Favorite Words

This is a list of words that we find interesting. They are roughly organized by category and words can be in more than one category. Choose a category or a word to see pronunciations, definitions, and examples of the word as it is used on the internet.

After each usage there is a link to the web page where it was found. The page may not exist anymore or it may have been moved behind a firewall. The examples of usage are pretty tame but the site where the quotes were taken from may have language or ads that some people will find offensive. Click on the links at your own risk.

Interesting Sounds

Number of words: 59

Not the Word You Usually Hear

Number of words: 22

Not What They Seem

Number of words: 33

Good Words

Number of words: 199

There's a Word for That.

Number of words: 64

Not Really a Word—But It Should Be.

Number of words: 5

Obsolete or Obscure

Number of words: 5

Old Words with New Meanings.

Number of words: 1

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Interesting Sounds

feckless

F EH1 K L AH0 S  :  /ˈfɛkləs/, /ˈfɛklɪs/

generally incompetent and ineffectual; "feckless attempts to repair the plumbing"; "inept handling of the account"
not fit to assume responsibility
[source: WordNet]

In the early years she had a feckless boyfriend named Buckley, until he died in the propane blast. Link

...what's really a pip, is his spinelessness in not tackling the city's greatest problem: the size of government and the existence of a bloated municipal workforce. Leave it to Nicole Gelinas to call him out on this fecklessness. Link

He told a Number Ten audience: "I believe there are a number of people - not only from Poland but from a number of other countries - who are feckless naturally, but they seek a better life and they go abroad. Link

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facile

F AE1 S AH0 L  :  /ˈfæsaɪl/

arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth; "too facile a solution for so complex a problem"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
I've usually seen this word use pejoratively to describe an opponents arguments. It turns out that 'facile synthesis" is used to describe a process that makes it easy to synthesise complex molecules Google

...of course, someone with even the most facile knowledge of history knows that eugenics pre-dated Darwin by quite some time.  Link

We have a new EMR system. I like it because I type well. I’m facile at using a keyboard and touch-screen. Link

This is the facile argument about the downside of the Canadian system: “The quality of care, the long waiting lines, the rationing of care, and the views of Canadian residents” Link

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atavistic

AE1 T AH0 V IH2 S T IH0 K  :  /æ-tə-ˈvis-tik/

characteristic of an atavist
[source: WordNet]

The notion of atavism was used frequently by social darwinists, who liked to claim that inferior races displayed atavistic traits, and represented more primitive traits than their own race. Link

Here's a guy who got past the federal courts, the Senate of the United States and all the old strictures of law and conscience that even now may still inspire a certain atavistic awe in the rest of us unsophisticated types. Link

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interlocutor

IH2 N T ER0 L AA1 K Y AH0 T ER0  :  /ɪn tərˈ lɒk jʊ tər/

a person who takes part in a conversation
the performer in the middle of a minstrel line who engages the others in talk
[source: WordNet]

The Federal Interlocutor helps to find practical ways to improve federal programs and services for Métis, Non-Status Indians and urban Aboriginal people. Link

Luanda - Angola is considered a privileged interlocutor in matters relating to the African continent... Link

Egypt has been a key interlocutor in weeks of negotiations to end the assault on Gaza. Link

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fatuous

F AE1 CH AH0 W AH0 S  :  /ˈfætʃ.u.əs/

Comments
This word is a favorite among bloggers when describing politicians with whom they don't agree.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” In every other country on Earth the question would seem fatuous, since it implies that the child might have a world of choices. Link

...when you see these things laid out — ripped from their texts — in a Powerpoint slide, they make you realize how truly fatuous are the lucubrations of people like Armstrong, Eagleton, and Haught. Link

I may be mistaken, but I think we’re already doing serious engagement. It’s fatuous to think that if only both sides became more “humble,” we’d arrive at some welcome compromise. Link

If you write fatuous prose from your perch, critics such as the Scathing Online Schoolmarm (Margaret Soltan of University Diaries) and the Gopher Gadfly (Bill Gleason of The Periodic Table) will expose the flaws in your reasoning and your rhetoric, in your sense and your syntax, for the world to enjoy. Link

On leaving the church, one elderly parishioner looked up at me and offered her unsolicited summation of the evening's talk. “Vain, vapid, fatuous, inane and, worst of all, patronizing,” she said. Link

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nebulous

N EH1 B Y AH0 L AH0 S  :  /ˈnɛbjʊləs/

lacking definition or definite content; "nebulous reasons"; "unfixed as were her general notions of what men ought to be"- Jane Austen
[source: WordNet]

There’s something nebulous about us–
Ethereal, celestial and contradictory.
Yet no one I know can doubt us,
For we are real and not a story.
 Link

While the role may be nebulous, the growing importance of hospital quality isn't, evidenced by the number of hospitals—big and small—that are bringing quality responsibilities to the executive table by creating the chief quality officer role. Link

Saturday Talk Examines Stars' Nebulous Beginnings Link

Adiabatic processes are very important in the atmosphere, and adiabatic cooling of rising air is the dominant cause of cloud formation. Link

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adiabatic

/ædɪəˈbætɪk

occurring without loss or gain of heat; "adiabatic expansion"
[source: WordNet]

Consider a rising parcel of air—as the parcel rises, it will adiabatically expand and cool. Link

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bibulous

given to or marked by the consumption of alcohol; "a bibulous fellow"; "a bibulous evening"; "his boozy drinking companions"; "thick boozy singing"; "a drunken binge"; "two drunken gentleman holding each other up"; "sottish behavior"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Most of the articles on the net use bibulous as a sophisticated synonym for wine lover. It doesn't appear pejoratively.

Thus it was no small undertaking when British wine expert David Copp set out to write the definitive guidebook for those interested in Tokaji wines and visiting the region – yet he achieved an oenological triumph with his latest release, Tokaj: A Companion for the Bibulous Traveller. Link

In North Carolina and Virginia his peers have already moved in favour of the small wineries. The case is probably heading for the US Supreme Court, which also stands a good chance of smiling on the bibulous. Link

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lacuna

/ləˈkuː.nə/, /ləˈkjuː.nə/

a blank gap or missing part
[source: WordNet]

Comments
This word often occurs with palimpsest.

After these words there occurs a lacuna in the Egerton text, extending as far as §27 on p. 45 of the printed edition, in which Meyer has supplied the missing text from the Book of Leinster. This supplemental material has been omitted from the electronic edition. Link

Even where the texts are more or less legible, they contain, almost without exception, frequent and sizable lacunae.  Link

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noctilucent

shining or glowing by night; "the noctilucent eyes of a cat"
[source: WordNet]

High-altitude wisps known as noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds, like these over Alaska last June, are visible during summer months. Link

If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud. Link

High-altitude wisps known as noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds, like these over Alaska last June, are visible during summer months. [Click the link for a spectacular slideshow.] Link

Although noctilucent clouds are thought to be composed of small ice-coated particles, much remains unknown about them. Link

Thin clouds have appeared at abnormally high altitudes over polar regions following space shuttle launches on several occasions in the past decade. These noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds typically occur in summer and lie at altitudes of about 85 kilometers, in a layer of the atmosphere called the thermosphere... Link

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sesquipedalian

/ˌsɛskwɪpɪˈdeɪlɪən/

a very long word (a foot and a half long)
given to the overuse of long words; "sesquipedalian orators"; "this sesquipedalian way of saying one has no money"
[source: WordNet]

Back when I was a cub reporter at a newspaper bureau in Easthampton, Mass., my colleague and I would play this game: First, come up with an obscure 10-dollar word, then see which one of us could get it past our editors and into the paper. The planning was always more fun than the execution. I think the best I ever achieved was "dun," which is a fancy, fun-to-say word for a brownish-gray color.
Never in our wildest dreams did we aspire to such a feat as getting the word "Sesquipedalian" into the headline on the front page of our newspaper Link

I agree he can be long winded but the sesquipedalian tendencies of Heller are what draw me further into the story. Link

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synchronicity

Not having had much time recently to post, I wanted to mention an interesting synchronicity of events today on the subject of bilingualism: one an article questioning Barack Obama’s support of bilingualism (see my earlier post) as an effective means of encouraging educational achievement, and the other closer to hand, the launch of a new organisation in Scotland - Bilingualism Matters. Link

So, I go to the literature section and told myself I was only going to look there, and probably not buy, and the first book I see is Rufus M. It wasn't even in the right section. I thought this was so funny after I'd been thinking about the way I didn't like the synchronicity as a plot element, and then had just such a thing happen Link

As of this moment, I have 19,910 people following me on Twitter. I expect that’ll top 20,000 today or tomorrow...As it happens, JREF has almost 2000 followers, so the synchronicity is too much to resist. Link

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avoirdupois

/ˌævɚdəˈpɔɪz/

a system of weights based on the 16-ounce pound (or 7,000 grains)
[source: WordNet]

We’ve used the avoirdupois weight system in every day use for so long that we don’t even use its silly-seeming name. We can even break the system down. For example, most of us know there are 16 ounces in a (avoirdupois) pound. Link

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effrontery

AH0 F R AH1 N T ER0 IY0  :  /ɪˈfrʌntəri/, /ɛˈfrʌntəri/

It is hard to say what is more troubling about the San Diego Unified School District board's recent decision to restrict the speech of its own members.
Is it the effrontery of the board, its consultants and top district leadership in thinking that the public is served by the gagging of its elected representatives? Link

Speaking from New York, Broughton said: 'You have got to hand it to the Americans, they do things with such bald-faced effrontery. They put "open sky" negotiations back on the table when the likes of Delta and virtually half their airline industry is in Chapter 11, and then say "let's open up competition on the transatlantic market". That takes some beating.' Link

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raconteur

R AE2 K AA0 N T UW1 R  :  

Willem Vermandere is a great raconteur, able to tell a story so that you hang on his every word. Take an everyday experience, add a keen mind, sharp perception, insight into human nature, wit and a deep harmonious voice and you've got Willem keeping his audience enraptured. Link

He’s always styled himself the family’s raconteur. Around the holiday table, where food, weather and health reports tend to be the primary topics of the elder generation, he would spice the conversation with odd tales from the internet, barbs for politicians and celebrities in the news, and opinions on new movies and recently-read books. Link

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circumlocution

a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
an indirect way of expressing something
[source: WordNet]

Comments
A variant is the adjective 'circumlocutory'.

I have found a debtor in the Marshalsea prison of the name Dorrit, who has been there many years. I wish to investigate his confused affairs, so far as to ascertain whether it may not be possible, after this lapse of time, to ameliorate his unhappy condition. The name of Mr Tite Barnacle has been mentioned to me as representing some highly influential interest among his creditors. Am I correctly informed?
It being one of the principles of the Circumlocution Office never, on any account whatever to give a straightforward answer, Mr Barnacle said, 'Possibly.' Link

Obama's Circumlocution
Obama's response to his opponents' attacks would be more effective if he spoke directly to the point. He has not yet learned to answer attacks with effective sound bites.  Link

“Mistakes were made” is the famous circumlocution, and a marvel of compact indirection, used by President Reagan to explain the arms-for-hostages deal Link

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copacetic

completely satisfactory; "his smile said that everything was copacetic"; "You had to be a good judge of what a man was like, and the English was copacetic"- John O'Hara
[source: WordNet]

Comments
I think that this might be a word that is popular in the Mid-West among the WWII generation. At least I've never heard anyone say it that wasn't from that generation.

However, If the containing program window itself is resized, then the Editor panel assumes the correct size and everything is copacetic. Link

I called Garmin this morning and they had me push the reset and mode buttons simultaneously for 5 seconds. It worked. Then I needed to recharge and everything is copacetic. Link

On the day of the surgery I glance through the chart, make sure everything is copacetic, and then we proceed. Sometimes the lab will call a few days prior to surgery with an abnormal value and I will look into it dutifully. Link

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kerfuffle

/kɚˈfʌfəl/

The latest kerfuffle in the Linux community puts its pragmatists in the unique position of learning from one of its most vocal idealists. Link

For what it's worth, this lawsuit is over 18 months old (it was filed back in December 2001). It's only gaining attention due the the kerfuffle that SCO is causing. Link

In the wake of the latest kerfuffle between Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, AMD's chief counsel seized the moment to sound off on a primal fear at his company: Intel is bent on its destruction. Intel, of course, doesn't quite see it that way. Link

The kerfuffle over Unscientific America got boring a long time ago; in fact, I'd say I only ever found it interesting when it provided an opportunity to talk about something else. Link

If you're taking a break from crazy this August and refuse to watch cable news, you may have missed some town hall kerfuffles lead by the least-informed, yet loudest, sector of the Republican party. Link

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incunabula

/ˌɪn.kjʊˈnæb.jʊ.ləm/

Comments
The singular form is incunabulum.

Our earliest volumes of in the collection of incunabula dates to 1470. Among the incunabula are works by Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, and Saint Benedict of Monte Cassino. Western Michigan itself owns six of the incunabula. Link

On a world-wide scale, the incunabula collection is medium-sized. The significance of the collection lies in the number of printed books from the Low Countries, the present Netherlands and Belgium. Link

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abattoir

a building where animals are butchered
[source: WordNet]

The Department of Agriculture wishes to remind all farmers and local butchers who want to have animals slaughtered through the government abattoir facility this Christmas, to please contact the department as soon as possible to make reservations. Link

The abattoir, which has been operating for the past year, is fully equipped to slaughter the three major classes of livestock which includes cattle, pigs and goats. Link

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palimpsest

/ˈpælɪmpsɛst/

a manuscript (usually written on papyrus or parchment) on which more than one text has been written with the earlier writing incompletely erased and still visible
[source: WordNet]

The subject of this website is a manuscript of extraordinary importance to the history of science, the Archimedes Palimpsest. This thirteenth century prayer book contains erased texts that were written several centuries earlier still. These erased texts include two treatises by Archimedes that can be found nowhere else, The Method and Stomachion.  Link

Although many Archimedes discoveries have been made, there were numerous passages in the palimpsest that remained beyond imaging techniques traditionally used to read ancient documents. In particular, it was impossible to decipher text on the pages that had been painted over with gold leaf ... Link

History is written all over the body, not just once but repeatedly, in exuberant palimpsest. Link

WITH X-RAY FLORESCENCE IMAGING, NEW ABILITY TO READ PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN MATHEMATICAL TREATISES IN ARCHIMEDES PALIMPSEST Link

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curmudgeonly

/kɚˈmʌdʒən/

I want to thank him for creating, Horace Rumpole, who Bloomberg’s appropriately describes as “the curmudgeonly London trial lawyer renowned for his roguish way with the law, his love of small cigars and cheap claret, and his fear of just one person, his wife Hilda, a.k.a. ‘She Who Must Be Obeyed’.” Link

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flatus

/ˈfleɪtəs/ or /ˈflætəs/

He reports no bowel movements in six days, and is uncertain whether he is passing flatus. Link

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succinct

S AH0 K S IH1 NG K T  :  /sək'sɪŋkt/

Be succinct: write no more than 50% of the text you would have used in a hardcopy publication. Link

When you write succinctly about a subject, you avoid 'waffle' - your writing is economical. Link

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puerile

P Y UW0 R IY1 L  :  /ˈpjʊrɪl/, /ˈpjʊraɪl/

of or characteristic of a child; "puerile breathing"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Puerile is usually mildly pejorative when referencing the way adult men spend their time.

