, wrǣþþ, (Northumberland) urāððo

nb...

wrath, wrathe, wrathen, wraththe, wraththen, wraththi, wratth, wratthe, wraþþen, wreththe, wreththi, wretth, wretthe, wretthi, wretthin, wreþþen, (Southwest England, Southwest Midlands) wreaððin, wreððen, (Early Middle English) wraðhin, wræðþiæn

Homer relates an episode in the Trojan War that reveals the tragic consequences of the wrath of Achilles.

Let all bitternes, fearſnes and wrath, rorynge and curſyd ſpeakynge, be put awaye from you, with all maliciouſnes.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Ephesians iiij:[31], folios cclvij, recto – cclvij, verso:

Thou barrein ground, whome winters wrath hath waſted, / Art made a myrrhour, to behold my plight: […]

1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Ianuarye. Ægloga Prima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 1, verso:

I tel you true my hart is ſwolne with wrath, / On this ſame theeuiſh villain Tamburlain.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii, signature B2, verso:

[H]im ſo far had borne his light-foot ſteede, / Pricked vvith vvrath and fiery fierce diſdaine, / That him to follovv vvas but fruitleſſe paine; […]

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 8, page 21:

VVho (in my vvrath) / Kneel'd and^([sic – meaning at]) my feet, and bid me be aduis'd?

c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 183, column 1:

Lingring perdition (vvorſe then any death / Can be at once) ſhall ſtep, by ſtep attend / You, and your vvayes, vvhoſe vvraths, to guard you from, / VVhich here, in this moſt deſolate Iſle, elſe fals / Vpon your heads, is nothing but hearts-ſorrovv, / And a cleere life enſuing.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 13, column 2:

[S]tern briſtles hedg'd up high / His back, vvhich did all vvrath of thorns defie.

1648, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto II. Lust Conquered. Stanza 16.”, in Psyche: Or Loves Mysterie, […], London: […] John Dawson for George Boddington, […], →OCLC, page 14, column 2:

[C]ome not near me to night, vvhile I'm in vvrath.

1667 (revival performance), John Dryden, The Wild Gallant: A Comedy. […], In the Savoy [London]: […] T[homas] Newcomb for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1669, Act II, page 24:

The Seer, vvho could not yet his VVrath aſſvvage, / Rovvl'd his green Eyes, that ſparkl'd vvith his Rage; […]

1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 142, lines 651–652:

For vvhen he knevv his Rival freed and gone, / He ſvvells vvith VVrath; he makes outrageous Moan: / He frets, he fumes, he ſtares, he ſtamps the Ground; / The hollowvv Tovv'r vvith Clamours rings around: […]

1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, book I, page 17:

VVhat Drop or Noſtrum can this Plague remove? / Or vvhich muſt end me, a Fool's VVrath or Love?

1735 January 13 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1734), [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London: […] J[ohn] Wright for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 2, lines 29–30:

Then nature injur'd, ſcandaliz'd, defil'd, / Unveil'd her bluſhing cheek, look'd on and ſmil'd, / Beheld vvith joy the lovely ſcene defac'd, / And prais'd the vvrath that lay'd her beauties vvaſte.

1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Expostulation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 124:

[…] Miſs Margland, in deep vvrath, refuſed to let her move a ſtep.

1796, [Frances Burney], “A Raffle”, in Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. […], volume I, London: […] T[homas] Payne, […]; and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr. [Thomas] Cadell) […], →OCLC, book II, page 254:

But quickly Peter's mood is chang'd, / And on he drives with cheeks that burn / In downright fury and in wrath— […]

1798 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Part First”, in Peter Bell, a Tale in Verse, London: […] Strahan and Spottiswoode, […]; for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 26:

When lo! a wasted Female form, / Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, / In tattered weeds and wild array, / Stood on a cliff beside the way, […]

1810, Walter Scott, “Canto IV. The Prophecy.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza XXI, page 172:

[S]he remained still: except that she clenched her arms tighter and tighter within each other, on her bosom, as if to restrain them by that means from doing an injury to herself, or some one else, in the blind fury of the wrath that suddenly possessed her.

1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Another Mother and Daughter”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 348:

His chafing, bleeding temper is one raw; his whole soul one rage, and wrath, and fever.

1861 January – 1862 August, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “I Charge You, Drop Your Daggers!”, in The Adventures of Philip on His Way through the World; […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 238:

How sweetly would she glide between your wraths, / And steal you from each other!

1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 87:

We come in charity and good will, but we may go in wrath.

1882, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], chapter XII, in In Maremma […], volume I, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 243:

The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. […] Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?

1921, Ben Travers, “‘Sing Cuccu Nu’”, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC, part I (“Come He Will”), page 47:

(uncountable, formal) Great anger; (countable) an instance of this.

[T]hey are in the verie vvrath of loue, and they vvill together. Clubbes cannot part them.

c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 194, column 2:

[I]f you hold your life at any price, betake you to your gard: for your oppoſite hath in him vvhat youth, ſtrength, skill, and vvrath, can furniſh man vvithall.

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 269, column 1:

(uncountable, obsolete) Great ardour or passion.


wrath

en-verb

wrath (third-person singular simple present wraths, present participle wrathing, simple past and past participle wrathed)

wraths (present singular third-person)
wrathing (participle present)
wrathed (participle past)
wrathed (past)
wrath (infinitive)

[R]emembre howe by thy cursed synnes thou haste offended and wrathed thy lorde god.

[1506?], Jacobus van Gruitroede, translated by [Margaret Beaufort], The Mirroure of Golde for the Synfull Soule, London: […] Richarde Pynson, →OCLC, folio 12, verso:

Of ire yͤ whiche is agayne god. […] A man wratheth hym ayenst god for many thynges, pryncypally for the flagellacions, aduersytees, fortunes, sykenesses, & mortalytees, losses, punycyons, famyne, warre & yll tyme.

1510 September 24 (Gregorian calendar), [Andrew Chertsey], transl., Ihesus. The Floure of the Commaundements of God […], London: […] Wynkyn de Worde, →OCLC, folio 60, recto:

And than the byſſhop ſayd vnto the clerke⸝ thou haſt wrathed me⸝ but yf thou wylte be ſory thou ſhalte haue my loue as thou haddeſt before⸝ & I ſhall gyue the [i.e., thee] the benefyce yͭ I haue promyſed to gyue the⸝ ſholde not he be anone ſory of that I byleue that yes.

1520, Saynt Peter of Lucẽbourth [i.e., Pierre de Luxembourg], anonymous translator, The Boke Entytuled the Next Way to Heuen […], London: […] Wynkyn de Worde, →OCLC, folio [4], recto:

(transitive)
To anger (someone); to enrage.


wrath

en-adj

wrath (comparative more wrath, superlative most wrath)

more wrath (comparative)
most wrath (superlative)

A variant of wroth, probably influenced by wrath (noun) (see etymology 1).

Take heede the Queene come not vvithin his ſight, / For Oberon is paſſing fell and vvrath: / Becauſe that ſhe, as her attendant, hath / A louely boy ſtollen, from an Indian king: / She neuer had ſo ſvveete a changeling.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature B3, recto:

VVhereat the Prince full vvrath, his ſtrong right hand / In full auengement heaued vp on hie, / And ſtroke the Pagan vvith his ſteely brand / So ſore, that to his ſaddle bovv thereby / He bovved lovv, and ſo a vvhile did lie: […]

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 43, page 120:

And Pharao being a vvrath againſt them (for the one vvas chiefe of the cupbearers, the other chiefe baker) he ſent them into the priſon of the captaine of the ſouldiers, in the vvhich Ioſeph alſo vvas priſoner.

1609, The Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Lavrence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Genesis 40:2–3, pages 122–123:

Th' old Dragon underground / In ſtraiter limits bound, / Not half ſo far caſts his uſurped ſvvay, / And vvrath to ſee his Kingdom fail, / Svvindges the ſcaly Horrour of his foulded tail.

1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 9:

Lovel, seldom angry, was violently wrath with his brother-in-law; and, almost always polite, was at breakfast scarcely civil to Lady Baker.

1860 January–June, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “A Black Sheep”, in Lovel the Widower, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1861, →OCLC, page 165:

I felt wrath with her. My heart so cherished my harmless, defenceless Lilian, that I was jealous of the praise taken from her to be bestowed on another.

1861 September 28 – 1862 March 8, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XXXI, in A Strange Story. […], volume II, London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co., […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 229:

(archaic) Synonym of wroth (“full of anger; wrathful”)


zoophobia

en-noun

zoophobia (countable and uncountable, plural zoophobias)

From zoo- + -phobia. Piecewise doublet of biophobia.

The girl who had zoophobia didn't like animals, domestic or wild.


zoophilia

zoophilia (countable and uncountable, plural zoophilias)

/ˈzəʊ.əʊfɪliə/

For quotations using this term, see Citations:zoophilia.

(uncommon, chiefly derogatory) Excessive fondness for animals.


xenophilia

While it may appear that Sturgeon has thus become an advocate of homoeroticism, incest, xenophilia, and other exotic or decadent sexual practices, he remains committed rather to the ideals of understanding and tolerance.

1983, Frank Northen Magill, Survey of modern fantasy literature, Volume 4, Salem Press, →ISBN, page 1707:

An alien—seemingly just a tourist—lands in the middle of Washington, assumes human, male form, and is adopted by four college kids for fun and sex. The story is told in snatches of dialogue and scraps of poetry (the title is from e.e. cummings), and is all goofy juxtapositions, happy xenophilia, and affection for the enthusiastic and accepting youth.

2007, Julie Phillips, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, →ISBN, page 300:

Xenophilia (header) From a young age, even before I knew what sex was, I always had a thing for girls. Alien girls I mean — Alorians in particular. I broke out in a sweat every time I saw them. They were so beautiful.

