urbane \ur-BAYN\ (adjective) - Polished and smooth in manner; polite, refined, and elegant.

"Taylor comes across as an intelligent man, suave and urbane, articulate and smooth as butter." -- Bill Berkeley, 'The Graves Are...Read More

loquacious \loh-KWAY-shuhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Very talkative. 2 : Full of excessive talk; wordy.

"The Frenchman fought him back valiantly that night, with that over- loquacious, over-adrenalized valor which the French are...Read More

effulgence \i-FUL-juhn(t)s\ (noun) - The state of being bright and radiant; splendor; brilliance.

"The setting sun as usual shed a melancholy effulgence on the ruddy towers of the Alhambra." -- Washington Irving, 'The ...Read More

puerile \PYOO-uhr-uhl; PYOOR-uhl\ (adjective) - Displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; juvenile; childish.

Political argument is becoming a puerile cartoon about the moral . . . doing battle with the immoral." -- ...Read More

immure \ih-MYUR\ (verb) - 1 : To enclose within walls, or as if within walls; hence, to shut up; to imprison; to incarcerate. 2 : To build into a wall. 3 : To entomb in a wall.

"When I tried to think clearly about this, I...Read More

capitulate \kuh-PICH-uh-layt\ (intransitive verb) - To surrender under agreed conditions.

"I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'Self-Reliance'

We say "capitulate" ...Read More