Imagine hidden cameras and idiots playing puerile stunts. Link

A key figure within the deal described the meeting last night as a “puerile” stunt while another supporter said the majority of the faction's membership had signed a petition voting to abolish the current faction executive and the decions reached had no standing. Link

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deshabille

First, a warning: this is a link to a good science article, but it's hosted on the Suicide Girls site, which contains many pictures of young ladies with attitude and tattoos in a state of deshabille. You may discover you are blocked at work. Link

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rancor

R AE1 NG K ER0  :  

In Return of the Jedi, the crime lord Jabba the Hutt had a pet rancor below his pad to get rid of unwanted or displeasing guests. Victims, such as the slave girl Oola, were dropped through a trap door into the pit below and eaten by the rancor for the amusement of Jabba and his guests. Link

Canada opposition boss seeks to cool budget rancor
The leader of Canada's main opposition party said on Tuesday he is trying to cool tempers ahead of next week's federal budget but made it clear he is prepared to topple the minority Conservative government over the budget if necessary. Link

But what wasn’t known then was that McCain’s end-partisan-rancor pledge would precede a fall campaign that may go down as one of the nastiest in American history. Link

A U.S.-backed Mideast democracy and development summit ended in rancor Saturday despite adoption of two initiatives that are part of President Bush's push to expand political freedom in a region dominated by monarchies and effective single-party rule. Link

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egregious

IH0 G R IY1 JH AH0 S  :  /ɪˈgriː.dʒəs/, /əˈgriː.dʒi.əs/

I love Alan Keyes. I think he should get a nightly show to spout his egregious nonsense because I find it endlessly entertaining. Link

Imagine how up in arms regulars here would be about such an egregious disregard for fairness. Link

His latest Worldnutdaily missive contains lots of egregious nonsense, but this statement jumped off the page at me: Link

There is no way to keep up with all the bad reporting on science these days, but I cannot resist certain egregious cases. As Loom readers know, George Will writing about global warming is one. Link

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antipodes

/ˈæntɪi.pəʊdz/

any two places or regions on diametrically opposite sides of the Earth; "the North Pole and the South Pole are antipodes"
[source: WordNet]

Melbourne - the Paris of the Antipodes.
Melbourne, the capital city of the State of Victoria, has been recently voted as one of the top three most liveable cities in the world.  Link

While my eyes have always lingered with fascination on otherworldly glaciers, lush rain forests and exotic landscapes in the antipodes, my camera seems to turn more and more frequently toward live subjects - the people variety. Link

Now that I actually reside in Buenos Aires, my existence here retains a certain dreamlike quality that confounds me at times. I live like a fictional character in an old adventure tale about the fabled Antipodes where everything is reversed. Link

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modulus

(physics) a coefficient that expresses how much of a specified property is possessed by a specified substance
an integer that can be divided without remainder into the difference between two other integers; "2 is a modulus of 5 and 9"
the absolute value of a complex number
[source: WordNet]

This paper provides a precise analytical study of the selection and modulus quantization of matching pursuit (MP) coefficients.  Link

In mathematics, the maximum modulus principle in complex analysis states that if f is a holomorphic function, then the modulus | f | cannot exhibit a true local maximum that is properly within the domain of f. Link

To figure out how to do this, we need to learn about one more thing: "modulus". Modulus is an "operator", just like plus, minus, divide, and multiply ( + - / *). Modulus is expressed with the following term: % Link

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educable

I often get helpful letters from teachers. They are fine people who assume I am educable, despite evidence to the contrary. Sometimes, as in Hibbard's case, teachers are so candid and wise I am compelled to quote them, and see if readers share their view of reality. Link

It attempts to educate every child in the same way, assuming each one is educable to the same level (and since each is not, it must educate to the level of the least educable).  Link

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propinquity

/prəˈpɪŋkwɪti/

believe that something more is included; and that propinquity of descent, -- the only known cause of the similarity of organic beings, -- is the bond, hidden as it is by various degrees of modification,... Charles Darwin Link

I think of human beings when young, & the relation nearness (or propinquity) has to everything we do- we go to places not because they are the best places, but because they are the best near places. Similarly we choose our friendships based upon propinquity in space- our pals are kids that live on our block, or sit a desk or 2 away from us in school- not those kids whose dreams & aspirations most align with ours. Even as we get older propinquity plays a role. It is not, however, a propinquity in space that matters as much, but a propinquity in beliefs or demeanor- that which is internal, rather than the external world of space. Link

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ilk

IH1 L K  :  /ɪlk/

a kind of person; "I don't like people of his ilk"
[source: WordNet]

The argument doesn’t change because Egnor and his ilk are not interested in genuine intellectual discourse. Link

This might seem like a weird question. But do authors of your fame and stature ever have to deal with stalkers/paparazzi and their ilk. Or is that something solely reserved for the more visible celebrities? Link

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consilience

Multiple independent lines of evidence, from anatomy, the fossil record, geology, developmental biology, and genetics - not only support common descent, but the same picture of common descent. This is a remarkable consilience of evidence. Link

The notion of consilience was introduced by William Whewell in 1840. Consilience is the linking together of facts and principles from different disciplines to form a broad, comprehensive theory that spans the realms of knowledge. E. O. Wilson brought consilience into the modern lexicon with his highly acclaimed book, “Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge.” Link

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hagiography

HH AE2 G IY0 AA1 G R AH0 F IY0  :  /ˌheɪdʒiˈɑgrəfi/

a biography that idealizes or idolizes the person (especially a person who is a saint)
[source: WordNet]

Comments
This word is often used derogatorily.

If you read too many of those books found in the business-hagiography section at the airport bookstore -- you know, the kind that tell you the story of Amazon or Dell or Google or Starbucks, and how it zigged where everyone else was zagging, and how this led to magnificent riches -- you'll start to notice a pattern. Virtually all the companies you see profiled are huge successes,... Link

Enzo later remembered the moment he sat forlornly on a park bench. "I wept with loneliness and despair." You'll search in vain for melodrama this potent in any Henry Ford hagiography. Link

Stross' account of this iconic life is rendered with great clarity, if somewhat excessive detail, and one of its greatest strengths is a liberation from the hagiography of previous biographies. Link

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predilection

P R EH2 D AH0 L EH1 K SH AH0 N  :  /ˌpɹɛdəˈlɛkʃn/

a predisposition in favor of something; "a predilection for expensive cars"; "his sexual preferences"; "showed a Marxist orientation"
[source: WordNet]

Lines like this illustrate Moore’s predilection for the zinger, the heavily ironised pun. A frequent criticism of her work is that she is sometimes too fond of her own jokes, and becomes too clever-clever. Link

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diaphanous

/daɪˈæfənəs/

so thin as to transmit light; "a hat with a diaphanous veil"; "filmy wings of a moth"; "gauzy clouds of dandelion down"; "gossamer cobwebs"; "sheer silk stockings"; "transparent chiffon"; "vaporous silks"
[source: WordNet]

Make these Roberto Cavalli shorts your spring foundation piece for a chic hot weather look. Wear them with a diaphanous blouse in the city or a simple tank on vacation and finish with gladiator sandals whether home or abroad. Link

Although springtime made its first tentative appearance outside, it was snowing on the catwalk at the John Galliano show. The British designer delivered an outrageous collection of hip-waisted coats, sculpted felt skirt suits and diaphanous Russian bridal gowns—all heavy with embroidery, chains, medallions and tinkling coins Link

Princess themes will probably never go out of style with little girls. Sweeping, diaphanous curtains are a good choice for a princess bedroom. Link

Do you see, stranger, those three diaphanous clouds which float on the horizon? They enclose the souls of the ancient heroes who died for their country. Do you hear the sweet melodies which pierce the winds? Link

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grandiloquent

G R AE0 N D IH1 L AH0 K W AH0 N T  :  /gɹænˈdɪl.ə.kwənt/

lofty in style; "he engages in so much tall talk, one never really realizes what he is saying"
puffed up with vanity; "a grandiloquent and boastful manner"; "overblown oratory"; "a pompous speech"; "pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and pontifical hooey"- Newsweek
[source: WordNet]

The subway's chief architect, Squire J. Vickers, a Cornell man, was a grandiloquent eccentric whose other life as a painter influenced the colors and geometric design of mosaic elements, made flat, he explained, "to avoid dust ledges," so they would be cheaper to clean. Link

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s grandiloquent peroration in the Indian Parliament has become a historically famous literary phrase. He said: “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.” Link

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peroration

/pɛrɒ'reıʃǝn/

(rhetoric) the concluding section of an oration; "he summarized his main points in his peroration"
a flowery and highly rhetorical oration
[source: WordNet]

The body of Immelt's speech provided the thoughtful advice appropriate to a commencement address. Immelt then concluded perfectly with a peroration that embodied his advice:
I worked hard to get where I am but I've also been very lucky... So before you leave here today, you might want to tell your parents "thanks." Link

In 2005, at Minnesota’s St. Olaf College, the stirring peroration of that year’s commencement address advised the graduating seniors to observe three virtues acclaimed by Taoism: gentleness, frugality, and humility. Link

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mélange

M EH1 L AE0 NG  :   /mɛˈlɑ̃ʒ/

NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the southern base of the ice bridge, where it connected with the remnant ice shelf. This image shows ice fragments of varying sizes mixed with ice mélange. A crack in the east reveals dark ocean water below. Link

Known for his eclectic mélange of beats, pops and crackles, Ellison was already known as an accomplished producer and contributor of music on Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim.” Link

KOOZA is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil: It combines two circus traditions – acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor. Link

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shibboleth

SH IH1 B AH0 L EH2 TH  :  /ˈʃɪbəlɛθ/

a manner of speaking that is distinctive of a particular group of people
[source: WordNet]

Instructors in PWR have some freedom to choose materials for their sections, and some of them choose material from S&W, and some of them pass out lists of Don'ts, recirculating many of the grammatical shibboleths they were indoctrinated into in their high school days (no split infinitives, no sentences beginning with coordinating conjunctions, no singular they, etc.). Link

Given that we are musing on the banks, it is interesting that this week's data flow seems to confirm one current banking shibboleth and deny another.
Proved again, it seems, is that the banks are hoarding capital in the face of uncertainties of the GFC, which is why, in part, fee charges and margins are being so aggressively pitched.  Link

The much-uttered words that cricketers were too revered on the subcontinent ever to be made terrorist targets were exposed as a shibboleth. Cricketers are now considered legitimate targets because of their profile... Link

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slake

make less active or intense
[source: WordNet]

The Aztecs discovered that by soaking their dried corn in wood ash, the corn became easier to grind and also more digestible, thus, more nutritious. The same process is used today to "slake corn". This processed corn is called Nixtamal. It is later ground into fine or coarse meal for tortillas or tamales or used whole for making Posole. Link

The first primary ingredient for the production of the slaked lime putty is river bed pebbles, shells, chalk, marble or limestone. These are rocks rich in Calcium Carbonate which is essential for the production of quick lime.
These pebbles are collected up and baked in a furnace at around 900 Degrees Celsius for over seventy two hours producing what we know as quick lime. The quick lime is immersed into lakes of water whilst still hot to 'extiguish' it. The heavy wet matter is filtered to remove particles of rock and then left to settle for a period of time. A mature seasoned slake lime can only be achieved with a minimum of six months maturing. This allows for a full chemical reaction and re- allignment of molecular structure and results in an ultra smooth putty. Link

India on Thursday launched its most ambitious auction of oil and gas exploration blocks in an effort to help slake the country’s rising thirst for energy resources. Link

Passage of a prohibition act, however, did nothing to slake the drinking man's thirst for alcohol.
So the practical effect of Prohibition was to serve as a boon to organized crime during the Roaring '20s, with bootlegging and illegal speakeasies flourishing all over the country. Link

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scurrilous

S K ER1 AH0 L AH0 S  :  /ˈskɜɹələs/, /ˈskʌɹələs/

He said the leaks “generated unpleasantness in the blog world” and “stained my reputation.” Comments on blogs are often unsigned or written under pseudonyms, and bloggers can and often do say scurrilous things about people, without proof. Link

Well, I don’t think I should have to defend myself. The charges themselves are scurrilous and the people who are making them are not very reputable themselves. I am somebody whose record and what I’ve written is well known. Link

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gravitas

/ˈgræ.vɪtɑːs/

Diane Wood might have been a pick that could really shake things up because she's so well respected on both sides of the aisle and because she has a history of rallying her colleagues around her brilliance. I don't think Sotomayor has that kind of gravitas. Link

It has always been said that the institution is greater than the officeholder, and its gravitas must therefore be maintained at all costs. Link

He just seemed fake and slimy. His populism rang hollow. He was trying to hard to be like Bill Clinton without the gravitas or sincerity. Link

Of course, she may well still be thinking of running for President in 2012, but she already had a reputation as a lightweight and this move doesn't give her additional gravitas. Link

It’s amazing, really, that a paper with the gravitas of the Globe would publish such a piece of tripe. First of all, the argument is wrong. Second, it’s not new.  Link

Rather than installing low-profile, consensus choices that he could more easily dominate, he generally built a strong-willed and experienced team, who would challenge his thinking and already command a high degree of gravitas inside and outside. Link

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serendipity

S EH2 R AH0 N D IH1 P AH0 T IY0  :  /ˌsæ.rən.ˈdɪ.pə.ti/

good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
[source: WordNet]

Serendipity, however, has always been the pass code for the MER mission. “If we had to get stuck somewhere, we picked a good place to do it,”... Turns out, the sandy stuff – dubbed Ulysses – coming from three or more layers, distinct in their pastel hues, hiding beneath the darker blanket of red soil – just may be something special. “It’s the most exciting deposit exposed in the whole mission,” proclaimed Ray Arvidson, Link

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imbroglio

IH2 M B R OW1 L Y OW0  :  /ɪmˈbroljo/

a very embarrassing misunderstanding
an intricate and confusing interpersonal or political situation
[source: WordNet]

The impact of the housing finance imbroglio on American communities has been very uneven, and several regions—notably Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and Indianapolis—have not suffered the declines in value or the relative rates of defaults and foreclosures common to markets in California, Nevada, Florida, and northern Virginia.  Link

Currently, the Democrats have fifty-nine votes, but most expect they will have sixty when the Minnesota election imbroglio is resolved. Link

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abstemious

/æbˈstɛmi.əs/

marked by temperance in indulgence; "abstemious meals"; "a light eater"; "a light smoker"; "ate a light supper"
sparing in consumption of especially food and drink; "the pleasures of the table, never of much consequence to one naturally abstemious"- John Galsworthy
[source: WordNet]

What makes Konigswart a most interesting place is that it differs in essential particulars from the other places to which invalids flock for relief from their ailments. The patients who visit Carlsbad have either lived too well or have been attacked by a malady from which even the most abstemious are not exempt. Link

The Greek boatmen are seen in great numbers about the harbours, seeking employment They are exceedingly abstemious; their food always consists of a small quantity of black bread, made of unbolted rye or wheat-meal, generally rye; and a bunch of grapes or raisins, or some figs. They are, nevertheless, astonishingly athletic and powerful;... Link

The champagne was flowing for New Century Media's well-attended summer party, but Walsh was noticeably abstemious. Anything else would certainly not have been seemly.  Link

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interstitial

of or relating to interstices
[source: WordNet]

The idea is that subscribers will agree to ads through their phone in return for fractions being knocked off their bill...signees can expect interstitial ads (remember those?) before placing, receiving, or even thinking about any call. Link

...‘overgranulation’ is the preferred term for this excess granulation tissue, since it is caused by saturation of interstitial tissue with oedematous fluid... Link

