1200 Adjectives That Start with P (Definitions and Examples Included)

Are you looking to enchant and engage your readers?

Adjectives that start with P are a fantastic way to spice up your article, paper, poem or story.

They also help to enhance your vocabulary and improve your English skills.

Let dive right in:

• Full List Chart (1200 Words)
• Positive Adjectives That Start with P
• Negative Adjectives That Start with P
• Descriptive Adjectives Starting with P
• P Adjectives to Describe a Person
• Check All Definitions and Examples
• Infographic [Downloadable]
• Adjectives Starting with Other Letters

Full List of Adjectives That Start with P

Let’s begin with a full list of adjectives that start with P. Please be prepared because this is going to be a huge list.

Pachydermal	Pharaonic	Predacious
Pachydermic	Pharisaic	Predatory
Pachydermous	Pharisaical	Predestinate
Pacific	Pharmaceutic	Predestined
Pacifist	Pharmaceutical	Predicative
Pacifistic	Pharmacologic	Predictable
Packable	Pharmacological	Predictive
Packed	Pharyngeal	Predigested
Padded	Phenomenal	Predisposed
Paederastic	Philanthropic	Predominant
Paediatric	Philatelical	Predominate
Pagan	Philharmonic	Preeminent
Paid	Philhellene	Preemptive
Painful	Philhellenic	Preexistent
Painless	Philippine	Preexisting
Painstaking	Philistine	Prefab
Paintable	Philosophic	Prefabricated
Painted	Philosophical	Prefaded
Painterly	Phlegmatic	Prefatorial
Pakistani	Phlegmatical	Prefatory
Palaeolithic	Phobic	Prefectural
Palaeontological	Phocine	Preferable
Palatable	Phoenician	Preferent
Palatal	Phonemic	Preferential
Palatalised	Phonetic	Preferred
Palatalized	Phoney	Prefigurative
Palatial	Phonic	Prefrontal
Palatine	Phonogramic	Pregnant
Palatoglossal	Phonologic	Prehensile
Pale	Phony	Prehistoric
Paled	Phosphorescent	Prehistorical
Paleoanthropological	Phosphoric	Prejudiced
Paleocortical	Phosphorous	Prejudicial
Paleolithic	Photic	Prejudicious
Paleontological	Photochemical	Prelapsarian
Paleozoic	Photoconductive	Preliminary
Palestinian	Photoelectric	Preliterate
Palingenetic	Photoelectrical	Premarital
Palish	Photoemissive	Premature
Palladian	Photogenic	Premedical
Palliative	Photographic	Premeditated
Pallid	Photomechanical	Premenopausal
Pally	Photometric	Premenstrual
Palmar	Photometrical	Premier
Palmate	Photosensitive	Premiere
Palmatifid	Photovoltaic	Premium
Palmlike	Phrasal	Premonitory
Palmy	Phreatic	Prenatal
Palpable	Phrenetic	Prenominal
Palpatory	Phrenic	Prenuptial
Palpebrate	Phrenological	Preoccupied
Palpitant	Phyletic	Preoperative
Paltry	Phylliform	Prepackaged
Pampered	Phyllodial	Prepacked
Panamanian	Phylogenetic	Prepaid
Pancreatic	Physical	Preparative
Pandemic	Physicochemical	Preparatory
Pandurate	Physiologic	Prepared
Panduriform	Physiological	Preponderant
Panegyric	Physiotherapeutic	Preponderating
Panegyrical	Phytophagic	Prepositional
Paneled	Phytophagous	Prepossessing
Panhellenic	Phytophilous	Preposterous
Panicky	Piagetian	Preprandial
Panicled	Pianissimo	Prepubertal
Paniculate	Pianistic	Prepubescent
Panoptic	Piano	Prepupal
Panoptical	Picaresque	Prerecorded
Panoramic	Picayune	Prerequisite
Pantalooned	Picky	Presbyopic
Pantheistic	Pictographic	Prescient
Pantropic	Pictorial	Prescribed
Pantropical	Pictural	Prescription
Papal	Picturesque	Prescriptive
Paperback	Piddling	Present
Paperbacked	Piebald	Presentable
Paperlike	Piecemeal	Presentational
Papery	Pied	Preservable
Papillary	Piercing	Preservative
Papillate	Pietistic	Preserved
Papilliform	Pietistical	Preset
Papillose	Piezoelectric	Presidential
Papist	Piffling	Presocratic
Papistic	Piggish	Pressed
Papistical	Piggy	Pressing
Pappose	Pigheaded	Pressor
Papuan	Pilar	Pressurized
Parabolic	Pilary	Prestigious
Parabolical	Pillared	Prestissimo
Paraboloidal	Pilose	Presto
Paradigmatic	Pilosebaceous	Presumable
Paradisaic	Pilotless	Presumptive
Paradisaical	Pilous	Presumptuous
Paradisal	Pimpled	Preteen
Paradisiac	Pimply	Pretended
Paradisiacal	Pinchbeck	Pretentious
Paradoxical	Pineal	Preternatural
Paraguayan	Pink	Pretorial
Parallel	Pinkish	Pretorian
Paralytical	Pinnate	Pretty
Paralyzed	Pinnated	Prevailing
Paramagnetic	Pinnatifid	Prevalent
Paramedical	Pinnatisect	Prevenient
Parametric	Pinstriped	Preventable
Paramilitary	Pious	Preventative
Paramount	Piquant	Preventive
Paranasal	Piratical	Previous
Paranoid	Piscatorial	Prewar
Paranormal	Piscatory	Priapic
Paraphrastic	Piscine	Priceless
Paraplegic	Piscivorous	Pricey
Parasitic	Pissed	Prickly
Parasitical	Pistillate	Pricy
Parasiticidal	Pitchy	Prideful
Parasympathetic	Piteous	Priestlike
Parasympathomimetic	Pithy	Priestly
Parched	Pitiable	Priggish
Pardonable	Pitiful	Prim
Parental	Pitiless	Prima
Parented	Pituitary	PrimaDonna
Parenteral	Pivotal	Primaeval
Parenthetic	Pixilated	Primal
Parenthetical	Pizzicato	Primary
Parentless	Placable	Prime
Pareve	Placating	Primed
Parheliacal	Placative	Primeval
Parhelic	Placatory	Primiparous
Parietal	Placeable	Primitive
Paripinnate	Placental	Primo
Parisian	Placid	Primordial
Parking	Placoid	Princely
Parky	Plagiarised	Principal
Parliamentary	Plagiaristic	Principled
Parlous	Plagioclastic	Printable
Parochial	Plaguey	Prior
Paroicous	Plaguy	Prismatic
Parotid	Plaid	Prisonlike
Parous	Plain	Prissy
Paroxysmal	Plainspoken	Pristine
Parrotlike	Plaintive	Private
Parsimonious	Planar	Privileged
Parthenogenetic	Planate	Privy
Parthian	Plane	Prize
Partial	Planetal	Prized
Partible	Planetary	Prizewinning
Participatory	Plangent	Proactive
Participial	Planktonic	Probabilistic
Particolored	Planless	Probable
Particoloured	Planned	Probative
Particular	Planoconcave	Probatory
Particularised	Planoconvex	Probing
Particularistic	Planographic	Problematic
Particularized	Plantal	Problematical
Particulate	Plantar	Procaryotic
Partisan	Plantigrade	Procedural
Partitive	Plastered	Processional
Partizan	Plastic	Proconsular
Parturient	Platelike	Procreative
Parve	Platitudinal	Procrustean
Parvenu	Platitudinous	Procumbent
Parvenue	Platonic	Procurable
Paschal	Platonistic	Prodigal
Pass	Platyrhine	Prodigious
Passable	Platyrhinian	Prodromal
Passant	Platyrrhine	Prodromic
Passe	Platyrrhinian	Productive
Passee	Platyrrhinic	Profanatory
Passerine	Plausible	Profane
Passing	Plausive	Profaned
Passionate	Playable	Professed
Passionless	Playful	Professional
Passive	Pleading	Professorial
Past	Pleasant	Proficient
Pastel	Pleased	Profitable
Pastelike	Pleasing	Profitless
Pasteurian	Pleasurable	Profligate
Pasteurised	Plebeian	Profound
Pasteurized	Plenary	Profuse
Pastoral	Plenteous	Prognathic
Pasty	Plentiful	Prognathous
Pat	Pleochroic	Prognostic
Patchy	Pleomorphic	Prognosticative
Patellar	Pleonastic	Programmable
Patelliform	Pleural	Progressive
Patent	Pleuritic	Prohibitive
Patented	Pleurocarpous	Prohibitory
Paternal	Pliable	Proinflammatory
Paternalistic	Pliant	Projectile
Pathetic	Plodding	Prokaryotic
Pathless	Ploughed	Prolate
Pathogenic	Plucky	Proletarian
Pathologic	Plumaged	Prolific
Pathological	Plumate	Prolix
Patient	Plumb	Prolonged
Patriarchal	Plumbable	Prolusory
Patriarchic	Plumbaginaceous	Prominent
Patricentric	Plumbic	Promiscuous
Patrician	Plumbous	Promised
Patrilineal	Plumed	Promising
Patrilinear	Plumelike	Promissory
Patriotic	Plumlike	Promotional
Patristic	Plummy	Promotive
Patristical	Plumose	Prompt
Patronised	Plump	Prone
Patronising	Plumping	Pronged
Patronizing	Plumy	Prongy
Patronless	Pluperfect	Pronominal
Patronymic	Plural	Pronounced
Patterned	Pluralistic	Proof
Pauline	Plus	Proofed
Paunchy	Plush	Propaedeutic
Pavlovian	Plushy	Propagative
Pawky	Plutocratic	Propellant
Payable	Plutocratical	Propellent
Paying	Plutonian	Proper
Peaceable	Plutonic	Propertied
Peaceful	Pneumatic	Propertyless
Peacekeeping	Pneumococcal	Prophetic
Peachy	Pneumogastric	Prophetical
Peaky	Pneumonic	Prophylactic
Peanut	Pocked	Propitiative
Pearlescent	Pocketable	Propitiatory
Pearly	Pockmarked	Propitious
Pebbly	Podgy	Proportionable
Peccable	Podlike	Proportional
Peccant	Poetic	Proportionate
Peckish	Poetical	Proportioned
Pectic	Poetically	Proprietary
Pectinate	Poignant	Proprioceptive
Pectineal	Poikilothermic	Propulsive
Pectoral	Pointed	Prosaic
Peculiar	Pointillist	Prospective
Pecuniary	Pointillistic	Prosperous
Pedagogic	Pointless	Prospicient
Pedagogical	Poised	Prostate
Pedal	Poisonous	Prostatic
Pedantic	Pokey	Prosthetic
Pedate	Poky	Prosthodontic
Pederastic	Polar	Prostrate
Pedestrian	Polarographic	Prostyle
Pediatric	Polemic	Protanopic
Pedigree	Polemical	Protean
Pedigreed	Polemoniaceous	Protecting
Pedunculate	Polish	Protective
Peerless	Polished	Proteinaceous
Peeved	Polite	Proteolytic
Peevish	Politic	Proterozoic
Pejorative	Political	Protestant
Pelagic	Polluted	Proto
Pelecypod	Pollyannaish	Prototypal
Pelecypodous	Poltroon	Prototypic
Pellucid	Polyandrous	Prototypical
Peloponnesian	Polyatomic	Protozoal
Peltate	Polychromatic	Protozoan
Pelvic	Polychrome	Protozoic
Pemphigous	Polychromic	Protracted
Penal	Polydactyl	Protractible
Penciled	Polydactylous	Protractile
Pendant	Polyestrous	Protrusible
Pendent	Polygenic	Protrusile
Pending	Polyglot	Protrusive
Pendulous	Polygynous	Protuberant
Penetrable	Polymeric	Proud
Penetrating	Polymorphemic	Proustian
Penial	Polymorphic	Provable
Penile	Polymorphous	Proven
Peninsular	Polynesian	Proven/Al
Penitent	Polynomial	Provencal
Penitential	Polyoestrous	Proverbial
Penitentiary	Polyoicous	Provident
Pennate	Polypetalous	Providential
Penniless	Polyphase	Provincial
Pensionable	Polyploid	Provisional
Pensive	Polysemantic	Provisionary
Pent	Polysemous	Provisory
Pentagonal	Polysyllabic	Provocative
Pentamerous	Polysynthetic	Provoking
Pentangular	Polytonal	Prox
Pentasyllabic	Polyunsaturated	Proximal
Pentatonic	Polyvalent	Proximate
Pentavalent	Pomaded	Proximo
Pentecostal	Pompous	Prudent
Penultimate	Ponderable	Prudential
Penumbral	Ponderous	Prudish
Penurious	Pontifical	Prurient
Peppery	Poor	Prussian
Peppy	Poorly	Prying
Peptic	Pop	Pseudo
Perambulating	Popeyed	Psychedelic
Perceivable	Popish	Psychiatric
Perceptible	Popliteal	Psychological
Perceptive	Popping	Psychosomatic
Perceptual	Popular	Psychotic
Percipient	Populous	Psychotropic
Percussive	Porcine	Pteridological
Percutaneous	Poriferous	Ptolemaic
Perdurable	Pornographic	Puberulent
Peregrine	Porose	Pubescent
Peremptory	Porous	Pubic
Perennial	Porphyritic	Public
Perfect	Portable	Publicised
Perfected	Portentous	Publishable
Perfectible	Porticoed	Pucka
Perfervid	Portly	Puckish
Perfidious	Portuguese	Puddingheaded
Perfoliate	Posh	Pudendal
Perforate	Positionable	Pudgy
Perforated	Positional	Puerile
Perfumed	Positive	Puerperal
Perfunctory	Positivistic	Puff
Perianal	Possessive	Puffed
Pericardiac	Possible	Puffy
Pericardial	Postal	Pugilistic
Perigonal	Postbiblical	Pugnacious
Perilous	Postdiluvian	Puissant
Perinasal	Postdoctoral	Pukka
Perinatal	Posted	Pulmonary
Perineal	Posterior	Pulmonic
Period	Postexilic	Pulpy
Periodic	Postganglionic	Pulseless
Periodical	Postglacial	Pulverised
Periodontal	Postgraduate	Pumped
Periodontic	Posthumous	Punctilious
Peripatetic	Postictal	Punctual
Peripheral	Postindustrial	Puncturable
Periphrastic	Postmenopausal	Punctureless
Peripteral	Postmeridian	Pungent
Perirhinal	Postmillennial	Punic
Perishable	Postmodern	Punishable
Peristylar	Postmodernist	Punitive
Perithelial	Postmortal	Punitory
Peritoneal	Postmortem	Punk
Peritrichous	Postnatal	Puny
Periwigged	Postnuptial	Pupal
Perky	Postoperative	Pupillary
Permanent	Postpaid	Puppyish
Permeable	Postpartum	Puppylike
Permeant	Postpositive	Puranic
Permeative	Postprandial	Purblind
Permissible	Postulational	Purchasable
Permissive	Postural	Pure
Permutable	Postwar	Pureblood
Pernicious	Potable	Pureblooded
Pernickety	Potbellied	Purebred
Peroneal	Potbound	Purgative
Perpendicular	Potent	Purgatorial
Perpetual	Potential	Purified
Perplexed	Potholed	Puritanic
Perplexing	Potty	Puritanical
Persevering	Pouched	Purple
Persian	Pouchlike	Purplish
Persistent	Powdery	Purported
Persnickety	Powerful	Purposeful
Personable	Powerless	Purposeless
Personal	Practicable	Purposive
Personalised	Practical	Purring
Personalized	Practiced	Pursuant
Perspicacious	Praetorial	Pursy
Perspicuous	Praetorian	Purulent
Persuadable	Pragmatic	Pushful
Persuasible	Pragmatical	Pushy
Persuasive	Praiseful	Pusillanimous
Pert	Praiseworthy	Pussy
Pertinacious	Praising	Pustulate
Pertinent	Prakritic	Putative
Perturbed	Prandial	Putdownable
Perturbing	Prankish	Putrefacient
Peruked	Prayerful	Putrefactive
Peruvian	Preachy	Putrefiable
Pervasive	Preanal	Putrescent
Perverse	Precancerous	Putrescible
Perversive	Precarious	Putrid
Pervious	Precast	Puzzled
Pesky	Precative	Puzzling
Pessimal	Precatory	Pyaemic
Pessimistic	Precautional	Pycnotic
Pessimum	Precautionary	Pyemic
Pestiferous	Precedent	Pyknic
Pestilent	Precedented	Pyknotic
Pestilential	Precedential	Pyloric
Pet	Preceding	Pyogenic
Petaled	Precious	Pyramidal
Petalled	Precipitant	Pyramidic
Petalless	Precipitate	Pyramidical
Petallike	Precipitating	Pyrectic
Petaloid	Precipitous	Pyretic
Petalous	Precise	Pyrochemical
Petite	Preclinical	Pyroelectric
Petitionary	Preclusive	Pyroelectrical
Petrous	Precocial	Pyrogallic
Petticoated	Precocious	Pyrogenetic
Pettish	Precognitive	Pyrogenic
Petty	Preconceived	Pyrogenous
Petulant	Preconcerted	Pyrographic
Phagocytic	Preconditioned	Pyroligneous
Phalangeal	Precooked	Pyrolignic
Phallic	Precooled	Pyrolytic
Phantasmagoric	Precordial	Pyrotechnic
Phantasmagorical	Precursory	Pyrrhic
Phantom	Predaceous	Pythagorean

Positive Adjectives That Start with P

By learning the positive adjectives that start with P, you will significantly increase your vocabulary and knowledge of English. So, keep them in your back pocket and develop a habit of spreading positivity through it in your life.

Palatial	Pilot	Praiseworthy
Palpable	Pioneering	Precious
Paramount	Pious	Precise
Parental	Piquant	Predominant
Participative	Pivotal	Preeminent
Particular	Placid	Preferable
Partisan	Plausible	Preferred
Passionate	Playful	Premier
Paternal	Pleasant	Premium
Patient	Pleased	Prepared
Peaceable	Pleasing	Present
Peaceful	Pleasurable	Prevailing
Peachy	Plenteous	Primal
Penetrating	Plentiful	Prime
Peppy	Plenty	Primed
Perceptive	Pliable	Principled
Perfect	Plucky	Pristine
Perky	Plus	Privileged
Permanent	Plush	Proactive
Permissive	Poetic	Productive
Perseverant	Poignant	Profuse
Persevering	Poised	Prolific
Persistent	Polished	Prominent
Personable	Polite	Promising
Perspective	Popular	Prompt
Persuasive	Posh	Proud
Pertinent	Positive	Provocative
Pet	Possible	Prudent
Petite	Potent	Punctilious
Phenomenal	Potential	Punctual
Philanthropic	Powerful	Pure
Philosophical	Practical	Purposeful
Picked	Practiced	Pragmatic
Picturesque

Negative Adjectives That Start with P

Sometimes you may have painful experiences and this is when you need negative adjectives starting with P to describe them.

Padded	Pathetic	Perverted
Painful	Pathological	Pesky
Painstaking	Patronizing	Pessimistic
Pale	Peculiar	Petulant
Pallid	Pedantic	Piddling
Palpable	Pedestrian	Piggish
Paltry	Peeved	Pigheaded
Pampered	Peevish	Pleasureless
Panicky	Penniless	Plunderous
Paranoid	Perilous	Poisonous
Paranormal	Perishable	Portly
Parasitic	Perjurious	Predatory
Parched	Pernicious	Preoccupied
Parsimonious	Perplexed	Prying
Partial	Perplexing	Pudgy
Particular	Persnickety	Pungent
Passive	Perturbed	Punky
Past	Perturbing	Puzzling
Patchy	Perverse

Descriptive Adjectives That Start with P

If you are trying to come up with a more colorful way of speaking and communicating, just use more following descriptive words that start with P.

Painful	Poetic	Productive
Pale	Poignant	Proficient
Parallel	Pointless	Profuse
Paranormal	Poised	Progressive
Parched	Polite	Prominent
Parsimonious	Political	Promiscuous
Passive	Pompous	Proper
Pastel	Poor	Prophetic
Peaceful	Popular	Prosperous
Pendulous	Portly	Proud
Perfect	Portuguese	Proverbial
Permissive	Positive	Provocative
Perpetual	Possible	Prudent
Perplexing	Potent	Prudish
Persistent	Powerful	Psychedelic
Personable	Powerless	Psychic
Personal	Practical	Psychotic
Pesky	Precise	Public
Petrified	Precocious	Puffy
Petulant	Predictable	Pumped
Phobic	Preeminent	Punchy
Photogenic	Preferable	Punctual
Physical	Pregnant	Pungent
Pickled	Premium	Puny
Pink	Preoccupied	Pure
Plastic	Present	Purple
Plausible	Presumptuous	Purposefully
Playful	Pretentious	Purring
Pleasant	Pretty	Pushy
Pleased	Priceless	Putrid
Pleasing	Pricy	Puzzled
Pleasingly	Pristine	Puzzling
Plodding	Private	Probable
Plush

Adjectives That Start with P to Describe a Person

Below you’ll have a powerful list of perfect adjectives that start with P to describe a person.

Painted	Phenomenal	Popular
Pakistani	Philanthropic	Portuguese
Paramount	Philippine	Potbellied
Pasty	Photogenic	Powerful
Paternal	Pierced	Practiced
Patient	Pimpled	Precise
Paunchy	Pimply	Prepared
Peaked	Pivotal	Present
Peculiar	Plain	Pretty
Peerless	Pliable	Prim
Perfect	Plump	Pristine
Perpetual	Polished	Proficient
Persian	Polite	Prominent
Personalized	Political	Proper
Peruvian	Polynesian	Punctual
Pet	Poor	Punctured
Petite	Poorly	Popular

Adjectives That Start with P – Definitions and Examples

Since you’ve gone through all the adjectives that begin with P, now it’s time to revise their definitions and examples.

Pachydermal: of or relating to or characteristic of pachyderms; pachydermic.

– My heart pounds so loudly that I fear the rhino might hear it — the duo is close enough for me to make out the rough texture of their gray, pachydermal skin.

Pachydermic: of or relating to or characteristic of pachyderms; pachydermal; pachydermous.

– Perhaps the pachydermic Beef’s grim attitude unnerved the wonderful Bob Forsythe, for he passed that elephantine youth.

Pachydermous: of or relating to or characteristic of pachyderms; pachydermal; pachydermic.

– It was impossible to score an advantage over his stolid strength and pachydermous insensibility.

Pacific: disposed to peace or of a peaceful nature; peaceable; peaceful.

– He remembered the belligerent ants, who claimed their boundaries, and the pacific geese, who did not.

Pacifist: opposed to war; dovish; pasifistic.

– He talked of the pacifist views he’d held before World War II. He talked of his love of world travel and the environment and college football.

Pacifistic: opposed to war; dovish; pacifist.

– To make a picture with pacifistic elements was absolutely impossible.

Packable: capable of being packed.

– These packable poles collapse into a bundle about 13 inches long.

Packed: filled to capacity; jammed; crowded.

– All Friday afternoon, Nan and I sewed, rolled up rugs, and packed as much pink as we could into the old shed in the backyard.

Padded: softened by the addition of cushions or padding; cushioned; soft.