2012, Mark Guinane, Horizon's Edge, →ISBN, page 303:

(science fiction) love (especially sexual love) between humans and extraterrestrials


lackadaisical

en-adj

lackadaisical (comparative more lackadaisical, superlative most lackadaisical)

more lackadaisical (comparative)
most lackadaisical (superlative)

From the archaic expression lackadaisy + -ic + -al.

the lackadaisical look on his face

I, at one time, used to go and take a hand at cribbage with a friend, and afterwards discuss a cold sirloin of beef, and throw out a few lackadaisical remarks, in a way to please myself, but it would not do long.

1822, William Hazlitt, “On the Disadvantages of Intellectual Superiority”, in Table-Talk, volume II:

"Then let those who do know it learn that you are able to bear such wounds without outward complaint. I tell you fairly that I cannot sympathize with a lackadaisical lover."

1864, Anthony Trollope, chapter 58, in The Small House at Allington:

I could hear the sound of the janitor's lackadaisical scrubbing against the wooden floor.

2010, Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest:

Showing no interest, vigor, determination, or enthusiasm.


beside oneself

Possibly derived from Ancient Greek παράνοια (paránoia, “madness”), from παράνοος (paránoos, “demented”), from παρά (pará, “beyond, beside”) + νόος (nóos, “mind, spirit”), with "beside mind" evolving into "beside oneself".

uder

His widow was beside herself with grief.

[...] he contemplated it most calmly. Comparatively, all other men, North and South, were beside themselves.

1860, Henry David Thoreau, The Last Days of John Brown:

(idiomatic) Overcome; consumed by an emotion.


wariness

en-noun

wariness (usually uncountable, plural warinesses)

vigilance or the condition of being alert


unrequited love

To her mind, a girl who would tell of the unrequited love of a man for herself, was unspeakably base.

1912, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 27, in Miss Billy's Decision:

Love that is not reciprocated, even though reciprocation is desired.

անպատասխան սեր

love that is not reciprocated, even though reciprocation is desired


Americophilia

An affection for, or interest in things related to the United States

親美派

an affection for, or interest in things related to the United States


loved

en-adj

loved (comparative more loved, superlative most loved)

more loved (comparative)
most loved (superlative)

From Middle English loved, luvd, from Old English lufode, first and third person singular past indicative of lufian; and Middle English loved, iloved, from Old English ġelufod, past participle of lufian; both equivalent to love + -ed.

1997, Charlie W. Shedd, How to Make People Really Feel Loved: And Other Life-Giving Observations, Vine Books, →ISBN:

1999, Valerie Grove, Laurie Lee: The Well-Loved Stranger, Penguin Books, published 2001, →ISBN:


blow off steam

en-verb

blow off steam (third-person singular simple present blows off steam, present participle blowing off steam, simple past blew off steam, past participle blown off steam)

blows off steam (present singular third-person)
blowing off steam (participle present)
blew off steam (past)
blown off steam (participle past)

Relief valves released the excess pressure in a steam engine to prevent the boiler from exploding.

Don't take it personally when he shouts like that. He's just blowing off steam.

I told her she could call me and talk any time she wanted to blow off steam.

(idiomatic) To vent; to talk or take action (especially in a ranting or unrestrained way) so as to relieve stress.


romance

en-noun

romance (countable and uncountable, plural romances)

→ Japanese: ロマンス

→ Korean: 로맨스 (romaenseu)

From Middle English romauns, roumance, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French romanz, romans (the vernacular language of France, as opposed to Latin), from Medieval Latin rōmānicē, Vulgar Latin rōmānicē (“in the Roman language”, adverb), from Latin rōmānicus (“roman”, adj) from rōmānus (“a Roman”). Doublet of Romansch.

der

An intimate relationship between two people; a love affair.


melancholic

en-adj

melancholic (comparative more melancholic, superlative most melancholic)

more melancholic (comparative)
most melancholic (superlative)

From Latin melancholicus, from Ancient Greek μελαγχολικός (melankholikós, “atrabilious, impulsive, of atrabilious or melancholic temperament”), from μελαγχολία (melankholía, “melancholy”). By surface analysis, melancholy + -ic.

der

μελαγχολικός

Just as the melancholic eye / Sees fleets and armies in the sky.

1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC:

But he was also a natural chronicler: one senses that, even as his schemes collapsed, this aesthetic Arab Quixote knew the stories would make great material for his witty, sharp, melancholic writings.

2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 268:

Filled with or affected by melancholy—great sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.

(dated) Pertaining to black bile (melancholy).

(classical temperament) Pertaining to the melancholic temperament or its associated personality traits.


melancholic

μελαγχολικός

Kafka, Hart Crane, Jackson Pollock, Tennessee Williams, Mark Rothko, melancholics all, so why shouldn’t we accept our own bleakness and take long walks in the winter woods and look at the gnarled limbs of trees and struggle with the inscrutable and accept the beauty of permanent turmoil?

2008 March 16, Garrison Keillor, “Woe Be Gone”, in New York Times:


yearn

en-verb

yearn (third-person singular simple present yearns, present participle yearning, simple past and past participle yearned or (rare) yearnt)

yearns (present singular third-person)
yearning (participle present)
yearned (participle past)
yearned (past)
yearnt (participle past rare)
yearnt (past rare)
yearn (infinitive)

The verb is derived from Middle English yernen, yern (“to express or feel desire; to desire, long or wish for; to lust after; to ask or demand for”) [and other forms], from Old English ġeornan (“to desire, yearn; to beg”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *girnijan (“to be eager for, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *girnijaną (“to desire, want”), from *gernaz (“eager, willing”) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to yearn for”)) + *-janą (suffix forming factitive verbs from adjectives).
The noun is derived from the verb.

nb...

gern, ierne, yerne, yrne, ȝarne, ȝarnin, ȝarnon, ȝern, ȝerne, ȝernen, ȝiern, ȝirnin, ȝorn, ȝyrn, ȝyrne, (chiefly Northern English) gerne, giern, yarne, yhern, yherne, (Northwest Midlands) yurn, (Early Middle English) georne, geornen, gierne, girne, gyrne, ierne, irne, ȝeorne, ȝeornen, ȝeornnen, ȝernenn, ȝierne, ȝirnæn, ȝirn, ȝirne, ȝurn, ȝurne, (Early Middle English, Northern England) yhern, yherne, yiern, ȝarne, ȝherne, (Early Middle English, Southwest England) herne, ȝorne, ȝurn, ȝurne, (Early Middle English, Southwest Midlands) ȝeorne, ȝeornne, ȝirni, ȝurne

nb...

(chiefly Late Old English) iærnan, ieornan, gernan (rare), gurnan, (Old English) geornan, giernan, giornan (chiefly Northumbria), girnan, gyrnan, gyrnnan (rare)

تَاقَ

to have a strong desire for something or to do something

If I don’t go now, thought Charlotte, I shall have lost a chance which I shall eternally regret and yearn after.

1971, Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, published February 1972, →ISBN, page 420:

Having shaken the dust of the ugly new South Africa from his feet, is he yearning for the South Africa of the old days, when Eden was still possible?

2002, J[ohn] M[axwell] Coetzee, chapter 17, in Youth: Scenes from Provincial Life II, 1st American edition, London: Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 137:

(intransitive, also figuratively) To have a strong desire for something or to do something; to long for or to do something.

(specifically) To long for something in the past with melancholy or nostalgia.

կարոտել

to long for something in the past with melancholy or nostalgia

And Joſeph made haſte: for his bowels did yerne upon his brother: and he ſought where to weepe, and hee entred into his chamber, & wept there.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 43:30, column 1:

I have left your mother in the next room. Her heart yearns towards you.

1711 August 1 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SATURDAY, July 21, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 123; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 158:

Oh, it was a pretty sight to see this modest young creature, little more than a child herself, anticipating maternity, but blushing every now and then, and looking askant at her lord and master. How his very bowels yearned over her!

1873, Charles Reade, chapter XII, in A Simpleton: A Story of the Day […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 99–100:

[…] Mr. Ratcliffe’s heart yearned toward the charming girl quite with the sensations of a father, or even of an elder brother.

1880, [Henry Brooks Adams], chapter III, in Democracy: An American Novel (Leisure-hour Series; no. 112), New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 52:

But supper had cheered Tant' Sannie, who found it impossible longer to maintain that decorous silence, and whose heart yearned over the youth.

1883 June, Ralph Iron [pseudonym; Olive Schreiner], “Tant’ Sannie Holds an Upsitting, and Gregory Writes a Letter”, in The Story of an African Farm, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: H. M. Caldwell Company, →OCLC, part II, page 248:

(intransitive, dated) To have strong feelings of affection, love, sympathy, etc., toward someone.

(transitive) Often followed by out: to perform (music) which conveys or say (words) which express strong desire or longing.


longing

From Middle English longinge, langynge, from Old English longung, langung (“longing, desire”), from Proto-Germanic *langungō, gerund of Proto-Germanic *langōną (“to desire, long for”), equivalent to long + -ing (gerund ending).

For round the valley a great desert lies through which no common traveller may come, but those whom the gods have chosen feel suddenly a great longing at heart, and crossing the mountains that divide the desert from the world, set out across it driven by the gods, […]

1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 2:

An earnest and deep, not greatly passionate, but rather melancholic desire.

financial instrument
financial instrument

The buying of a financial instrument with the expectation that its value will rise


fettle

en-verb

fettle (third-person singular simple present fettles, present participle fettling, simple past and past participle fettled)

fettles (present singular third-person)
fettling (participle present)
fettled (participle past)
fettled (past)

From Late Middle English fetlen (“(verb) to bestow; to fix, prepare, put in place; to prepare (oneself) for battle, gird up; to shape; to be about to, or to ready (oneself) to stay; (adjective) shaped (well or poorly)”) [and other forms], which possibly:
* from Old English fetel (“belt, girdle, fettle”), from Proto-Germanic *fatilaz, further etymology unknown; or
* from Old English fetian (“to fetch”), from Proto-Germanic *fatōną, *fatjaną (“to fetch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“foot”).
Compare Old English ġefetelsod (“provided with a belt; trimmed, polished, ornamented”).

nb...

fatelen, fetel, fetele, fetelen, fetle, fettel, fettil, fetyl, fitelen

cog

Divint fettle yersel ower that!

