Johnson's Dictionary Online

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Novice. n.s. [novice, French; novitius, Latin.] 1. One not acquainted with any thing; a fresh-man; one in the rudiments of any knowledge. 2. One who has entered a religious house, but not yet taken the vow. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/novice_ns

Wolfish. adj. [from wolf.] Resembling a wolf in qualities or form. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/wolfish...

Wand. n.s. [vaand, Danish.] 1. A small stick, or twig; a long rod. 2. Any staff of authority, or use. 3. A charming rod. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/wand_ns

URINE. n.s. [urine, Fr. urina, Lat.] Animal water. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/urine_ns

To CERE. v.a. [from cera, Lat. wax.] To wax. You ought to pierce the skin with a needle, and strong brown thread cered, about half an inch from the edges of the lips. Wiseman johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/cere_va

Plu'nket. n.s. A kind of blue colour. Ainsworth. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/plunket...

To ADJURE. v.a. [adjuro, Lat.] To impose an oath upon another, prescribing the form in which he shall swear. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/adjure_va

Expenseless. adj. [from expense.] Without cost. A physician may save any army by this frugal and expenseless means only. Milton on Education. What health promotes, and gives unenvy’d peace, Is all expenseless, and procur’d with ease. Blackmore. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/expense...

Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755, was not the first dictionary of English words (that honor goes to a work published in 1604). But it was among the earliest... karenswallowprior.substack.com/p/samuel-joh...

Unshunnable. adj. Inevitable. ’Tis the plague of great ones, Prerogativ’d are they less than the base; ’Tis destiny unshunnable like death. Shakesp. Othello. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/unshunn...

Bate begins by rejecting the Oxford English Dictionary’s cautious definition of a garden: ‘A piece of ground, usually enclosed, where flowers, fruit or vegetables are cultivated.’ He favours instead Samuel Johnson’s dictionary definition... spectator.com/article/when...

Superiour. n.s. One more excellent or dignified than another. Those under the great officers of state have more frequent opportunities for the exercise of benevolence than their superiours. Addison’s Spectator. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/superio...

There are around 140 blue plaques in the City, commemorating notable people, buildings and structures, the oldest being writer Dr Samuel Johnson's. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Trigon. n.s. [τρίγωνον.] A triangle. A term in astrology. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/trigon_ns

The centerpiece of the exhibit at the entrance is the large version of Samuel Johnson’s “A Dictionary of the English Language,” published in 1786, an artifact that was rebound and donated to Trinity’s Special Collections & Archives by Elizabeth Coates Maddux. trinitonian.com/2026/10/07/j...

BIRTH-SONG, n. A song sung at the birth of a person. webstersdictionaryonline.com/1828/ai/00265

REDOLENT. adj. [redolens, Lat.] Sweet of scent. Thy love excels the joys of wine; Thy odours, O how redolent! Sandys’s Paraphrase. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/redolen...

Dr Samuel Johnson has long been one of my favourite literary personalities. His wit, formidable conversation and gift for a memorable phrase make him wonderful company on the page, while his struggles and kindness give us much to admire in the man himself... susannahfullerton.com.au/portfolio-it...

Blazer. n.s. [from blaze.] One that spreads reports. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/blazer_ns

The man who single-handedly disciplined the English language could not walk past a post without touching it. oddlet.com/lovable-weir...

Thick-sculled. adj. Dull; stupid. They’re pleas’d to hear their thick-scull’d judges cry, Well mov’d! oh finely said! Dryden.... johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/thick-s...

Diarist Samuel Pepys famously watched the Great Fire of London unfold from the bank in 1666, while literary giants like Dr Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith were frequent patrons. metro.co.uk/2026/10/11/8...

Scabby. adj. [from scab.] Diseased with scabs. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/scabby_...

...Americans tend to see it as Samuel Johnson saw it in 1756, when he denounced it as “Canada, a cold uncomfortable uninviting region, from which nothing but furs and fish were to be had, and where the new inhabitants could only pass a laborious and necessitous life.” thewalrus.ca/what-america...