– Some of the most difficult kids lived in a dormitory, which also contained a padded restraining room.

Paederastic: of homosexuality between a man and a boy; pederastic; homosexual.

Paediatric: of or relating to the medical care of children; pediatric.

– A pediatric nurse by training, she has a kind, calm, no-nonsense attitude.

Pagan: not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam; ethnic; irreligious.

– He felt that his morning had been well spent; he had seen a lot of pictures and he had learned about pagan.

Paid: marked by the reception of pay; cashed; paying.

– You are the debtor who is always paid.

Painful: causing physical or psychological pain; harmful; aching.

– It was less painful than if it had been held out flat.

Painless: not causing physical or psychological pain; harmless; unpainful.

– Man attempting to climb to painless heights from his dunghill.

Painstaking: characterized by extreme care and great effort; careful; scrupulous.

– We proceeded with painstaking deliberativeness, placing each foot solidly before lifting the one behind.

Paintable: lending itself to being painted.

– Its lines find a poet at twilight, reflecting on one of Trinidad’s most “paintable” names.

Painted: coated with paint; finished; stained.

– I enjoy his irritation at being painted in.

Painterly: having qualities unique to the art of painting; esthetic; aesthetic.

– The difference with my work is that I use digital in a very painterly way.

Pakistani: of or relating to Pakistan or its people or language.

– Within hours after the shooting, Pakistani TV channels ran footage of me with prayers and poems.

Palaeontological: of or relating to paleontology; Paleoanthropological.

– Collections of palaeontological samples provide an analogue for the practices needed.

Palatable: acceptable to the taste or mind; toothsome; appetizing.

– Leaving aside species with small or unpalatable seeds, they picked out 23 of the most palatable and largest-seeded wild grasses.

Palatal: relating to or lying near the palate; Palatine.

– Scientists first identified this palatal organ in the monster ghost shark in 2015.

Palatalised: produced with the front of the tongue near or touching the hard palate (as `y’) or with the blade of the tongue near the hard palate (as `ch’ in `chin’ or `j’ in `gin’); palatal; soft.

Palatalized: produced with the front of the tongue near or touching the hard palate (as `y’) or with the blade of the tongue near the hard palate (as `ch’ in `chin’ or `j’ in `gin’); palatal; soft.

– Just to what extent g, c, sc were palatalized in O. Nhb. is not definitely known.

Palatial: relating to or being a palace; impressive.

– By prison standards, this was palatial, but the rooms were damp and musty and received very little natural light.

Palatoglossal: relating to the palate and tongue.

– Toward the front, the palatoglossal arch lies next to the base of the tongue; behind it, the palatopharyngeal arch forms the superior and lateral margins of the fauces.

Pale: very light colored; highly diluted with white; light; light-colored.

– Her face was pale and drawn, her eyes a bit sunken.

Paleoanthropological: of or concerned with the scientific study of human fossils.

– She was once the scion, and is now matriarch, of the Leakey dynasty, three generations of paleoanthropological royalty

Paleocortical: of or relating to the olfactory cortex of the cerebrum.

Paleontological: of or relating to paleontology; Paleoanthropological.

– In normal times, children use miniature paleontological tools to find reproduced fossils in the sand of a “dig pit.

Paleozoic: of or relating to or denoting the Paleozoic era; paleozonic era.

– The images also depict planned attractions that were never realized, including a Paleozoic Museum in Central Park.

Palestinian: of or relating to the area of Palestine and its inhabitants.

– That applies also to Palestinians to whose plight I am sensitive but whose methods I deplore when they lead to violence.

Palingenetic: of or relating to palingenesis.

– The loftiest and most suggestive of Egyptian palingenetic symbols is unquestionably that of the egg.

Palish: slightly pale; light.

– High up, the sky there was of a palish blue; in that blue shone a solitary star with wonderful brilliancy.

Palladian: referring to or relating to or having the style of architecture created by Andrea Palladio.

– We have a Colonial house with a Palladian window over our front entry door.

Palliative: moderating pain or sorrow by making it easier to bear; alleviative; lenitive.

– The loan was a palliative, not a cure, for ever-increasing financial troubles.

Pallid: (of a person’s face) pale, typically because of poor health; pale; white.

– His face, with its wrinkled, pallid complexion.

Pally: having a close, friendly relationship; friendly; close.

– I see you’re getting quite pally with Carlos.

Palmar: relating to the palm of the hand or the sole of the foot; volar.

– It is also less upon the palmar and plantar surfaces than elsewhere.

Palmate: (of the feet of water birds) having three toes connected by a thin fold of skin; webbed.

– For the first, the pieces, which are called “races” or “hands,” from their irregular palmate form, are washed and simply dried in the sun.

Palmatifid: of a leaf shape; palmately cleft rather than loved; compound.

Palmlike: resembling a palm tree; branch less.

– Most of the trees were palmlike, but towered to immense heights, their foliage swaying in a gentle breeze.

Palmy: very lively and profitable; booming; prospering.

– Buttery, shatteringly crunchy and sugary, it tasted like a croissant and a palmier had teamed up to create a pastry fit for the gods.

Palpable: capable of being perceived; especially capable of being handled or touched or felt; tangible; perceptible.

– Even if a black hole is invisible from the outside, its gravitational presence can be palpable.

Palpatory: relating to or involving palpation.

– Movable foreign bodies may produce a palpatory thrill, and the rumble and sudden stop can be heard with the stethoscope and often with the naked ear.

Palpebrate: having eyelids.

Palpitant: having a slight and rapid trembling motion; palpating; unsteady.

– On rejoining Robin, I found him palpitant and perturbed.

Paltry: contemptibly small in amount; measly; miserable.

– It made our jar of molasses seem rather paltry.

Panamanian: of or relating to or characteristic of Panama or its people.

– They contacted someone at the Panamanian consulate in Philadelphia who helped them navigate the paperwork.

Pancreatic: of or involving the pancreas.

– She died of pancreatic cancer in 1965 at the age of 34.

Pandemic: existing everywhere; general.

– I definitely didn’t mention the great pandemic from back in the twenties.

Pandurate: (of a leaf shape) having rounded ends and a contracted center; fiddle-shaped; simple.

Panduriform: (of a leaf shape) having rounded ends and a contracted center; unsubdivided; simple.

Panegyric: formally expressing praise; encomiastic; panegyrical.

– Earlier this month, shortly before Donald Trump’s Inauguration, a panegyric made the rounds on social media.

Panegyrical: formally expressing praise; encomiastic; panegyric.

– Its news media brims, as usual, with panegyrical propaganda extolling Mr. Kim’s leadership.

Paneled: fitted or decorated with panels or wainscoting; adorned; wainscoted.

 – We were at the top of the stairs now, in another paneled hallway.

Panhellenic: of or relating to all the Greeks; pan-hellenic.

– The Olympic Games were a Panhellenic celebration.

Panicky: thrown into a state of intense fear or desperation; frightened; afraid.

– These sudden, panicky attempts at conciliation annoyed me more than his insults.

Panicled: having panicles; occurring in panicles.

– In such cases the cymes are described as spiked, racemose, or panicled, according to circumstances.

Paniculate: having a panicle.

– The male and female inflorescences have the form of simple or paniculate spikes.

Panoptic: including everything visible in one view; seeable; visible.

– It stands like a panoptic sentry, watching over a spidery field of views and height limits.

Panoptical: including everything visible in one view; panoptic; visible.

– Schuyler is the panoptical observer, taking in everything from a discreet distance.

Panoramic: as from an altitude or distance; bird’s-eye; broad.

– From the tower windows we can see the rest of the campus, a panoramic view.

Pantalooned: dressed in trousers; clad; clothed.

– The pantalooned figure came up, still whistling, and paused for a moment to take breath.

Pantheistic: of or relating to pantheism; pantheist.

– The Jews excommunicated him because he advocated a pantheistic doctrine, something like the “allness of God,” or “God in everything.

Pantropic: distributed throughout the tropics; pantropical; equatorial.

– SARS-CoV-2 is part of the world now, a “pantropic” virus that can infect people, deer, minks, rats and all sorts of mammals.

Pantropical: distributed throughout the tropics; pantropic; equatorial.

Papal: proceeding from or ordered by or subject to a pope or the papacy regarded as the successor of the Apostles; aposolic; pontifical.

– I do not listen to papal pronouncements with which I disagree.

Paperback: (of books) having a flexible binding; bound; paper-backed.

– I also find a spot for my paperbacks Great American Poetry and Macbeth.

Paperbacked: (of books) having a flexible binding; bound; paperback.

– The young man brought with him a large paperbacked volume which he had taken out of his travelling bag.

Paperlike: of or like paper; chartaceous; Papery.

– They climbed into the front window with the black Labrador puppies and beckoned with flat, paperlike fingers.

Papery: thin and paperlike; thin.

– Lourdes lifts her dead father’s gnarled hands, his papery, spotted wrists.

Papillary: of or relating to or resembling papilla; papillose.

– Last year, Lugo shared with her followers that she was diagnosed with stage 2 papillary thyroid cancer.

Papillate: resembling or covered with papillae.

– The spores are very distinctly papillate; in some specimens, however, almost smooth; in few instances, rough.

Papilliform: shaped like a papilla.

– These spines are at first papilliform, then elongated and round.

Papillose: of or relating to or resembling papilla; papillary.

Papist: of or relating to or supporting Romanism; romish; romanist.

– He’d say the Irish and them are well known to be Catholic papists and worshipers of the false idols.

Papistic: of or relating to or supporting Romanism; papist; popish.

– Doubtless the offence of the ejected predecessor was that he was married, which was contrary to the papistic ideas, revived in that brief reign.

Papistical: of or relating to or supporting Romanism; papistic; popish.

– Ascham not only abhorred all Italians as papists, but all Italian books as papistical.

Pappose: (of plants such as dandelions and thistles) having pappi or tufts of featherlike hairs or delicate bristles; hairy; hirsute.

Papuan: of or relating to Papua or its people or language.

–  Most languages of the Bismarck and Solomon islands are Austronesian: Papuan languages are spoken only in isolated pockets on a few islands.

Parabolic: having the form of a parabola; Parabolical; rounded.

– I wasn’t sure where we’d gone since the lessons in parabolic ratios the week before.

Parabolical: having the form of a parabola; paraboolic; rounded.

– The subjects of the pictures are allegorical, parabolical, and diabolical, the scenes being laid in heaven, hell, and mid-air.

Paraboloidal: having the shape of a paraboloid; rounded.

– These reflectors were formed of facets of mirror-glass placed in hollow paraboloidal moulds of plaster.

Paradigmatic: of or relating to a typical example.

– These two paradigmatic examples are the subjects I turn to now.

Paradisaic: relating to or befitting Paradise; paradisiac; heavenly.

– The memory of that first state of Freedom and paradisaic Unconsciousness has faded away into an ideal poetic dream.

Paradisaical: relating to or befitting Paradise; paradisal; paradisaic.

– All that was tangled in life straightened out before them, the future seemed a sort of paradisaical boulevard.

Paradisal: relating to or befitting Paradise; paradisaic; paradisaical.

– She knew him for John, her son, but fancied him an intruder into that paradisal Malpais where she had been spending her soma-holiday with Pope.

Paradisiac: relating to or befitting Paradise; heavenly; paradisal.

– Since that evening the wide world beyond the silent woods had disappeared for him, and a new world had arisen, a paradisiac world, full of love and happiness.

Paradisiacal: relating to or befitting Paradise; heavenly; paradisal.

– Many of the Weills’ most treasured Manhattan belongings have settled comfortably into their paradisiacal new surroundings.

Paradoxical: seemingly contradictory but nonetheless possibly true; incomprehensible; inexplicable.

– Which seems like a paradoxical thing to say since he was the cause of so much of it.

Paraguayan: of or relating to or characteristic of Paraguay or its people.

– It should also be noted that the Aché were hunted and killed without mercy by Paraguayan farmers.

Parallel: being everywhere equidistant and not intersecting; comparable; collateral.

– She pulls into a side street and parallel parks like its nothing.

Paralytical: relating to or of the nature of paralysis; paralytic.

– These phenomena led my father to the conclusion that Martinengo was an inebriate in the first stage of paralytical dementia.

Paralyzed: affected with paralysis; ill; sick.

– He waited paralyzed for whatever punishment might strike him down.

Paramagnetic: of or relating to a paramagnet.

– Explain why is diamagnetic, while which has the same number of valence electrons, is paramagnetic.

Paramedical: of or denoting a person who assists physicians and nurses or is trained physicians and nurses in their activities.

– A tattoo license is required, but separate paramedical tattoo training is not.

Parametric: of or relating to or in terms of a parameter.

– Babi taught her to derive the quadratic equation, showed her how to factor polynomials and plot parametric curves.

Paramilitary: of or relating to a group of civilians organized to function like or to assist a military unit; paramilitary.

– A black paramilitary beret with black glasses and a little fledgling soul patch.

Paramount: having superior power or influence; dominant; preponderant.

– In his mind, discipline and focus were paramount; energy was not to be squandered.

Paranasal: adjacent to the nasal cavities.

– Located inside this portion of the ethmoid bone are several small, air-filled spaces that are part of the paranasal sinus system of the skull.

Paranoid: suffering from paranoia; insane.

– I told him I was still grieving over our parents’ deaths and got a little paranoid.

Paranormal: seemingly outside normal sensory channels; psynic; telegnostic.

– I whispered back, “I don’t believe in the paranormal.

Paraphrastic: altered by paraphrasing; altered.

– The remaining versions are paraphrastic and less accurate, and are guilty of additions and omissions.

Paraplegic: suffering complete paralysis of the lower half of the body usually resulting from damage to the spinal cord; ill; sick.

–  He sat upright in his chair, not looking at Mrs. Olinski or the blackboard but staring into the middle distance, as if looking at the word paraplegic or the paraplegic herself was too painful.

Parasitic: relating to or caused by parasites; parasitical.

– Of course I’d long known that I was playing host to a massive collection of parasitic organisms, but I didn’t much like being reminded of it.

Parasitical: of plants or persons; having the nature or habits of a parasite or leech; living off another; leechlike; dependent.

– With the worthless parasitical human beings gone, there was more for everyone to eat.

Parasiticidal: capable of expelling or destroying parasitic worms; anthelmintic; healthful.

– By both constitutional and local measures, the former having in view the invigoration of the nervous system, and the latter a stimulating and parasiticidal action of the affected areas.

Parasympathetic: of or relating to the parasympathetic nervous system.

– In a manner somewhat opposed to when we’re faced with a threat, rejection activates our parasympathetic nervous system.

Parasympathomimetic: having an effect similar to that resulting from stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system.

– Drugs that enhance cholinergic effects are called parasympathomimetic drugs, whereas those that inhibit cholinergic effects are referred to as anticholinergic drugs.

Parched: dried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight; dry.

– Now the walls dissolved into distances of parched weed, mile on mile, and warm endless sky.

Pardonable: admitting of being pardoned; excusable; venial.

– She squinted down the length of her own trunk with pardonable pride.

Parental: relating to or characteristic of or befitting a parent; maternal; paternal.

– Pearl waited for a parental platitude to follow: Life isn’t fair, or Fair doesn’t always mean right.

Parented: having a parent or parents or cared for by parent surrogates.

– She was sixty-two years old then and had parented two older daughters while in the White House.

Parenteral: administered by means other than through the alimentary tract (as by intramuscular or intravenous injection).

– The solution pumped through the line, called total parenteral nutrition, made Annabel gag and wretch.

Parenthetic: qualifying or explaining; placed or as if placed in parentheses; parenthetical; incident.

– Miss Bates, indeed, is verbose, roundabout, and parenthetic; but the widow never deviates into coherence.

Parenthetical: qualifying or explaining; placed or as if placed in parentheses; incident; parenthetical.

– Miss Bates, indeed, is verbose, roundabout, and parenthetic; but the widow never deviates into coherence.

Parentless: having no parent or parents or not cared for by parent surrogates; unparented; featherless.

– I thought of my sisters and I standing there, parentless, yet in constant celebration of our parents’ lives.

Pareve: containing no meat or milk (or their derivatives) and thus eatable with both meat and dairy dishes according to the dietary laws of Judaism; parve; eatable.

– All are made in New Jersey; sold online by the piece, in boxes and assortments; and are gluten-free and kosher pareve.

Parheliacal: relating to or resembling a parhelion; parhelic.

Parhelic: relating to or resembling a parhelion; parheliacl.

– The emerging rays are parallel to their original direction and form a colourless image on the parhelic circle opposite the sun.

Parietal: of or relating to or associated with the parietal bones in the cranium.

– Some broke parietal rules and were disciplined for inconsequential infractions.

Paripinnate: (of a leaf shape) pinnate with a pair of leaflets at the apex; compound; even-pinnate.

Parisian: of or relating to or characteristic of Paris or its inhabitants;

– She said possibly she might and he negotiated with her for some Parisian studies to reach him in time for the holiday trade in December.

Parky: appreciably or disagreeably cold; chilly; cold.

– I was chatting on air with him and I couldn’t resist saying ‘it’s a bit parky this morning.

Parliamentary: having the supreme legislative power resting with a body of cabinet ministers chosen from and responsible to the legislature or parliament; democratic.

– Despite Britain being the home of parliamentary democracy, it was that democracy that had helped inflict a pernicious system of iniquity on my people.

Parlous: fraught with danger; perilous; unsafe.

– As the play opens, Popcorn Falls is in a parlous state.

Parochial: narrowly restricted in outlook or scope; insular; provincial.

– Catholic parochial schools and Protestant denominational schools were also affected.

Paroicous: having male and female reproductive organs separate in a single gametoecium; monecious; monoicous.

Parotid: relating to or located near the parotid gland.

– The mumps virus mainly attacks the parotid gland.

Parous: having given birth to one or more viable children.

– Researchers captured mosquitos and counted the number of parous females.

Paroxysmal: accompanied by or of the nature of paroxysms.

– When the episodes occur occasionally, the condition is known as paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Parrotlike: mechanically imitated or repeated without thought or understanding; limitative.

– They were not evolved out of other ideas, nor gathered up from obvious sources and repeated by her brain, parrotlike, as with so many of us.

Parsimonious: excessively unwilling to spend; penurious.

– The neighbors were parsimonious with their ice; it was going to take days to fill the pool.

Parthenogenetic: (of reproduction) not involving the fusion of male and female gametes in reproduction; agamic; nonsexual.

– The adelgid is native to China and Japan and is parthenogenetic, which means all individuals are female and offspring develop from unfertilized eggs.

Parthian: pertaining to Parthia or its people or language or culture.

– He needed cooperation and commitment from all of the kingdoms in his territory before taking on the Parthian Empire.

Partial: pertaining to Parthia or its people or language or culture.

– They could combine forces to settle the Parthian uprising.

Partible: (of e.g. property) capable of being parted or divided; divisible.

– Associated word: cordon. separable, a. divisible, detachable, severable, partible.

Participatory: affording the opportunity for individual participation; democratic democratic.

– That had a similarly participatory structure and a parallel tendency to burst

into song.

Participial: of or relating to or consisting of participles.

– Sometimes for emphasis a participial phrase or an adverbial clause precedes the subject.

Particolored: having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; calico; piebald.

– Most of the students were poor, and were dressed in every sort of particolored gown or tunic.

Particoloured: having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; colorful; coloured.

– The jolly-boat was got in from the stern, and secured at the gangway, from which a long particoloured pole projected, announcing that this was “Neptune’s free-and-easy shaving-shop.

Particular: unique or specific to a person or thing or category; special; specific.

– The garden provided many excuses for breaking that particular rule.

Particularised: directed toward a specific object; particularized.

– The following chapter, brought on by the personal camera, created particularised collections.

Particularistic: relating to particularism (exclusive interest in one group or class or sect etc.).

– Its communist ideology and popular culture are remarkably, even avowedly, particularistic.

Particularized: directed toward a specific object; particularised; specifi.

– The relationships among the characters in “Prairie du Chien” are only vaguely particularized, and its creepy, creeping tone benefits from such ambiguity.

Particulate: composed of distinct particles.

– I place one sample in an empty centrifuge so I can analyze the particulate.

Partisan: devoted to a cause or party; partizan; tendencies.

– Whenever he can, Werner records what the partisans say on magnetic tape.

Partitive: serving to separate or divide into parts; separative; disjunctive.

– The partitive article is used precisely as in French.

Parturient: giving birth; nascent.

– It appears, then, from the above numbers, that cows are the most liable to puerperal fever at the fifth parturient period—a fact which is noticed by Mr. Barlow.

Parve: containing no meat or milk (or their derivatives) and thus eatable with both meat and dairy dishes according to the dietary laws of Judaism; pareve; edible.

– He wants to be in the most parve place in the world.

Parvenu: characteristic of someone who has risen economically or socially but lacks the social skills appropriate for this new position; parvenu; upstart.

– Worse, they had begun to attract the wrong sort of people—parvenus from Boston and New York.

Parvenue: of or characteristic of a parvenu; parvnue; new.

– On the other, Kim got away lightly in the parvenue stakes.

Paschal: of or relating to Passover or Easter.

– A vegetarian Haggadah swaps shank bone, which represents the paschal sacrifice, for beet.

Passable: able to be passed or traversed or crossed; navigable; negotiable.

– Her first thought was to see if one or the other of the alley openings might be passable despite the billowing smoke.

Passant: in walking position with right foreleg raised; erect; upright.

– After errors by both sides, declarer came out on top with the aid of a coup en passant at Trick 12.

Passe: out of fashion; antique; passe.

– But the way Ms. Slate is made to look resembles — passingly, cartoonishly — Ms. Glazer.

Passee: out of fashion; demode; unstylish.

– No one calls her passee, or looks out for a new face to admire.

Passerine: relating to or characteristic of the passeriform birds.

– Nearly two decades later, the sparrow’s adaptation to North America was a noteworthy passerine triumph.

Passing: lasting a very short time; ephemeral; short-lived.

– That was the signal that Washington and his party were passing there.

Passionate: having or expressing strong emotions; emotional; hot.

– Anthony felt compelled to defend her friend with a passionate speech.

Passionless: not passionate; unemotional; cold.

– The brief heat of it passed and passion died out of him; he was fond of her, but passionless.

Passive: lacking in energy or will; inactive; hans-off

– He kept his face passive, easygoing, but his breath hitched in his throat.

Past: earlier than the present time; no longer current; noncurrent; outgoing.

– Suddenly to his horror Sam found that his master had vanished; and at that moment a black shadow rushed past him, and he fell.

Pastel: delicate and pale in color; light; light-colored.

– She had a framed pastel portrait her mother had sketched of her when she was two and fell asleep on the blue rug in the living room.

Pastelike: resembling paste in color; pallid; pasy; colorless.

– Use the flat side of a chef’s knife to reduce the mixture into a pastelike consistency.

Pasteurian: of or relating to Louis Pasteur or his experiments.

Pasteurised: having been subjected to pasteurization in order to halt fermentation; pasteurised.

– A pint of milk is pasteurised, a pea may be frozen.

Pasteurized: having been subjected to pasteurization in order to halt fermentation; pasteurised.

– Bloomsbury: A surface-ripened, pasteurized cow’s milk cheese with a buttery texture.

Pastoral: relating to shepherds or herdsmen or devoted to raising sheep or cattle; bucolic.

