Word of the Day

Adjective
tendentious (comparative more tendentious, superlative most tendentious)

• (of persons or their words) Having a tendency, written or spoken, with a partisan, biased or prejudiced purpose, especially a controversial one; implicitly or explicitly slanted; biased.

That he was a supporter of the cause was clear, because his reports from the front were tendentious.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tendentious

Etymology

An American expression. In a Congressional debate in 1828 one of the states which claimed to export corn admitted that the corn was actually used to feed hogs, and exported in that form.

Verb

acknowledge the corn
(idiomatic) To admit to the truth of the point at issue or to a mistake; to cop a plea; or perhaps to admit to a small error but not a larger one.

Quotations

1846, Jesse Speight, address to the U.S. Senate:
I hope he will give up the argument, or to use a familiar phrase acknowledge the corn.
1859, J. Underwood, letter to the editor, Samuel W. Cole (editor), The New England Farmer, Volume 11:
I should like to take a job of that kind on a wager with him, or any other New Hampshire man, and if I did not come out a little ahead on the "home stretch," why then I would "acknowledge the corn," and own myself beaten.
1880, Parliament of Canada, Official report of the debates of the House of Commons of the Dominion of Canada:
Will the hon. gentleman acknowledge the corn? He does not do it. He is non-committal.
1892, The American magazine:
They had simply to "acknowledge the corn," round up, and — "vamoose"; then, so soon as the soldiers had gone back to the fort, there was no law to prevent their returning.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acknowledge_the_corn#English

Verb

• (archaic, obsolete, rare, figurative) To retreat and lie hidden; to hide in a corner.

latibulate (third-person singular simple present latibulates, present participle latibulating, simple past and past participle latibulated)

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/latibulate

cross-posted from: https://piefed.blahaj.zone/post/174693

Noun

lassitude

• Lethargy or lack of energy; fatigue, langour, listlessness

(countable and uncountable, plural lassitudes)

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lassitude

Adjective

euonymous

• Appropriately or suitably named.

(comparative more euonymous, superlative most euonymous)

Verb
matriculate

1. (transitive) To enroll as a member of a body, especially of a college or university.
2. (transitive, by extension, often with to) To join or enter (a group, body, category of people, etc.).
3. (intransitive, stative) To be enrolled as a member of a body, especially of a college or university.

(third-person singular simple present matriculates, present participle matriculating, simple past and past participle matriculated)

Noun
matriculate (plural matriculates)

1. A person admitted to membership in a society.
   Synonym: matriculant

Noun
assiduity (plural assiduities)

1. Great and persistent toil or effort.
2. (in the plural) Constant personal attention, solicitous care.
   example

Villiers prided himself as a practised explorer of such obscure mazes and byways of London life, and in this unprofitable pursuit he displayed an assiduity which was worthy of more serious employment. Thus he stood by the lamp-post surveying the passers-by with undisguised curiosity, and with that gravity known only to the systematic diner, had just enunciated in his mind the formula: “London has been called the city of encounters; it is more than that, it is the city of Resurrections,” when these reflections were suddenly interrupted by a piteous whine at his elbow, and a deplorable appeal for alms.
(The Great God Pan – Arthur Machen)
https://gutenberg.org/cache/epub/389/pg389.txt https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/assiduity

Noun
coquetry

1. Coquettish behavior; actions designed to excite erotic attention, without intending to reciprocate such feelings (chiefly of women towards men); flirtatious teasing.
2. An act constituting such behavior; an affectation of amorphous interest or enticement, especially of a woman directed towards a man.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coquetry

Adjective
recherché (comparative more recherché, superlative most recherché)

1. Sought out and chosen with care; choice; exquisite.
2. Exotic; of rare quality, elegance, attractiveness, etc.
3. (by extension) Precious, pretentious, affected.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/recherch%C3%A9#English

Noun
sycophant (plural sycophants)

1. One who uses obsequious compliments to gain self-serving favour or advantage from another; a servile flatterer.
   Synonyms: ass-kisser, brown noser, suck-up, yes man
2. One who seeks to gain through the powerful and influential.
   Synonyms: parasite, flunky, lackey
3. (obsolete) An informer; a talebearer.

Derived terms:
sycophancy
sycophantic
sycophantish
sycophantism

Verb
sycophant (third-person singular simple present sycophants, present participle sycophanting, simple past and past participle sycophanted)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To inform against; hence, to calumniate.
2. (transitive, rare) To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.

Noun
opprobrium (countable and uncountable, plural opprobriums or opprobria)

1. (archaic) A cause, object, or situation of disgrace or shame. [from mid 17th c.] Synonym: (obsolete) opprobry
2. Disgrace or bad reputation arising from exceedingly shameful behaviour; ignominy. [from late 17th c.]
   Synonyms: obloquy, (obsolete) opprobry
3. Scornful contempt or reproach; an instance of this.
   Synonyms: blame, castigation, censure, derision, invective, (obsolete) opprobry
4. (archaic) Behaviour which is disgraceful or shameful.

Adjective
cogent (comparative more cogent, superlative most cogent)

1. Reasonable and convincing; based on evidence.
2. Appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning.
3. Forcefully persuasive; relevant, pertinent.
   The prosecution presented a cogent argument, convincing the jury of the defendant's guilt.

Synonyms:
compelling, conclusive, convincing, indisputable

Antonyms:
debatable, irrelevant, uncogent

Derived terms:
cogency
cogently
incogent
uncogent

Related terms:
cache
coagulate
squat

Etymology
An allusion to the ancient Athenian historian and military general Thucydides, who posited that the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta had been inevitable because of Spartan fears of the growth of Athenian power.

Noun
Thucydides trap (plural Thucydides traps)

• An apparent tendency towards war when an emerging power threatens to displace an existing great power as a regional or international hegemon.
  Usage notes:
  Coined and primarily used to describe a potential conflict between the United States and the People's Republic of China.

Alternative forms

• Thucydides' trap
• Thucydian Realpolitik