{"id":67,"date":"2021-01-29T21:00:06","date_gmt":"2021-01-30T02:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordofweek.com\/?p=67"},"modified":"2021-01-29T21:01:38","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T02:01:38","slug":"word-of-the-week-42-obsequious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/?p=67","title":{"rendered":"W<\/strong>ORD OF THE <\/strong>W<\/strong>EEK <\/strong>#42 – obsequious<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

obsequious <\/strong><\/a>\u2013 <\/strong>adjective \u2013 <\/strong>ob SEEK we us.\u00a0 Also as an adverb \u201cobsequiously” or noun \u201cobsequiousness\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is another word that can be very useful\u2026perhaps making you appear smarter than you actually are\u2026.without sounding pretentious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is defined as exhibiting fawning attentiveness, exaggerated deference of manner. Obedient or attentive to an excessive or to a servile degree, such as “Waiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.”<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word appears to me to be a shorter and more intelligent way of saying \u201ckissing someone\u2019s ass\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent example from the NYT \u2013 \u201cGiuliani attempts to reassure the girl, who responds with obsequious<\/strong> flattery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about this word and to hear it pronounced correctly visit this site:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/obsequious<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A previous Word of the Week revisited:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

force majeure’<\/strong> –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/force%20majeure<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quote of the Week:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a recent visit with my grandsons, Kyle asked me what in my life I am most proud of.   I was stumped and, like a dunce, I couldn\u2019t come up with anything.  Later, after thinking on this, I remembered what Snoopy of Peanuts fame said when asked the same question.  His response\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never kissed a cat.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humorous\u2026.yes, but somehow I think there is some wisdom in that short sentence.  Perhaps this week\u2019s Word of the Week comes to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Until next Saturday,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gramps<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty two weeks of great words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 –   exacerbate – to make worse “Your input just exacerbates an already difficult situation.”
2 –   assuage – to make a situation or feeling less intense. As written by A. Lincoln “I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage you of the anguish of your grief.”
<\/a>3 –   force majeure’ –  unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. “The tenant will not be required to pay rent due to the force majeure’ clause.
4 –   sanguine – optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. “I’m trying to be sanguine about this, but I see a major roadblock”
5 –   segue – (seg way) proceed to what follows without pause.  “She has the skill to easily segue from political conversations into subjects less controversial.”
6 –   bifurcate – to cause to divide into two branches or parts. “We have decided to bifurcate this large project.”
7 –   indolent –  <\/strong>habitually lazy – “His failure in life may stem from his indolent ways as a youth”.
8 –   ameliorate – to make better or more tolerable –  “this drug should ameliorate your pain”
9 –   truncate – to shorten by or as if by cutting off – “A truncated version of this report is on the web.”
10 – nascent – coming or having recently come into existence  “His nascent idea for a business turned into a goldmine”
11 – b\u00e9chamel – a rich white sauce – “He made a lump-free b\u00e9chamel for her, and, in return, she gave him her love.”
12 – anarchy –  absence of government – “The revolution began when anarchy took root in just one city”.
13 – rhetorical question – a question not intended to require an answer. “Is this a beautiful day or what?”
14 – milieu – the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops.- “His discipline is a result of growing up as part of the military milieu”
15 – nadir – the lowest point – “The stock market reached its current nadir in March”
16 – black swan event – comes as a surprise and has a major effect. “This pandemic is considered by many to be a black swan event.”
17 – myopic – narrow in perspective and without concern for broader implications.  “Your myopic view of this project is disturbing”.
18 – quixotic –  <\/strong>foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals – “His quixotic pursuit for her affection was quite simply foolish.”
19 – prescience – human anticipation of the course of events – foresight.  “His intuitive prescience helped to make him a success”
20 – laconic and laconic riposte – use of a minimum of words, and a short clever response to an insult or challenge.  In response to a demand to immediately surrender he sent back the following: “Nuts”.
21 – protean – ability to change, versatile.  “The coronavirus is protean in its ability to either make you sick or not.”
22 – ephemeral – lasting a very short time or perhaps only one day. “Custer was chasing an ephemeral Indian city.”
23 – catch-22 – a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.  From the novel “Catch-22”.
24 – arrogate – to take or claim something without justification. “In order to accomplish his dream he arrogated to himself controversial powers”.
25 – obtuse – difficult to understand, lacking intellect.  “The responses to his remarks this week were even more obtuse.” 
26 – purloin – to appropriate wrongfully (steal), often pertaining to a theft that is a breach of trust.  “When she opened her new office she purloined one of my listings”.
27 – salience – the quality of being particularly noticeable or important.  “It is not clear that raising the electoral salience of the Supreme Court will work to the president\u2019s advantage.
28 – confabulate – to talk normally or to hold a discussion.  “He likes to confabulate.”
29 – animus – a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will. \u201cI have no animus or agenda for the Affordable Care Act.\u201d
30 \u2013 puerile – to act or communicate in a juvenile, silly or childish manner. \u201cHis puerile ways are giving a poor impression at his job interviews\u201d.
31 \u2013 regnant – having the greatest influence – \u201cThe regnant belief\u201d.
32 \u2013 roil \u2013 to be agitated or chaotic \u2013 \u201cthe politics of slavery was roiling the United States\u201d.
33 \u2013 sonder – The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
34 \u2013 inculcate – To instill or teach someone an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. \u201cThey will try to inculcate you with a respect for culture.\u201d
35 \u2013 mendacity \u2013 untruthfulness, lying. \u201cHe blew the whistle on the mendacity of the politician.\u201d
36 \u2013 pejorative \u2013 Expressing contempt or disapproval.  Having negative connotations.   \u201cPermissiveness is often used a pejorative term\u201d.
37 \u2013 dystopian \u2013 A world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized fearful lives, often associated with a totalitarian government or an environmentally degraded world. \u201cThe dystopian future of a society bereft of reason\u201d.
38 \u2013 Occam\u2019s razor \u2013 The simplest answer may be the preferred answer.
39 \u2013 execrate or execrable \u2013 very bad \u2013 \u201cThe execrable hotel food.\u201d
40 \u2013 immutable \u2013 unchangeable \u2013 Do not make the mistake of assuming that public opinion is immutable.   
41 \u2013 prurient – having or encouraging an excessive or unwholesome interest in matters of sex. 
 \u201cShe\u2019d been the subject of much prurient <\/em><\/strong>curiosity\u201d.
42 \u2013 obsequious – exhibiting fawning attentiveness. Exaggerated deference of manner.  \u201cWaiters who are obsequious in the presence of celebrities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

obsequious \u2013 adjective \u2013 ob SEEK we us.\u00a0 Also as an adverb \u201cobsequiously” or noun \u201cobsequiousness\u201d. Here is another word that can be very useful\u2026perhaps making you appear smarter than you actually are\u2026.without sounding pretentious. It is defined as exhibiting fawning attentiveness, exaggerated deference of manner. Obedient or attentive to an excessive or to a … Continue reading W<\/strong>ORD OF THE <\/strong>W<\/strong>EEK <\/strong>#42 – obsequious<\/strong><\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordofweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}