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Pronunciation:
/ há lssee'n /
Entry Note:
adj.n.(pl. halcyons)
Explanation:
1. adj.(literary) tranquil and free from disturbance or care
2. n. mythological bird: in Greek mythology, a bird resembling the kingfisher, believed to have had the power to calm the waves at the time of the winter solstice when it nested at sea
3. n.Same as kingfisher
Conjugations:
Examples of Usage:
After a nuclear blast, one bureaucrat suggested in those halcyon days, about all you had to do was haul out the broom and sweep off your sidewalks and roof.
He looks forward to the halcyon days of retirement as a reward for the years of toil he has invested in his pupils.
Writer, TV commentator, political gadfly and independent Legislator Li Ao claimed yesterday that today's China is in its halcyon days that have not been seen since the Han (206 BC-AD 220) and Tang dynasties (AD 618-907).
Taipei Times, September 24, 2005.
Epistemology:
14th century. Via Latin < Greek, (h)alkuōn, mythical bird
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Pronunciation:
/ hyoo rístik /
Entry Note:
adj.; heuristics n.; heuristically adj.
Explanation:
1.adj. enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves. 2. Computing proceeding to a solution by trial and error or by rules that are only loosely defined.
n. 1. (heuristics) usu. treated as sing. the study and use of heuristic techniques. 2. a heuristic process or method.
Conjugations:
Examples of Usage:
Ms Tan believes in a heuristic approach to language teaching where learners are encouraged to explore and discover the language rules on their own.
Epistemology:
From Greek heuriskein,‘to find’
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Pronunciation:
/inSOOci'nt/
Entry Note:
adj.; insouciance n.; insouciantly adv.Related words - lighthearted, debonair, jaunty, breezy
Explanation:
1. casually unconcerned
2. without worry or guilt
3. lack of anxiety
Conjugations:
Examples of Usage:
Teenagers' insouciant attitude is often understandably misunderstood to be a sign of lack of interest and responsiblity.
As he rode past the tavern he tried to impress the damsels by looking insouciant on the horse.
Epistemology:
from French, in- ‘not’ + souciant prp. of soucier to worry; Latin, sollicītāre, for Latin, sollicitāre to disturb;
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Pronunciation:
/ lu-'gü-bri-er-s /
Entry Note:
adj.; lugubriously adv.; lugubriousness n.
Explanation:
gloomy; extremely mournful; sad or gloomy; dismal
Conjugations:
Examples of Usage:
The tragic love story is set against an appropriately lugubrious landscape.
The lugubrious alternatives to fun and games are imposed on the residents, who have no choice but to accept them stoically.
Epistemology:
Latin lugubris, from lug're to mourn; as in Greek lygros mournful
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