– Perhaps an agrarian or pastoral civilization, with less culture and less people would be better.

Pasty: having the sticky properties of an adhesive; gluey; gummy.

– His face looks gray and pasty and eager, his thin hair combed pathetically over the growing bald spot.

Pat: exactly suited to the occasion; appropriate.

– The corporal patted him on the head and continued talking.

Patchy: irregular or uneven in quality, texture, etc; uneven.

– He was dressed in striped black-and-scarlet robes trimmed with sable, but the fur looked more than a little patchy and moth-eaten.

Patellar: near or relating to the patella or kneecap.

– A source said Cole used a graft from Rose’s patellar tendon during the surgery, which Reggie said lasted just one hour rather than the anticipated two.

Patelliform: shaped like a dish or pan; concave; dished.

– On the leaves also, various patelliform shells, Trochi, uncovered molluscs, and some bivalves are attached.

Patent: clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment; obvious; evident.

– I practically built that place! I have credits on nineteen of their patents, you know. You’d think they’d have some respect.

Patented: (of devices and processes) protected by patent; proprietary.

– It was the perfect opportunity for a patented Roy Lee kind of move.

Paternal: characteristic of a father; fatherlike; fatherly.

– Something like paternal pride pushed away Henry’s drowsiness.

Paternalistic: benevolent but sometimes intrusive; paternal.

– Lawes ran his prison in a paternalistic way that had a warmth we would not recognize today.

Pathetic: deserving or inciting pity.

Pathless: lacking pathways; trakelss; untracked.

– They advanced slowly, for they had to pick their way through a pathless country, encumbered by fallen trees and tumbled rocks.

Pathogenic: able to cause disease; infective; mortific.

– This old pathogenic role, which has been taught to all the medical and veterinary generations of our time, is quite true.

Pathologic: caused by or altered by or manifesting disease or pathology; unhealthy; morbid.

– The gene signatures may not be completely accurate, but can be tested further before pathologic symptoms arise.

Pathological: caused by or evidencing a mentally disturbed condition; neurotic; psychoneurotic.

– Number one was that he had a pathological fear of thunderstorms.

Patient: enduring trying circumstances with even temper or characterized by such endurance; uncomplaining; diligent.

– He exhaled slowly, willing himself to be patient.

Patriarchal: characteristic of a form of social organization in which the male is the family head and title is traced through the male line; paternal; patriccentic.

– But, Lord, ‘subverting the patriarchal paradigm’—it’s like she wrote the speech.

Patriarchic: (of societies) being ruled by or having descent traced through the male line; patriarchal.

– It seems to me that the NYT’s choice to reference women’s original names as “maiden” names is just as “patriarchic” as changing it on marriage.

Patricentric: centered upon the father; patriarchal.

Patrician: belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy; aristocratic; blue.

– Mohammed’s handwriting was like him—patrician and long, with elegant flourishes.

Patrilineal: based on or tracing descent through the male line; direct; lineal.

– Living around what is now Adelaide in southern Australia were several patrilineal clans that reckoned descent from the father’s side.

Patrilinear: based on or tracing descent through the male line; patrilineal; direct.

Patriotic: having or expressing devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country; loyalist; loyal.

– Today’s game will be played before a fiercely patriotic crowd.

Patristic: of or relating to the writings of the early church fathers; patristical.

– They would rely on their rosary every night, while in another room I read patristic theology.

Patristical: of or relating to the writings of the early church fathers; patristic.

Patronised: having patronage or clients; patronized.

– Commenters didn’t only complain that the awards would be discredited and minorities patronised.

Patronising: (used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with condescension; arch; superior.

– It’s also patronising to say that only middle-class women might want careers. Women from all backgrounds aspire to stimulating, well-paid work.

Patronizing: (used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with condescension; superior; arch.

– Where some idiot like myself would have been smug and patronizing, the demoness really wanted to learn.

Patronless: having little patronage or few clients; briefless; unpatronised.

– Patroness and patronless have also the long a.

Patronymic: of or derived from a personal or family name; patronym.

– We learned his birth date, his birthplace, his wife’s — my grandmother’s — patronymic.

Patterned: having patterns (especially colorful patterns); banded; black-barred.

– He pictured the cub’s golden eyes, trembling nose, and patterned fur.

Pauline: relating to Paul the Apostle or his doctrines.

– The relocation was especially comfortable to Pauline, who was old enough to leave school.

Paunchy: having a large belly; fat; potbelly.

– One of them, a big, paunchy man, has a cigar, unlit, in his mouth.

Pavlovian: of or relating to Ivan Pavlov or his experiments.

– I looked up and, for some sick, Pavlovian reason, flashed her a quick smile.

Pawky: cunning and sly; artful.

– Meanwhile, he must keep clear of his estranged wife and make regular visits to a perceptive, pawkily humorous Indian psychiatrist.

Payable: subject to or requiring payment especially as specified; collectable; due.

– A tremendous effort by kind, old Mrs. Jacobs from the accounts payable department She brings an apple pie — but wait a minute.

Paying: for which money is paid; compensable; salaried.

– Turns out she wasn’t paying me no mind.

Peaceable: inclined or disposed to peace; peace-loving; peaceful.

– What I saw was an upside-down town, small, quiet and peaceable, whose citizens went about with the sweet civility of angels.

Peaceful: not disturbed by strife or turmoil or war; peaceable; unaggressive.

– Both towns were about as pleasant and peaceful as anything back home in Washington.

Peachy: very good; good; groovy.

– I wore a peachy silk bridesmaid dress and beaded necklace.

Peaky: having or as if having especially high-pitched spots; spiky; high.

– I started feeling peaky, so headed back to my flat in a cab.

Peanut: of little importance or influence or power; of minor status; minor; insignificant.

– She went inside to buy peanut butter, bread and milk.

Pearlescent: having a play of lustrous rainbow colors; iridescent; nacreous.

– This one’s painted in darkly pearlescent greens, blues, and blacks.

Pearly: of a white the color of pearls; pearly-white; neutral.

– The roads on it were marked with velvet black ink, rivers a pearly blue, mountains a speckled green.

Pebbly: abounding in small stones; gravelly; shingle.

– Soon the van’s tires crunched into the pebbly driveway at Jenny’s place.

Peccable: liable to sin; paccent; wicked.

– He was deposed from the Presbyterian ministry for teaching that our Lord’s nature was peccable, or capable of sin.

Peccant: liable to sin; peccable; wicked.

Peckish: somewhat hungry; hungry.

– This heat is not healthy. You must tell me straight away if you feel peckish.

Pectic: of or relating to or derived from pectin.

– It is eaten under the name of “Tuckahoe” in the United States, and as it consists almost entirely of pectic acid, it is sometimes used in the manufacture of jelly.

Pectinate: like a comb; rough.

– The Rhipidophoridae are beetles with, short elytra, the feelers pectinate in the males and serrate in the females.

Pectineal: of or relating to the pubis.

– The narrow ridge running along the superior margin of the superior pubic ramus is the pectineal line of the pubis.

Pectoral: of or relating to the chest or thorax; thoracic.

– He could see their wide, flattened, shovel-pointed heads now and their white- tipped wide pectoral fins.

Peculiar: beyond or deviating from the usual or expected; curious; funny.

– I thought it was going just fine until a peculiar look crossed the mother’s face.

Pecuniary: relating to or involving money; monetary.

– He received thanks but no pecuniary compensation for his services.

Pedagogic: of or relating to pedagogy; Pedagogical.

– It’s here that the movie’s pedagogic mode starts, gently, to kick in.

Pedagogical: of or relating to pedagogy; Pedagogic.

– This inclusive nature has broadened the scope, and contributes towards a greater pedagogical understanding.

Pedantic: marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects; scholary; donnish.

– I used to tease him about being pedantic.

Pedate: having or resembling a foot; footed; compound.

– The leaves of the root are large and pedate, the divisions wide apart and unevenly toothed; the under sides are distinctly veined with purplish-brown when in a young state.

Pederastic: of homosexuality between a man and a boy; paederastic; homosexual.

– He is the chief passive agent in the pederastic ceremonies which form so important a part in the performances.

Pedestrian: lacking wit or imagination; earthbound; prosy.

– Palmer even saw one crossing a street with a crowd of people on a green light, just another pedestrian.

Pediatric: of or relating to the medical care of children.

– of or relating to the medical care of children.

Pedigree: having a list of ancestors as proof of being a purebred animal; purebred; Pedigreed.

– To marshal further evidence, Galton began to reconstruct pedigrees of eminent men.

Pedigreed: having a list of ancestors as proof of being a purebred animal; pedigree; pureblood.

– Their major nod to enlisted men and women comes in the form of a pedigreed fighter pilot, Maj.

Pedunculate: having or growing on or from a peduncle or stalk; stalked.

– A flower having a stalk is called pedunculate or pedicellate; one having no stalk is sessile.

Peerless: eminent beyond or above comparison; matchless; one.

– I showed Lelia how this was done, sometimes brutally, my face a peerless mask, the bluntest instrument.

Peeved: aroused to impatience or anger; annoyed; nettled.

– He’d just roll his eyes at me, get peeved, tell me to quit trying to mother him.

Peevish: easily irritated or annoyed; cranky; fractious.

– He remained that way, breathing hard with peevish anger.

Pejorative: expressing disapproval; dislogistic; uncompliminary.

– It was becoming apparent that, although Bobby’s rhetoric was clearly anti-Semitic, he tended to use the word “Jew” as a general pejorative.

Pelagic: relating to or occurring or living in or frequenting the open ocean; oceanic.

– The islands’ western side also brought a huge school of pelagic — or open-sea — fish.

Pelecypod: bivalve; bivalve; bivalve.

– The oyster may be taken as the type of the form adopted by attached pelecypods.

Pelecypodous: bivalve; lamellibranch; bivalve.

 – The oyster may be taken as the type of the form adopted by attached pelecypods.

Pellucid: transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity; limpid; clear.

– Her lashes, he recalled, were golden red, her eyes pellucid blue.

Peloponnesian: of or relating to Peloponnesus.

– In that tiny Peloponnesian village the old superstitions survived.

Peltate: (of a leaf shape) round, with the stem attached near the center of the lower surface rather than the margin (as a nasturtium leaf for example); shield-shaped; simple.

– Zamia, except that the ends of the stamens are flat, while the apices of the carpels are peltate.

Pelvic: of or relating to the pelvis.

– I chip away at the pelvic bones, just a pinch on each side.

Pemphigous: or relating to or manifesting pemphigus.

Penal: relating to, used for, or prescribing the punishment of offenders under the legal system; disciplinary; punitive.

– The campaign for penal reform.

Penciled: write, draw, or colour with a pencil; write; write down.

– A previous owner has pencilled their name inside the cover.

Pendant: held from above; dependent; pendent.

Pendent: held from above; dependent; supported.

– To complete the ensemble, Spears wore a beaded necklace with an arrowhead-shaped pendent.

Pending: awaiting conclusion or confirmation; unifinished.

– Those with lawful permanent residency applications pending, and those who haven’t filed any paperwork, are still considered “undocumented.

Pendulous: having branches or flower heads that bend downward; cernuous; drooping.

– I colored in his hair, drew on ears and lips, but the nose got special attention—it was giant, pendulous, overpowering.

Penetrable: capable of being penetrated; vulnerable.

– Together, they form a wall; one is simply more penetrable than the other.

Penetrating: having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions; acute; sharp.

– I held the bundle and instantly felt the warmth of its little body penetrating through my coat.

Penial: of or relating to the penis; Penile.

– Cowper’s glands are lacking; and there is a large penial bone.

Penile: of or relating to the penis; penial.

Peninsular: of or forming or resembling a peninsula.

– The decision to sell up and move to the remote peninsular was, Gillies says now, “whimsical”.

Penitent: feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds; repentant; ashamed.

– I was always a penitent when I was close to a priest at confession.

Penitential: showing or constituting penance; penitentiary; penitent.

– The National Gallery generally offers two types of seating: luxury and penitential.

Penitentiary: showing or constituting penance; penitential; repentant.

– It was what eighth graders whose career goal was the state penitentiary did.

Pennate: having feathered wings; feathered.

– In some pennate muscles, the muscle fibers wrap around the tendon, sometimes forming individual fascicles in the process.

Penniless: not having enough money to pay for necessities; hard up; poor.

– My days were more exciting when I was penniless and had to forage around for my next meal.

Pensionable: entitled to receive a pension; eligible.

– This is not an accusation to level at Bryan Ferry, even as he stands on the verge of pensionable status.

Pensive: deeply or seriously thoughtful; brooding; reflective.

– So pensive and self-absorbed was Mr. Shakespeare that he walked by without even noting our presence.

Pent: closely confined; shut up; confined.

– I could feel it, and smell it, pent up there, behind the clouds.

Pentagonal: of or relating to or shaped like a pentagon; Pentangular.

– Intimidating black cannons lined the outer walls of the pentagonal structure, though the fort never came under siege.

Pentamerous: divided into five parts; specifically, having each floral whorl consist of five (or a multiple of five) members; divided.

– Thus, in both Lilium lancifolium and L. auratum the writer has frequently met with pentamerous flowers.

Pentangular: of or relating to or shaped like a pentagon; pentagonal.

– They were brown and pentangular, with a short stem, and slightly punctured at the intersections.

Pentasyllabic: having or characterized by or consisting of five syllables; syllabic.

Pentatonic: relating to a pentatonic scale.

– The most familiar pentatonic scales are used in much of the music of eastern Asia.

Pentavalent: having a valence of five.

– A baby being vaccinated with the new pentavalent jab at the Medina centre.

Penultimate: next to the last; next-to last; intermediate.

– The squares on the board in front of me are filling up: I’m making my penultimate play of the night.

Penumbral: of or pertaining to the region of partial shadow around an umbra.

– They sensed somehow that she lived in the penumbral shadows between two worlds, just beyond the grasp of their power.

Penurious: excessively unwilling to spend; stingy; penurious.

– The neighbors were parsimonious with their ice; it was going to take days to fill the pool.

Peppery: having the piquant burning taste of peppers; tasty.

– The roots of this flower are very good if you boil them long enough to remove the peppery taste.

Peppy: marked by lively action; lively; zippy.

– We both felt extraordinarily peppy and, I would say, extremely refreshed.

Peptic: relating to or promoting digestion.

– Both groups showed similar low levels of problematic events including internal bleeding and peptic ulcers.

Perambulating: strolling or walking around; mobile.

– In the middle of this perambulating he showed up in Patuxet.

Perceivable: capable of being perceived especially by sight or hearing; perceptible.

– There was no perceivable difference between his existence and nonexistence, as far as any of us were concerned.

Perceptible: (especially of a slight movement or change of state) able to be seen or noticed; noticeable; discernible.

– A perceptible decline in public confidence.

Perceptive: having or showing sensitive insight; insightful; discerning.

– An extraordinarily perceptive account of their relationship.

Perceptual: relating to the ability to interpret or become aware of something through the senses.

– A patient with perceptual problems who cannot judge distances.

Percipient: having good insight or understanding; perceptive; astute; shrewd.

– He is a percipient interpreter of the public mood.

Percussive: relating to or produced by percussion; loud; noisy.

– The song had a punchy, percussive rhythm.

Percutaneous: through the unbroken skin; refers to medications applied directly to the skin (creams or ointments) or in time-release forms (skin patches); transdermal; transdermic.

– Everyone knows that if you tried it in real life, you would be on the phone the next day booking percutaneous disk surgery.

Perdurable: very long lasting; durable; imperishable.

– The old world held the secret; and he would accept this solitary and perdurable column as the symbol of that secret.

Peregrine: migratory; unsettled; roving.

– She bellied up to the little peregrines and looked admiringly at each individual.

Peremptory: insisting on immediate attention or obedience, especially in a brusquely imperious way; brusque; imperious.

– He started issuing peremptory instructions.

Perennial: lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring; everlasting; perpetual.

– His perennial distrust of the media.

Perfect: having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be; ideal; model.

– Life certainly isn’t perfect at the moment.

Perfected: (of plans, ideas, etc.) perfectly formed; formed.

– One look at his tailored suit and surgically perfected features and I know he’s from the Capitol.

Perfectible: capable of becoming or being made perfect; perfect.

– The human form, and thus the human spirit, is perfectible.

Perfervid: characterized by intense emotion; ardent; fervid.

– It takes its title from the perfervid 1912 lyric that thrust its winsome author to the center of the literary scene.

Perfidious: tending to betray; especially having a treacherous character as attributed to the Carthaginians by the Romans; punic; unfaithful.

– Among the perfidious, the name of traitor is capital in itself.

Perfoliate: (of a leaf) having the base united around (and apparently pierced by) the stem; simple; unsubdivied.

– Its leaves are perfoliate, i.e. opposite and united by their bases so that the stem seems to have grown through a single leaf.

Perforated: having a hole cut through; cut; punctured.

– I unbuckle my belt and strip off my jumpsuit, which is little more than a perforated rag.

Perfumed: filled or impregnated with perfume; scented; fragrant.

– She was all in blue, powdered and perfumed for the suitors who filled her court.

Perfunctory: hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough; casual; careless.

– Not just a perfunctory curling of the lips, but a warm, toothy grin.

Perianal: around the anus.

Pericardiac: located around the heart or relating to or affecting the pericardium; pericardial.

– The oesophageal, bronchial and pericardiac branches are sufficiently described by their names.

Pericardial: located around the heart or relating to or affecting the pericardium; pericardiac.

–  One of the first patients to spark her interest in female health was a lioness with pericardial effusion, or fluid in the sac around her heart.

Perigonal: of or relating to a perigone.

Perilous: fraught with danger; unsafe; parlous.

–  The kingsroad can be perilous this far north,” the Lord Commander told him as they drank.

Perinasal: near the nose; perirhinal.

Perinatal: occurring during the period around birth (5 months before and 1 month after).

– Together these losses are known medically as perinatal deaths, and worldwide there are 4.1 million each year.

Perineal: of or relating to the perineum

– The outermost layer is the renal fascia, the second layer is the perineal fat capsule, and the third layer is the renal capsule.

Periodic: happening or recurring at regular intervals; cycllic; diurnal.

– One wheel on the cart had developed a periodic squeak but there was nothing to be done about it.

Periodical: happening or recurring at regular intervals; periodic; nightly.

– Delicate equilibrium of periodical filth between two moons balanced.

Periodontal: of or relating to or involving or practicing periodontics; periodontic.

–  Poor periodontal health increases the risk for tooth loosening and loss.

Periodontic: of or relating to or involving or practicing periodontics; periodontal.

– Nor do they apply to clinics that perform dental, periodontic, cosmetic or other outpatient surgical procedures.

Peripheral: on or near an edge or constituting an outer boundary; the outer area; fringy; marginal.

– In my peripheral vision, the same still image of Tariq flashes, over and over.

Periphrastic: roundabout and unnecessarily wordy; indirect; ambagious.

– Using these as auxiliaries the finite verb makes a whole series of periphrastic tenses.

Peripteral: having columns on all sides; monopteral; perishable.

– They are all planned like a temple in antis, —the earliest form, from which the peripteral easily follows.

Perirhinal: near the nose; perinasal.

– The learned associations between objects from the senses is encoded in the perirhinal cortex.

Perishable: liable to perish; subject to destruction or death or decay; putrefiable; spoilable.

– Perhaps the space under it had originally been a store for perishable foodstuffs, but at least once before it had also been used as a hiding place.

Peristylar: having columniation completely circling an area of the structure; peripteral; pseudoperipteral.

Perithelial: of or relating to the tissue layer around small blood vessels.

Peritoneal: of or relating to or affecting the peritoneum.

– Our forward-leaning position is a peritoneal pressure cooker of pelvic rotation.

Peritrichous: covered all over with uniformly distributed flagella; covered.

Periwigged: wearing a wig popular for men in the 17th and 18th centuries; peruked; wigged.

– The most famous high priest of this temple was Gottsched, that old periwigged pate, whom our dear Goethe has so felicitously described in his memoirs.

Perky: characterized by liveliness and lightheartedness; buoyant; chirpy.

– I have given up on looking perky and am fighting to keep my eyes open.

Permanent: continuing or enduring without marked change in status or condition or place; lasting; abiding.

– There was an ancient wooden meeting hall there with a huddle of permanent dwellings around it, and wharves and jetties and an eelmarket.

Permeable: allowing fluids or gases to pass or diffuse through; leaky; porous.

– Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington.

Permeant: spreading or spread throughout; distributive; pervasive.

– A nationwide search is underway to find a permeant police chief.

Permeative: spreading or spread throughout; permeant; pervasive.

– That’s the wider, more permeative side effect of this movie’s askew performance scenes.

Permissible: that may be permitted especially as according to rule; allowable; tolerable.

– Each side draws limits on the permissible behavior of the other.

Permissive: granting or inclined or able to grant permission; not strict in discipline; indulgent; soft.

–  At the National also, age guidelines seem once to have been more permissive.

Permutable: capable of changing sequence; transposable; exchangeable.

– A group whose operations are all permutable with each other is called an Abelian group.

Pernicious: exceedingly harmful; baneful; deadly.

– The reasoning behind the rule is not pernicious: the lawmakers presumed that a prison visit would negatively affect the sensitive psyches of children.

Pernickety: characterized by excessive precision and attention to trivial details; Persnickety; fastidious.

– The character was already written as a pernickety fussbudget but Daniels tuned into his damaged quality also.

Peroneal: of or relating to the fibula or the outer part of the leg below the knee.

– The fibular or peroneal artery branches from the posterior tibial artery.

Perpendicular: intersecting at or forming right angles; normal; right.

– There were broad perpendicular lines at gates, where inmates were supposed to stop and wait for permission to proceed.

Perpetual: continuing forever or indefinitely; unending; eternal.

– Besides migrants, the camp has ten perpetual residents.

Perplexed: full of difficulty or confusion or bewilderment; confused; puzzled.

– He vanishes beneath the edge of the table, his eyes perplexed, his mouth still open.

Perplexing: lacking clarity of meaning; causing confusion or perplexity; confusing; puzzling.

– Of the six cast members of Good Boys and True, Courtney is the most enigmatic and easily the most perplexing.

Persevering: quietly and steadily persevering especially in detail or exactness; diligent; patient.

– They had succeeded, as a matter of fact, after putting in complicated and persevering days at it.

Persian:  of or relating to Iran or its people or language or culture; Iranian.

– It sounded like the infernal spawn of a Persian drum beat and a dozen Celtic fiddles.

Persistent: stubbornly unyielding; dogged; dour.

– Great, delicious clouds of it, as persistent as fog.

Persnickety: characterized by excessive precision and attention to trivial details; pernickety; fastidious.

– The mirror at Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions critiques your wardrobe in a persnickety voice.

Personable: (of persons) pleasant in appearance and personality; attractive.

– Outgoing and extremely personable when the spirit moved him, he charmed a lot of folks.

Personal: concerning or affecting a particular person or his or her private life and personality; individual; own.

– But now I’m getting my own personal introduction to what can happen.

Personalised: made for or directed or adjusted to a particular individual; personal; personalized.

– The result is a combination of intricate reporting and personalised responses that tend to shy away from firm conclusions.

Personalized: made for or directed or adjusted to a particular individual; personal; personalised.

