abecedarian \ay-bee-see-DAIR-ee-uhn\, noun:
1. One who is learning the alphabet; hence, a
beginner.
2. One engaged in teaching the alphabet.
adjective:
1. Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet.
2. Arranged alphabetically.
3. Rudimentary; elementary.
abstergent \ab-STUR-juhnt\, adjective:
1. Cleansing.
2. Purgative.
noun:
1. A cleansing agent, as a detergent or soap.
adroit \uh-DROIT\, adjective:
1. Cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious.
2. Expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body.
agemate \EYJ-meyt\, noun:
A person of about the same age as another.
agley \uh-GLEE\, adjective:
Off the right line; awry; wrong.
agnomen \ag-NOH-muhn\, noun:
1. A nickname.
2. An additional, fourth name given to a person by the ancient Romans in allusion to some achievement or other circumstance, as “Africanus” in “Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.”
aliquant \AL-i-kwuhnt\, adjective:
Contained in a number or quantity, but not dividing it evenly: An aliquant part of 16 is 5.
altiloquent \awl-TIL-uh-kwuhnt\, noun:
High-flown or pretentious language.
antipode \AN-ti-pohd\, noun:
A direct or exact opposite.
aperçu \a-per-SY\, noun:
1. A hasty glance; a glimpse.
2. An immediate estimate or judgment; understanding; insight.
3. An outline or summary.
aphotic \ey-FOH-tik\, adjective:
Lightless; dark.
apogee \AP-uh-jee\, noun:
1. The point in the orbit of the moon or of an artificial
satellite that is at the greatest distance from the center of
the earth.
2. The farthest or highest point; culmination.
apoplectic \ap-uh-plek-tik\, adjective:
1. Intense enough to threaten or cause a stroke.
2. Of or pertaining to apoplexy.
3. Having or inclined to apoplexy.
noun:
1. A person having or predisposed to apoplexy.
apostasy
\uh-POS-tuh-see\, noun:
Total desertion or departure from one's faith, principles,
or party.
apotropaic \ap-uh-truh-PEY-ik\, adjective:
Intended to ward off evil.
aseptic \uh-SEP-tik\, adjective:
Free from the living germs of disease, fermentation, or putrefaction.
baccate \BAK-eyt\, adjective:
1. Berrylike.
2. Bearing berries.
banausic \buh-NAW-sik\, adjective:
Serving utilitarian purposes only; mechanical; practical: architecture that was more banausic than inspired.
bathetic \buh-THET-ik\, adjective:
Displaying or characterized by insincere emotions: the bathetic emotionalism of soap operas.
beguile \bih-GAHYL\, verb:
1. To influence by trickery, flattery, etc.; mislead; delude.
2. To take away from by cheating or deceiving (usually followed by of): to be beguiled of money.
3. To charm or divert: a multitude of attractions to beguile the tourist.
4. To pass (time) pleasantly: beguiling the long afternoon with a good book.
belabor \bih-LEY-ber\, verb:
1. To explain, worry about, or work more than is necessary.
2. To assail persistently, as with scorn or ridicule.
3. To beat vigorously; ply with heavy blows.
4. Obsolete. To labor at.
belletristic \bel-li-TRIS-tik\, adjective:
Related to literature regarded as a fine art, especially as having a purely aesthetic function.
besot \bih-SOT\, verb:
1. To infatuate; obsess.
2. To intoxicate or stupefy with drink.
3. To make stupid or foolish: a mind besotted with fear and superstition.
bibulous \BIB-yuh-luhs\, adjective:
1. Of, pertaining to, marked by, or given to the
consumption of alcoholic drink.
