irascible

irascible \ih-RASS-uh-buhl\, adjective:

Prone to anger; easily provoked to anger; hot-tempered.

The lawyer described his client as an irascible eighty-two-year-old eccentric who alternated between spinning fascinating tales about her past and cussing him out.
-- Jack Olsen, Hastened to the Grave

His father was an irascible and boastful bully, a heavy drinker and a gambler.
-- Robin Waterfield, Prophet: The Life and Times of Kahlil Gibran

Irascible is from Latin irascibilis, "prone to anger," from ira, "anger," which is also the source of ire and irate.

beau geste

beau geste

PRONUNCIATION:

(bo ZHEST) 

plural beaux gestes (bo ZHEST)

MEANING:

noun: A gracious, but often meaningless, gesture. 

ETYMOLOGY:

From French, literally fine gesture. Earliest documented use: 1920. 

USAGE:

"An effective encore doesn't risk becoming an empty beau geste; it is an emotional p.s. somehow relating to the mood of the written program."
Peter Dobrin; Applauding the Orchestra for Offering Encores; The Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania); Jan 15, 2011. 

Explore "beau geste" in the Visual Thesaurus. 

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power -- he's free again. -Alexander Solzhenitsyn, novelist, Nobel laureate (1918-2008) 

dapple

dapple \DAP-uhl\, noun:

1. A small contrasting spot or blotch.
2. A mottled appearance, especially of the coat of an animal (as a horse).

transitive verb:
1. To mark with patches of a color or shade; to spot.

intransitive verb:
1. To become dappled.

adjective:
1. Marked with contrasting patches or spots; dappled.

Look at . . . his cows with their comic camouflage dapples . . . .
-- Arthur C. Danto, "Sometimes Red", ArtForum, January 2002

70 diamond- and hexagonal-shaped holes, 35 between the North End ramp and the northbound lanes, and 35 between the northbound and southbound lanes, allow light to filter through and dapple the river below.
-- Raphael Lewis, "A walk into the future", Boston Globe, May 9, 2002

Gentle shafts of sunlight . . . dapple the grass.
-- Gail Sheehy, Hillary's Choice

Dapple derives from Old Norse depill, "a spot."

soubrette

soubrette

PRONUNCIATION:

(soo-BRET) 

MEANING:

noun:
1. A maidservant or lady's maid in a play or an opera, especially one who displays coquetry and engages in intrigue.
2. A young woman regarded as flirtatious.
3. A soprano who sings supporting roles in comic opera. 

ETYMOLOGY:

From French soubrette (maidservant), from Provençal soubreto, feminine of soubret (coy), from soubra (to set aside), from Latin superare (to be above). Ultimately from the Indo-European root uper (over) which is also the source of over, sovereign, super, supreme, sirloin, soprano, somersault, and hyper. Earliest documented use: 1753. 

USAGE:

"Paloma Herrera played the soubrette who lures the hero from his longtime girlfriend, abandoning her own fiancé in the process."
Elizabeth Zimmer; Stars in Alignment; The Australian (Sydney); Aug 1, 2009.

"Rebecca Bottone's light soubrette contrasts well with Watts's more voluptuous timbre."
Hugh Canning; Catch Her If You Can; The Sunday Times (London, UK); Nov 8, 2009. 

Explore "soubrette" in the Visual Thesaurus. 

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626) 

Verification

Verification:  corporation status, licensure status; witness location and initial witness contact; employment verification; conducting manual background checks