< previous page		page_360		next page >

Page 360

those of whom he always spoke of as 'my fellow citizens.'" Emil Ludwig, Michelangelo

oust

"Politics will still exist as in the Republican campaign to oust Bill Clinton." James Pinkerton, "Mediocre Pols," Newsday, 6/17/99

overt

"It is peculiarly shocking that Brutus practices overt self-deception." Harold Bloom, Shakespeare

P

pall

"A pall had descended upon Mr. Timberlake, and I understood why he did not talk to me about the origin of evil." V. S. Pritchett, "The Saint"

palliate

"Reducing the testosterone would palliate the cancer, the oncologist believed, but it wouldn't be a cure." Dr. Mervyn Elliot, "Medicine in the News"

paltry

"Marvin was baffled by the paltry amount of money the widow was asking for her husband's elegant Rolls Royce." Barnett Lesser, "One Man's Will"

panaceas

"Mrs. Clinton said that she was in Rochester to listen and learn not to offer panaceas for all civic problems." Associated Press report, "Pre-Campaign Strategy," 9/9/99

pandemonium

"Then, summoning the wild courage of despair, in pandemonium, a throng of revellers at once threw themselves into the black apartment." Edgar Allan Poe, "The Masque of the Red Death"

parable

"When I had trouble keeping the kindergarten class quiet, I found that telling them a parable (the tortoise and the hare, for example) would get their undivided attention." Lana L. Grossberg, A Teacher's True Confessions

paradox

"Here was a paradox like the stellar universe that fitted one's mental faults." Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams

paragon

"An angel! or, if not An earthly paragon!" William Shakespeare, Cymbeline

paramount

"For him, winning was paramount; coming in second meant he had swum a poor race." Len Sussman, "Born to Swim"

pariahs

"Apart from the other castes were the outcasts: India's untouchables, or pariahs." Barbara Walker, Women's Encyclopedia

paroxysms

"The coughing did not even come out in paroxysms, but was just a feeble, dreadful welling up of the juices of organic dissolution." Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

parsimonious

"His parsimonious thrift was relieved by a few generous impulses." V. L. Parrington, Main Currents in American Thought

passé

"Everything old is new again is the theme for the designer's adoption of passé styles and making them fashionable again." Sophia Leguizamo, "New From Milan"

pathetic

"He is the latest loser trying to solve his pathetic life behind a gun." Editorial, New York Post, 7/30/99

paucity

"In the dictator's best-case scenario, he can hope for continuing control, thanks to a paucity of opponents." Massimo Calabresi, "Is This the End for Milosevic?," TIME, 6/21/99

pecuniary

"The most unpleasant thing of all was that his pecuniary interests should enter into the question of his reconciliation with his wife." Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

pedagogue

"He is neither bandit nor pedagogue, but, like myself a broken soldier,

< previous page		page_360		next page >

< previous page		page_361		next page >

Page 361

retired on half pay for some years." Stephen Vincent Benet, "The Curfew Tolls"

penance

"I have done penance for condemning Love, Whose high imperious thoughts have punished me With bitter fasts, with penitential groans." William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona

penchant

"Annabel had a penchant for silver fox coats but Midge said they were common." Dorothy Parker, "The Standard of Living"

penitent

"When father strode into the coal and ice office, he came out, the penitent clerk with him, promising to deliver a block of ice in time for dinner." Clarence Day, Life with Father

pensive

"It was only when he found himself alone in his bedroom in a pensive mood that he was able to grapple seriously with his memories of the occurrence." H. G. Wells, The Man Who Could Work Miracles

penury

"Afflicted by penury, it appeared that Putois had joined a gang of thieves who were prowling the countryside." Anatole France, "Putois"

perceive

"The subjects, as you perceive, were alarming but very agreeable." Anton Chekhov, "A Slander"

peregrination

"Each step he took represented an inward peregrination." Gretel Ehrlich, "On the Road With God's Fool"

peremptory

"Mr. Greenspan encouraged his fellow Federal Reserve Board members today to undertake a peremptory attack against inflation." Reuters, "Financial News Letter," 3/99

perfidious

"Alfred E. Ricks was the perfidious toad's designation who sold worthless shares in the Blue Gopher Mine." O. Henry, "The Man Higher Up"

perfunctory

"Doc Martindale made a perfunctory examination and told Eli there was nothing to worry about." MacKinlay Kantor, "The Grave Grass Quivers"

permeated

"The play is permeated with scriptural imagery, notably a Last Supper." Robert Brustein, New Republic, 6/7/99

pernicious

"This chapter exposes a pernicious obstacle to students and teachers engaging in serious work together." Robert L. Fried, The Passionate Teacher

perpetrated

"Thanks to Mr. DeLay, we learn that violence perpetrated by gun owners is really the product of larger forces." Editorial, "Mr. DeLay's Power Play," New York Times, 6/20/99

perpetuate

"The laws would often do no more than perpetuate a legislator's acts of injustice." Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract

persevered

"The Knicks persevered as first Patrick Ewing and then Johnson went down with injuries." George Vecsey, "Sports of the Times," New York Times, 6/22/99

perspicacious

"Nobody deserves the Lifetime Achievement Award more than Army Archerd, who is not only perspicacious, but a gentleman as well." Liz Smith, Newsday, 6/2/99

pertinent

"What seems pertinent is to observe that jazz gravitated toward a particular kind of environment in which its existence was probable." Arnold Sungaard, Jazz, Hot and Cold

peruse

"Stopping to peruse her mail, Raven didn't notice that the front door was ajar." Dolores Kent, Instant Gratification

perverse

"There is something contemptible in the prospect of a number of petty states with the appearance only of union, jarring,

< previous page		page_361		next page >