(reflexive, Geordie) To be upset or in a bad mood.


weariness

en-noun

weariness (usually uncountable, plural wearinesses)

From Middle English werynes, werinesse, from Old English wēriġnes (“weariness”), equivalent to weary + -ness.


indignant

en-adj

indignant (comparative more indignant, superlative most indignant)

more indignant (comparative)
most indignant (superlative)

Borrowed from Latin indignāns, present participle of indignor (“to consider as unworthy, be angry or displeased at”), from in- (“privative”) + dignor (“to deem worthy”), from dignus (“worthy”).

Showing anger or indignation, especially at something unjust or wrong.


pet peeve

Forgetting to finish a sentence with a period is one of my pet peeves.

1970s, George Carlin, stand-up routine
I don’t have pet peeves; I have major, psychotic hatreds.

(colloquial) Something that is personally annoying; a personal dislike.

inhokki

something that is personally annoying; a personal dislike


blow-up

The kids played with a blow-up sea-monster in the pool.


weary

weary (comparative wearier, superlative weariest)

wearier (comparative)
weariest (superlative)

From Middle English wery, weri, from Old English wēriġ (“weary”), from Proto-West Germanic *wōrīg, *wōrag (“weary”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian wuurich (“weary, tired”), West Frisian wurch (“tired”), Dutch dialectal wurrig (“exhausted”), Old Saxon wōrig (“weary”), Old High German wōrag, wuarag (“drunken”).

cog

And now she was vppon the weary way,

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39:

There passed a weary time.

1797–1798 (date written), [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”, in Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems, London: […] J[ohn] & A[rthur] Arch, […], published 1798, →OCLC:

She had to dance all night without resting till break of day […] Old women supported her in the weary task, and they all danced together, arm in arm.

1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 9, page 284:


atrabiliousness

Of his [Samuel Johnson's] works; though they have little of originality, and his ſtyle has a certain atrabiliouſneſs, and his tiſſue of paragraphs an unpleaſing quaintneſs, it must be confeſſed that his Dictionary, Rambler, and the two imitative translations of tranſlations of Juvenal, &c. are very excellent; […]

1789, anonymous [Robert Potter], The Art of Criticism; as Exemplified in Dr. Johnson's Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, London: Printed for T. Hookham, New Bond Street, →OCLC, page 191:

Drummond, whose gorge had risen at these evidences of hopeless incapacity and utter shiftlessness, was not relieved by the presence of Mrs. Reed – a soured, disappointed woman of forty, who still carried in her small dark eyes and thin handsome lips something of the bitterness and antagonism of the typical "Southern rights" woman; nor of her two daughters, Octavia and Augusta, whose languid atrabiliousness seemed a part of the mourning they still wore.

1893, Bret Harte, The Works of Bret Harte: Sally Dows, and other Sketches [The Works of Bret Harte; 5], New York, N.Y.: McKinlay, Stone & Mackenzie, →OCLC, pages 20–21:

Terry, author of the indispensable Terry's Guide to Mexico, has a name for it – atrabiliousness. "The defect of many of the murals," he says, speaking of those in the orphan asylum, "is the facial atrabiliousness of some of the subjects. To the observer it minimizes the grandeur of the conception […]"

1948, Willard Price, Roving South, Rio Grande to Patagonia, New York, N.Y.: J. Day Co., →OCLC, page 13:

The text is 'suffused with decorous domesticity', which, [Richard] Altick has argued, is due to its rigorous omission of the 'idiosyncrasies that made [[Alfred, Lord] Tennyson] the engaging and often formidable character he was – his vanity, his atrabiliousness [and] his shaggy Lincolnshire abruptness.'

2013, Anne-Marie Millim, “‘Troops of Unrecording Friends’: Vicarious Celebrity in the Memoir”, in Charlotte Boyce, Páraic Finnerty, Anne-Marie Millim, Victorian Celebrity Culture and Tennyson's Circle, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-1-137-00793-3

The state or quality of being atrabilious.

Grumpiness, irritability, melancholy, moroseness.


atrabilious

en-adj

atrabilious (comparative more atrabilious, superlative most atrabilious)

more atrabilious (comparative)
most atrabilious (superlative)

From Latin ātra bīlis (“black bile”) (āter (“dark, black”) + bīlis (“bile”)) + -ous (“full of”).

But the torch of taste has for the moment fallen into the hands of little men, anæmic and atrabilious, with neither laughter nor pity in their hearts.

1896, Richard Le Gallienne, Prose Fancies, London: John Lane, →OCLC:

Lame, lank, atrabilious Charles Grey Grey [sic] is a 32nd generation Northumberlander.

1939, Time, volume 34, number 1, page 48:


wistful

wistful (comparative more wistful, superlative most wistful)

more wistful (comparative)
most wistful (superlative)

Presumably from *whistful, from whist (“silent”) + -ful, based on older wistly. It is implausible that it derives from wishful, the required sound change being wishful → *wisful → wistful, which could not occur in Modern English, particularly not with wishful continuing in use. However, the sense of “longing” appears to be influenced by wishful, making wistful an ambiguous poetic word.

His eyes grew wistful as he recalled his university days.

Her grey eyes, looking out on the violet of the night sky, the trees, and the crowd of hilarious onlookers who had not been invited to Buckingham Palace, had a patient and wistful expression.

1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC, page 1:


blow up

en-verb

blow up (third-person singular simple present blows up, present participle blowing up, simple past blew up, past participle blown up)

blows up (present singular third-person)
blowing up (participle present)
blew up (past)
blown up (participle past)

From Middle English blow up, blowe up, dissimilated forms of earlier Middle English upblowen (> English upblow), equivalent to blow + up. Compare West Frisian opblaze (“to blow up, inflate”), Dutch opblazen (“to blow up, inflate”), German aufblähen and aufblasen (“to blow up, inflate”), Swedish blåsa upp (“to blow up, inflate”), Icelandic blása upp (“to blow up, inflate”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌱𐌻𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽 (ufblēsan, “to blow or puff up”).

cog

to blow someone up with flattery

blown up with high conceits engendering pride

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

(transitive, dated) To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up.

(intransitive, cycling) To succumb to oxygen debt and lose the ability to maintain pace in a race.

I am the man
 So I’m sitting in the VIP
with my mains
We twisted up some Crip
but I am ready to dip
to the telly with my relly
cuz these fuckin git up chicks keep blowin up my celly.

2007, “Fucc & Git Up”, in DZ (lyrics), Sleepless City Livin, performed by DZ ft. Gangsta Nutt, from 1:59:

Don't let them sabotage a possible good thing by blowing up your phone while you're in the middle of a hot date with nonsense like, “Jason keeps asking for a Popsicle before bed. Do you think it's okay that I give him one?”

2009, RM Johnson, Why Men Fear Marriage: The Surprising Truth Behind Why So Many Men Can't Commit, →ISBN:

Dad sure knew how to kill a mood. He had blown up my phone all day, ensuring that I didn't back out of our agreement.

2011, Jaime Reed, Living Violet, →ISBN, page 67:

Not knowing the whereabouts of his daughter, Tavon blew up her phone without once getting a response.

2012, Chris Hicks, Ebony Chronicles of Elevation, volume 1, →ISBN, page 181:

He has never officially said that we are in a relationship, but he blows up my phone night and day, always wanting to know where I am.

2013, Michelle McKinney Hammond, The Real Deal on Love and Men, →ISBN:

“Danny Cipriani is blowing up my phone saying: ‘I’m going to sue you’,” she said, shortly before announcing her willingness to go to prison over the issue.

2014 September 11, Alexis Petridis, quoting Kelly Brook, “A freedom fighter for our time: Kelly Brook will not be silenced over Danny Cipriani”, in The Guardian:

They're blowing up our phones, asking where we are / Just say we're almost there; we ain't even in the car

2015, Kacey Musgraves, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(transitive, slang, said of a device or machine) To overwhelm through unexpectedly high demand, activity, usage, traffic volume, etc.

(especially) (said of a cell phone, pager, or other personal communication device) To bombard with a large number of calls, texts, or notifications, to the point of rendering temporarily unusable or exasperating the recipient.

Halfway home, and my pager's still blowin' up

1992, Ice Cube (lyrics and music), “It Was A Good Day”, in The Predator:

(intransitive, slang, said of a device or machine) To be overwhelmed by unexpectedly high demand, usage, activity, traffic volume, etc.

(especially) (said of a cell phone, pager, or other personal communication device) To receive a large number of calls, texts, or notifications, to the point of being rendered temporarily unusable or exasperating the recipient.


wobbly

en-adj

wobbly (comparative wobblier, superlative wobbliest)

wobblier (comparative)
wobbliest (superlative)


wobbly

(colloquial, chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A wobbler; a fit of rage; a tantrum.


contemptuous

contemptuous (comparative more contemptuous, superlative most contemptuous)

more contemptuous (comparative)
most contemptuous (superlative)

From Latin contemptus (whence contempt) + -ous.

Rep. Noble told GCN that she, however, had deep concern "regarding the scandalous sexual exploitation and abuse of young children by adults." Noble has called on the community to "support the efforts of the Suffolk County District Attorney's office in unraveling this contemptuous situation.

