bemoan

bemoan \bi-MOHN\, verb:

to moan about or weep for; mourn

The tower's approval came despite opposition from residents and some city leaders who bemoan the proliferation of cell towers in the city, especially when they are placed near homes.
-- Janine Zúñiga, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 2008-11-22

Readers rave about Ubuntu's new version of Linux, slam copy protection for high-def content, and bemoan royalty fees for Internet radio.
-- Kellie Parker, The Washington Post, 2007-05-04

Old English bemænan.

acclaim

acclaim \uh-KLEYM\, verb:

1. to welcome with loud approval; praise highly
2. a shout or show of approval

A day after abandoning his proposal to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, Gov. Eliot Spitzer won the kind of wide acclaim from elected officials that he could not win for the proposal itself.
-- Nicholas Confessore and Raymond Hernandez, New York Times, 2007-11-15

H. Igor Ansoff, a retired educator and author whose visionary theories on strategic business manage-ment inspired worldwide acclaim died Sunday in Escondido.
-- Jack Williams, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 2002-07-16

c 1320 from Latin acclamare "to shout" from medieval Latin acclamare "to claim."

yielding

yielding \YEEL-ding\, adjective:

1. not resisting; compliant
2. not stiff or rigid; easily bent or shaped

While he forecasts that lower yielding stocks are likely to bounce more when the markets recover, he says the emphasis on dividends is part of a longer-term trend driven by four key factors.
-- Annette Sampson, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2002-10-26

In fact, on June 29, 2006 - the day the Federal Reserve Board last voted to raise short-term interest rates - the yield on 10-year Treasury notes stood at 5.20 percent. Today, new 10-year notes are yielding less, at 5.02 percent.
-- Paul J. Lim, New York Times, 2007-07-01

by 1340 from yield, Old English geldan/gieldan "to pay," from Proto Germanic *geldanan "pay," perhaps from Proto Indo-European *ghel-to- "I pay," found only in Balto-Slavic and Germanic. Yielding in sense of "giving up" is c 1425 and "giving way" is by 1588.

wanton

wanton \WON-tn\, adjective;
The plural is faunas or faunae.:

1. reckless, heartless, or malicious; without reason or excuse
2. not moral; lewd, lascivious

"Such (a) stand and attitude are leading to the grave, wanton violation of all the north-south agreements," the report said.
-- Kwang-Tae Kim, Denver Post, 2008-11-11

Ram raiders have smashed through the main admissions area of Royal North Shore Hospital, stealing the contents of an ATM and assaulting a man, in a rampage police have called "wanton bloody destruction".
-- Dylan Welch, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2008-11-11

c 1300, wan-towen, from Middle English privative prefix wan- "wanting, lacking" (from Old English wan "wanting") + togen/teon "to train, discipline;" literally "to pull, draw," from Proto Germanic *teuhan. The basic notion perhaps is "ill-bred, poorly brought up."

vacuous

vacuous \VAK-yoo-uhs\, adjective:

1. showing no intelligence or thought
2. having no meaning or direction; empty

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.
-- Don Frederick, LA Times

McCain's campaign has been mocking Obama on television and in speeches for weeks, attacking him personally as a vacuous celebrity.
-- Ben Smith, Denver Post, 2008-08-29

by 1561, from Latin vacuus "empty, void, free." Figurative sense of "empty of ideas" is from 1848.

unconscionable

unconscionable \uhn-KON-shuh-nuh-buhl\, adjective:

1. not influenced or guided by conscience
2. very great

Hastert also took aim at the rich pay package for Exxon Mobil Corp.'s retired chief executive, which he called "unconscionable."
-- Steven Mufson and Timothy Dwyer, The Washington Post, 2006-04-22

THE U.S. SUPREME Court on Wednesday executed an unconscionable U-turn on abortion, upholding a restrictive federal law that is virtually indistinguishable from a Nebraska statute it struck down only seven years ago.
-- LA Times, 2007-04-19

by 1570, "showing no regard for conscience," from un- (1) + now rare conscionable "conscientious" (1549), from conscioned "having a conscience."

talisman

talisman \TAL-is-muhn, TAL-iz-muhn\, noun:

1. an object, such as a ring, engraved with figures supposed to have magic power; charm
2. anything that seems to produce extraordinary results

