Babbitt (noun)
A person likened to the character George Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis), especially a materialistic, complacent businessman who conforms unthinkingly to the views and standards of his social set. (OED)
A person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards. (MW)
A person likened to the character George Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis), especially a materialistic, complacent businessman who conforms unthinkingly to the views and standards of his social set. (OED)
A person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards. (MW)
A self-opinionated, self-satisfied small-town bourgeois, with all the prejudices of such a figure. (Green's)
Also: Babbittry (noun)
Also: Babbittry (noun)
bacchanalian (adjective and noun)
Characterized by or given to drunken revelry; riotously drunken. (NOA)
Especially of a party, involving a lot of drinking of alcohol, uncontrolled behavior, and possibly sexual activity. (CD)
Involves noisy and uncontrolled enjoyment and usually a lot of alcohol or sex. (MD)
Of or pertaining to the festival of Bacchus; relating to or given to reveling and drunkenness. (WUD)
bacchanalian or bacchanal (noun): A drunken reveler. (WUD)
bacchanalianism: The practice of bacchanalians; drunken revelry. (WUD)
Chiefly Scotland, North England
A child. (NOA)
balderdash (noun)
Senseless talk or writing; nonsense. (NOA)
Senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing; utter nonsense. (WN)
Something that is stupid or not true. (CD)
A child. (NOA)
balderdash (noun)
Senseless talk or writing; nonsense. (NOA)
Senseless, stupid, or exaggerated talk or writing; utter nonsense. (WN)
Something that is stupid or not true. (CD)
See: drivel, guff, malarkey, piffle, taradiddle
balikbayan (noun)
Philippines
Tagalog word for: A Filipino visiting or returning to the Philippines after a period of living in another country. (NOA)
balkanize (verb)
To break up (a region, a group, etc.) into smaller and often hostile units. Divide, compartmentalize. (MW)
noun: balkanization
balm and benison (phrase)
balm (noun): A healing, soothing, or softly restorative, agency or influence. (OED)
benison (noun): Blessing, beatitude. (OED)
Note: As best I can find, originally from Charles Spurgeon’s Autobiography, 1898, referring to the divinity of old books.
balter (verb)
To dance artlessly, without any particular grace or skill but usually with enjoyment. To dance or tread clumsily, though usually happily. (WN)
To dance or tread clumsily. (MW)
bamboozle (verb)
To deceive by underhanded methods; dupe, hoodwink. To confuse, frustrate, or throw off thoroughly or completely. (MW)
To deceive by trickery, hoax. To mystify, perplex, confound. (OED)
balkanize (verb)
To break up (a region, a group, etc.) into smaller and often hostile units. Divide, compartmentalize. (MW)
noun: balkanization
balm and benison (phrase)
balm (noun): A healing, soothing, or softly restorative, agency or influence. (OED)
benison (noun): Blessing, beatitude. (OED)
Note: As best I can find, originally from Charles Spurgeon’s Autobiography, 1898, referring to the divinity of old books.
balter (verb)
To dance artlessly, without any particular grace or skill but usually with enjoyment. To dance or tread clumsily, though usually happily. (WN)
To dance or tread clumsily. (MW)
bamboozle (verb)
To deceive by underhanded methods; dupe, hoodwink. To confuse, frustrate, or throw off thoroughly or completely. (MW)
To deceive by trickery, hoax. To mystify, perplex, confound. (OED)
To deceive or dupe; hoodwink. To confuse; bewilder. (AHD)
Fool or cheat (someone). Confound or perplex. (NOA)
banter (verb and noun)
verb: To speak to or address in a witty and teasing manner. (MW)
Exchange remarks in a good-humored teasing way. (NOA)
noun: The playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks. (NOA)
Good-natured and usually witty and animated joking. (MW)
Conversation that is funny and not serious. To talk to someone in a friendly and humorous way. Conversation that is not serious and is often playful. (CD)
barangay (noun)
Philippines
Tagalog word for: In the Philippines, a small territorial and administrative district forming the most local level of government. (OD)
Note: Barangay is not quite equivalent to village; more like precinct or ward.
bedraggle (verb)
To make disheveled, wet, and dirty. (VC)
To make wet and limp. (AHD)
bedraggle (verb)
To make disheveled, wet, and dirty. (VC)
To make wet and limp. (AHD)
To wet thoroughly. (MW)
To make (hair, clothing, etc) limp, untidy, or dirty, as with rain or mud; to make wet, limp, and dirty, as by dragging through mire; to make limp and soiled, as with rain or dirt. (CDC)
bedraggled (adjective)
Soiled and stained by or as if by trailing in mud; left wet and limp by or as if by rain; dilapidated (e.g. buildings). (MW)
Wet, drenched, or messy (as in clothes); being in a condition of deterioration; dilapidated (as in buildings). (AHD)
Wet, dirty, and untidy; (of a person or a person’s appearance) messy, dirty, and often wet. (CD)
Dirty and disheveled. (NOA)
For instance: bedraggled cat, dog, commuters, etc.
