commensurate

commensurate (adj.) corresponding in size or amount

Google's love for going on walks is commensurate with his love for eating toothpaste (and just about anything else).

quotidian

adj.

commonplace
everyday
daily

fractious

readily angered, irritable, quarrelsome, refractory or unruly

bumptious

adj.

offensively self-assertive (a bumptious young upstart)

compunction

n.

uneasiness or hesitation caused by conscience or regret

improvident

adj.

not providing for the future, not provident, lacking foresight

rash, incautious, imprudent, unwary

shiftless, thriftless, wasteful, prodigal

fulsome

adj.

excessive, overdone, gross

repulsive, sickening (fulsome mounds of greasy foods)

excessively or insincerely lavish (fulsome admiration)

comprehensive (fulsome survey of the situation in Central America)

abundant or copious

noisome

adj.

offensive or disgusting (odor)

harmful to health, noxious

insular

adj.

detached, alone, isolated

narrow-minded or illiberal, provincial

pertaining to an island

n.

an islander

diffident

adj.

lacking confidence

timid, shy

restrained or reserved in manner

attenuate

v.

to weaken, or reduce in force, effect, quantity, value (to attenuate desire)

to make thin

to render less virulent

to become thin, fine, lessen

adj.

weakened

diminishing

glen

n.

small, secluded valley

"Fair Ravenclaw, from glen"

carom

v.

to collide and rebound, to glance off

n.

a collision followed by a rebound

a type of shot in billiards, short for carambola (Spanish)

Google caromed off the wall and into the air.

lionize

v.

to look on or treat (a person) as a celebrity

Google is lionized in the land of googles.

to define

diatribe

indefatigable

attenuate

attenuable

panegyric

diffident

brassy

torpor

gratis

geometrician

viscous

insular

tare

noisome

sedulous

careless

dispatch

gossamer

divestiture

concord

breach

solder

aver

broach

factional

improvidence

compunction

agronomy

judiciousness

artic

bumptious

fulsome

cronyism

bucolic

phylogeny

guileless

sybarite

seminal

operative

restiveness

gerrymandering

callow

venal

zaftig

lacuna

depravity

auger

allay

potentate

jury

coven

blackguard

octane

rampart

carom

cosmonaut

colossus

rout

calumny

aspersions

approbation

last

encomium vs. eulogy

encomium

n.

warm glowing praise

a formal expression of praise, a tribute

encomiums or encomia (plural), encomiast

eulogy

n.

high praise or commendation

a laudatory speech or written tribute, esp. for one who has died

eulogist, eulogize

impanel

v.

to select from a list or panel (to impanel a jury)

to enroll/enter (a jury, names) on a list or panel

also empanel

turpitude vs. torpid vs. torrid

turpitude

n.

depravity, baseness

a vile, base act

"the various turpitudes of modern society"

torpid

adj.

slow, lethargic

apathetic

dormant, hibernating

deprived of the power of motion or feeling, benumbed

torpidity

torrid

adj.

intensely hot, scorching, burning (the torrid noonday sun)

passionate, ardent (torrid love scene)

hurried, rapid (torrid economic growth)

decry vs. descry

decry

v.

to condemn openly

similar: disparage, derogate, depreciate, belittle, downgrade

descry

v.

to scry (short for descry!)

to catch sight of (something difficult to discern)

to detect, discover by careful observation or scrutiny

similar: scry

quizzical

adj.

puzzled, questioning

teasing, mocking

eccentric, odd

Google had a quizzical expression as he chewed quickly on my watch.

laggard

n.

one that lags

straggler

adj.

falling behind, straggling, hanging back

Google became laggard toward the end of our walk.

Google's laggard pace annoyed me.

laggardly, laggardness

credible vs. credulous

credible

adj.

plausible

credulous

adj.

gullible

too readily believing

impecunious

adj.

poor

penniless, having little or no money

After the prodigal Google spent all his money, he impecuniously returned home.

similar: indigent, impoverished

impecuniously, impecuniousness, impecuniousity

shoal

n.

a shallow place in a body of water

a sandbank, esp. one exposed at low tide and a hazard to navigation

a school of fish

a large group, a throng

adj.

shallow

v.

to become shallow (There the river shoals suddenly from eight to two fathoms)

to make shallow (The harbor was shoaled in the storm)

to throng, gather in large numbers

A shoal of Googles swam through the sea.

similar: riffle, shallow, reef

shoaled, shoaling

synod

n.

a council

a council of church officials or churches, an ecclesiastical council

Google cannot join the Presbyterian synod.

atelier

n.

a workshop, studio esp. of an artist or designer

fret

v.

to worry, irritate (Dobby fretted constantly about Harry Potter's safety)

to corrode, eat away at something (acids fretted away the metal) (the ocean fretted away the shores)

to agitate (water fretted over the stones in the brook)

to decorate a surface with fret or fretwork

n.