1977 December 24, Jim Marko, quoting Elaine Noble, “Committee of Outrage to Protest Arrests”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 25, page 1:

(rare) Worthy of contempt; contemptible.


gynephilia

From Ancient Greek; equivalent to gyne- + -philia; see gyne.

The love of women; a sexual attraction to women, in general; female-oriented teleiophilia.


woebegone

woebegone (comparative more woebegone, superlative most woebegone)

more woebegone (comparative)
most woebegone (superlative)

From Old English wābegān (“beset by woe”), from wā (“woe”) + begān (“to beset, to surround”). Equivalent to woe + begone (past participle of bego).

The 44-year-old Prokhorov, the second-richest man in Russia, is expected to assume control of the woebegone Nets within the next few weeks.

2010 April 27, Howard Beck, “Russian Billionaire Is White Knight for the Nets”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


wrathful

wrathful (comparative more wrathful, superlative most wrathful)

more wrathful (comparative)
most wrathful (superlative)


disconsolate

disconsolate (comparative more disconsolate, superlative most disconsolate)

more disconsolate (comparative)
most disconsolate (superlative)

From Medieval Latin discōnsōlātus (“comfortless”), from dis- (“away”) + cōnsōlātus (“consoled”).

bor

I opened my eyes to this disconsolate day.

a farther paſſion feeds my thoughts,
With ceaſeleſſe and diſconſolate conceits,
Which dies my lookes so liueleſſe as they are,
And might, if my extreames had ful euents,
Make me the gaſtly counterfeit of death.

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

1885, Robert L. Steveson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, chapter 7.
Sitting close beside it, taking the air with an infinite sadness of mien, like some disconsolate prisoner, Utterson saw Dr. Jekyll.

1897, W.S.Maugham, Liza of Lambeth, chapter 1.
Worst off of all were the very young children, for there had been no rain for weeks, and the street was as dry and clean as a covered court, and, in the lack of mud to wallow in, they sat about the road, disconsolate as poets.

Özil looked a little disconsolate when he was substituted late on, though he did set up Wilshere's second with a lovely pass off the outside of his left boot.

2013 November 26, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian:


haha

From Middle English haha, ha ha, from Old English ha ha (interjection), ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare Old Frisian haha (interjection), Middle Low German hahā, hahahā (interjection), Middle High German hahā, haha (interjection), all expressions of joy or of laughter.

An onomatopoeic representation of laughter.


dudgeon

Uncertain:
* Perhaps the same as Etymology 2, below
* Perhaps from Welsh dygen (“anger, grudge”) (from dy- + cwyn (“complaint”)), though the OED rejects this.
* Possibly from dudgen (“trash, something worthless”).
* Possibly borrowed from Italian aduggiare (“to overshadow”), similar to the semantic development of umbrage.

All gentle folks who owe a grudge / To any living thing, / Open your ears and stay your trudge / Whilst I in dudgeon sing.

1818, John Keats, “The Gadfly”, in Letter to Tom Keats:

To crown his discontent, his approach was utterly unnoticed by that capricious damsel. He dashed away in dudgeon from the house at an early hour, certainly less regretted by the maid than by the master of the inn.

1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XVIII, page 224:

[…] I have reason to know that she took its impressment into the service of boiling my egg and broiling my bacon, in dudgeon; for I saw her, with my own discomfited eyes, shake her fist at me once […]

1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “I am Sent Away from Home”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

You may take the whole damned houseful if you like. Except the jewels. Theyre hired. Will that satisfy you? [He turns on his heel and is about to go in extreme dudgeon].

1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act IV, page 167:

[W]ith girls of high and haughty spirit you have to watch your step, especially if they have red hair, like Bobbie. If they think you're talking out of turn, dudgeon ensues, and dudgeon might easily lead her to reach for the ginger ale bottle and bean me with it.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

In her typical appearances on Fox News, Jeanine Pirro, a former Republican district attorney, reserves her highest dudgeon for castigating liberals and lamenting the demise of law and order.

2020 May 30, Michael M. Grynbaum, Annie Karni, Jeremy W. Peters, “What Top Conservatives Are Saying About George Floyd and Police Brutality”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

A feeling of anger or resentment, especially haughty indignation.

Groll

feeling of anger or resentment, especially haugthy indignation


dudgeon

From Middle English dogeon, apparently from Anglo-Norman or Middle French, but the ultimate origin is obscure. Compare French douve (“stave”).

And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood

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


mirthful

en-adj

mirthful (comparative mirthfuller or more mirthful, superlative mirthfullest or most mirthful)

mirthfuller (comparative)
more mirthful (comparative)
mirthfullest (superlative)
most mirthful (superlative)

From Middle English mirthful, equivalent to mirth + -ful.

[T]he Feaſt was ſerv'd; the Bowl was crown'd; / To the King's Pleaſure went the mirthful Round: […]

1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, book II (Pleasure), page 437:


vehemence

en-noun

vehemence (usually uncountable, plural vehemences)

From Middle French vehemence, from Latin vehementia (“eagerness, strength”), from vehemens (“eager”).

der

The bear attacked with vengeance and vehemence.

An intense concentration, force or power.

стремителност

His response was bursting with hatred and vehemence.

This worrisome tendency was on display in recent weeks as Israelis reacted with striking vehemence to remarks by UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and US ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro.

2016 February 6, Israel’s prickliness blocks the long quest for peace, “The National”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

I could not wonder at the vehemence of her care, her very soul was tenderness […]

1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter I, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 8:

Eagerness, fervor, excessive strong feeling.


nyctophobia

"You're afraid of the dark. That's nyctophobia. And you're afraid of deep places, or depth. That's bathophobia."

2004, Michael A. Gibbs, A Fairy of Anneliese Glade, →ISBN:

A fear of the night, nighttime, or darkness.


excitement

en-noun

excitement (countable and uncountable, plural excitements)

From Middle English excitement, from Old French excitement, equivalent to excite + -ment.

to get caught up in the excitement

By late accounts from Rotterdam, that city seems to be in a high state of philosophical excitement.

1835, Edgar Allan Poe, The unparalleled adventure of one Hans Pfaal:

(uncountable) The state of being excited (emotionally aroused).


get someone's goat

en-verb

get someone's goat (third-person singular simple present gets someone's goat, present participle getting someone's goat, simple past got someone's goat, past participle (UK) got someone's goat or (US) gotten someone's goat)

gets someone's goat (present singular third-person)
getting someone's goat (participle present)
got someone's goat (past)
got someone's goat (UK participle past)
gotten someone's goat (US participle past)

/ˌɡɛt ˈsʌmwʌnz ˈɡəʊt/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-get someone's goat.wav

Uncertain; it has been suggested that the term may be derived from French prendre la chèvre (literally “to take the goat”), or refer to the stealing of a goat mascot from a military unit, etc.

der

Coordinate term: yank someone's chain

It really gets my goat when inconsiderate people drop litter in public.

If he had legged it on his own account, because what he heard me say got his goat, I could understand that.

1915, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, chapter XXIII, in Uneasy Money, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, published 17 March 1916, →OCLC, page 306:

"Unfortunately," said Soames, "there's no such thing as luck in properly regulated assurance, as we shall find, or I'm much mistaken. I shouldn't be surprised if an action lay against the Board for gross negligence!" That had got the Chairman's goat!—Got his goat? What expressions they used nowadays!

1924 October, John Galsworthy, “The Mark Falls”, in The White Monkey, London: William Heinemann, published November 1924, →OCLC, part II, page 123:

But there's one litte thing that gets my goat, / That certainly strikes a sour note. / It's that Southern Ship who has my place— / With her larger decks and her faster pace.

1941 May, “Milestone”, in T. Orchard Lisle, editor, The Log, volume 36, number 8, San Francisco, Calif.: Miller Freeman Publishers, →OCLC, page 34:

It sure did get their goat; they turned without saying a word and walked off toward the highway, red-necked, us laughing behind them. I forget sometimes what laughter can do.

1962 February 1, Ken Kesey, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Signet Books; 225), New York, N.Y.: New American Library, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: Signet, New American Library, February 1963, →OCLC, page 95:

Sometimes people are quite simply intent on riling us; on getting our goat. [...] If you don't want them to get your goat, don't let them know where it is.

2002, Barry Winbolt, “Looking for New Ideas”, in Difficult People: A Guide to Handling Difficult Behaviour, Seaford, East Sussex: ISR Publishing, Institute for Social Relations, published 2005, →ISBN, section 2, pages 191–192:

As Sandra Strain had seen it, as quickly as Natty had gotten her goat, she had slaughtered it by being apologetic. This was not what the girl had anticipated, nor wanted to hear.

2005, Sandy Santistevan, chapter 7, in Song of the Cicada: A Novel, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 79:

(informal, idiomatic) To annoy or infuriate someone.

courir sur le haricot

to annoy or infuriate someone — see also annoy, infuriate


formidable

en-adj

formidable (comparative more formidable, superlative most formidable)

more formidable (comparative)
most formidable (superlative)

/ˈfɔːɹmɪdəbəl/

/fɔːɹˈmɪdəbəl/

Borrowed from Middle French formidable, from Latin formīdābilis (“formidable, terrible”), from formīdō (“fear, dread”).

der

The latter part of the fifteenth century prepared a train of future events, that ended by raising France to a formidable power, which has ever since been, from time to time, the principal object of jealousy to the other European nations.

1823, [Walter Scott], “The Contrast”, in Quentin Durward. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 3:

Causing fear, dread, awe, or discouragement as a result of size, strength, or some other impressive feature; commanding respect; causing wonder or astonishment.

