Word of the Day
1. spelunker
\spih-LUNG-ker or SPEE-lung-ker\ (noun)Example sentence:
Our favorite B horror movie is about a group of spelunkers who discover a
colony of zombies in a cavern.
2. oleaginous \oh-lee-ADGE-uh-nuss\
(adjective)
1 : resembling or having the properties of oil : oily; also
: containing or producing oil
*2 : marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality
Example sentence:
Kelly spoke to her boss with an oleaginous deference that made her coworkers
cringe.
3.Xanadu \ZAN-uh-doo\ (noun)
: an idyllic, exotic, or luxurious place
Example sentence:
Aunt Layla joked that if she won the lottery she would retreat to an island
Xanadu, never to return again.
4.roister
\ROY-ster\ (verb)
: to engage in noisy revelry : carouse
Example sentence:
Chandra didn't get much sleep last nighther neighbors were roistering
until the wee hours of the morning, with a good deal of laughing and singing.
5.incongruous
\in-KAHNG-gruh-wuss\ (adjective)
: lacking congruity: as a : not harmonious :
incompatible b : not conforming : disagreeing c :
inconsistent within itself d : lacking propriety : unsuitable
Example sentence:
The sight of Allen roaring up the street on his motorcycle seemed
incongruous with the quiet, navy-blue-suit conservatism he displayed at the
office.
6.funicular
\fyoo-NIH-kyuh-ler\ (noun)
: a cable railway ascending a mountain; especially : one in
which an ascending car counterbalances a descending car
Example sentence:
"For a panoramic view of the Riviera and the old forts surrounding the
city, take the funicular from Largo della Zecca up to Monte Righi." (The
Washington Post, August 25, 2002)
7. macιdoine
\mass-uh-DWAHN\ (noun)
1 : a confused mixture : medley
*2 : a mixture of fruits or vegetables served as a salad or
cocktail or in a jellied dessert or used in a sauce or as a garnish
Example sentence:
With the haddock, Tim served rice pilaf and a macιdoine of peas, green
beans, and diced carrots.
8.Babbitt
\BAB-it\ (noun)
: a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing
middle-class standards
Example sentence:
"I'd rather be a starving artist," said Jack, "than be a
Babbitt like my father, always scraping and biting to keep his just-so house and
two-car garage in the suburbs."
9. verbose \ver-BOHSS\ (adjective)
*1 : containing more words than necessary : wordy; also
: impaired by wordiness
2 : given to wordiness
10. cineast
\SIH-nee-ast\ (noun)
: a devotee of motion pictures; also : moviemaker
Example sentence:
Roger and Tory metand fell in loveat a film festival, and within a
year the two cineasts were engaged to be married.
11.widow's cruse
\WIH-dohz-KROOZ or WIH-dohz-KROOSS\ (noun)
: an inexhaustible supply
Example sentence:
It often seemed to Connie that her sons thought of the refrigerator as a
widow's cruse of food that would magically restock itself every week.
12.persnickety
\per-SNIH-kuh-tee\ (adjective)
1 *a : fussy about small details : fastidious b :
having the characteristics of a snob
2 : requiring great precision
Example sentence:
Robert and Sue tried to help with the housework, but their persnickety aunt
complained so much about everything that they finally gave up.
13.myrmidon
\MER-muh-dahn\ (noun)
: a loyal follower; especially : a subordinate who executes
orders unquestioningly or unscrupulously
1. homily
\HAH-muh-lee\ (noun)
1 : a usually short sermon
*2 : a lecture or discourse on a moral theme
3 : an inspirational catchphrase; also : platitude
Example sentence:
"I don't mind eating tofu burgers," said Cassie, "as long as
I don't have to hear a homily on the virtues of vegetarianism."
2. manquι
\mahn-KAY\ (adjective)Example sentence:
"It was Benjamin Franklin, a natural scientist manquι if ever there
was one, who observed that 'in this world nothing can be said to be certain,
except death and taxes.'" (Will Self, New Statesman, November 27,
1998)
3. gymkhana
\jim-KAH-nuh or jim-KAN-uh\ (noun)Example sentence:
Steven easily won the gymkhana, steering his car through the tricky course
in record time without so much as brushing a single cone.
4. palaver
\puh-LAV-ur or puh-LAH-vur\ (noun)
1 a : a long parley usually between persons of different cultures
or levels of sophistication *b : conference, discussion
2 a : idle talk b : misleading or beguiling speech
Example sentence:
Almost every Saturday, Dad and the other men from our neighborhood would
hold a palaver out by the mailbox on the corner.
5. acedia
\uh-SEE-dee-uh\ (noun)
: apathy, boredom
Example sentence:
Writer Gary Danko of SF Weekly, once described brunch as "a
stupefyingly lavish buffet spread that will do nothing to erase your acedia."
6. unbeknownst
\un-bih-NOHNST\ (adjective)
: happening without one's knowledge : unknown -- usually used with
to
Example sentence:
Unbeknownst to the barbecue guests, Dad had scooped the fallen hot dogs off
the grass and quietly placed them back on the grill.
7. memento
\muh-MEN-toh\ (noun)Example sentence:
Penny and Aaron collected a few colorful leaves from the tree outside the
synagogue and kept them as a memento of their wedding day.
