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one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or insitutions.
Frank always insisted on being the iconoclast; whenever everyone else agreed to "up," he would argue for "down". |
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| attacking cherished beliefs, heretical. |
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given to intense or excessive devotion to something.
Jim's family realized his love of football was truly idolatrous when they discovered the Raiders shrine in his closet. |
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| worship of idols and images or blind devotion to something |
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a carefree, light-hearted pastoral or romantic episode or experience; a literary or musical piece describing such.
The smell of the ocean always made me nostalgic for our summer idyll on the coast two years ago. |
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simple or carefree.
Our once-idyllic house became a nightmare when the family of kazoo players moved in next door. |
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shameful, dishonorable, ignoble, undignified, disgraceful.
It was an ignominious, though deserved, end to all his boasting when the wheels fell off his car halfway through the race. |
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difficult or embarrassing situation.
Care tried to extricate herself from the imbroglio she started at the party by sneaking out the back door. |
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about to happen; impending.
They say that a sould like a freight train can be a sign of a tornado's imminent approach. |
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| prominent or distinguished |
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not capable of change
Gravity is an immutable force-- what goes up must come down. |
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revealing no emotion or sensibility
The guards at Buckingham Palace are required to be completely impassive; they can't show any emotion whatsoever. |
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lacking funds; without money.
The impecunious actor was so desperate for money that he had to sacrifice his artistic principles and work as a mime for a few months. |
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commanding, masterful, arrogant, domineering, haughty.
The diva dismissed us from her presence with an imperious wave of her hand. |
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marked by extreme calm, impassivity and steadiness.
Bo's usually imperturbable nature was put othe test when his roommate spilled cornflakes all over the couch and lfet without cleaning them up. |
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hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement
We regretted our impetuous decision to spend our vacation in Greenland when we realized we hadn't packed ay warm clothing. |
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not capable of being appeased or significantly changed.
Because I have an implacable fear of dentists, I haven't been to see one in twenty years and now only have two teeth left. |
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to ask incessantly, beg, nag.
Jerry's constant importuning for the time off worked in a way; he had plany of time off once he was fired for nagging his boss about a vacation. |
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attack or assail verbally, censure, execrate, deny.
The candidate's attempt to impugn his opponent's voting record backfired when it merely brought to light his own poor attendance record. |
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immunity from punishment, penalty or harm.
It is only possible to lie on a bed of nails with impunity if the nails are close enough together that the force per unit area is not enough to break the skin. |
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to attribute to a cause or source, ascribe, assign as a characteristic.
The mechanic imputed my car's failure to start to the absence of any gasoline in the tank. |
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in an initial stage, not fully formed.
My vague, inchoate response did not satisfy the committee. |
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beginning to come into being or to become apparent
Marta rushed to stop the incipient unrest that began when the food and drink ran out at the party . |
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not easily exhaustible, tireless, dogged.
Her indefatigable good humor was legendary; she never seemd out of sorts no matter how annoying everyone around her way. |
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lazy, listless, torpid.
Alex was so indolent that he hired other people to wash his hands for him. |
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