ահեղ

causing fear, dread, awe or admiration as a result of size, strength, or some other impressive quality


amour

en-noun

amour (countable and uncountable, plural amours)

Inherited from Middle English amour, from Middle French amour, from Old French amor, from Latin amor.
The modern pronunciation is due to continual French influence; the expected development would be /ˈæmə(ɹ)/, as seen in enamour, enamoured.

Jones had mentioned the Fact of his Amour, and of his being the Rival of Blifil, but had cautiously concealed the Name of the young Lady.

1749, Henry Fielding, “A Dialogue between Mr. Jones and the Barber”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VIII, page 180:

The amours of the greater scaup are, if anything, even more varied.

1990 October 26, Jerry Sullivan, “Field & Street”, in Chicago Reader:


timid

en-adj

timid (comparative timider, superlative timidest)

timider (comparative)
timidest (superlative)

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

der

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

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

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


jealous

en-adj

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

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

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

der

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

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

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

zili

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


dour

en-adj

dour (comparative dourer or more dour, superlative dourest or most dour)

dourer (comparative)
more dour (comparative)
dourest (superlative)
most dour (superlative)

dower (depending on speaker) The traditional Scottish pronunciation of this originally Scottish word is doer.

Borrowed from Scots dour, possibly from Latin dūrus (“hard, stern”), via Middle Irish dúr.
Compare French dur, Catalan dur, Italian duro, Portuguese duro, Romanian dur, Spanish duro. Doublet of dure.

The principal reason is that, in competition with modern road vehicles running over motorways, B.R. has a dour struggle to match the performance of its rivals cost-wise.

1961 October, “Editorial: The importance of the "Roadrailer"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 577:

I was reminded of the dour priests and salesmen of the nineteenth century who believed that the plebs wouldn’t be able to handle getting the vote, or a decent wage, or, least of all, leisure, and who backed the seventy-hour workweek as an efficacious instrument in the fight against liquor.

2017, chapter 6, in Elizabeth Manton, transl., Utopia for Realists, Kindle edition, Bloomsbury Publishing, translation of Gratis geld voor iedereen by Rutger Bregman, page 149:

Hayek had contributed the foreword, in which he declared that “he got so fascinated” by the book—high praise from the dour Viennese sage—that he read it from start to finish in one sitting.

2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 4, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part II. The Neoliberal Order, 1970–2020:


woeful

woeful (comparative woefuller, superlative woefullest)

woefuller (comparative)
woefullest (superlative)

From Middle English woful, waful, equivalent to woe + -ful. Compare Old English wālīċ (“woeful”), Old English tēonful (“woeful”).

How many woeful widows left to bow / To sad disgrace!

1595, Samuel Daniel, “(please specify the folio number)”, in The First Fowre Bookes of the Ciuile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke, London: […] P[eter] Short for Simon Waterson, →OCLC:

Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity.

What woful stuff this madrigal would be / In some starv'd hackney sonneteer or me!

1711, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 72:


gaiety

en-noun

gaiety (countable and uncountable, plural gaieties)

Borrowed from French gaieté, from gai. By surface analysis, gay + -ety.

There was much gaiety at the ball.

The decorations added greatly to the gaiety of the room.

During the present gayety of the house, however, the poor girl has gone about with a face full of trouble, and to use the housekeeper's words, "has fallen into a sad hystericky way lately."

1822 May 21, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Love Charms”, in Bracebridge Hall, or The Humourists. A Medley. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: […] C. S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page 218:

Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.

1963, Margery Allingham, “Dangerous Lady”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 36:

(dated, uncountable) The state of being happy or merry.


humiliate

en-verb

humiliate (third-person singular simple present humiliates, present participle humiliating, simple past and past participle humiliated)

humiliates (present singular third-person)
humiliating (participle present)
humiliated (participle past)
humiliated (past)

From Late Latin humiliatus, past participle of humiliare (“to abase, humble”), from Latin humilis (“lowly, humble”), from humus (“ground; earth, soil”); see humble.

(transitive) To cause to be ashamed; to injure the dignity and self-respect of.

poshtëroj

to injure a person's dignity and self-respect


ebullient

en-adj

ebullient (comparative more ebullient, superlative most ebullient)

more ebullient (comparative)
most ebullient (superlative)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


happy camper

The Dictionary of American Slang suspects the phrase to have originated among California movie and show-business people as a reference to child clients of summer camps.

I will be a happy camper when they fix the potholes on my commute.

“You all look like happy campers to me,” Dan Quayle to the people of American Samoa.

1989 April 26, Shirley Marlow, “Quayle Visits Samoa, Decides He'll Give It a Break”, in Los Angeles Times:

"Call, but you can't fight union regulations" / "You're probably right. Still, their boss needs to know I'm not a happy camper."

1997, Roz Denny Fox, Sweet Tibby Mack, page 132:

I had kept telling people that this company would be looking for a victim to pay for this. They would not let it go. And it wasn't just them—look at all the Mob guys I threw out of the union. They weren't happy campers.

2008, Deepa Kumar, quoting Ron Carey, Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization, and the UPS Strike, Appendix, page 194:

(chiefly US, informal) One who is thoroughly content or satisfied.


beatitude

From Middle English beatitude, beatytude, from Middle French béatitude, from Latin beātitūdō (“happiness, blessedness”), from beātus (“happy, blessed”).

der

Here is Gregson coming down the road with beatitude written upon every feature of his face.

1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, part 1, chapter 6:

(uncountable) Supreme, utmost bliss and happiness.


xenofobia

Compare Dutch xenofobie, Portuguese xenofobia, Spanish xenofobia, and Turkish zenofobi.

Greetings from Brigite from Portugal to Austria!
What do I know about your country?
Hardly nothing! I only know that you speak German, your capital is Vienna and that you have very beatifull^([sic]) palaces. oh yes, and that the film of "Sissi" was made there! (Actually I liked it a lot!)
What prejudices?
I heard of a lot of xenofobia and racism... is it true?

1997 April 16, ri20556, “From AUSTRIA - from Portugal”, in soc.college.org.aiesec (Usenet), retrieved 2022-04-18:

As an ex-inhabitant of Bruges, I'm sorry to read posts with complaints about bad behaviour in restaurants towards tourists. The problem is that in Bruges there are so many tourists that in some restaurants the Brugeois are in a 'minority'. Sometimes restaurant owners try to profile themselves as 'non-tourist' to attract more people from Bruges.
Though I completely lack any feeling of xenofobia, I must say it is weird to be in a restaurant in your home-town and to be amongst only tourists. It makes you feel like being in a tourist trap - I'm sure the average tourist feels the same about that.

1998 August 25, Dela, “Restaurants in Brugges?^([sic])”, in rec.travel.europe (Usenet), retrieved 2022-04-18:

Genocide is not a mistake. It is delibarete^([sic]) attempt to exterminate a people out of racial prejudice. Nobody exterminates anybody because they are an inconveniency,^([sic]) as you suggest. Armenians and Turks have coexisted peacefully in the Empire before 1915. Armenians and Turks coexist peacefully in Turkey today. So what was it, a brief attack of xenofobia by the young Turks? come on. You may consider this qubbling^([sic]) over a fine point, it is exactly that point you are trying to smear us with.

1998 November 7, pipe...@my-dejanews.com, “SEVEN MORE REPRESENTATIVES JOIN ARMENIAN CAUCUS (fwd)”, in soc.culture.turkish (Usenet), retrieved 2022-04-18:

Also i see a shade of xenofobia in this treatment and i dont like this. In spain there are also people who see the tourists as inferior beings, not me.

2002 August 29, Rafa, “Education in CzR”, in soc.culture.czecho-slovak (Usenet), retrieved 2022-04-18:

(non-native speakers' English) Misspelling of xenophobia.


have it in for

en-verb

have it in for (third-person singular simple present has it in for, present participle having it in for, simple past and past participle had it in for)

has it in for (present singular third-person)
having it in for (participle present)
had it in for (participle past)
had it in for (past)

My boss must really have it in for me; that was the third lecture this week!

(transitive, colloquial) To be very angry with; to have a grudge against; to intend revenge against.


paramour

/ˈpæ.ɹə.mʊə/

/ˈpæ.ɹə.mɔː/

From Middle English paramour, paramoure, peramour, paramur, from Old French par amor (“for love's sake”). The modern pronunciation is apparently an Early Modern English readaptation of the French.

to run away with a paramour

The seducer appeared with dauntless front, accompanied by his paramour.

1848, Thomas Maucalay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second:

They should be chaste, not lustful, nor taking paramours:

1934, Yusuf Ali, transl., The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, surah 4, verse 25:

The action scenes are deafening and punchily staged by director Louis Letterier (The Transporter), though I wish he’d set more time aside to spend with Nobby, his paramour Dawn (Rebel Wilson), their shaven-headed brood, and friends

2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ' Sacha Baron Cohen's vital, venomous action movie'”, in The Daily Telegraph (London):

(somewhat archaic) An illicit lover, either male or female.

(obsolete) The Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ (when addressed by a person of the opposite sex).


paramour

paramour (third-person singular simple present paramours, present participle paramouring, simple past and past participle paramoured)

paramours (present singular third-person)
paramouring (participle present)
paramoured (participle past)
paramoured (past)

/ˈpæ.ɹə.mʊə/

/ˈpæ.ɹə.mɔː/

The paramouring matron left / A babe and husband both bereft;

1842, John de Jean Fraser, The Stranger in His Native Place:

This meant it could even call in "third party 'paramours'" and tell them to quit their paramouring.

