tepid tep-id / tĕp-ĭd adjective 1. not hot or cold, lukewarm One does not like hot, the other does not like cold; make it tepid to make an agreement. Malagasy Proverb 2. apathetic, indifferent, lacking enthusiasm or interest We cannot be tepid disciples.  Pope Francis, 1936 – etymology From the Latin adjective tepidus, tepida, tepidum (moderately warm, lukewarm) formed from the stem of the Latin verb tepeo, tepere,(to be moderately warm)... Read More

generosity gen-er-os-i-ty / jĕn-ə-rŏs-ĭ-tē noun 1. the trait of giving freely and generously to others Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. Kahlil Gibran, 1883 – 1931 2. kindness; nobleness; the quality of showing kindness or forgiveness Let us forget with generosity those who cannot love us. Pablo Neruda, 1904 – 1973 3. a generous act I like warmth and uncalled-for kindness, the small unnoticed generosities that... Read More

coffer cof-fer / kô-fər, kŏf-ər noun 1. a strongly made box or safe designed to store valuables Study rather to fill your mind than your coffers; knowing that gold and silver were originally mingled with dirt, until avarice or ambition parted them.  Seneca the Younger, 4 BC – 65 2. funds; a supply of money; a treasury Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public, there will be... Read More

first first / fûrst adjective 1. corresponding to the number one in a series Please help us find an inspiring sample sentence for this meaning of first. 2. earliest; coming or occurring before others When you have read a book for the first time, you get to know a friend; read it for a second time and you meet an old friend.  Chinese Proverb 3. in a location or ranking that... Read More

fortuitous for-tu-i-tous / fôr-to͞o-ĭ-təs, fôr-tyo͞o-ĭ-təs adjective 1. accidental; happening by chance, often with a favorable outcome The plague as we of today have the happiness to know it is merely Nature’s fortuitous manifestation of her purposeless objectionableness.  Ambrose Bierce, 1842 – 1914 2. lucky; having or bringing good fortune Just how I was to help Perry I could scarce imagine, but I hoped that some fortuitous circumstance might... Read More

fortunate for-tu-nate / fôr-chə-nĭt adjective 1. lucky, bringing or having good fortune The man who is always fortunate cannot easily have a great reverence for virtue. Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 BC – 43 BC 2. favorable, advantageous, showing signs of success It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire.  Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850 – 1894... Read More

august au-gust / ô-gŭst as an adjective; ô-gəst as a noun adjective 1. majestic; marked by grandeur; respected The august and mellow University, soaked with the richness of the western counties that it has served for a thousand years, appealed at once to the boy’s taste: it was the kind of thing he could understand, and he understood it all the better because it was empty.  From... Read More

depression de-pres-sion / dĭ-prĕsh-ən noun 1. the act of pressing down or causing to lower or the state of such Besides, the dilation of the hydrogen involved no danger, and only three-fourths of the vast capacity of the balloon was filled when the barometer, by a depression of eight inches, announced an elevation of six thousand feet.  From “Five Weeks in a Balloon” by Jules Verne, 1828... Read More

recession re-ces-sion / rĭ-sĕsh-ən noun 1. a period of economic decline characterized by high unemployment and low production It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose your own. Harry S. Truman, 1884 – 1972   2. the act of moving back or away from a point The recession of the polar ice has opened up the northern sea route, which... Read More

inflation in-fla-tion / ĭn-flā-shən noun 1. the act of causing something to expand by filling with air or gas One good thing can be said for inflation: without it there would be no football.  Marty Ragaway, 1923 – 1989 2. ever higher price levels or a decline in the purchasing power of money, caused when a government increases the money supply and credit compared with the availability... Read More