Dictionary of troublesome word. Bill Bryson. 2013.
exigent, exiguous — The first means urgent and pressing or exacting and demanding; the second means scanty and slender. But both have a number of synonyms that may spare the reader a trip to the dictionary … Dictionary of troublesome word
exiguous — exigent, exiguous Neither word is common in ordinary usage and both are marked ‘formal’ in the COD (2006). Both are related to Latin exigere in its two meanings ‘to enforce payment of’ and ‘to weigh exactly’. Exigent corresponds to the first of… … Modern English usage
exigent — exigent, exiguous Neither word is common in ordinary usage and both are marked ‘formal’ in the COD (2006). Both are related to Latin exigere in its two meanings ‘to enforce payment of’ and ‘to weigh exactly’. Exigent corresponds to the first of… … Modern English usage
exigent — , exiguous The first means urgent and pressing or exacting and demanding; the second means scanty and slender. But both have a number of synonyms that may spare the reader a trip to the dictionary … Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors
exiguous — exiguity /ek si gyooh i tee/, exiguousness, n. exiguously, adv. /ig zig yooh euhs, ik sig /, adj. scanty; meager; small; slender: exiguous income. [1645 55; < L exiguus scanty in measure or number, small, equiv. to exig(ere) (see EXIGENT) + uus… … Universalium
exiguous — ex•ig•u•ous [[t]ɪgˈzɪg yu əs, ɪkˈsɪg [/t]] adj. scanty; meager; small • Etymology: 1645–55; < L exiguus, der. of exigere (see exigent) … From formal English to slang
Spartan — Synonyms and related words: Apostolic, Encratic, Laconian, Lenten, Pythagorean, Rechabite, Shaker, Spartanic, Stoic, abbreviated, abridged, abstemious, abstinent, accepting, aposiopestic, armed with patience, ascetic, astringent, austere,… … Moby Thesaurus
austere — Synonyms and related words: Albigensian, Catharist, Franciscan, Lenten, Sabbatarian, Spartan, Spartanic, Trappist, Waldensian, abstemious, abstinent, amaroidal, anchoritic, ascetic, astringent, authoritarian, bald, bare, basic, biting, bitter,… … Moby Thesaurus
narrow — Synonyms and related words: Lenten, Quakerish, Spartan, Victorian, abate, abbreviate, abstemious, accented, accurate, adjust to, alter, alveolar, angustifoliate, angustirostrate, angustisellate, angustiseptal, apical, apico alveolar, apico dental … Moby Thesaurus
agent — [15] Latin agere, a verb of great semantic breadth (‘drive, lead, act, do’), has been a prolific source of English words. Its past participle, āctus, produced act, action, active, actor, actual, cachet, and exact, while other parts of its… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