Cheadle, who is one of the film's producers as well as its star, is deployed like an ethical talisman to show viewers that this movie is not like those other terrorist flicks.
-- Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post, 2008-08-29

Included, almost as a talisman, is the 1905 painting of Two Harlequins, one of the few survivors of the Thannhauser Paris collection.
-- Time, 1965-05-07

by 1599, from French talisman, in part via Arabic tilsam (pl. tilsaman), a Greek loan-word; in part directly from Byzantine Greek telesma "talisman, religious rite, payment," earlier "consecration, ceremony," originally "completion," from telein "perform (religious rites), pay (tax), fulfill," from telos "completion, end, tax."

rancor

rancor \RANG-ker\, noun:

bitter resentment or ill will; extreme hatred or spite

The day quickly degenerated into rancor as Palestinians and Jews staged competing protests and Arab participants were accused of harassing Jewish delegates.
-- Rachel L. Swarns, New York Times, 2001-08-31

He called for unity after years of partisan rancor and division.
-- Alec MacGillis, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2008-01-22

c 1225, from Old French rancor, from Latin rancorem "rancidness, grudge, bitterness," from Latin rancere "to stink."

sallow

sallow \SAL-oh\, adjective:

having a sickly, yellowish color

"After several days of flying in space, the astronauts may look wan and sallow, so medical staff will put make-up on them to make them look ruddy," the newspaper said.
-- The Sydney Morning Herald, 2005-10-17

Actually, Thompson looked old and sallow, as he faced the cameras for a few seconds before hopping into a waiting GMC Envoy.
-- The Washington Post, 2007-04-19

Old English salo "dusky, dark," from Proto Germanic *salwa-, from Proto Indo-European base *sal- "dirty, gray."

qualitative

qualitative \KWOL-i-tey-tiv\, adjective:

concerned with quality or qualities

Firstly, it was woefully underfunded. Secondly, by making testing the end-all be-all of educational performance, we ignored the more qualitative dimensions of education, which help a child expand and become a whole person.
-- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, The Washington Post, 2007-10-18

Many agencies are abandoning the painstaking analysis of reams of statistical information - called quantitative research - in favor of one-on-one and group interviews, or qualitative research.
-- Randall Rothenburg, New York Times, 1969-04-06

by 1607 from Latin qualitativus "concerned with quality" from classical Latin qualitas "quality" and -ive suffix.

pandiculation

pandiculation \pan-dik-yuh-LEY-shuhn\, noun:

an instinctive stretching, as on awakening or while yawning

"Pandiculate for Health! Grow Tall! Get Well! Be Young!" Exuberant ads like this, running in health-fad magazines since 1914, have proclaimed the virtues of a spine-stretching device called the "Pandiculator."
-- Time, 1942-04-12

by 1611 from French pandiculation from Latin pandiculari "to stretch oneself" and French suffix -ion.

kinetic

kinetic \ki-NET-ik\, adjective:

of or having to do with motion; caused by motion

The piece is one of nearly 25 works showcased in the garden's spring exhibit, "Sculpture in Motion," featuring kinetic art nestled among the growing landscape.
-- Katie Leslie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2008-05-01

A braking system that sends electronic signals to brakes on each wheel and uses their own kinetic energy to help bring them to a stop.
-- Roger Cheng, The Wall Street Journal, 2008-09-29

by 1864, from Greek kinetikos "moving, putting in motion," from kinetos "moved," verbal adjective of kinein "to move."

obscure

obscure \uhb-SKYOOR\, adjective:

1. not clearly expressed; hard to understand
2. to hide from view; dim, darken
3. not well known; not prominent
4. dark, dim, murky

An obscure federal agency with a history of setbacks announced Thursday that it will upgrade its troubled wastewater treatment plant in San Ysidro.
-- Mike Lee, The San Diego Union-Tribune, 2008-05-18

Either way, it's the sort of obscure Australiana that fascinates local historian David Morgan, who has been an inveterate collector of trivia, compiler of lists and orchestrator of improbable connections since he began thumbing through encyclopedias as a child.
-- John Huxley, The Sydney Morning Herald, 2005-11-12

c 1425, from Old French obscur "dark, dim, not clear," from Latin obscurus "covered over, dark, obscure, indistinct," from ob "over" + -scurus "covered," from Proto Indo-European *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal;" source of Old Norse sky, Old English sceo "cloud," Latin scutum "shield" and Greek skeue "dress.". The verb is first recorded 1475.