8. sciolism
\SYE-uh-lih-zum\ (noun)
: a superficial show of learning
Example sentence:
The grad students in the corner of the cafe were engaged in a display of
sciolism, tossing around trendy academic terms and evoking obscure writers.
9. ambidextrous
\am-bih-DEK-struss\ (adjective)
*1 : using both hands with equal ease
2 : unusually skillful : versatile
Example sentence:
Being ambidextrous gave Steve a considerable advantage in sports; he was one
of the best all-around athletes in his high school.
10. bindle stiff \BIN-dul-stiff\
(noun)
: a transient usually carrying a bundle (as of clothing or bedding) :
as a : a migratory worker b : tramp, hobo
Example sentence:
"The summer after his freshman year, he went bumming across the land as
a bindle stiff . . . working hard with his body in the wheat harvest on the
plains and living on pittances." (John Hersey, The New Yorker, July
18, 1988)
11. infrangible \in-FRAN-juh-bul\
(adjective)
1 : not capable of being broken or separated into parts
*2 : not to be infringed or violated
Example sentence:
"Family is sacred to me," wrote Page, "for I believe that few
things in life are more infrangible than the bonds of kinship."
12. widdershins
\WIH-der-shinz\ (adverb)
: in a left-handed, wrong, or contrary direction :
counterclockwise
Example sentence:
"He turned to his right, knowing that it is unlucky to walk about a
church widdershins." (Dorothy Sayers, The Nine Tailors)
Set #4
raconteur
\rak-kahn-TER or rak-kun-TER\ (noun)Example sentence:
A bona fide raconteur, Turner can turn even mundane experiences into
hilariously entertaining stories.
ostentatious
\ahss-tun-TAY-shuss\ (adjective)Example sentence:
The party was an ostentatious affair with gourmet catering, an enormous
cake, and music by the most renowned string quartet in the city.
1.
fata morgana \fah-tuh-mor-GAH-nuh\
(noun)
: mirage
Example sentence:
"Then, suddenlylike a fata morgana rising out of the desert
cloudshouses, trees, and people materialized." (Joseph Wechsberg, The
New Yorker, November 1952)
2. jackleg
\JAK-leg\ (adjective)
1 a : lacking skill or training : amateur *b :
characterized by unscrupulousness, dishonesty, or lack of professional standards
2 : makeshift
Example sentence:
There we were, stuck in Nowheresville with a jackleg mechanic who told us
he'd fix the car but we'd have to wait a few days unless we wanted to pay him
double.
3. tousle
\TOW-zul ("OW" as in "cow")\ (verb)
: dishevel, rumple
Example sentence:
Vic stood in front of the mirror and tousled his hair, trying to master the
cool, disheveled look.
4. louche
\LOOSH ("OO" as
in "food")\ (adjective)
: not reputable or decent
Example sentence:
Her novels are populated by louche characters wasting their days in seedy
bars and brothels.
5. vatic
\VAT-ik\ (adjective)
: prophetic, oracular
Example sentence:
Andy's years of experience bird-watching have given him a vatic ability to
name the precise day each bird will appear in the spring.
kakistocracy
\kak-uh-STAH-kruh-see\ (noun)
: government by the worst people
Example sentence:
The free election won't guarantee an end to kakistocracy, because none of
the candidates have any more integrity than the corrupt dictator currently in
power.
artless
\ART-less\ (adjective)
1 : lacking art, knowledge, or skill : uncultured
2 a : made without skill : crude b : free
from artificiality : natural
*3 : free from guile or craft : sincerely simple
Example sentence:
I wasn't offended when Sonia told me, in her artless way, that my outfit was
unbecoming; rather, I appreciated her honesty.
6 resplendent
\rih-SPLEN-dunt\ (adjective)
: shining brilliantly : characterized by a glowing splendor
Example sentence:
"The boys entered, and found themselves in a spacious and elegant
saloon, resplendent with gilding, and adorned on all sides by costly
mirrors." (Horatio Alger, Jr., Ragged Dick)
7. tetralogy \teh-TRAH-luh-jee
or teh-TRAL-uh-jee\ (noun)
1 : a group of four dramatic pieces presented consecutively on the
Attic stage at the Dionysiac festival
*2 : a series of four connected works (as operas or novels)
Example sentence:
The Raj Quartet, Paul Scott's long and complex tetralogy of India,
was made into a highly praised television series.
8. excursion
\ik-SKER-zhun\ (noun)
*1 : expedition; especially : pleasure trip
2 : digression
Example sentence:
To attract prospective clients longing for a quick getaway, the travel
agency offered weekend excursions to a luxury resort near the city.
9. sanguineous \san-GWIH-nee-uss\
(adjective)
1 : bloodred
*2 : of, relating to, or involving bloodshed : bloodthirsty
3 : of, relating to, or containing blood
Example sentence:
"Two interpretations of Transylvania's sanguineous seducer are on the
bill for Saturday's horror movie show . . . with Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula
shown in tandem with 'Love at First Bite'. . . ." (Eleanor Charles, The
New York Times, February 6, 2000)
10. voluble \VAHL-yuh-bul\
(adjective)
1 : easily rolling or turning : rotating
*2 : characterized by ready or rapid speech : glib, fluent
Example sentence:
The young man proved to be a voluble informer who would tell stories of
bookies, smugglers, and hit men to the detectives for hours.