2011, Joanna L. Grossman, Lawrence M. Friedman, Inside the Castle, Princeton University Press, →ISBN:

To go with a paramour; to have an affair.


paramour

/ˈpæ.ɹə.mʊə/

/ˈpæ.ɹə.mɔː/

(obsolete, of loving, etc.) Passionately, out of sexual desire.


gloaming

From a dialectal variant of glooming, from Middle English *gloming, from Old English glōmung, from Old English glōm (“twilight”). By surface analysis, gloom + -ing. Related to glow.
The OED notes: "The vowel of the modern gloaming is anomalous, as Old English glōmung should normally become glooming. The explanation is probably that the ō was shortened in the compound ǣfen-glommung (as the spelling seems to show was actually the case), and that from this compound there was evolved a new subject glŏmung, which by normal phonetic development became Middle English glǭming, modern English gloaming."


emotional

en-adj

emotional (comparative more emotional, superlative most emotional)

more emotional (comparative)
most emotional (superlative)

/ɪˈməʊʃənəl/

/ɪˈmoʊʃənəl/

emotional crisis

emotional lift

emotional speech

She’s an emotional person.

emotional greeting


arctophilia

From Ancient Greek ἄρκτος (árktos, “bear”) + φιλία (philía, “affection”).


unremorseful

unremorseful (comparative more unremorseful, superlative most unremorseful)

more unremorseful (comparative)
most unremorseful (superlative)


have the hots for

en-verb

have the hots for (third-person singular simple present has the hots for, present participle having the hots for, simple past and past participle had the hots for)

has the hots for (present singular third-person)
having the hots for (participle present)
had the hots for (participle past)
had the hots for (past)

I think Donnie has the hots for Lisa.

Whoa. Wait a minute, Doc. Are you trying to tell me that my mother has got the hots for me?

1985, Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, Back to the Future, spoken by Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox):

I met this chick and she just moved right up the block from me / And uh, she got the hots for me

2002, “Dilemma”, in Nellyville, performed by Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland:

“How was Hubertus? Bernard thought he might have the hots for you, to put it bluntly.”

2003, William Gibson, Pattern Recognition (Bigend cycle; book 1), New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, page 87:

(idiomatic, transitive, informal) To be attracted (sexually or romantically) to (someone); to fancy someone.


paraphilia

en-noun

paraphilia (plural paraphilias or paraphiliae)

paraphilias (plural)
paraphiliae (plural)

性的嗜好障害

せいてきしこうしょうがい

(sexology) An abnormal sexual arousal or attraction, especially to objects or situations that are not of a sexual nature; typically of extreme or pathological nature.


dysphoria

dysphoria (countable and uncountable, plural dysphorias)

From Ancient Greek δυσφορία (dusphoría, “excessive pain”), from δύσφορος (dúsphoros, “grievous”), from δυσ- (dus-, “bad”) + φέρω (phérō, “I bear, carry”).

der

body dysphoria, premenstrual dysphoria, weight dysphoria

Chronic dysphoria can be secondary to a debilitating medical illness, a psychiatric disorder, or both (Akiskal, 1983).

1990, Martin B. Keller, Frances M. Sessa, Lauren P. Jones, “Chapter 7: Chronic Depressive Disorders”, in Barry A. Edelstein, Michel Hersen, M.E. Thase, editors, Handbook of Outpatient Treatment of Adults: Nonpsychotic Mental Disorders, page 145:

As a result of the critical review of the literature by the Work Group on Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder (LLPDD), it was agreed that the studies reviewed support the view that the predominant feature of LLPDD is the dysphoria that occurs during the premenstrual period.

1994, Judith H. Gold, Premenstrual Dysphorias: Myths and Realities, page 249:

While the reason for the individual's dysphoria on realizing that he has an STD is a result of lack of acceptance of his sexual orientation, the basis is not religious, and the dysphoria not so pronounced.

2013, Michael W. Ross, “2: Psychovenereology: Psychological Aspects of AIDS and other Sexually Transmissible Diseases”, in David G. Ostrow, editor, Behavioral Aspects of AIDS, page 30:

A state of feeling unwell or unhappy; a feeling of emotional and mental discomfort and suffering from restlessness, malaise, depression, or anxiety.

اِضْطِرَاب هُوِيَّة

state of feeling unwell, unhappy, restless or depressed


remorseful

en-adj

remorseful (comparative more remorseful, superlative most remorseful)

more remorseful (comparative)
most remorseful (superlative)

He was so remorseful that he voluntarily paid full restitution.

(of a person) Feeling or filled with remorse.

There was a remorseful look on her face.


have had it up to here

en-verb

have had it up to here (third-person singular simple present has had it up to here, present participle having had it up to here, simple past and past participle had had it up to here)

has had it up to here (present singular third-person)
having had it up to here (participle present)
had had it up to here (participle past)
had had it up to here (past)

I have had it up to here with your nonsense!

(idiomatic, informal) To have become very frustrated or angry; to have reached the limit of one's patience or forbearance.

estar fins al capdamunt

To have reached the limit of one's patience


klismaphilia

From Ancient Greek κλύσμα (klúsma, “enema”) [from Ancient Greek κατακλυσμός (kataklusmós, “deluge, flood”)] and φιλία (philía, “(fraternal) love”).

bor

(sexuality) The condition involving enjoyment of, and sexual arousal from, enemas.


scopophilia

From Ancient Greek σκοπός (skopós, “watcher”) + -philia (itself from the Ancient Greek φιλία (philía, “love, fondness”)).

der

At first feeling somewhat inhibited in his watching by Sam's presence (perhaps due to an inferiority complex), Jake freely indulges in his scopophilia once the other man is gone, growing excited by the sight of this woman whose dance includes undressing, donning some jewels, and then stroking herself.

2015, Douglas Keesey, Brian De Palma's Split-Screen: A Life in Film:

(psychology) A sexual dependency on openly observing sex organs and sexual acts, as opposed to voyeurism which is secret.


mysophilia

/ˌmaɪsəʊ̆ˈfɪlɪə/

While here filthiness is seemingly a consequence of the fear of being soiled, it is in our cases a consciously wished for situation which might be similar to mysophilia within the psychosexual infantility.

1963: National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (U.S.), The Psychoanalytic Review, p272

Mysophilia, for example, can probably only be an erotic turn-on when it is possible for people to be clean, which is something that has been possible only in comparatively recent times.

1988, Dennis M. Dailey, The Sexually Unusual: Guide to Understanding and Helping, page 17:

These paraphilias include coprophilia (preoccupation with feces), urophilia (preoccupation with urine), mysophilia (preoccupation with unclean surroundings)…

2003, Richard W Roukema, MD, What Every Patient, Family, Friend, and Caregiver Needs to Know About Psychiatry, page 133:

A sexual dependency on something soiled or filthy, usually a kind of undergarment after use.


bonhomie

en-noun

bonhomie (usually uncountable, plural bonhomies)

PIE word
 *dʰéǵʰōm
Borrowed from French bonhomie, bonhommie (“good-heartedness; extreme credulity”), from bonhomme (“chap, fellow; courageous man; peasant; unwise man who allows himself to be deceived and dominated”) (from bon (“good”) + homme (“man”)) + -ie (suffix forming feminine, usually abstract, nouns).

His ungainly person and awkward manners were against him with men accustomed to the graces of society, and he was not sufficiently at home to give play to his humor and to that bonhomie which won the hearts of all who knew him.

1849, Washington Irving, chapter XIV, in Life of Oliver Goldsmith, revised edition, Chicago, Ill.: Belford-Clarke Co., →OCLC, page 106:

[T]he unknown Arlo Guthrie takes the stage, ending up in the movie, and – through sheer bonhomie – selling a million copies of Alice's Restaurant.

2019 August 15, Bob Stanley, “‘Groovy, groovy, groovy’: listening to Woodstock 50 years on – all 38 discs”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-01-11:

(uncountable) A friendly, good-natured, pleasant manner; an affable and approachable disposition; friendliness.

hartelijkheid

friendly, good-natured, pleasant manner — see also friendliness

(uncountable) An atmosphere of friendliness and good cheer.


necrophile

/ˈnɛkɹəʊ̆faɪl/

He has seizures of erotic and macaberesque madness. He is a sort of necrophile. He has kept a journal in which he sets forth his disease with the utmost clearness.

1903, Guy de Maupassant, translated by M. Walter Dunne, A Tress of Hair:

(sexuality) One who is subject to necrophilia.


nightmare

From Middle English night-mare, from Old English *nihtmare, equivalent to night + mare (“evil spirit believed to afflict a sleeping person”). Cognate with Scots nichtmare and nichtmeer, Dutch nachtmerrie, Middle Low German nachtmār, German Nachtmahr.

com

I had a nightmare that I tried to run but could neither move nor breathe.

July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Riseshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/
With his crude potato-sack mask and fear-inducing toxins, The Scarecrow, a “psychopharmacologist” at an insane asylum, acts as a conjurer of nightmares, capable of turning his patients’ most terrifying anxieties against them.

Cleaning up after identity theft can be a nightmare of phone calls and letters.

If Euston is not typically English, St. Pancras is. Its façade is a nightmare of improbable Gothic. It is fairly plastered with the aesthetic ideals of 1868, and the only beautiful thing about it is Barlow's roof. It is haunted by the stuffier kind of ghost. Yet there is something about the ordered whole of St. Pancras that would make demolition a terrible pity.

1941 August, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The English Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 358:

The Red Holocaust is best interpreted in this light as the bitter fruit of an^([sic]) utopian gambit that was socially misengineered into a dystopic nightmare by despots in humanitarian disguise.

2009, Steven Rosefielde, Red Holocaust, page 240:

(figuratively) Any bad, miserable, difficult or terrifying situation or experience that arouses anxiety, terror, agony or great displeasure.

It haunted me, however, more than once, like a night-mare.

1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter II, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 46:

I started, hourly, from dreams of unutterable fear, to find the hot breath of the thing upon my face, and its vast weight—an incarnate Night-Mare that I had no power to shake off—incumbent eternally upon my heart!

(now rare) A demon or monster, thought to plague people while they slept and cause a feeling of suffocation and terror during sleep.

