Calumniate - slander; defame by making false and malicious statement about somebody

Calumny - a false and malicious statement
Calumny is used more than calumniate.
Usage examples -

• Spiritual Bouquet: Pray for those who persecute and calumniate you. St. Matthew 5:44
  
• This spiteful calumny against us ...
• It has been the ugliest, most calumny-ridden election season I've ever seen.

Mnemonic -
Campaign of calumny
(mudslinging during election campaign)


Other forms of the word -
calumnious
calumniation
calumniator

Additional note -
Read Calumny column of jaalmag.com here -
http://www.jaalmag.com/calumnycolumn.htm

Invidious - unfair/unjust which may cause envy/resentment

Word meaning -

unpleasant and unfairly discriminating
likely to offend somebody or make them jealous i.e. causing or tending to cause animosity, resentment, or envy

This is a word is express unfair/unjust treatment of something by somebody which may cause resentment or envy to some people.

Usage examples -

• Why do we need to measure who suffered more, a task that as well as being invidious is impossible as nobody can compare the pain of the two races.
• The use of English, as the sole language throughout the electoral process, continues to be discriminatory and has a direct and invidious impact upon the ability of such populations (with limited ability to read English) to participate actively in the electoral process.
  
• We were in the invidious position of having to choose whether to break the law or risk lives.
• It would be invidious to single out any one person to thank.
• Are you saying that it’s not possible for laws to be in place due to invidious ideas about gender (or race, or other things)? Of course you’re not. That would be idiotic.
  
  

Etymological note -

Words invidious and envious have the same Latin root. Invidious is used to refer to something unfair that causes envy.




Additional note -

This word is strongly related to the idea of unfair/unjust.

Unfair fight.

Unfair tug of war

Plebiscite - direct vote of people on important public issue

Plebs + Scitius (Latin root which means resolution or decree)

Word meaning -

1. A direct vote of the qualified voters of a country/region on an important public issue
2. The vote by which the people of a political unit determine autonomy or affiliation with another country.



Usage examples -

• Senior Kashmiri Hurriyat leader, Syed Ali Gilani has asked India to fulfil its commitment to hold a plebiscite in occupied Kashmir, as part of the UN resolution on the vexed issue, and allow the people to decide their fate.
• Plebiscite will decide smoking issue.
• Rebel leader denies nodding to plebiscite.

Pakistan in favor of plebiscite in Kashmir


Link to actual (big) map

Plebs

In ancient Rome population was split into three classes -
Plebs (lower class)
Equites (Middle Class)
Patricians (Nobility)

The term plebs is used to refer to the common people (the populace) in an informal way.
The use if this word considered a bit offensive.



Usage examples -

• Hereditary nobility may be one of the more preposterous notions humanity has come up with, yet the less real-world power royalty wields, the more deeply appealing we plebs find it—not as a mechanism of practical politics, but as a collective dream, a fairy tale brought to life. And the most resonant dream, as countless fairy tales show, is the one about the imperiled princess.
• I'd rather be boiling my willy in vinegar than stand here with you thick plebs.

Promulgate - To spread an idea, a belief & To announce a new law or system officially or publicly

Word meaning -
To spread an idea, a belief, etc. among many people
To announce a new law or system officially or publicly

Usage examples -

• The State Government is all set to promulgate ordinance to put down land mafia.
• He perhaps fears that it would prepare the ground for the Centre to promulgate President’s rule in the state.
• The campaign will promulgate heart attack symptoms through billboard posters, press, radio and online advertising.
• It may be nice to think the quality of ideas - not those who promulgate them - determines their persuasiveness, but the reality is more complex.
• I believe those that promulgate misleading information or misinformation can have an impact on individuals and parents.

Mnemonic -
Pope promulgating peace


John Paul II (1920-2005) of Roman Catholic Church.
White pigeon symbolizes peace.

Other forms of the word -

PROMULGATED
PROMULGATING
PROMULGATION
PROMULGATOR

Close relatives -

PROMULGE = To Promulge
PROMULGED
PROMULGING
PROMULGER

ADDUCE - To bring something forward (as proof/evidence/a point) in argument/discussion

Word meaning -
To bring something forward (as proof/evidence/a point) in argument/discussion
Cite something as pertinent or conclusive

Usage example -

• Court would be willing to permit the respondent to adduce any further evidence.
• The facts they adduce are untrue.
• No conclusive proof could be adduced.