magnanimous

magnanimous \mag-NAN-uh-muhs\, adjective:

1. noble in mind or soul; free from mean or petty feelings or acts
2. showing a generous spirit; generous in forgiving

But an even greater responsibility falls on Obama as the nominee. Losers have to be gracious, but winners have to be magnanimous.
-- Michael Tomasky, The Guardian, 2008-06-02

From the architect's point of view, the ideal project is not one with a magnanimous absent client. It is one with a magnanimous thoughtful client.
-- Witold Rybczynski, The Atlantic, 2002-09-01

Ever the confident, magnanimous Leo, this August-born collector found it impossible to resist the black marble mantel flanked by muscular plaster lions.
-- Elana Ashanti Jefferson, Denver Post, 2007-12-07

by 1547 from Latin magnanimus "having a great soul," from magnus "great" + animus "soul, spirit." Probably a loan-translation of Greek megalopsychos "high-souled, generous" (Aristotle) or megathymus "great-hearted."

laissez-faire

laissez-faire \les-ey FAIR\, adjective:

1. the principle that business, industry, trade, etc. should operate with a minimum of regulation and interference by government
2. maintaining the principle of letting people do as they please

Some Ryder Cup captains take a laissez-faire approach. Jack Nicklaus told me jokingly last week, in an interview posted on WSJ.com, that his job as captain was to deliver a few speeches and make sure the players had "fresh towels, sunscreen and tees."
-- John Paul Newport, The Wall Street Journal, 2008-09-27

His laissez-faire ideas went from maverick to mainstream during his lifetime. He began graduate studies in economics during the Great Depression as the theories of British economist John Maynard Keynes were revolutionizing his profession.
-- Patricia Sullivan and Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post, 2006-11-17

by 1825, from French, literally "let (people) do (as they think best)," from laissez "let" + faire "to do" (from Latin facere).

jettison

jettison \JET-uh-suhn, JET-uh-zuhn\, verb:

1. to throw goods overboard to lighten a ship or aircraft in distress
2. the act of throwing goods overboard when a craft is in distress; also, the goods thrown overboard
3. (figurative) to throw away; discard

He guessed that Richardson decided to jettison the facial hair after his wife found it scratchy.
-- Liz Sidoti, Boston Globe, 2008-12-03

But with economic anxiety sweeping the public, some banks have decided to jettison traditional ads touting products and instead market traits like stability and security.
-- Paul Donski, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2008-11-28

noun by 1425 from Anglo-Fr. getteson, from Old French getaison "act of throwing (goods overboard)," especially to lighten a ship in distress, from Late Latin jactionem, from jectare "toss about." The verb is first attested 1848.

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iconoclast

iconoclast \ahy-KON-uh-klast\, noun:
a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions as foolish or wrong
In the end, Miles characterizes Zappa, for better or worse, as "an iconoclast in the male tradition of Neal Cassady, Hunter S. Thompson, William S. Burroughs, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, Lenny Bruce and the early Norman Mailer."
-- Carmela Ciuraru, LA Times, 2004-11-15
Al-Mutawa's decision to attend Tufts was also somewhat random - he followed the footsteps of a cousin - and, once there, he resumed his status as an iconoclast.
-- Jake Halpern, Boston Globe, 2007-10-14
by 1596, from French iconoclaste, from Middle Latin iconoclastes, from Late Greek eikonoklastes, from eikon "image" + klastes "breaker," from klan "to break." Originally the word referred those in the Eastern Church in 8th and 9th centuries whose mobs of followers destroyed icons and other religious objects on the grounds that they were idols. Extended sense of "one who attacks orthodox beliefs or institutions" is first attested 1842.

