Wrath: A Dictionary for the Enraged (3 page)
Read Wrath: A Dictionary for the Enraged Online
Authors: Adams Media
Tags: #Dictionaries, #Reference
effrontery
(ih-FRON-ter-ee)
NOUN:
Immense nerve; audacity.
(ee-go-SEN-trik)
ADJECTIVE:
Behaving as if you are the only person who matters; extremely self-centered.
(ee-MASS-kyoo-layt)
VERB:
To weaken someone’s strength or power; castrate.
(em-BROYL)
VERB:
To entangle someone in a conflict or situation.
Though Harold was not initially involved in the dispute, Thomas would later EMBROIL him into it in hopes of having someone on his side.
(en-JOYN)
VERB:
To direct someone to do something or to prohibit someone from doing something.
(en-MESH)
VERB:
To embroil someone in a situation from which it is difficult to extricate oneself; entangle.
(EN-mi-tee)
NOUN:
Shared hatred or hostility between two opposing forces or enemies.
(ee-RAD-ih-cayt)
VERB:
To completely eliminate or destroy something; exterminate.
(ih-STREYNJD)
ADJECTIVE:
Alienated or separated.
(ee-VAYD)
VERB:
To avoid or dodge a person or thing, often by deception or trickery; elude.
You may have been able to EVADE your father up to this point by hiding at school, but eventually you will have to go home, where he will surely find you.
If an injury has to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his vengeance need
not be feared.
—N
ICCOLO
M
ACHIAVELLI
(ee-VIS-uh-rayt)
VERB:
To disembowel; to remove a vital part of something.
(ig-ZASS-ur-bayt)
VERB:
To aggravate an already existing problem; worsen.
(eks-kuh-MYOO-nih-kayt)
VERB:
To formally banish or exclude someone from participating in a group.
(ik-SKORE-ee-ayt)
VERB:
To attack a person, thing, or idea harshly; berate.
George was EXCORIATED by the teacher in front of the class for not doing his homework.
(ek-ZEK-ruh-bul)
ADJECTIVE:
Appalling or disgusting.
(EK-splih-tihv)
NOUN:
A profane exclamation or swear word.
(eck-SPLOYT)
VERB:
To use a person or situation for personal gain or profit; to take advantage of a person or situation.
fabricate
(FAB-rih-kayt)
VERB:
To manufacture something, including a story that is not true.
(FAB-yuh-list)
NOUN:
A person who tells outrageous lies.
She was such an incredible FABULIST that eventually no one believed anything she said at all.
(FALL-uh-see)
NOUN:
An erroneous notion; misconception.
(fuh-ROOSH)
ADJECTIVE:
From the French word meaning “belonging outside,”
farouche
is used to describe an unsociable or sullen person; menacing.
(foe PAH)
NOUN:
An embarrassing social error or gaffe.
(fayz)
VERB:
To bother or disturb somebody.
(fuh-LOHN-ee-uss)
ADJECTIVE:
Pertaining to the behavior of a felon; criminal or villainous.
(FER-it)
VERB:
To drive out by force, as if one were using ferrets.
(FER-uhl)
NOUN:
A stick or piece of wood used to punish a child, typically by hitting them on the hand.
The nuns at the school were all equipped with a FERULE, which they would use to punish unruly children.
(FET-urz)
NOUN:
Shackles, handcuffs, or some sort of restraint.
(fee-ASS-koe)
NOUN:
A complete failure or disaster; debacle.
(filch)
VERB:
To steal something, particularly a small amount or something very inexpensive.
(fih-NAY-gul)
VERB:
To manipulate a person or situation—usually with trickery—in order to achieve a goal.
(FLADGE-uh-layt)
VERB:
To whip or flog a person or thing.
(fluh-JISH-us)
ADJECTIVE:
A person or situation that is particularly shameful or wicked; vicious.
No one had ever seen such a FLAGITIOUS little girl; with her violence and language they began to believe she was possessed by a demon.
(FLAY-grunt)
ADJECTIVE:
Something that blatantly goes against typical conduct or standards.
(flayr up)
VERB:
To burn, as a torch; to burst out in sudden, fierce activity or passion.
(FLASH-point)
NOUN:
A place where violence is likely to occur, or has occurred in the past, often as a result of political tensions.
(fleer)
VERB:
To smirk or laugh derisively. As a noun, a scathing look or comment; smirk.
(FLIP-unt)
ADJECTIVE:
Disrespectful or dismissive; glib.
She was so FLIPPANT about her father’s death that we suspected she knew about it before it happened.
