The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
ABJECTLY
abjectly, resignedly
(adverb) in a hopeless resigned manner; “she shrugged her shoulders abjectly”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adverb
abjectly (comparative more abjectly, superlative most abjectly)
In an abject fashion; with great shame; desperately. [first attested c. 1350–1470]
Antonym: proudly (somewhat)
Source: Wiktionary
Ab"ject*ly, adv.
Definition: Meanly; servilely.
ABJECT
Ab"ject, a. Etym: [L. abjectus, p. p. of abjicere to throw away; ab + jacere to throw. See Jet a shooting forth.]
1. Cast down; low-lying. [Obs.] From the safe shore their floating carcasses And broken chariot wheels; so thick bestrown Abject and lost lay these, covering the flood. Milton.
2. Sunk to a law condition; down in spirit or hope; degraded; servile; groveling; despicable; as, abject posture, fortune, thoughts. "Base and abject flatterers." Addison. "An abject liar." Macaulay. And banish hence these abject, lowly dreams. Shak.
Syn.
– Mean; groveling; cringing; mean-spirited; slavish; ignoble; worthless; vile; beggarly; contemptible; degraded.
Ab*ject", v. t. Etym: [From Abject, a.]
Definition: To cast off or down; hence, to abase; to degrade; to lower; to debase. [Obs.] Donne.
Ab"ject, n.
Definition: A person in the lowest and most despicable condition; a castaway. [Obs.] Shall these abjects, these victims, these outcasts, know any thing of pleasure I. Taylor.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
19 April 2025
CATCH
(verb) grasp with the mind or develop an understanding of; “did you catch that allusion?”; “We caught something of his theory in the lecture”; “don’t catch your meaning”; “did you get it?”; “She didn’t get the joke”; “I just don’t get him”
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