ELTWeekly Issue #25, Word of the week: desolate
By Tarun Patel
desolate • \DESS-uh-lut\ • adjective
- 1 : devoid of inhabitants and visitors : deserted
- 2 : joyless, disconsolate, and sorrowful through or as if through separation from a loved one
- 3 a : showing the effects of abandonment and neglect : dilapidated
- * b : barren, lifeless
- c :devoid of warmth, comfort, or hope : gloomy
Example: The landscape looks truly desolate in the winter, but when it blossoms in the spring, it can be surprisingly beautiful.
To know more about the word ‘desolete’, please visit: http://www.merriam-webster.com
July 11th, 2009
ELTWeekly Issue #24, Word of the week: melee
By Tarun Patel
melee • \MAY-lay\ • noun
Meaning: a confused struggle; especially : a hand-to-hand fight among several people
Example: The shoppers’ voices grew tense as they argued over the last Cool Sally doll, and for a moment I feared that a melee might erupt.
To know more about the word ‘melee’, please visit: http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwwodarch.pl?Jun.02.2009
ELTWeekly Issue #23, Word of the week: gadzookery
By Tarun Patel
gadzookery • \gad-ZOO-kuh-ree\ • noun
British : the use of archaisms (as in a historical novel)
Example Sentence:
Bridget’s novel, set in colonial Virginia, features an engaging and cohesive plot, but the dialogue contains so much gadzookery that it doesn’t sound realistic.
To know more about the word ‘gadzookery’, please visit: http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwwodarch.pl?May.02.2009
ELTWeekly Issue #22, Word of the week: gravitate
By Tarun Patel
gravitate • \GRAV-uh-tayt\ • verb
- 1 : to move under the influence of gravitation
- 2 a : to move toward something
- * b : to be drawn or attracted especially by natural inclination
Example: Left to their own devices in a department store, children will naturally gravitate toward the toy aisle.
To know more about the word ‘gravitate’, please visit: http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwwod.pl
ELTWeekly Issue #21, Word of the week: gadzookery
By Tarun Patel
gadzookery • \gad-ZOO-kuh-ree\ • noun
- British : the use of archaisms (as in a historical novel)
Example:
Bridget’s novel, set in colonial Virginia, features an engaging and cohesive plot, but the dialogue contains so much gadzookery that it doesn’t sound realistic.
To know more about the word ‘gadzookery’, please visit: http://www.merriam-webster.com
ELTWeekly Issue #20, Word of the week: otiose
By Tarun Patel
otiose • \OH-shee-ohss\
- 1 : producing no useful result : futile
- 2 : being at leisure : idle
- 3 : lacking use or effect : functionless
Example Sentence:
“Half the streets are cobbled and half wide, empty, modern highways at whose pretentious crossings an occasional rickshaw waits for the otiose traffic lights to change to green.”
To know more about the word ‘otiose’, please visit: http://www.merriam-webster.com