hapless

hapless \HAP-lis\, adjective:
unlucky; unfortunate
It might explain how, on consecutive Sundays, quarterback Jay Cutler and Co. could be crushed by the hapless Oakland Raiders, only to pick up the pieces and dominate a New York Jets team that looked unbeatable.
-- Mark Kiszla, Denver Post, 2008-12-07
Matthew Broderick has gone from playing a hapless Broadway producer in the hit musical "The Producers" to a hapless movie writer-director in the new comedy "The Last Shot," which opens Friday.
-- Susan King, LA Times, 2004-09-20
by 1568, meaning "destitute of hap"

gargantuan

gargantuan \gahr-GAN-choo-uhn\, adjective:
enormous; gigantic; huge
On a marshy peninsula 50 miles from this Red Sea port, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is staking $12.5 billion on a gargantuan bid to catch up with the West in science and technology.
-- Thanassis Cambanis, New York Times, 2007-10-26
But keeping them there, with the night shifts and the erratic parental schedules, was a gargantuan effort.
-- Allison Sherry, Denver Post, 2006-12-18
by 1571, from Gargantua, large-mouthed giant in Rabelais' novels, supposedly from Spanish/Portuguese garganta "gullet, throat," which is from the same imitative root as gargle

fastidious

fastidious \fa-STID-ee-uhs\, adjective:
hard to please; extremely refined or critical
For months, his tall, fastidious figure had prowled around the old city hall on Wall Street, examining its eighty-year-old brickwork, muttering to himself in French, or his syntactically challenged English, imagining-where others saw merely a tired old workhorse of a building-a blank canvas upon which to paint an architectural epic.
-- Fergus M. Bordewich, The Making of the American Capital, 2008-05-16
Penske cannot say for sure that being fastidious off the racetrack results in being fast on it. What he can say, though, is that he has created a culture that has fostered loyalty.
-- Dave Caldwell, New York Times, 2006-05-28
c 1440, "full of pride," from Latin fastidiosus "disdainful, squeamish, exacting," from fastidium "loathing," most likely from fastu-taidiom, a compound of fastus "contempt, arrogance" and tædium "aversion, disgust." The meaning "squeamish, over-nice" emerged in England by 1612

eclectic

eclectic \i-KLEK-tik\, adjective:
1. selecting and using what seems best from various sources or systems; made up of selections from various sources
2. broad in acceptance of ideas or approval from other sources
But, populated by an eclectic collection of Taino Indians, Spanish colonialists, black Africans and -- later on -- vacationing Americans, the city's disparate ethnic roots were to provide ideal ingredients for an impending cooking revolution.
-- Brendan Sainsbury, Miami Herald, 2008-12-14
Offering comedians, cooking classes, rock concerts, authors and a sex therapist, along with an eclectic collection of worship services, Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in downtown Washington doesn't fit the mold of a standard house of worship.
-- Jacqueline L. Salmon, The Washington Post, 2008-09-29
by 1683, from French eclectique, from Greek eklektikos "selective," literally "picking out," from eklektos "selected," from eklegein "pick out, select," from ek "out" + legein "gather, choose." Originally a group of ancient philosophers who selected doctrines from every system; broader sense is first recorded 1814.

daunt

daunt \dawnt, dahnt\, verb:
1. to frighten; overcome with fear
2. to discourage; lesson the courage of
"The huge size of a vessel does not seem to daunt the pirates," he said. "It shows their high degree of audacity and resources."
-- Xan Rice, The Guardian, 2008-11-18
It's a job that can daunt grieving relatives or anyone who hasn't had experience digging through federal files.
-- Jack Forgy, Miami Herald, 2008-10-22
c1300, from Old French danter, variant of donter, from Latin domare "to tame." Originally meant "to vanquish;" sense of "to intimidate" is from c 1475.

candor

candor \KAN-der\, noun:
1. honesty in giving one's view or opinion; frankness and sincerity
2. fairness; impartiality
What remains to be seen is whether the candor he offered in his early memoir will be greeted with a new-style acceptance by voters.
-- Lois Romano, The Washington Post, 2007-01-03
But we know that real leadership is about candor and judgment and the ability to rally Americans from all walks of life around a common purpose, a higher purpose.
-- The Guardian, 2008-01-27
c.1637 from earlier senses c. 1398, from Latin candor "purity, openness," originally "whiteness," from Latin candere "to shine."

