Creative Tutors of Wake County, North Carolina
Category: Word of the Day
Feb 07 | premonition (noun)
Def: strong feeling that something, usually bad, is about to happen
His premonition that the earthquake would happen was nothing more than a lucky hunch.
Origin: Latin “praemonere”meaning “before warn”
Synonyms: foreboding, presentiment, intuition, hunch, suspicion, apprehension, fear, presage
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Feb 03 | statuesque (adj.)
Def: attractively tall and dignified
The tall ballerina played the role of the statuesque queen.
Origin: late 18th century from “statue”
Synonyms: imposing, striking, stately, majestic, noble, magnificent, splendid, impressive, regal
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Feb 01 | plenary (adj.)
Def: absolute; a meeting to be attended by all
During the Middle Ages, the Pope gave crusaders plenary indulgences, which were said to absolve them of all their sins.
Origin: Latin “plenus” meaning “full”
Synonyms: unconditional, unlimited, unrestricted, sweeping, comprehensive, full, complete, entire
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Jan 26 | minion (noun)
Def: an unimportant follower of a powerful person
He quit his job as he felt like a minion and knew he was destined to be no one’s servant.
Origin: French “mignon, mignonne”
Synonyms: underling, henchman, lackey, follower, servant, vassal, toady, sycophant
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Jan 25 | absence (noun)
Def: The state of being away form a place or person
His absence during the meeting was noted by his boss.
Origin: Latin “absentia” meaning “to be away from”
Synonyms: nonattendance, nonappearance, absenteeism, truancy, sabbatical, unavailability, deficiency, lack, dearth
Antonyms: presence
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Jan 23 | eccentric (adj)
Def: unconventional and a little strange
My eccentric aunt wears galoshes every day and has a tiger for a pet.
Origin: Greek “ekkentros” meaning “out of center”
Synonyms: unconventional, uncommon, abnormal, irregular, aberrant, odd, strange, peculiar, weird, bizarre, idiosyncratic, quirky
Antonyms: conventional
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Jan 19 | whimsical (adj)
Def: playfully quaint, fanciful, acting in a capricious manner
She turned her whimsical idea of having a tea party on the moon into a best selling children’s book.
Synonyms: fanciful, playful, mischievous, quaint, curious, droll, eccentric, capricious, erratic
Antonyms: boring
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Jan 18 | potent (adj)
Def: having great power or influence
The potent drug caused her to sleep for 12 hours straight.
Origin: Latin “potent-” meaning “being powerful
Synonyms: powerful, strong, mighty, formidable, forceful, cogent, strong, effective
Antonyms: weak
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Jan 15 | enervate (verb)
Def: to cause someone to feel drained of energy, to weaken
The overly active child enervated his mom.
Origin: Latin “enervare” meaning “weakened by extraction of the sinews”
Synonyms: exhaust, tire, fatigue, weary, devitalize, drain, sap, enfeeble, debilitate, incapacitate
Antonyms: invigorate
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Jan 14 | mendacious (adj)
Def: not telling the truth, lying
The mendacious propaganda was misleading and caused a riot to occur.
Origin: Latin “mendax, mendac-” meaning “lying”
Synonyms: lying, untruthful, dishonest, deceitful, false, fictitious, fabricated
Antonyms: truthful
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Nov 17 | relinquish (verb)
Def: to voluntarily give up, cease to keep or claim
Upon resigning, he relinquished control of the company.
Origin: Latin “relinquere” meaning “to leave”
Synonyms: renounce, leave, discontinue, stop, cease, release, loose, relax
Antonyms: retain, keep, continue
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Oct 26 | outcry (noun)
Def: a loud cry, exclamation or clamor.
The public outcry over the 911 bombing of the Twin Towers caused many security changes in the USA.
Synonyms: shout, exclamation, cry, yell, howl, roar, scream, protest, complaints, objections, furor, fuss, uproar, outbursts, dissent
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Meet Kim Ashby | Owner
Kim Ashby earned a BS in Nursing from The Catholic University of America and, when she worked outside the home, was a Certified Emergency Nurse with a special interest in trauma nursing. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband and three sons. The Ashbys have home schooled their children since 1999. They graduated their oldest son in May 2007. He is attending UNC Wilmington. Kim continues to home school her younger boys. Her oldest son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in the public school system in the second grade. Her second son has cerebral palsy which has resulted in multiple/global developmental delays. Her youngest son has undiagnosed, mild auditory processing issues.
Kim has co-instructed graduate level courses at UNC Chapel Hill for ST/OT students and Early Intervention students. She is the founder and President of the Board of Directors of GIFTSNC, Inc., a home schooling special needs support group. Kim has presented workshops at a variety of state home school conferences as well as local support group parent meetings and is often a guest speaker at homeschool conferences and is found on many guest speaker lists including Balancing the Sword. She is a Steering Committee member and former Treasurer for Dayspring Home Educators in Cary, NC. She served on the Board of Directors for the Family Support Network of Wake County. She holds a North Carolina Wildlife Permit for Small Mammal Rehabilitation and enjoys working with orphaned and injured wildlife.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." Mark Twain