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irrelevant

"What has existed in the past seems to him not only not authoritative, but irrelevant, inferior, and outworn." George Santayana, Character and Opinion in the United States

itinerant

"Hamlet greeted the group of itinerant actors and made them part of a plan to trap Claudius." Barron's Educational Series, Book Notes

J

jaunty

"The cadet was very trim in his red breeches and blue tunic, his white gloves spotless, his white cockade jaunty, his heart in his mouth." Alexander Woolcott, "Entrance Fee"

jeopardized

"Cancellation of the event would have jeopardized the financial survival of the organization." Nat Hentoff, "Picket Lines are Labor's Free Speech," Village Voice, 6/15/99

jettison

"He refused to jettison any of the manners and behavior that made him seem so odd." William Connor, Daily Mirror, London, 1956

jocose

"He caught the sound of jocose talk and ringing laughter from behind the hedges." George Eliot, Adam Bede

jostled

"When the squeege man jostled him, the police officer said that he feared for his life." Kit Roane, "Squeege Man Scared Him," New York Times, 6/25/99

jubilant

"When he finally reached Boston, he received a jubilant welcome." Keith Ayling, "Race Around the World"

jurisdiction

"Lee's jurisdiction included the monitoring of boxing within New Jersey." Timothy Smith, "A Sport's Credibility,"

New York Times, 6/20/99

juxtaposed

"Theatrical vignettes are juxtaposed through alternating verses in clever boy-girl counterpoint." "Hot 'N Cole,"

Newsday, 6/4/99

L

labyrinth

"He himself was so lost in the labyrinth of his own unquiet thoughts that I did not exist." Daphne Du Maurier,

Rebecca

lacerations

"He pressed only the already tired horse at such speed that his spurs made lacerations in its sides, and at last the poor animal died." Honore De Balzac, A Passion in the Desert

lackluster

"The major reason for the lackluster look in their eyes was their discovery it is now possible to drive across the face of the nation without feeling you've been anywhere or that you've done anything." John Keats, "The Call of the Open Road"

laconic

"The dialogue is clipped, laconic, understated to convey simmering underneath." John Simon, "The Worst Noël," New York, 6/21/99

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the literary aspects of their craft." Samuel Eliot Morrison, By Land and by Sea

lax

"The fact that his employer was lax on this score was one of many things that he had to condone." Henry James, "Brooksmith"

legerdemain

"Federal investigators pursuing money-laundering schemes are concerned with alleged acts of legerdemain by Russian banks." Tim L. O'Brien, "Bank in Laundering Inquiry," New York Times, 8/20/99

legion

"Though not Hollywood handsome, Tommy's success with the fair sex was legion." Janet Murphy, "Babylon on the Hudson"

lethal

"By evening we couldn't even get any more people indoors where they would have had some protection from the lethal fallout." Florence Moog, "The Bombing of St. Louis"

lethargic

"Ricky Henderson's lethargic stroll toward second base led the sports reporters to blast him in yesterday's papers." Ralph Kiner, baseball announcer, Fox Sports News, 10/4/99

levity

"There was something about the company's president that made levity seem out of place." Lloyd Sperling, A Boiler Room Operation

libel

"Issues such as freedom of speech and libel are going to have to be rethought as the Internet makes everyone a potential publisher in cyberspace." Thomas L. Friedman, "Boston E-Party," New York Times, 1/1/00

liquidation

"Hiding the forty-six comrades who were scheduled for liquidation became much easier." David Hackett, The Buchenwald Report

lithe

"Tasteless headlines screamed 'Newtie's Cutie' to describe the lithe hymn-singing young staff member who inexplicably fell for her portly Newt." Robert Reno, "Political Garbage," Newsday, 8/19/99

livid

"Livid with anger, the poster boy for road rage jumped out of his red convertible and came running toward us." Letter to the Editor, "Big Road Hazard," Newsday, 8/19/99

loath

"Still I am loath simply to join the conspiracy." "The Happy-Parents Conspiracy," New York Times, 5/23/99

loathing

"He had braced himself not to become entangled in her loathing for him." Phillip Roth, American Pastoral

longevity

"The longevity of metal parts is increased by this new process." Report, General Motors Corporation

lucrative

"Very quickly it became a surprisingly lucrative property." David McCullough, The Great Bridge

lugubrious

"Lugubrious notices on the passing of old friends were a feature of the local paper." TIME, 8/20/99