stymie [ STAHY-mee ]
[noun,transitive verb]
MEANING:
- (tr.v.) to hinder, thwart or stand in one’s way as an obstacle
- (n.) an obstacle, impediment or obstruction
- (n.) (golf) a condition when the ball (tee) of the opponent serves as an obstacle between the current player’s ball (tee) and the hole.
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
Her efforts were stymied by her opponents.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
The questioning conducted on Aug. 26 and Aug. 28 comes amid a move by the governor’s attorney to stymie a legislative investigation of Palin.
irresolute [ i-REZ-uh’-loot ]
[adjective]
MEANING:
doubtful, vacillating, indecisive, unstable or inconstant.
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
His irresolute attitude causes a lot of confusion as deadlines are not met.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
This approach yields some alarming and even beautiful effects; but such stage magic requires a fully abstracted set rather than the irresolute compromise of Tom Piper’s design.
lucubrate [ LOO-kyoo’-breyt ]
[intransitive verb]
MEANING:
- to write in a learned manner
- to work or study hard especially late into the night.
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
The critic lucubrated on all the ideas expressed in the author’s book.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
Under the Eisenhower program, one could lucubrate over constitutional rights and freedoms and forever abandon captured American soldiers.
nondescript [ non-di-SKRIPT ]
[noun,adjective]
MEANING:
- (adj.) having no distinctive qualities or describable features
- (adj.) lacking individual character
- (n.) a person or thing that is not of any particular type
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
The pick-pocket wore nondescript clothes so that he could blend in with the crowd.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
In the original Swedish television series of Wallander, the police car was a nondescript Hyundai, doubtless indicative of the parlous state of the Swedish car industry.
draconian [ drey-KOH-nee-uh’n, druh ]
[adjective]
MEANING:
- harsh, rigorous or unusually severe
- characteristic of or pertaining to Draco or his code of laws
USAGE EXAMPLE 1:
The elders say that society has become too easy going and permissive now that the draconian laws have been repealed.
USAGE EXAMPLE 2:
As one who helped to make racial profiling a national issue and who has in the last year visited Arizona several times to rally against these draconian immigration policies, I am calling for a coalition of civil rights organizations to work with those in Arizona to resist and overturn this state law.
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