bemuse (verb)
To make confused; puzzle, bewilder. To occupy the attention of; distract, absorb. To cause to have feelings of wry or tolerant amusement. (MW)
bemused: Marked by confusion or bewilderment; dazed. Lost in thought or reverie. Having or showing feelings of wry amusement especially from something that is surprising or perplexing. (MW)
benign (adjective)
Gentle; kindly. Of a climate or environment: Mild and favorable. Not harmful to the environment. (NOA)
Of a mild type or character that does not threaten health or life, especially, not becoming cancerous. Having no significant effect; harmless. Of a gentle disposition; gracious. Showing kindness and gentleness; favorable, wholesome. (MW)
Having little or no detrimental effect; harmless. Of no danger to health; not malignant or disease-causing. Tending to exert a beneficial influence; favorable. Gentle or kind. Showing gentleness or kindness. (AHD)
benignity (noun): Kindness or tolerance toward others. (NOA)benignly (adverb)
best practices (noun)
Commercial or professional procedures that are accepted or prescribed as being correct or most effective. (OED)
Procedures that have been shown by research and experience to produce optimal results and that are established or proposed as standards suitable for widespread adoption. (MW)
Working methods that are officially accepted as being the best to use in a particular business or industry. (CD)
Note: I personally believe that best practices also encompass high competence, high integrity, and high ethical standards. It is quite interesting that the above definitions do not mention these desired qualities.
bête noire (noun)
bête noire (noun)
A person or thing strongly detested or avoided. (MW)
One that is particularly disliked or that is to be avoided. (AHD)
A person or thing that you dislike very much or that annoys you. (CD)
A person or thing that you dislike very much or that annoys you. (CD)
Enemy or nemesis; a detested person or thing. (VC)
bien pensant or bien-pensant (adjective and noun)
As an adjective:
bien pensant or bien-pensant (adjective and noun)
As an adjective:
Conventional or orthodox in attitude. (NOA)
Right-minded; conventional in one's thinking. (MW)
Right-minded; accepting or based on ideas regarded as sound or correct; orthodox, doctrinaire, conventional, etc. (CDC)
As a noun:
A conventional or orthodox person. (NOA)
A correct-thinking person. (RM)
As a noun:
A conventional or orthodox person. (NOA)
A correct-thinking person. (RM)
Note: I have seen this spelled with and without the hyphen depending on whether or not you are using this as a noun or an adjective. For example, see the NOA definition. But this is not universal.
billet-doux (noun)
A love letter. (OD)
A sweet note. (WN)
billet-doux (noun)
A love letter. (OD)
A sweet note. (WN)
BIPOC (acronym)
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Note: While this acronym is not conceptually ridiculous like the term cisgender, the same type of people, lefty bien-pensants, seem to flock to both terms.
black car (noun)
A vehicle used for pre-arranged, for-hire transportation services, with a driver. While a taxi has a license to pick up unscheduled fares on the street, black cars must be scheduled. Name derives from the fact that most of these vehicles used to be black sedans. Today, more likely to be black SUVs. (RM)
Note: This is the New York City terminology; may be different elsewhere. For instance, simply a car service.
blatherskite (noun)
A person who talks at great length without making much sense. (NOA)
A talkative silly or foolish person; a person given to voluble, empty talk. (CDC)
A babbling, foolish person. (AHD)
One who blathers. (RM)
blithe (adjective)
Showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper. (NOA)
Lacking due thought or consideration; casual, heedless. Of a happy lighthearted character or disposition. (MW)
One who blathers. (RM)
blithe (adjective)
Showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper. (NOA)
Lacking due thought or consideration; casual, heedless. Of a happy lighthearted character or disposition. (MW)
Happy or satisfied and without worry. (CD)
Carefree and lighthearted. Lacking or showing a lack of due concern; casual. (AHD)
blithely (adverb)
blithely (adverb)
bolo knife (noun)
A large cutting tool of Philippine origin similar to the machete. The primary use for the bolo is clearing vegetation, whether for agriculture or trail blazing. The bolo is common in the countryside due to its use as a farming implement. Normally used for cutting coconuts, it is also a common harvesting tool for narrow row crops such as rice. (Wikipedia)
Bombay (city)
Former name (until 1995) for Mumbai. (NOA)
boobery (noun)
The action or fact of doing something foolish, especially making foolish mistakes; foolishness, stupidity. Also, an instance of this; a foolish act or thing. With the and plural: Foolish people considered as a class. (OED)
Foolishness; foolish individuals seen as a group. (Green's)
Example: The boobery who watch reality television.