an irritated state of mind

erosion, corrosion, gnawing

a worn or eroded place

a ridge on the fingerboard of a guitar

an interlaced design, fretwork

Dobby fret a piece of wood with complicated fretwork to make a picture frame for his best friend, Harry Potter.

brook

v.

to put up with, tolerate

Sarah refused to further brook Google's miscreant behavior. She beat him with a stick.

circumspect

adj.

watchful and discreet, cautious, prudent (circumspect behavior)

thoroughly considered (circumspect ambition)

Google crept around the yard circumspectly after Sarah beat him with a stick.

similar: vigilant, careful, guarded, wary, chary, observant

lugubrious

adj.

mournful, gloomy, esp. in an exaggerated manner

Despite the fact that he did not know how to use a mirror, after his neck was shaved, Google moped around the house with a lugubrious expression.

similar: doleful, dour, woebegone

dissimilar: happy

felicitous

adj.

apt or agreeable, well-suited to the occasion

marked by happiness and good fortune

Dumbledore had a knack for making felicitous remarks at the opening and close of every term.

similar: apt, fitting, proper, delightful

prolix

adj.

long and wordy

"a prolix writer"

"a prolix manuscript"

"a prolix lecturer"

similar: verbose, wordy

dissimilar: terse, telegraphic, concise

truculent

adj.

fierce, cruel, savagely brutal

brutally harsh, vitriolic (truculent criticism of her work)

aggressively hostile, belligerent, pugnacious

Google became absolutely truculent when denied his evening walk.

Gentle Google could not appease the pugnacious pug.

similar: pugnacious, vituperative, bullying

dissimilar: pacificist

trenchant

adj.

incisive, keen, caustic, cutting (words or a person: trenchant criticism)

vigorous, effective, energetic

sharply defined, distinct

Google is known for his sharp teeth, not his trenchant wit.

similar: acerbic, caustic, scathing, mordant, probing, truculent, biting, vitriolic

philistine

n.

one lacking in culture

adj.

smugly commonplace or conventional

lacking in or hostile to culture and intellect

Harry Potter despised living with his philistine relatives at 4 Privet Drive every summer.

similar: boor, barbarian, uncouth, Google

vantage

n.

advantage or superiority (the vantage of wisdom that comes with age)

a position, place, or condition affording some advantage or commanding view

a vantage point, vantage ground

in lawn tennis, they shout "vantage in" and "vantage out" instead of "ad in" and "ad out"

Google found a vantage point behind the fence where he could spy on the dog next door.

recreant

adj.

cowardly, craven

unfaithful, disloyal, treacherous

n.

coward

renegade, apostate, traitor

Sarah thought Google a recreant after he broke free from his leash and ran away a fourth time.

similar: dastardly, pusillanimous, yellow, faithless, untrue

dissimilar: brave, loyal, hero

recreance, recreancy

craven

n.

a coward

adj.

contemptibly cowardly

Google whines cravenly whenever he passes another dog on the sidewalk.

similar: timid, pusillanimous, timorous

dissimilar: brave, bold

cravenly, cravenness

shtetl

n.

"little town" (Yiddish)

a small-town community or Jewish village in Eastern Europe

Imagine a shtetl of Googles.

shtetlach (plural)

untrammeled

adj.

not limited or restricted

unrestrained

At night, Google dreamed of leaping untrammeled through strawberry fields.

Google showed an untrammeled appetite for all things edible.

dissimilar: fettered, hobbled, chained

apostate

n.

a person who forsakes/betrays/deserts his religion, party, or cause

After Google voted for McCain in the 2008 presidential elections,  Sarah denounced him as an apostate.

So spake the apostate angel -- Milton

A wretched and apostate state -- Steele

similar: renegade, deserter, turncoat, heretic, dissident

apostasy

temerity

n.

reckless boldness, rashness

Google had the temerity to ask for a treat after eating Sarah's watch. She beat him with a stick.

similar: audacity, effrontery, foolhardiness

blithe

adj.

joyous, merry, gay

thoughtless, carefree, heedless

Everyone loved Google for his blithe spirit.

Sarah hated Google for his blithe indifference to her feelings.

similar: bonny, gay, debonair, lighthearted

insouciant

adj.

carefree, nonchalant, marked by blithe unconcern

After digging through the trash and urinating on the wall, Google walked through the house with an air of maddening insouciance.

similar: lighthearted, unconcerned, heedless, indifferent

insouciance

querulous

adj.

full of complaints, complaining, peevish

Having been shut out of the house all day, Google whined querulously when he saw Kimberly had finally come home.

similar: complaining, petulant, quermonious, whiny

dissimilar: amiable, affable

querulousness, querulously

zenith

n.

the highest point or state

the culmination or climax

the point on the sky directly over the observer

the upper region of the sky

At three years of age, at the zenith of his youth, Google was cruelly beaten to death by his owner.

similar: apex, apogee, summit, peak, pinnacle, height, acme, meridian

dissimilar: nadir

renege

pronounced reh-NEGG

v.

to go back on a promise, contract, oath or obligation

Google reneged on his promise to stop stealing.

