platonic

platonic    [pluh-Ton-ik]

adjective. purely spiritual, not sexual

"A soulmate doesn’t have to mean the traditional man and woman romantic relationship; you can have these types of connections in a platonic way as well."

"They made a long and dignified marriage, even if it was largely platonic."

Origin:  Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher who wrote on the interesting subject of love. Platonic love and platonic friendships are marked by the absence of physical or sexual desire. Plato did acknowledge physical desire, but thought that if two people truly inspired each other, their spiritual or ideal love would bring them closer to God.

astute

astute [uh-Stoot]

adjective. having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations and having good judgement; shrewd

"Going into the negotiations, the UK will need an astute strategy to get a good deal with the EU and with other trading partners."

"Alex Rodriguez is a tireless work and an astute student of the game." - Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner

"His clothes seem less a personal pursuit of perfection and more of an astute understanding of brand management."

demure

demure     [dih-Myoo r]

adjective. modest, reserved or shy in manner or behavior

"We need to keep changing the attitude that raises our girls to be demure and our boys to be assertive, that criticizes our daughters for speaking out and our sons for shedding a tear. " - President Obama

"She had long, wavy blonde hair and wore a demureblack suit."

"She is a demure young lady."

echelon

echelon    [Esh-uh-lon]

noun.  a level or rank in an organization, a profession, or society

"McDonald’s returned to downtown Chicago from suburbs like Oak Brook. GE will move its headquarter to downtown Boston from Fairfield.  A top echelon of executives of Corporate America is returning to American cities."

"After years of service, she is now in the upper echelon of city officials."

"There is corruption in the upper echelons of the firm."

Origin:  Echelon comes from the French échelon, a word whose literal meaning is “rung of a ladder.”

protagonist, antagonist

protagonist [proh-Tag-uh-nist]

noun. the leading character, hero

antagonist [an-Tag-uh-nist]

noun. the adversary of the hero or protagonist

"Standing by refusal to endorse Trump during his convention speech, Cruz is cementing his stature as a chief Trump antagonist."

"And contradiction demands a 'for' and an 'against', a protagonist and an antagonist."

"Who will replace him as the protagonist in one of our most-watched dramas?"

red herring

red herring

phase.  something that misleads and distracts from the main subject

"Racism was not a factor in the case – that was a red herring thrown in by the defense lawyers."

"The detectives were following a red herring, but they're on the right track now."

"The mystery novel has a couple of red herrings that keep readers off guard."

origin:  A red herring is a type of strong-smelling smoked fish that was once drawn across the trail of a scent to mislead hunting dogs and put them off the scent.

white elephant

white elephant

phase. a useless or unwanted item, expensive to keep up

"The cottage at the lake had become a real white elephant-too run down to sell, yet costly to keep up."

Origin:  from the story that the kings of Siam gave such animals as a gift to courtiers considered obnoxious, in order to ruin the recipient by the great expense incurred in maintaining the animal.