Questions tagged [single-word-requests]
This tag is for questions seeking a single word that fits a meaning. To ensure that your question is not closed as off-topic, please be specific about the intended use of the word. INCLUDE A SAMPLE SENTENCE demonstrating how the word would be used. Click on "Info", or "View Tag" and "Learn more..." for more information. Please use the [phrase-requests] tag if you seek a phrase and the [terminology] tag if you seek a term in a specialized subject also.
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When something is published in instalments, is there a word for that?
If something is not published as a book, but is published in sections, or instalments, is there a word, other than 'instalments ?
All I can find online is the word 'serialised ', but we do not call ...
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Inspiration catalyst? Looking for a term that describes seemingly out of the blue inspiration
I'm looking for a term for a curious situation that I've found myself in a couple of times.
A person discusses a new concept/invention.
I am a part of that conversation or simply overhear it.
I ...
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What is a word for trying to avoid contact when you see someone, especially eye contact?
If two people are trying to avoid eye contact with each other, either out of hatred or just out of lack of interest, can we have one word for this situation?
I am not sure if 'dodge' can be used. In ...
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What is the word for music that is both a capella and instrumental?
Now, I know the terms "a capella" and "instrumental" are pretty incompatible, and to tell the truth, something like "Lyric-less" would fit better than "instrumental" in this case. Basically, I'm ...
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What would be the adjectival form of the word "sonata"?
Richard Wagner, it is said, looked down on "sonata form" as being too constraining. Roughly speaking, he objected to the long music passages with unchanging rhythm, with repeating cadences, ...
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Precise word to describe "falling short of greatness" or "eluded by greatness"
I would like to narrow down what options we have in English to the concept of being very close to seizing greatness for oneself but falling short. A ready example that comes to mind is the Alexander ...
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Is there a single word for someone who left the company that does not have overly negative connotations?
In a new policy from my company (non-native English, but English is the corporate language), they use the word "defector" to refer to a person who has supplied their resignation.
I think &...
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What word or phrase describes this musical instrument?
The last time I saw one in the streets was back in the early 1960s, and it drew the attention of all passers-by as most people had never seen one before. Let me describe it:
It consists of a box with ...
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Precise word to differentiate "major" and "minor" in music
In a similar manner to the way that we use "sex" to differentiate male and female, I want to find the best word to differentiate major and minor.
The Wikipedia page on the subject did not use any ...
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Term to quantify a parameter in a decision-making procedure which affects multiple individuals?
Suppose a group of people are purchasing ice cream, and a flavor must be chosen for each member of the group. One possible procedure would be for a single, trusted member to decide which flavor each ...
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What do you call each "part" or "content piece" of a magazine?
I'm trying to come up with the right term to refer to a "part" of a magazine. That is, one word that can refer to any "piece of content" within an issue of a magazine: the "leader", any individual "...
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Words that describe mechanical movement [closed]
For context, my intention is to imply a character is stiffly-moving, like a machine. A couple of examples I’ve used are “Oscillate” (rather than sway back and forth), “Rotate” (as opposed to turn),”...
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A word for something between a "Job" and "Hobby"
Is there a word for something that's between a "job" and a "hobby"? It's a phenomenon you'll sometimes see among people who don't need to work, but for whatever reason choose to be employed. Their ...
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The counterpart of "facial" for head
We have the adjective "facial" for the noun "face", and I am wondering what the counterpart for the noun "head" is.
I could not find it on Google, and ChatGPT told me &...
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What is the word for the corner where ceiling and wall meet in a house?
In a square room in a house, what is the word for the corner where one of the walls meets the ceiling?
I kept thinking it was a word like "eaves", but that turned out to be the overhang. I have ...
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Is there a word for an event that someone is most memorable for?
For example, is there a word for John Wilkes Booth assassinating President Lincoln? That would be most people's only known event of his life - it'd be memorable but is there a noun to represent that ...
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What do you call an area where people can pick up flyers/pamphlets?
What do you call an area/corner where people can pick up free flyers/pamphlets/brochures?
Sometimes they're on catalog stands and sometimes they're just in stacks on a table.
My non-native speaking ...
CommunityBot
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Is "anxietizing" really not a word?
I can't find it in my dictionary or on Google. What word do people normally use in place of "anxietizing"? For example, "I find sharks anxietizing." Am I just misspelling it?
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What is the word that includes "Chiefs" and "Sergeants-Major" together?
Is there a word or two that can combine Chief Master Sergeant/Petty Officer and Sergeants-Major? I want it in a sentence that involves both sets of ranks like: "'The Chiefs and Sergeants-Major' will ...
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What do you call someone who repairs punctures?
Is there a term specifically used colloquially or formally to refer to a person who mends punctures in tires of e.g. cars, bicycles, bikes, etc.
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How do you describe placing a little bit of something in hopes of helping it multiply faster? [closed]
I was using a brand new piece of glass and I wanted it to get broken in faster and begin accumulating more residue faster. So, I took a piece of residue from my old glass and wiped it on a few parts ...
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Word for pretending to be ignorant in order to avoid a responsibility
I once found a word I really liked, but forgot, this was a word used to describe a person who pretends not knowing or being incapable of understanding certain information in order to avoid a presumed ...
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Adjective for 'made of pus' or 'corrupted by pus' or something of something of pus
This to be used in a sentence with:
a somethingish discharge
I like "pustulous discharge" but 'pustulous' is of pustules not of their content.
'Pusy' would be a natural but doesn't look like ...
