A personal lexicon of unusual, archaic, scientific, and otherwise interesting words encountered in reading. Browse other letters from the Dictionary catalog.
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| lachrymose | adj. weeping or inclined to weep; tearful; causing or tending to cause tears |
| laconic | terse or concise |
| laconically | sparing of words; terse. |
| ladle | long-handled spoon with deep bowl at end |
| laggard | dilatory, slow. |
| laird | the owner of a landed estate |
| laissez-faire | government abstention from interference with individual action; esp. in commerce. |
| lambaste | to give a thrashing to; beat; to scold sharply; berate |
| lampoon | n. a broad satirical piece that uses ridicule to attack a person or group; a light, good-humored satire; tr.v. |
| lamprey | primitive elongated freshwater or anadromous fishes having a jawless sucking mouth with rasping teeth. |
| landlubber | a person unfamiliar with the sea or seamanship. |
| languor | lack of physical or mental energy; listlessness; a dreamy, lazy mood or quality; oppressive quiet or stillness. |
| larceny | theft |
| lascivious | given to or expressing lust; lecherous; exciting sexual desires, salacious. |
| laser | light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation; a device producing a very intense beam of parallel light with a precisely defined wavelength. |
| lateen | being, relating to, or rigged with a triangular sail hung on a long yard that is attached at an angle to the top of a short mast |
| laurel(s) | n. a wreath of laurel conferred as a mark of honor in ancient times upon poets, heroes, and victors in athletic contests; honor and glory won for great achievement; tr.v. to honor, esp. with an award or a prize |
| lee | n. the side away from the direction from which the wind blows; the side sheltered from the wind; cover; shelter; adj. |
| legerdemain | sleight of hand, conjuring tricks, juggling; trickery, sophistry. |
| leitmotif | n. a dominant and recurring theme |
| lek | Albanian currency |
| lemma | a subsidiary proposition assumed to be valid and used to demonstrate a principal proposition; a theme, an argument, or a subject indicated in a title; a word or phrase treated in a glossary or similar listing |
| lemur | small, arboreal, mostly nocturnal primate of Madagascar and adjacent islands |
| lèse majesté | n. an offense or a crime committed against the ruler or supreme power of a state; an affront to another’s dignity. |
| Levant | countries bordering on the eastern Mediterranean Sea from Turkey to Egypt |
| lewd | lustful; obscene, indecent |
| liaison | n. an instance or a means of communication between different groups of an organization; one that maintains communication; a close relationship, connection, or link; an adulterous relationship; an affair |
| libretto | (music) the text of a dramatic musical work, such as an opera; a book containing such a text |
| license | freedom used irresponsibly. |
| lights | lungs |
| limber | adj. pliable, supple; tr.v. to make limber; intr.v. |
| lineament | an outline, feature, or contour of a body and esp. of a face. |
| Linotype | machine that sets type on a metal slug, operated by a keyboard |
| liquidate | tr.v. to pay off; settle; to convert (assets) into cash; to put an end to; abolish; to put to death; kill; intr.v. |
| literal | consisting of, using, or expressed by letters. |
| literati | the literary intelligentsia |
| loath/loth | adj. unwilling or reluctant; disinclined |
| loathe | tr.v. to dislike (someone or something) greatly; abhor |
| loathing | n. great dislike; abhorrence |
| loathsome | adj. abhorrent |
| Loewe, Frederick | 1901-1987. Austrian-born American composer. |
| loge (lozh) | a small compartment, esp. a box in a theatre; the front rows of the mezzanine in a theatre |
| logjam | deadlock, as in negotiations; an impasse |
| loll | intr.v. to move, stand, or recline in an indolent or relaxed manner; to hang or droop laxly; tr.v. to permit to hang or droop laxly |
| loris | small, slow-moving, nocturnal prosimian primate of Asia |
| lothario | a man who seduces women |
| louse | flat-bodied, wingless biting or sucking insects many of which are external parasites on various animals, including human beings |
| lout | n. a person regarded as awkward and stupid; an oaf |
| loutish | adj. awkward, stupid and boorish |
| luau | outdoor picnic usually featuring a whole barbecued pig |
| lubricous/lubricious | having a slippery or smooth quality; shifty or tricky; lewd, wanton; sexually stimulating, salacious |
| lucre | money, profits |
| Luddite | one who opposes technical or technological change |
| ludicrous | laughable or hilarious because of obvious absurdity or incongruity |
| lugsail | a quadrilateral sail that lacks a boom, has a foot larger than the head, and is bent to a yard hanging obliquely on the mast |
| lumpen | of or relating to dispossessed, often displaced people who have been cut off from the socioeconomic class with which they would ordinarily be identified; boorish or unenlightened |
| lupine | characteristic of or resembling a wolf; rapacious; ravenous |
| luxuriant | characterized by rich or profuse growth producing or yielding in abundance; excessively florid or elaborate; luxurious |
| lycanthrope | werewolf |
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