bona fides (noun)
A person's honesty and sincerity of intention. Documentary evidence showing a person’s legitimacy; credentials. (NOA)
Evidence of one's good faith or genuineness; evidence of one's qualifications or achievements. (MW)
Example: The boobery who watch reality television.
bona fides (noun)
A person's honesty and sincerity of intention. Documentary evidence showing a person’s legitimacy; credentials. (NOA)
Evidence of one's good faith or genuineness; evidence of one's qualifications or achievements. (MW)
Good faith; sincerity. Information or evidence that serves to guarantee a person's good faith, standing, and reputation; authentic credentials. (AHD)
bonhomie (noun)
A pleasant and affable disposition; geniality. (AHD)
Good-natured easy friendliness (MW)
Cheerful, friendliness; geniality (NOA)
Cheerful, good natured, pleasant friendliness. (WN)
Good-natured easy friendliness (MW)
Cheerful, friendliness; geniality (NOA)
Cheerful, good natured, pleasant friendliness. (WN)
bovine (adjective)
Of a person or their manner, sluggish or stupid. (OD)
Of a person, slow-moving and dull-witted. (NOA)
Having qualities (such as placidity or dullness) characteristic of oxen or cows. (MW)
Slow or stupid in a way that a cow is thought to be. (CD)
bread and circuses (political figure of speech)
A diet of entertainment or political policies on which the masses are fed to keep them happy and docile. (NOA)
From the Latin: panem et circenses.
Bread and circuses or (more generally) food and entertainment, regarded as typically satisfying the desires of the mass of the people; hence used allusively of anything which pleases and pacifies the people, thus helping a government to further its political ends. (OED)
In a political context, the phrase means to generate public approval, not by excellence in public service or public policy, but by diversion, distraction or by satisfying the most immediate or base requirements of a populace – by offering a palliative: For example food (bread) or entertainment (circuses). (Wikipedia)
brief (noun)
An official letter or mandate; a specific instruction or responsibility. (MW)
The instructions that are given to explain a task or assignment. (AHD)
A set of instructions given to a person about a job or task. (NOA)
A letter of authority. A writing issued by official or legal authority; a royal letter or mandate. (OED)
See: purview, remit
brumal (adjective)
Of, belonging to, or characteristic of winter; wintry. (OED)
A set of instructions given to a person about a job or task. (NOA)
A letter of authority. A writing issued by official or legal authority; a royal letter or mandate. (OED)
See: purview, remit
brumal (adjective)
Of, belonging to, or characteristic of winter; wintry. (OED)
Indicative of or occurring in the winter. (MW)
Characteristic of or relating to winter. (VC)
See: hiemal (winter), estival (summer), vernal (spring)
brumous (adjective)
Filled with heavy clouds or fog. Relating to winter and cold, sunless days. Foggy and wintery. (WN)
Filled or abounding with fog or mist. (VC)
See: hiemal (winter), estival (summer), vernal (spring)
brumous (adjective)
Filled with heavy clouds or fog. Relating to winter and cold, sunless days. Foggy and wintery. (WN)
Filled or abounding with fog or mist. (VC)
Poetic: Characterized by heavy mist or fog. (CDC)
bucolic (adjective)
Relating to or typical of rural life; idyllic; pastoral. (MW)
Of or characteristic of the countryside or its people; rustic. (AHD)
Relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life; pastoral; an idyllic rural life. (WN)
bumbledom (noun)
The actions and mannerisms of pompous but inefficient government officials. (MW)
bumbledom (noun)
The actions and mannerisms of pompous but inefficient government officials. (MW)
Self-importance in a minor office. (CDC)
Petty local bureaucracy; officious and pompous behavior by minor officials; officials of this type collectively. (OED)
bumptious (adjective)
Presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive; obtrusive. (MW)
Petty local bureaucracy; officious and pompous behavior by minor officials; officials of this type collectively. (OED)
bumptious (adjective)
Presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive; obtrusive. (MW)
Self-assertive or proud to an irritating degree. (NOA)
Crudely or loudly assertive; pushy. (AHD)
Unpleasantly confident. (CD)
burble (verb)
Make a continuous murmuring noise. Speak continuously and at length in an unintelligible or confused way. (NOA)
burble (verb)
Make a continuous murmuring noise. Speak continuously and at length in an unintelligible or confused way. (NOA)
To make a bubbling sound. Babble, prattle. (MW)
A gurgling or bubbling sound, as of running water. A rapid, excited flow of speech. To speak quickly and excitedly; gush. (AHD)
Typically: He burbled on about….
Typically: He burbled on about….
Burma (country)
Former name (until 1989) of Myanmar. (OD)
business model (noun)
A plan for the successful operation of a business, typically identifying sources of revenue, intended customer base, products, and details of financing. (OED)