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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Looking for a translation for the German "hellhörig"/"ringhörig"
The German adjective "hellhörig" (sometimes also "ringhörig") describes a badly or insufficiently soundproofed building or room; i.e. being able to hear your neighbors through the ...
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1
answer
181
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Ad hominem for non persons
An ad hominem argument is typically, according to Wikipedia, "a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other attribute of the person making an argument ...
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1
answer
131
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Term for a particular or general skill that needs to be improved and acted on?
Is there a term for a particular or general skill, possibly part of a skill-set, that needs to be improved and acted on?
It's at the tip of my tongue... I don't think it would be "incapabilities&...
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2
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595
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What is a term for "fear of very large enclosed spaces"?
I'm intrigued by a hybrid of "agoraphobia" (which would be more accurately referred to as "kenophobia") and "claustrophobia," described by H. P. Lovecraft like this:
Of ...
3
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2
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865
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The state of not knowing and/or ignoring each other
I'm looking for a word that expresses the state of not knowing and/or ignoring each other.
In a blog post, I've found the term Principle of Mutual Oblivion. This is supposed to be a rule in software ...
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3
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3
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534
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Word for 'of or related to division'
I'm writing a program with a numeric parser. The operations involved are multiplying, dividing, squaring, and cubing.
In order to define what kind of objects can be multiplied, divided, etc with what,...
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63
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What's the term for a line of dialog that is repeated later in a different context, especially as a clever retort?
What's the term for a line of dialog that is repeated later in a different context?
Christopher Nolan seems to be fond of these lines. In Batman Begins, Ra's first says:
Always mind your surroundings
...
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2
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104
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A synonym for 'granular' / 'fine-grained'
As others have noted for at least a decade, 'granular' has become clichéd in business jargon for 'fine-grained' or just 'precise.'
I'm seeking a word or term (there must be one...) that sounds a ...
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2
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1
answer
155
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Is there a word equivalent to "sighting" but for hearing?
I'm trying to write a sentence like
Nobody goes near the caves because of monster noises.
"Nobody goes near the caves because of monster sightings" doesn't work because people have not ...
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3
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Shared experience in solidarity, describe mother's act, son can't eat before surgery, she decides to fast too, in solidarity and shared experience
I want to describe a mother's act for her child, who is not allowed to eat before surgery and she chooses not to eat also, so I have thought of solidarity or support, but I want to also describe ...
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366
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Collective term for uncountable nouns for places, like "hospital", "school", "prison", "court", "church"?
Certain nouns for places, locations or buildings seem to have idiomatic uncountability.
This blog lists a couple of those.
Idiomatic uses:
Home / town: No article precedes ‘home’ unless you add ...
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260
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Is there a word for the object being cloned?
I was talking to a friend about various operations around cloning digital objects and we invented the word clonee for the object being cloned. Obviously we used the word clone / clones to refer to ...
- 139
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What is the word for discrimination based on nationality?
Discrimination based on race is racism, discrimination based on sex is sexism. However, discrimination based on nationality is not nationalism because nationalism is pride for your country.
Here are ...
user412872
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Is there a word to describe names that have no meaning but take on meaning over time for example "Google"?
Sometimes we create names for things that are just meaningless identifiers, the only example that springs to mind is "Google". That "Google" originally had no meaning may be ...
- 121
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46
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Is there a term for an intentional, pleasing juxtaposition of elements?
I made a paper plane out of airplane documents.
There's something satisfying about combinations like this, but I've never been able to locate a word that captures the concept:
It has the same feeling ...
- 121
2
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0
answers
102
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Word for an all seeing society/government type
I'm looking for a word to mean a society or government type where everything is visible or known to everyone, similar to omniscient. For example, if everyone (including government) can see everything ...
- 267
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Inverse of "Decimate" (not really a duplicate)
Historically, the word "decimate" means to "reduce/ destroy by one tenth"... i.e., a decimated army of 100 soldiers would have lost 10 soldiers.
Is there a word that means the ...
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0
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Is there a term for when we're okay with criticism from "one of our own."
If you think about within a family, for example, everyone might talk very negatively with a specific criticism about a certain family member and all is good. But then the moment that family member's ...
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Is there a verb (or group of verbs) to describe someone saying "hmm"?
I'm looking for a verb to replace someone uttering "hmm" or "mmh" or any of its variations.
I found this related question (The origin of 'hmm') that hints that "hum&...
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0
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110
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What do you call a fire panel with tools?
In Russia we have these "fire panels":
So, they have tools like a bucket and a spade, so you can dig up some sand with the spade in the summer and extinguish the fire with it. Or in winter you can ...
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855
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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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310
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Is there a single adjective equivalent to "oddly satisfying"?
I came across this typescale pictured below, and found the curve it makes to be quite satisfying in a way that reminded me of those "oddly satisfying" videos that go viral every now and then.
It made ...
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0
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Is there a word/phrase to describe a person "who hates someone rather than hate their views"?
Let's say there is a person called X. X is a good person, in general. He has a problematic view about something, let's say, homophobia. So, here is the conversation between Y and Z.
Y: X is ...
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Type of clause question ?
No matter what they say about him, it's false.
introductory phrase followed by comma and it's false.
So is the whole sentence acting as the main clause in these constructions ? It's false can't ...
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78
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Term for competition where time difference of two rounds should be zero
There is a type of competition where you walk or run (or even cycle) two rounds in a predefined course, and the purpose is to use the exact same time in both rounds. You will get a penalty equal to ...
- 161
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0
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76
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What's the name of the style of 3-8 lowercase letters in programming?
If you go on GitHub, so many of the project names are 3-8 lowercase letters. So many directories of those projects are 3-8 lowercase letters.