beleaguer

beleaguer \bi-LEE-ger\, verb:
1. to surround with troops; besiege
2. to surround or beset
Among the strangers who befriend and beleaguer Jimmy are a band of circus freaks led by a foulmouthed midget, a Hindu ice cream and curry vendor, a club of raving Chinese American mud wrestling fans, a surly Chicano biker with a heart of gold and, in a game stab at "Pee-wee's Big Adventure"-style absurdism, a busload of robotically cheerful cultists trekking toward their charismatic leader.
-- Jan Stuart, LA Times, 2004-08-28
The Chicago Tribune, first cousin of the News, has long made it a point to beleaguer venereal quacks.
-- Time, 1936-03-23
by 1589, from Dutch belegeren "to besiege," from be- "around" + legeren "to camp."

abstinent

abstinent \AB-stuh-nuhnt\, adjective:
abstaining, especially from self-indulgence
The main reason I am abstinent is I don't want to become pregnant. That would be the worst thing. I wouldn't be able to finish school.
-- Tia Whipple, Time, 2006-09-15
It's not enough to just talk about abstinence. You have to be willing to talk to them about protection if they choose not to be abstinent.
-- Denver Post, 2007-10-15
c. 1386, from French abstinent from Old French astenant, from Latin abstinentem and abstinere "to withhold"

zealous

zealous \ZEL-uhs\, adjective:
full of zeal; actively enthusiastic
To remain obdurate before authority, to display one's loyalty to the
collective, to be a zealous student wholeheartedly eager to deepen
one's grasp of doctrine--these were qualities that bore witness
precisely to the personal, to the individual.
-- Milovan Djilas, Fall of the New Class
No one is more zealous than James Watt, 43, the lanky, brusque
Secretary of the Interior.
-- Time, 1981-03-30
c.1526, from Latin zelosus from zelus "zeal"

yegg

yegg \yeg\, noun:
a burglar who robs safes; safecracker
Except for a series of cartoons, showing Tammany as a little yegg in a
tiger-striped sweater, Mr. Hearst subsequently published nothing very
damaging to the Brown Derby.
-- Time, 1928-09-10
"A train robber is better than a public yegg" has been the campaign
slogan of A.L. Jennings, train robber and member of the famous Dalton
gang, who was nominated in today's primaries for County Attorney over
a half dozen opponents.
-- New York Times, 1912-08-08
by 1903, underworld slang of unknown origin, possibly the name of an
American burglar and safecracker

xanthous

xanthous \ZAN-thuhs\, adjective:
yellow; yellowish
King Elvis, who is not quite alert today, bares his rockin' soul on
"Geraldo," yelling Michael Jackson's very unique, xanthous features
complement zany daughter LisaMarie Presley.
-- The Atlantic, 1995-07-14
by 1829, from Greek xanthos "yellow," of unknown origin. Prefix form
xantho- is used in many scientific words.

wanderlust

wanderlust \WON-der-luhst\, noun:
a strong desire to wander or travel
There are as many explanations for acute wanderlust as there are
Travelers who suffer from it. But common to them all is the desire to
break through the protective bubble that surrounds ordinary tourists
as they move from one homogenous, CNN-wired hotel to another.
-- Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post, 1998-12-27
Life in Ardmore suited him-the slow pace of it, the sweep of sea and
cliff, the roll of green hills that went shimmering toward shadowed
mountains. The wanderlust that the Gallaghers were famed for had
skipped over him, and Shawn was well rooted in Ardmore's sandy soil.
-- Nora Roberts, Tears of the Moon, 2000-08-13
by 1902, from German Wanderlust, literally "desire for wandering"

ultimate

ultimate \UHL-tuh-mit\, adjective, noun:
1. last possible, final; coming at the end
2. an ultimate point, result, fact, or other extreme condition
3. pertaining to an extremity; beyond which there is nothing or nothing greater
4. fundamental; basic; original
Now we want to take steps into the outside world under more robust
situations, Han said. "The ultimate goal is to outfit an entire home
or building."
-- Will Shanley, Denver Post, 11/2/2004
For Olivas, it was a family affair. Her dad was in the 82 nd Airborne,
her cousin in the air force and another relative who paid the ultimate
price in Afghanistan.
-- Arizona Family, 11/11/2008
by 1654, from Late Latin ultimatus, from ultimare "to be final, come
to an end," from ultimus "last, final," superlative of ulter "beyond."