8-letter words containing s, p, i, l
- pessimal — /pes'im-l/ (Latin-based antonym for "optimal") Maximally bad. "This is a pessimal situation." Also "pessimise" To make as bad as possible. These words are the obvious Latin-based antonyms for "optimal" and "optimise", but for some reason they do not appear in most English dictionaries, although "pessimise" is listed in the OED.
- petalism — a form of expulsion that typically lasted for five years and was dealt to those who were seen to have treacherous aspirations and objectives and was carried out in Syracuse in Ancient Greece
- phillips — a male given name.
- phylaxis — medical term for protection against infection
- phylesis — evolutionary events that modify an organism or group of organisms without leading to the formation of a new species
- physalia — a marine invertebrate, often confused with a jellyfish, that has a painful sting
- physical — of or relating to the body: physical exercise.
- physiol. — physiological
- pignolis — pine nut (def 1).
- pigswill — slops for feeding swine
- pilaster — a shallow rectangular feature projecting from a wall, having a capital and base and usually imitating the form of a column.
- pileless — without pile
- pilgrims — a person who journeys, especially a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion: pilgrims to the Holy Land.
- pilotis' — a column of iron, steel, or reinforced concrete supporting a building above an open ground level.
- pilsener — a light Bohemian lager beer, traditionally served in a tall, conical, footed glass (Pilsener glass)
- pilumnus — one of two ancient gods of fertility.
- pin seal — leather made of the skin of young seals.
- pinswell — a small boil
- pisolite — limestone composed of rounded concretions about the size of a pea.
- pisolith — a pea-size calcareous concretion, larger than an oolith, aggregates of which constitute a pisolite.
- pistolet — a small gun
- pithless — (of citrus fruit or peel) without any pith
- pitiless — feeling or showing no pity; merciless: pitiless criticism of his last novel.
- placings — The placings in a competition are the relative positions of the competitors at the end or at a particular stage of the competition.
- plainish — rather ordinary-looking
- plaister — plaster.
- plashing — a gentle splash.
- plasmoid — a section of a plasma having a characteristic shape
- plastics — made of plastic.
- plaudits — an enthusiastic expression of approval: Her portrayal of Juliet won the plaudits of the critics.
- plausive — applauding.
- playlist — a list of the recordings to be played on the radio during a particular program or time period, often including their sequence, duration, etc.
- playslip — a form used to nominate numbers in a lottery draw
- playsuit — a sports costume for women and children, usually consisting of shorts and a shirt, worn as beachwear, for tennis, etc.
- pleasing — giving pleasure; agreeable; gratifying: a pleasing performance.
- pleiades — any of the Pleiades.
- pleurisy — inflammation of the pleura, with or without a liquid effusion in the pleural cavity, characterized by a dry cough and pain in the affected side.
- plimsole — a canvas shoe with a rubber sole; gym shoe; sneaker.
- plimsoll — load-line mark.
- pliosaur — a large dinosaur with a short neck
- plotinus — a.d. 205?–270? Roman philosopher, born in Egypt.
- plumbism — lead poisoning (def 1b).
- plumpish — somewhat plump; tending to plumpness.
- plushily — in a plush manner
- pluviose — (in the French Revolutionary calendar) the fifth month of the year, extending from January 20 to February 18.
- pluvious — of or relating to rain; rainy.
- polanski — Roman. born 1933, Polish film director with a taste for the macabre, as in Repulsion (1965) and Rosemary's Baby (1968): later films include Tess (1980), Death and the Maiden (1995), and The Pianist (2002)
- polarise — to cause polarization in.
- polemics — a controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc.
- polemist — a person who is engaged or versed in polemics.