2. Readily absorbing fluids or moisture.
Bildungsroman \BIL-doongz-roh-mahn\, noun:
A type of novel concerned with the education, development, and maturing of a young protagonist.
billet-doux \BIL-ey-DOO\, noun:
A love letter.
bosh \bosh\, noun:
Absurd or foolish talk; nonsense.
brummagem \BRUHM-uh-juhm\, adjective:
Cheap and showy, tawdry; also, spurious, counterfeit.
carp \kahrp\, verb:
1. To find fault or complain querulously or unreasonably.
noun:
1. A peevish complaint.
catechize \KAT-i-kahyz\, verb:
1. To question closely.
2. To instruct orally by means of questions and answers, especially in Christian doctrine.
3. To question with reference to belief.
cathect \kuh-THEKT\, verb:
To invest emotion or feeling in an idea, object, or another person.
chelonian \ki-LOH-nee-uhn\, adjective:
1. Belonging or pertaining to the order Chelonia, comprising the turtles.
noun:
1. A turtle.
chockablock \CHOK-uh-BLOK\, adjective:
1. Extremely full; crowded; jammed.
2. Nautical. Having the blocks drawn close together, as when the tackle is hauled to the utmost.
adverb:
1. In a crowded manner: books piled chockablock on the narrow shelf.
chrestomathy \kres-TOM-uh-thee\, noun:
A collection of selected literary passages.
cicatrix \SIK-uh-triks\, noun:
1. New tissue that forms over a wound.
2. Botany. A scar left by a fallen leaf, seed, etc.
Cockaigne \kah-KAYN\,
noun:
An imaginary land of ease and luxury.
compeer \kuhm-PEER\, noun:
1. Close friend; comrade.
2. An equal in rank, ability, accomplishment, etc.; peer; colleague.
concatenate \kon-KAT-n-eyt\, verb:
To link together; unite in a series or chain.
concupiscence \kon-KYOO-puh-suhn(t)s; kuhn-\, noun:
Strong desire, especially sexual desire; lust.
crucible \KROO-suh-buhl\, noun:
1. A severe, searching test or trial.
2. A container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures.
3. Metallurgy. A hollow area at the bottom of a furnace in which the metal collects.
cumulus \KYOO-myuh-luhs\, noun:
1. A heap; pile.
2. A cloud of a class characterized by dense individual elements in the form of puffs, mounds, or towers, with flat bases and tops that often resemble cauliflower.
cunctation \kuhngk-TEY-shuhn\, noun:
Delay; tardiness.
digerati \dij-uh-RAH-tee\, plural noun:
Persons knowledgeable about computers and
technology.
dowager \DOU-uh-jer\, noun:
1. An elderly woman of stately dignity, especially one of elevated social position.
2. A woman who holds some title or property from her deceased husband, especially the widow of a king, duke, etc.
adjective:
1. Noting, pertaining to, or characteristic of a dowager:
effulgence \i-FUL-juhn(t)s\, noun:
The state of being bright and radiant; splendor;
brilliance.
eleemosynary \el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee\, adjective:
1. Of or for charity; charitable; as, "an
eleemosynary institution."
2. Given in charity; having the nature of alms;
as, "eleemosynary assistance."
3. Supported by or dependent on charity; as,
"the eleemosynary poor."
embonpoint \ahn-bohn-PWAN\, noun:
Plumpness of person; stoutness.
Embonpoint is from French, literally "in
good condition" (en, "in" + bon, "good" + point,
"situation, condition").
enchiridion \en-kahy-RID-ee-uhn\, noun:
A handbook; manual.
ephebe \ih-FEEB\, noun:
A young man.
eructation \ih-ruhk-TAY-shuhn\, noun:
The act of belching; a belch.
esculent \ES-kyuh-luhnt\, noun:
1. Something edible, especially a vegetable.
adjective:
1. Suitable for use as food; edible.
eudemonia \yoo-di-MOH-nee-uh\, noun:
1. Happiness; well-being.
2. Aristotelianism. Happiness as the result of an active life governed by reason.
fabulist \FAB-yuh-list\, noun:
1. A liar.
2. A person who invents or relates fables.
fallow \FAL-oh\, adjective:
1. Not in use; inactive: My creative energies have lain fallow this year.
2. (Of land) plowed and left unseeded for a season or more; uncultivated.
