stepwise Definition: (adjective) Marked by a gradual progression as if step by step. Synonyms: bit-by-bit, in small stages, piecemeal, step-by-step Usage: Quantum mechanics is a natural system of stepwise interactions that governs very small things.    

P. T. Barnum (1810) Barnum may be best known for the circus he formed with James Bailey in 1881, but this took place late in his life and was neither his first, nor sole, line of work. The splashy showman […]

It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment. Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)    

hackneyed Definition: (adjective) Repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse. Synonyms: banal, old-hat, stock, threadbare, timeworn, trite, well-worn, tired, shopworn, commonplace Usage: For God’s sake do not thrust upon me your hackneyed remarks, repeated to nausea, that “I was only a […]

Louis XI of France, the Spider King (1423) Louis XI ruled from 1461 to 1483 and is deemed France’s first modern king for establishing a powerful monarchy and moving away from the feudal system of the Middle Ages. His web […]

Examine your words well, and you will find that even when you have no motive to be false, it is a very hard thing to say the exact truth, even about your own immediate feelings. George Eliot (1819-1880)    

soul-searching Definition: (noun) A penetrating examination of one’s motives, convictions, and attitudes. Synonyms: self-analysis Usage: Mary’s therapist told her she was going to have to be introspective and do much soul-searching if she hoped to learn what was at the […]

Patrice Lumumba (1925) Lumumba was an African nationalist leader and the first elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. The early years of independence were tumultuous, and Lumumba held […]

Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)    

lambent Definition: (adjective) Softly bright or radiant. Synonyms: aglow, lucent, luminous Usage: Lady Ruth lifted her eyes to his, and their lambent fires were suddenly rekindled.        

Alexis Carrel (1873) In 1894, French president Sadi Carnot died because surgeons could not reconnect his severed veins after a stabbing. The incident inspired Carrel, a French surgeon, to develop a suturing technique based on methods used by embroiderers. Known […]

In our nature, however, there is a provision, alike marvelous and merciful, that the sufferer should never know the intensity of what he endures by its present torture, but chiefly by the pang that rankles after it. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) […]

commiserate Definition: (verb) To feel or express sympathy or compassion. Synonyms: sympathize Usage: Several friends called to commiserate when they found out that I had not gotten the job, and this comforted me somewhat.    

Louis XII of France (1462) King of France from 1498 to 1515, Louis XII succeeded his cousin Charles VIII. Called the “Father of the People” by his subjects, Louis maintained his popularity by ruling with moderation. Despite early victories, he […]

The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen. Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)