Word of the Day
fantabulous
adjective
extremely fine or desirable; excellent; wonderful.
More about fantabulous
Fantabulous, a slang term meaning “excellent, wonderful,” is a blend of fantastic and fabulous. The word first appeared in the US in 1953, in New Zealand in 1959, and in the UK by 1961.
how is fantabulous used?
Stolen money enhanced the flavor of everything it bought, made every game of pinball more fantabulous and fun.
“It was great,” Bobby said. “Fantabulous. Thanks for taking me. It was practically the best movie I ever saw.”
alembic
noun
anything that transforms, purifies, or refines.
More about alembic
Alembic “a vessel with a beaked cap or head, formerly used in distilling,” covers quite a bit of Western civilization. It comes from Middle English alambik, alembec, lambic, lembic, from Middle French alembic, alambic and from Medieval Latin alembicus, alembicum. The English, French, and Latin forms come from Arabic al-anbīq, composed of al– “the” and anbīq “a vessel for distilling, a distilling flask, a still.” Anbīq comes via Persian from Greek ámbix (stem ámbīk-) “a vessel with a spout, an alembic.” Alembic entered English in the late 14th century.
how is alembic used?
What caused this hasty decision? Or had change formed slowly in the alembic of his discontent?
But the more he read the more he was astonished to find how the facts had passed through the alembic of Carlyle’s brain and had come out and fitted themselves, each as a part of one great whole, making a compact result, indestructible and unrivalled …
torrential
adjective
falling in rushing, violent, or abundant and unceasing streams.
More about torrential
Torrential “falling in rushing, violent, or abundant and unceasing streams” is a derivative of the noun torrent. Torrent comes from the Latin noun torrens (inflectional stem torrent-) “a rushing stream, torrent.” Torrens is also a present participle meaning “scorching, burning hot,” but also, curiously, “flowing headlong, rushing, torrential,” which Latinists confess is not easily explained. Torrens comes from the verb torrēre “to heat, scorch, dry up,” from the root ters-, source also of Latin terra “land, dry land.” Torrential entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
how is torrential used?
The torrential downpour that drenched the city this week clogged drains and traffic.
After they had spent several nights on the street in Bogotá, her old boss had given them a room to sleep in, allowing them to escape the torrential rain that had taken over the city that week.