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circumscribe

S ER2 K AH0 M S K R AY1 B  :  /ˈsɝ.kəm.skɹaɪb/

draw a line around; "He drew a circle around the points"
to draw a geometric figure around another figure so that the two are in contact but do not intersect
[source: WordNet]

Illustration of an equilateral triangle circumscribed about a circle. This can also be described as a circle inscribed in an equilateral triangle. Link

And home is not a place where common hostel rules apply, the litany of dos and don'ts that severely circumscribe behaviour for those who doss down from night to night, sleeping one step removed from a park bench, usually rousted during the day. Link

The Law of Armed Conflict is actually not a single law but a collection of treaties and protocols widely understood to circumscribe actions in warfare. Link

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lugubrious

L UW0 G Y UW1 B R IY0 AH0 S  :  /ləˈguːbriəs/

excessively mournful
[source: WordNet]

I would not want to suggest that these gray and dusty people are invariably to be found among the laity. I have known lugubrious bishops and parish priests but I confess I have only met one miserable deacon and he resented the fact that he’d never become a priest. Link

Joe is a lugubrious-looking fellow in the best of times, and these were hardly the best of times. Shoulders hunched, in his trademark newsboy’s cap, he looked like he was walking to his own funeral. Link

...you had to wonder whether the work’s zestier sections, interposed between lugubrious funereal passages, betrayed a composer’s elation that Lully’s monopolistic reign over the French musical world had come to an end. Link

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senescent

Cellular senescence is a barrier to unlimited cellular proliferation. Senescent cells are alive and metabolically active but are unable to further divide. Cellular senescence may be the consequence of a number of stressing stimuli... Link

They can see the future — and it's a dystopian one all right: air-hangar-sized “care homes” full of the senescent eking out their lives on pitiful post-crash pensions.
It isn't a brave new world at all — it's a craven old one. Link

What she glosses over is the utter pathos she brings to the scene, that of a beautiful woman staring into the abyss of age and loneliness... a senescent Pfeiffer is almost an unimaginable concept. Link

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mellifluous

/məˈlɪfluəs/

As the night wore on and mellifluous music played in the background, guests were seen chatting with one another. Link

At Wednesday night’s concert, the Miller band’s trumpet section played that famous solo note for note but with each trumpeter playing flugelhorn, the trumpet’s larger and more mellifluous cousin.  Link

Kasem's supple, mellifluous voice was unmistakeable. But he was much more than just a talented set of vocal cords. Link

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equanimity

IY2 K W AH0 N IH1 M AH0 T IY0  :  

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions. Albert Einstein Link

I witnessed her courtroom behavior. It patently lacked humility and equanimity. She was discourteous and testy. Her speech was curt and caustic, as she superciliously avoided eye contact with any lawyer addressing her Link

Who is this man who accepts mechanical defeat with equanimity? Who is this curator of a legacy lawn-care tool museum?  Link

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pusillanimous

/pjuːsɪlˈænɪmʊs/ or /pjuːsəlˈænəmʊs/

lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution; contemptibly fearful
[source: WordNet]

Numbers was pusillanimous and failed to engage Nelson as strongly as he should have. I was ashamed of his performance, especially because I considered him one of us. Link

There are three more famous quotes from Agnew's writers that would aptly apply to the “powerful people in control of Washington,” the first one being: “pusillanimous pussyfooters.” The next would be: “hopeless, hysterical, hypochondriacs of history.” And last, but not least, “an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals.”  Link

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munificent

I went by the scene of the crime Friday afternoon and saw it crawling with police and, yes, FBI agents. If my home were burned down, I doubt I would be treated to such munificent and thoroughgoing attention by the Powers That Be.  Link

Finally, the study found no significant decline in the use of so-called tax gross-up deals, a shareholder-unfriendly arrangement under which companies foot the bill on taxes that executives owe on their munificent pay packages. Link

Many government workers enjoy munificent pay packages, complete with gold-plated and guaranteed pension payoffs. Link

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supercilious

S UW2 P ER0 S IH1 L IY0 AH0 S  :  /ˌsuːpɚˈsɪliəs/

expressive of contempt; "curled his lip in a supercilious smile"; "spoke in a sneering jeering manner"; "makes many a sharp comparison but never a mean or snide one"
[source: WordNet]

With this gratuitious swipe, Wood gives a bad — and false — impression of our field. And then, of course, there are the supercilous words “amusing” and “tie itself up in circularities,” as if Wood sees himself as superior to those of us who flail about in science.  Link

That threat - idle or otherwise - was treated with the kind of supercilious disdain Romanov, the Hearts owner, reserves for such matters. The silence was deafening and the message clear:  Link

Of course the tone was set by an exceedingly supercilious comment made that began this thread. But it's been greatly augmented by a somewhat hubristic buffoon. Link

She has since played character roles ranging from shopping-bag ladies to supercilious socialites in such films as High Plains Drifter... Link

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superfluous

S UW1 P ER0 F L W AH2 S  :  /suːˈpɝːflu.əs/

Adjectives are neither good nor bad. The dumb usage pundits who recommend eschewing them totally are handing out advice that is at best exactly what Angela Tilby wrongly claims adjectives are (vapid, empty, and superfluous), and at worst clearly mistaken. Link

Ingrid Bergman said that a kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous. Link

Unfortunately, Angelou's detached and often superfluous narration lessens the film's impact. Link

Since governments have been devoting resources (read: money) to fighting the recession, they have less money to buy “superfluous” items like computers for kids. Link

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quiescent

K W AY0 EH1 S AH0 N T  :  /ˈkwɪi.ɛsn̩t/

being quiet or still or inactive
causing no symptoms; "a quiescent tumor"
marked by a state of tranquil repose; "the quiescent melancholy of the town"
not active or activated; "the quiescent level of centimeter wave-length solar radiation"
[source: WordNet]

If we look at the first three weeks in May with respect to SPC watches, then this unusually quiescent week is masked by watches issued earlier in the month. Link

Youth in the U.S. were said to be quiescent, busy focusing on careers and consumerism. Link

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prestidigitation

manual dexterity in the execution of tricks
[source: WordNet]

Albert Cadabra has been working as an entertainer in the field of prestidigitation in New York City since 1996. Link

He does a spot of prestidigitation and a table levitates, but one senses he'd rather pull off a wholesale vanishing trick. Link

The provincial auditor's reports, by their very nature, should be boring documents that contain not a whiff of potential scandal, concerns about fiscal prestidigitation or about leaders seemingly asleep at the switch while public money is put at risk. Link

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Not the Word You Usually Hear

suspire

Comments
The word inspire is seen more often but not in its sense of breathing in. It does pop up in advertising from time to time.

Stay COOL and suspire fresher air in contrast with our WA-1010M building block. Link

Away from the din and bustle of city life, this pollution free resort is located almost in a forest like atmosphere where the tourists can suspire the natural and fresh air, experience the close touch of the trees, and listen to the soft music of the birds. Link

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indurate

become fixed or established; "indurated customs"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Obdurate—Stubbornly persistent, generally in wrongdoing; refusing to reform or repent—is more commonly seen. This word shows up in botanical descriptions a lot.

First glume of sessile spikelet many-nerved, smooth to muricate, indurate, with inrolled margins; Link

Desegregate and clean indurate clay coating and internal filling by treating the sample in a gentle ultrasonic bath. Further desegregation of heavily indurate sediment can be obtained by a brief treatment with kerosene, paint thinner, ammonia or a weak solution of hydroxide sodium. Link

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prepone

Comments
Postpone frequently seen, I don't think I've ever seen prepone in the wild, but is such a useful word that I don't know why it isn't used more often.

My exprience of last 27 years of Family practice, shows that almost every woman tries to either prepone OR postpone her menstrual cycle at least 3 times in her reproductive cycle Link

Cofetel may prepone the auction of spectrum as Govt sets target (Mexico)
President Felipe Calderon and Transport Minister Luis Tellez have issued instructions to Cofetel to step up work on the auction process,... Link

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inhume

Comments
Exhume—To dig out of the ground; to take out of a place of burial; to disinter—is used all of the time on medical detective shows but no one ever inhumes a body though they do inter, lay to rest, or bury one.
You'll occasionally see this word as a past-tense verb—inhumed or as a noun—inhumation

Hidden under the gardens of Clifton Hill House, a hall of residence at Bristol University, is a remarkable collection of classical statuary...But the family returned briefly three years later to burn personal papers. It was then that Catherine decided to inhume the statues that she had grown to hate. Link

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ingress

(astronomy) the disappearance of a celestial body prior to an eclipse
[source: WordNet]

Comments
This is a complement of egress—An exit or way out—but rarely used.

This paper discusses a simple, effective, and straightforward method for using ingress traffic filtering to prohibit DoS attacks which use forged IP addresses to be propagated from 'behind' an Internet Service Provider's (ISP) aggregation point. Link

Infinite Ingress
A human wave is breaking over California, flooding freeways and schools, bloating housing costs, disrupting power and water supplies. Ignoring it hasn't worked Link

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nocebo

/noʊ'siboʊ/

Comments
Related to placebo—medicine containing no active ingredients.

Hence, nocebo effects can contaminate clinical trials, because doctors may attribute to a drug negative side effects that are actually nocebo effects. Link

The nocebo phenomenon, in which placebos produce adverse side effects, offers some insight into nonspecific side effect reporting.  Link

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malediction

In my heart I carried many an evil thought against the priest who had dared to beard me in public, and launch upon my head his puerile malediction, but scarcely one for the poor wretch I had transixed, and who—for aught I knew or cared—might die before morning. Link

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placable

easily calmed or pacified
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Implacable—not able to placate or appease—is freqently seen as well as placate—to calm—but this variation is somewhat rare.

The types chosen were predominantly Hamdani Simri noted for its excellence as a riding horse and its placable temperament and the Saklawi type noted for its refinement, beauty, and speed. Link

With all her virtuous indignation, the good old woman was of a placable nature, and easily appeased. Link

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dystopia

/ˈdɪsˌtəʊpɪiə/

a work of fiction describing an imaginary place where life is extremely bad because of deprivation or oppression or terror
state in which the condition of life is extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Contrasts with utopia—a world in which everything and everyone works in perfect harmony.

With Mad Max, The Postman, Threads and The Day After, nuclear annihilation loomed large in the imaginations of filmmakers in the 70s and 80s. Since then cinematic dystopia has been projected in the realm of the fantastic (think 12 Monkey's, The Matrix and 28 Days Later). If dystopia is really just a satire of the present, what does the film adaptation of The Road tell us about the our times? Link

Actually, if such rules led to a dystopia, no one would accept it. All societies are measured by goals like wealth, justice, liberty, etc., so it is not correct that one merely sets up rules without having some idea or plan of whether the society that results is acceptable. Link

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prequel

/ˈpɹiːkwəl/

Comments
I thought that this word was invented to give George Lucas a way to describe his series of movies that take place before the original Star Wars trilogy but it dates to 1958 though Lucas certainly popluarized it.

The prequel will follow Neville in the last days before and after the man-made virus kills/mutates New York City. A sequel was considered, but obviously wouldn’t have been possible without starting over with a completely new lead character/actor. Link

And as I sit comfortably in front of my computer in a public library, Gaza II seems to be just another prequel to the next war. Link

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roved

Comments
When I first read this word, I thought it was an error. A quick search shows that it is quite common in prose writing and more so in poetry.

The Mars Exploration Rovers challenged their ground crews with an April full of high drama, a little suspense, and a lot of energy. ... Opportunity roved forward and back into the fast lane on a restored front wheel, slowing down for a brief visit to a series of small, intriguing craters and an unplanned close encounter with a pesky little purgatoid. Link

Awesome beasts roved ancient site
Giant hyenas, sabretoothed cats, giraffes and zebras lived side by side in Europe 1.8 million years ago. Link

As I roved out one fine May morning, To view the meadows and flowers gay, Who should I spy, but my own true lover As she sat by yon willow tree Link

The rover’s rocker bogie hasn’t moved one centimeter since the first week of May when the team realized it was mired in sand to its left side hubcaps. It had been on its way south to its next destinations -- a large pit dubbed Goddard and a funky mound called von Braun – when it roved into the troublesome area, nicknamed Troy, and crunched through a crusty top layer with its left wheels and slid into a lush sandpit. Link

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occipit

Comments
Usually seen as occipital.

Orbit to occipit length:
This is the distance from the occipit to the closest point on the orbit of the eye. Link

A cystic mass was notice at the base of the occipit for which he went through a neurosurgical investigation... Link

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corrigible

capable of being corrected or set right; "a corrigible defect"; "a corrigible prisoner"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Usually seen as incorrigible.

Being corrigible is a sign of emotional maturity and intelligence... and not being corrigible implies the opposite. Link

Edmund Burke observed in parliamentary debate in 1774, ”whenever we are involved in difficulties from the measures we have pursued, that we should take a strict review of those measures, in order to correct our errors if they should be corrigible; or at least to avoid a dull uniformity in mischief, and the unpitied calamity of being repeatedly caught in the same snare.“ Link

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gainly

graceful and pleasing; "gainly conduct"; "a gainly youth with dark hair and eyes"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Often misused when gainfully is meant.

...he’s captured the moments when people throw caution to the wind, their hands in the air and start moving to music.
It’s rarely a very gainly, dignified sight – more often than not humorous – but noone can argue that that the feelgood factor isn’t visible on every face in every shot. Link

He mantled his equipment and mounted his gainly steed, which stepped gingerly through the Endful Forest... Link

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exorable

Comments
It is the opposite of inexorable in one sense, but it is not the opposte in the sense of ”Impossible to stop or prevent; inevitable“, though many people use it that way. It is also frequently used when the writer means execrable.

If you liked the first, then you'll get more of the same.. No new ground covered. But, if you loved the first beyond exorable doubt, try this one too. Link

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wieldy

easy to handle or use or manage; "a large but wieldy book"
[source: WordNet]

The seat’s not high in either bike, making them wieldy and not too intimidating Link

If you choose separates, it means you never have to borrow a construction crane to hoist a feature-laden, mega-watt seven- or eight-channel receiver onto a tall equipment rack.
OK, that’s an exaggeration, but not by much. Separates do produce more wieldy physical packages. Link

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evitable

capable of being avoided or warded off
[source: WordNet]

So just how did local rugby drag itself to such an evitable situation? A situation that has it on its knees. Link

The economy of the entire planet is totally controlled by positronic super brains, the Machines. They know what they’re doing, and what they are doing is providing for a better, more wonderful future than humanity could ever manage on its own. ... all conflicts are finally evitable. Only the Machines, from now on, are inevitable" Link

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devolution

D EH2 V AH0 L UW1 SH AH0 N  :  

the delegation of authority (especially from a central to a regional government)
[source: WordNet]

Scotland was promised a referendum on devolution by the Labour Party in the build up to the 1997 election. This manifesto promise was carried out in 1997 just four months after the general election and a process of devolution was started for Scotland which lead to a Scottish Parliament based in Edinburgh coming into being in 1999. Link

... the government hopes to go for a referendum once a national consensus is reached regarding the devolution of power. Link

Extinction is the norm rather than the exception, so are we witnessing the evolution or devolution of the human race, a species which for whatever collective reason, still appears content to maintain the status quo... Link

That trend has coincided with other ills, such as ... the devolution of the family and the systematic shedding of that dread thing called morals. Link

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effable

Comments
Usually seen as its opposite—ineffable.