In the base level directory of most unix OS's, the ...
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0
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342
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is there a word or phrase meaning "to falsely believe one's opinion/feedback is being considered"?
Here is an example: In a conversation, one is asked their opinion regarding a decision, but the decision has already been made—so the individual being asked is led to believe (falsely) that their ...
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0
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390
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A thing whose name is hard to track down
Is there a word/phrase for a thing whose name is hard to track down?
Sometimes there is a concept which I believe must have a name, but I can't find that name; it's hard to track down ; I don't know ...
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125
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Word meaning anthropomorphize, but specifically regarding sexual characteristics?
To anthropomorphize is "to attribute human personality or form to things not human." [Merriam-Webster]
Is there a word that means "to attribute human sexual traits to things not human?" Think Bugs ...
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0
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85
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Is there a word for the fear that one might be a hypochondriac?
This seems like a fundamental thing that would have a word for it—oftentimes one worries about a health condition, but then one is afraid to get it looked into as one is afraid of being a ...
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196
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Antonym for "infix" ("outfix"?)
infix: implant or insert firmly in something, as in the particles of mercury will infix themselves in the structure of the other metal
How about the opposite? Is there something called outfix? I.e. ...
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291
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Word for a post-meeting 'justified prejudice'?
I am looking for a word which ultimately explains a dislike/hatred of a group of people, but unlike a prejudice can be justified through prior experiences and is potentially considered acceptable to ...
- 407
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0
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873
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Adverb for a third of a year
Similar to Is there a proper term to describe 1/3 of a year (4 months)
Are there any words to describe a trimester as an adverb? The only one I've seen is triannually (in the link above) which is a ...
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181
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What can I substitute for "A perfect example for this is"
I need a more sophisticated way of starting a sentence that uses soccer as a perfect example of an ancestral sport from china which evolved.
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2
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143
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What are these kinds of classifications called?
While browsing EL&U I sometimes see people pointing out in their answer that some words have been used in an unusual way (or should I call it structure?), producing sentences like "the writer ...
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votes
2
answers
96
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A word which describes 'purposefully doing something differently to hide inability of doing it in the originally intended way'
I'm looking for a word that describes 'purposefully doing something different to hide inability of doing it in the originally intended ('better'/'harder') way'.
An example might be where you are ...
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2
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182
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What is or would be an appropriate word to describe people deriving purpose from conflict?
If you’ve seen Apocalypse Now, Restrepo or Hurt Locker, they’re all to some degree about soldiers who found more meaning/purpose from being in a state of war/conflict than being at peace.
Is there an ...
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1
answer
119
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What could be one word for time off for family/personal work?
What could be a word/one word and slang for a time-off period, that someone took for his personal/family work?
i.e. I took time-off from office to do some personal work, household chores.
The word ...
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3
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127
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Looking for a collection of words that define a taxonomy
I'm looking for a set of words that define a logical, hierarchical structure to define a simple 3 level taxonomy, but it needs to comply with the following requirements:
The words must be related, ...
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2
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1
answer
97
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Simpler synonym for serial monomania
I read a book years ago in which one character described another succinctly in one or maybe two words. Sadly, the book was lost in a flood and I cannot recall the vocabulary used. Nor can I recall ...
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2
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1
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87
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What is a good alternative for “stand in”?
I'm writing a sentence that currently reads: The question "What do you do" can be a proxy for a person's value.
I'm sure that proxy doesn't fit but I'm trying to find a way to say that a person's ...
2
votes
1
answer
156
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Word for a gift or debt that is so great it is not repayable
I’m looking for the word that describes a gift or debt that is so great it is not repayable (such as a parent’s gift of life. The child can never equally repay that). When I was in university, I ...
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2
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1
answer
92
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Word that describes the practice of "expressing a feeling/assessment by first denying that feeling/assessment"
I'm looking for a single word that describes the practice of "expressing a feeling/assessment by first denying that feeling/assessment". Here is an example of that practice: "I'm not saying you're ...
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2
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1
answer
536
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What is a sibling that comes long after all the other siblings called?
I belive there's a word for this, as I've heard it before, but I can't think of it. If a sibling comes many years after the rest of the pack, what is set sibling called? It doesn't need to be one word,...
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1
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368
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Looking for a negatively connoted word meaning "female" for a translation
I am translating a volume of poems from German into English and am having trouble translating the German word "dämlich" - which means stupid but comes from "Dame" meaning woman or dame.
I need a ...
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1
answer
131
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Looking for a term, similar to "epigraph," meaning a quotation given in order to explain another text
For an English Lit. essay I am writing on TS Eliot and Joyce, I wish to use a Biblical quotation I find useful in illuminating certain themes common to their work (1 Corinthians 13 if anyone is ...
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1
answer
177
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Does the Spanish concept of "Institucionalidad" exist in English? If so, what word is used to describe it?
In Spanish, there is a concept we call "Institucionalidad" that is described in the following terms:
Es el conjunto de creencias, ideas, valores, principios,
representaciones colectivas, ...
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2
votes
1
answer
940
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What do we call the components in names?
In a western name, you usually have a first name, some number of middle names, and a surname (family name). What is the catch-all word for these components?
To give you context: I am writing a ...
- 1,604
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1
answer
260
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Use of “eclectic” when referencing objects in a set
I have often referred to my music tastes as being eclectic, until I recently encountered a possible aspect to the definition I had not previously considered. In referencing musical tastes, there are ...
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2
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1
answer
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Term for a word with opposite meaning to its root?
I remember coming across a term for a word which has an opposite (or at least very different) meaning from its etymological root word's meaning. Does anyone know what this term is?
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