noun:
1. Land that has undergone plowing and harrowing and has been left unseeded for one or more growing seasons.
verb:
1. To make (land) fallow for agricultural purposes.
fantast \FAN-tast\, noun:
A visionary or dreamer.
fard \fahrd\, verb:
1. To apply cosmetics.
noun:
1. Facial cosmetics.
fetor \FEE-tuhr; FEE-tor\, noun:
A strong, offensive smell; stench.
flibbertigibbet \FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it\, noun:
A silly, flighty, or scatterbrained person, especially a
perky young woman with such qualities.
flummery \FLUHM-uh-ree\, noun:
1. A name given to various sweet dishes made with
milk, eggs, flour, etc.
2. Empty compliment; unsubstantial talk or
writing; mumbo jumbo; nonsense.
foible \FOI-buhl\, noun:
1. A minor weakness or failing of character; slight flaw or defect: an all-too-human foible.
2. The weaker part of a sword blade, between the middle and the point (opposed to forte).
foofaraw \FOO-fuh-raw\,
noun:
1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation
or decoration.
2. A fuss over a matter of little
importance.
fulcrum \FOOL-kruhm\, noun:
1. The support, or point of rest, on which a lever turns.
2. Any prop or support.
3. Zoology. Any of various structures in an animal serving as a hinge or support.
verb:
1. To fit with a fulcrum; put a fulcrum on.
furcate \FUR-keyt\, verb:
1. To form a fork; branch.
adjective:
1. Forked; branching.
gallant \GAL-uhnt\, adjective:
1. Brave, spirited, noble-minded, or chivalrous: a gallant knight; a gallant rescue attempt.
2. Exceptionally polite and attentive to women; courtly.
3. Stately; grand: a gallant pageant.
noun:
1. A brave, noble-minded, or chivalrous man.
2. A man exceptionally attentive to women.
3. A stylish and dashing man.
galumph \guh-LUHM(P)F\, intransitive verb:
To move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread.
gambol \GAM-buhl\, intransitive verb:
To dance and skip about in play; to frolic.
noun:
A
skipping or leaping about in frolic.
gambit \GAM-bit\, noun:
1. A remark made to open or redirect a conversation.
2. Chess. An opening in which a player seeks to obtain some advantage by sacrificing a pawn or piece.
3. Any maneuver by which one seeks to gain an advantage.
germinal \JUR-muh-nl\, adjective:
1. Being in the earliest stage of development.
2. Of or pertaining to a germ or germs.
3. Of the nature of a germ or germ cell.
glutch \gluhch\, verb:
1. to swallow.
noun:
1. a mouthful.
gravid \GRAV-id\, adjective:
Being with child; heavy with young or eggs;
pregnant.
guff \guhff\, noun:
1. Empty or foolish talk; nonsense.
2. Insolent talk.
haimish \HEY-mish\, adjective:
Homey; cozy and unpretentious.
heterodox \HET-uh-ruh-doks\, adjective:
1. Contrary to or differing from some
acknowledged standard, especially in church
doctrine or dogma; unorthodox.
2. Holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines.
hew \hyoo\, verb:
1. To uphold, follow closely, or conform (usually followed by to): to hew to the tenets of one's political party.
2. To strike with cutting blows; cut: He hewed more vigorously each time.
3. To strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack.
4. To make, shape, smooth, etc., with cutting blows: to hew a passage through the crowd; to hew a statue from marble.
hieratic \hahy-uh-RAT-ik\, adjective:
1. Highly restrained or severe in emotional import: Some of the more hieratic sculptures leave the viewer curiously unmoved.
2. Also, hi·er·at·i·cal. of or pertaining to priests or the priesthood; sacerdotal; priestly.
3. Noting or pertaining to a form of ancient Egyptian writing consisting of abridged forms of hieroglyphics, used by the priests in their records.