– They flew through the air with the greatest of ease. They were famous. They had personalized luggage.

Perspicacious: mentally acute or penetratingly discerning; clear-eyed; clear-sighted.

– She taught herself English with the help of homemade vocabulary lists: peccary, pecuniary, perspicacious.

Perspicuous: (of language) transparently clear; easily understandable; clear; lucid.

– It’s a shame, since her vision and craft were so lively and perspicuous.

Persuadable: being susceptible to persuasion; susceptible; seaside.

– I think that they overreached so profoundly on the national level that they started losing persuadable voters all over the place.

Persuasible: being susceptible to persuasion; susceptible; convincible.

Persuasive: intended or having the power to induce action or belief; convincing; coaxing.

– Whatever extra persuasive muscle was found in the high- fear booklet was clearly irrelevant.

Pertinacious: stubbornly unyielding; dogged; dour.

– Despite this, the pertinacious ranger does possess the precious commodity of self-knowledge.

Pertinent: being of striking appropriateness and pertinence; apt; apropos.

– What is pertinent is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint.

Perturbed: thrown into a state of agitated confusion; (`rattled’ is an informal term); discomposed; rattled.

– Consequently, the path of the star will be altered, or perturbed, from a straight line to a wavy one.

Perturbing: causing distress or worry or anxiety; disturbing; worrying.

– We are perturbing our poor planet in serious and contradictory ways.

Peruked: wearing a wig popular for men in the 17th and 18th centuries; periwigged; wigged.

– This insulted Orson is swinging a tremendous club upon the little peruked ribboned high gentleman, promenading loftily in his preserves yonder.

Peruvian: of or relating to or characteristic of Peru or its people.

– It is a Chimera, a Griffon, a Sphinx, a Ganesha, a Peruvian god, a Ch’i-lin, an omen of good fortune, a wish for the world.

Pervasive: spreading or spread throughout; permeant; permeating.

– The importance of written, rather than spoken, transmission is also pervasive.

Perverse: deviating from what is considered moral or right or proper or good; depraved; corrupt.

– I felt a perverse pleasure in these pains, for they distracted me from my misery.

Perversive: tending to corrupt or pervert; evil; pestiferous.

– This perversive philosophy once launched needed only a leader to present it in a concrete and popular form.

Pervious: admitting of passage or entrance; permeable; receptive.

– While there are pervious concrete options, Gile is not a fan.

Pesky: causing irritation or annoyance; annoying; grating.

– She reared up, eager to turn and devour the pesky humans that were firing at her.

Pessimal: of an organism’s environment; least favorable for survival; Pessimum; worst.

Pessimistic: tending to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen; gloomy; negative.

– He was pessimistic about the prospects.

Pessimum: of an organism’s environment; least favorable for survival; pessimal; worst.

– We pass over the extravagances and gross depths to which bhakti, devotion or faith or love, may degenerate in the excitement of religious festivals—corruptio optimi pessimum.

Pestiferous: contaminated with infecting organisms; dirty; septic.

– When seedlings popped, I put collars around them to protect against pestiferous birds.

Pestilent: likely to spread and cause an epidemic disease; epidemic; plaguey.

– The air was steeped in evil during those muggy, pestilent days.

Pestilential: likely to spread and cause an epidemic disease; pestilent; pestiferous.

– Their snorting of a many-headed dragon filled the glow of noon with a pestilential vapor.

Pet: preferred above all others and treated with partiality; loved; favorite.

– After they left, I stared at Quinby, sitting there, obedient as a pet dog.

Petaled: (of flowers) having petals; petalled; polypetalous.

– Like bar codes or tree rings, and yes, fingerprints – they were maps that led to the truth of me – that I was no flower, no petaled thing.

Petalled: (of flowers) having petals; gamopetalous; salverform.

– Wide petalled, burning red, their golden hearts open to sun and bees, they were the blossoms for the earth-woman.

Petalless: (of flowers) having no petals; apetalous.

– He loves me, he loves me not; he loves me, how nice,” Dolores laughs softly, as she flings the petalless flower in the water.

Petallike: resembling a petal; petal-like; leafy.

– One end flared out into a petallike formation.

Petaloid: resembling a flower petal.

– Interior design, 6 radiating lanceolate or petaloid areas, double-line border, containing from 33 to 50 spots.

Petalous: (of flowers) having petals; petalled; salverform.

– But the floral kingdom was not responsible for that swirl of petalous whiteness.

Petite: very small; little; flyspeck.

– Instead I saw a petite lady, not much bigger than Hand Clap.

Petitionary: of the nature of or expressing a petition; imploring; pleading.

– This logic even the Hyperborean understands; fast enough, with apologetic, petitionary growl, he sidles off; and, except for suicidal as well as homicidal purposes, need not return.

Petrous: (of bone especially the temporal bone) resembling stone in hardness; stonelike; hard.

– Researchers targeted DNA stored in the petrous, a very dense bone that envelopes the inner ear.

Petticoated: wearing or furnished with a petticoat; clad; clothed.

– Tia Alicia appeared in a petticoated dress, carrying a parasol against the mild winter sun.

Pettish: easily irritated or annoyed; cranky; testy.

– On an international stage, Pence made America look small with his pettish behavior.

Petty: (informal) small and of little importance; footling; little.

– It would be petty to spoil it over this.

Petulant: easily irritated or annoyed; testy; techy.

– He was the only one who answered me,” Amah said, trying her best to sound like a petulant child.

Phagocytic: capable of functioning as a phagocyte.

– If you can convert microglia from the pro-inflammatory state to the phagocytic house-keeping state, you hit all three pathologies,” says Tanzi.

Phalangeal: of or relating to the bones of the fingers or toes.

– Deep-seated blisters form on the tip of each finger and above and below each phalangeal flexure.

Phallic: resembling or being a phallus; male; priapic.

– Some of the epic figures combined shrine imagery and phallic shapes, a risky move.

Phantasmagoric: characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions; unrealistic; surreal.

– As the picture continues, its brightly colored visuals grow ever more psychedelic and phantasmagoric.

Phantasmagorical: characterized by fantastic imagery and incongruous juxtapositions; unrealistic; surreal.

– They confirm that there can never be enough phantasmagorical dreamscapes in our lives, those secret worlds where the rites of childhood never end.

Phantom: apparently sensed but having no physical reality; unreal.

– She closed her eyes, saw only flickering chalk-dust phantoms, and opened them again.

Pharaonic: of or relating to the ancient Egyptian kings.

– Though, in one of the ways “Blade Runner” seems dated, compared with Pharaonic apartments in Manhattan nowadays, its proportions are not extravagant.

Pharisaic: excessively or hypocritically pious; pious; pietistic.

– Recently our official press has been flooded by authoritative and pharisaic exhortations to soldiers’ wives that they must, for God’s sake, not complain so much about the scarcity of food.

Pharisaical: excessively or hypocritically pious; self- righteous; pietistical.

– The priggish, boorish, pharisaical right raged against him, and he soldiered on.

Pharmaceutic: of or relating to pharmacy or pharmacists; pharmaceutical.

– She looks strong, with eyes and a smile that are naturally bright rather than pharmaceutically amped.

Pharmaceutical: of or relating to pharmacy or pharmacists; pharmaceutical.

– She accompanied her husband to his doctor’s appointments and retained pharmaceutical dosages in her head.

Pharmacologic: of or relating to pharmacology; Pharmacological.

– The authors said that “current pharmacologic therapies for patients with osteoarthritis are suboptimal.

Pharmacological: of or relating to pharmacology; pharmalogic.

– I force myself through my pharmacological haze and roll over to find someone standing beside my bed.

Pharyngeal: of or relating to the throat.

– The tonsil located at the back of the throat, the pharyngeal tonsil, is sometimes referred to as the adenoid when swollen.

Phenomenal: exceedingly or unbelievably great; extraordinary.

– Beatrice was such a phenomenal athlete that Roy couldn’t imagine

Philanthropic: generous in assistance to the poor; charitable; beneficent.

– It was the first of a lengthy list of philanthropic projects he spearheaded.

Philatelical: of or relating to philately or of interest to philatelists; Philatelic.

Philharmonic: devoted to or appreciative of music; musical.

– The Bowl is experimenting more and more with the philharmonic performing along with full-length movies.

Philhellene: characterized by a love of Greece and Grecian things; graecophile; philhellenic.

– For philhellenes, its resurrection represented the noblest of causes.

Philhellenic: characterized by a love of Greece and Grecian things; graecophile; philhellene.

– Following the old Roman custom he personally trained his sons, and had no sympathy with a philhellenic foreign policy.

Philippine: of or relating to or characteristic of the Philippines or its people or customs; filipino.

– He already has places, including another jungle overseas, in the Philippine Islands, where he was a wounded hero in the Second World War.

Philistine: of or relating to ancient Philistia or its culture or its people.

– Refers to the Bible story in which Samson captured foxes, tied torches to their tails, and let them burn the fields of the Philistines.

Philosophic: characterized by the attitude of a philosopher; meeting trouble with level-headed detachment; Philosophical; unemotional.

– When he spoke it was with a tolerant, philosophic air, as though the beer had mellowed him.

Philosophical: characterized by the attitude of a philosopher; meeting trouble with level-headed detachment; philosophic; unemotional.

– We faced not only logistical problems but philosophical ones.

Phlegmatic: showing little emotion; phlegmatical; unemotional.

– They are anything but a phlegmatic people, yet they are obdurate, they are pertinacious, they finish plastering joints.

Phlegmatical: showing little emotion; phlegmatic; unemotional.

Phobic: suffering from irrational fears; psychoneurotic.

–  That is one of the reasons why men are commitment phobic.

Phocine: of or relating to seals.

–  They in turn take an interest in the author’s phocine connection.

Phoenician: of or relating to or characteristic of Phoenicia or its inhabitants.

– The water breached and dodged the Phoenician stones surrounding the island without any difficulty at all.

Phonemic: of or relating to phonemes of a particular language.

– I read through the phonemic alphabet, a system that allows people to learn how to pronounce English sounds in RP.

Phonetic: of or relating to speech sounds; phonic.

– Like Sumerian, Maya writing used both logograms and phonetic signs.

Phoney: fraudulent; having a misleading appearance; bastard; fake.

– 2010

Mark Shenton of the Stage and the Sunday Express agreed, tweeting: “Viva Forever is a phoney, manufactured musical about a phoney, manufactured band, marooned by a structurally inept, unfunny script.

Phonic: pertaining to the phonic method of teaching reading.

– One of the forces behind this phonic revolution seems to have been sheer thespian ambition.

Phonogramic: of or relating to a phonogram.

Phonologic: of or relating to phonology; phonological.

– Names, she says, “set off phonologic sparks and echoes can be seen as rungs on a veil ladder.

Phony: fraudulent; having a misleading appearance; bastard; bogus.

– It was very phony–I mean him being such a big snob and all.

Phosphorescent: emitting light without appreciable heat as by slow oxidation of phosphorus; light.

– Long, cool perspectives of modern architecture, rising phosphorescent and eerie from the rubble.

Phosphoric: containing or characteristic of phosphorus.

– In the brief phosphoric flashes her taut wrists were white with exertion.

Phosphorous: containing or characteristic of phosphorus; phosphoric.

– It was lit up by white phosphorus bursts.

Photic: of or relating to or caused by light.

– The majority of the ocean includes the photic zone.

Photochemical: of or relating to or produced by the effects of light on chemical systems.

– The movies we watch today, by contrast, are rarely made through mechanical and photochemical processes, but with computer code, with strings of zeros and ones: bits.

Photoconductive: of or relating to photoconductivity.

Photoelectric: of or pertaining to photoelectricity; Photoelectrical.

– His photoelectric eyes focused reproachfully upon the Earthman.

Photoelectrical: of or pertaining to photoelectricity; photoelectric.

Photoemissive: of or relating to photoemission.

Photogenic: looking attractive in photographs; attractive.

– He was a huge, photogenic young man of twenty-four.

Photographic: representing people or nature with the exactness and fidelity of a photograph; exact.

– West Indian Archie had the kind of photographic memory that put him among the elite of numbers runners.

Photomechanical: of or relating to or involving various methods of using photography to make plates for printing.

– The fakes, on the other hand, are typically photomechanical reproductions of the originals.

Photometric: of or relating to photometry; Photometerial.

– All spectra were scaled to contemporaneous photometric flux calibrations.

Photometrical: of or relating to photometry; photometric.

– Opposite this table we installed, later on, our photometrical chamber, which was constructed on the Bunsen principle.

Photosensitive: sensitive to visible light; sensitive; light-sensitive.

– Much of this work takes the form of photograms, pictures made by placing objects on photosensitive paper and exposing the paper to light.

Photovoltaic: producing a voltage when exposed to radiant energy (especially light).

– The design also includes photovoltaic panels and apertures to filter natural light into the building.

Phrasal: of or relating to or functioning as a phrase.

– Vaguely,” I said, and conjured a man with a mischievous face who ignored me unless he needed help with phrasal verbs.

Phreatic: of or relating to ground water.

– The initial stages of Taal’s current eruption were, in fact, such steam-driven, or phreatic, ones, and they sent ash high into the sky.

Phrenetic: excessively agitated; distraught with fear or other violent emotion; agitated; frenzied.

– They tell us that, as the disorder proceeds, it eats into the brain; either causing the dog to be destroyed, or driving it phrenetic.

Phrenic: of or relating to the diaphragm.

– If your stomach gets too full, either with food or gas bubbles, it can stimulate the vagus or phrenic nerves and prompt hiccups.

Phrenological: of or relating to phrenology.

– Eliza emerged from behind a giant phrenological head that stood alone on a completely blackened stage.

Phyletic: of or relating to the evolutionary development of organisms; phylogenetic.

– We assume that in their respective phyletic lines the differentiation of both S. baudini and sordida was the result of genetic changes in geographically isolated populations.

Phylliform: having the shape of a leaf; formed.

Phyllodial: having a phyllode.

Phylogenetic: of or relating to the evolutionary development of organisms; phyletic.

–  A phylogenetic tree is a diagram showing the evolutionary relationships among biological species based on similarities and differences in genetic or physical traits or both.

Physical: involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit; animal; sensual.

– The lack of physical distance between our bodies as we stood on an unimportant sidewalk in the middle of an unimportant town.

Physicochemical: relating to physical chemistry.

–  It provides the physicochemical boundaries for life, and considers abiotic, prebiotic and biotic processes.

Physiologic: of or consistent with an organism’s normal functioning; physiological; physical.

– They don’t get studied as physiologic, biomedical problems.

Physiological: of or consistent with an organism’s normal functioning; physiologic; physical.

– He was not so much in a stupor, as in the grip of a deep physiological resolution not to react to anything.

Physiotherapeutic: of or relating to or used in physical therapy.

Phytophagic: (of animals) feeding on plants; phytophagous; herbivorous.

Phytophagous: (of animals) feeding on plants; planeting; phtophagic.

– This group contains the phytophagous or herbivorous cetacea.

Phytophilous: (of animals) feeding on plants; phytophagic; herbivorous.

Piagetian: of or relating to or like or in the manner of Jean Piaget.

Pianissimo: chiefly a direction or description in music; very soft; piano; soft.

– For all his power, he was a master at singing high pianissimo phrases with ethereal beauty.

Pianistic: skilled at or adapted for the piano.

– The melody rode above a stealthy pianistic motif that connected the song to the theme from James Bond movies.

Piano: used chiefly as a direction or description in music; soft; pianissimo.

– Nellie Maxwell was a piano teacher, the daughter of a no-nonsense Disciples of Christ minister.

Picaresque: involving clever rogues or adventurers especially as in a type of fiction; dishonest; dishonorable.

– Reflecting on Nim’s story Mr. Marsh compared it to the tradition of the picaresque novel.

Picayune: (informal) small and of little importance; unimportant; trivial.

– I made the mistake of saying we were back to the picayune grind.

Picky: exacting especially about details; finicial; fussy.

– I noticed right away that Jacob was very picky.

Pictographic: consisting of or characterized by the use of pictographs.

– Emojis may just be the latest manifestation in a long history of pictographic writing and signage, from prehistoric cave painting to advertising logos.

Pictorial: evoking lifelike images within the mind; vivid; realistic.

– In the end, we cannot be sure, because Vermeer’s approach to his subject proves as subtle as his pictorial treatment.

Pictural: pertaining to or consisting of pictures; pictorial.

– A large cabinet by Franks, the panels most highly finished, different passages in the history of Adam and Eve form small pictural subjects.

Picturesque: suggesting or suitable for a picture; pretty as a picture; beautiful.

– The canals had been dredged from swampland; the picturesque waterfront hacked out of the lakeside by the shovelful.

Piddling: (informal) small and of little importance; fiddling; footling.

– Nothing else to do with their lives, piddling away their lives.

Piebald: having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; calico; motley.

– Its tongue was piebald, and it protruded most pathetically from the unicorn’s dead mouth.

Piecemeal: one thing at a time; gradual; stepwise.

– I built my computers piecemeal from parts picked up at swap meets and shady discount stores in the city.

Pied: having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; particolored; painted.

– It was a pied crow, a black-and-white bird that people in Africa sometimes make into a pet.

Piercing: painful as if caused by a sharp instrument; cutting; keen.

– A quiet, tense woman with piercing eyes, she had been a frequent guest in our house.

Pietistic: excessively or hypocritically pious; pharisaic; sanctimonious.

– It’s also a deeply spiritual film, without being pietistic or sanctimonious.

Pietistical: excessively or hypocritically pious; pious.

– Nor was the general state of religion in Maryland at the time of their experiment such as to foster a profoundly pietistical community.

Piezoelectric: relating to or involving piezoelectricity.

– The dance steps produce an electrical charge, which is harvested by the piezoelectric surface, and presto-bingo, it’s converted into power that fires the lights above the stage.

Piffling: (informal) small and of little importance; fiddling; footling.

– This may seem like a piffling side project to some.

Piggish: resembling swine; coarsely gluttonous or greedy; hoggish; swinish.

– There’s some small comfort in not being the only one—mean and piggish of me, I know, but I can’t help it.

Piggy: resembling swine; coarsely gluttonous or greedy; hoggish; porcine.

– Before she went to baby-sit again, Shirley secretly substituted buttons for the coins in the piggy bank.

Pigheaded: impossibly stubborn; stubborn; obstinate.

– Pullman’s friends cautioned that he was being pigheaded and had underestimated the anger of his workers.

Pilar: of or relating to a hair.

– They are often defined based on their location, for example, pilar cysts often form on the scalp,” he told the outlet.

Pilary: covered with hairs especially fine soft ones; pilous; hairy.

Pillared: having pillars; columned.

– Palm trees and pillared arcades cast shadows over the burning pavements.

Pilose: covered with hairs especially fine soft ones; pilary; pilous.

– The stem is slender, nearly orange color with a violet-brown apex, the whole minutely pilose.

Pilosebaceous: of or relating to a hair follicle and its sebaceous gland.

Pilotless: lacking a pilot; remote-controlled; unmanned.

– But it was all a lot more honourable – and courageous – than sending pilotless drones to the other side of the world.

Pilous: covered with hairs especially fine soft ones; pilary; pilous.

– I can not imagine that he will ever become a pilous adult, with harvests for the razor on that downy chin.

Pimpled: (of complexion) blemished by imperfections of the skin; acned; pimply.

– When he finally met Inatimi he nearly laughed in the face of this small pimpled man with a bulb of a nose.

Pimply: (of complexion) blemished by imperfections of the skin; acned; blemished.

– He was skinny and pimply but had good teeth and the kind of long, narrow body Immie liked.

Pinchbeck: serving as an imitation or substitute; counterfeit; imitative.

– With rough and homely fist he had copied this pinchbeck fervour.

Pineal: serving as an imitation or substitute; counterfeit; imitative.

– There was Robert–haggard and unkempt–still in the pinchbeck uniform, torn and bespattered now, with a peasant’s frieze-coat thrown over it–a ridiculous disguise.

Pink: of a light shade of red; pinkish; chromatic.

– They are pale blue or pink or white.

Pinkish: of a light shade of red; pink; chromatic chromatic.

– She had splashes of pinkish white all up and down her dark brown arms and legs.

Pinnate: (of a leaf shape) featherlike; having leaflets on each side of a common axis; ppinnated; compound.

– The pronouncer told her it meant a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees having pinnate leaves with imbricated petals.

Pinnated: (of a leaf shape) featherlike; having leaflets on each side of a common axis; pinnate; compound.

– The tall, straight stem of the palm rises from the roots without leaf or branch until the plumed head is reached, which bends slightly under its wealth of pinnated leaves and fruit combined.

Pinnatifid: (of a leaf shape) cleft nearly to the midrib in broad divisions not separated into distinct leaflets; compound.

– A bipinnatifid leaf is a pinnatifid leaf having its segments or divisions also pinnatifid.

Pinnatisect: (of a leaf shape) cleft nearly to the midrib in narrow divisions not separated into distinct leaflets; compound.

Pinstriped: having very thin stripes; patterned.

– The trousers were black with thin pinstriped grey lines running down them.

Pious: having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity; devotional; godly.

– There were other, more conventional pious sayings up on the walls.

Piquant: having an agreeably pungent taste; savory; spicy.

– It is little marked upon how much skill must be exercised to produce the most piquant malformations.

Piratical: characteristic of piracy.

– He revels in a piratical, bad-boy reputation, and his response to this court ruling will be the equivalent of a cheeky grin, or indeed an actual cheeky grin.

Piscatorial: relating to or characteristic of the activity of fishing; piscatory.

– Rich then used a gelatine sponge to control bleeding during the tricky piscatorial procedure, which lasted for 45 minutes.

Piscatory: relating to or characteristic of the activity of fishing; piscatorial.

– Maybe it would be best to drop the piscatory metaphors altogether.

Piscine: of or relating to fish.

– I have no desire to latch onto a monster symbol of fate and prove my manhood in titanic piscine war.

Piscivorous: feeding on fishes; carnivorous.

– The massive throngs of fish attracted a slew of piscivorous birds, including herons, kingfishers and large flycatchers known as kiskadees.

Pissed: aroused to impatience or anger; annoyed; roiled.

Pistillate: having gynoecia, or pistils, the ovule-bearing organ of a seed plant; female.

– Marginal flowers neutral and sterile, either conspicuous or inconspicuous 82 Marginal flowers pistillate and fertile.

Pithy: concise and full of meaning; sententious; concise.

– The consequence of all that ice was a wretched Thanksgiving of tiny tough birds, heavy pork cakes, and pithy sweet potatoes.

Pitiable: deserving or inciting pity; unfortunate; pitiful.

– That will make your ladyship’s situation at present more pitiable; but it will have no effect on me.

Pitiful: deserving or inciting pity; hapless; poor.

– He let out a little whine, soft and pitiful.

Pitiless: without mercy or pity; ruthless; unpitying.

– His pitiless and hate-filled eyes locked with mine as he threw the daisy garland to the floor and crushed it with his foot.

Pituitary: of or relating to the pituitary gland.

– Under Cushing, John studied pituitary syndromes in dogs and mice and contemplated X-ray irradiations of humans.

Pivotal: being of crucial importance; polar; crucial.

– No physical move in my life has been more pivotal or profound in its repercussions.

