The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
FLAGITIOUS
atrocious, flagitious, grievous, monstrous
(adjective) shockingly brutal or cruel; “murder is an atrocious crime”; “a grievous offense against morality”; “a grievous crime”; “no excess was too monstrous for them to commit”
flagitious, heinous
(adjective) extremely wicked, deeply criminal; “a flagitious crime”; “heinous accusations”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
flagitious (comparative more flagitious, superlative most flagitious)
(literary) (of people) Guilty of terrible crimes; wicked, criminal.
(literary) Extremely brutal or wicked; heinous, monstrous.
Synonyms
• (extremely brutal or cruel): infamous, scandalous, nefarious, iniquitous
Source: Wiktionary
Fla*gi"tious, a. Etym: [L. flagitiosus, fr. flagitium a shameful or disgraceful act, orig., a burning desire, heat of passion, from flagitare to demand hotly, fiercely; cf. flagrare to burn, E. flagrant.]
1. Disgracefully or shamefully criminal; grossly wicked; scandalous; shameful; -- said of acts, crimes, etc. Debauched principles and flagitious practices. I. Taylor.
2. Guilty of enormous crimes; corrupt; profligate; -- said of persons. Pope.
3. Characterized by scandalous crimes or vices; as, flagitious times. Pope.
Syn.
– Atrocious; villainous; flagrant; heinous; corrupt; profligate; abandoned. See Atracious.
– Fla*gi"tious*ly, adv.
– Fla*gi"tious*ness, n. A sentence so flagitiously unjust. Macaulay.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
1 February 2025
GRIP
(noun) an intellectual hold or understanding; “a good grip on French history”; “they kept a firm grip on the two top priorities”; “he was in the grip of a powerful emotion”; “a terrible power had her in its grasp”
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