4. Noting or pertaining to certain styles in art in which the representations or methods are fixed by or as if by religious tradition:
noun:
1. Ancient Egyptian hieratic writing.
hirsute \HUR-soot; hur-SOOT\, adjective:
Covered with hair or bristles; shaggy; hairy.
hubris \HYOO-bruhs\, noun:
Overbearing pride or presumption.
hypethral \hi-PEE-thruhl\, adjective:
(Of a classical building) wholly or partly open to the sky.
hypnagogic \hip-nuh-GOJ-ik; -GOH-jik\, adjective:
Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state of
drowsiness preceding sleep.
incondite \in-KON-dit\, adjective:
1. Ill-constructed; unpolished: incondite prose.
2. Crude; rough; unmannerly.
ingeminate \in-JEM-uh-neyt\, verb:
To repeat; reiterate.
iniquitous \ih-NIK-wi-tuhs\, adjective:
Characterized by injustice or wickedness; wicked; sinful.
instauration \in-staw-REY-shuhn\, noun:
1. Renewal; restoration; renovation; repair.
2. Obsolete. An act of instituting something; establishment.
integument \in-TEG-yuh-muhnt\, noun:
1. A natural covering, as a skin, shell, or rind.
2. Any covering, coating, enclosure, etc.
intrapreneur \in-truh-pruh-NUR\, noun:
An employee of a large corporation who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services, systems, etc., and does not have to follow the corporation's usual routines or protocols.
intromit \in-truh-MIT\, verb:
To introduce; to send, put, or let in.
irriguous \ih-RIG-yoo-uhs\, adjective:
Well-watered, as land.
jubilate \JOO-buh-leyt\, verb:
1. To show or feel great joy; rejoice; exult.
2. To celebrate a jubilee or joyful occasion.
kowtow \KOU-TOU\, verb:
1. To act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference.
2. To touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as an act of worship, reverence, apology, etc., especially in former Chinese custom.
noun:
1. The act of kowtowing.
lachrymose \LAK-ruh-mohs\, adjective:
1. Given to shedding tears; suffused with tears;
tearful.
2. Causing or tending to cause tears.
larrup \LAR-uhp\, verb:
To beat or thrash.
latitudinarian \lat-uh-too-din-AIR-ee-un; -tyoo-\, adjective:
Having or expressing broad and tolerant views, especially in religious matters.
levigate \LEV-i-geyt\, verb:
1. To rub, grind, or reduce to a fine powder.
2. Chemistry. To make a homogeneous mixture of, as gels.
adjective:
1. Botany. Having a smooth, glossy surface; glabrous.
limn \LIM\, transitive verb:
1. To depict by drawing or painting.
2. To portray in words; to describe.
littoral \LIT-er-uhl\, adjective:
1. Pertaining to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean.
2. (On ocean shores) of or pertaining to the biogeographic region between the sublittoral zone and the high-water line and sometimes including the supralittoral zone above the high-water line.
3. Of or pertaining to the region of freshwater lake beds from the sublittoral zone up to and including damp areas on shore.
noun:
1. A littoral region.
logorrhea \law-guh-REE-uh\, noun:
Excessive talkativeness or wordiness.
louche \LOOSH\, adjective:
Of questionable taste or morality;
disreputable or indecent; dubious; shady.
lubricious \loo-BRISH-us\, adjective:
1. Lustful; lewd.
2. Stimulating or appealing to sexual desire or
imagination.
3. Having a slippery or smooth quality.
lucubration \loo-kyoo-BRAY-shun; loo-kuh-\,
noun:
1. The act of studying by candlelight;
nocturnal study; meditation.
