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secretly; privately; confidentially.
(adjective)- designed to be secret or confidential; secretive; private
Comes from Latin, literally "under the rose" |
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(noun)- something or someone particularly detested or avoided; a bugbear.
French for "black beast" |
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| Sacrosanct \SAK-roh-sankt\ |
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(adjective)- sacred, inviolable (secure, safe from assault)
Comes from Latin sacrosanctus, "consecrated with religious ceremonies hence holy, sacred." |
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(adjective)- full of keen anticipation or excitement; eager. SYNONYMS: eager, desirous, wistful, ardent, astir, anxious, fervent, ambitious. ANTONYM: patient, passive, indifferent.
From Old French gogue "merriment" |
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| Prevaricate \pri var' i kate'\ |
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(verb)- to stray from or evade the truth; equivocate. SYNONYMS: equivocate, palter, lie, tergiversate, quibble, conceal.
Etymologically, prevaricate means "walk crookedly," and goes back ultimately to a Latin adjective meaning "knock-kneed," varus. |
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(verb)- to cause distaste or disgust by supplying with too much of something originally pleasant, especially something rish or sweet; surfeit. To be too filling, rish, or sweet. ADVERB: cloyingly. NOUN: cloyingness. SYNONYMS: surfeit, satiate, gorge, pall, saturate, spoil.
Originally meant "fasten with a nail" |
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(adjective)- sharp, biting, or acid in temper, expression, or tone.
Comes from Latin acerbus, "bitter, sour, severe, harsh" |
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| (verb)- to decalre to be untrue or invalid. Contradict, oppose. |
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(adjective)- caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals. Capricious; impulsive; unpredictable.
Refers to the eccentric, generous idealism of Don Quixote, the hero of a satric romance by Miguel de Cervantes. |
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| Sine qua non \sin-ih-kwah-NON; NOHN\ |
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(noun)- an essential condition or element; an indispensable thing.
Comes from Latin meaning literally "without which not." |
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| Sotto voce \SAH-toh-VOH-chee\ |
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(adverb or adjective)- spoken low or in an undertone, as not to be overheard. (music) in very soft tones. Used chiefly as direction.
Comes from Italian: sotto "under" and voce "voice" |
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(noun)- an occupation; a profession. An area in which one excels; an occupation for which one is especially well suited.
From French, ultimately from Latin ministerium, "servant, ministry, employment" |
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adjective)- 1- of or pertaining to woods or forest regions. 2- living or located in a wood or forest. 3- abounding in forests or trees; wooded. (noun) 1- a fabled deity or spirit of the woods. 2- one that lives in or frequents the woods or forest; a rustic.
Derives from Latin silva, sylva, "a wood or grove" |
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(noun)- money; riches; gain; --generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten.
From Old French pelfre, "booty, stolen goods." |
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| Deues ex machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh; -nah; -MAK-uh-nuh\ |
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(noun)- 1- in ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduces by means of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot. 2- any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an apparently insoluble difficulty.
New Latin for "god from the machine"; it is a traslation of the Greek theos ek mekhanes |
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