Word of the Day
nebulated
adjective
having dim or indistinct markings, as a bird or other animal.
More about nebulated
The adjective nebulated comes from Late Latin 苍别产耻濒腻迟耻蝉, past participle of 苍别产耻濒腻谤别 鈥渢o cloud, obscure,鈥� a derivative of the noun nebula 鈥渕ist, cloud.鈥� Nebula is the Latin result of the Proto-Indo-European root nebh– (with many variants) 鈥渃loud.鈥� The neuter noun nebhos yields Greek 苍茅辫丑辞蝉 鈥渃loud, clouds,鈥� Slavic (Polish) niebo 鈥渟ky, heaven,鈥� Hittite nebis 鈥渉eaven.鈥� The root nebh– and the suffix –el yield Middle Welsh nyfel 鈥渃loud鈥� and Greek 苍别辫丑茅濒脓 鈥渃loud, clouds,鈥� corresponding to Latin nebula. The Germanic form of the root, neb-, and the suffix –l– form German Nebel 鈥渇og, mist鈥� and Old Norse niflheim 鈥渢he world of darkness,鈥� ruled over by the goddess Hel. Nebulated entered English in the late 15th century.
how is nebulated used?
Immature birds are smaller, with central tail-feathers not, or scarcely, projecting, and have chiefly nebulated plumage below, with admixture of pale cinnamon, especially on under tail-coverts …
I fear that the intellectual gloom of the age is too great and nebulated by prejudice to duly appreciate your sentiments and devotion.
Delphic
adjective
oracular; obscure; ambiguous: She was known for her Delphic pronouncements.
More about Delphic
English Delphic comes via Latin Delphicus from the Greek adjective 顿别濒辫丑颈办贸蝉, a derivative of the plural noun 顿别濒辫丑辞铆, the name of the inhabitants of Delphi and of the historic city itself. The many dialect forms of the name, especially Aeolic 叠茅濒辫丑辞颈, point to a form gwelphoi with an original labiovelar (a sound combining a velar, such as k or g, and a bilabial, such as w), as in Latin quis, quid 鈥渨ho, what鈥� and English quick and Gwendolyn. Gwelphoi is a Greek derivative of the Proto-Indo-European root gwelbh– 鈥渨omb鈥� (the city was so named from its shape). Gwelbh– is also the source of the Greek noun 补诲别濒辫丑别贸蝉 (Attic 补诲别濒辫丑贸蝉) 鈥渂rother,鈥� whose first letter a– is a much-reduced form of sem– 鈥渙ne,鈥� related to Greek 丑辞尘贸蝉 鈥渟ame鈥� and English 鈥渟ame.鈥� 础诲别濒辫丑(别)贸蝉 therefore means 鈥渂orn of the same womb.鈥� Delphic entered English at the end of the 16th century.
how is Delphic used?
The poems of his mature career were often Delphic, haunted, and bleak.
… he would certainly make a few Delphic pronouncements that next to nobody would understand, such as: “You can get many kinds of balance toward any seemingly grinding postulate of life.”
More about stymie
The verb stymie has an obscure origin. It may be a golfing term, a noun referring to an opponent鈥檚 ball that lies closer to the hole than one鈥檚 own and is in the line of play, from which the slightly later verb sense in golf developed. By the beginning of the 20th century, the verb stymie had a generalized sense 鈥渢o impede, hinder, thwart.鈥� Stymie may come from Scots stymie 鈥渁 person with poor eyesight,鈥� a derivative of stime, styme 鈥渁 glimmer, glimpse.鈥� Stymie in the sense of 鈥渁 person with poor vision鈥� entered English in the early 17th century, the golfing sense in the first half of the 19th century.
how is stymie used?
This kind of leader would have little to no incentive to work with the Board of Supervisors and could easily stymie much of the progress the county is making on critical problems.
Astronomers concluded that the gas was being blasted out by winds from newly formed stars, a huge loss of starmaking material that could stymie the galaxy鈥檚 future growth.