Pixilated: naughtily or annoyingly playful; wicked; playful.

Pizzicato: (of instruments in the violin family) to be plucked with the finger; plucked.

– Ratshin’s nimble, pizzicato touch on his guitar strings provides both a percussive and melodic backdrop.

Placable: easily calmed or pacified; conciliation; mitigated.

– Mrs. Orton was less placable; she sat aloof, and secretly longed to be able to say her say.

Placating: intended to pacify by acceding to demands or granting concessions; placative; appeasing.

– Hazel held up her hand in a placating gesture.

Placative: intended to pacify by acceding to demands or granting concessions; placatory; concillative.

– We are anxious to reach civilization, Professor,” said Bentley, deciding to be placative with the old man.

Placatory: intended to pacify by acceding to demands or granting concessions; appeasing; placating.

– He offered a couple of placatory bromides about the continuing virility of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Placeable: capable of being recognized; identifiable; recognisable.

– The Premium mobile version also lets users host their own Room Trades and expands the number of pokémon that are placeable in the Wonder Box and GTS at once.

Placental: pertaining to or having or occurring by means of a placenta; transplacental.

– In Tuesday’s post, Teigen wrote that her doctors diagnosed her with a partial placental abruption.

Placid: (of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves; quit; smooth.

– A time bomb was ticking at the heart of their outwardly placid, inwardly unstable little family universe, and he was afraid.

Placoid: as the hard flattened scales of e.g. sharks; platelike; planer.

– A singular species, rare, but easily recognized by its peculiar, placoid scales, large and firmly embedded in the peridial wall.

Plagiarised: copied and passed off as your own; plagiarised; derived.

– The second was that his final dissertation — a brilliant analysis of how corporations choose their names — had been almost entirely plagiarised.

Plagiaristic: copied and passed off as your own; derived; plagiarized.

– Nothing pleases a grouchy TV watcher more than to catch a new show in the act of being utterly derivative, if not downright plagiaristic.

Plagioclastic: of or relating to plagioclase.

– Both plagioclastic and orthoclastic aventurine occur at several localities in the United States.

Plaguey: causing irritation or annoyance; annoying; galling.

– I shall not weep over it, Lavinia, but ’tis a plaguey nuisance.

Plaguy: causing irritation or annoyance; annoying; galling.

– With your leave, ma’am,” said he, turning to Lady Washington, “I’ll take this plaguy thing out of my mouth.

Plain: not elaborate or elaborated; simple; unadorned; mere.

– The dress is plain black, with a V-neck that shows the tattoos on my collarbone, and goes down to my knees.

Plainspoken: characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion; blunt; candid.

– Our friendship was built on a plainspoken candor that I think we both enjoyed.

Plaintive: expressing sorrow; mournful; sorrowful.

– His tail switched in excitement; he opened his mouth and uttered a plaintive, compelling howl.

Planar: involving two dimensions; coplanar; flat.

– It is one of the most beautiful sights in the show — with a subtly planar structure seems implicitly modern.

Planate: having been flattened; flattened; planar.

Plane: having a surface without slope, tilt in which no part is higher or lower than another; flat; level.

– We waited on the bank for several hours but the planes did not return.

Planetal: of or relating to or resembling the physical or orbital characteristics of a planet or the planets; planetary.

– I recalled my low hanging planetal plains when Elena phoned for help plugging her second novel.

Planetary: of or relating to or resembling the physical or orbital characteristics of a planet or the planets; planetal.

– Other planetary systems may have somewhat different amounts of our rare elements.

Plangent: loud and resounding; full.

– Death was everywhere, and that put life on canvas into a more plangent key.

Planktonic: of or relating to plankton.

– Cyanobacteria and planktonic algae can grow over enormous areas in water, at times completely covering the surface.

Planless: aimlessly drifting; adrift; aimless.

– It was a planless mixture—a History of the Jews, Motley and Prescott, Shakespeare and Dickens and Emerson.

Planned: planned in advance; plotted; premeditated.

– We stroll past another couple of storefronts, then, as if we planned it, turn around together and head back to Prestige.

Planoconcave: flat on one side and concave on the other; concave.

Plantal: of or relating to plants.

Plantar: relating to or occurring on the undersurface of the foot.

– I’m pretty sure he mostly clears up athlete’s foot and plantar warts.

Plantigrade: (of mammals) walking on the whole sole of the foot (as rabbits, raccoons, bears, and humans do).

– Now that his cub has returned he probably doesn’t care for the other plantigrades of his kind.

Plastered: (of walls) covered with a coat of plaster; sealed; groomed.

– That word, plastered, on the brink of obsolescence, indicates to me what sort of an event that was.

Plastic: capable of being molded or modeled (especially of earth or clay or other soft material); fictile; elastic.

– Dr. Martin covers the plastic bin while the eaglet calls for more food.

Platelike: as the hard flattened scales of e.g. sharks; placoid; planer.

– He came to her, held her hands in his “platelike” palms and bowed his head for a few moments and left.

Platitudinal: dull and tiresome but with pretensions of significance or originality; bromidic; corny.

– Goodell’s testimony to the committee in June was a lot of platitudinal verbal litter.

Platitudinous: dull and tiresome but with pretensions of significance or originality; bromidic; corny.

– Brand’s platitudinous forays against politicians, especially Tory ones, were cheered enthusiastically.

Platonic: of or relating to or characteristic of Plato or his philosophy.

– The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.

Platonistic: pertaining to or characteristic of or in accordance with Platonism.

Platyrhine: of or related to New World monkeys having nostrils far apart or to people with broad noses; broadnosed; platyrrhine.

– Only one example of a mesorhine nose was noted, also of a female, and but 7 platyrhine.

Platyrrhine: of or related to New World monkeys having nostrils far apart or to people with broad noses; platyrrhine.

– The skull is dolichocephalic with an average cranial index of 72, prognathous and platyrrhine.

Platyrrhinian: of or related to New World monkeys having nostrils far apart or to people with broad noses; broadnosed; platyrhine.

Platyrrhinic: of or related to New World monkeys having nostrils far apart or to people with broad noses; broadnosed; platyrrhine.

Plausible: apparently reasonable, valid, or truthful; arguable; credible.

– Enough strange things began happening to the men who brought him to justice to make his claim seem almost plausible.

Plausive: expressing or manifesting praise or approval; affirmative; approving.

– His plausive words He scatter’d not in ears, but grafted them, to grow there and to bear.

Playable: capable of or suitable for being played or played on.

– capable of or suitable for being played or played on.

Playful: full of fun and high spirits; coltish; frolicky.

– Her voice rang, playful yet deeper than he would have expected.

Pleading: begging; imploring; mendicant.

– Ritchie’s pleading with me, but I don’t let it get in the way.

Pleasant: affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings; good-natured.

– She was in too pleasant a mood to harm anything.

Pleased: experiencing or manifesting pleasure; content; amused.

– My mom turns to my dad and nods, clearly pleased with herself.

Pleasing: giving pleasure and satisfaction; attractive; beautiful.

– The desk, too, was pleasing—his father had built it himself.

Pleasurable: affording satisfaction or pleasure; enjoyable; gratifying.

– I only hope that was as pleasurable a sensation for you as it was for me.

Plebeian: of or associated with the great masses of people; common; lowborn.

– This is what we can afford; but also there’s an unspoken rule that the food has to be unwaveringly plebeian.

Plenary: full in all respects; comprehensive; overarching.

– He could call it self-love and give plenary indulgences for its religious performance.

Plenteous: affording an abundant supply; ample; copious.

– To put it succinctly, Truman took the side of a tiny people with no oil against a plenteous people with lots of it.

Plentiful: existing in great number or quantity; abundant.

– They say the crop is not too plentiful this year,” Mercy put in slyly.

Pleochroic: of or relating to or having pleochroism.

– Hypersthene, when present, is often strikingly pleochroic in colours varying from pink to bright green.

Pleomorphic: relating to or characterized by pleomorphism.

– The cells show abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm with pleomorphic nuclei and prominent mitotic figures.

Pleonastic: repetition of same sense in different words; prolix; tautologic.

– The title’s pleonastic fourth word is the giveaway.

Pleural: of or relating to the pleura or the walls of the thorax.

– Olive used her scattergun method of treating pleural pneumonia, and it worked.

Pleurocarpous: (of mosses) having the archegonia on short lateral branches.

Pliable: capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; ductile; flexile.

– The earth, muddy and pliable, sucks at her feet.

Pliant: capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; formed; tensile.

– The creature’s fingers were the size of bananas, but nowhere near as pliant.

Plodding: (of movement) slow and laborious; leaden; effortful.

– My sheep taxi started plodding up the hill After a hundred yards, my hands and feet started to hurt from holding on.

Ploughed: (of farmland) broken and turned over with a plow; plowed; tilled.

– It had come out of the earth, this silver, out of his earth that he ploughed and turned and spent himself upon.

Plucky: showing courage; feisty; spirited.

– The Slow Club is playing, a band I like, all plucky and bittersweet and kind of offbeat.

Plumaged: having or covered in plumage; often used as a combining form; feathered.

– They were driving by the lake now, and a group of brightly plumaged girls were emerging from the warming house carrying skates and chirping to each other.

Plumate: having an ornamental plume or feathery tuft; plumed; plumose.

Plumb: exactly vertical; vertical; perpendicular.

– When you entered a stall, more often than not a plumbing emergency greeted you, a brown tide, a soup of dead frogs.

Plumbable: (of depth) capable of being sounded or measured for depth; fathomable; soundable.

Plumbaginaceous: of or pertaining to or characteristic of plants of the family Plumbaginaceae.

Plumbic: relating to or consisting of lead; plumbous.

– Chemically it is converted by nitric acid and chlorine into an insoluble substance—plumbic acid or the cyanide of lead.

Plumbous: relating to or consisting of lead; plumbic.

– A mixture of two parts of heavy spar and one of the plumbous compound.

Plumed: having an ornamental plume or feathery tuft; plumate; plumose.

– He trotted up and down the ranks, his plumed helmet gleaming, his legs decked in bronze greaves.

Plumelike: resembling a plume; plumy; feathers.

– Its dignity, simplicity and beautiful plumelike foliage place it in a class of its own.

Plumlike: resembling a plum fruit; rounded.

Plummy: (of a voice) affectedly mellow and rich; affected; unnatural.

– Philby answers confidently, in the plummy tones of the English upper class.

Plumose: having an ornamental plume or feathery tuft; feathered; plumate.

– A mineral of a bluish gray color and metallic luster, usually in plumose masses, also compact.It is sulfide of antimony and lead.

Plump: sufficiently fat so as to have a pleasing fullness of figure; chubby; fat.

– He whispered to a plump woman in a dark blue uniform.

Plumping: very large; of exceptional size for its kind; big; large.

– He had to get to work plumping pillows and stocking the fruit bowl.

Plumy: having or covered with or abounding in plumes; plumed; feathered.

– The plumy boughs stirred gently overhead and shed for us the balsamic odors, the flowers waved a welcome at our feet.

Pluperfect: more than perfect; perfect.

Plural: grammatical number category referring to two or more items or units; dual.

– If the part nearer the verb is plural, the verb is plural: Neither the milk nor the eggs were fresh.

Pluralistic: of or relating to the philosophical doctrine of pluralism.

– In the pluralistic American tradition, each legislator contributed a distinctive voice to the proceedings.

Plush: characterized by extravagance and profusion; rich; lush.

– All I want is to lie down on a nearby green plush sofa and go to sleep.

Plushy: (of textures) resembling plush; plush-like; harsh.

– One of my favorites is an untitled work that features a plushy five-point star in shades of light brown enclosed in a red pentagon that fades to pink.

Plutocratic: of or relating to or characteristic of a plutocrat; plutocratic.

– It was also contentious, to say the least, in design terms – enough to cause apoplexy among local residents in plutocratic ally genteel South Kensington.

Plutocratical: of or relating to or characteristic of a plutocrat; plutocratic.

Plutonian: of or relating to or characteristic of Hades or Tartarus; hadean; infernal.

– The man we have to thank for the Jovian- Plutonian gravitational effect.

Plutonic: of igneous rock that has solidified beneath the earth’s surface; granite or diorite or gabbro; irruptive; intrusive.

– A little examination of the material should tell, to even the novice, whether or not the substance is of plutonic origin.

Pneumatic: of or relating to or using air (or a similar gas).

– The pneumatic doors were slightly askew where the troll had barged through, but otherwise everything seemed operational.

Pneumococcal: of or derived from or caused by bacteria of the genus pneumococcus.

– The vaccine maker gave investors an encouraging update on the development of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Pneumogastric: of or relating to or involving the lungs and stomach; vagal.

– It may be due to gastric catarrh, or more frequently to irritation of the pneumogastric nerve.

Pneumonic: relating to or affecting the lungs; pulmonary; pulmonic.

– There are different clinical forms of plague, though the most common are bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pocked: marked by or as if by smallpox or acne or other eruptive skin disease; blemished; pockmarked.

– The floorboards were pocked with holes where knots had fallen out.

Pocketable: small enough to be carried in a garment pocket; small; little.

– They are pocketable, holdable, durable, lovely and say so much about the person who brought them.

Pockmarked: marked by or as if by smallpox or acne or other eruptive skin disease; pocked; blemished.

– The tall, pockmarked man unfolded his arms; in one hand he held a knife.

Podgy: short and plump; dumpy; fat.

– Only he’s not a hirsute rocker or a podgy, superannuated pub crooner latterly and creepily making a living belting out nursery rhymes for adults.

Podlike: resembling a pod; sheathed.

– I immediately noticed the sleek white podlike reception desk, which resembled a saucer, a few inches away from me.

Poetic: characteristic of or befitting poetry; potencial; rhetorical.

– I loved the dance, and particularly enjoyed learning the lyrics, because they were poetic and it improved my vocabulary.

Poetical: characteristic of or befitting poetry; poetic; rhetorical.

– Master Wheatley looked the fool for keeping a poetical genius enslaved in his household.

Poignant: arousing affect; affecting; touching.

– The drawing is striking, well executed, poignant, melancholic, beautiful—but not in a traditional sense.

Poikilothermic: of animals except birds and mammals; having body temperature that varies with the environment; ectothermic; cold-blooded.

– At this point people might start to become poikilothermic, research sponsored by the FAA says.

Pointed: having a point; sharp; acute.

– Travis threw the belt into a corner, looked his father dead in the eye, and pointed, his hand shaking like his voice.

Pointillist: of or relating to pointillism; pointillistic; patterned.

– An entire stretch of the alleyway is coated in chewed pieces of gum, a sticky, pointillist rainbow across the bricks.

Pointillistic: of or relating to pointillism; patterned; pointillist.

– The music constantly juxtaposes the sustained and the pointillistic.

Pointless: serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being; otise; wasted.

– He began a trick even more pointless: a one-handed half-dollar-to-penny transformation, but with his two quarters.

Poised: marked by balance or equilibrium and readiness for action; balanced.

– A kudu stood, one foot poised, near the water; a monkey gazed at Nhamo from his perch in a mobola plum tree.

Poisonous: having the qualities or effects of a poison; toxicant; toxic.

– A reassuring thought as Frank hunted poisonous fire- breathing devil snakes.

Pokey: wasting time; slow; pokey.

– Isabella and I find a spot on the pokey grass, and just as I’m rearranging my beret for the millionth time, I see Julia.

Poky: wasting time; dilatory; pokey.

– That poky bit of hair standing up on his head—he’d watched that thing bob around when he’d been running behind it.

Polar: of or existing at or near a geographical pole or within the Arctic or Antarctic Circles; circumpolar; Arctic.

– As in a polar expedition, every expression of life must serve only the preservation of existence, and is absolutely focused on that.

Polarographic: of or involving polarography.

Polemic: of or involving dispute or controversy; polemical; controversial.

– I thought that once the heated polemics had cooled, the essential commonality of the struggle would bring us together.

Polemical: of or involving dispute or controversy; polymic; controversial.

– Even its educative and polemical ways are valuable.

Polemoniaceous: of or pertaining to or characteristic of plants of the family Polemoniaceae.

Polish: of or relating to Poland or its people or culture.

– I try it in Polish, but that didn’t work either.

Polished: perfected or made shiny and smooth; bright; shining.

– The inside of the car was what Conrad called “cherry”— clean and polished as if he washed it twice a week.

Polite: showing regard for others in manners, speech, behavior, etc; mannerly; nice.

– Throughout the meal he had been polite—not friendly but at least human.

Politic: marked by artful prudence, expedience, and shrewdness; diplomatic; expedient.

– I hear the word Kennedy, I know they ain’t discussing no politics.

Political: involving or characteristic of politics or parties or politicians; governmental; semipolitical.

– This time, the political unrest wasn’t orchestrated by foreign powers.

Polluted: rendered unwholesome by contaminants and pollution; contaminated; impure.

– No animals died to make this cigarette, but for once I don’t like the way it makes me feel, like Em being polluted, like I’m being poisoned.

Pollyannaish: pleasantly (even unrealistically) optimistic; cheerful; optimistic.

– The relentlessly pollyannaish assessment of the Puerto Rico aid effort from the Trump administration finally caused the mayor of San Juan to snap.

Poltroon: characterized by complete cowardliness; fearful; cowardly.

– Go back to your seat, you omadhaun, you poltroon, you think from the far dark corner of a bog.

Polyandrous: having more than one husband at a time; polygamous.

– Prof Machoko said he was unaware of polyandrous marriages in South Africa.

Polyatomic: of or relating to a molecule made up of more than two atoms.

– Some of the more important polyatomic ions are listed in Table 2.5.

Polychromatic: having or exhibiting many colors; polychrome; Polychromic.

– Complementing the polychromatic paintings will be a soundtrack of jazz, soul, and rap, ever present in Congolese city life.

Polychrome: having or exhibiting many colors; colorful; coloured.

– Over the course of two hours, we added a full foot to the summit of her polychrome candle volcano.

Polychromic: having or exhibiting many colors; colored; colorful.

Polydactyl: of or relating to a person (or other vertebrate) having more than the normal number of digits; Polydactylous.

– The investigation of polydactyl hands and the brains that control them is a test case for the advantages of researching the unusual.

Polyestrous: having more than one period of estrus per year; estrous; Polyoestrous.

Polygenic: of or relating to an inheritable character that is controlled by several genes at once; of or related to or determined by polygenes; heritable.

– For instance, there is some evidence linking higher polygenic scores for academic ability to higher likelihood of autism.

Polyglot: having a command of or composed in many languages; multilingual.

– Along the way, someone substituted the Latin ending pi for the Greek podes and came up with the polyglot octopi.

Polygynous: having more than one wife at a time; polygamous.

– Polygamous societies are almost always polygynous, where one husband has multiple wives.

Polymeric: of or relating to or consisting of a polymer.

– Interrupting her harangue, I asserted that the simplest form for any regular polymeric molecule was a helix.

Polymorphemic: consisting of two or more morphemes.

Polymorphic: relating to the occurrence of more than one kind of individual (independent of sexual differences) in an interbreeding population; polymorphous.

– The polymorphic aminopeptidase locus, Lap-1, has been shown to be useful for the genetic differentiation of populations of this organism.

Polymorphous: relating to the occurrence of more than one kind of individual (independent of sexual differences) in an interbreeding population; polymorphous.

– In Mr. Shaw’s gleefully demonic art, form follows polymorphous perversity.

Polynesian: of or relating to Polynesia or its people or culture.

– Most Polynesians and many Melanesians abandoned the use of bows and arrows in war.

Polynomial: having the character of a polynomial; multidimensional.

– All polynomials of degree n—those that have a leading term of xn—split into n distinct terms.

Polyoestrous: having more than one period of estrus per year; estrous; Polyoestrous.

Polyoicous: having several forms of gametoecia on the same plant; heterogeneous; monoicous.

Polypetalous: having a corolla composed of many separate or distinct petals; petalled; petalous.

– In some polypetalous corollas, as that of the vine, the petals are separate at the base and adhere by the apices.

Polyphase: of an electrical system that uses or generates two or more alternating voltages of the same frequency but differing in phase angle; multiphase.

– Both carry conductors in their slots, and these conductors in each case form a polyphase winding.

Polyploid: of a cell or organism having more than twice the haploid number of chromosomes; triploid.

– Plants grown from these cells are called polyploids because they have many sets of chromosomes.

Polysemantic: of words; having many meanings; polypetalous; ambagious.

Polysemous: of words; having many meanings; polysemantic; ambiguous.

– Some have dared to dream even bigger than polysemous aubergines.

Polysyllabic: (of words) long and ponderous; having many syllables; long; sesquipedalian.

– So many words were still unknown that when the butcher or the lady at the drugstore said something to me, exotic polysyllabic sounds would bloom in the midst of their sentences.

Polysynthetic: forming derivative or compound words by putting together constituents each of which expresses a single definite meaning; agglutinative; synthetic.

– A polysynthetic language like Lakota technically allows there to be infinite words, Mr. Grimshaw said.

Polytonal: using more than one key or tonality simultaneously; tonal.

– The music is lucid and understated, with precise polytonal harmonies and intricately woven inner voices.

Polyunsaturated: (of long-chain carbon compounds especially fats) having many unsaturated bonds; unsaturated.

– Avoid unstable, polyunsaturated fats like canola, safflower, sunflower, soy and corn oils.

Polyvalent: having more than one valence, or having a valence of 3 or higher; multivalent.

– The new arts space is intended to be polyvalent and be able to accommodate theater, music, dance, film, technology, performance and live transmission.

Pomaded: (of hair) groomed with pomade; groomed.

– They were everywhere—the dark glasses, the ironed pants, the pomaded hair.

Pompous: characterized by pomp and ceremony and stately display; ceremoniously.

– Suddenly I held out my hand and we shook gravely, from the pompous height of his municipal and military dream.

Ponderable: capable of being weighed or considered.

– It dates back to the time in which one thought that the ‘ponderable bodies’ are the only physically real entities,” he later wrote to the British cosmologist Felix Pirani.

Ponderous: slow and laborious because of weight; heavy; heavy-footed.

– Lord Wyman was looking down at Rhaegar as if he were a roach in need of a hard heel… yet then, abruptly, he gave a ponderous nod that set his chins to wobbling.

Pontifical: proceeding from or ordered by or subject to a pope or the papacy regarded as the successor of the Apostles; episcopal.

Poor: having little money or few possessions; underprivileged; broke.

– But its exuberant canopy is a mask covering an impoverished base.

Poorly: somewhat ill or prone to illness; ill; sick.

– We haven’t seen him for a few days. I hope he’s all right. I’m sure Mrs. Taphouse would let us know if he was poor.

Pop: (of music or art) new and of general appeal (especially among young people); popular; nonclassical.

– The stove cooled gradually with almost imperceptible interior pops and puffings.

Popeyed: with eyes or mouth open in surprise; surprised; google-eyed.

– They were propelled to be so near the Rebs.

Popish: of or relating to or supporting Romanism; Roman; papist.

– What really worries the royal advisers in London is that James may be a covert Catholic — a tool of Rome playing the long game to wrest England back to popish abomination.

Popliteal: of or relating to the area behind the knee joint.

– As the femoral artery passes posterior to the knee near the popliteal fossa, it is called the popliteal artery.

