Definition: (noun) Cheerful willingness. Synonyms: briskness, eagerness. Usage: Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. Discuss

Definition: (verb) To renounce under oath; forswear. Synonyms: recant, retract, resile. Usage: For nearly 21 years after his resignation as Prime Minister in 1963, he

Definition: (noun) A man who is very old. Synonyms: old man, Methuselah. Usage: “So, fellow-pilgrims,” said he, “here we are, seven wise men, and one

Definition: (noun) A cry of sorrow and grief. Synonyms: lament, lamentation, wail. Usage: The plaints of the bereaved widow and her young children haunt me

Definition: (noun) One given to loud, empty boasting; a bragger. Synonyms: blowhard, boaster, bragger, line-shooter, vaunter. Usage: He was generally considered a braggart, and others

Definition: (adjective) Excessively unwilling to spend. Synonyms: penurious. Usage: I had to sue my parsimonious landlord for not giving me enough heat this winter. Discuss

Definition: (noun) An elaborate or deceitful plan or expedient. Synonyms: stratagem, plan, design, measure, scheme, trick, plot, dodge, expedient, ruse, artifice, machination. Usage: This “shortage”

Definition: (adjective) Extremely or hopelessly bad or severe. Synonyms: dreadful, terrible, awful, appalling, dismal, dire, ghastly, hideous, atrocious, godawful. Usage: We have been having abysmal

Definition: (verb) Walk or tramp about. Synonyms: shlep. Usage: I spent the holiday exploring the countryside, traipsing from town to town with just a knapsack

Definition: (adjective) Carried out or performed with little or no preparation. Synonyms: impromptu, off-the-cuff, offhand, unrehearsed, ad-lib. Usage: Though she had not practiced for some

Definition: (verb) To search carefully for plunder; pillage. Synonyms: foray, reave, rifle, loot, plunder, strip. Usage: My apartment looked like a tornado had torn through

Definition: (adjective) Worthy of severe condemnation or reproach. Synonyms: condemnable, criminal, reprehensible, vicious. Usage: He had committed a deplorable act of violence, and the judge

Definition: (noun) The condition of being temporarily set aside. Synonyms: suspension. Usage: Every other feeling as it rushed upon him was thrown into abeyance by

Definition: (adjective) Marked by disrespectful levity or casualness. Synonyms: frivolous, irreverent, saucy, glib, pert, impertinent, impudent. Usage: When a sensible woman has a serious question

Definition: (noun) A dreamy, lazy mood or quality. Synonyms: dreaminess. Usage: His eyes gathered in and reflected the light and languor of the summer day.

Definition: (noun) An overwhelming number or amount. Synonyms: deluge, flood, torrent. Usage: The restaurant owner was faced with an inundation of lawsuits from diners who

Definition: (verb) Spread or diffuse through. Synonyms: imbue, permeate, riddle, penetrate. Usage: Yet amid all these varieties and incongruities, there is a common meaning or

Definition: (noun) Shrewdness shown by keen insight. Synonyms: insightfulness. Usage: His sharp business acumen meant he quickly rose to the top. Discuss

Definition: (noun) An acrobat who performs on a tightrope or slack rope. Synonyms: tightrope walker. Usage: My daughter was enchanted by the funambulist crossing the

Definition: (noun) One who practices magic or sorcery. Synonyms: sorcerer, wizard, magician. Usage: Hardly have I escaped from that magician, and must another necromancer again