I have a covert passion for signs in foreign places. I take pictures, others take pictures. Here are a few examples, some ineffable and some effable indeed. Link

Spielberg merely traded in one set of narrative codes for another, albeit one which exists in a register most viewers closely align with “truth” and the “real” —there’s not a point in the film that moves beyond the effable to the abject ... Link

[I]f, like the typical economist, we have only eyes for what can be quantified and have lost all vision for the qualitative element of reality, then we will probably be utterly blind to these less effable, yet nevertheless very real externalities. Link

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disinter

/dısın'tɛː(r)/

dig up for reburial or for medical investigation; of dead bodies
[source: WordNet]

An Iowa judge has denied a request by an Arizona foundation to disinter a Burlington man so his remains could be preserved through a low-temperatures process known as cryonic suspension. Link

And so I went to work, plucking this plant and sparing that one. I endeavored to leave the tall and robust plants and disinter the short and spindly ones. Like it or not, I fear, a eugenicist lurks in the heart of every gardener. Link

The 18 “Weird” artists use paintings, sculptures, drawings, photos, videos and installations to disinter familiar cultural archetypes. But in their retelling, once recognizable Puritans, cowpokes, desperadoes and teenyboppers all get off-kilter artistic makeovers. Link

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clement

K L EH1 M AH0 N T  :  

(of weather or climate) physically mild; "clement weather"
(used of persons or behavior) inclined to show mercy; "a more clement judge reduced the sentence"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
I was listening to Carl Sagan on Cosmos talking about the weather required for life on other planets and this word seemed unusual. The word I usually hear is inclement.

They should really move election day backward, and do it during the summer holidays (during more clement weather), on a national holiday, and in schools. Link

Until the summer of 2007, the Mars Exploration Rovers enjoyed relatively clement weather at their near-equatorial landing sites. However, near the end of their second Mars year of operations, in June and July 2007, the annual dust storm season produced a planet-encircling storm... Link

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congruous

corresponding in character or kind
suitable or appropriate together
[source: WordNet]

Comments
This one is rare. Usually you see incongruous. Don't confuse it with congruent.

“It’s going to look more crowded. We’re not going to have benches this year because there’s no room for it.” Aside from these changes, preparations remain congruous with previous years,... Link

"My passion is creating new music, in the moment, in improvising and reacting to other musicians, which are skills not normally associated with traditional music. But the feeling of that music is, for me, totally congruous with the traditional music I grew up learning. It's all the one path from the word go." Link

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Not What They Seem

raillery

Comments
It has nothing to do with rails or making rails.

“Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit.” - Aristotle Link

“Good-natured raillery is the sauce of civil entertainment, and without some such tincture of urbanity, good humor falters.”-Sir Roger L'Estrange Link

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upbraid

AH0 P B R EY1 D  :  

Comments
Unlike many other words that start with up—update, upload, updraft, uplift—it has nothing to do with direction or currency. this word is a favorite of headline writers—it provides a succinct summary of the tone of legislative hearings, judges rulings, and press releases from interest groups.

2 Democrats in House Upbraid Armey for Remarks About Jews
Two top House Democrats today criticized the majority leader, Dick Armey, for what they called disparaging comments toward Jews made at a campaign appearance last weekend. Mr. Armey dismissed the complaints as partisan politics.  Link

FBI Finds No Sign of Spying at Los Alamos, but Senators Upbraid Secretary : For Richardson, a Time of Tribulation Link

Commerce committee members upbraid OCC.(Office of the Comptroller of the Currency)
Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-VA) have taken issue with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's plan to increase bank insurance powers with plans to attempt to reassert state insurance regulations. Both legislators want to return balance to the powers of the banking and insurance sectors to protect consumers. Link

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bagatelle

/ˌbægəˈtɛl/

a light piece of music for piano
a table game in which short cues are used to knock balls into holes that are guarded by wooden pegs; penalties are incurred if the pegs are knocked over
something of little value or significance
[source: WordNet]

Comments
It's not a small French bag.

As players only hit the ball from one end of the bagatelle table very little space was required and the tables were designed to fold away. This made Bagatelle one of the more popular pub games for home use.  Link

I am frequently asked: what is a bagatelle? This question itself is no mere bagatelle for it underlines the anxiety that has arisen in the community concerning the Act. Link

For the defense bagatelle of $476 million, the military acquired 195 Predator drones at $4.5 million apiece. Link

The Beethoven set concludes with a little bagatelle Beethoven did not even give an opus number, Für Elise. Link

The game of Bagatelle is a pub game of skill that is closely related to the games of Billiards, Pool and Snooker. Modern derivatives include Children's Bagatelle, Bar Billiards, Western Pinball and Japanese Pachinko. Link

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cupidity

Comments
It is marginally related to Cupid in that it invokes a love of wealth.

The Mississippi Company Bubble was nothing less than an audacious attempt to takeover French government finance and French foreign colonies. Modern monetary policy was key to the scheme. Cupidity, corruption and inadequate financial and legal institutions all played a role in that bubble’s collapse. Link

This particular fraud utilized an appeal to the cupidity of those interested in becoming cattle-feedlot millionaires. But it could have been based upon fictitious mangrove marinas or desert condominium mirages.  Link

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adventitious

Comments
It seems like it should mean 'conferring an advantage' but it doesn't.

Rhonchi are long continuous adventitious sounds, generated by obstruction to airways. Link

Adventitious roots play an important role in phosphorus acquisition, as they are localized near the soil surface where phosphorus is relatively abundant. Link

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saltation

(geology) the leaping movement of sand or soil particles as they are transported in a fluid medium over an uneven surface
a mutation that drastically changes the phenotype of an organism or species
[source: WordNet]

Comments
It is not related to salutation—a greeting.

Individual sand grains move in three ways: saltation, creeping, and suspension. Sand grains bounce or "saltate" slightly above the surface when blown by the wind. With each bounce, the grains usually reach heights of less than 5 cm above the surface, and move horizontally 5-10 cm. Link

Saltation is important in the transport of sand-sized granular material by wind and in the ejection of dust from the bed both on Earth and on Mars. Link

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implead

Comments
It sounds like it should be the past tense of making an impassioned plea—but its not.

Participants at a seminar on whether the classical status for Kannada conferred by the Union Government has made a difference to the actual state of the language have demanded that the State Government take steps to implead itself in the pending writ petition on the issue before the Madras High Court. Link

Further, Sony seeks to implead six third-party defendants; and one of those prospective third-party defendants seeks to intervene. Link

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nonce

/nɒns/

Comments
This usually shows up in the phrase 'for the nonce'—meaning temporarily. It doesn't mean 'not once' or 'not at all' though maybe it should.

Worst of all seems to be Mozilla, which can have huge gaps in the nonce counter. Link

In previous releases of WebSphere® Application Server, the nonce was cached locally. Link

In which concludes for the nonce a short and beautiful chapter in the Life of Mouse Link

The resultant fiscal deficit would be passed on to the common man in the form of inflation. But let this not spoil your party for the nonce. The Finance Minister has added to the aura of conviviality in his Budget by making investments in gold easier. Link

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winsome

W IH1 N S AH0 M  :  /ˈwɪn.sʌm/

charming in a childlike or naive way
[source: WordNet]

Comments
No, it's not the opposite of losesome.

Child stars have always tugged at the heartstrings of viewers and their winsome acting and cherubic looks have played a significant role in contributing to the success of many movies such as `Mammattykuttyammake, `My dear Kuttychaathan' and so on. Link

But the series just might pull it off thanks to the winsome acting of Brown, who is the network's best bet to become a star on the rise. Link

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listless

L IH1 S T L AH0 S  :  /ˈlɪstlə

lacking zest or vivacity; "he was listless and bored"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
It is not someone who has forgotten their list.

A listless economy might be slowing the sale of football season tickets and new luxury boxes/club seats at the University of Colorado, but business is better than usual at Colorado State. Link

The Flyers, looking listless after a two-day holiday break, missed a chance to move into a first-place tie in the Atlantic Division last night.
In their first stop on a six-game, 12-day trip, the Flyers dropped a 5-1 decision to the streaking Chicago Blackhawks in front of a record sellout crowd at the United Center. Link

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limpets

/lɪmpɪt/

Comments
It has nothing to do with being limp—or with pets.

Limpets are so common on the rocky shores of Penwith, to such an degree that they are taken for granted and overlooked. Even if the tide is in, the limpets are the discarded shells you will certainly find. Limpets are very hardy species and are even found on the stormiest shores all year round. Link

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discursive

D IH2 S K ER1 S IH0 V  :  

Comments
While it does have something to do with writing style, it isn't indicative of bad handwriting.

Writing a discursive essay remains one of the most common assignments if the tutor wants to check the students’ knowledge on a particular problem and their abilities to present the balanced comprehension of it. Link

Below you will find an exemplar discursive essay. Read the essay over carefully. Link

In his usual style, he presents this as a discursive ramble, and in the process shows a great deal of his thinking process and his intellectual approach to the world. Link

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obtrude

AH0 B T R UW1 D  :  

Comments
Similar in meaning to intrude—to enter without permission.

The weight of its representations has been also augmented by a rule of the Chamber - never to obtrude its opinions unnecessarily or officiously either on the Legislature or the Government, but to interfere only in those cases where there was an evident call on them to do so Link

The real questions are the ones that obtrude upon your consciousness whether you like it or not...the ones that you "come to terms with" only to discover that they are still there. Link

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reproof

Comments

A scientist, testing a formula on Univac^® recently, was amazed to see the computing system stop, then automatically type the reproof: “You're trying to divide by zero.” A quick check proved that Univac, as always, was right. Link

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risible

/ˈrɪzɪbəl/, /ˈraɪzəbəl/

Comments
I've always associated this with derision—probably because it is usually used to describe something laughably stupid or self-serving.

Most risible web patent (well, until the next one of course). Link

“The timetable is risible,” he said. “Can you imagine what the response of the public will be if we say this important committee has met, it has appointed a chairman and it has adjourned indefinitely?” Link

After you read enough letters, they can start blend together. But, in a big stack of applications, there are usually a few letters that stand out as risible, causing a good chuckle and round of comment from the committee. Link

First off, I really, really wish that Dr. Oz would stop wearing scrubs on his show. I realize that it's designed to scream to the audience that "I'm a doctor, dammit! Listen to me! I know what I'm talking about!" As a surgeon, I just find TV doctors who wear scrubs on the air to be pathetic and risible. Link

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nonplussed

Comments
The “non” is confusing to people and this word is frequently used to mean the opposite of what it originally meant.

The return of the bust of Churchill (loaned after 9/11) flustered the British government because they didn't ask for it to be returned. Our best ally was nonplussed and even quickly told Obama he could keep it in the Oval Office where Bush had displayed the piece of art. Link

ATI nonplussed by Intel, plans low-cost chip Link

It wasn’t any ordinary heckler either. It was Bradley Kuhn, the former executive director of the Free Software Foundation. Fixing me with a steely glare, he said “So doesn’t this mean that the GPL is the new BSD license and that Google is the new Microsoft ?” I must confess I was a little non-plussed.[sic] Link

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pismire

/'pɪsmaɪə/

Comments
The first time I heard this word was in a movie from the 40's where it was used by a small boy to refer to a disagreeable aunt. It is well know by older country folk.

Pismire vs Human ...I MUST defeat the pismire!!! What are some of the best ways that you know of for getting rid of ants and other pests within ones dwelling? Link

“These suits are uncomfortable. Let us take them off.”
“Yes.”
They take off their human suits to reveal themselves to be pismires.
“We should never speak of this to the human.” Link

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demotic

of or for the common people; "demotic entertainments"; "demotic speech"; "a poet with a keen ear for demotic rhythms"
of or written in or belonging to the form of modern Greek based on colloquial use
[source: WordNet]

The chronologically penultimate variety of the Egyptian language is known as Demotic. Demotic is the most cursive script developed by the Egyptians. This stage of the language has, in many ways, connections to the preceding stage, Late Egyptian, and its successor, Coptic. Despite these affinities, demotic is a complete separated stage of ancient Egyptian language. Link

The 20th-Dynasty tombs in Luxor's Valley of the Kings contain approximately 250 Demotic graffiti, which remain largely unpublished and unstudied. Link

Gillian Wearing has a demotic touch. Until recently, her art using photography and video has been characterized by an awkward immediacy, however much technical artfulness may have gone into its achievement. It has kept close to the life of the street, and to the everyday lives of people who do not normally provide the audience for art. Link

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contretemps

K AA1 N T R AH0 T EH2 M P S  :  /kɑːn.tɹə.tɑ̃/

an awkward clash; "he tried to smooth over his contretemps with the policeman"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
In the blogosphere, the word is usually used to refer to on-going arguments where the other side is clearly wrong and/or mis-speaking solely to provoke controversy.

This book reflects his various experience. It comments on many of the past quarter century's "hot button" issues--including ... the Nixon impeachment, "trial by newspaper," the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill contretemps, ...  Link

But that doesn't make the unpleasant facts any less factual. The most recent contretemps isn't even about science, Matt. It's about truth-telling. Link

Topics usually will be a game-time decision, but I'm definitely interested in discussing the contretemps over the John Edwards bloggers, as well as the John McCain outreach to the blogs and what that means for McCain and other candidates.  Link

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blandish

Comments
This word is frequently misused to mean “somewhat bland”. An example is, “And the food is way expensive, and your standard blandish greasy US Chinese. Split some dishes if you're starving, but really, wouldn't you rather walk down to the grove?” Link

An undgrad and gender studies tyro’s abusage was an attempt to blandish me into giving him a perfect grade on his paper, but instead I corrected him by explaining it’s nauseated, not nauseous. Link

As in the Roman empire, institutions have become too large and impersonal, and traditional ideals of honor and duty have waned. Businesses today must blandish or brainwash their employees with PC myths of togetherness -- shattered, of course, when downsizing produces massive overnight layoffs, while grotesquely overpaid top executives float away on golden parachutes. Link

I blandish the proud, berate the humble,
Annotate the garrulous, hush the hermit, Give drink to the unsteady, stint the aesthete,
Inflate the rich to the popping point,
And crown peasant urges as though pearls of kingly wisdom. Link

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diurnal

D AY0 ER1 N AH0 L  :  /daɪˈɝ.nəl/

belonging to or active during the day; "diurnal animals are active during the day"; "diurnal flowers are open during the day and closed at night"
having a daily cycle or occurring every day; "diurnal rhythms"; "diurnal rotation of the heavens"; "the diurnal slumber of bats"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
The 'di' isn't a prefix so the word has nothing to do with two of anything.

If you ever have looked up in the sky at different times during a night, you might have noticed that the stars seem to move. This movement of the sky is called diurnal motion. Diurnal motion is caused by the rotation of the Earth around its axis. Since it takes the Earth 24 hours to complete one rotation, the diurnal motion caused by this rotation will also take 24 hours to repeat. Link

In neighboring Anderson Valley, the diurnal fluctuation during growing season can be as much as 40 degrees in 24 hours. On the ridgetops, which lie above the fog line and the frost pockets, the diurnal swing can be half the valley fluctuation - 20 degrees rather than 40. Link

A trough of low pressure moved across the northern part of the state during the beginning part of the week. This feature combined with some diurnal heating and orographic effect brought some isolated showers over the Sierra Nevada, the Coastal range, and the Northern Mountains. Link

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tyro

Comments
Tyro seems like it should be a shorthand for tyrant, but it's not.