Popular: regarded with great favor, approval, or affection especially by the general public; best-selling.

– Her attempt to become popular, to be more like them, had been a total failure.

Populous: densely populated;

– Then a wide river flowing through a populous city.

Porcine: relating to or suggesting swine; gross; fat.

– Expect a very large helping of cheesy one-liners, porcine enemies and puerile humor.

Poriferous: full of pores or vessels or holes; porous; porose.

Pornographic: full of pores or vessels or holes.

Porose: forming a continuous series of pores; poriferous; porous.

– Thallus radiate or dichotomous, the epidermis usually porose.

Porous: full of pores or vessels or holes; porous; poriferous.

– Instead of holding me tight and safe, her arms are porous

Porphyritic: (of rocks) consisting of porphyry or containing large crystals in a fine groundmass of minerals.

– You can find dwarfs, hobbits, dragons and wizards in the towers created by porphyritic lava flows.

Portable: easily or conveniently transported; movable; takeout.

– The town of Buford itself was a collection of portable metal sheds – six or seven, which was probably also the town’s population.

Portentous: of momentous or ominous significance; prodigious; important.

– There, strangers were as rare as shooting stars, and just as portentous.

Porticoed: marked by columniation having free columns in porticoes either at both ends or at both sides of a structure; amphiprostyle; apteral.

– We arrange to meet at the Church Hill theatre; this large, porticoed theatre on Edinburgh’s genteel Morningside Road is the AHSTF’s main performance space.

Portly: fairly large; euphemism for ‘fat’; stout; fat.

– His uncle was portly and balding, with a close-cropped yellow beard that followed the line of his massive jaw.

Portuguese: of or relating to or characteristic of Portugal or the people of Portugal or their language; Lusitanian.

– She said we couldn’t possibly understand what their social milieu was, before the Portuguese came.

Posh: elegant and fashionable; classy; stylish.

– If you just heard her voice next to Mum’s you’d say Mum’s posher.

Positionable: capable of being positioned.

– Breitling has made trademark applications for exclusive use of variations on the “Frack Master” name, including for video games, comic books and “positionable toy figures”, the Texas Observer reported in 2015.

Positional: of or relating to or determined by position.

– Dalton Conley refers to these less tangible badges of status as “positional goods.

Positive: characterized by or displaying affirmation or acceptance or certainty etc; affirmative; constructive.

– Certainly I would,” he added a few moments later, in a less positive manner.

Positivistic: of or relating to positivism; positive; positivist.

– Lucretius was too literal, positivistic, and insistent for such a delicate task.

Possessive: desirous of owning; acquisitive.

– The eye slide of black women as they approached them on the street, and the possessive gentleness of their touch as they handled them.

Possible: capable of happening or existing; likely; attainable.

– Coronations are a time when many things are possible.

Postal: of or relating to the system for delivering mail.

– One of the letters dated 1952 had a postal code on it that didn’t exist until twenty years later.

Postbiblical: subsequent to biblical times.

Postdiluvian: existing or occurring after Noah’s flood.

– It would strike us forcibly to realize that what seems to us now to be a pillar of heaven, was the patriarch’s stepping-stone from the antediluvian into the postdiluvian world.

Postdoctoral: of or relating to study or research that is done after work for the doctoral degree has been completed.

– He was the first in his family to go to school, and when he learned about Henrietta as a postdoctoral fellow in Gey’s lab, he felt immediately connected to her.

Posted: publicly announced.

– They believed in rules, and their rules were posted on doorways and in hallways and above each child’s bed.

Posterior: located at or near or behind a part or near the end of a structure; caudal; back.

– I’m holding him by his armpits, dangling his naked posterior over what Walter calls the honey bucket.

Postexilic: of or relating to the period in Jewish history after 539 BC (after the Babylonian Captivity).

Postganglionic: of or relating to the period in Jewish history after 539 BC (after the Babylonian Captivity).

Postglacial: relating to or occurring during the time following a glacial period.

– The date places the statue at a time when forests were spreading across a warmer, postglacial Eurasia.

Postgraduate: of or relating to studies beyond a bachelor’s degree; graduate; high.

– He was haunted by what he did not have—a postgraduate degree, an upper-middle-class life—and so his affected words became his armor.

Posthumous: occurring or coming into existence after a person’s death; late.

– I had heard such predictions all my life from Malcolm and all his posthumous followers who hollered that the Dreamers must reap what they sow.

Postictal: pertaining to the period following a seizure or convulsion.

– The amount of suppression of brain activity that is often, but not always, seen immediately following the seizure, called postictal suppression, may be a better indicator of therapeutic benefit.

Postindustrial: of or relating to a society or economy marked by a lessened importance of manufacturing and an increase of services, information, and research; industrial.

– Buffalo in 2021 is a postindustrial city searching for identity that isn’t centered on chicken wings, snowstorms or football.

Postmenopausal: subsequent to menopause.

– A University of Arizona study from 2017 suggested that divorce improves the health of postmenopausal women.

Postmeridian: after noon; p.m.; post meridiam.

– It was three minutes past three postmeridian in the operating room of the new Wireless Station recently installed at the United States Naval Observatory at Georgetown.

Postmillennial: of or relating to the period following the millennium.

– In postmillennial America, at least, we have been doing a lot of dreaming about apocalypse.

Postmodern: of or relating to postmodernism; postmodernist.

– Even scientists, with their commitment to seeing the world as it is, are a bit postmodern.

Postmodernist: of or relating to postmodernism; postmodern.

– The four buildings, a matching set, checked off all the proper postmodernist boxes.

Postmortal: occurring or done after death; Postmortem.

– We have two acts to go, and as Marquez assumes her postmortal identity, her dancing takes on a new authority.

Postmortem: occurring or done after death; postmortal.

– I read Wohlstetter’s book right around the time that all of the 9/11 postmortems were being conducted.

Postnatal: occurring immediately after birth; Postpartum.

– She even considered going back to South Korea to deliver her second child but decided instead to open a postnatal retreat in the city.

Postnuptial: relating to events after a marriage.

– Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are as standard as wedding rings in Trump’s marriages.

Postoperative: happening or done after a surgical operation; operative; surgical.

– Writers in lockdown are, like everyone else, feeling pale and postoperative.

Postpaid: used especially of mail; paid in advance; prepaid; paid.

– The largest U.S wireless company added a net 565,000 retail postpaid subscribers in the first quarter ended March 31.

Postpartum: occurring immediately after birth; postnatal.

– She had probably had postpartum depression at the very least, Mia realized, perhaps even a postpartum psychotic break.

Postpositive: (of a modifier) placed after another word.

Postprandial: following a meal (especially dinner).

– Small wonder I succumbed to a postprandial doze halfway through, or somewhere thereabouts.

Postulational: of or relating to or derived from axioms; axiomatic; axiomatical.

Postural: of or relating to or involving posture.

– Yet, I suggest there is continuity between premodern yoga traditions and modern postural yoga.

Postwar: belonging to the period after a war.

– The partners rode the growth of the electric utility industry to wealth and influence in the postwar economic boom.

Potable: suitable for drinking; drinkable.

– To make the water potable, the Maya laid a layer of crushed limestone atop the sediments, effectively paving over the salt.

Potbellied: having a large belly; fat; paunchy.

– In one corner of the room was a potbellied stove with a pipe leading up to the ceiling.

Potbound: (of a potted plant) grown too large for its container resulting in matting or tangling of the roots; rootbound; planted.

– But there’s also plenty of culture in Stoke which isn’t potbound.

Potent: having or wielding force or authority; strong; powerful.

– It had been her most powerful weapon, because it was their most potent fear.

Potential: existing in possibility; possible; latent.

– She didn’t work up to her potential in her classes.

Potholed: used of paved surfaces having holes or pits; pocked; rough.

– The road in front is muddy too, unpaved, potholed.

Potty: marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness; loving; soft on.

– The boys ordered their lunch, plus a baked potato for Reggie and a plain burger for Freebie, who was on a potty break.

Pouched: having a pouch.

– His somber, pouched, furrowed face was turned again to the fire.

Pouchlike: shaped like a pouch; concave; saclike.

– Bunny Rabbit was a mute trickster who acquired carrots from the pouchlike pockets of the Captain’s coat.

Powdery: consisting of fine particles; fine-grained; powdered.

– Snow Sand is as powdery as anything short of talcum, and destroys by suffocation.

Powerful: having great power or force or potency or effect; coercive; mighty.

– Therefore, His Holiness Pope Leo has found the papacy extremely powerful.

Powerless: lacking power; ineffective; important.

– Here he was powerless, nobody to control, nobody to blame.

Practicable: capable of being done with means at hand and circumstances as they are; possible; feasible.

– Even the one plan that was practicable, suicide, they had no intention of carrying out.

Practical: guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; hard-nosed; Pragmatic.

– It’s practical in nature: that is, it’s not knowledge for its own sake.

Practiced: having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude; adept; skilled.

– In class, we talked about dinosaurs and practiced cursive before Mrs. Port dismissed us for lunch with her usual look of relief.

Praetorial: of or relating to a Roman praetor; praetorian; praetorian.

Praetorian: characteristic of or similar to the corruptible soldiers in the Praetorian Guard with respect to corruption or political venality; pretorian; corrupt.

– The son of a senator, perhaps, or an officer in the Praetorian Guard.

Pragmatic: concerned with practical matters; pragmatical; practical.

– Whatever this place is, it has not needed to be as pragmatic as our city.

Pragmatical: concerned with practical matters; pragmatic; matter-of-fact.

– I heard the creeping and scurrying of rats in the walls, I counted every tick, and cursed every quarter told off by a pragmatical cuckoo clock in the hall.

Praiseful: full of or giving praise; laudatory; prasing.

– The series continued to collect readers and praiseful reviews over the next two and a half decades.

Praiseworthy: worthy of high praise; apppllaudable; worthy.

– These were praiseworthy gestures, but it was hard to imagine that they would do him much good.

Praising: full of or giving praise; praisful; laudatory.

– Civic leaders held press conferences praising the work of the police officers.

Prakritic: of or relating to Prakrit.

Prandial: of or relating to a meal.

– The sight of the prandial preparations softened me.

Prankish: naughtily or annoyingly playful; arch; impish.

– Come,” he says, prankish, leading me through the house.

Prayerful: disposed to pray or appearing to pray; pious.

–  Just left a prayerful note to my father, begging him to take care of TJ.

Preachy: inclined to or marked by tedious moralization; informative; instructive.

– He still found the author’s preachy manner annoying, but he couldn’t argue with her facts.

Preanal: situated in front of the anus.

– Known causes for atypical numbers of preanal scale rows are listed in Table 4.

Precancerous: of or relating to a growth that is not malignant but is likely to become so if not treated.

– Deer inhabiting nearby forests sometimes had abnormal pigment spots and precancerous warts.

Precarious: not secure; beset with difficulties; shaky; unsafe.

– There was no way to return her gloves to her pack here on this tiny precarious place, so she fixed them under the rope on her shoulder.

Precast: of structural members especially of concrete; cast into form before being transported to the site of installation; formed.

– Plus a giant turtle shell that turned out to be a precast fiberglass pond lining.

Precative: expressing entreaty or supplication; precatory; beseeching.

Precatory: expressing entreaty or supplication; precative; imploring.

– As a so-called precatory proposal, it is not legally binding on the company.

Precautional: taken in advance to protect against possible danger or failure; precautionary; preventive.

Precautionary: taken in advance to protect against possible danger or failure; precautional; preventative.

– This explains the precautionary measure with the handkerchief.

Precedent: preceding in time, order, or significance; preceding.

– No matter how extraordinary something sounds to you, there’s probably a precedent for it.

Precedented: having or supported or justified by a precedent.

– That second order is almost not precedented,” Bone said.

Precedential: having precedence (especially because of longer service); senior.

– There are technical solutions, but beyond that, the bigger problems here are moral, legal, and precedential.

Preceding: existing or coming before; antecedent; above.

– As on the preceding afternoon, the trouble lay in assembling the cast.

Precious: of high worth or cost; valuable.

– He is her precious baby who nearly didn’t live to be her precious boy.

Precipitant: done with very great haste and without due deliberation; hasty; hurried.

– Whatever the precipitant, however, there is a widespread belief that crying is

cathartic.

Precipitate: done with very great haste and without due deliberation; hasty; overhasty.

– One must be prepared for precipitate movements in prison, but one does not ever get used to them.

Precipitating: bringing on suddenly or abruptly; causative.

– Yet Milagro was a town whose citizens had a penchant not only for going crazy, but also for precipitating miracles.

Precipitous: extremely steep; abrupt; sharp.

– He fell sprawling onto a thin carpet that did little to cushion his precipitous fall to the floor.

Precise: sharply exact or accurate or delimited; accurate; exact.

– It took a mind as precise and analytical as Aristotle’s to systematically dismantle Pythagoras’s theory of heredity.

Preclinical: of or relating to the early phases of a disease when accurate diagnosis is not possible because symptoms of the disease have not yet appeared; presymptomatic.

– Companies hope the products will be authorized solely on basis of preclinical data showing adequate levels of neutralizing antibodies.

Preclusive: made impossible; obviating; preventive.

– This standard requires that the pill not be preclusive or coercive and reasonable in relation to the threat posed.

Precocial: (of hatchlings) covered with down and having eyes open; capable of leaving the nest within a few days.

– Ducks are what scientists call precocial birds — capable of feeding, swimming and walking soon after hatching.

Precocious: characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude); intelligent; advanced.

– Such as whether or not it’s got something to do with the fact that you are quite exceptionally precocious.

Precognitive: foreseeing the future; prophetic; prophetical.

– Rather, they were deeply ingrained ways of thinking for Bach, probably operating at the precognitive level.

Preconceived: (of an idea or opinion) formed beforehand; especially without evidence or through prejudice.

– It is just that we try to fit the waves to our preconceived ideas of positions and velocities.

Preconcerted: previously arranged or agreed on; settled.

– It was part of a preconcerted stratagem to insure the surprise and destruction of the garrison.

Preconditioned: having already been put into a suitable condition; prepared.

– I don’t know, maybe some people are just preconditioned to think about it more than others.

Precooked: cooked partially or completely beforehand; prepared.

– Serve with green beans and precooked mashed potatoes to complete the meal.

Precooled: cooled in advance; cool.

– Agriculture Department Plant Hardiness Zone 8 or higher, you may need to select bulb varieties with a low winter chilling requirement or purchase bulbs that have been precooled.

Precordial: in front of the heart; involving the precordium.

– In many patients it goes on to marked oppression, great shortness of breath, precordial pain, and the like.

Precursory: warning of future misfortune; premonitory; prophetic.

– Not only does immobile magma stay silent, but the molten mass was already so close to the surface that should the flank have broken apart, it would have immediately erupted without the usual precursory clamor.

Predaceous: hunting and killing other animals for food; predacious; carnivorous.

– Several families of bugs are predaceous in habit, attacking other insects—often members of their own order—and sucking their juices.

Predacious: hunting and killing other animals for food; Predaceous; carnivorous.

– She feels shut out by the city’s predacious, moneyed tribes, battered by its “impenetrable shapes” and “fierce elbows.

Predatory: living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey; raptorial; ravening.

– Human beings are predatory by nature,” he began.

Predestinate: established or pre arranged unalterably; sure,certain.

– Now this criminal of ours is predestined to commit a crime also; he, too, has a child-brain, and it is of the child to do what he has done.

Predestined: established or pre arranged unalterably; sure; certain.

– It was curious how that predestined horror moved in and out of one’s consciousness.

Predicative: of adjectives; relating to or occurring within the predicate of a sentence.

– Of all the numbers people want to throw out about the Seahawks, turnover margin remains the most predicative in the Carroll era.

Predictable: capable of being foretold; certain; sure.

– The thing I like about Embryo is that not only is he predictable, he gets to the point.

Predictive: of or relating to prediction; having value for making predictions; prognostic; prophetic.

– There is as yet no predictive theory of biology, just as there is not yet a predictive theory of history.

Predigested: artificially partially digested as by enzymatic action; digestible.

– He forged a religion designed to last, not predigested obsolescence.

Predominant: having superior power or influence; overriding; dominant.

– Because the British were the most active in the early years, British names are predominant in the geological lexicon.

Predominate: having superior power or influence; overriding; preponderant.

– He stopped; his voice was breaking, and I do not know if rage or terror predominated in my own heart.

Preeminent: greatest in importance or degree or significance or achievement; leading; superior.

– Scrubbing clothes on a washboard until her knuckles bled—that was the preeminent memory of Erma’s childhood.

Preemptive: designed or having the power to deter or prevent an anticipated situation or occurrence; pre-emptive; preventive.

– Dad preemptively turned up the volume on the TV.

Preexistent: existing previously or before something; pre-existent; antecedent.

– It appears the oncogenes were added to preexistent retrovirus genomes at some time in the not too distant past.

Preexisting: existing previously or before something; antecedent; preexistent.

– It was the only lab to boast a prewar history and, of course, the only one with a preexisting management.

Prefab: manufactured in standard sizes to be shipped and assembled elsewhere; ready-made.

– The Chinese kids would hang out next to the prefab buildings.

Prefaded: (of fabric or clothing) having been given a faded (weathered) appearance by artificial means; colorless; colorless.

Prefatorial: serving as an introduction or preface; introductory; preceptory.

– Worn out by what was really never life to him,” is a prefatorial phrase I recall.

Prefatory: serving as an introduction or preface; predatorial; preceding.

– After struggling through the five nearly inscrutable prefatory poems, I put the book down for a week before taking it up again.

Prefectural: of or relating to a prefecture.

– A detective by trade, Mikami serves as the prefectural force’s director of media relations.

Preferable: more desirable than another; preferred; desirable.

– Luminous gold and silver were thus preferable to dull iron.

Preferent: preferred above all others and treated with partiality; best-loved; favored.

Preferential: showing favor or partiality; discriminatory; advantageous.

– The preferential treatment Boobie received sometimes caused resentment among the other players.

Preferred: more desirable than another; preferable; desirable.

– She preferred it when he spoke Igbo; it was the only time he seemed unconscious of his own anxieties.

Prefigurative: indistinctly prophetic; prophetic; prophetical.

– We talk about prefigurative politics, the idea that you can embody your goal.

Prefrontal: anterior to a frontal structure; anterior.

– It should suppress some, but not all, of the activity in the prefrontal cortex,” the scientist with the round glasses says.

Pregnant: carrying developing offspring within the body or being about to produce new life, big; large.

– The pregnant girl, Celianne, I don’t know how she takes it.

Prehensile: adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object; greedy; grasping.

– Cherrie looked up and caught sight of a dark gray monkey with a potbelly and prehensile tail.

Prehistoric: belonging to or existing in times before recorded history; prehistorical; past.

– The songs are always by the same singers, like a couple of prehistoric baboons named Perry Como and Bing Crosby.

Prehistorical: belonging to or existing in times before recorded history; prehistoric; past.

– The origins of this myth are prehistorical; it has been recorded in many forms.

Prejudiced: being biased or having a belief or attitude formed beforehand; homophobic; loaded.

– People in Stamps used to say that the whites in our town were so prejudiced that a Negro couldn’t buy vanilla ice cream.

Prejudicial: (sometimes followed by ‘to’) causing harm or injury; damaging; harmful.

– All of the prejudicial media coverage would make a fair trial nearly impossible.

Prejudicious: (sometimes followed by `to’) causing harm or injury; inimical; detrimental.

Prelapsarian: of or relating to the time before the Fall of Adam and Eve.

– It is a prelapsarian time, yet hardly an Eden.

Preliminary: denoting an action or event preceding or in preparation for something more important; designed to orient or acquaint with a situation before proceeding; explorative; exploratory.

– Only music, only a Brahms symphony, comes close” to the sensation of those prelapsarian gallops, she writes.

Preliterate: not yet having acquired the ability to read and write; illiterate.

– Toothless old people, the repositories of information in a preliterate society, could now be fed and live longer.

Premarital: relating to events before a marriage; antenuptial; prenuptial.

– My mom even told me that she was a believer in premarital s#x.

Premature: too soon or too hasty; previous; early.

– Perhaps Katherine, with some intuition of her father’s vision, drew strength from the knowledge that her husband’s premature death was part of a way of things, however painful.

Premedical: preceding and preparing for the study of medicine; preceding.

– The groom, 30, is an immunologist and a premedical student at Middle Tennessee State University.

Premeditated: characterized by deliberate purpose and some degree of planning; intended; planned.

– This was very intentional, very premeditated, and I over-thought the whole thing.

Premenopausal: prior to menopause.

– The recommendation for the general female premenopausal population is 18 mg of iron per day.

Premenstrual: of or relating to or occurring during the period just before menstruation.

– It ‘relieves the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome’,” he read from the bottle.

Premier: first in rank or degree; prime; first.

– I had no doubt she was going to become the premier physician-scientist of whatchamacallit.

Premiere: preceding all others in time; premiere; first.

– We hosted a premiere of the film at our office, and I invited Walter and Bo to address the audience.

Premium: having or reflecting superior quality or value; superior.

– Twenty cents weekly insurance premium had to come out of that.

Premonitory: warning of future misfortune; precursory; prophetic.

– He crossed a yellow plain where the echo repeated one’s thoughts and where anxiety brought on premonitory mirages.

Prenatal: occurring or existing before birth; antenatal; antepartum.

– My wife and I had lost our first two children; we’d decided to abort after prenatal diagnoses of a rare but invariably fatal genetic disease.

Prenominal: of adjectives; placed before the nouns they modify; attributive; attributive.

Prenuptial: relating to events before a marriage; premarital; antenuptial.

– She tends to push for a prenuptial agreement.

Preoccupied: having or showing excessive or compulsive concern with something; haunted; taken up.

– The others were nodding to back me up, though Ruth herself had on a vague expression, like she’d suddenly become preoccupied with something else entirely.

Preoperative: happening or done before and in preparation for a surgical operation; operative; surgical.

– Nor would they confirm claims in the filings that a CT scanner needed for preoperative imaging is broken.

Prepackaged: prepared and wrapped beforehand and ready for sale; prepacked; pacaged.

– Elizabeth is right beside me, using prepackaged naan Mama heated on the stove to soak up the curry.

Prepacked: prepared and wrapped beforehand and ready for sale; pacaged; prepackaged.

– While he and his crew ate prepacked sandwiches, I lunched on his scallops, untouched, shucked from their shells minutes before.

Prepaid: used especially of mail; paid in advance; postpaid; paid.

– If the outstanding balance is prepaid in full, the unearned finance charge will be refunded.

Preparative: preceding and preparing for something; preceding; Preparatory.

– A laugh, if no argument, is a splendid preparative.

Preparatory: preceding and preparing for something; preparative; preceding.

– Once it clicks shut, I see her shoulders rise and fall with the depth of an obviously preparatory breath.

Prepared: made ready or fit or suitable beforehand; braced; embattled.

– I glanced down at my prepared notes but suddenly had little interest in them.

Preponderant: having superior power or influence; overriding; paramount.

– The poem’s surface is almost suave, the emotion well tamped down, with rueful wit and graceful playfulness preponderant.

Preponderating: having superior power or influence; dominant; paramount.

– One of the results of this movement, consequent upon the preponderating attention given to colour and technique, has been an almost entire neglect of subject.

