v. make low, confused, and indistinct sound, like that of running water
E.g. The summer air, the restful quiet, and the drowsing murmur of the bees had had their effect, and she was nodding over her knitting -- for she had no company but the cat, and it was asleep in her lap.
n. lack of sophistication, experience, judgment or worldliness; simplicity; artlessness; gullibility
E.g. Touched by the naivete of sweet, convent-trained Cosette, Marius pledges himself to protect her innocence.
n. addictive drug, such as opium, that reduces pain, alters mood and behavior; inducing sleep
E.g. Some patients seek alternative solutions to long-term narcotic painkillers.
n. faint, cloudlike, self-luminous mass of matter situated beyond the solar system among the stars
E.g. You can see nebula in the clear summer sky.
v. cancel out; make ineffective or invalid; deny
E.g. A sudden surge of adrenalin can negate the effects of fatigue: there's nothing like a good shock to wake you up.
a. so small, trifling, or unimportant that it may be easily disregarded
E.g. Because the damage to his car had been negligible, Michael decided he wouldn't bother to report the matter to his insurance company.
n. favoring of relatives or friends because of their relationship rather than their abilities
E.g. John left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on nepotism rather than ability.
a. situated down or below; lying beneath, or in the lower part; having a lower position; lower; under;
E.g. Essentially the discussion transcended from the nether regions of the Internet into mainstream political debate in the country.
n. small concavity; a position particularly well suited to the person who occupies it
E.g. Our unique niche is to empower communities to support farming and conserve farmland.
a. light and quick in motion; moving with ease and celerity; lively; swift
E.g. She knitted a pair of mittens for me with her nimble fingers.
n. small mug or cup; unit of liquid measure equal to one quarter of a pint; human head
E.g. It was what was in my noggin that made the difference between life and death.
a. leading a wandering life with no fixed abode; changeable; unsettled
E.g. Several nomadic tribes of Indians would hunt in this area each year.
a. in name only; insignificantly small
E.g. He offered to drive her to the airport for only a nominal fee.
n. known for some unfavorable act or quality; bad or ill fame
E.g. To the starlet, any publicity was good publicity: if she couldn't have a good reputation, she'd settle for notoriety.
a. harmful to living things; injurious to health
E.g. We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.
n. subtle or slight degree of difference; small difference in meaning
E.g. The problem that I see is that the average low information voter won't get the nuance, which is my concern.
a. of an age suitable for marriage; marriageable
E.g. The show wasn't too bad either, especially the nubile women.
n. house in which nuns reside; cloister or convent in which women reside for life, under religious vows
E.g. I shall take up my abode in a religious house near Lisle -- a nunnery you would call it; there I shall be quiet and unmolested.
a. relating to marriage or wedding ceremony
E.g. Reluctant to be married in a traditional setting, they decided to hold their nuptial ceremony at the carousel in Golden Gate Park.
n. goddess of the mountains, forests, meadows, or waters; lovely young girl; maiden; peacock butterfly
E.g. There are many stories about nymph in Roman fairy tales.
n. long, thin, usually wooden pole with a blade at one end, used to row or steer a boat
E.g. The other oar was smashed off, and the raft was littered up with leaves and branches and dirt.
a. extremely fat; grossly overweight
E.g. It is advisable that obese people try to lose weight.
a. morally or legally constraining; required; binding
E.g. It is obligatory that books borrowed from the library be returned within two weeks.
a. having slanting or sloping direction, course, or position; inclined
E.g. Casting a quick, oblique glance at the reviewing stand, the sergeant ordered the company to march.
v. destroy completely; do away with completely so as to leave no trace
E.g. The tidal wave would obliterate several island villages,.
n. quality or state of being obscure; darkness; privacy; inconspicuousness
E.g. Van Gogh was so disregarded that he committed suicide in obscurity as an artistic failure.
a. stubbornly adhering to an attitude or opinion; hard to control or treat
E.g. We tried to persuade him to give up smoking, but he was obstinate and refused to change.
v. stop; impede; shut out from view
E.g. The trees obstruct my view of the mountains.
a. lacking in insight or discernment; stupid
E.g. What can you do with somebody who's so obtuse that he can't even tell that you're insulting him?.
a. hateful; arousing strong dislike, aversion, or intense displeasure
E.g. Cinderella's ugly stepsisters had the odious habit of popping their zits in public.
v. counterbalance, counteract, or compensate for; balance
E.g. He raised his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.
v. look at amorously; cast glances as in fondness or to attract notice
E.g. At the coffee house, Walter was too shy to ogle the pretty girls openly; instead, he peeked out at them from behind a rubber plant.
a. relating to, or contributing to sense of smell
E.g. A wine taster must have a discriminating palate and a keen olfactory sense, for a good wine appeals both to the taste buds and to the nose.
a. all-powerful; having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force
E.g. The monarch regarded himself as omnipotent and responsible to no one for his acts.
n. assault; attack
E.g. The islanders took shelter in mountain caves to escape the onslaught.
v. be any thick messy substance; pass gradually; progress slowly but steadily
E.g. Over grass bleached colorless by strong sun, we see the herd ooze forward.
a. stiff in opinion; holding stubbornly and often unreasonably to one's own opinions
E.g. Most rational people don't enjoy that kind of opinionated discourse since it achieves nothing but elevated blood pressure.
a. timely; just in time; suited or right for a particular purpose
E.g. Sally looked at her father struggling to balance his checkbook; clearly this would not be an opportune moment to ask him for a raise in her allowance.
a. unreasonably burdensome; unjustly severe, rigorous, or harsh
E.g. After an exhausting drill in oppressive heat, Mia Hamm jogged off the field.
a. most favorable or advantageous
E.g. Wind and solar are intermittent power sources - only producing electricity under certain optimum environmental conditions.