But it was a tyro from Carine, still learning his craft, who set up Subiaco’s 25.15 (165) to 9.9 (63) demolition of the Demons. Link

Five-eighth Ben Cronin will again be sidelined after aggravating his hip flexor injury against Manly last weekend with young tyro Darren Tonihi set to take on the playmaking role along with Michael Morgan. Link

Last year's Rising Star winner, Fremantle tyro Rhys Palmer, will be out for the rest of the season after damaging the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Link

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bombinate

Comments
Nothing to do with bombs or bombastic.

Of course, if these disgruntled wingers thought as strategically as they wish their party had, they'd keep quiet and let this item bombinate in the left-o-sphere, which is currently preoccupied with happier thoughts. Link

Will you wait with me before these shrill sounds bombinate behind my eyes? Link

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fey

F EY1  :  /feɪ/

slightly insane
[source: WordNet]

Comments
I've always associated this word with weak and unmanly, possibly because that's how many writers use it. The usage I've been able to find seem to use fey as meaning 'stereotypically effeminately gay'.

I don’t know that I didn’t occasionally temper ideas or concepts I had for fear that they would look too gay, whatever that is,” he says referring to his work at the Mirage and Treasure Island hotels. “ ‘That’s a little out there, that’s a little fey, maybe I won’t do that, maybe I’ll butch that one up.’ I think I might have done that.” Link

...we couldn't understand why a guy with a few million in his coffers and a small, fey dog would put himself out there like that. Doesn't he know there's a Rich Hunt on?  Link

“Her voice was exquisite and far away, almost like an echo. She was an excellent actress, completely unique. That wonderful voice of hers — strange, fey, mysterious — like a voice singing in the snow.” Link

My mother was a storyteller, impractical, unrealistic, a self-proclaimed dreamer with a self-described "fey Irish heart." She loved music, and laughter. She hated tears. If she had a failing as a mother, it was that she never let her children cry. Link

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approbation

AE2 P R AH0 B EY1 SH AH0 N  :  

official approval
official recognition or approval
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Frequently misused to mean disapproval, scorn.

There's finally some polling out on the SCOTUS nomination of Sonia Sotomayor that breaks out Latinos, and unsurprisingly, she's very popular in this demographic. But the degree of this approbation, and thus the potential risk to Republicans of fighting her confirmation, is still in some question.  Link

It will be interesting to see how the court handles the question of domestic partnership — the marriage equivalent without the name or the social approbation – that remains in effect in California after Prop 8 Link

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toothsome

Comments
Bloggers frequently use this word for food that has a thick or chewy texture. Occasionally it is used instead of “toothy”.

Another interesting by-product of this dinner was a rather toothsome recipe for a potato and fennel gratin that I’m also inordinately proud of,...  Link

Thanksgiving meal is not the same without something sweet in the mix, check out this toothsome recipe by Ellie, its one dessert that wont make you look like its name, pumpkin muffins. Link

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desultory

D EH1 S AH0 L T AO2 R IY0  :  /ˈdɛs.əlˌtɔɹ.i/, /ˈdɛz.əlˌtɔɹ.i/

marked by lack of definite plan or regularity or purpose; jumping from one thing to another; "desultory thoughts"; "the desultory conversation characteristic of cocktail parties"
[source: WordNet]

What happened next was both astonishing and disheartening. We casually turned our backs and walked away from our accomplishment. We built the low-orbiting space shuttles and international space station, but these projects now seem at a dead end. There is desultory talk of returning to the moon and then on to Mars, but there's nothing as compelling and visionary as President John Kennedy's call to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade and the Apollo project that did it. Link

There’s nothing like sitting around in a circle on the sand, lazing away the hours in desultory conversation, to take the charge out of social or political difference. Link

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perusal

P ER0 UW1 Z AH0 L  :  

reading carefully with intent to remember
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Frequently used to mean the opposite—a quick skimming of the material.

The folks at HiRISE just released thousands of images of the Red Planet for your perusal… and face it, if you have time to kill reading my blog, you have time to kill looking at awesome Mars pictures. Link

Naturally, a slew of cameras descended upon the new gear just as soon as the suits left the stage, and we've rounded up the best of the best below for your perusal and enjoyment. Link

A perusal of the team's current coaching staff suggests a prime candidate for the job: Maurice Carthon. Link

A quick Web perusal was enough to come up with these cats, this cat, this cat and this scary-looking cat... Link

Same goes for newspapers- you can browse all the e-papers on your computer, but nothing beats the early morning newspaper perusal with tea! Link

However, only five of them since 1990 occurred after the flu vaccine. That's a small enough number that allowed easy perusal of individual records after the initial search. Link

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noisome

/ˈnɔɪsəm/

Comments
Nothing to do with noise.

We are all familiar with the right to bear arms and the noisome extremes indulged by its zealots. But is there no sense of simple respect due the nation’s elected leader when he ventures forth among the citizenry? Link

Audi, BMW sell the sizzle of diesel, not the soot
Imagine trying to market a product that most Americans regard as old and obsolete, that is remembered -- if at all -- as low-class and low-tech, noisy and noisome, and whose most notable advocates are truck drivers with prominent trouser cleavage. Link

Almost everyone in Labour did because they knew how maddening it would be for Conservatives to have to put up with a Speaker they found even more noisome than the appalling Michael Martin. Link

The facility underwent numerous hearings at the local and state level before it opened in August 2008.
The process of making lithium batteries was not deemed a “noisome trade” under the public health code. Link

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odious

OW1 D IY0 AH0 S  :  /ˈoʊdiəs/

Comments
Nothing to do with odors.

Karzai’s government remains impotent to stem the country’s hyper-corruption. Many of his cabinet members and odious warlords have built up staggering personal fortunes Link

So I was tooling around town on this nice autumn afternoon in my little Wildcat Blue '96 Toyota RAV4...running my errands and tolerantly allowing the odious Rush Limbaugh, the man I love to loathe, to shout at me at the top of his odious lungs... Link

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descry

catch sight of
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Nothing to do with crying.

You might descry a common topic emerging here. ...The common topic is: Lashkar-e-Tayyiba 's Dance for Comedian Assuagement... Link

Let the moon with soft, gentle light me descry,
Let the dawn send forth its fleeting, brilliant light, Link

When our scattered fleet met swollen seas, one ship could scarce descry her sister ship. Link

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numinous

/ˈnuːmɪnəs/, /ˈnjuːmɪnəs/

evincing the presence of a deity; "a numinous wood"; "the most numinous moment in the Mass"
of or relating to or characteristic of a numen
[source: WordNet]

Comments
It doesn't have anything to do with numerous.

Almost one fifth of Americans call themselves "spiritual, but not religious." Organised religion has failed them. They reject conservative churches' social agendas and liberal churches, having gutted their liturgies to strip out every last bit of the numinous, have little to offer them. Link

In the same way that his art often manages to make ordinary things – chairs and potatoes and sunflowers and beds – seem charged with a numinous inner life... Link

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infamous

IH1 N F AH0 M AH0 S  :  /ˈɪnfəməs/

Comments
This is a word like inflammable, that seems to be created by appending a suffix to another word. It doesn't mean ‘not famous’ but rather, ‘famous in a bad way’.

Oral Robers, a man infamous for his televangelism and faith healing, died yesterday. Link

Scientists have shown that the combination of having a brain that is not yet fully developed and the hormonal stresses of puberty can explain much of the infamous behaviour of adolescents. Link

...when his infamous cowardice gives way to bravery in the final act's rescue of Scooby Doo, the decision doesn't seem contrived for the sake of plot resolution. Link

Illinois, infamous for political corruption, enacted its first-ever campaign contribution limits last week Link

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Good Words

contumacious

/ˌkɑːn.tʊˈmeɪ.ʃəs/

wilfully obstinate; stubbornly disobedient; "a contumaceous witness is subject to punishment"
[source: WordNet]

These spiritual punishments rarely failed during the eleventh and twelfth centuries in bringing the most contumacious offender to a speedy and abject confession. Link

They were spared the usual brutal whipping of contumacious persons as a special mark of humanity. Link

EPA will be held in contempt, and ordered to pay sanctions in the amount of Landmark’s legal fees and costs expended as a result of EPA’s contumacious conduct. Link

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deus ex machina

any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve and insoluble difficulty
[source: WordNet]

Poirot is very much in the background, acting only as a deus ex machina at the end - it was a mistake, Christie later felt, to have him in the book. Link

With its lack of development, the Elder Wand concept - which proved crucial at the end - came off as little more than a deus ex machina. The Invisibility Cloak Harry already had, but the Resurrection Stone was sorely left a mystery. Link

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voluble

V AA1 L Y AH0 B AH0 L  :  

marked by a ready flow of speech; "she is an extremely voluble young woman who engages in soliloquies not conversations"
[source: WordNet]

Being the voluble gal that she was, Echo used her voice to help Zeus in his procurement of pleasure with the nymphs on the Ionian mountain slopes below. Link

Mr. Goldman, a voluble lawyer and broker, said he was struck nearly speechless when he realized who Mr. Fortus was. Link

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halcyon

HH AE1 L S IY0 AH0 N  :  /'hælsɪən/

a large kingfisher widely distributed in warmer parts of the Old World
a mythical bird said to breed at the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea and to have the power of calming the winds and waves
idyllically calm and peaceful; suggesting happy tranquillity; "a halcyon atmosphere"
[source: WordNet]

On Cars, Baseball and the Halcyon Days of Summer Link

I am looking forward to a halcyon summer, no sports, no piano, no work, no schedule-- only a few planned travels. Link

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prosopagnosia

Some of the strongest evidence for face processing being modular comes from cases of prosopagnosia, where patients are unable to recognize faces whilst retaining the ability to recognize other objects. Link

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bête noire

/beɪtˈnwɑ:/

Patrick Fitzgerald is no stranger to bringing down the most powerful of American power-brokers.
Since his appointment as US Attorney for Northern Illinois in September 2001, the 48-year-old native of Brooklyn has led a string of high-profile investigations that have made him the bête noire of many influential figures. Link

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surfeit

S ER1 F AH0 T  :  /ˈsɜː.fɪt/

indulge (one's appetite) to satiety
supply or feed to surfeit
the state of being more than full
[source: WordNet]

It's a surfeit of fabulous crackpot characters, most notably Eli Barker (Talfryn Thomas) and Jonah Barnard (Noel Purcel). Link

Surfeit of purple
Surfeit might be a little strong. Let’s just say there’s purple everywhere I look this time of year Link

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claque

a group of followers hired to applaud at a performance
[source: WordNet]

Comments
The 2008 campaign had a few stories of claques filling halls for McCain's campaign stops, but they never used this word. It does come up occasionally when talking about the press corps.

Had any of the AGW claque had the moral stature of Einstein, that part of the models would have been abandoned outright. Link

The congress, judiciary, and the Oval Office are all in the hands of the military claque that is determined to control the future of the planet's petroleum supplies... Link

Just as predictable: the usual claque of cultural conservatives came up with that depressing whinge about the golden age of the glorious independents. Link

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dilatory

D IH1 L AH0 T AO2 R IY0  :  

inclined to waste time and lag behind
wasting time
[source: WordNet]

One court cited in that ruling described sanctions as appropriate if there are “persistent dilatory tactics frustrating the judicial process.” Link

Trickery, overemphasis on minor technicalities, dilatory tactics, indulgence in personalities, and railroading threaten the spirit and practice of fairness and good faith. Link

But it will mean that the dilatory tactics that some have invoked, which is just delay, delay, delay, lose a lot of punch. Link

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sardonic

S AA0 R D AA1 N IH0 K  :  /sɑːˈdɑːnɪk/

disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking; "his rebellion is the bitter, sardonic laughter of all great satirists"- Frank Schoenberner; "a wry pleasure to be...reminded of all that one is missing"- Irwin Edman
[source: WordNet]

Back in August 1981, The Buggles welcomed in the MTV era with the synth strings of their sardonic Video Killed the Radio Star. Link

Two causes for sardonic amusement in this. The first is that it's a reminder that once upon a time The New Republic was an actually progressive magazine. The second is that even FDR couldn't be liberal enough for some liberals. Link

Delectably biting, sparklingly whimsical and sardonic, Wilde’s witty creation is lovely as a bon bon, lavish and polished. Link

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emolument

/ɪˈmɒlyəmənt/

compensation received by virtue of holding an office or having employment (usually in the form of wages or fees); "a clause in the U.S. constitution prevents sitting legislators from receiving emoluments from their own votes"
[source: WordNet]

The cricketers playing in the domestic first-class season of the country will each be paid an annual emolument of Rs 150,000 to Rs 200,000 in order to strengthen the inter-region competition. Link

Some folks have been talking about HRC’s ineligibility to serve as SoS due to that obscure thingy in the Constitution called the “emolument clause” which says that a member of Congress may not be appointed to a government position if the compensation rate for that position was increased during his or her term. Link

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misoneism

hatred of change or innovation
[source: WordNet]

The NCAA is about to add a twelfth game to the regular season for college football. The college organization afflicted with misoneism about a real playoff system is only a game or two away from all that a playoff entails.  Link

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gamine

Alice Johnson is a gamine actor with a lithe body, a rubber face and an engaging personality Link

In 1961, Audrey Hepburn's little black dress designed by Givenchy helped propel the gamine actor to superstardom.  Link

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parapraxis

I should like only to point out an interesting detail, which is a parapraxis on the part of Freud. This was duly noticed and almost immediately analysed by himself (pp. 81–82). The real mistake in the parapraxis has, however, eluded not only the editor but even Freud himself. Link

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chthonic

/'θɑ.nɪk/, /'kθɑ.nɪk/

My work examines chthonic spaces to identify the poetics of underworld and understand how they function, placing special focus on spatial construction of meaning, narrative, liminality, and embodiment. Chthonic poetics has applications for other media, although I focus primarily on video games and digital environments.  Link

In Sparta, the chthonic night-time sacrifice of a dog to Enyalios became assimilated to the cult of Ares Link

It is a human earthquake, a tidal wave, a forest fire, unleashing chthonic forces far too large for us to comprehend, let along control. Link

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evanescent

EH2 V AH0 N EH1 S AH0 N T  :  

tending to vanish like vapor; "evanescent beauty"
[source: WordNet]

An electrically pumped 1310 nm silicon evanescent laser (SEL) is demonstrated utilizing the hybrid silicon evanescent waveguide platform.  Link

You're on the beach, with the day before you. Your hands itch and your mind is overflowing with ideas. Sand sculpture. It's evanescent, a child's activity. Well, things are temporary, and what adult's life couldn't be improved by some childlikeness? Link

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.  Link

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hoary

HH AO1 R IY0  :  /hɔɹ.i/

ancient; "hoary jokes"
[source: WordNet]

In the hoary cold of Alaska's spring, a black bear does something remarkable. After months of hibernation, of lying perfectly still save some shivering, the bear leaves its den and begins to move around. Link

The hoary marmots common name refers to its colorization which is an "icy" silver-gray.  Link

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vociferous

V OW0 S IH1 F ER0 AH0 S  :  

“There will be objections to this from outside of the Government and also from within. However a vociferous minority cannot be allowed to hinder the forward march of a nation towards peace and economic prosperity”. Link

Mr Strafford, one of the party's most vociferous activists, launched a scathing attack on the process for the leadership contest. Link

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scot

S K AA1 T  :  /skɒt/

Comments
This word is interesting because it is the basis of the phrase 'scot free'. Soct free literally means free of tax but is more generally used to indicate that someone got off without consequences or paying a penalty.

