Pronounced: BUM(P)-shus, adj
Notes: I had an idea about this word, but it was (mostly) wrong
Yesterday’s word
The word Ananias means “a liar”
First usage
Our word came into English in the late 1800s
Background / Comments
Our word comes from the Bible; specifically, the book of Acts in the New Testament. But I did not learn our word from there — it was in a collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov (the “Black Widower” series) that used and defined this word in one of the stories. In chapter 5 of Acts, Ananias and his wife lied, apparently to make themselves look important. Both were struck dead — I suppose this dramatic story is why the name is remembered. I am always amazed at this because just a few chapters later (Acts 9), there is a faithful servant of the Lord also called Ananias who first met Saul the apostle when he came to Damascus.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 