noun

What is an auto-da-fe?

Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: auto-da-fé… In the Nov. 16/15 New Yorker I read an interesting article about Vera Nabokov, headlined “Silent Partner” by Judith Thurman. The wife of

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What does “panoply” mean?

Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: panoply. I’ve known for some years that the noun panoply means an impressive array or collection of things. For example, you might have

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What does cynosure mean?

Reading time: Less than 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: cynosure. I’ve been a longtime fan of the writer Julian Barnes. And I think his 2005 novel, Arthur & George, is my favourite.

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What does cynosure mean?

Reading time: Just over 1 minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: cynosure… I’m always thrilled when readers suggest books I can read. About two months ago, Harry Herskovitz recommended to me In the Kingdom of Ice:

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What does celerity mean?

Reading time: Less than one minute Increase your vocabulary and you’ll make your writing much more precise. That’s why I provide a word of the week. Today’s word: celerity… While on holiday last weekend I was reading a novel that I’d describe as chic lit meets the Da Vinci Code. Not

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