Pilots will receive 4 years pay scot free, most other employees, around three. Link

I neither make king nor mar king, as Sancho says, but pray heartily for our own sovereign, pay scot and lot, and grumble at the exciseman Link

But this time, there will be huge anger across the world that many of the rapacious bankers who triggered this current crisis are being saved - escaping scot-free to their mansions and yachts with untold riches. Link

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interminable

IH2 N T ER1 M AH0 N AH0 B AH0 L  :  /ɪnˈtɜː(ɹ).mɪn.ə.bəl/

But what of the moral dimension to this interminable conflict? Who can be right when no one can define wrong? Link

It goes on like an interminable lecture and there are few worthwhile graphics, just some small black & white photos and no clear drawings or cutaways. Link

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peckish

somewhat hungry
[source: WordNet]

According to legend, the whole afternoon tea thing began around 1830 when a certain Anna, Duchess of Bedford was feeling a bit peckish one late afternoon. She ordered her servants to bring her a pot of tea with some bread and jam to tide her over until dinner Link

But the boyfriend and I were out picking up fundraising jars from our eastside partners on Saturday late afternoon and became peckish towards the end of our rounds. With Palmer's as our last stop we decided to make it our dinner spot as well. Link

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serein

(suh-RAN [the second syllable is nasal])

Comments
This is such a great word that I was surprised when I couldn't find it used anywhere on the web—not even on weather sites. The only place I found it was in a book from 1854.

A French chemist, C.A. Prieur, has maintained, “that the moisture deposited on bodies soon after sunset is not the same with that we find on tehm again at sunrise There is consequently (he says) an interruption in the phenomenon—evaporation of the serein or evening dew, and a new production in the morning, rosée.” Link

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sobriquet

S OW1 B R AH0 K EY2  :  /ˈsoʊbɹəˌkeɪ/

My grandmother retrieved me puzzled but unhurt, although I was studded all over with dust bunnies, which is why I was given the sobriquet Dusty. Link

Ronald Reagan is, arguably, the most successful actor in history, having catapulted from a career as a Warner Bros. contract player and later television star into the governorship of California and two terms as President of the United States, where his oratory skills earned him the sobriquet “The Great Communicator.” Link

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misprize

Never you should misprize the opportunities you’re provided with, with your content. Not only are you building your SEO, but you are also able to position yourself as an authority in your field. Link

I guess I misprize the importance of blogs in expressing oneself. I never was the eloquent type to begin with. Link

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malfeasance

M AE2 L F IY1 Z AH0 N S  :  /ˌmælˈfizəns/

wrongful conduct by a public official
[source: WordNet]

Again, there are some obvious exceptions where blatant malfeasance cannot be ignored. But even in these cases the professional does not dwell on the guilty party but focuses on correcting the problem and building a stronger district. Link

Texas energy corporations, with the help of some of their politicians have managed to pull off some of the worst corporate malfeasance in years, faking energy shortages that cost us Californians over 20 billion dollars... Link

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misfeasance

doing a proper act in a wrongful or injurious manner
[source: WordNet]

To ensure against misfeasance in public office, public officers should ensure that they have the requisite power to exercise their authority and may, in some cases wish to seek legal advice on such matters. Public officials should ensure that they are diligently and conscientiously carrying out assigned duties. Link

n March, 1921, a grand jury charged him with misfeasance in office and neglect of duty, in his tolerance of vice such as illegal liquor sales, prostitution, and gambling in Bay City, and called for the common council to remove him from office. Link

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obambulate

Sadly, I didn’t get to obambulate with the former Chief. Unbeknownst to me, the walkabout of the DTES was scheduled for earlier in the afternoon. Link

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nihilism

N AY1 AH0 L IH2 Z AH0 M  :  /ˈnaɪəˌlɪz(ə)m/, /ˈniəˌlɪz(ə)m/

a revolutionary doctrine that advocates destruction of the social system for its own sake
complete denial of all established authority and institutions
[source: WordNet]

Gothic rock dealt with dark themes and intellectual movements such as gothic horror, Romanticism, existential philosophy, and nihilism. Link

A thread of nihilism and rock 'n' roll self-destructiveness runs through the disc, with a vast majority of the songs being about death, hell, or darkness. Link

The first step in moving from despair to hope seems to be accepting the validity of nihilism as simply being the logical conclusion of brutal honesty about our lives and the world around us.  Link

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plenary

P L IY1 N ER0 IY0  :  

full in all respects; "a plenary session of the legislature"; "a diplomat with plenary powers"
[source: WordNet]

These documents outline the opinions adopted during plenary sessions. Link

he Wednesday plenary session is open to the WG and IG participants, AC Representatives, TAG and AB members,and also by invitation to guests... Link

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limn

/lɪm/

Rather, with subtlety and for a young, first time director quite a distinctive eye, it managed to limn an upper middle class German family as well as I've seen. Link

Great books “about” the suburbs aren’t really about the suburbs, even if they do limn some sad particulars of suburban life.  Link

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gloaming

G L OW1 M IH0 NG  :  /ˈgloʊmɪŋ/

I take a gloaming walk most nights, lifting my eyes up across the boulevard at the jack-o-lantern brownstones, the rich, many-hued autumnal colors. Link

In the gloaming, Oh, my darling, When the lights are dim and low, And the quiet shadows falling, Softly come and softly go. Link

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addle

AE1 D AH0 L  :  

become rotten; "addled eggs"
mix up or confuse; "He muddled the issues"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
In literature, this word is almost always used to describe a person— an addle brain—who is foolish or dull-witted. It sometimes shows up as addle pated.

Because Canada geese tenaciously defend their nests, you should be accompanied by another person or a dog to help fend off goose attacks while you addle or oil the eggs Link

Normal ageing 'can addle brain'
Older brain, foreground, shows less synchronised activity. Scientists may have discovered why we tend to slow down mentally as we age. Link

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mot juste

/mɔ ʒyst/

the appropriate word or expression
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Often written as le mot juste.

In the dock stands the foppish Wilde, confident in his wit and his mastery of the mot juste, his epigrams, able to “strike an attitude” on demand. Link

One does not hit the mot juste with a shotgun, but rather with a rapier. Link

It's the melody that words make on a page which he brings to life with examples from authors I love and a few who are now on my "MustRead" list. But it's le mot juste that really stayed with me. Citing Hemingway, Salinger, Wilde, Twain...I not only have a fuller appreciation of the impact that a single, perfectly placed word can have on one's mind and one's heart...I'm also a lot more selective of each and every word I choose.  Link

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circa

S ER1 K AH0  :  ˈsɝkə/

Comments
I don't think I've seen this in any context other than a date—the pottery shard was from circa 50 BCE.

I had an old photo (circa 1910) to restore that was made of metal, liken to a form of tin or aluminum bonded to a round plate-like metal. Link

Built of native limestone, this elegant mansion, circa 1750, is one of the most historic homes in our area. Link

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intimation

IH2 N T AH0 M EY1 SH AH0 N  :  /ˌɪntəˈmeɪʃən/

222B. Intimation regarding release of members.
When a member is arrested and after conviction released on bail pending an appeal or is otherwise released, such fact shall also be intimated to the Chairman by the authority concerned in the appropriate form set out in the Second Schedule. Link

The Mob is a powerful and engrossing narrative and already there is every intimation that the future volumes may be even more enthralling. An impressive debut. Link

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sidereal

/saɪˈdɪriəl/

(of divisions of time) determined by daily motion of the stars; "sidereal time"
of or relating to the stars or constellations; "sidereal bodies"; "the sidereal system"
[source: WordNet]

So we mark the position of the Earth and Sun using the stars as benchmarks, and then watch and wait. Some time later, the Earth has moved in a big circle and is back to where it started in reference to those stars. That’s called a "sidereal year" (sidus is the Latin word for star). Link

These results show that responsiveness to the inductive effects of photoperiod varies significantly with time of the sidereal year. Link

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obsequies

Burning ghat helps villagers perform obsequies decently
This new burning ghat, built under the Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam, has ensured that the people of Aaluchampalayam in M.S.Mangalam Panchayat get to perform decent last rites. Link

Dangerously wounded by a stone, the monarch died three days afterward, and the people denied him even the solemn obsequies that had been given to all his predecessors. (Referring to Montezuma) Link

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frowzy

/ˈfɹaʊzi/

He was wearing a threadbare, frowzy suit, which had string tied around the waist to keep his trousers held up, and kept stroking at an unkempt white beard that looked as if wildlife would emerge from it at any moment. Link

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adduce

advance evidence for
[source: WordNet]

On a trial for murder, the accused person must not, without the leave of the court, adduce evidence tending to prove a contention of substantial mental impairment unless the accused person gives notice, as prescribed by the regulations, of his or her intention to raise that contention to the Director of Public Prosecutions and files a copy of the notice with the court. Link

What reasons would you adduce to show that Africa has been too slow to become habitable or develop? Link

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automaton

AO0 T AA1 M AH0 T AA2 N  :  

a mechanism that can move automatically
someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way; "only an automaton wouldn't have noticed"
[source: WordNet]

Here is a some video of the actual automaton he created and documented in the book. Wonderful! He is so good with metals and contraptions. Link

Enlightenment thinkers were fascinated by machines called automata whose sole purpose was to mimic living objects, and they built some amazing examples of them. The frenchman Jacques de Vaucanson built a mechanical duck that quacked, ate food, and defecated just like the real thing. But no automaton was more praised or more famous than the Great Chess Automaton of Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen. Link

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elocution

EH2 L AH0 K Y UW1 SH AH0 N  :  

an expert manner of speaking involving control of voice and gesture
[source: WordNet]

Words can be tricky things to say. They get tangled around and come out all wrong if you're not careful, and sometimes even if you are.
Which is why actors and others who perform using their voices do enunciation exercises to warm up their vocal apparatus. The most famous such exercise is probably the rhyme from the elocution lessons in Singin' in the Rain... Link

Many gifted programs include public speaking and elocution courses; however, it can be difficult for the teachers to find any lesson plans or curricula. Link

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locution

Joel: “Another person who speaks like that, who we mentioned to Tom, is William F Buckley.” Ethan: “He doesn't have that regional thing, though.” Joel: “But he has that command of complicated and yet precise locution.” Ethan: “Each sentence is choreographed.” Joel: “And a very impressive vocabulary.” Ethan: “Yeah, the big words ... Tom could pull it all off.” Link

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affray

a noisy fight
noisy quarrel
[source: WordNet]

Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton was charged Friday with common assault and affray by Merseyside Police and will spend New Year's Eve in jail. Link

SAM VERARD claimed allegiance to the Bouet Boys gang as he and three friends assaulted a number of people outside the Golden Lion. In the Royal Court yesterday, the 20-year-old pleaded his innocence but was found guilty of his part in an affray. Link

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dastard

/ˈdæstəd/

a malicious coward
treacherously cowardly; "the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on...December 7th"- F.D. Roosevelt
[source: WordNet]

Comments
This is usually seen as an adjective, dastardly, but it has a nice sound to it as a noun.

Peterman, you dastard! I'll send you post cards from Cape Breton so you can see what the Eye has wrought. Link

I stood there and took the insults, the slaps and pokes. And then one of them spit on my bike. With no time for thought, it was all a flash, I was off the bike, kickstand down, had bodily lifted the dastard who spit on my bike and threw him several feet, head first against the brick wall of the local school. Link

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oblique

AH0 B L IY1 K  :  

any grammatical case other than the nominative
slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angular; "the oblique rays of the winter sun"; "acute and obtuse angles are oblique angles"; "the axis of an oblique cone is not perpendicular to its base"
[source: WordNet]

Take a look at the various Oblique exercises, once you have selected three exercises please consult the Set & Rep Chart. Link

The oblique angle of the asteroid's contact with Earth coupled its impact energy with that of the atmosphere and planetary surface to send waves of ground-hugging, vaporous fireballs onward, the study says. Link

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pell-mell

In the pell-mell downhill rush of thousands, it seems as if the whole city is trying to break its collective neck. Even the cops on skis spend more time carting off the fallen than keeping skiers in line. Link

By the time of the first Oklahoma Land Rush, in 1889, it had become a literal pell-mell—a confused, disorderly, headlong rush. People lined up on the border of the territory and rushed out into all that free real estate at the sound of a starter gun. Link

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daunt

D AO1 N T  :  

cause to lose courage; "dashed by the refusal"
[source: WordNet]

The road ahead is long and arduous, but this will not daunt the Arab and Muslim democrats who are fighting to make democracy a reality in the lands and among the people they love. Link

The sheer size of the task will not daunt us, especially if we are not alone. Link

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eclectic

IH0 K L EH1 K T IH0 K  :  /ɪˈklɛktɪk/

selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas
someone who selects according to the eclectic method
[source: WordNet]

About our collection
Eclectic collection of medical instruments, anaesthesia pieces, nursing notes, general equipment, photographs, memorabilia and some archival material. Link

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fastidious

F AE0 S T IH1 D IY0 AH0 S  :  /fæˈstɪdiəs/, /fəˈstɪdiəs/

giving and careful attention to detail; hard to please; excessively concerned with cleanliness; "a fastidious and incisive intellect"; "fastidious about personal cleanliness"
having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures; "fastidious microorganisms"; "certain highly specialized xerophytes are extremely exacting in their requirements"
[source: WordNet]

One of the season's best shows, "Mr. Monk and the Paperboy," finds the fastidious, orderly detective in a major freakout when his own home becomes a crime scene. Link

When fastidious Nero Wolfe abandons a stained tie after eating his lunch in his study, it is used to strangle a prospective client shortly thereafter. Link

As one newspaper put it, “He is the epitome of fastidious femininity — coy, shrinking, super-refined. He is the violet, the cut glass, the rare china, the dove.” Link

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hinky

For instance, my SnagIt window couldn’t show some of its menu choices. No idea why, but switching to Courier New fixed that. There may be other things that look hinky. Link

I wouldn't really trust the fact that it works. I'd be more inclined to say the error you get when doing it the right way is indicative of something hinky that should be fixed. Link

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iconoclast

AY2 K AA1 N AH0 K L AE2 S T  :  /aɪˈkɒnəklæst/

someone who tries to destroy traditional ideas or institutions
[source: WordNet]

No organization can survive without iconoclasts -- innovators who single-handedly upturn conventional wisdom and manage to achieve what so many others deem impossible. Though indispensable, true iconoclasts are few and far between. In Iconoclast, neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains why. Link

For the past 29 years, ever since he built the first Apple computer in a garage, Jobs has been a commercial innovator, cultural inspiration, and entrepreneurial icon. He's an iconoclast who has enhanced our society's digital self-image. Link

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nugatory

/'nju:gətəri/

of no real value; "a nugatory law"
[source: WordNet]

A court of equity will not decree specific performance,... where from the facts and circumstances of the case the decree for any reason would be nugatory. Link

The onus is on the plaintiff/applicant to show that if the stay is not granted the appeal will be rendered nugatory. Link

Instances have of late years been frequent where the work of an entire Spring, and consequently the fruits of a year's toil and care, have been rendered nugatory and destroyed by prairie dogs. Link

Yet just at the moment that the theory had thus been rendered nugatory, it gained a cachet far beyond any it had previously enjoyed. The Bolshevik seizure of power rescued Marxism... Link

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casuistry

[kəˈsuɪstri] or [ˈkæʒuːɨstri]

argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and intended to be misleading
moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical principles to resolve moral dilemmas
[source: WordNet]

Since the special function of casuistry is to determine practically and in the concrete the presence or absence of a definite moral obligation, it does not fall within its scope to pass judgment on what would be more advisable, or on what may be recommended as a counsel of perfection. It leaves these judgments to the sciences to which they belon... Link

In this engaging study, the authors put casuistry into its historical context, tracing the origin of moral reasoning in antiquity, its peak during the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, and its subsequent fall into disrepute from the mid-seventeenth century. Link

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blithe

B L AY1 DH  :  /blaɪð/

carefree and happy and lighthearted; "was loved for her blithe spirit"; "a merry blithesome nature"; "her lighthearted nature"; "trilling songs with a lightsome heart"
lacking or showing a lack of due concern; "spoke with blithe ignorance of the true situation"
[source: WordNet]

Thus, before 1980, the careers of cell biologists and evolutionary biologists could proceed in relatively blithe ignorance of the concerns or findings of their distal biological disciplines. Link

If nothing else, blithe ignorance is less embarrassing than awkward attempts to get down with the issues. Link

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excoriates

Mrs. Oh was excoriating the law firm's (more precisely the elite senior partners) campaign to blame law associates with a record of _excellent_ reviews for the associates' firing. Link

The book, which accused American feminists of ignoring the oppression of Muslim women ... I know a lot of the feminists Chesler excoriates for imaginary crimes against sisterhood... Link

Audit Excoriates United Way Leadership—$1.5 Million Went To Former Chief" Link

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vacuous

V AE1 K Y UW0 AH0 S  :  

Would the governor, a smiling Stevens asked, like to share some of her plans and proposals for the coming legislative session?
Palin looked around the room and paused, according to several senators present. “I feel like you guys are always trying to put me on the spot,” she said finally, as the room became silent.
[Ed Brayton]I don't think politics has seen someone this vacuous since Sonny Bono was in Congress. Link

Being a tabloid newspaper is a thankless task. You spend years filling your pages with vacuous fame-guzzling celebrities, then when you finally decide to make space for somebody truly talented, it turns out they don't want to be in there. Link

Why then do so many academic leaders write such viscous, vacuous prose? Lack of talent is no excuse; as a rule, universities draw leaders from their own academic ranks or from those of other universities. Link

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whingeing

Comments
This is a popular word on the internet—usually used to refer to people with whom you disagree.