Etymology -
ad- + ducere
Prefix Ad- means toward (Latin)
Latin root ducere (to lead) from which words Deduce and Reduce are also derived.
Adduce - to bring towards front (A leader is always in front)
Deduce - to conclude - to lead from
Reduce - to lead back to smaller extent

Additional Note -
Duce is Italian word for leader. Mussolini (Italian Fascist leader) adopted the name Duce (II Duce), as his de facto title in an attempt to elevate himself to a position as the nation's unquestioned supreme leader. The term II Duce is used only in reference to Mussolini.



II Duce (Benito Mussolini of Italy) and Führer (Adolf Hitler of Germany)
Meaning of both the words Duce and Führer is leader


Mnemonic -
Adduce all evidences in abduction case.



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In medical world words adduct and abduct are used in specific sense -





Adduct - To draw inward toward the median axis of the body or toward an adjacent part or limb.
Abduct - to move or draw away from the median axis of the body or away from an adjacent part or limb.

Prefixes -
Ad- toward
Ab- away from

Abduction (close relative of word abduct) = kidnap.
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Senility = Dotage = Old age

Senility
Usage examples -

• A senile person.
• A senile maturity of judgment.
• Senility and Alzheimer's are two different things.
• I am looking forward to my senility with a smile on my face.
  

Etymological note -
This word and and the word senior both has same Latin root sen (old man).
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Dotage
Usage examples -

• Plant a fabulous tree for your dotage.
• As retirement approaches, you focus more on preserving the wealth you've built up and intend to live on in your dotage.

Mnemonic -
Can we represent old man's brain as dot to display feebleness of mind due to old age?

Cavil, Pogrom, Scads, Prefatory, Runic, Slake, Congeal and Melee

I have uploaded a word file(.doc format) describing following words -
Cavil, Pogrom, Scads, Prefatory, Runic, Slake, Congeal and Melee

You can download the file from following link -
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/visualvocabulary/files
The name of the file is -
Words-Cavil-Pogrom-Scads-Prefatory-Runic-Slake-Congeal-Melee.doc

Putative - believed to be the person or thing mentioned

Usage examples -

• The putative father of the child.
• The administration was overjoyed that the Democrats had taken control of the Congress, an interesting situation given that the President is supposed to be the putative head of the Republican Party.
• He has written a flimsy and supercilious book that does no justice to her putative subject.
• North Korea's putative possession of nukes

Etymological note -
This word shares the same Latin root putare (to think) with word reputation.
Reputation = re (again) + putare.
A person considered reputed when everyone thinks(knows) about him.

Word putative is used to refer to something/somebody that is thought to be something/someone.

Conflagration

A great and distructive fire



Latin root of conflagration is flagr. Flagr is a distant relative of word fulgur(Latin word for lightning).

The Latin root flagr and the word flame sound similar.

Stipple

to paint, engrave, or draw by means of dots



Visit site for more stipples http://www.nolinovak.com/
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A related word is pointillism
Dictionary.com:
a theory and technique developed by the neo-impressionists, based on the principle that juxtaposed dots of pure color, as blue and yellow, are optically mixed into the resulting hue, as green, by the viewer.



Flash Phrase: Pointillist Painter

Supercilious

having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy




Usage examples -

• Supercilious expression/lady.
• John Harney gets infuriatingly supercilious about a recent addition to the UFO literature.
• Americans are famously supercilious.
  

Flash phrase: Supercilious smile


"I have glasses. What do you have?"

Turgid and Flaccid

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Turgid
swollen
In figurative sense it is used to describe boring, complicated and hard to understand.

• A turgid game provided some welcome entertainment in the closing minutes
  
• Residents on foot maneuvered their way over the undercut road as massive trees with intact root wads floated by in the turgid waters of Spring Creek.
• After some 23 pages of turgid reasoning, they opined that "committed same-sex couples must be afforded on equal terms the same rights and benefits enjoyed by married opposite-sex couples."

Flash Phrase: Turgid tummy


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Flaccid
soft and weak; not firm and hard
Usage examples:

• For the most part, in this volume, the author is content with lazy and flaccid arguments, and the book fails as a result.
• Flaccid effort/defense.

Flash Phrase: Flaccid film.
Usage example: This this flaccid film feels like an exercise in exasperation. No one is likeable, and they have nothing interesting to say.

Chagrin

Feeling of being annoyed marked by disappointment/humiliation

Usage examples -

• In 1956 Egypt nationalised the Suez canal, much to the chagrin of the Britain and France.