Prepositional: of or relating to or formed with a preposition.

– Then she claps her hands and starts talking about prepositional phrases.

Prepossessing: creating a favorable impression; attractive.

– It featured “ten lady boarders, finely dressed and very accomplished and prepossessing.

Preposterous: incongruous; inviting ridicule; absurd; foolish.

– She glanced at Diego as he served himself a preposterous helping of ribs.

Preprandial: preceding a meal (especially dinner).

– But it’s easily converted to a more preprandial version by decreasing the amount of port and pear liqueur to ¼ ounce each.

Prepubertal: (especially of human beings) at the age immediately before puberty; often marked by accelerated growth; prepubescent; immature.

– Earlier studies suggest that the sweat rates of prepubertal boys and girls are roughly the same.

Prepubescent: (especially of human beings) at the age immediately before puberty; often marked by accelerated growth; immature; prepubescent.

– From the distance of the balcony—it was the third floor—he appeared to be a healthy prepubescent.

Prepupal: of an inactive stage in the development of some insects, between the larval and the pupal stages; immature.

Prerecorded: recorded at one time for transmission later; recorded.

– Then I programmed the cameras to switch to the prerecorded feeds whenever I shut out the lights in my hab-unit.

Prerequisite: required as a prior condition or course of study;

– The fact is that only in private—with intimates—is separateness from the crowd a prerequisite for individuality.

Presbyopic: able to see distant objects clearly; farsighted; hyperopic.

– For some presbyopic patients, over-the-counter reading glasses are adequate for general near reading or handiwork.

Prescient: perceiving the significance of events before they occur; discerning.

– Virginia’s posture toward assumption was now making his prophecy look prescient.

Prescribed: set down as a rule or guide; nonabitary; unarbitrary.

– Gene Berkenkamp and the rest of the Cal boys leaned into their oars and took the prescribed ten extra- hard pulls.

Prescription: available only with a doctor’s written prescription.

– The store had been sold out of skis and prescription eyewear for three years.

Prescriptive: pertaining to giving directives or rules; normative.

– These conventions are “prescriptive rules”—rules that prescribe how one ought to speak and write in these forums.

Present: temporal sense; intermediate between past and future; now existing or happening or in consideration; existing; inst.

– Dionysus himself was supposed to be present; his priest had the seat of honor.

Presentable: fit to be seen; respectable.

– To help the migrants look more presentable, he brings a haircutter to the church.

Presentational: of or relating to a presentation (especially in psychology or philosophy).

– As a performer she’s just too presentational to pull it off.

Preservable: capable of being preserved; preserved.

– In mid-June, the 225 families on the delivery list received bacon and ground chicken, a bag of potatoes, and preservable items such as Toasty O’s Cereal, rice and pasta.

Preservative: tending or having the power to preserve; protective.

– I told that to my science teacher once—that preservatives cause cancer—and he laughed.

Preserved: kept intact or in a particular condition; conserved; maintained.

– The name he had so detested, here hidden and preserved—that was the first thing his father had given him.

Preset: set in advance; planned; predetermined.

– Each day I was allowed to select meals from a preset menu of healthy, low-calorie foods.

Presidential: befitting a president; statsmanlike; statesmanly.

– I realized this once we climbed into the presidential limo and began our slow crawl to the White House, leading the inaugural parade.

Presocratic: before the time of Socrates; pre-socratic.

– It is this more than any other element which distinguishes Plato, not only from the presocratic philosophers, but from Socrates himself.

Pressed: compacted by ironing; ironed.

– They made it to the big cargo room and Alec went to the control pad, pressed the ramp buttons.

Pressing: compelling immediate action; urgent; imperative.

– She looks like she is crumbling inward, caving like a terrible weight is pressing on her.

Pressor: increasing (or tending to increase) blood pressure; vasoconstriction.

– It may arise from a variety of causes, and treatments almost always involve fluid replacement and medications, called inotropic or pressor agents, which restore tone to the muscles of the vessels.

Prestigious: having an illustrious reputation; respected; eminent; esteemed.

– The Order Castles were prestigious finishing schools for the Nazi elite.

Prestissimo: (of tempo) as fast as possible; fast.

– Mr. Li confidently nailed the cascade of prestissimo octaves that conclude the work.

Presto: (of tempo) very fast; fast.

– We put up the posters, scared off two dummies who wanted to run for the job, and presto!

Presumable: capable of being inferred on slight grounds; supportable; thinkable.

– Very sad news yesterday, about the sale and presumable closure of the Harvard Exit.

Presumptive: having a reasonable basis for belief or acceptance; likely; probably.

– While Charlotte pored over a steamy novel, the bathtub poured over. presume/presumptive/presumptuous.

Presumptuous: excessively forward; assuming; forward.

– Stilt, it was presumptuous of him to measure her windows for new curtains. assure/ensure/insure.

Preteen: of or relating to or designed for children between the ages of 9 and 12; preadolescent; immature.

Pretended: adopted in order to deceive; assumed; put.

– I hummed ditties and murmured to myself and pretended to weep.

Pretentious: making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction; arty; grandiose.

– Now there was talk of medical college, which after a literature degree seemed rather pretentious.

Preternatural: existing outside of or not in accordance with nature; nonnatural; supernatural.

– She sensed it, a preternatural stillness, and held hers, too.

Pretorial: of or relating to a Roman praetor; praetorial; pretorian.

Pretorian: characteristic of or similar to the corruptible soldiers in the Praetorian Guard with respect to corruption or political venality; praetorian; corrupt.

– The Pretorian band that in the time of Imperial Rome used to dispose of Empires is perfectly re-established.

Pretty: pleasing by delicacy or grace; not imposing; beautiful.

– The misfortune of Harriet’s cold had been pretty well gone through before her arrival.

Prevailing: most frequent or common; dominant; frequent.

– During the election, with paranoia and Islamophobia and isolationism as the prevailing themes, my parents held on to this hope.

Prevalent: most frequent or common; dominant; prevelling.

– These chemicals seem to initiate the malignant change, which may then be completed by other chemicals of types prevalent in the environment.

Prevenient: in anticipation; anticipatory; antecedent.

– There is none of that prevenient idealism which in the north draws a veil over the crudities of sense, and helps to illuminate the half-truths they reveal.

Preventable: capable of being prevented.

– Delays at the fixed lines were foreseeable and eminently preventable.

Preventative: tending to prevent or hinder; preventive; deferent.

– The extra syllable in preventative isn’t wrong, but it’s unnecessary.

Preventive: tending to prevent or hinder; preventive; blockading.

– In a swift and decisive practice of preventive medicine, Dr. Snow removed the handle from the pump.

Previous: just preceding something else in time or order; old; preceding.

– Not the accommodating police officer of their previous meeting.

Prewar: existing or belonging to a time before a war.

– The stage was set for one of the most important events of the prewar period.

Priapic: resembling or being a phallus; phallic; male.

– The word “sensual” is not intended to bring to mind quivering dusky maidens or priapic black studs.

Priceless: having incalculable monetary, intellectual, or spiritual worth; invaluable; valuable .

– Throughout most of his life, Washington’s physical vigor had been one of his most priceless assets.

Pricey: having a high price; costing; dear.

– The dresses from Cindy’s are pretty pricey and she’d have to order something for you, but maybe we can put something together ourselves.

Prickly: very irritable; bristly; waspish.

– We knew there was a lot of water inside a prickly pear, even if Stormy didn’t have a clue.

Pricy: having a high price; costly; dear.

– Then she mutters, “The priciest priceless little Penny ever.

Prideful: having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy; disdainful; proud.

– Then I added the words I found hard to wrench from my prideful heart.

Priestlike: befitting or characteristic of a priest or the priesthood; priestly.

– Let’s face it, Mom,” Ben had told her, “Dad ain’t exactly priestlike when we move into a new place.

Priestly: associated with the priesthood or priests; hieratic; heretical.

– Immediately above it, hidden from visitors’ eyes, sat a priestly functionary, who provided the god’s voice.

Priggish: exaggeratedly proper; prim; victorian.

Prim: affectedly dainty or refined; dainty; refined.

– He gave two more prim rings of his handbell.

Prima: used primarily as eating apples.

– Mr. Watras let the applause rise, then fall a bit, and then — BAM! — he counted us right into the first tune: “Mambo Number Five” by Louis Prima.

Primaeval: having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state; early; prime.

– But in the middle of her speech she falls into a primaeval doze of some eighteen hundred years.

Primal: serving as an essential component; important; key.

– He was the primal traitor, the earliest defiler of the Party’s purity.

Primary: of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary; essential; first.

– Instead, Hale intended to use one of his other primary methods—a batch of poisoned moonshine.

Prime: being at the best stage of development; meridian; mature.

– There were many foreign heads of state and prime ministers who had long taken note of this charismatic champion of the people.

Primed: (usually followed by `to’ or `for’) on the point of or strongly disposed; fit; ready.

– The throwing arm was already primed with a full payload of Imperial gold and explosives.

Primeval: having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state; aboriginal; early.

– Horrors lurked in the primeval forest, not nymphs and naiads.

Primiparous: of or relating to a woman who has given birth only once.

– About 70 to 80 per centum of the cases are in primiparous women.

Primitive: little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type; archaic; early.

– Dad thought that living a primitive life in the summer was healthful.

Primo: the best of its kind; best.

– Like lingering at the airport, observing a plane’s boarding process is a primo opportunity for people-watching.

Primordial: having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state; early; primal.

– A primordial god has been defeated once before, Kymopoleia had told Jason.

Princely: having the rank of or befitting a prince; nobel.

– I knew all that, but perhaps it was a princely duty to explain matters to one’s subjects.

Principal: most important element; chief; master.

– The principal nodded slightly but gave his sternest look before asking for one hundred dollars.

Principled: based on or manifesting objectively defined standards of rightness or morality; high- principled.

– He was my hero—brave and principled—and I was his jani.

Printable: fit for publication because free of material that is morally or legally objectionable.

– Download a printable map to plan your itinerary and a guidebook for more information about the route’s history.

Prior: earlier in time; anterior; antecedent.

– In a fit of panic, de Vries rushed his paper on plant hybrids to print in March 1900, pointedly neglecting any mention of Mendel’s prior work

Prismatic: exhibiting spectral colors formed by refraction of light through a prism; colorful; colorful.

– She took out the kaleidoscope and popped off its colorful prismatic lens.

Prisonlike: resembling a prison; unfree.

– The spacious room was far from the prisonlike image his aunt Virginia had painted for him.

Prissy: exaggeratedly proper; prism; proper.

– She walked in that same prissy, dainty way.

Pristine: immaculately clean and unused; clean.

– He wore a pristine white robe that pooled in silky puddles at his feet.

Private: confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy.

– Never before had a private individual made so generous a gift to the nation.

Privileged: blessed with privileges; rich; sweetheart.

– The privileged, the few, the Junior Marthas have been laid waste by mononucleosis, leaving Heather all by herself.

Prize: of superior grade; choice; select.

– There is no prize for being first to get into the school compound.

Prizewinning: holding first place in a contest; champion; best.

– Born in 1913 in Buffalo, New York, she had been a prizewinning graduate student in math.

Proactive: descriptive of any event or stimulus or process that has an effect on events or stimuli or processes that occur subsequently.

– No. I was proactive. The suits love it when you are proactive.

Probabilistic: of or relating to the Roman Catholic philosophy of probabilism.

– The equation of luck and skill is, at its heart, probabilistic,” Konnikova writes.

Probable: likely but not certain to be or become true or real; likely; verisimilar.

– To avoid the probable fate of Mars 3, we wanted the Viking to land in a place and time at which the winds were low.

Probative: tending to prove a particular proposition or to persuade you of the truth of an allegation; probatory; important.

– Many media analysts observed that this is the type of probative interview professional journalists should be conducting with elected officials.

Probatory: tending to prove a particular proposition or to persuade you of the truth of an allegation, probative; important.

– He hoped he had been more than in a probatory state, he said.

Probing: diligent and thorough in inquiry or investigation; inquisitory; searching.

– When elephants walk through the cave at night, they navigate by their sense of touch, probing the floor ahead of them with the tips of their trunks.

Problematic: making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe; baffling; knotty.

– The problematic patriotism of the Quaker petitioners was, Smith agreed, reprehensible.

Problematical: making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe; hard; difficult.

– The restoration of the festival was problematical, and not just financially.

Procaryotic: having cells that lack membrane-bound nuclei; prokaryotic.

Procedural: relating to court practice and procedure as opposed to the principles of law; adjective.

– Wickersham may have had a procedural point to make, but humiliating the officer seemed to be a larger one.

Processional: intended for use in a procession.

– Each game that he played, or analyzed, whether his or others’, established a processional of insight.

Proconsular: of or relating to or typical of a proconsul.

– A legate being appointed by the emperor over the conquered countries, Britain became a proconsular province.

Procreative: producing new life or offspring; generative; fruitful.

– The music, as it builds from the first tender signs of life to a fury of procreative power, conveys the same energy.

Procrustean: enforcing conformity by violent or ruthless means, like the mythical giant Procrustes or his mode of torture; procrustean.

– If you’re the parent of a child with special needs who’s felt the cold procrustean hands of the public school system, you know what this father is up against.

Procumbent: having stems that trail along the ground without putting down roots; unrect.

– Incisors not rooted but continuously growing; those of the upper jaw curved and directed downwards; those of the lower straight and procumbent.

Procurable: capable of being obtained; getable; available.

– The auction house said it’s the earliest procurable edition of the journal.

Prodigal: recklessly wasteful; profligate; extravagant.

– The prodigal robs his heir; the miser robs himself.

Prodigious: so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe; colossal; big.

– They erected elaborate ceremonial buildings and prodigious numbers of forts.

Prodromal: symptomatic of the onset of an attack or a disease; Prodromic.

– It has now failed in both mild-to-moderate as well as prodromal patients.

Prodromic: symptomatic of the onset of an attack or a disease; prodromal.

– In the second and much rarer form of hemorrhagic variola there are the usual unfavorable portents of intense prodromic symptoms.

Productive: producing or capable of producing (especially abundantly); creative; fertile.

– Alice did find one productive tree, and we have enough to last until spring.

Profanatory: profaning or tending to desecrate; profane; secular.

Profane: grossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred; irreverent; blasphemous.

– His father spat the word like it was profane.

Profaned: treated irreverently or sacrilegiously; violated; desecrated.

– The false knight who profaned his blade with the blood of the king he had sworn to defend.

Professed: openly declared as such; avowed; declared.

– You see by her garb that she has not professed any vows,” Mother notes.

Professional: of or relating to or suitable as a profession.

– Three days in Puerto Rico and my brother thinks he’s a professional dancer.

Professorial: relating to or characteristic of professors.

– He’d be good-looking by today’s standards, well built with a full beard and kind eyes, almost professorial.

Proficient: having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude; adept; good.

– Johnny, smaller and leaner, became a proficient and scrappy fighter but never achieved his brother’s success.

Profitable: yielding material gain or profit; productive; fat.

– The crop we are going to raise is a profitable one,” and Jo laughed.

Profitless: without profit or reward; unrewarding.

– After his freelancer went missing for five days, Mr. Mitchell decided to stop investing in the profitless channel.

Profligate: unrestrained by convention or morality; immoral; riotous.

– The image is searing: a profligate human swarm unable to overcome the anger of Nature.

Profound: situated at or extending to great depth; too deep to have been sounded or plumbed; deep; unfortunate.

Profuse: produced or growing in extreme abundance; lush; riotous.

– He cut short my profuse apologies with a magnanimous wave of his hand, and went back over to his and Mme.

Prognathic: having a projecting lower jaw; prognathous; lantern- jawed.

– The eastern people are least prognathic with a zero incidence of 45 per cent.

Prognathous: having a projecting lower jaw; prognathous.

– Nothing will begrudge, I’m sure, that may nourish, please, or cure His prognathous little pet.

Prognostic: of or relating to prediction; having value for making predictions; predictive; prophetic.

– Moreover, it enables us to study groups of people with the same classification and learn about treatments and prognostics.

Prognosticative: of or relating to prediction; having value for making predictions; prognostic; prophetic.

Programmable: of or relating to prediction; having value for making predictions; predictive; prognostic.

Progressive: favoring or promoting progress; forward.

– This is a regular procedure provided for by the enlightened and progressive laws of our state.

Prohibitive: tending to discourage (especially of prices); prohibitory; preventive.

– In the 1920s the cost of a radio had been prohibitive—$120 or more—and all that was bought was a box of unassembled parts.

Prohibitory: tending to discourage (especially of prices); prohibitive; preventive.

– In the following years, Cherian was arrested several times for violating prohibitory orders and participating in protests.

Proinflammatory: tending to cause inflammation; unhealthy.

– The Nature Medicine paper gathers anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory foods in two separate lists.

Projectile: impelling or impelled forward; dynamic; dynamical.

– A blue projectile splattered against one of the centaurs, hurling him backward into the lake.

Prokaryotic: having cells that lack membrane-bound nuclei; prokaryotic.

– In structure and pigment content they are the images of prokaryotic blue-green algae.

Prolate: having the polar diameter greater than the equatorial diameter; rounded; cucumbered-shape.

– The eye cornea is approximated as a prolate spheroid with an axis that is the eye, where a = 8.7 mm and c = 9.6 mm.

Proletarian: belonging to or characteristic of the proletariat; low-class; lower-class.

– The superstitious Catholicism of home provided a kind of proletarian fairy-tale world.

Prolific: intellectually productive; fecund; fertile.

– Perry was not a gifted liar, or a prolific one; however, once he had told a fiction he usually stuck by it.

Prolix: tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length; duffuse.

– She just released “12 Little Spells,” an album of high-flown, prolix compositions, performed with an electrified ensemble.

Prolonged: relatively long in duration; tediously protracted; lengthy; extended.

– The application process was Jesse-style, prolonged, distracted, interrupted by technological projects.

Prolusory: of or relating to or having the character of a prolusion.

Prominent: conspicuous in position or importance; big; large.

– And the Brotherhood was going out of its way to make my name prominent.

Promiscuous: casual and unrestrained in sexual behavior; easy; light.

– But the rock on which these easy explanations founder, is that she was not promiscuous.

Promising: full of promise; brightful; hopeful.

– King Pelles was promising a new cloak all round, on him.

Promissory: relating to or having the character of a promise.

– These consisted of stock certificates, deeds of trust, and promissory notes.

Promotional: of or relating to serving as publicity.

– Using Bobby’s name, they thought, would have more promotional power.

Promotive: tending to further or encourage; encouraging.

– This is, no doubt, promotive of health, provided it is not at first carried to an extreme.

Prompt: according to schedule or without delay; on time; punctual.

– A growth on her adrenal gland had turned up on a Bellevue CAT scan, prompting a visit to an endocrinologist.

Prone: having a tendency (to); often used in combination; inclined.

– She can, though, occasionally slur her words a bit and is prone to repeating herself.

Pronged: having prongs or tines; usually used in combination; tined; divided.

– Then they opened a small door in each cage and thrust the food through on pronged forks.

Prongy: resembling a fork; divided or separated into two branches; divided; branched.

Pronominal: relating to pronouns.

– The absence of an “I” and other pronominal clutter certainly liberates the “eye” of writer and reader.

Pronounced:strongly marked; easily noticeable; marked; noticeable.

– He moves across the room to the map with the colored pins, his limp more pronounced than usual.

Proof: (used in combination or as a suffix) able to withstand; imperviable; impervious.

– Father cited scientific proof that birds often molt during hot weather.

Proofed: treated so as to become resistant; treated.

– Give that dough a long, long rise and then plop the proofed dough into a hot, enameled cast-iron pot with a lid.

Propaedeutic: preceding and preparing for something; preparative; preceding.

– His teaching could not with justice be styled docetic or Apollinarian, but its mystic tone was so pronounced that it proved a propaedeutic for monophysitism.

Propagative: characterized by propagation or relating to propagation.

– Brook Farm, though American and Unitarian in its origin, became afterward the chief representative and propagative organ of Fourierism, as we shall ultimately show.

Propellant: tending to or capable of propelling; dynamic; dynamical.

– Quentin and I are going to design a sophisticated nozzle, and we need an advanced propellant to go along with it.

Propellent: tending to or capable of propelling; propelling; propelling.

– Like the team’s work as the Neptunes, the track is heavy on tribal tom-tom beats, the kind with a propellent momentum that drives party songs.

Proper: marked by suitability or rightness or appropriateness; appropriate; correct.

– Here there was a proper fireplace, richly carved with the arms and supporters of Benwick, and half a tree smoldered in the grate.

Propertied: owning land or securities as a principal source of revenue; property- owning; upper-class.

– You need to be rich, or at least propertied.

Propertyless: of those who work for wages especially manual or industrial laborers; low-class; working class.

– Cities contained a permanently impoverished class of sailors, laborers, disabled people, and propertyless widows and their families.

Prophetic: foretelling events as if by supernatural intervention; prophetical; revelatory.

– We shall risk their prophetic menaces,” he noted confidently, if we should continue to have a majority.

Prophetical: foretelling events as if by supernatural intervention; prophetic; delphic.

– Our prophetical meeting this November was one of the most delightful hours I ever knew.

Prophylactic: preventing or contributing to the prevention of disease; healthful; preventive.

– Having actors declaim Shakespeare in between the pieces has, if anything, a prophylactic effect.

Propitiative: intended to reconcile or appease; propitiatory; concillative.

– The missive from Arthur was a short but complete and propitiative acknowledgment of his error and frailty.

Propitiatory: having power to atone for or offered by way of expiation or propitiation; expiative; expiratory.

– In short, all bloody sacrifices were propitiatory, to appease the rage of hunger in a famished god.

Propitious: presenting favorable circumstances; likely to result in or show signs of success; auspicious; golden.

– He introduces himself as Dr. Scheinberg and uses the word propitious.

Proportionable: proportionate; proportionate.

– The number of children attending the schools is doubtless proportionably great.

Proportional: having a constant ratio; relative; proportionate.

– Moreover, their speed and distance were neatly proportional: the further away the galaxy, the faster it was moving.

Proportionate: being in due proportion; per- capita; relative.

– They hold vast portions of the nation’s wealth and pay a proportionate share of the taxes.

Proprietary: protected by trademark or patent or copyright; made or produced or distributed by one having exclusive rights; branded; patented.

– His hold is proprietary and masculine, but he is not a good dancer.

Proprioceptive: of or relating to proprioception.

– To overcome this problem, the researchers trained ANImal to rely solely on its proprioceptive perception when it was at odds with its height map.

Propulsive: tending to or capable of propelling; prollant; dynamical.

– Mr. Squire’s propulsive and often melodic bass playing was a key element of the Yes sound.

Prosaic: lacking wit or imagination; earthbound; prosy.

– Most were prosaic, arising from robbery, argument, or sexual jealousy.

Prospective: of or concerned with or related to the future; future; likely.

– Before prospective buyers could be allowed inside, though, the place had to be cleaned out.

Prosperous: in fortunate circumstances financially; moderately rich; easy; rich.

– He expected to lead a very prosperous and satisfying life, at least until the time came to move on to the next city.

Prospicient: planning prudently for the future; farseeing; provident.

Prostate: relating to the prostate gland; prostactic.

