- mirth n. Gladness and gaiety, especially when expressed by laughter.
-mirthful, mirthless adj.
- miry adj. 1. Full of or resembling mire; swampy. 2. Smeared with mire; muddy.
- misalliance n. 1. An unsuitable alliance, especially in marriage. 2. A
mesalliance.
- misandry n. Hatred of men.
- misanthrope also misanthropist n. One who hates or mistrusts humankind.
- mischance n. An unfortunate occurrence; a mishap. 2. Bad luck.
- misdo tr.v. To do wrongly or awkwardly; botch. -misdoer n.
- misdoubt tr.v. To feel doubt or distrust about.
- misery index n. The sum of national unemployment and inflation rates, used
unofficially to assess a nation's economic health.
- misfeasance n. Improper and unlawful execution of an act that in itself is
lawful and proper. - misfeasor n.
- misfit n. 1. Something of the wrong size or shape for its purpose. 2. One who
is unable to adjust to one's environment or circumstances or is considered to
be disturbingly different from others.
- misgive v. -tr. To arouse suspicion or apprehension in (one's mind or heart,
for example). -intr. To be suspicious, apprehensive, or doubtful.
- misgiving n. A feeling of doubt, distrust or apprehension.
- mishmash n. A collection or mixture of unrelated things; a hodgepodge.
- misknow tr.v. To misunderstand.
- misology n. Hatred of reason, argument, or enlightenment. -misologist n.
- misoneism n. Hatred or fear of change or innovation. -misoneist n.
- misprison1 n. Maladministration of public office. 2. Neglect in preventing or
reporting a felony or treason by one not an accessory. 3. An act of sedition
against a government or the courts.
- misprison2 n. Contempt; dislike.
- misprize tr.v. 1. To despise. 2. To undervalue.
- misremember tr.v. To remember incorrectly.
- missive n. A written message; a letter.
- mite1 n. Any of various small or minute arachnids of the order Acarina that
are often parasitic on animals and plants, infest stored food products, and in
some species transmit disease.
- mite2 n. 1a. A very small contribution or amount of money b. A widow's mite.
2. A very small object, creature, or particle. 3. A coin of very small value,
especially an obsolete British coin worth half a farthing. --idiom: a mite To
a small degree; somewhat.
- miter n. 1. The liturgical headdress and part of the insignia of a Christian
bishop. In the Western church, it is a tall pointed hat with peaks in front
and back, worn at all solemn functions. 3a. A miter joint. b. The edge of a
piece of material that has been beveled preparatory to making a miter joint.
c. A miter square. v.
- Mithras n. Mythology The ancient Persian god of light and guardian against
evil, often identified with the sun.
- mithridate n. An antidote against poison.
- mithridatism n. Tolerance or immunity to a poison acquired by taking gradually
larger doses of it. -mithridatic adj.
- mitosis n. Biology 1. The process in cell division by which the nucleus
divides, typically consisting of four stages, prophase, metaphase, anaphase,
and telophase, and normally resulting in two new nuclei, each of which
contains a complete copy of the parental chromosomes. Also called
karyokinesis.
- mitral stenosis n. A narrowing of the mitral valve, usually caused by
rheumatic fever, resulting in an obstruction to the flow of blood from the
left atrium to the left ventricle.
- mixed marriage n. Marriage between persons of different races or religions.
- mixed metaphor n. A succession of incongruous metaphors, as in "The negotiator
played his cards to the hilt.
- mixed nerve n. A nerve with both sensory and motor fibers.
- mixed number n. A number, such as 71/4, consisting of an integer and a
fraction or decimal.
- mixed-up adj. Informal In a state of confusion; bewildered or muddled: just a
mixed-up kid.
- mixology n. The study or skill of preparing mixed drinks. -mixologist n.
- mix-up also mixup n. 1. A state or an instance of confusion; a muddle:
maddening bureaucratic mix-ups. 2. Informal A fight or melee.
- Mnemosyne n. Greek Mythology The goddess of memory, mother of the Muses.
- mob n. 3. Informal a. An organized gang of criminals; a crime syndicate. b.
often Mob Organized crime. Often used with 'the': a murder suspect with links
to the Mob. tr.v. 1. To crowd around and jostle or annoy, especially in anger
or excessive enthusiasm: Eager fans mobbed the popular singer. 2. To crowd
into: Visitors mobbed the fairgrounds. 3. To attack in large numbers;
overwhelm: The quarterback was mobbed by the defensive line.
- mobocracy n. 1. Political control by a mob. 2. The mass of common people as
the source of political control. -mobocrat n.
- moccasin n. 3. A watermoccasin.
- mockup n. 1. A usually full-sized scale model of a structure, used for
demonstration, study, or testing. 2. A layout of printed matter.
I remember 'mischance' from the movie You've Got Mail when shopgirl wrote in
email about her love for the book Pride and Prejudice.
Words starting with mis-, e.g., misknow and misdoubt, felt alien even after I read, copied, and posted them. I don't meet them often in my readings either. I have no doubt, however, that they will spring out of the unconscious part of the mind someday and shine.