2. That which is composed by night; that
which is produced by meditation in retirement; hence
(loosely) any literary composition.
luxate \LUHK-seyt\, verb:
To put out of joint; dislocate.
macaronic \mak-uh-RON-ik\, adjective:
1. Composed of a mixture of languages.
2. Composed of or characterized by Latin words mixed with vernacular words or non-Latin words given Latin endings.
3. Mixed; jumbled.
makebate \MEYK-beyt\, noun:
A person who causes contention or discord.
malinger
\muh-LING-guhr\, intransitive verb:
To feign or exaggerate illness or inability
in order to avoid duty or work.
matrilineal \ma-truh-LIN-ee-uhl\, adjective:
Inheriting or determining descent through the female line.
mensch \mench\, noun:
A decent, upright, mature, and responsible person.
mephitic
\muh-FIT-ik\, adjective:
1. Offensive to the smell; as, mephitic odors.
2. Poisonous; noxious.
mewl \myool\, verb:
To cry, as a baby, young child, or the like; whimper.
mignon \min-YON\, adjective:
Small and pretty; delicately pretty.
moschate \MOS-keyt\, adjective:
Having a musky smell.
mote \moht\, noun:
1. A small particle or speck, especially of dust.
2. Moit.
mumpsimus \MUHMP-suh-muhs\, noun:
1. Adherence to or persistence in an erroneous use of language, memorization, practice, belief, etc., out of habit or obstinacy.
2. A person who persists in a mistaken expression or practice.
nary \NAIR-ee\, adjective:
Not any; no; never a.
natch \nach\, adverb:
Of course; naturally.
natty \NAT-ee\, adjective:
Neatly or trimly smart in dress or appearance; spruce: a natty white uniform.
neologism \nee-OLL-uh-jiz-um\, noun:
(I'm particularly fond of reference #4).
1. A new word or expression.
2. A new use of a word or expression.
3. The use or creation of new words or
expressions.
4. (Psychiatry) An invented, meaningless word
used by a person with a psychiatric disorder.
5. (Theology) A new view or interpretation of a
scripture.
nimiety \nih-MY-uh-tee\, noun:
The state of being too much; excess.
noctilucent \nok-tuh-LOO-suhnt\, adjective:
Visible during the short night of the summer.
nomothetic \nom-uh-THET-ik\, adjective:
1. Giving or establishing laws; legislative.
2. Founded upon or derived from law.
3. Psychology. Pertaining to or involving the study or formulation of general or universal laws (opposed to idiographic).
nosh \nosh\, verb:
1. To snack or eat between meals.
2. To snack on.
noun:
1. A snack.
nubilous \NOO-buh-luhs\, adjective:
1. Cloudy or foggy.
2. Obscure or vague; indefinite.
numen \NOO-min\, noun:
Divine power, especially one who inhabits a particular object.
obtest \ob-TEST\, verb:
1. To supplicate earnestly; beseech.
2. To invoke as witness.
3. To protest.
4. To make supplication; beseech.
omphalos \OM-fuh-luhs\, noun:
1. The central point.
2. The navel; umbilicus.
3. Greek Antiquity. A stone in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, thought to mark the center of the earth.
orectic \aw-REK-tik\, adjective:
Of or pertaining to desire; appetitive.
ort \awrt\, noun:
A scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
panjandrum \pan-JAN-druhm\, noun:
An important personage or pretentious official.
paronymous \puh-RON-uh-muhs\, adjective:
Containing the same root or stem, as the words wise and wisdom.
parse \PAHRS\, transitive verb:
1. To resolve (as a sentence) into its component
parts of speech with an explanation of the
form, function, and syntactical relationship
of each part.
2. To describe grammatically by stating its part
of speech, form, and syntactical
relationships in a sentence.
3. To examine closely or analyze critically,
especially by breaking up into components.
