Word of the Day
obnubilate
verb (used with object)
to cloud over; becloud; obscure.
More about obnubilate
The verb obnubilate, “to cloud over; obscure,” comes straight from Latin obnūbilātus, the past participle of the verb obnūbilāre “to become cloudy, to darken (the mind),” a compound verb formed from the prefix ob– “towards, in the face of, against” and the simple verb nūbilāre “to become cloudy, overcast, opaque,” a derivative of the adjective nūbilus “cloudy, overcast,” which in its turn is a derivative of the noun nūbēs “cloud.” In Latin, nūb– is a regular phonetic development from the Proto-Indo-European root sneudh– “mist, cloud” (sneudh– > snoudh– > nūb-), the source of Avestan (the language of the Zoroastrian scriptures) snaodha– “clouds, cloud cover” and Welsh nudd “fog.” Obnubilate entered English in the second half of the 16th century.
how is obnubilate used?
Dost thou think because a cloud sometimes may cover and obnubilate the Sun, that it will therefore shine no more?
It is the pity of the world, Dr Maturin, to see a man of your parts obnubilate his mind with the juice of the poppy.
lackadaisical
adjective
without interest, vigor, or determination; listless; lethargic.
More about lackadaisical
The adjective lackadaisical, “lacking interest or determination; listless; lazy; indolent,” comes from the interjection, adjective, and noun lackadaisy. Lackadaisy as an interjection expresses dismay, sorrow or disapproval; as an adjective it means “given to crying lackadaisy; and as a noun, “a person given to crying lackadaisy.” Lackadaisy is a variant of the archaic interjection lackaday, a shortened variant of alack the day. Middle English has the interjection alacke (also alagge), possibly related to the noun lak, lack(e) “a lack, fault, shortcoming,” and alack the day may have originally meant “shame on the day (for turning out like this),” like alas the day. Lackadaisical weakened in meaning from a person who cried lackadaisy to someone who complained about trivialities, then still further to someone who was sentimental, and finally to someone who was just lazy. Lackadaisical entered English in the second half of the 18th century.
how is lackadaisical used?
So while you may have every right to resent your colleagues’ sloth and your boss’s lackadaisical attitude about it, merely venting is more likely to make you seem petty than it is to result in change.
Our government’s lackadaisical approach to genomic surveillance leaves us blind to precisely how prevalent these mutants are — and yet, even as other nations have responded to the emergence of such strains with lockdowns, our cities are reopening indoor dining just in time to accelerate their spread.
machinate
verb (used with or without object)
to contrive or plot, especially artfully or with evil purpose.
More about machinate
The English verb machinate comes from Latin māchinātus, the past participle of the verb māchinārī “to invent, contrive, devise artfully, plot.” Māchinārī has both neutral and pejorative senses, but English machinate has mostly pejorative or hostile senses. Māchinārī is a derivative of the noun māchina “apparatus, mechanism, machine,” a borrowing from Doric Greek māchanā́ “contrivance, machine, crane.” Machinate entered English in the first half of the 16th century.
how is machinate used?
His is a character which is typical in the heroic poetry of the Tuetons … the malicious counselor of the old king who machinates against the young hero.
And while Ford’s Theater has become a secular shrine in Washington, only a true trivialist knows that the house where John Wilkes Booth machinated, at 604 H Street N.W., is now a Chinese restaurant.