Term
|
Definition
phan⋅tas⋅ma⋅go⋅ri⋅a
[fan-taz-muh-gawr-ee-uh]
–noun
1. a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination.
2. a changing scene made up of many elements.
3. an optical illusion produced by a magic lantern or the like in which figures increase or diminish in size, pass into each other, dissolve, etc. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
con⋅tu⋅ma⋅cious
[kon-too-mey-shuhs]
–adjective
stubbornly perverse or rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
con⋅tu⋅me⋅ly
[kon-too-muh-lee]
–noun, plural -lies.
1. insulting display of contempt in words or actions; contemptuous or humiliating treatment.
2. a humiliating insult. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
ob⋅strep⋅er⋅ous
[uhb-strep-er-uhs]
–adjective
1. resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.
2. noisy, clamorous, or boisterous: obstreperous children. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
prig
[prig]
–noun
a person who displays or demands of others pointlessly precise conformity, fussiness about trivialities, or exaggerated propriety, esp. in a self-righteous or irritating manner. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
pop⋅in⋅jay
[pop-in-jey]
–noun
1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
2. British Dialect. a woodpecker, esp. the green woodpecker.
3. Archaic. the figure of a parrot usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
4. Archaic. a parrot. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
pith
[pith]
–noun
1. Botany. the soft, spongy central cylinder of parenchymatous tissue in the stems of dicotyledonous plants.
2. Zoology. the soft inner part of a feather, a hair, etc.
3. the important or essential part; essence; core; heart: the pith of the matter.
4. significant weight; substance; solidity: an argument without pith.
5. Archaic. spinal cord or bone marrow.
6. Archaic. strength, force, or vigor; mettle: men of pith. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
com⋅pen⋅di⋅ous
[kuhm-pen-dee-uhs]
–adjective
of or like a compendium; containing the substance of a subject, often an exclusive subject, in a brief form; concise: a compendious history of the world. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
o⋅ro⋅tund
[awr-uh-tuhnd]
–adjective
1. (of the voice or speech) characterized by strength, fullness, richness, and clearness.
2. (of a style of speaking) pompous or bombastic. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
fus⋅tian
[fuhs-chuhn]
–noun
1. a stout fabric of cotton and flax.
2. a fabric of stout twilled cotton or of cotton and low-quality wool, with a short nap or pile.
3. inflated or turgid language in writing or speaking: Fustian can't disguise the author's meager plot.
–adjective
4. made of fustian: a fustian coat; fustian bed linen.
5. pompous or bombastic, as language: fustian melodrama.
6. worthless; cheap: fustian knaves and dupes. |
|
|
