Word meanings
960 words worth knowing, each explained in plain English, with how to say it, an example, a memory trick and where it comes from.
☕️ Everyday upgrades
- ambient
- amenity
- ample
- arduous
- bustling
- cacophony
- candid
- commodious
- congested
- copious
- culinary
- cumbersome
- dawdle
- decadent
- delectable
- dilapidated
- disheveled
- durable
- exorbitant
- flimsy
- frivolous
- frugal
- haphazard
- hectic
- hiatus
- hoard
- idyllic
- immaculate
- imminent
- impromptu
- incessant
- indulge
- insipid
- intermittent
- itinerary
- jaunt
- jostle
- lavish
- linger
- loiter
- luminous
- makeshift
- meager
- meticulous
- mishap
- mundane
- negligible
- nocturnal
- nominal
- obsolete
- palatable
- perpetual
- ponder
- pristine
- procrastinate
- punctual
- pungent
- quandary
- regimen
- rejuvenate
- replenish
- respite
- rudimentary
- rummage
- salvage
- savor
- scant
- scrutinize
- sedentary
- serene
- splurge
- sporadic
- squander
- tardy
- tedious
- throng
- trivial
- ubiquitous
- versatile
- vigilant
🎓 Sound smarter
- aberration
- albeit
- ambiguous
- ameliorate
- analogous
- anecdotal
- anomaly
- arbitrary
- articulate
- caveat
- cogent
- cognizant
- coherent
- commensurate
- conflate
- contingent
- convoluted
- corollary
- corroborate
- cursory
- dearth
- delineate
- dichotomy
- discrepancy
- disparity
- elucidate
- empirical
- epitome
- erroneous
- esoteric
- exacerbate
- exhaustive
- extrapolate
- fallacy
- germane
- holistic
- idiosyncrasy
- impetus
- implicit
- inadvertent
- inference
- inherent
- intrinsic
- juxtapose
- lucid
- moot
- myriad
- nascent
- nebulous
- notwithstanding
- nuance
- obfuscate
- opaque
- ostensibly
- paramount
- paucity
- pertinent
- pivotal
- plausible
- plethora
- posit
- pragmatic
- precedent
- premise
- quintessential
- ramification
- refute
- rigorous
- salient
- spurious
- substantiate
- succinct
- superfluous
- tacit
- tangential
- tangible
- tantamount
- tenuous
- unequivocal
- verbose
💼 Work & business
- accountability
- accrue
- acquisition
- actionable
- alignment
- amortize
- arbitrage
- attrition
- audit
- autonomy
- bandwidth
- benchmark
- bootstrap
- bottleneck
- cadence
- churn
- collateral
- commoditize
- compliance
- conglomerate
- consensus
- consolidate
- contingency
- delegate
- deliverable
- depreciate
- disruption
- divest
- dividend
- due diligence
- equity
- escalate
- feasible
- fiduciary
- fiscal
- governance
- granular
- headcount
- headwind
- hedge
- incumbent
- iterate
- leverage
- liaison
- liquidity
- logistics
- lucrative
- mandate
- milestone
- mitigate
- monetize
- oligopoly
- onboarding
- optimize
- outsource
- overhead
- pipeline
- pivot
- proactive
- procurement
- purview
- quorum
- remit
- remuneration
- runway
- scalable
- severance
- silo
- solvent
- spearhead
- stakeholder
- stewardship
- streamline
- succession
- synergy
- tactical
- tenure
- valuation
- viable
- volatility
💗 Feelings
- abashed
- affronted
- aggrieved
- agitated
- ambivalent
- anguish
- animosity
- apathetic
- apprehensive
- astonished
- awe
- begrudge
- bereft
- bewildered
- bittersweet
- blissful
- buoyant
- chagrin
- complacent
- conflicted
- contempt
- contrite
- crestfallen
- dejected
- desolate
- despondent
- disconsolate
- disdain
- disenchanted
- disillusioned
- dread
- elated
- ennui
- envious
- equanimity
- euphoria
- exasperated
- exhilarated
- fervor
- flustered
- foreboding
- forlorn
- frazzled
- giddy
- gratified
- harried
- indignant
- infatuated
- irate
- irritable
- jaded
- jubilant
- lethargic
- listless
- livid
- malaise
- melancholy
- morose
- mortified
- nostalgia
- pensive
- perplexed
- pine
- poignant
- qualm
- rancor
- rapturous
- remorse
- resentment
- rueful
- sanguine
- sheepish
- smitten
- spite
- trepidation
- unnerved
- vexed
- vindicated
- wistful
- yearning
🧑🤝🧑 Describing people
- affable
- aloof
- altruistic
- assiduous
- audacious
- avaricious
- benevolent
- boorish
- brusque
- callous
- cantankerous
- capricious
- churlish
- conscientious
- contrarian
- convivial
- cordial
- curmudgeon
- diffident
- disingenuous
- duplicitous
- earnest
- ebullient
- effusive
- equable
- fastidious
- fickle
- garrulous
- genial
- gregarious
- guileless
- haughty
- headstrong
- hidebound