4. To make sense of; to comprehend.
5. (Computer Science) To analyze or separate
(input, for example) into more easily
processed components.
intransitive verb:
To admit of being parsed.
pelagic \puh-LAJ-ik\, adjective:
1. Of or pertaining to the open seas or oceans.
2. Living or growing at or near the surface of the ocean, far from land, as certain organisms.
perfidy \PUR-fuh-dee\, noun:
The act of violating faith or allegiance;
violation of a promise or vow; faithlessness;
treachery.
pettifog \PET-ee-fog\, verb:
1. To bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters.
2. To carry on a petty, shifty, or unethical law business.
3. To practice chicanery of any sort.
pettifogger \PET-ee-fog-ur\, noun:
1. A petty, unscrupulous lawyer; a shyster.
2. A person who quibbles over trivia.
phatic \FAT-ik\, adjective:
Denoting speech used to create an atmosphere of goodwill.
phthisis \THAHY-sis\, noun:
1. A wasting away.
2. Pulmonary tuberculosis; consumption.
pilikia \pee-lee-KEE-ah\, noun:
Trouble.
pillory \PIL-uh-ree\, verb:
1. To expose to public derision, ridicule, or abuse.
2. To set in the pillory.
pleach \pleech\, verb:
1. To interweave branches or vines for a hedge or arbor.
2. To make or renew (a hedge, arbor, etc.) by such interweaving.
3. To braid (hair).
pleonasm
\PLEE-uh-naz-uhm\, noun:
1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an
idea; as, "I saw it with my own eyes."
2. An instance or example of pleonasm.
3. A superfluous word or expression.
pochismo \poh-CHEEZ-moh\, noun:
1. An English word or expression borrowed into Spanish.
2. A form of speech employing many such words.
3. An adopted U.S. custom, attitude, etc.
pococurante \poh-koh-koo-RAN-tee\, adjective:
1. Caring little; indifferent; nonchalant.
noun:
1. A careless or indifferent person.
pother \POTH-er\, noun:
1. A heated discussion, debate, or argument; fuss; to-do.
2. Commotion; uproar.
3. A choking or suffocating cloud, as of smoke or dust.
verb:
1. To worry; bother.
precipitancy \pri-SIP-i-tuhn-see\, noun:
1. Headlong or rash haste.
2. The quality or state of being precipitant.
3. Precipitancies, hasty or rash acts.
prolix
\pro-LIKS; PRO-liks\, adjective:
1. Extending to a great length; unnecessarily long; wordy.
2. Tending to speak or write at excessive length.
puckish
\PUHK-ish\, adjective:
Whimsical; mischievous; impish.
pulchritude
\PUL-kruh-tood; -tyoo
That quality of appearance which pleases
the eye; beauty;
pyknic \PIK-nik\, adjective:
1. Having a rounded build or body structure.
noun:
1. A person of the pyknic type.
qualia \KWAH-lee-uh\, noun:
1. A quality, as bitterness, regarded as an independent object.
2. A sense-datum or feeling having a distinctive quality.
quidnunc \KWID-nuhngk\, noun:
One who is curious to know everything that
passes; one who knows or pretends to know all that is going on; a gossip; a
busybody.
quotidian \kwoh-TID-ee-uhn\, adjective:
1. Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian
fever.
2. Of an everyday character; ordinary;
commonplace.
ravelment \RAV-uhl-muhnt\, noun:
Entanglement; confusion.
ruck \ruhk\, noun:
1. A large number or quantity; mass.
2. The great mass of undistinguished or inferior persons or things.
rutilant \ROOT-l-uhnt\, adjective:
Glowing or glittering with ruddy or golden light.
Sardanapalian \sahr-dn-uh-PEYL-yuhn\, adjective:
Excessively luxurious.
scherzando \skert-SAHN-doh\, adjective:
Playful; sportive.
sesquipedalian (ses-kwi-pi-dey-lee-uhn) n:
sibilant \SIB-uh-luhnt\, adjective:
1. Hissing.
2. Phonetics. Characterized by a hissing sound; noting sounds like those spelled with s in this.
noun:
1. Phonetics. A sibilant consonant.
simper \SIM-per\, verb:
1. To smile in a silly, self-conscious way.
2. To say with a simper.
noun:
1. A silly, self-conscious smile.
skirr \skur\, verb:
1. To go rapidly; fly; scurry.
2. To go rapidly over.
noun:
1. A grating or whirring sound.
spoony \SPOO-nee\, adjective:
1. Foolish; silly; excessively sentimental.
2. Foolishly or sentimentally in love.
spruik \sprook\, verb:
To make or give a speech, especially extensively; spiel.
stymie \STAHY-mee\, verb:
1. To hinder, block, or thwart.
noun:
1. Golf. (On a putting green) an instance of a ball's lying on a direct line between the cup and the ball of an opponent about to putt.
