#59 narcissism ~ nuance Flashcards
narcissism
/ˈnɑrsəˌsɪzɛm/
n. excessive love of one’s body or oneself
- In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a boy who fell in love with his own reflection. To engage in narcissism is to be like Narcissus.
- Throwing a kiss to your reflection in the mirror is an act of narcissism - so is filling your living room with all your bowling trophies or telling everyone how smart and good-looking you are. You are a narcissist.
Someone who suffers from narcissism is said to be narcissistic.
- The selfish students were bound up in narcissistic concerns and gave no thought to other people.
nebulous
/ˈnɛbyələs/
adj. vague; hazy; indistinct
- Oscar’s views are so nebulous that no one can figure out what he thinks about anything.
- The community’s boundaries are somewhat nebulous; where they are depends on whom you ask.
- Molly’s expensive new hairdo was a sort of nebulous mass of wisps, waves, and hair spray.
nebula
/ˈnɛbyələ/
n. an interstellar cloud
Plural: nebulae (/ˈnɛbyəˌli, -ˌlaɪ/)
nefarious
/nɪˈfɛəriəs/
adj. evil; flagrantly wicked
- The radical’s nefarious plot was to destroy new York by filling the reservoirs with strawberry Jell-O.
- The convicted murderer had committed a myriad of nefarious acts.
neologism
/niˈɒləˌdʒɪzəm/
n. a new word or phrase; a new usage of a word
Pedants don’t like neologisms. They like the words we already have. But at one time every word was a neologism. Someone somewhere had to be the first to use it.
nepotism
/ˈnɛpəˌtɪzəm/
n. showing favoritism to friends or family in business or politics
- Clarence had no business acumen, so he was counting on nepotism when he married the boss’s daughter.
nihilism
/ˈnaɪəˌlɪzəm, ˈni-/
n. the belief that there are no values or morals in the universe
- A nihilist does not believe in any objective standards or right or wrong.
nominal
/ˈnɒmənl/
adj. in name only; insignificant; A-OK (during rocket launches)
- Bert was the nominal chair of the committee, but Sue was the one who ran things.
- The cost was nominal in comparison with the enormous value of what you received.
- “All systems are nominal,” said the NASA engineer as the space shuttle successfully headed into orbit.
nostalgia
/nɒˈstældʒə, -dʒiə, nə-/
n. sentimental longing for the past; homesickness
- A wave of nostalgia overcame me when the old Biggie Smalls song came on the radio; hearing it took me right back to 1997.
- Some people who don’t remember what the decade was really like feel a misplaced nostalgia for the 1950s.
To be filled with nostalgia is to be nostalgic.
- As we talked about the fun we’d had together in junior high school, we all began to feel a little nostalgic.
notorious
/noʊˈtɔriəs, -ˈtoʊr-, nə-/
adj. famous for sth. bad
A well-known actor is famous; a well-known criminal is notorious.
- No one wanted to play poker with Jeremy because he was a notorious cheater.
- Rana’s practical jokes were notorious; people always kept their distance when she came into the room.
To be notorious is to have notoriety (/ˌnoʊtəˈraɪɪti/).
- Jesse’s notoriety as a bank robber made it difficult for him to find a job in banking.
novel
/ˈnɒvəl/
adj. new; original
- Ray had a novel approach to homework. He did the work before the teacher assigned it.
- There was nothing novel about the author’s latest novel; the characters were old, and the plot was borrowed.
noxious
/ˈnɒkʃəs/
adj. harmful; offensive
- Smoking is a noxious habit in every sense.
- Poison ivy is a noxious weed.
- The mothers’ committee believed that rock ‘n’ roll music exerted a noxious influence on their children.
nuance
/ˈnuɑns, ˈnyu-, nuˈɑns, nyu-; French nüˈɑ̃s/
n. a subtle difference or distinction
- The artist’s best work explored the nuance between darkness and deep shadow.
- Harry was incapable of nuance; everything for him was either black or white.
In certain Chinese dialects, the difference between one word and its opposite is sometimes nothing more than a nuance of inflection.
