- mystique n. An aura of heightened value, interest, or meaning surrounding
something, arising from attitudes and beliefs that impute special power or
mystery to it: the cowboy mystique; the mystique of existentialism.
- mythomania n. A compulsion to embroider the truth, engage in exaggeration, or
tell lies. - mythomaniac adj.
- mythopoeic or mythopeic also mythopoetic adj. 1. Of or relating to the making
of myths. 2. Serving to create or engender myths; productive in mythmaking.
- mythopoeia, mythopoesis n.
- mythos n. pl. mythoi 1. Myth. 2. Mythology. 3. The pattern of basic values and
attitudes of a people, characteristically transmitted through myths and the
arts.
- nab -tr.v. Informal 1. To seize (a fugitive or wrongdoer); arrest. 2. To grab;
snatch. -nabber n.
- nacreous cloud n. A cloud resembling a cirrus, showing iridescent coloration
when the sun is several degrees below the horizon.
- naff1 adj. Chiefly British Slang Unstylish, cliched, or outmoded.
- naff2 -intr.v. Chiefly British Slang To fool around or go about.
- nag2 n. 1. A horse, especially: a. An old or worn-out horse. b. Slang A
racehorse.
- naiad n. 1. Greek Mythology One of the nymphs who lived in and presided over
brooks, springs, and fountains. 3. The aquatic nymph of certain insects, such
as the mayfly, damesfly, or dragonfly. 4. An aquatic plant of the genus Naias.
- nail biter n. 1. One who bites one's fingernails as a nervous habit. 2. A
situation marked by tense nervousness or apprehension, especially an athletic
contest whose outcome is uncertain near its finish. -nail-biting n.
- namby-pamby adj. 1. Insipid and sentimental. 2. Lacking vigor or decisiveness;
spineless. n. One that is insipid, sentimental, or weak.
- name of the game n. Slang The essential part or quality necessary for the
success of an enterprise or the fulfillment of a goal: "The name of the game
was to get the story".
- Nanda Devi A peak, 7,821.7m high, of the Himalaya Mountains in northern India.
- nap1 -intr.v. 2. To be unaware of imminent danger or trouble: be off guard: The
civil unrest caught the police napping.
- nap2 n. A soft or fuzzy surface on fabric or leather. -tr.v. To form or raise a
soft or fuzzy surface on (fabric or leather).
- nap3 -tr.v. To pour or put a sauce or gravy over (a cooked dish): "a stuffed
veal chop napped with an elegant Port sauce."
- nape n. The back of the neck.
- narc or nark n. Slang A law enforcement officer who deals with narcotics
violations.
- narcissism n. 3. Erotic pleasure derived from contemplation or admiration of
one's own body or self, especially as a fixation on or a regression to an
infantile stage of development.
- narco- prefix 1. Numbness; stupor; lethargy: narcolepsy. 2. Narcotic drug:
narcoanalysis.
- narcodollar n. A U.S. dollar acquired from illegal drug traffic. Often used in
the plural.
- narcolepsy n. A disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable, though
often brief, attacks of deep sleep, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and
hallucinations. - narcoleptic adj.
- narcoma n. Stupor or unconsciousness produced by a drug or other chemical
substance.
- narcosis n. A condition of deep stupor or unconsciousness produced by a drug
or other chemical substance.
- narcoterrorism n. Terrorism carried out to prevent interference with or divert
attention from illegal narcotics trafficking.
- narcotism n. 1. Addiction to narcotics such as opium, heroin, or morphine. 2.
Narcosis.
- nark2 n. Chiefly British Slang n. An informer, especially a police informer.
-intr.v. To be an informer.
- narrow n. 1. A part of little width, as a pass through mountains. 2. narrows
(used with a sing. or pl. verb) a. A body of water with little width that
connects two larger bodies of water. b. A part of a river or an ocean current
that is not wide.
- narrowcast -intr.v. To transmit, as by cable, programs confined to the
interests of a specific group of viewers, subscribers, or listeners, such as
physicians, business people, or teenagers.
- nary adj. Not one: "Frequently, measures of major import ... glide through the
chambers with nary a whisper of debate" (G. B. Merry).
- nastic adj. Of, relating to, or characterized by the tendency in plant parts
to move in a direction determined by an internal stimulus, as an increased
rate of cellular growth on one surface or side of the plant part. (See
tropism.)
- natant adj. Floating or swimming in water.
- natation n. The act or skill of swimming.
- natatorial adj. of, relating to, adapted for, or characterized by swimming: a
natatorial appendage; natatorial birds.
- natatorium n. An indoor swimming pool.
- natch adv. Slang Of course; naturally. [Shortening and alteration of
NATURALLY.]
- nativism n. 1. A sociopolitical policy, especially in the U.S. in the 19th
century, favoring the interests of established inhabitants over those of
immigrants.