(flowt)
VERB:
To break a law; to behave in a contemptible manner.
(foyst)
VERB:
To force an undesirable thing on someone; impose.
(FOOL-har-dee)
ADJECTIVE:
Reckless or rash; making quick decisions but not using good sense.
(FORSS-ih-bul)
ADJECTIVE:
Using aggressive or physical power to attain a goal.
(FOR-mih-duh-bull)
ADJECTIVE:
A person or thing that quickly inspires fear or respect because of its strength and power.
(for-SAYK)
VERB:
To abandon or renounce.
(FRAK-us)
NOUN:
A noisy argument or quarrel; brawl.
By leaving the pub early, you avoided the violent FRACAS that later ensued between two men over one woman.
Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.
—M
ALCOLM
X
(FRAK-shuss)
ADJECTIVE:
Prone to complaining and misbehavior; irritable.
(FRAT-rih-syd)
NOUN:
The act of killing one’s brother.
(fret)
VERB:
To experience worry, annoyance, discontent; to torment; to wear away by gnawing.
(FUL-mih-nayt)
VERB:
To criticize harshly; to explode.
(fyoom)
VERB:
To seethe with extreme anger but not let all of it be known.
(fyoo-NIR-ee-uhl)
ADJECTIVE:
Pertaining to a funeral; mournful or solemn.
(FYOOR-ur)
NOUN:
Intense anger or fury.
I had never witnessed such a FUROR as when he yelled and ran at you with the knife.
(FYOOR-ee)
NOUN:
Unrestrained or violent anger, rage, or passion; violence; vehemence. In classical mythology, the Furies pertain to minor female divinities who punished crimes at the instigation of the victims.
gadfly
(GAD-fly)
NOUN:
Like a fly that attacks livestock, a
gadfly
is a person who constantly torments a person; pest.
(GAYN-say)
VERB:
To declare that something is false; oppose.
(JENN-uh-syd)
NOUN:
The intentional destruction of an entire culture or nation.
(GLOU-ur)
VERB:
To glare at or give someone an annoyed, sullen look; scowl.
It was not unheard of for her to twist her face into a GLOWER when anyone offered helpful advice.
(nash)
VERB:
To grind one’s teeth in anger or frustration.
Dangerous is wrath concealed. Hatred proclaimed doth lose its chance of wreaking vengeance.
—S
ENECA
(gohd)
VERB:
To annoy or provoke someone to take action.
(GRAP-ul)
VERB:
To wrestle with an opponent or difficult situation; tackle.
You have to consider all of the consequences of each option while you GRAPPLE with this decision.
(GRIM-uss)
VERB:
To scowl or show discomfort through one’s facial expression; as a noun, it refers to the frown that one makes while grimacing.
(GRIZ-lee)
ADJECTIVE:
Gruesome or horrific.
(growss)
VERB:
To complain or grumble; moan.
(gruhj)
NOUN:
An ongoing feeling of animosity or ill will.
(gyl)
NOUN:
Cunning or deceit; deviousness.
If not for her GUILE, she would not have been able to persuade her kidnapper to let her leave her imprisonment.
harangue
(huh-RANG)
VERB:
To berate or criticize in a forceful, angry way.
(HAYR-roe-ing)
ADJECTIVE:
Extremely disturbing or upsetting; distressing.
The details of his murder are especially HARROWING; what she did to his body required a great deal of strength and violence.
(HAYR-ee)
VERB:
To harass or bother someone excessively; pester.
(HAYT-ful)
ADJECTIVE:
Full of hate or spite; malevolent.
(HEK-ter)
VERB:
To bully or intimidate someone.
Revenge is sweet
but not nourishing.
—M
ASON
C
OOLEY
(HAY-nuss)
ADJECTIVE:
Wicked or reprehensible; atrocious.
(hiss-tree-ON-ihk)
ADJECTIVE:
Can relate to the dramatic behavior of an actor on stage or, more generally, describe real-life behavior that is overly theatrical or dramatic. It is sometimes used as a noun in the plural form: histrionics.
(HOT-spur)
NOUN:
From Shakespeare’s
Henry IV
, a hotspur is an impetuous person; hothead.
(HUB-ub)
NOUN:
A commotion; an outburst.
With all the HUBBUB coming from the townspeople, it was no time at all before a mob was formed to kill him.
(HYOO-briss)
NOUN:
Hubris
, or excessive pride, was often the fatal flaw of many characters in Greek tragedies; narcissism.
(huff)
NOUN:
An instance or anger or resentment.