The Night-mare generally ſeizes people ſleeping on their backs, and often begins with frightful dreams, which are ſoon ſucceeded by a difficult reſpiration, a violent oppreſſion on the breaſt, and a total privation of voluntary motion.

1753, John Bond, An Essay on the Incubus, or Night-mare, London: Printed for D. Wilson and T. Durham, at Plato’s Head, in the Strand, page 2:

Had been afflicted in the night with that strange complaint called the nightmare.

1792, James Boswell, in Danziger & Brady (eds.), Boswell: The Great Biographer (Journals 1789–1795), Yale 1989, p. 209

(now chiefly historical) A feeling of extreme anxiety or suffocation experienced during sleep; Sleep paralysis.


nightmare

en-verb

nightmare (third-person singular simple present nightmares, present participle nightmaring, simple past and past participle nightmared)

nightmares (present singular third-person)
nightmaring (participle present)
nightmared (participle past)
nightmared (past)

She was the last person I’d expected to see, although I had not expected to see anyone at all. For a moment I thought it was a nightmare, and that I was nightmaring the whole thing.

1983, Shirley Eskapa, chapter 16, in The Secret-Keeper, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 99:

Stars have no need of intimidation, which makes them mightier than all the godheads nightmared by mere humanity.

2013, Caitlín R[ebekah] Kiernan, “Random Thoughts Before a Fatal Crash”, in The Ape’s Wife and Other Stories, Burton, Mich.: Subterranean Press, →ISBN, page 224:

I hurried through the arch, was dipped into shadow, and was glad to have my screaming eyes rinsed clean of this vision of a scrabbling, gibbering hell, worse than any nightmared by Bosch or Goya.

2016, Daniel Kraus, The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch; Volume Two: Empire Decayed, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster BFYR, →ISBN, page 122:

(transitive) To imagine (someone or something) as in a nightmare.


heavy-hearted

en-adj

heavy-hearted (comparative more heavy-hearted, superlative most heavy-hearted)

more heavy-hearted (comparative)
most heavy-hearted (superlative)

The mourners left the funeral heavy-hearted and silent.

He gave a heavy-hearted sigh.


Larry

No one gets named Larry anymore. It's had it as a name. Think of someone called Larry and you automatically conjure up a guy drinking beer in a sixties rec room.

1998, Carol Shields, Larry's Party, Penguin, →ISBN, page 254:

"Larry, name's Larry." I smiled, it was too ridiculous. He was worried about me calling him Lawrence instead of Larry with a rogue zombie climbing out of the dirt.

2002, Laurell K. Hamilton, Circus of the Damned, JOVE, →ISBN, page 149:

A diminutive of the male given name Laurence or Lawrence, popular as a male given name in the U.S. in the 1940s and the 1950s.


Japanophile

I am convinced that this book is not solely of interest to Japanophiles. The quality of Sado Hasegawa's work shines through and the book should prove to be a valued asset to any home library and is beautiful for display.

1990 December 9, Brian Scott Carr, “Erotic Art From Japan”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 8:

A person who loves the country, culture, or people of Japan.


urophilia

/ˌʊɹɒˈfilɪə/

(psychology, sexuality) Undinism, a fetish for or sexual dependency on either the smell and/or taste of urine, or the sight and sound of someone urinating.


papaphobia

/pæpæˈfəʊbɪə/

the pathological fear of the pope or the papacy


papaphilia

/pæpæˈfɪlɪə/

love and adoration for the pope or the papacy


sunshine

en-noun

sunshine (usually uncountable, plural sunshines)

In the Coverdale Bible in 1535, in Genesis and Exodus about 1250 as Middle English sunnesine; synchronically sun + shine. Compare isolated Old English sunsċīn (“mirror”).

You are the sunshine of my life / That's why I'll always be around / You are the apple of my eye / Forever you'll stay in my heart

1972, Stevie Wonder (lyrics and music), “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”, in Talking Book:


gleeful

en-adj

gleeful (comparative more gleeful, superlative most gleeful)

more gleeful (comparative)
most gleeful (superlative)

During [Tucker] Carlson’s keynote, he wedged sneers at his critics for crying “racist!” in between racist remarks about [Ilhan] Omar, jeremiads against the media (“I know there’s a bunch of reporters here, so . . . screw you”), and an attack on Elizabeth Warren and her donors (“She’s a tragedy, because she’s now obsessed with racism, which is why the finance world supports her”)—all to gleeful applause.

2019 July 24, David Austin Walsh, “Flirting With Fascism”, in Jewish Currents:


craven

craven (comparative more craven, superlative most craven)

more craven (comparative)
most craven (superlative)

From Middle English cravant, either borrowed from Old French cravanté (“defeated”), past participle of cravanter, or a modification of creaunt (“defeated”) after craven (“to crave”).

The poor craven bridegroom said never a word.

1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC:

Prime Minister Abe's fumbling and craven performance took place on a national holiday in Korea, marking the country wide uprising against the Japanese colonial rule that began on March 1, 1919. March 1 is also the day in 1932 that Japan chose to inaugurate Manchukuo (after seizing northeastern China).

“But they’ve made some big carve-outs that are just absolute nonsense. There’s no perfect approach to content moderation, but they could at least try to look less transparently craven and incoherent.”

2020 October 12, Andrew Marantz, quoting Dave Willner, “Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself”, in The New Yorker:

The PP has seized on the possibility of an amnesty to rally support and to portray the PSOE leader as craven, dependent on Catalan separatists and hellbent on remaining in office.

2023 September 26, Sam Jones, “Spain elections: Feijóo launches doomed bid to lead country”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Now, I hold no candle for the train operators, and I think that in the main they have been far too craven about any government proposals. But in this instance, they have been badly traduced, led up the hill, and then chucked back down it.

2023 November 15, Christian Wolmar, “Ministers should carry the can for ticket office fiasco”, in RAIL, number 996, page 47:

Unwilling to fight; lacking even the rudiments of courage; extremely cowardly.


fly off the handle

en-verb

fly off the handle (third-person singular simple present flies off the handle, present participle flying off the handle, simple past flew off the handle, past participle flown off the handle)

flies off the handle (present singular third-person)
flying off the handle (participle present)
flew off the handle (past)
flown off the handle (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fly off the handle.wav

My dad flew off the handle when he saw the F grade on my report card.

(colloquial) to become very angry or enraged; to throw a fit or go crazy.


lovingkindness

en-noun

lovingkindness (countable and uncountable, plural lovingkindnesses)

From loving + kindness. The word arises in the King James Version of the Bible as a translation of Hebrew חסד (ḥeseḏ, “grace, kindness, love; chesed”).

cog

But let him that glorieth, glory in this, that hee vnderſtandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exerciſe louing kindneſſe, iudgement, and righteouſneſſe in the earth: for in these things I delight, ſaith the Lord.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 9:24:

[…] My loving kindneſſe, my mercifull diſposition is a great bond, but my faithfulneſſe ſhall binde me also, I will be content to ingage my ſelfe to you, to ingage all that I am, and all that I have to you, that you may certainly confide in me, ſo as you may not onely expect it from my love, but challenge it from my faithfulneſſe.

1643, Jer. Burroughes [i.e., Jeremiah Burroughs], “The Nineteenth Lecture: Hosea 2. 20, 21, 22, 23.”, in An Exposition of the Prophecie of Hosea. Begun in Divers Lectures upon the First Three Chapters, at Michaels Cornhill, London, London: Printed by W. E. and J. G. for R. Dawlman, →OCLC, page 651:

What a comfort is it for chriſtian friends to relate to each other the loving-kindneſs of the Lord? O let his praiſes be ever in our mouths, that we may be telling of his ſalvation from day to day.

1736 April 2, George Whitefield, “Letter XI. To the Same [Mr. H.]”, in The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A., Late of Pembroke-College, Oxford, and Chaplain to the Rt. Hon. the Countess of Huntingdon. Containing All His Sermons and Tracts which have already been Published: With a Select Collection of Letters, Written to His Most Intimate Friends, and Persons of Distinction, in England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, from the Year 1734, to 1770, including the Whole Period of His Ministry. Also Some Other Pieces on Important Subjects, never before Printed; Prepared by Himself for the Press. To which is Prefixed, an Account of His Life, Compiled from His Original Papers and Letters, London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, in the Poultry; Edinburgh: Messrs. Kincaid and Bell, published 1771, →OCLC, page 13:

Awake, my soul, to joyful lays, / And sing the great Redeemer's praise; / He justly claims a song from me: / His loving-kindness, oh, how free!

1867, [Charles Seymour Robinson], “Loving-kindness”, in Songs for the Sanctuary: Or, Hymns and Tunes for Christian Worship, New York, N.Y.: A. S. Barnes & Co., 111 & 113 William Street, (Corner of John Street.), →OCLC, page 238:

Have we ever had the shadow of a reason to doubt our Father's goodness? Have not His loving-kindnesses been marvellous? Has he once failed to justify our trust? Ah, no! our God has not left us at any time.

1867, C[harles] H[addon] Spurgeon, “Oct. 17. ‘And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.’ — 1 Samuel xxvii. 1.”, in Morning by Morning; or, Daily Readings for the Family or the Closet, New York, N.Y.: Sheldon and Company, 498 and 500 Broadway, →OCLC, page 291:

In just the same way, the force of metta, lovingkindness, allows us to cohere, to come together within ourselves and with all beings. The beauty of this truth moved the Buddha to say that sustaining a loving heart, even for the duration of the snap of a finger, makes one a truly spiritual being.

1997, Sharon Salzberg, “Mercy”, in Kathleen Hughes, Joseph A. Favazza, editors, A Reconciliation Sourcebook (The Sourcebook Series), Chicago, Ill.: Liturgy Training Publications, →ISBN, page 141:

When we look at the grains of sand – countless in number – they speak to us of the multitude of God's lovingkindnesses to us.