– He was in the bed nearer the door, separated by a curtain from his roommate: the Hampden County postmaster, as we later discovered, who was in for a prostate operation.

Prostatic: relating to the prostate gland; prostate.

– The prostatic urethra passes through the prostate gland.

Prosthetic: relating to or serving as a prosthesis.

– The foot of his prosthetic leg taps out a strange irregular beat.

Prosthodontic: of or relating to prosthodontics.

– Shortly thereafter, I became a patient in the prosthodontic clinic at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in Baltimore.

Prostrate: stretched out and lying at full length along the ground; flat; repent.

– Her sobbing had let up a bit, or seemed to have, but her body was in the same wretched, prostrate, face-down position.

Prostyle: marked by columniation having free columns in a portico only across the opening to the structure; pseudoperipteral; apteral.

– The prostyle quarterback reclaimed the starting position after breaking his left collarbone three games into his sophomore season.

Protanopic: inability to see the color red or to distinguish red and bluish-green; blind; unsighted.

Protean: taking on different forms; variable.

– As for protean, there are those many musical worlds he inhabits as composer, saxophonist and keyboard player.

Protecting: taking on different forms; variable.

– The sharp smell of iodine from the algae, and the lime smell of calcareous bodies and the smell of powerful protean, smell of sperm and ova fill the air.

Protective: intended or adapted to afford protection of some kind; evasive; totalr.

– Spraying frequently destroys this protective vegetation and creates open, barren areas which the ragweed hastens to fill.

Proteinaceous: relating to or of the nature of protein.

– Walker and colleagues argue for changing the definition to proteinaceous nucleating particles.

Proteolytic: of or relating to proteolysis.

– Swapping proteolytic cleavage sites in a plant immune response pathway enables defense against a new suite of pathogens.

Protestant: of or relating to Protestants or Protestantism.

– In Protestant countries censorship was less rigorous, although there were still limits as to what could be published.

Proto: indicating the first or earliest or original; early.

– She tells me about the Tudor fashion for “tag rhyming”, a bawdy proto rap music at which Somer excelled.

Prototypal: representing or constituting an original type after which other similar things are patterned; first; archetypal.

– They had various myths of old conflicts of the gods, and of the production of the earth and all the men in it from the dissection of an immense prototypal human monster.

Prototypic: representing or constituting an original type after which other similar things are patterned; first; prototypal.

– Part of this is audience, as video gamers are no longer prototypically male and young; indeed, half of all gamers are now women.

Prototypical: representing or constituting an original type after which other similar things are patterned; archetypal; first.

– Scoob had to climb up to be a prototypical knight and lead her back down.

Protozoal: of or relating to the Protozoa; protozoan; protozoic.

– The leishmaniases are protozoal diseases that severely affect large populations in tropical and subtropical regions.

Protozoan: of or relating to the protozoa; protozoal; protozoic.

– This is the protozoan, not yet as famous as he should be, who seems to be telling us everything about everything, all at once.

Protozoic: of or relating to the Protozoa.

– The earliest ancestors of our race were simple Protophyta, and from these our protozoic ancestors were developed afterwards.

Protracted: relatively long in duration; tediously protracted; extended; long.

– The gray, despairing weariness of protracted maneuvers and combat did not touch him.

Protractible: able to be extended; protractile; extensile.

Protractile: able to be extended; extensible; extensile.

– The intermaxillaries are moderately protractile, but the lower jaw, when depressed, projects still further forward.

Protrusible: capable of being thrust forward, as the tongue; protrusile; extensible.

– The mouth is anterior and slightly ventral; it leads into a protrusible pharynx armed with recurved teeth that can be everted.

Protrusile: capable of being thrust forward, as the tongue; protrusible; extensible.

– She had procured from the chemist a protrusile instrument for letting fluid through the hard outer covering, and in this manner intended to inoculate the milk of the nut with a slow poison.

Protrusive: thrusting outward; bulging; convex.

– Added to masks are large protrusive noses and painted or glued on features like eyes and mouths.

Protuberant: curving outward; bellied; bulging.

– Luna turned her protuberant eyes upon him in surprise.

Proud: feeling self-respect or pleasure in something by which you measure your self-worth; or being a reason for pride; immodest; chesty.

– Your father will be so proud of you.

Proustian: of or relating to or in the manner of Marcel Proust.

– The series stands up proudly to its Proustian inspiration.

Provable: capable of being demonstrated or proved; demonstrable.

– The American identity is an exact and provable thing.

Proven: established beyond doubt; proved; evidenced.

– She said it was a scientifically proven fact.

Proven/Al: established beyond doubt; proved; established.

– I had proven to myself that there was another way beyond the schools and the streets.

Proverbial: widely known and spoken of; known.

– The same can be said of the novel after the best-seller, the album that follows the gold record, or the proverbial sophomore jinx.

Provident: providing carefully for the future; careful; thrifty.

– He commuted his pension and provident fund to buy a Bharat bottle-sealing machine.

Providential: peculiarly fortunate or appropriate; as if by divine intervention; fortunate; miraculous.

– It’s just providential, as my mother used to say,” Mrs. Richardson had told her husband on hearing the news.

Provincial: characteristic of the provinces or their people; hick; rustic.

– Within twenty-four hours the small provincial society world knew that an authentic count had arrived in their midst.

Provisional: under terms not final or fully worked out or agreed upon; tentative; conditional.

– Thus knowledge, in so far as we have it, is not absolute but progressive, not definitive but provisional.

Provisionary: under terms not final or fully worked out or agreed upon; probationary; provisional.

– There was a ring at the door-bell about eight o’clock, which proved the herald of little Mrs. Snow, holding in one hand a provisionary vial.

Provisory: subject to a proviso; conditional.

– A provisory government was established, entitled the Government of the National Defence.

Provocative: serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate; stimulating discussion or exciting controversy; existing; charged.

– I couldn’t help walking around it and reading the provocative stickers.

Provoking: causing or tending to cause anger or resentment; agitative; agitating.

– I don’t have occasion to use my mean mouth on boys, since they don’t say provoking things to me.

Prox: in or of the next month after the present; proximo; future.

– It meant, “We shall be able to dispense with your services on the —— prox.

Proximal: situated nearest to point of attachment or origin.

– Perhaps Doll’s favourite aphorism represents a more reasonable proximal goal to define success in the war on cancer.

Proximate: very close in space or time; close.

– My sense is that a large majority of social scientists still favors proximate explanations for the different courses of European and Chinese history.

Proximo: in or of the next month after the present; prox; future.

– Having asked that his soul might be taken, an angel informed him it would be taken on the first of March proximo.

Prudent: careful and sensible; marked by sound judgment; careful; provident.

– It was not the prudent course, but he was tired of prudence, sick of secrets, weary of waiting.

Prudential: arising from or characterized by prudence especially in business matters; prudent.

– I had to act in a prudential manner given Mr. Sheen’s emphatic denials,” Mr. Howard said.

Prudish: exaggeratedly proper; prim.

– She is ten years younger than my mother but looks older, especially now as her face turns long and prudish.

Prurient: characterized by lust; sexy; salacious.

– Her fascination lingered, less a prurient interest than an academic one.

Prussian: of or relating to or characteristic of Prussia or its inhabitants.

– I thought of the Prussian flag, a black eagle on a white background.

Prying: offensively curious or inquisitive; noisy; snoopy.

– Another two months to fortify and hide it from the prying eyes of aux patrols.

Pseudo: (often used in combination) not genuine but having the appearance of; counterfeit; imitative.

– Deftly, he ran his fingers along the pseudo bony spine.

Psychedelic: producing distorted sensory perceptions and feelings or altered states of awareness or sometimes states resembling psychosis; pdshchoactive; phosphoric.

– Hers was the tone of a person talking about a beloved sibling who had returned to psychedelic drugs.

Psychiatric: relating to or used in or engaged in the practice of psychiatry; psychiatrical.

– She had already told him that the Battaglia matchmaker had advised a vacation for him in the psychiatric ward at Charity.

Psychological: mental or emotional as opposed to physical in nature; mental.

– Exasperated at being judged a psychological aberration, the apple descends into Flatland.

Psychosomatic: used of illness or symptoms resulting from neurosis; neurotic; psychoneurotic.

– Billy had powerful psychosomatic responses to the changing chords.

Psychotic: characteristic of or suffering from psychosis; insane.

– Rod Serling must have been severely psychotic when he came up with that show.

Psychotropic: affecting the mind or mood or other mental processes; mind-expanding.

– Use of physical force and psychotropic drugs was rampant.

Pteridological: affecting the mind or mood or other mental processes; mind-blendling; mind-blowing.

– Use of physical force and psychotropic drugs was rampant.

Ptolemaic: of or relating to the geocentric Ptolemaic system; Ptolemaic.

– Ptolemaic kings were nothing if not devoted to their sisters.

Puberulent: covered with fine soft hairs or down; downy; hirsute.

– Leaves mostly pubescent or puberulent; hoods obtuse, entire, twice or thrice the length of the anthers.

Pubescent: covered with fine soft hairs or down; hairy; sericeous.

– His pubescent voice was cracking from the stress.

Pubic: relating to or near the pubis.

– It is kinky, more pubic than cranial, and whitish blond, breaking off easily, like hay.

Publicised: made known; especially made widely known; heralded; published.

– He has publicised these findings in documentary films and spread them in acres of news coverage.

Publishable: suitable for publication.

– They need to be sorted and the publishable pieces identified.

Pucka: absolutely first class and genuine; pukka; superior.

– When the body is of brick or stone, they call them pucka houses.

Puckish: naughtily or annoyingly playful; arch; implike.

– Then, laughing, he slides down and away, throwing a puckish glance back to see if I’ll follow.

Puddingheaded: stupid and confused; confused.

Pudendal: of or relating to or near the pudendum.

– Voluntary control of the external urethral sphincter is a function of the pudendal nerve.

Pudgy: short and plump; tubby; fat.

– He, at fourteen, was pudgy, bespectacled, and totally unsentimental.

Puerile: displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; jejune; immature.

– A puerile tear dimmed my eye while I looked—a tear of disappointment and impatience; ashamed of it, I wiped it away.

Puerperal: relating to or connected with or occurring at the time of childbirth or shortly following, or to the woman who has just given birth.

– Semmelweis, once described as a “savior of mothers,” discovered that cases of puerperal fever could be significantly cut by washing hands before surgery.

Puff: gathered for protruding fullness; Puffed; fancy.

– The wolf could huff and puff and blow your house down.

Puffed: gathered for protruding fullness; puff; fancy.

– He puffed a big sigh into my ear.

Puffy: being puffed out; used of hair style or clothing; big; large.

– His eyes are still puffy but I pretend not to notice.

Pugilistic: of or relating to pugilism or pugilists.

– It must be a particularly pugilistic time of year.

Pugnacious: ready and able to resort to force or violence; rough; aggressive.

– He turned with surprise to face a stout, pugnacious colonel with a large head and mustache and a smooth, florid skin.

Puissant: powerful; powerful.

– His black sorcerer was more puissant than all of Euron’s three, even if you threw them in a pot and boiled them down to one.

Pukka: absolutely first class and genuine; pukka; superior.

– He packs Magid back home to be educated, but the son returns eight years later with a pukka English accent and a serene atheism.

Pulmonary:  I used to be a candy striper in a pulmonary ward. That cough does not sound good.

Pulmonic: relating to or affecting the lungs; mnemonic; pulmonary.

– In whooping cough, and other pulmonic affections, it proves beneficial in the form of syrup.

Pulpy: like a pulp or overripe; not having stiffness; squashy; nonwoody.

– Some of the white, pulpy fruit she also devoured, and some she boiled to make a drink for later.

Pulseless: appearing dead; not breathing or having no perceptible pulse; breathless; dead.

– It was power, current, force, direction, a pulseless world-stream steady in limbo.

Pulverised: consisting of fine particles; fine-grained; fine.

– Unlike wheatgrass, kombucha and seaweed, it tastes good – really good – if prepared thoughtfully, that is without being tortured into chips or pulverised into smoothies.

Pumped: tense with excitement and enthusiasm as from a rush of adrenaline; pumped-up; tense.

– The lantern began to hiss as Lord Asriel pumped it hard.

Punctilious: marked by precise accordance with details; precise; meticulous.

– Her mother wanted to say something, she could tell, and the set smile, the punctilious gestures, were a beginning.

Punctual: acting or arriving or performed exactly at the time appointed; promt; timely.

– I was seven minutes early, partly because I liked to be punctual, and partly because I didn’t have anyone to chat with out in the halls.

Puncturable: capable of being punctured.

– Fewer, still, found puncturable areas and struck through silicone rubber and fine steel wire cloth into flesh.

Punctureless: being without punctures or incapable of being punctured; self-sealing.

Pungent: strong and sharp; the pungent taste of radishes; acrid; tasty.

– Jinx rubbed his neck as the pungent odor practically singed through his nose, clear to the back of his head.

Punic: of or relating to or characteristic of ancient Carthage or its people or their language; carthaginians.

– I thought of Hannibal, who built his garrison here during the Second Punic War around 200 B.C., surrendering only after his brother’s head was delivered to him.

Punishable: liable to or deserving punishment; guilty.

– Hiding Jews was a crime punishable by death, so she was lucky that she wasn’t killed.

Punitive: inflicting punishment; punitory; penal; relative.

– Media campaigns would be unleashed in an effort to overturn the punitive public consensus on race.

Punitory: inflicting punishment; punitive; penal.

– This letter made the world seem cold to George, who strongly suspected Percy had dictated the punitory clauses.

Punk: of very poor quality; flimsy; bum; tinny; sleazy.

– The truth was, back home I always felt like I was the only brown punk in the whole world.

Puny: (used especially of persons) of inferior size; runty; small.

– There is a lot going on you don’t know about—even if you are her puny boyfriend.

Pupal: of the insects in the chrysalis (cocoon) or post larval stage.

– Outside the bug’s body, the wires linked up with a small circuit board, which the researchers left resting loosely atop the pupal case.

Pupillary: of or relating to the pupil of the eye.

– Your doctor will also measure your pupillary distance — the distance from the center of one eye to the center of the other.

Puppyish: characteristic of a puppy; puppylike; young.

– He felt Frolic stir and turn in his light puppyish slumber, probably dreaming of birds and chipmunks to chase.

Puppylike: characteristic of a puppy; puppish; immature.

– Her puppylike entreaties tugged at my heartstrings, though, so I moved to her side, earning a relieved smile in return.

Puranic: of or relating to the Purana.

– It was much later that the imagination of Hindu writers took full wing and carried the people into the all but infinite reaches of Puranic chronology

Purblind: having greatly reduced vision; blind; unsighted.

– Hardy’s interest in the operations of accident and caprice — in the “purblind Doomsters” who governed human fate — is reduced to a few plot points.

Purchasable: having greatly reduced vision.

– They pass hard, legitimate judgments, unlike the purblind guesses of men, fogged with romanticism and ignorance and bias and wish.

Pure: free of extraneous elements of any kind; viginal; subliminal.

– I feel like I’m going to explode all over the room into a trillion tiny pieces of pure joy.

Pureblood: having a list of ancestors as proof of being a purebred animal; purebred; pedigreed.

– He looked into Harry’s face and then said quietly, “James was a pureblood, Harry, and I promise you, he never asked us to call him ‘Prince.’

Pureblooded: having a list of ancestors as proof of being a purebred animal; pedigree;

– Here was a pureblooded American by all the accepted canons.

Purebred: bred for many generations from members of a recognized breed or strain; blooded; full-blood.

– Even her mixed-breed looks better suited the part than Arnold’s purebred sleekness.

Purgative: strongly laxative; cathartic; evacuant.

– The doctor had given him a purgative and left.

Purgatorial: serving to purge or rid of sin.

– A little later, downstairs in the lobby, which looked like some purgatorial setting, Nazario had assembled most of the tenants.

Puritanic: morally rigorous and strict; blue; strict.

– He had not been brought up on puritanic lines.

Puritanical: exaggeratedly proper; priggish; prim.

– Growing up, I was always tickled by this raffish personal connection to history: part of the Puritans, but not actually puritanical.

Purple: belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler; noble; royal.

– The purple metal box with flowers on top full of Schrafft’s chocolates.

Purplish: of a color intermediate between red and blue; purple; violet.

– It was around eight o’clock and the sun was finally setting against the purplish sky.

Purposeful: having meaning through having an aim; meaningful.

– Mr Jenkins came striding up to our table with a very purposeful look on his face.

Purposeless: not evidencing any purpose or goal; meaningless; adrift.

– He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor.

Purposive: having a purpose; goal-directed; purposeful.

– Aristotle thought about the natural world in exactly the same way: that is to say, he saw it as the product of rational, purposive activity.

Pursuant: (followed by `to’) in conformance to or agreement with; consistent.

– Nearly all of the cases alleging racial profiling in drug-law enforcement were brought pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its implementing regulations.

Pursy: breathing laboriously or convulsively; blown; winded.

– Never since he was a child did the pursy old gentleman run as fast as he did now.

Purulent: containing pus; pussy; infected.

– At that time, the sore was as wide as a grapefruit and had “copious purulent drainage, foul smell and bleeding,” Dorsey’s lawyers argue.

Pushful: marked by aggressive ambition and energy and initiative; pussy; ambiguous.

– marked by aggressive ambition and energy and initiative

Pushy: marked by aggressive ambition and energy and initiative; Pushful; ambiguous.

– Sometimes I don’t know if he thinks confrontation is hilarious, or if he thinks he’s helping in his own pushy way.

Pusillanimous: lacking in courage and strength and resolution; contemptibly fearful; cowardly; fearful.

– She almost feels sorry for him, the pusillanimous wretch.

Pussy: containing pus; purulent; infect.

Pustulate: (of complexion) blemished by imperfections of the skin; acned; pimply.

– Dorsum irregularly pustules; in some specimens the pustules tend to form a V in the scapular region.

Putative: purported; commonly put forth or accepted as true on inconclusive grounds; acknowledgement.

– We listened vaguely to Our Father’s tale of the putative Mercedes truck.

Putdownable: (of a book) poorly written and not entertaining; uninteresting.

Putrefacient: causing or promoting bacterial putrefaction; putrefactive; septic.

Putrefactive: causing or promoting bacterial putrefaction; putrefacient; septic.

– A substance which prevents or retards putrefaction, or destroys, or protects from, putrefactive organisms; as, salt, carbolic acid, alcohol, cinchona.

Putrefiable: liable to decay or spoil or become putrid; decaybale; spoilable.

– The presence of putrefiable or putrescent matter determines at once the germination of the always-present spore.

Putrescent: becoming putrid; stale.

– The idea has risen like cheap champagne in the putrescent bowels of the Republicans.

Putrescible: liable to decay or spoil or become putrid; spoilable; perishable.

– Their use is apt to be followed by undue inflammation, probably of septic origin, for they almost invariably contain putrescent or readily putrescible elements.

Putrid: morally corrupt or evil; corrupt.

– The clearing lay quiet and still and completely putrid

Puzzled: filled with bewilderment; nonplused.

– They were where he kept his impossible dream—every discovery he’d made about the Unseen City, every piece he’d puzzled into place.

Puzzling: not clear to the understanding; enigmatic; enigmatical.

– I went through the next week puzzling over it, and even more confused because I knew nothing definite of where I stood.

Pyaemic: of or relating to pyemia.

Pycnotic: of or relating to or exhibiting pyknosis; pyknotic.

Pyemic: of or relating to pyemia; pyaemic.

– Unless systemic pyemic infection occurs or the fungus elements find their way to the deeper organs or structures the general health remains apparently undisturbed.

Pyknic: having a squat and fleshy build; fat.

– Also defaced by “pyknic” Sunday was a Lady Gaga fan site, Gaga Daily, an act which drew a sympathetic message from the pop star on Twitter.

Pyknotic: of or relating to or exhibiting pyknosis.

Pyloric: relating to or near the pylorus.

– He wondered whether his pyloric valve might be trying, Cassandralike, to tell him something.

Pyogenic: producing pus.

– Many varieties of this disease have been described, but all are forms of “pyogenic” or “septic stomatitis.

Pyramidal: resembling a pyramid; pointed; paramedical.

– His heart quailed before the enormous pyramidal shape.

Pyramidic: resembling a pyramid.

– Seismic disturbances were undoubtedly responsible for high pyramidic waves that lifted and fell without onward movement.

Pyramidical: resembling a pyramid; pyramidal.

– It’s a pretty pyramidical structure and by the time you’re in your mid-30s there’s nowhere to go in the bank and you move elsewhere.

Pyrectic: having or causing fever; pyrogen.

Pyretic: causing fever.

– His choreography was sharp, ecstatic, pyretic; while his dancers, swathed in brilliant fabrics and ornate feathered headpieces, merged the rhapsodic convulsions common to the Shango and Yoruba faiths with sleek pirouettes and dazzling leaps.

Pyrochemical: of or relating to or produced by chemical reactions at high temperatures.

Pyroelectric: relating to or exhibiting pyroelectricity; Pyroelectrical.

– In 1791, the crystals are markedly pyroelectric; a cube when heated becomes positively electrified on four of its corners and negatively on the four opposite corners.

Pyroelectrical: relating to or exhibiting pyroelectricity.

– Crystals exhibit pyroelectrical characters, since they possess four uniterminal triad axes of symmetry.

Pyrogallic: of or relating to pyrogallol.

– No. 2 contains a small portion of pyrogallic acid, about the size of a pea.

Pyrogenetic: produced by or producing fever; pyrogenic.

– There are pyrogenetic agencies, like petroleum, turpentine, and croton oil, which, introduced into the body, produce suppurative inflammation without the association of microbia.

Pyrogenic: produced under conditions involving intense heat; igneous.

– And the true black element, more numerically powerful, more fertile, more cunning, better adapted to pyrogenic climate and tropical environment, would surely win.

Pyrogenous: produced by or producing fever; pyrogenic; igneous.

Pyrographic: of or relating to or produced by pyrography.

– When used for this purpose the bracket, as well as the pyrographic outfit, is stowed away in the cabinet as shown in Fig.

Pyroligneous: of a substance produced by the effect of heat on wood, especially by destructive distillation; pyrolignic.

– This may be done by causing the animal to inhale the fumes of pyroligneous acid, and by the internal use of bayberry bark.

Pyrolignic: of a substance produced by the effect of heat on wood, especially by destructive distillation; pyroligneous.

Pyrolytic: resulting from pyrolysis.

Pyrotechnic: of or relating to the craft of making fireworks.

– The spectacular pyrotechnic display could be viewed thirty miles away.

Pyrrhic: of or relating to or containing a metrical foot of two unstressed syllables.

– She deserved to hurl whatever was available, to keep us moving, to speak in counterpoint to the deadening strings of my pyrrhic feet.

Pythagorean: She deserved to hurl whatever was available, to keep us moving, to speak in counterpoint to the deadening strings of my pyrrhic feet.

– She deserved to hurl whatever was available, to keep us moving, to speak in counterpoint to the deadening strings of my pyrrhic feet.

Adjectives That Start with P – Infographic [Downloadable]

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Adjectives Starting with A to Z

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Adjectives That Start with:

A	B	C	D
E	F	G	H
I	J	K	L
M	N	O	P
Q	R	S	T
U	V	W	X
Y	Z

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