2. A situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.
subitize \SOO-bi-tahyz\, verb:
To perceive at a glance the number of items presented.
sudorific \soo-duh-RIF-ik\, adjective:
1. Causing sweat.
2. Sudoriparous.
sumpsimus \SUHMP-suh-muhs\, noun:
1. Adherence to or persistence in using a strictly correct term, holding to a precise practice, etc., as a rejection of an erroneous but more common form (opposed to mumpsimus).
2. A person who is obstinate or zealous about such strict correctness (opposed to mumpsimus).
surfeit \SUR-fit\, noun:
1. Excess; an excessive amount: a surfeit of speechmaking.
2. Excess or overindulgence in eating or drinking.
3. An uncomfortably full or crapulous feeling due to excessive eating or drinking.
4. General disgust caused by excess or satiety.
verb:
1. To bring to a state of surfeit by excess of food or drink.
2. To supply with anything to excess or satiety; satiate.
sybarite \SIB-uh-ryt\, noun:
A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.
sylph \silf\, noun:
1. A slender, graceful woman or girl.
2. (In folklore) one of a race of supernatural beings supposed to inhabit the air.
syndic \SIN-dik\, noun:
1. A person chosen to represent and transact business for a corporation.
2. A civil magistrate having different powers in different countries.
tawpie \TAW-pee\, noun:
A foolish or thoughtless young person.
termagant
\TUR-muh-guhnt\, noun:
1. A scolding, nagging, bad-tempered
woman; a shrew.
2. Overbearing; shrewish; scolding.
tmesis \TMEE-sis\, noun:
In grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a compound word, now generally done for humorous effect; for
example, "what place soever" instead of "whatsoever place," or "abso-bloody-lutely."
traject \truh-JEKT\, verb:
To transport, transmit, or transpose.
varlet \VAHR-lit\, noun:
1. A knavish person; rascal.
2. A. An attendant or servant. B. A page who serves a knight.
velleity \vuh-LEE-i-tee\, noun:
1. Volition in its weakest form.
2. A mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it.
ventose \VEN-tohs\, adjective:
Given to empty talk; windy.
vernal \VUR-nl\, adjective:
1. Appearing or occurring in spring.
2. Of or pertaining to spring.
3. Appropriate to or suggesting spring; springlike.
4. Belonging to or characteristic of youth.
virago \vuh-RAH-go; vuh-RAY-go\, noun:
1. A woman of extraordinary stature, strength,
and courage.
2. A woman regarded as loud, scolding,
ill-tempered, quarrelsome, or overbearing.
vituperation \vy-too-puh-RAY-shuhn, -tyoo-\, noun:
1. The act or an instance of speaking abusively
to or about.
2. Sustained and severely abusive language.
zeitgeber \TSAHYT-gey-ber\, noun:
An environmental cue, as the length of daylight, that helps to regulate the cycles of an organism's biological clock.
Readers Digest, February 2004 (These words might not actually be words, but they should)
bloviate to speak verbosely and windily
philopolemic disputatious, as a person who loves to argue.
blatherskite an obnoxious, loudmouthed braggart
sialoquent spraying saliva when speaking
blatteroon a person who won't shut up
So when I see you and call you a "philopolemic blatteroon," you will know my true feelings.
Check back again soon! Words added almost every week!
Last updated: August 31, 2012 5:41 PM
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