- iconoclast
- imperturbable
- impetuous
- indefatigable
- indomitable
- ingenuous
- intrepid
- irascible
- laconic
- loquacious
- magnanimous
- maverick
- mercurial
- obsequious
- obstinate
- officious
- parsimonious
- personable
- petulant
- phlegmatic
- placid
- pompous
- profligate
- punctilious
- pusillanimous
- querulous
- reticent
- sanctimonious
- scrupulous
- self-effacing
- shrewd
- steadfast
- suave
- supercilious
- sycophant
- taciturn
- tenacious
- timorous
- truculent
- unassuming
- uncouth
- unflappable
- urbane
- venal
- vindictive
- zealous
🗣️ Argument & debate
- ad hominem
- anchoring
- appeal to authority
- axiom
- bandwagon fallacy
- begging the question
- burden of proof
- cajole
- casuistry
- cherry-pick
- concede
- contend
- contentious
- counterexample
- credence
- debunk
- deduce
- demagogue
- dialectic
- diatribe
- dissemble
- dissuade
- dog whistle
- dogmatic
- equivocate
- ethos
- exhort
- false dichotomy
- false equivalence
- filibuster
- framing
- gainsay
- Gish gallop
- glib
- harangue
- impugn
- incontrovertible
- insinuate
- interlocutor
- intransigent
- invective
- ipse dixit
- irrefutable
- leading question
- loaded question
- logos
- motte-and-bailey
- no true Scotsman
- non sequitur
- oratory
- Overton window
- peroration
- platitude
- polemic
- post hoc fallacy
- prevaricate
- qualify
- rebut
- reductio ad absurdum
- rejoinder
- repudiate
- rhetoric
- rhetorical question
- slippery slope
- Socratic method
- sophistry
- special pleading
- specious
- steelman
- stipulate
- straw man
- sunk cost fallacy
- syllogism
- tautology
- tendentious
- truism
- untenable
- valid
- weasel words
- whataboutism
😏 Wit & humour
- absurdist
- acerbic
- antics
- badinage
- banter
- bawdy
- buffoon
- burlesque
- callback
- caricature
- caustic
- cheeky
- chortle
- comic relief
- corny
- deadpan
- droll
- facetious
- farce
- flippant
- gag
- gallows humour
- guffaw
- hammy
- heckle
- high jinks
- impish
- innuendo
- irony
- irreverent
- jape
- jest
- jester
- jocular
- lampoon
- lark
- levity
- mirth
- mondegreen
- mordant
- parody
- persiflage
- prank
- pratfall
- puckish
- pun
- punchline
- quip
- raillery
- repartee
- retort
- rib
- ribald
- riposte
- risible
- roast
- running gag
- sarcasm
- sardonic
- satire
- self-deprecating
- send-up
- shenanigans
- skewer
- skit
- slapstick
- snigger
- spoof
- spoonerism
- titter
- tomfoolery
- tongue-in-cheek
- wag
- waggish
- whimsical
- wisecrack
- witticism
- wry
- zany
- zinger
🔬 Science & tech
- abstraction
- algorithm
- asymptote
- base rate
- Bayesian
- black box
- butterfly effect
- carrying capacity
- catalyst
- causation
- chain reaction
- circadian
- confounding variable
- control group
- convergent evolution
- correlation
- critical mass
- debugging
- deprecated
- double-blind
- Dunning–Kruger effect
- edge case
- emergent
- encryption
- entropy
- epigenetics
- equilibrium
- exponential
- fail-safe
- falsifiable
- feedback loop
- Fermi estimate
- first principles
- fractal
- friction
- game theory
- half-life
- heuristic
- homeostasis
- hypothesis
- inert
- inertia
- keystone species
- latency
- light-year
- local maximum
- logarithmic
- machine learning
- modular
- momentum
- Moore's law
- natural selection
- neural network
- neuroplasticity
- nocebo
- nonlinear
- Occam's razor
- orders of magnitude
- osmosis
- outlier
- overfitting
- peer review
- placebo
- protocol
- quantum leap
- recursion
- redundancy
- reproducible
- resonance
- sample size
- signal-to-noise ratio
- singularity
- statistically significant
- survivorship bias
- symbiosis
- technical debt
- Turing test
- variance
- vestigial
- volatile
✨ Rare & beautiful
- amaranthine
- ambrosial
- apricity
- ataraxia
- aureate
- brumal
- bucolic
- cerulean
- concinnity
- coruscate
- crepuscular
- cynosure
- dappled
- desuetude
- diaphanous
- dulcet
- effulgent
- eldritch
- elysian
- empyrean
- ethereal
- euphony
- evanescent
- eventide
- felicity
- fey
- firmament
- fugacious
- gloaming
- gossamer
- halcyon
- hoarfrost
- idyll
- incarnadine
- ineffable
- ineluctable
- inglenook
- iridescent
- lambent
- languor
- liminal
- limpid
- lissom
- lucubration
- matutinal
- mellifluous
- mizzle
- murmuration
- nepenthe
- noctilucent
- numinous
- opalescent
- orison
- pellucid
- penumbra
- peregrination
- petrichor
- plangent
- pulchritude
- quietude
- redolent
- reverie
- scintilla
- sempiternal
- seraphic
- sidereal
- smaragdine
- sonorous
- sough
- spindrift
- susurrus
- sylph
- sylvan
- syzygy
- tarn
- tintinnabulation
- velleity
- vespertine
- welkin
- zephyr
🌍 Borrowed words
- ad hoc
- ad nauseam
- aficionado
- al fresco
- alma mater
- angst
- bête noire
- bon vivant
- bona fide
- bonanza
- bravado
- carpe diem
- carte blanche
- cause célèbre
- caveat emptor
- chiaroscuro
- chutzpah
- coup de grâce
- cri de coeur
- de facto
- déjà vu
- dolce far niente
- doppelgänger
- double entendre
- enfant terrible
- ersatz
- esprit de corps
- fait accompli
- faux pas
- fiasco
- flâneur
- frisson
- gestalt
- honcho
- hygge
- in vino veritas
- incognito
- ingénue
- je ne sais quoi
- joie de vivre
- juggernaut
- kitsch
- klutz
- kowtow
- kvetch
- l'esprit de l'escalier
- lagniappe
- laissez-faire
- leitmotif
- magnum opus
- mea culpa
- memento mori
- mensch
- mise en place
- modus operandi
- noblesse oblige
- per se
- persona non grata
- pundit
- quid pro quo
- raison d'être
- realpolitik
- sangfroid
- savoir-faire
- schadenfreude
- schmooze
- sine qua non
- sprezzatura
- status quo
- tabula rasa
- terra incognita
- tour de force
- trompe l'oeil
- tycoon
- umami
- vis-à-vis
- wabi-sabi
- wanderlust
- wunderkind
- zeitgeist
📚 Literary
- allegory
- alliteration
- allusion
- amanuensis
- anagnorisis
- anaphora
- antihero
- archetype
- assonance
- aubade
- bathos
- belles-lettres
- bildungsroman
- bowdlerize
- caesura
- catch-22
- catharsis
- Chekhov's gun
- chiasmus
- coda
- conceit
- denouement
- deus ex machina
- Dickensian
- dramatic irony
- dystopia
- ekphrasis
- elegy
- enjambment
- epigraph
- epiphany
- epistolary
- Faustian
- foil
- foreshadowing
- hamartia
- iambic pentameter
- in medias res
- Kafkaesque
- kenning
- litotes
- MacGuffin
- magical realism
- malapropism
- marginalia
- metonymy
- mimesis
- nom de plume
- odyssey
- oeuvre
- onomatopoeia
- Orwellian
- oxymoron
- paean
- palimpsest
- panegyric
- Panglossian
- pastiche
- pathetic fallacy
- pathos
- peripeteia
- picaresque
- poetic licence
- Pollyanna
- prolepsis
- purple prose
- quixotic
- roman à clef
- soliloquy
- sonnet
- stream of consciousness
- subtext
- synecdoche
- threnody
- trope
- unreliable narrator
- utopia
- verisimilitude
- volta
- zeugma
💬 Idioms & expressions
- a blessing in disguise
- a leopard can't change its spots
- a red herring
- a skeleton in the closet
- a storm in a teacup
- a taste of your own medicine
- a wild goose chase
- Achilles' heel
- add insult to injury
- back to square one
- back to the drawing board
- bark up the wrong tree
- beat around the bush
- bite off more than you can chew
- bite the bullet
- break the ice
- burn the candle at both ends
- burn the midnight oil
- burn your bridges
- bury the hatchet
- by the skin of your teeth
- caught red-handed
- cost an arm and a leg
- crocodile tears
- cry over spilt milk
- cut corners
- cut to the chase
- damn with faint praise
- fly off the handle
- get cold feet
- gild the lily
- go the extra mile
- hit the ground running
- hit the nail on the head
- jump on the bandwagon
- jump the gun
- kill two birds with one stone
- learn the ropes
- let off steam
- let sleeping dogs lie
- let the cat out of the bag
- make a mountain out of a molehill
- make ends meet
- miss the boat
- move the goalposts
- off the cuff
- on the same page
- open a can of worms
- Pandora's box
- pass the buck
- play devil's advocate
- pull out all the stops
- pull someone's leg
- put all your eggs in one basket
- read between the lines
- read someone the riot act
- read the room
- see eye to eye
- sit on the fence
- skate on thin ice
- sour grapes
- spill the beans
- steal someone's thunder
- take it with a pinch of salt
- the acid test
- the ball is in your court
- the devil is in the details
- the elephant in the room
- the icing on the cake
- the last straw
- the lion's share
- the tip of the iceberg
- the writing on the wall
- throw caution to the wind
- throw in the towel
- throw someone under the bus
- turn a blind eye
- twist someone's arm
- water under the bridge
- wear your heart on your sleeve