
Description of philanthropy (noun) charity; unselfishness; goodwill toward mankind
Samples of philanthropy After years of donating time and money to the children's hospital, Mrs. Elderwood was commended for her philanthropy.
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Description of permeable (adjective) porous; allowing to pass through; penetrable
Samples of permeable Because the material was permeable, the water was able to drain.
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Description of besmirch (verb) to dirty; to stain; to sully; to soil
Samples of besmirch The soot from the chimney will besmirch clean curtains.
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Description of sojourn (verb) to stay temporarily
Samples of sojourn The family will sojourn at their summer home. The guest remained only for a sojourn; she was going to leave in the afternoon.
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Description of jeering (adjective) abusing vocally; expressing contempt or ridicule; professional vocabulary
Samples of jeering The difference between trying to disperse a jeering group of tracksuited teenagers and a jeering group of hairy teenagers and twentysomethings isn't how tough it is to get them to break up.
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Description of impale (verb) to pierce through with; to stick on; to pin down; to stab
Samples of impale The knight was impaled by the sharp lance.
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Description of lament (noun) expression of grief or sorrow; complaint; wailing; mourning
Samples of lament Pedro's only lament was that his wife didn't outlive him.
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Description of heretic (noun) person who holds opinion contrary to that which is generally accepted
Samples of heretic Because he believed the world was round, many people considered Columbus to be a heretic.
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Description of wrest (verb) to pull; to force away by a violent twisting; to kink
Samples of wrest The warriors wrest the power from the king.
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Description of neologism (noun) giving a new meaning to an old word; new expression
Samples of neologism Bad is a neologism for good.
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