Medication. n.s. [from medicate.] 1. The act of tincturing or impregnating with medicinal ingredients. 2. The use of physick. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/medicat...

Samuel Johnson, who in the 18th century began writing a dictionary of English to rival the great works of the French and Italian academies, was no friend to innovation... Johnson changed his tune later on, however... www.wsj.com/opinion/free...

To Eventerate. v.a. [eventero, Latin.] To rip up; to open by ripping the belly. In a bear, which the hunters eventerated, or opened, I beheld the young ones, with all their parts distinct. Brown. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/eventer...

SOCIABLE. adj. [sociable, French; sociabilis, Latin.] 1. Fit to be conjoined. 2. Ready to unite in a general interest. 3. Friendly; familiar; conversible. 4. Inclin’d to company. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/sociabl...

An't. A contraction for and it, or rather and if it; as, an’t please you; that is, and if it please you. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/ant

QUODLIBET. n.s. [Latin.] A nice point; a subtilty. He who reading on the heart, When all his quodlibets of art Could not expound its pulse and heat, Swore, he had never felt it beat. Prior. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/quodlib...

Linchpin. n.s. An iron pin, that keeps the wheel on the axle-tree. Dict. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/linchpi...

Moneyed. adj. [from money.] Rich in money: often used in opposition to those who are possessed of lands. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/moneyed...

To CONDENSE. v.a. [condenso, Latin.] To make any body more thick, close, and weighty; to drive or attract the parts of any body nearer to each other. To inspissate; opposed to rarefy. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/condens...

Peeper. n.s. Young chickens just breaking the shell. Dishes I chuse, though little, yet genteel; Snails the first course, and peepers crown the meal. Bramst. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/peeper_ns

REMORA. n.s. [Latin.] 1. A let or obstacle. 2. A fish or a kind of worm that sticks to ships, and retards their passage through the water. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/remora_ns

To Feague. v.a. [Gower uses To feige, free to censure; fegen, German, to sweep; fyken, Dutch, to strike.] To whip; to chastise; to beat. In Scottish feake, to slutter; to be idly or officiously busy. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/feague_va

Jumble. n.s. [from the verb.] Confused mixture; violent and confused agitation. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/jumble_ns

Gruntling. n.s. [from grunt.] A young hog. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/gruntli...

Infective. adj. [from infect.] Having the quality of acting by contagion. True love, well considered, hath an infective power. Sidney. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/infecti...

Pudency. n.s. [pudens, Lat.] Modesty; shamefacedness. A pudency so rosy, the sweet view on’t Might well have warm’d old Saturn. Shakesp. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/pudency...

Underpuller. n.s. [under and puller.] Inferiour or subordinate puller. The mystery of seconds and thirds is such a master-piece, that no description can reach. These underpullers in destruction are such implicit mortals as are not to be matched. Collier. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/underpu...

JOY. n.s. [joye, French; gioia, Italian.] 1. The passion produced by any happy accident; gladness; exultation. 2. Gaiety; merriment; festivity. 3. Happiness; felicity. 4. A term of fondness. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/joy_ns

Justice Samuel Alito once pointed out to me in conversation that Samuel Johnson’s and Noah Webster’s dictionary definition of marriage... www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/the-...

CITY. n.s. [cité, French, civitas, Latin.] 1. A large collection of houses and inhabitants. 2. [In the English law.] A town corporate, that hath a bishop and a cathedral church. Cowel. 3. The inhabitants of a certain city, as distinguished from... johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/city_ns

In 1759, Samuel Johnson addressed a complaint he heard often in London: that memory was failing. His diagnosis then holds today. “The true art of memory,” he wrote, “is the art of attention.” www.elsevier.com/connect/atte...

Unbegot. Unbegotten. adj. [from begot.] 1. Eternal; without generation. 2. Not yet generated. 3. Not attaining existence. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/unbegot...

Queen Anne performed the last English ceremony in 1712, touching a young Samuel Johnson among others... go2tutors.com/20-royal-tra...

Brimstony. adj. [from brimstone.] Full of brimstone; containing sulphur; sulphureous. johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1773/brimsto...