awk·ward (ôk′wərd, ˈɔːkwəd) adjective. 1. lacking skill, proficiency or dexterity; clumsy 2. inelegant, lacking grace or ease, as in movement or posture 3. embarrassed; lacking social grace or manners 4. embarrassing or inconvenient; lacking social grace or manners 5. difficult to use; ill-adapted for ease of use or handling 6. requiring caution; somewhat hazardous; dangerous 7. hard to deal with; difficult; requiring skill or tact es·qui·si·to What’s the best translation for awkward? I don’t know. I don’t know if it […]
fierce (fɪərs) adjective. 1. having a violent and hostile nature; menacingly wild or savage; ferocious 2. wild or turbulent in force, action or intensity; extremely powerful or destructive 3. furiously eager, intense or strong; vigorous or ardent fe·roz Is being fierce good or bad? The dictionary is full of ambiguous words, equivocal constructs with dubious meanings that make it hard for us to decide whether we’re on the good or the bad side. But so is life, isn’t […]
pride (praɪd) noun. 1. a sense of one’s own proper dignity or value; self-respect. 2. pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement, possession or association 3. arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness. 4. an excessively high opinion of oneself; conceit. or·gu·lho Is pride a sin or a virtue? If you’re religious, your most likely answer will be “a sin”. And that’s fine. But if you’re just studying the language and you want to understand the word to increase your vocabulary, then […]
mute (myo͞ot or mjuːt) noun. 1. To silence or soften the sound of. 2. To soften the tone, colour, shade, or hue of. si·len·ci·ar Mute is one of those words that end up keeping its original form, coming across as untranslatable. Sheer laziness, I suppose, but also the fear of its opposite: unmute. What the heck is unmute in Portuguese, anyway: dessilenciar? Mute/Unmute. You may know this […]
