buoy
To keep afloat; to support or uplift; to raise the spirits of.
intimate
To communicate indirectly; to hint at or suggest something.
corroborate
To support with evidence; to help prove something by offering evidence.
paradox
A contradiction that is somehow true. Nick uses a paradox when he describes how he and his father have always communicated deeply despite using few words.
simile
A metaphor in which the comparison is made explicit through the use of words such as like, as, similar to, or resembles.
devoid
Empty of something; lacking or void of something; completely without something.
privy
Aware of or informed about, esp. something not generally known.
colossal
Enormous; astonishingly large; resembling a colossus.
oxymoron
A compact paradox that consists of two words in close proximity that contradict one another, such as wise fool or deafening silence.
metaphor
An implied analogy in which one thing is compared to a second thing.
restless
Possessed by a feeling of nervous agitation or dissatisfaction; unable to relax.
extemporize
To improvise verbally; to speak without having planned one’s remarks.
sedative
Tending to calm or soothe; tending to reduce a person’s nervous excitement.
synecdoche
The act of referring to a person, place, or idea using the word for a part of the whole, as when the term wheels is used to refer to an automobile, or when manual workers are called hired hands.
personification
The attribution of human qualities to an object, animal, or concept.
fractious
Full of anger and hard to control.
feign
To pretend to be something; to act or give a false impression of being some way.
metonymy
The act of referring to a person, place, or thing by using the word for something that it is located in closely proximity to it.
understatement
A figure of speech in which one says less than one really means, as when Tom gives Nick a tour of his enormous estate and declares, “I’ve got a nice place here”
hyperbole
Rhetorical exaggeration or overstatement, as when Daisy exclaims, “I’m p-paralyzed with happiness”