Google reneged on his promise to stop pooping in the yard.

dissimilar: to fulfill a promise

reneging, reneger

restive

adj.

impatient of control, delay, restraint

restless, uneasy

refractory, stubborn

refusing to go forward, balky (a restive horse)

After a long day in the house, Google became absolutely restive at night, pulling at his leash and leaping in and out of the shrubbery.

similar: nervous, unquiet, recalcitrant, disobedient, intractable, obstinate

dissimilar: docile, obedient, tractable patient, quiet

restiveness

nice

adj.
pleasing, delightful, agreeable
with great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care or delicacy (nice workmanship, nice shot, nice handling of a crisis)
refined in manners
minutely accurate (a task that requires nice measurements)
virtuous, respectable, decorous
suitable, proper
dainty, delicate

Google handles his chewing bones very nicely.
Though Google carried his hedgehog around the house very nicely, Sarah found him insufficiently nice to be of any use.

dissimilar: imprecise

scad

n.
a great quantity of
(also, a type of fish)

Google suspected that Sarah was hiding a scad of freshly baked bread in her room.
Google became extremely excited when he found a scad of scads in the backyard.

similar: a heap, a ton, a pile, a gazillion

dissimilar: a dearth, a lack

redoubtable

adj.
to be feared, formidable
commanding or evoking respect, honor, reverence, or fear

Google found that when she held a hose, Sarah was a redoubtable figure.
Google has a redoubtable pedigree.

similar: awesome, formidable, eminent

dissimilar: unimposing

enervate vs. innervate

enervate

v.
to weaken
to deprive of force or strength

similar: enfeeble, debilitate, sap, exhaust

dissimilar: invigorate, innervate

enervation, enervative, enervator

innervate

v.

to stimulate (a muscle or body part) to action

to supply with nerves

Dumbledore lay dead on the parapet. Harry Potter shouted desperately, "Innervate!"

(but the book spells it ennervate)

stilted

adj.
stiffly dignified, formal
pompous
resting on stilts

Wanting to demonstrate his natural superiority, Google turned away from Elvis in a stilted manner.

similar: wooden, stuffy, constrained

dissimilar: informal

stiltedly, stiltedness

aggrandize

v.
to increase the scope of, extend
to make greater in power, influence, wealth, stature or reputation
to make appear greater, exaggerate

On our walks, Google seeks only to aggrandize his territory.

dissimilar: belittle

aggrandizement

apotheosis

n.
the perfect example, epitome, quintessence
deification, elevation to divine status

Google is the apotheosis of a silly dog.

similar: aggrandizement, exaltation

dissimilar: demotion from glory

chary

adj.
cautious
shy, timid
hesitant about dangers and risks
fastidious, choosy
slow to grant, accept, or expend; sparing, frugal (a person chary of compliments)

Google is never chary of slobbery kisses.
He was chary of investing in a new harness for Google.
Sarah is chary of praises for Google.

similar words: cautious, hesitant, wary

dissimilar words: confident, lavish, trustful, brash, bold

chariness, charily, charier, chariest

abscond

abscond v. to depart secretly

Google absconded out the garage door after taking Sarah's loaf of bread.

similar words: absquatulate, bolt, decamp, elope, escape, flee, fly, run, scram, skip, split, vanish

abrogate

abrogate v. to abolish

Abraham Lincoln abrogated slavery.

similar words: cancel, revoke, rescind, nullify, void, invalidate

dissimilar words: ratify, establish; preserve

abeyance

abeyance n. suspended action

The test was held in abeyance because the teacher was not teaching according to schedule.

similar words: dormancy, suspension, intermission, quiescence, latency, respite, pause

dissimilar words: continuance

esoteric

esoteric adj. hard to understand; known only to the chosen few

The fact that Google's favorite food is bread is quite esoteric to those outside of his immediate family.

similar words: abstruse, arcane, confidential, enigmatic, mysterious, mystic, obscure, occult, private, recondite, secret

dissimilar words: common, exoteric, familiar, known, obvious, public, unmysterious

emancipated

empancipated minor
emancipation declaration

ennui

ennui n. boredom.

After tasting the scrumptious loaf of bread that Sarah had accidentally left on the bottom shelf, the necessity for Google to wait for his masters to finish their dinners every evening stirred a sense of ennui within him.

To relieve his growing ennui, Google began to poop on the lawn.

similar words: lethargy, tedium, disinterest, dullness, apathy, jaded, lassitude, listlessness
dissimilar words: interesting, excited