Wilde was only arrogant and cocky in the first case, his own libel action. As that deflated, he lost his hubris and was soon reduced to whingeing and appealing for help to his own Counsel and even the judge. Link

Whingeing about "proper" terminology in this circumstance is a lost cause. Use whatever terms make you feel better... Link

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erudite

EH1 R AH0 D AY2 T  :  /ˈɛrudaɪt/

having or showing profound knowledge; "a learned jurist"; "an erudite professor"
[source: WordNet]

I just heard (thanks to BABloggee Dan!) that my bud Neil Tyson will be on Leno’s show tonight. Neil’s a pretty good guy, and will probably do almost as good a job on the show as I would. … OK, fine, he’ll be incredible. My conscience gets in the way sometimes. But he is always pretty cool to watch; he’s bombastic and erudite and other three-syllable words, too Link

But in his media advertising, the erudite Obama relied on his resume to distinguish himself from rivals.  Link

With his usual cautious instinct, in 1990 he nominated to the Supreme Court the erudite David H. Souter, known to have broadly conservative views. Link

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laconic

L AA0 K AA1 N IH0 K  :  /ləˈkɑːnɪk/

The care Day-Lewis has taken in building this character borders on obsession: His locution, the precise but laconic way he unpacks his tattered leather suitcase full of sentences, is borrowed straight from John Huston; Link

Laconic Gary Cooper stars as the trail guide helping to lead the teamsters and settlers through dangerous territory. Link

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stare decisis

ste(ə)'rē di.sī'sis

Stare decisis is essentially the doctrine of precedent. Courts cite to stare decisis when an issue has been previously brought to the court and a ruling already issued. Link

I have earlier examined the general scope of the doctrine of stare decisis which requires Supreme Court Justices to give great weight under appropriate circumstance to prior rulings of the Court and to the statements both Justices gave on the issue during their confirmation hearings... Link

If I heard and understood Roberts correctly, his foundation is a strong lawyerly commitment to stare decisis. He not only repeatedly expressed the importance of stare decisis; he also indicated that in the rare situations when he might overrule a prior case, he would faithfully apply the Court's prior statements as to when a case should be overruled. Link

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affirm

AH0 F ER1 M  :  

say yes to
to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true; "Before God I swear I am innocent"
[source: WordNet]

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Link

Either of the above rationale would allow the admission of Dr. Robinson’s testimony. With these additional findings and comments, we affirm the award and decision of the administrative law judge.  Link

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wanton

W AA1 N T AH0 N  :  /ˈwɑntən/

behave extremely cruelly and brutally
engage in amorous play
indulge in a carefree or voluptuous way of life
lewd or lascivious woman
spend wastefully; "wanton one's money away"
[source: WordNet]

A claim of wanton disregard for the plaintiff's well-being would, if proven, entitle the plaintiff to seek punitive damages.  Link

If all the roles for women in Hollywood were housed in one giant file cabinet, among the folders marked bookish schoolgirl, wide-eyed ingénue and wanton temptress, hardened district attorney, lonely soccer mom and rocking-chair-bound granny, there would be one labeled She Kicks Butt. Lucy Liu imagines that this is where you would find her picture. Link

The laws of war state that an attacker must attempt to distinguish between military targets and civilians and their property. If he does not, he is guilty of the war crime of indiscriminate attack. If the attack also results in extensive, unnecessary, and willful damage then he is also guilty of wanton destruction. Proportionality is everything.  Link

Nevertheless, with what seems almost wanton perversity, a good number of thoroughgoing land animals later turned around, abandoned their hard-earned terrestrial retooling, and trooped back into the water again. Link

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abecedarian

a 16th century sect of Anabaptists centered in Germany who had an absolute disdain for human knowledge
a novice learning the rudiments of some subject
alphabetically arranged (as for beginning readers)
[source: WordNet]

Comments
This is one of those words that are fun to know, but are never used in real life. There is an early childhood study called The Carolina Abecedarian Project that has lots of references but otherwise it's not a word that you'll run across.

Abecedarian poems are now most commonly used as mnemonic devices and word games for children, such as those written by Dr. Seuss and Edward Gorey. Link

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brindle

B R IH1 N D AH0 L  :  

[Of Pomeranians] The Brindle pattern consists of stripe overlays on a base color. The base color is gold, red, or orange brindled with strong black cross stripes. It may appear in conjunction with another coat pattern such as Parti or Black & Tan (the stripes will show in the tan areas). The undercoat and points (eye rims, nose, lips and pads) should be correct for the base color. The stripes may be broad or thin and may extend the entire width of the body or only part of the width. Because adult Pomeranian coats become longer than their puppy coats, the stripes may appear broken in the adult coat. Some Brindles may have a dark dorsal stripe. Link

Boxers are known mostly by their two popular colors, fawn and brindle. But sometime you might see a white Boxer...Brindle Boxers have black stripes on a fawn background. These stripes can be narrow or they can be so wide that the dog looks almost completely black. Link

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satrap

a governor of a province in ancient Persia
[source: WordNet]

There are few things in the world more annoying than a local politician - school board members, city council members, county commissioners. While I'm sure there are lots of exceptions, in my experience these people tend to be exactly the kind of people you don't want in charge of anything - ignorant busybodies who cling to their small amount of power as if they were Napoleon reborn. Satraps of the worst kind. Link

A satrap governed a satrapy, a very large province. At its height, around 500 BCE with King Darius 1, the enormous Achamenid Empire consisted of only 23 satrapies. Link

Is it fair to call New York Times editors "satraps"? Satraps usually have a little power of their own. Musharraf counts as a satrap, I'd say. NY Times editors are just sniveling court scribes, several rungs down the ladder in the imperial power structure. Link

"I like Arnold Schwarzenegger well enough, even if as governor he just seems to be Gray Davis on steroids, but I really have no opinion one way or the other on Proposition 1984, 'Shall April 1 be declared Conan the Satrap Day in California?' But if I don't vote one way or the other on this proposition, my entire ballot will be declared invalid!" Link

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obtuse

AA0 B T UW1 S  :  /əbˈt(j)us/, /ɑbˈt(j)us/

lacking in insight or discernment; "too obtuse to grasp the implications of his behavior"; "a purblind oligarchy that flatly refused to see that history was condemning it to the dustbin"- Jasper Griffin
of a leaf shape; rounded at the apex
of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees
[source: WordNet]

Obsessive or obtuse?
Martin Sherman offers response to what he views as insincere pro-disengagement argument Link

Can you spot the obtuse angles in the letter Y? Guess how many there are and then click the button on the right to find out if you were correct. Link

This guy O’Reilly is now a publisher, but he seems to have started life as a techie. He got fed up with obtuse manuals, and bugs, and careless and thoughtless programming. And while everybody elsewhere was writing manuals that took what the production manuals said and turned them into simplified English, O’Reilly started producing the Annoyances series, which go well beyond that. Link

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abjure

/əbˈdʒʊə/

formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure; "He retracted his earlier statements about his religion"; "She abjured her beliefs"
[source: WordNet]

Therefore, wishing to remove from the minds of your Eminences and all faithful Christians this vehement suspicion reasonably conceived against me, I abjure with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith these errors and heresies, and I curse and detest them as well as any other error, heresy or sect contrary to the Holy Catholic Church. Galileo Link

But a vigorous inquisitor must not allow himself to be worked upon in this way, but proceed firmly till he make these people confess their error, or at least publicly abjure heresy, so that if they are subsequently found to have sworn falsely, he can without further hearing, abandon them to the secular arm". Link

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resile

/rɪ'zʌɪl/

draw back from an agreement, contract, statement, etc.; "The landlord cannot resile from the lease"
return to the original position or state after being stretched or compressed; "The rubber tubes resile"
[source: WordNet]

If fanatics who believe Muslim women should be imprisoned in their homes and gay people should be killed are insulted by my arguments, I don't resile from it. Nothing worth saying is inoffensive to everyone. Link

Latham will review but not resile from forestry policy. Link

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pastiche

P AE2 S T IY1 SH  :  

a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work
[source: WordNet]

Miller’s talk was a pastiche, covering the Dover Trial, the morphing of creationism into intelligent design, and the evidence for evolution from fossils (Tiktaalik featured prominently) Link

So I thought I’d love this book, but it’s the worst I’ve reviewed in 30 years. A jumbled pastiche of lecture notes and undigested factoids, it was rapidly executed, as indeed the author should be. Link

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inculcation

teaching or impressing upon the mind by frequent instruction or repetition
[source: WordNet]

He hammered home this idea again and again, and I began to realize that a kind of subliminal inculcation of the audience was going on. Link

I am firmly committed to the view that inculcation of these prospective values is at the core of the art educational process, enacted when initiating students into experiences in the visual arts. Link

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fulsome

F UH1 L S AH0 M  :  

After Damocles of Greek legend. Damocles was a courtier who flattered the ruler Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse, to excess. The fulsome praise so annoyed the king that he decided to teach him a lesson. Link

In a series of speeches, the most fulsome praise for Mr. Clinton came from the president he defeated in 1992. George Herbert Walker Bush said that Bill Clinton won the White House through "sheer tenacity and gifted intellect" and always remained "the man from Hope who lifted himself and his family up and touched the lives of millions." Link

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esoteric

EH2 S OW0 T EH1 R IH0 K  :  /ˌes.əʊˈter.ɪk/

confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle; "a compilation of esoteric philosophical theories"
[source: WordNet]

I read every banned book I could find! I got in trouble when I got caught reading Erskin Caldwell {Gods Half Acre} but the teacher didn`t know what to make of Erasmus {In Praise Of Folly}. I am 70 years old now and still reading esoteric arcana. Link

Sigma Chemical is the best place to look for chemicals, esoteric and common. Link

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kodachrome

I would have called it off-gold, and it and the red chair and the tea tint of her smooth little carved face would have made a very nice kodachrome. Link

You give us those nice bright colors
You give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah!
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away  Link

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pedant

/ˈpɛdənt/

a person who pays more attention to formal rules and book learning than they merit
[source: WordNet]

Reminds me of the Woody Allen movie where Marshall McLuhan is produced to squelch a pretentious pedant on the subject of media. Link

I see you've edited your posts to remove the errors I referred to. You're obviously a sensitive soul.
No, I'm just an obsessive pedant. Unfortunately, you believing that something is obvious is not the same as that thing actually being obvious. Never assume anything.  Link

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hapless

HH AE1 P L AH0 S  :  

deserving or inciting pity; "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
In common usage, the bad luck is often the result of poor planning or bad decisions by the hapless victim.

What makes a good founder? If there were a word that meant the opposite of hapless, that would be the one. Bad founders seem hapless. They may be smart, or not, but somehow events overwhelm them and they get discouraged and give up. Good founders make things happen the way they want. Link

A Chinese hacker has been jailed for two years after he broke into a Red Cross website and asked for earthquake relief donations to be sent to his bank account. Link

A hapless fugitive mistakenly kidnapped a young girl on Sunday morning, prompting his arrest by the police for various other offenses.
Tsai Chien-ming, 30, and his friend surnamed Liu, accidentally drove off in a passenger car, thinking it was theirs ... they also failed to notice a young girl asleep in the back of the car Link

A hapless burglar found hanging upside down from a window by his shoelaces has been jailed for three years. Link

Most dictionaries say hapless means unlucky. But the dictionaries are not doing a very good job. A team that outplays its opponents but loses because of a bad decision by the referee could be called unlucky, but not hapless. Hapless implies passivity. To be hapless is to be battered by circumstances—to let the world have its way with you, instead of having your way with the world. Link

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ephemeral

EH0 F EH1 M ER0 AH0 L  :  /ɛˈfɛmərəl/, /əˈfɛmərəl/

enduring a very short time; "the ephemeral joys of childhood"; "a passing fancy"; "youth's transient beauty"; "love is transitory but at is eternal"; "fugacious blossoms"
[source: WordNet]

In Death Valley California, history has been repeating itself. In 2005, this desert valley—the lowest, driest spot in North America—received 4 times its average annual rainfall of 1.5 inches. As it has done at several times for thousands of years, the lowest spot in the valley filled with a wide, shallow lake, but the extreme heat and aridity immediately began sucking the ephemeral lake dry. Link

In Spain one can find a linear city all along the coast built for tourism, a section of land that becomes the most crowded region in Europe, but just for a short time. It’s a city for only three months in summer, when thousands of people come looking for the sea and the sun. The rest of the year it becomes a ghost city, a city without any a function, with no people and no services. It has been growing and expanding since the 60's, and it seems it have no end. This is photographic series documents the development of this ephemeral coastal city. Link

Tambora’s estimated 4,000-meter-high peak was removed, and the magma chamber below emptied during the April 10 eruption. Today the crater floor is occupied by an ephemeral freshwater lake,... Link

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inane

IH2 N EY1 N  :  /ɪneɪn/

I’ll admit that I should delete this comment that was made on my post last week about creationism, since it obviously violates the rule. But sometimes it’s important that we see just how breathtakingly inane some arguments are, yet they never seem to die.  Link

On leaving the church, one elderly parishioner looked up at me and offered her unsolicited summation of the evening's talk. “Vain, vapid, fatuous, inane and, worst of all, patronizing,” she said. Link