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What is the word for disingenuous fame chaser? (Different word than sellout)
I’m searching for the word that means sellout, or maybe it means the action of selling out. I couldn’t find it on a thesaurus. It’s a bit of an urbandictionary type of word, commonly used to describe ...
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What do you call the person responsible for a meeting?
What do you call the person that is responsible for conducting a meeting, i.e. inviting participants, preparing the agenda and (mostly) also moderating the meeting, as well as define and document the ...
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Term to abuse one who doesn't deserve to be called a man
Say a gang of many men beat a single guy Tom. Tom is a right guy but the gang is of cheap mentality. So, Tom wants to use an abusive and demeaning word for the gang and says you all are "xxx". He ...
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Phrase / expression/ word for a smell that stimulates an emotion
I am looking for a word (in any language) for a smell that stimulates an emotion or brings back memories.
For instance, when I smell cinnamon, I get a happy feeling - and it reminds me of Christmas. ...
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What’s the right fitting word? [closed]
What would be the word you would call someone if they brought another person that had nothing to do with it into a conversation and then blamed them for something that the person blaming them actually ...
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The word/phrase for the person who makes all the profit while others are suffering?
"I hate this war."
"Me too. It's bad for everyone"
"But you know who is profiting from this - the coffin seller."
How do I define that coffin seller in one or more words?
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What is the right word here? "It was impingent on him to act."
"Impingent" obviously isn't the right word here. The word I'm thinking of means something like "required" or "imperative," but the same part of speech as "imposed.&...
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Is there a word for the situation where you are expecting something and then something totally different happens
I was watching a video on buzz feed. A couple was breaking up and the girl introduced her new boyfriend. But instead of fighting, as I expected, the new boyfriend and the old boyfriend became friends. ...
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What word should I use to describe a kid who has pooped in their underwear?
I have seen some kids who can't go to the restroom in time and their poops stain on their underwear. I would like to know what word I can use to describe this situation?
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What's the word(s) for a feeling of disappointment when you've lost something of financial value?
What's the word(s) for a feeling of disappointment when you've lost something of financial value? For example, let's say I'd just got an expensive LCD monitor from a raffle, but I accidentally dropped ...
CommunityBot
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Word or concept for when the correction to a misconception becomes more popular than the misconception?
For example, when people say "Napoleon was short", it's almost immediately followed up with "actually he was average height for the time".
Is there any concept or word that ...
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'Downwards' versus 'Downward'
I'm new here (this is my first question :D)
I was memorizing a specific sentence in a passage about photography, and I accidently made a mistake of memorizing 'downward' as 'downwards'. I'm a non-...
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Is there a word for the act of butchering a language for the sake of a joke?
My friend and I (may or may not be the same one from my other question) were chatting the other day and we came to a discussion about the idiom tit-for-tat.
tit-for-tat (informal)
a tit-for-tat ...
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Word that means: causing a paradigm shift, new era, revolution
I can't think of the word and it's driving me nuts. I'm looking for a word that can be used when some technology is discovered, way of thinking, or even event happening that causes a big change in ...
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What's the word for when someone points something out then your view starts warping to fit what they said even if it isn't actually there [closed]
For example, someone spoils a show or says something is poorly written. Originally you may not have thought or noticed that but suddenly your view starts changing to become similar or the same as ...
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What do you call unclean water that you can't see through?
What do you call unclean water that you can't see through? Probably contaminated with dirt, prolonged stagnation or mineral erosion, almost pale brown, like stagnated water on a rainy day.
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Is there a word for something that was formerly a social norm but is no longer acceptable?
I've been reading a lot of various classic literature, and at times there is the sort of casual misogyny or racism that was commonplace and (within certain cultures) the social norm at that time. Such ...
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Synonym for free or costless where non-monetised exchange is involved
I'm looking for a word similar to "free" or "without cost", but that makes it explicit only that no money is exchanged, while still allowing (or implying, or explicitly specifying) ...
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Pejorative term for Indian English [closed]
There was, it seems, a pejorative term during the British Raj to describe Indian people trying to speak English. What was it?
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Good word for "a request that can't be refused"?
Is there a good word for describing "a request that cannot be refused"? For example, the context I'm thinking about is a situation where your boss "requests" that you work overtime ...
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What is a word for someone who wants to preserve others' cultures?
I'm searching for the word for someone who believes in the preservation of other people's cultures. Does anyone know of a good word for this? I don't think "anthropologist" is a good word, as that ...
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What is the word describing a good Googler? [duplicate]
We read a recent article that had the new word describing someone who can Google and get good results versus others who can never find the answer by Google searching. Do you know the word? We can’t ...
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Is there a commonly used root for "Inclusion" and "Exclusion", or some way to specify the status of being "Included" or "Excluded"? [duplicate]
"Inclusion" means for something to be part of a group
"Exclusion" means for something to not be part of a group
Whether something is in the group or out of the group is obviously ...
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How to be 'ornery' in BE?
I'm looking for the best BE substitute for the AmE word "ornery" in the phrase "an ornery bunch".
Complicating the task for this second-language speaker of English is that ...
- 40.5k
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What do you call the person or character being spoken to in a poem or song?
This question asks what to call the person who is speaking in a lyric poem. The terms "narrator", "speaker", "persona", etc. may be used to refer to the "I" in &...
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Spanish version of a Francophile
I know the word Francophile is someone who likes France and the French. I also know of Anglophiles that is a similar word for the British. Is there such a word for the Spanish though?
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A single word that describes or connotes all items in a list except the last item
Is there a single word to describe all the elements in a list, except the last item?
The head of a list refers to the first item in the list and the tail refers to the last item. In mathematics and ...
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