Words Of The Week 2005 06

Whenever I read, I keep a pencil handy and I underline words that I don't know and dog ear the page so that I can go back and look them up in the dictionary. I have always been interested in etymology and even took Latin for three years. I hope that these words can help all of us in our writings. Be sure to check out your dictionary for additional usages of the words and spellings associated with changing the word from adjective to adverb to noun ... etc.

ASPERITY

noun

Pronounced: ah-SPER-ih-tee

Meaning: Harshness or sharpness of tone, temper or manner; severity; hardship; acrimony.

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BLANDISHMENT

noun

Pronounced: BLAN-dish-mint

Meaning: Something, as an action or speech, that tends to flatter, coax or entice.

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CONSTERNATE

verb

Pronounced: KON-stir-nate

Meaning: To dismay, confuse or terrify; to unsettle or throw into confusion.

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DEBACLE

noun

Pronounced: deh-BAHK-l

Meaning: A disaster or fiasco; a general rout or dispersal of troops.

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EVINCE

verb

Pronounced: ee-VINCE

Meaning: To show clearly; make evident or manifest; prove;to reveal the possession of a quality, trait, etc.

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FLORID

adjective

Pronounced: FLOOR-id

Meaning: Reddish; ruddy; rosy; flowery or excessive ornate.

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GELID

adjective

Pronounced: JEL-id

Meaning: Very cold; icy.

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HARANGUE

noun

Pronounced: huh-RANG

Meaning: A scolding or a verbal attack; diatribe; a long, passionate and vehement speech, especially one delivered before a public gathering.

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INVOLUTE

adjective

Pronounced: IN-vol-oot

Meaning: Intricate; complex; curled or curved inward or spirally; rolled inward from the edge as a leaf.

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JITNEY

noun

Pronounced: JIT-knee

Meaning: A small bus or car following a regular route along which it picks up and discharges passengers.

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KLEPTOMANIA

noun

Pronounced: KLEP-toe-main-ee-ah

Meaning: A compulsion to steal having no relation to need or the monetary value of the object.

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LUCULENT

adjective

Pronounced: LOO-cue-lent

Meaning: Clear or lucid; convincing or cogent.

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MALLEABLE

Adjective

Pronounced: MAL-ee-uh-bull

Meaning: Capable of being extended or shaped by hammering or by pressure from rollers; adaptable.

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NUTATION

noun

Pronounced: noo-TAY-shun

Meaning: An act or instance of nodding one's head, especially involuntarily or spasmodically.

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OBTRUSIVE

adjective

Pronounced: ahb-TROO-siv

Meaning: Having a disposition to impose oneself or one's opinions on others.

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PALLIATE

verb

Pronounced: PAL-lee-ate

Meaning: To relieve without curing; mitigate; alleviate; to try to conceal the gravity of an offense by excuses, apologies, etc.

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QUODLIBET

noun

Pronounced: KWOAD-lih-bet

Meaning: A subtle or elaborate argument or point of debate, usually on a theological or scholastic subject.

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ROISTER

verb

Pronounced: ROY-stir

Meaning: To act in a swaggering, boisterous or uproarious manner; to revel noisily or without restraint.

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STENTORIAN

adjective

Pronounced: sten-TORE-ree-en

Meaning: very loud or powerful in sound.

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TAUTOLOGY

noun

Pronounced: tah-TOL-oh-gee

Meaning: Needless repetition of an idea in different words; an instance of such repetition.

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UBIQUITOUS

adjective

Pronounced: you-BICK-kwit-tuss

Meaning: Existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time; omnipresent.

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VINTNER

noun

Pronounced: VENT-ner

Meaning: A person who sells or makes wines.

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WORRYWART

noun

Pronounced: WORRY-whart

Meaning: A person who tends to worry habitually and often needlessly.

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XERISCAPE

noun

Pronounced: ZEAR-rih-scape

Meaning: The environmental design of residential and park land using various methods for minimizing the need for water use.

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YELLOW DOG

noun

Pronounced: YELL-oh dog

Meaning: A cowardly, despicable person; craven.

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ZAIBATSU

noun

Pronounced: zai-BAHT-su

Meaning: A great industrial or financial combination of Japan.

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PREVARICATE

verb

Pronounced: pre-VARE-ih-kate

Meaning: To speak falsely, misleadingly, or so as to avoid the truth; deliberately misstate; equivocate; lie.

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QUIDDITY

noun

Pronounced: KWIH-dih-tee

Meaning: The quality that makes a thing what it is; essential nature.

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REDOUBTABLE

adjective

Pronounced: ree-DOW-tuh-bull

Meaning: Evoking fear; fearsome; formidable; commanding respect or reverence.

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STAUNCH (also STANCH)

verb

Pronounced: STAW-nch

Meaning: To stop the flow of a liquid, especially blood from a wound, leak, etc.

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TEMERITY

noun

Pronounced: the-MER-ih-tee

Meaning: Reckless boldness; rashness; an instance of reckless boldness.

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UXORIOUS

adjective

Pronounced: ooks-SORE-ree-uss

Meaning: Doting upon or affectionately submissive toward one's wife.

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VOLANT

adjective

Pronounced: VO-lant

Meaning: Engaged in or having the power of flight; moving lightly, nimble.

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WYVERN

noun

Pronounced: WEE-vern

Meaning: A mythical creature often depicted heraldically as a two-legged winged dragon with a barbed tail.

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ABJURE

verb

Pronounced: ab-JOOR

Meaning: To repudiate or retract, especially with formal solemnity; recant; to renounce or give up under oath.

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BURNISH

verb

Pronounced: BURR-nish

Meaning: To polish a surface by friction; to make smooth and bright especially by rubbing with a tool.

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CONTEMN

verb

Pronounced: kon-TEM

Meaning: To treat or regard with contempt.

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DEPRECATE

verb

Pronounced: DEPP-ree-kate

Meaning: To express earnest disapproval of; to urge reasons again; protest against a scheme, purpose, etc.; to belittle or depreciate.