Membean is an incredibly effective way to learn words and permanently remember them.
Learn more on how we help for
Test Prep,
Personal Learning,
or get it for your
School.
An acrid remark is mean, bitter, and highly critical of someone.
An acrimonious meeting or discussion is bitter, resentful, and filled with angry contention.
If you are bellicose, you behave in an aggressive way and are likely to start an argument or fight.
A belligerent person or country is aggressive, very unfriendly, and likely to start a fight.
Someone who has a bilious personality is highly irritable and bad-tempered.
Someone who is boisterous is noisy, excitable, and full of boundless energy; therefore, they show a lack of disciplined restraint at times.
Someone who has a bristling personality is easily offended, annoyed, or angered.
The adjective bucolic is used to describe things that are related to or characteristic of rural or country life.
A cacophony is a loud and unpleasant mixture of sounds.
A chaotic state of affairs is in a state of confusion and complete disorder.
Two people concordant with each other are in agreement or harmony.
A dirge is a slow and sad piece of music often performed at funerals.
When you are in a state of disarray, you are disorganized, disordered, and in a state of confusion.
When you are discombobulated, you are confused and upset because you have been thrown into a situation that you temporarily cannot handle.
A situation or thing that is discordant does not fit in with other things; therefore, it is disagreeable, strange, or unpleasant.
Dissonance is an unpleasant situation of opposition in which ideas or actions are not in agreement or harmony; dissonance also refers to a harsh combination of sounds.
Something that is divisive is likely to cause arguments between people.
Euphony is a pleasing sound in speech or music.
A fracas is a rough and noisy fight or loud argument that can involve multiple people.
When two people are in a harmonious state, they are in agreement with each other; when a sound is harmonious, it is pleasant or agreeable to the ear.
When there is havoc, there is great disorder, widespread destruction, and much confusion.
An idyll is a place or situation that is extremely pleasant, peaceful, and has no problems.
An impending event is approaching fast or is about to occur; this word usually has a negative implication, referring to something threatening or harmful coming.
An incursion is an unpleasant intrusion, such as a sudden hostile attack or a land being flooded.
A maelstrom is either a large whirlpool in the sea or a violent or agitated state of affairs.
An ominous sign predicts or shows that something bad will happen in the near future.
If someone is pilloried, they are publicly criticized or ridiculed by a lot of people, especially in the media.
A placid scene or person is calm, quiet, and undisturbed.
A state of quiescence is one of quiet and restful inaction.
A raucous sound is unpleasantly loud, harsh, and noisy.
A serene place or situation is peaceful and calm.
A stentorian voice is extremely loud and strong.
A strident person makes their feelings or opinions known in a forceful and strong way that often offends some people; not surprisingly, a strident voice is loud, harsh, and shrill.
If something is tranquil, it is peaceful, calm, and quiet.
A tumultuous event or period of time is filled with great excitement, confusion, or violence; a tumultuous reaction to something is likewise very loud and noisy because people are happy and excited.
Turbulence describes a state of extreme disorder or confusion; it can also refer to unpredictable and wild wind currents.
When you experience turmoil, there is great confusion, disturbance, instability, and disorder in your life.
When you have a vehement feeling about something, you feel very strongly or intensely about it.
Virulent feelings or actions are full of hatred and bitterness.
Vitriolic words are bitter, unkind, and mean-spirited.
Vituperative remarks are full of hate, anger, and cruel criticism.
Adj.
halcyon
HAL-see-uhn
Context
The early days of our marriage were a golden, halcyon, peaceful time. In my mind, those prosperous and halcyon days were full of sunshine and carefree fun. Later, when the war came, we would remark that we’d never appreciated the calm and halcyon days when we were at peace. Even after the war had ended, life never had the same halcyon, trouble-free quality of those early years.
Quiz:Try again!
How might someone feel about living in a halcyon time?
All's Lying Down During our halcyon days we're all lying down and resting in peace and calmness.
Examples
Since those halcyon days in the 1980s, when the land occupied by the Imperial Palace was apparently worth as much as the whole of California, prices in Tokyo have dropped by two-thirds.
—
The Economist
There was a brief halcyon period in the late 1950s when Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru thought the two nations would link arms, redefine Asia, and create a developing-world socialist paradise.
—
The Christian Science Monitor
People with kids are fond of recalling those halcyon days before the children arrived, when—to lift an apt line from Montaigne—we could be "ever booted and spurred and ready to depart."
—
The Christian Science Monitor
Books about school are as varied as authors themselves; some depict those years as a warm, halcyon time of friendship and camaraderie; others equate high school to a torture chamber.
—
NPR
Word Ingredients
From a root word meaning “kingfisher, mythical bird.” The kingfisher was once believed to have been a magical bird that could cause 14 days of beautiful and calm weather around the winter solstice, a truly halcyon period of time.
