contumely

con•tu•me•ly (KON-too-muh-lee)  n

Definition:
1. insulting display of contempt in words or actions; contemptuous or humiliating treatment
2. a humiliating insult; an insolent or arrogant remark or act


contumeliousness noun; contumelious adjective; contumeliously adverb

Origin:
1350–1400; from O.Fr. contumelie, from L. contumelia "a reproach, insult," probably related to contumax "haughty, stubborn," from com-, intensive prefix, + tumere "to swell up"

Related:
Synonyms: abuse, arrogance, contempt, disdain, insolence, insult, scorn
Related Words: from tumere: tumid, tuber, tumulus, tumult, tumor

Sentence Examples:
• Mr. John Bailey, in a volume of essays entitled 'The Claims of French Poetry,' discussed the qualities of Racine at some length, placed him, not without contumely, among the second rank of writers, and drew the conclusion that, though indeed the merits of French poetry are many and great, it is not among the pages of Racine that they are to be found. -Books and Characters, Lytton Strachey

• When M. Zola first championed Manet and his disciples he was only twenty-six years old, yet he did not hesitate to pit himself against men who were regarded as the most eminent painters and critics of France; and although (even as in the Dreyfus case) the only immediate result of his campaign was to bring him hatred and contumely, time, which always has its revenges, has long since shown how right he was in forecasting the ultimate victory of Manet and his principal methods. -His Masterpiece, Emile Zola

• They were fined in Massachusetts and Connecticut for resistance to oppressive ecclesiastical laws, they were imprisoned in Virginia, and throughout the land were subjected to contumely and reproach. This dislike to the Baptists as a sect, or rather to their principles, was very naturally shared by the higher institutions of learning then in existence. -The New England Magazine, 1886

The Storyline
Interpreting Anna's forbearance as contumely, the man muttered a curse under his breath.

Sources: Dictionary.com, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

vatic

vat•ic (VAT-ik)  adj

Definition:
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a prophet; prophetic, oracular

vatication noun; vatical adjective; vaticate verb

Origin:
1603; from L. vates "seer" + -ic

Related:
Synonyms: delphian, apocalyptic, augural, divinatory, divinitory, fatidic, fatidical, foreshadowing, mantic, occult, oracular, predictive, presaging, prescient, prognostic, prophetical, pythonic, sibylline, vatical, vaticinal, veiled, visionary


Sentence Examples:
• It is plain, then, that, writing in the year 1800, Wordsworth believed that a kind of modified and sublimated didactic poetry would come into vogue in the course of the nineteenth century. He stood on the threshold of a new age, and he cast his vatic gaze across it much in the same spirit as we are trying to do to-day. -The Future of English Poetry, Edmund Gosse
• His vatic eloquence carries no conviction. Men and women of the younger generation, whatever their views, find no support in him, because he appeals to axioms and postulates which to them seem unreal. -Pot-Boilers, Clive Bell
• The ex-Minister opened the door and looked out into the outer room, then, assured that no one was listening, he resumed his former seat, crossed his legs, and meditatively beat his knee. In his face was an expression which a psychologist would have admired, a commingling of the vatic and the amused, accentuated by sarcasm. -Eden, Edgar Saltus

The Storyline
And then the man on the sidewalk said something which will prove to be vatic, "Your possessions will be your undoing."


Sources: Dictionary.com

Word-E: A Word-A-Day

imprecation

im•pre•ca•tion (im-pri-KEY-shuhn)  n

Definition:
1. a curse; malediction; a prayer that a curse or calamity may befall someone
2. the act of cursing, invoking evil upon any one


imprecated past participle; imprecated past tense; imprecating present participle; imprecates 3rd person singular present; imprecate verb; imprecatory adjective; imprecatorily adverb

Origin:
1575–85; from L. imprecationem (nom. imprecatio), from imprecatus, pp. of imprecari "invoke, pray," from in- "within" + precari "to pray, ask, beg, request"

Related:
Synonyms: curse, malediction
Related Words: deprecation (from de- "away" + precari "pray"); prayer (from precari "pray")

Sentence Examples:
• Not since the labour of men’s hands began have they ceased to furrow it with menace and sow it with imprecation, cursing while their very corn ripens under midsummer skies, cursing as they gather in their store of wine and victual. -A Cursory History of Swearing, Julian Sharman

• The young man called Bertie dashed forward, and barely succeeded in snatching the child from under the wheel. A scramble of horses' feet, an imprecation or two shouted by the irritated driver, a noisy declaration from the "fare" that he should lose his train, and the scuffle was over. -A Crooked Path, Mrs. Alexander

• An implacable melancholy, a ghastly fatality, overshadows the artist's work. It resembles a bitter imprecation upon the fate of mankind. -The Devil's Pool, George Sand

The Storyline
But she forgave his imprecations with a gentler prayer of her own.


Sources: Dictionary.com, Wordnik, Online Etymology

Word-E: A Word-A-Day