2012, James Hastings, “Seaside Lodgings”, in The Book of Acts: Children’s Great Bible Texts, [s.l.]: Jazzybee Verlag, →ISBN:

After you have spent your second week of meditation on developing mindfulness, your third week of meditation will involve developing lovingkindness. Lovingkindness Meditation, which is the third core practice, focuses bringing love, compassion, sympathy, and joy into your life.

2014, Michael J. Cavallaro, “Finishing Core Meditation with Lovingkindness”, in Ten Minutes to Deep Meditation: Techniques that Reduce Stress and Relieve Anger, Anxiety & Depression, Ocala, Fla.: Atlantic Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 161:

(uncountable) Kindness or mercy which is based on, or arises from, love; (countable) an act of such kindness or mercy.


enamoured

en-adj

enamoured (comparative more enamoured, superlative most enamoured)

more enamoured (comparative)
most enamoured (superlative)

UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada spelling of enamored


amorous

amorous (comparative more amorous, superlative most amorous)

more amorous (comparative)
most amorous (superlative)

From Middle English amorous, amerous (14th century), from Old French amoros, amoreus, from Vulgar Latin *amōrōsus, from Latin amor (“love”), related to amāre (“to love”). Compare French amoureux (“in love”). Doublet of amoroso and amoureux.

He had been amorous of her since schooldays.

(dated) Affected with love; in love; enamored.


frenzy

frenzy (comparative more frenzy, superlative most frenzy)

more frenzy (comparative)
most frenzy (superlative)

From Middle English frensy, frenesie, from Old French frenesie, from Latin phrenesis, from Ancient Greek *φρένησις (*phrénēsis), a later equivalent of φρενῖτις (phrenîtis, “inflammation of the brain”): see frantic and frenetic.

They thought that some frenzy distemper had got into his head.

1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress:


grumpy

grumpy (comparative grumpier, superlative grumpiest)

grumpier (comparative)
grumpiest (superlative)

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


euphoric

euphoric (comparative more euphoric, superlative most euphoric)

more euphoric (comparative)
most euphoric (superlative)

In this moment, I am euphoric.

Feeling great well-being or elation or intense happiness; characterized by euphoria

eufòric

feeling great well-being or elation or intense happiness; characterized by euphoria

Heroin is the most euphoric drug in use today.

1973, United States. Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, Treatment and rehabilitation, page 31:

Lin gathered herself, took a moment to rehearse the words in her mind, contacted the L.A. number, and delivered her euphoric news to her agent in person

Productive of euphoria, causing great joy


euphoric

A drug that causes euphoria; a euphoriant.


frightening

frightening (comparative more frightening, superlative most frightening)

more frightening (comparative)
most frightening (superlative)

/ˈfɹaɪtənɪŋ/

Riding the rollercoaster was a frightening experience.

Causing fear; of capable of causing fear; scary.

(figuratively) Awful, terrible, very bad.


fearful

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


dating

en-noun

dating (countable and uncountable, plural datings)

Janet was surprised at how much casual dating had changed since she was last single.

We met on a popular dating app.

A form of romantic courtship typically between two individuals with the aim of assessing the other's suitability as a partner in an intimate relationship or as a spouse.


scary

en-adj

scary (comparative scarier, superlative scariest)

scarier (comparative)
scariest (superlative)

The tiger's jaws were scary.

She was hiding behind her pillow during the scary parts of the film.

Well, we swarmed along down the river road, just carrying on like wildcats; and to make it more scary the sky was darking up, and the lightning beginning to wink and flitter, and the wind to shiver amongst the leaves.

1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter 29, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:

“[…] How scary it is to know that everyone I love depends on me! I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong.”

1982, Anne Tyler, chapter 2, in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, New York: Ivy Books, published 1992, page 70:

(now chiefly informal) Causing fear or anxiety


disappointing

disappointing (comparative more disappointing, superlative most disappointing)

more disappointing (comparative)
most disappointing (superlative)

disappointing results / news; a disappointing experience

also translated with noun pettymys (olla pettymys - to be disappointing)


mirthless

mirthless (comparative more mirthless, superlative most mirthless)

more mirthless (comparative)
most mirthless (superlative)

From Middle English myrtheles, equivalent to mirth + -less.

The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms: hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal...

1958 December 7, James Thurber, The New York Times Magazine:


Japanophilia

/d͡ʒəˌpænəˈfɪli.ə/

A strong interest in the country, culture, or people of Japan.


hothead

From hot + head. Compare English hotbrain (“a hothead”); Middle English hot-heorte, hat-heorte (“anger”), Old English hātheort (“furious, angry, irascible, passionate, ardent”, literally “hot-heart”).

cog

The club was full of eager young hotheads who never seemed to be able to agree on anything.

(derogatory) One who angers easily or goes in search of arguments or fights.

brushoved

one who angers easily or goes in search of arguments or fights


QPR

Queens Park Rangers
w:Queens Park Rangers F.C.

(soccer) Initialism of Queens Park Rangers: a British football club based in London.


cupidity

en-noun

cupidity (countable and uncountable, plural cupidities)

From French cupidité, from Latin cupiditās (“strong desire”), from cupidus (“keen, desirous”). Compare Cupid.

A bargain is a social evil; one man's loss, tempting another man's cupidity.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Late Breakfast”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 71:

Now Jonah’s Captain, shipmates, was one whose discernment detects crime in any, but whose cupidity exposes it only in the penniless.

1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 9:

His affairs, however, were not allowed to subside thus quietly, and people were quite as much inclined to talk about the disinterested sacrifice he had made, as they had before been to upbraid him for his cupidity.

1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the First, →ISBN, page 11:

“I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity. …”

1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:

Humanity had always been fascinated by the mystery of the falling dice, the turn of a card, the spin of the pointer. At its lowest level, this interest was based on mere cupidity—and that was an emotion that could have no place in a world where everyone possessed all that they could reasonably need.

1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 37:

It was easy to dissimulate and disperse these modest purchases in such a way as not to excite the cupidity of any passing patrols.

1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 784


chagrin

chagrin (countable and uncountable, plural chagrins)

From French chagrin (“sorrow”), from Middle French chagrin (“pain, affliction”) (compare Middle French chagriner, chagrigner (“to experience sorrow”), Old French chagrin (“painful, afflicted”)), probably derived from Old Northern French chagreiner, chagraigner (“to sadden”), of uncertain origin. Likely an enlargement of Old French greignier, graignier (“to cringe, growl, be sullen, be angry, grieve over”), from Old French graigne (“sadness, resentment, grief”), from graim (“sorrowful”), related to Old High German gram (“furious, gloomy, grieved”). The initial syllable is obscure. It may represent Old French chat (“cat”) to express the idea of "lamenting or yowling like cats" (compare German Katzenjammer (“distress, frustration, depression, chagrin”, literally “cat-wailing, cat-misery”), katzbalgen (“to cat-fight”)).
An alternative theory is that it came from a metaphorical use of French chagrin, (peau de) chagrain (“a type of roughened leather”), with the connection of roughness, though some dictionaries consider this to be a separate word derived from Old French peau de sagrin, from Ottoman Turkish [script needed] (sağrı, “the rump of an animal, skin for tawing”). The alteration of initial s to ch is likely due to influence from chagrin meaning "sorrow".

der

much to the chagrin (of)

[H]e alone knew how deep was the deluded man's chagrin at the failure of the little plot which he fancied was prospering finely.

1876, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 8, in Rose In Bloom:

“Mrs. Yule's chagrin and horror at what she called her son's base ingratitude knew no bounds ; at first it was even thought that she would never get over it.[…]”

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

And even though their numbers have been halved—that’s the unofficial tally given in one of the strategy sessions—everyone from Sansa to Daenerys to Varys is wondering who is going to rule over which pile of smoking ruins. That’s when the campaigning begins, much to Jon and Dany’s chagrin.

2019 May 5, Danette Chavez, “Campaigns are Waged On and Off the Game Of Thrones Battlefield (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-01-28:

Distress of mind caused by a failure of aims or plans, want of appreciation, mistakes etc; vexation or mortification.

разочарование

distress from failure; vexation or mortification


snigger

British variant pronunciation and spelling of snicker.

Here the unfeeling Toad broke into a snigger, and then pulled himself together and tried to look particularly solemn.

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 255:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) A partly suppressed or broken laugh.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) A sly or snide laugh.


snigger

en-verb

snigger (third-person singular simple present sniggers, present participle sniggering, simple past and past participle sniggered)

sniggers (present singular third-person)
sniggering (participle present)
sniggered (participle past)
sniggered (past)

[…]presently the Mole's spirits revived again, and he was even able to give some straight back-talk to a couple of moorhens who were sniggering to each other about his bedraggled appearance.

1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, page 22:

Peter, after the manner of man at the breakfast table, had allowed half his kedgeree to get cold and was sniggering over a letter. Sophia looked at him sharply. The only letter she had received was from her mother. Sophia's mother was not a humourist.

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

(intransitive, chiefly UK, Ireland, sometimes offensive elsewhere) To emit a snigger.


loving

en-noun

loving (usually uncountable, plural lovings)

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

all natural lovings and longings

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 132, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:


loving

en-adj

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

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

his loving wife

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


kleptophilia

A paraphilia in which a person is sexually aroused by stealing.


Americophobia

1990: [Henry] James's internalised Americophobia led him to sound rather like Shaw's Professor Higgins as he lamented the indifference of the American people to the beauties of their language. — Transatlantic Manners: Social Patterns in Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Travel Literature, Mulvey, Christopher, Cambridge University Press, p133

United States of America
United States of America

A fear or dislike of the United States of America or its culture.

反美

a fear of the United States of America and/or its culture