WordThink: Word Of The Day

Additional items of dress or equipment, carried or worn by a person or used for a particular activity. She emerged from the kitchen with a tray laden with coffee and its accoutrements, a slice of pie and water.[ac·cou·tre·ment] n.

The language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region. An idiomatic word, phrase, or expression.When the clan moved away from their tribe, they created their own vernacular.[vəˈnakjʊlə] adj./n

A typical example or pattern of something; a model. "The economic paradigm was flawed." Handsome, intelligent, and kind, Trent is the paradigm of the perfect man.[par·a·digm] n.

Not permanent or lasting; ephemeral. My daughter cannot wait to place the last of her deciduous teeth under her pillow so the tooth fairy can leave her a reward. [de·cid·u·ous] adj.

Characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules. giving too much importance to details and formal rules My father is a pedantic man who usually misses all the vacation fun because he is busy reviewing travel documents.[pe·dan·tic] adj.

Something that originates or results from something else; outcome; issue. 2. A result of creative effort; a product. Since James wanted his progeny to be successful, he made it one of his top priorities to teach his son good work ethics. [prog·e·ny] n.pl.

A person of learning; wise or scholarly. In Italy the artist in him awoke and triumphed over the savant and the reformer. n.

Originating and living or occurring naturally in an area or environment. It's a country founded on the brutal extermination of indigenous people, where inequality and racial intolerance are on the rise. adj.

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate something else. Example: "She was drowning in money." Metaphor n.

Indicative that the subject causes an act to be performed or a condition to come into being. True healing involves understanding what's actually causing colitis and then healing these causative roots. Causative adj.

Similar or alike in such a way as to permit the drawing of an analogy. A diamond and ice are both hard, clear, and reflect light so a diamond is an example of something being analogous to ice. Analogous [a·nal·o·gous] adj.

To make beautiful, as by ornamentation; decorate. 2. To add fictitious details to exaggerate the truth The disintegrated and widely dispersed material of the comet forms the meteors which embellish our skies on mid-November nights. Embellish tr.v.

Strikingly conspicuous; prominent; moving by leaps or springs; jetting upward. brief comparison with these will indicate its salient features. [sa·li·ent] adj.