Word of the Day
gadzookery
noun
British. the use or overuse of period-specific or archaic expressions, as in a historical novel.
More about gadzookery
Gadzookery was first recorded in 1950–1955.
how is gadzookery used?
The language is convincing, and free of the gadzookery of Elizabethan pastiche.
Several other stories and verses that they jointly contributed to magazines are historical and melodramatic in tone, larded with archaic oaths and exclamations and general gadzookery.
timeserver
noun
a person who shapes his or her conduct to conform to the opinions of the time or of persons in power, especially for selfish ends.
More about timeserver
Timeserver was first recorded in 1565–75.
how is timeserver used?
He was labeled unreliable. He could even be thought a double-dealer or timeserver.
“I couldn’t marry Belinda to a time-server or a palace-worshipper,” said the King decidedly.
More about kismet
The English noun kismet “fate” comes straight from Turkish kismet, which in turn comes from Persian qismat, from Arabic qisma, qismat- “lot,” from qasama “(he) divided,” from the (West) Semitic root qsm- “to divide, allot.” Long before the arrival of Islam, Persian was used as an imperial administrative and literary language, contributing to the vocabulary of neighboring languages, especially the Turkic languages of Anatolia, central Asia, and some Indo-Aryan languages of the Indian subcontinent, especially Urdu. These languages received terms relating to Islam indirectly via Persian rather than directly from Arabic. Kismet entered English in the 19th century.
how is kismet used?
In the way that a randomly shuffled song on your headphones can feel like thrilling kismet, suddenly, this semi-animate speaker seemed to belong in my home.
It was kismet that it happened with you, and today!