Word of the day: venal

[Cocoa]

could be the word of the last 5 years...


http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/

Word of the Day for Wednesday June 28, 2006

venal \VEE-nuhl\, adjective:

1. Capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration; held for sale; salable; purchasable.
2. Capable of being corrupted.
3. Marked by or associated with bribery and corrupt dealings.

Not everything was so venal in this operation, however. Sometimes votes were bought outright, but this was frowned on if the sums were too high.
-- Kenneth R. Johnston, The Hidden Wordsworth

The news items accumulate to project an image of French politics as venal, power-mongering, and posing a crazy threat to all those values of humanity and civilization that Picasso's work had always embraced.
-- Rosalind E. Krauss, The Picasso Papers

While the enemy in Vietnam was mysterious and, to some Americans, heroic, America's allies in Saigon seemed venal and corrupt, more interested in graft than in combat and unable to rally their people behind a common cause or to create an effective military force.
-- Charles E. Neu, After Vietnam

Magistrates were expected to supplement their modest incomes, in theory from personal fortunes, in reality from a variety of venal practices.
-- Michelle De Kretser, The Rose Grower

[Hissyspit]

1. Not to be confused with VENIAL!

ve·ni·al ( P ) Pronunciation Key (vn-l, vnyl)
adj.
Easily excused or forgiven; pardonable: a venial offense.
Roman Catholic Church. Minor, therefore warranting only temporal punishment.

[MADem]

2. And let us not forget its cousin, HEINOUS

from the same website:

Main Entry: hei·nous
Pronunciation: 'hA-n&s
Function: adjective
: enormously and shockingly evil <a heinous crime> —hei·nous·ly adverb —hei·nous·ness noun