• The ban on smoking in most public areas would include designated smoking rooms in bars and restaurants, much to the chagrin of some in the local hospitality industry.

Flash Phrase: To the chagrin of Churchill he was defeated heavily in General Election immediately after of the close of Wordl War II in Europe. The importance of Churchill's role in World War II was undeniable. Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War.

Egregious

Extremely bad

Usage examples -

• Christian Zionism: An Egregious Threat to US and to Middle East Understanding
  Christian Zionism, a belief that paradise for Christians can only be achieved once Jews are in control of the Holy Land, is gathering strength in the United States.
• An egregious abuse of taxpayers' trust.
• Egregious accounting errors.
  

Flash phrase: Egregious error

Hirsute

Hairy
~~~~~~~
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary:
(especially of a man) having a lot of hair on the face or body
~~~~~~~
Usage examples -

• My Uncle's hirsute back.
• His is not a hirsute masculinity.
  

Flash phrase: Hirsute history

Disport oneself

amusing oneself in sportive/active/energetic manner

Usage examples -

• Children disporting themselves -

Flash phrase: Dudes disporting themselves -

Cower

Bend low or move behind in fear

Usage example -

• Son and father cowering behind a concrete wall -

• Man cowering -

• He cowers in fear of her mighty pillow -

Flash phrase: Cowering coward

Tawdry

This word can be used to describe that looks flashy/attractive but actually is cheap and of
low quality.

Usage examples -

• The glory of tawdry romance
• 
  

This word has a story associated with with.

There was one queen in ancient England. Here name was Saint Audrey. When she was young she was very fond of necklaces. Irony of here life is that she died of throat tumor. She was of the opinion that her throat developed tumor because she used to like necklaces very much.



The word tawdry is an alteration of her name - [Sain]t-audrey.


In figurative sense this word means low/mean/base/ignoble.
Usage examples -

• Tawdry motives

In these tawdry times of entertainment great emphasis is given to sensual content.

~~~~~~~
Other words with similar meaning Gaudy, Shoddy, Cheapjack, garish

Apiary

a place where bees are kept

Prolitarian and Bourgeoisie

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Proletariat

It is derived from Latin word proles which mean offspring.

The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. Originally it was identified as those people who had no wealth other than their sons; the term was initially used in a derogatory sense, until Karl Marx used it as a sociological term to refer to the working class.

Read more on Wikipedia

~~~~~~~
Bourgeoisie is a French word . In modern use it refers to the ruling class in a capitalist society.


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Imbecile

Stupid , Idiot


You can use the word imbecile in the same sense as you use the words stupid or idiot. This word is a rude way of describing a person who you think is stupid.

Usage examples -

• He isn’t the complete imbecile he appears to be.
• A Joke -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A JUDGE said to a Convicted Assassin:

"Prisoner at the bar, have you anything to say why the death- sentence should not be passed upon you?"

"Will what I say make any difference?" asked the Convicted Assassin.

"I do not see how it can," the Judge answered, reflectively. "No, it will not."

"Then," said the doomed one, "I should just like to remark that you are the most unspeakable old imbecile in seven States and the District of Columbia."

Source: http://bierce.thefreelibrary.com/Fantastic-Fables/9-1#imbecile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

adj imbecilic
Few acts of imbecilic people -




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other words for a stupid :-
Idiot, fool, dolt, dunce, blockhead, dope, ninny, simpleton
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ingrate

an ungrateful person

Usage Examples -

• I don't want to sound like an ingrate or overly sentimental, but...
• Ingrate Australia
• What an ingrate!

Voracious Gluttonous Rapacious Ravenous

These four adjectives are marked by boundless greed.
~~~~~~~
Voracious
craving or consuming large quantities of food

• Voracious appetite

Exceedingly eager or avid

• Voracious reader

adv voraciously
noun voracity
~~~~~~~
Gluttonous
Glutton is a person who eats too much

1.tending to eat and drink excessively; voracious.
2.greedy; insatiable.

Glutton for punishment/work
Person who enjoys doing difficult and unpleasant tasks

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Rapacious
wanting more money or goods than you need or have a right to



This poster depicts a rapacious figure clad in the United States flag transforming the blood squeezed from the African continent into dollars.

adv rapaciously
noun rapacity
~~~~~~~
Ravenous
1 (of a person or an animal) extremely hungry syn starving.
2 (of hunger) very great: a ravenous appetite




adv ravenously
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Copse

a small area of trees or bushes growing together



This is derived from word coppice.
The Wikipdedia entry for coppicing explains everything about coppicing: