The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate Read Online Free PDF

e -VUR-zh e n) noun
     
    1. a strong feeling of dislike or antipathy.
     
    2. an object or cause of strong dislike.
     
    3. a person strongly disliked.
     
     
    Related words: aversive ( e -VUR-siv) adjective , aversively adverb , aversiveness noun .
     
     
     
    avidity ( e -VID-i-tee) noun
     
    1. eagerness, dedication, enthusiasm.
     
    2. greediness.
     
     
    Related words: avid (AV-id) adjective , avidly adverb , avidness noun .
     
     
     
    avuncular ( e -VUNG-ky e -l e r) adjective
     
    of or pertaining to an uncle.
     
     
    Related words: avuncularity ( e - VUNG -ky e -LAR- e -tee) noun , avuncularly ( e -VUNG-ky e -l e r-lee) adverb .
     
     

B
     
     

     
    badinage ( BAD - e -NAHZH) noun
     
    banter, humorous ridicule.
     
     
    bagatelle ( BAG - e -TEL) noun
     
    1. a trifle, something of little value; formerly a game resembling pinball.
     
    2. in music, a brief, unpretentious composition, usually for piano.
     
     
    bagnio (BAN-yoh) noun, plural bagnios
     
    1. a brothel.
     
    2. in some European countries, a bath house.
     
     
    baksheesh (BAK-sheesh) noun
     
    in the Near East and Middle East, a tip or gratuity; alms.
     
     
    baleful (BAYL-f e l) adjective
     
    1. destructive, malignant.
     
    2. full of menacing influences.
     
     
    Related words: balefully adverb , balefulness noun .
     
     
     
    banal (b e -NAL) adjective
     
    devoid of freshness, commonplace, trite.
     
     
    Related words: banality (b e -NAL-i-tee) noun , banally (b e -NAL-ee) adverb .
     
     
     
    baneful (BAYN-f e l) adjective
     
    poisonous, deadly; pernicious.
     
     
    Related words: banefully adverb , banefulness noun .
     
     
     
    barbarism (BAHR-b e - RIZ - e m) noun
     
    1. a word or phrase not in accordance with normal standards; the use of such a word.
     
    2. an uncivilized state or condition.
     
    3. an instance of this.
     
    4. a barbarous act.
     
     
    barratry (BAR- e -tree) noun
     
    1. in law, the offense of frequently stirring up lawsuits and quarrels.
     
    2. in maritime law, fraud or gross criminal negligence by a captain or crew at the expense of a shipowner or of the owner of a ship's cargo.
     
     
    Related words: barratrous (BAR- e -tr e s) adjective , barratrously adverb .
     
     
     
    basilisk (BAS- e -lisk) noun
     
    1. in mythology, a reptile with lethal breath or look.
     
    2. a small tropical American lizard.
     
     
    Related words: basiliscine ( BAS - e -LIS-in) and basiliscan ( BAS - e -LIS-k e n) both adjectives .
     
     
     
    bastille (ba-STEEL) noun
     
    1. a fortress or prison, especially one that mistreats its convicts.
     
    2. a fortified tower, as of a castle.
     
     
    bastinado ( BAS -t e -NAH-doh) noun, plural bastinadoes
     
    punishment or torture by beating on the soles of the feet.
     
     
    bathos (BAY-thos) noun
     
    1. in speech or writing, a ludicrous descent from the sublime to the commonplace; an anticlimax.
     
    2. sentimentality, mawkishness.
     
     
    Related word: bathetic (b e -THET-ik) adjective .
     
     
     
    bawd (bawd) noun
     
    1. a procuress.
     
    2. a prostitute.
     
     
    beau monde (boh mawnd)
     
    fashionable society.
     
     
    behest (bi-HEST) noun
     
    1. a command.
     
    2. a strongly worded request.
     
     
    belfry (BEL-free) noun, plural belfries
     
    a bell tower, attached to a church or other structure or standing alone.
     
     
    belvedere (BEL-vi- DEER ) noun
     
    a building designed to afford a fine view.
     
     
    bemuse (bi-MYOOZ) verb
     
    bewilder or befuddle (someone); stupefy.
     
     
    Related word: bemusement noun .
     
     
     
    beneficent (b e -NEF- e -s e nt) adjective
     
    1. doing good, showing kindness.
     
    2. charitable.
     
     
    Related words: beneficently adverb , beneficence noun .
     
     
     
    benighted (bi-N I -tid) adjective
     
    unenlightened, ignorant.
     
     
    Related words: benightedly adverb , benightedness noun .
     
     
     
    benignant (bi-NIG-n e nt) adjective
     
    1. kind, especially to subordinates or inferiors.
     
    2. beneficial,