Carolina Institute for Faith & Culture

Paul Schleifer According to the OED, neologism means “the use of, or the practice of using, new words; innovation in language.” Here are some synonyms: coinage, slang, a new word. […]

Paul Schleifer According to the OED, to cajole someone is to “get one’s way with [that someone] by delusive flattery, specious promises, or any false means of persuasion.” Synonyms include […]

Paul Schleifer   The OED defines dictator as “A ruler or governor whose word is law; an absolute ruler of a state.” That is extended, as a kind of metaphor, […]

Paul Schleifer The definition of maladroit from www.dictionary.com is “lacking in adroitness,” a definition which appears somewhat circular, but then it is followed up with several synonyms: “unskillful; awkward; bungling; […]

Paul Schleifer The definition of apex on www.dictionary.com reads more like a list of synonyms than an actual definition: “1. the tip, point, or vertex; summit. 2. climax; peak; acme.” […]

Paul Schleifer According to the Oxford English Dictionary, denouement means “Unravelling; spec. the final unravelling of the complications of a plot in a drama, novel, etc.; the catastrophe; transf. the […]

Paul Schleifer There are two definitions of platitude in the OED, and it is the second one which is the more familiar. The first is “The quality (esp. in speech […]

Paul Schleifer The first definition one finds in the OED for perspicacious is “keen, sharp; clear-sighted,” and then, “Chiefly fig.,” meaning that is used figuratively, not literally. The first sentence […]

Paul Schleifer According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ablution means the act of washing oneself. The OED further says that the English word has multiple origins, including Middle French ablucion, […]

Paul Schleifer According to the Oxford English Dictionary, choky is an English slang word for a prison. It also means a customs-house, or a toll station, or a station for […]

Paul Schleifer Decorum, according to dictionary.com, means 1. dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.; or 2. the quality or state of being decorous, or exhibiting such dignified propriety; orderliness; […]

Paul Schleifer According to etymonline.com, the word rotund comes into English around 1705 from the “Latin rotundus “rolling, round, circular, spherical, like a wheel,” from rota “wheel” (see rotary). Earlier […]