verb

1 of 60

Other / Body

pucker - To pull the sides of something, such as skin or cloth together so that folds or wrinkles are formed.

Alice puckered her lips after taking a bite of the sour lemon.

noun

2 of 60

Other / Other

puffery - Exaggerated or false praise

The small coffee shop's sign was pure puffery that advertised the "world's best coffee."

verb

3 of 60

Bad / Unfriendly

pry - To inquire too closely into a person's private affairs

Sally hated how her little sister would always pry into her personal business.

verb

4 of 60

Bad / Afraid

quaver - To shake or tremble one's voice while speaking, typically because of nervousness or emotion

Todd's voice quavered as he suddenly realized he was speaking to a thousand people in the audience.

noun

5 of 60

Bad / Strange

putz - A stupid or worthless person

Homer was a putz who couldn't get through the basic tasks of daily life.

verb

6 of 60

Other / Body

quiver - To tremble or shake with a slight rapid motion

When his mother removed his pacifier, the baby's lips began to quiver before he started to cry.

verb

7 of 60

Bad / Unfriendly

quibble - To argue or raise objections about a trivial matter

Scarlet couldn't wait until she quit her job as cashier so she could stop having to deal with customers who wanted to quibble about all the little things that bothered them about the store.

verb

8 of 60

Bad / Aggressive

quash - To reject or void, especially by legal procedure

Once DNA evidence proved Marco innocent, the judge quashed his original conviction.

noun

9 of 60

Other / Inward

prude - A person who is or claims to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity

As a natural prude, Tammy knew she would be very uncomfortable at a nude beach.

noun

10 of 60

Bad / Strange

punk - A person who is unlikely to amount to anything, and tends to annoy others

Avery was regarded as a punk who would many predicted would spend his life in and out of jail.

verb

11 of 60

Bad / Hurt

pummel - To continuously hit something or someone with the fist(s).

After a very stressful day at work, Adam decided to pummel the punching bag at the gym, to vent his frustration.

verb

12 of 60

Other / Inward

putter - To do things in a relaxed way, without rushing

When Ed retired, he loved to putter in his basement workshop, building toys for his grandchildren.

// Auto-focus search input when modal opens var searchModal = document.getElementById('searchModal'); if (searchModal) { searchModal.addEventListener('shown.bs.modal', function () { var inp = searchModal.querySelector('input[name=search]'); if (inp) inp.focus(); }); }