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pejorative

P AH0 JH AO1 R AH0 T IH0 V  :  /pɪˈdʒɒrətɪv/

There’s no question that “neoconservative” has become, in many quarters of both the left and right, a fashionable pejorative, to be casually tossed about, and just as casually misapplied. Link

To the extent, Likudnik is being used to attack concrete ideas or policies; it most likely not being used in anti-Semitic fashion, but when it is thrown about without any context as a pejorative to attack individuals, odds are anti-Semitism is at the core of that attack. Link

I wish to express my deep gratitude to David ... for their courageous stand against this pejorative terminology. What they have done is very powerful and helps all of us in our struggle to live openly and without shame. Link

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disingenuous

D IH2 S IH2 N JH EH1 N Y UW0 AH0 S  :  /ˌdɪs.ɪn.ˈdʒɛn.ju.əs/

not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness; "an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who...exemplified...the most disagreeable traits of his time"- David Cannadine; "a disingenuous excuse"
[source: WordNet]

The new administration would make it law that community trusts be set up to ensure that communities in mineral rich areas would get a set percentage of the mining profits, he promised.
No doubt the locals were cheered by this. But Zuma, who was SA's deputy president at the time the mining charter became law more than five years ago, was being more than a little disingenuous. The charter does already require mining companies to contribute to community development. Link

Perhaps dimly aware that they don’t want a total victory, either, McLeroy and his allies now say that they ask for evolution to be taught only with all its “strengths and weaknesses.” But in this, they are surely being somewhat disingenuous. When their faction was strong enough to demand an outright ban on the teaching of what they call “Darwinism,” they had such a ban written into law in several states. Link

You make a habit of calling people out who offer opinions about engines and airframes they have not flown, yet you are offering opinions about APS and their teachings without having actually taken the course. Seems a bit disingenuous to me. Link

If there's one thing that irritates me about the anti-vaccine movement, it's the utter disingenuousness of the movement. How often do we hear the claim from anti-vaccine loons that "we're not 'anti-vaccine'; we're 'pro-safe vaccine'"? Link

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pellucid

/pəˈluːsɪd/

Baofeng Lake is located at 2 kilometers in the south of Suoxi Town. There is a deep and serene valley and the pellucid lake reflects a picture of verdant mountains. Here, the lake and mountains serve as a foil to each other. Link

There is a pellucid stream on the left road in which pebble stone can be seen, in which duck swims.[sic] Link

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flummox

F L AH0 M AO1 K S  :  

Good point. However bold faced lies do not seem to flummox Jim Flaherty...Today at a Senate committee hearing, Mr. Flaherty claimed that “no economist predicted the recession” prior to his tabling of the Harper government’s Fiscal and Economic Update on November 27, 2008. Link

There's a certain type of Englishwoman abroad who must strike dread into the heart of the foreign hotelier. She knows exactly what she wants. And she is going to ask for it. Rose Gray's craving for a sliced tomato in olive oil for breakfast may flummox the waiters, but they can usually produce it. Her other passion - anchovies on toast - is utterly beyond them. Link

The best thing about it is that, once again, Jon Stewart and company have taken an issue that completely flummoxed most major news media — in this case, the purported danger that the LHC will destroy the world — and actually get it right.  Link

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impugn

IH2 M P Y UW1 N  :  /ɪm'pju:n/

attack as false or wrong
[source: WordNet]

He said that, despite a much faster consultative process than usual for a rule change, "we probably got more input on this than when we have a three-month period," he said. So it's not right to "impugn our motives ... that's unfair." Link

Modern culture only enhances this tendency, Homer-Dixon claims. "Fear and pessimism aren't cool. We live in an age when happiness is the highest achievement, and no one admires people who are scared or downbeat. So it's easy to put down anyone who points to future dangers -- to ridicule them as doomsayers or Cassandras and impugn their motives." Link

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amiable

EY1 M IY0 AH0 B AH0 L  :  /ˈeɪ.mi.ə.bəl/

disposed to please; "an amiable villain with a cocky sidelong grin"- Hal Hinson
[source: WordNet]

As we shivered outside for several hours, I was able to talk with one of the most amiable individuals I have ever met. Even though he wasn't wearing a coat, Tutu remained jovial and only worried about our welfare and security until word came that his lecture was to be postponed until the following day. Link

The amiable Bristol born tenor shot to fame when, as an underconfident mobile phone salesman, he competed in and eventually won the 2007 season of Britain's Got Talent.  Link

Many skeptics seemed won over by an exchange of amiable one-upsmanship between the Cuban and American delegations to the Summit of the Americas over the weekend in Trinidad and Tobago. But the U.S. offered no further easing of trade policy and Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, seemed to pour cold water on any notion that Washington's 47-year-old embargo against Cuba could soon be lifted. Link

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indolence

inactivity resulting from a dislike of work
[source: WordNet]

Microsoft, he complained, “lost the trial, but the government paid them a reward for violating the law.”
... Ellison would draw ”inspiration for the Antitrust Division's indolence“ and publicly proclaim his plans to "roll up" the market for complex mission-critical business software "into very, very few companies with one dominant player," Oracle.
“And then he does it,” Reback said in an interview. Link

Churlish resentment of high culture comes from the slacker’s desire for reward with neither merit nor effort: the sort of artistic skill that requires years of discipline and sacrifice is a reproach to the indolence of the popular audience of the West. Better voices than Boyle’s can be found in a thousand choirs and amateur theatricals, but the crowd has embraced this late-hatching Scottish songbird as a symbol of its own aspirations… Link

Yes, Twitter definitely sucks up a lot of people's time. But, in that sense, it occupies their brains and, obviously their hands, which should make it an ally of your moral compass. That is, if, as the saying goes, “idle hands are the devil's workshop,” all those Tweeters are too busy for Satan to redirect their moral indolence for his evil purposes. Link

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elude

AH0 L UW1 D  :  

be incomprehensible to; escape understanding by; "What you are seeing in him eludes me"
escape, either physically or mentally; "The thief eluded the police"; "This difficult idea seems to evade her"; "The event evades explanation"
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Often confused with allude.

The measurements, reported May 2 at a meeting of the American Physical Society, bolster the possibility that another orbiting observatory called PAMELA (for Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) did indeed see indirect signs of dark matter ... which has eluded detection ever since astronomers first proposed the material more than 75 years ago. Link

The Attorney General filed a criminal complaint alleging that Dorion withheld information from Lewiston police for a two-year period while he was sheriff. It also accuses Dorion of helping Stephen Peak elude capture on three separate burglaries. Link

A bear was able to elude the bear hunt by police, assisted by a helicopter at midnight. If the police really want to track this bear, ask them to please get a hunting dog. Link

While this season a first league trophy since 1990 may elude Liverpool given that Manchester United are three points ahead having played a game less Link

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doughty

D AO1 T IY0  :  /ˈdaʊ.ti/

resolute and without fear
[source: WordNet]

The new chairman congratulated his predecessor: “I am delighted to be taking over from Clive, a good friend (and doughty business competitor!) who did such a great job during his tenure. Link

Allan Jacobsen is the longest continuous serving Edinburgh player having joined the club ten years ago this week. He has faced up to most of Europe's top names, and beaten champions Toulouse, Leinster, Wasps and Northampton, and the doughty prop was undaunted at the prospect of adding another top name to that haul. Link

Building from a reputation as a doughty competitor, Aileen has developed into an extremely effective Performance Manager. Link

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execrable

EH2 G Z EH1 K R AH0 B AH0 L  :  

A follow-up on the Chrysler bankruptcy. If what the Washington Post is today reporting is accurate, then the execrable hedge funds that forced the Chrysler bankruptcy are even more despicable than I originally imagined ... Link

IMD’s performance has been abysmal this year, even going by its execrable standards. It issued its now famous (notorious?) second forecast, revising the earlier one downwards... Link

Scoble - and I have to admit, many other people - are utterly, utterly confused about freedom of speech...There is no requirement to defend vile speech, nor is there a problem with individuals condemning vile speech...he seemed to be saying that to truly defend free speech, we need to be tolerant of the most execrable nonsense. I completely disagree - we don't. Link

It's possible to have sympathy for your plight and still think your behavior in my comment section is execrable and obnoxious. You wave your history like a talisman in front of you to ward of criticism of your behavior, which only works for so long. Link

The Washington Post once again set their fashion reporter, the execrable Robin Givhan, loose to do her utmost to shame yet another woman in politics. Link

One extreme example was a particularly execrable episode of an execrable TV show, The Doctors, in which the "tell both sides" mantra led to an infuriatingly inaccurate picture, Link

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deprecate

D EH1 P R AH0 K EY2 T  :  

belittle; "The teacher should not deprecate his student's efforts"
express strong disapproval of; deplore
[source: WordNet]

Comments
Computer programmers see this word used all the time for features/commands that are no longer being supported and may go away in the future.

This is now endemic in society: You have to choose sides, and once you do you must deprecate the other side regardless of reason or logic. We see it in politics. We see it in cola wars. We see it in PC vs Mac wars. Link

For these reasons we would deprecate a practice of withholding such opinion until a time when it appears likely that the jury may not agree without its expression. Link

My statement was not intended to deprecate your opinion, but merely to indicate that I would also like to hear opinions from others, in particular those who might not have thought much about the question before. Link

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gainsay

G EY1 N S EY2  :  

The Guiding Lights of SA Clearly think they have enough Contributors. Who am I to gainsay them?
So I shall continue to labor on, but back here in steerage, far from the fancy lights under the marquee.  Link

"While no one should gainsay the potentially positive results of the tests, it would be equally unwise to think that those results reflect a diagnosis of all of the potential weaknesses or create a necessarily sufficient buffer against future reverses for the banking system," the panel wrote. Link

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sententious

/sεn-tεn-ʃəs/

abounding in or given to pompous or aphoristic moralizing; "too often the significant episode deteriorates into sententious conversation"- Kathleen Barnes
[source: WordNet]

“Let those who want to judge, pass judgment,” Grass said last week in a typically sententious utterance. Link

It's so up to its neck in sententious proselytizing that it forgets to have fun with itself; something that every great Prince album has managed to do to some degree. Link

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droll

D R OW1 L  :  /ˈdɹəʊl/

comical in an odd or whimsical manner; "a droll little man with a quiet tongue-in-cheek kind of humor"
[source: WordNet]

However, that leaves the question of who could play David Irving. Irving himself, in a characteristically lame attempt at humor, has suggested John Cleese to play Lipstadt. How droll, Mr. Irving, and, no, Anthony Hopkins is not a good option to play you, unless he does it as Hannibal Lecter, although Jack Nicholson might be a good option if he's in full The Shining mode. Link

While the humor has its droll moments, the dialogue is more vapid than clever.  Link

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pother

/'bɒðə/

make upset or troubled
[source: WordNet]

When The New York Times asked me to contribute to the discussion of The Elements of Style on their "Room for Debate" blog, I figured they would dredge up a bunch of aged worthies of the New York literati who would pother on about the virtues of the little book, I would be alone out there in saying that it did not deserve our respect and could actually be educationally harmful. But it was not as I thought: all of the other four invited commenters ... are distinctly critical. Link

Should you get into a pother about catching influenza A (H1N1), commonly known as swine flu which the World Health Organisation has declared to be a pandemic, the first pandemic in 41 years? Link

There’s been a deal of pother about this year’s Clarke shortlist, more even than this often-controversial event usually generates. Link

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somnolent

S AA1 M N AH0 L AH0 N T  :  /ˈsɑːmnələnt/

Bon Temps is one of those somnolent, moss-encrusted Southern towns that have traditionally provided nurturing for creatures of the night and heat-addled Tennessee Williams heroines. Link

In compact but elegant prose that conveys the essence of somnolent summer days by the sea, Robinson moves her narrative Link

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cloying

K L OY1 IH0 NG  :  

overly sweet
[source: WordNet]

A wine becomes cloying if there is an overabundance of residual sugar and not enough acidity to balance it. This occurs most often in late harvest and dessert wines, which are made with overripe grapes that have highly concentrated levels of sugar. Link

Eventually, I put the book down because the author's hipness had become as cloying as too much celebrity chef-inspired mango chutney ... Link

Sure, their friendship seems to be the real thing, but it's a cloying Movie Friendship that made me not want to be sitting next to the movie's stars at a restaurant. Nothing to build a romantic comedy on. Link

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insidious

IH2 N S IH1 D IY0 AH0 S  :  

beguiling but harmful; "insidious pleasures"
intended to entrap
working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; "glaucoma is an insidious disease"; "a subtle poison"
[source: WordNet]

Well, I’m no longer alone in having refused to speak at an event sponsored by the insidious John Templeton Foundation....while the sponsorship of this symposium by Templeton was well known, it wasn’t advertised on the Cambridge University conference site.  Link

A side benefit is that the socialists get to have our population in eternal servitude to the insidious tax called inflation. Link

Because glaucoma-caused vision loss can be insidious, the American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends that a comprehensive eye examination, with careful checking of the optic nerve, be done no later than age 40, Iwach said. Link

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profligate

P R AO1 F L IH0 G EY2 T  :  

“There is no more striking reminder of the need to reverse the profligate spending that has characterized this administration's fiscal policy,” said McCain in a statement from his campaign. Link

But the very simplicity and success of the technology means that it has led to the profligate mining of groundwater, a phenomenon that has become a major threat to agriculture, human development and the environment... Link

And hospitals need to realize that their sometimes profligate spending is destined to receive greater scrutiny from public officials. Link

A jump in public debt is an invisible increase in long-term private obligations. But this is socialised private debt: the prudent pay for the profligate. Link

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badinage

frivolous banter
[source: WordNet]

Of Beckett's three biographers, all stress the amicable relationship between the two: late night drinks, animated chess games, a “good deal of light-hearted badinage.” Link

Nor does the villain seem much happier in his less serious love episodes. After he has indulged in a little badinage of the above character with his real lady-love, the heroine, he will occasionally try a little light flirtation passage with her maid or lady friend. Link

His banter with the ubiquitous stooges ... is peppered with the equally ubiquitous in-jokes, his conversation with the guests full of non-sequiturs and cliquey gossip, and his badinage with the studio audience bizarrely fractured and faltering. Link

The quarrel between Beatrice and Benedick at the beginning of Much Ado About Nothing demonstrates character and theme as well as witty badinage. Link

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fervid

F ER1 V AH0 D  :  

The Wall Street Journal believes Obama is trying to sell a public health care option as a "compromise," and in the process is hiding his fervid support for the plan. Link

Pattison was reportedly trying to cross the street to escape his fervid fans when he was clipped in the hip by a taxi cab. Link

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cosset

K AA1 S AH0 T  :  

The World is a concept that Howard Hughes would have loved: exile reinvented, a life in comfortable circumstances that cosset but also constantly change, leaving a wake but never a trail. Link

...hairstylists wait to cosset you on every second corner while if that’s not enough, you can drop into one of the many skin clinics where trained professionals will fall over each other to give advice on banishing spots and freckles you didn’t even know you had. Link

Customer Loyalty - Now you will be able to get closer to your customers, cosset them, spoil them on occasion, and reap the dividends of your most priceless asset: consumer loyalty.  Link

There was a time when games were so frustratingly punishing and obnoxiously impossible to beat. Now, games cosset the players to the point where the game plays itself. Link

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unctuous

AH1 NG CH W AH0 S  :  

These liquids may or may not be wines.... Match the liquid with its description.
1) Laser-like intensity with aggressive stony underpinnings. Unctuous mouth feel. Link

While it is difficult to imagine a true fan of McMahon, readers with a high tolerance for the ever-unctuous announcer will find this memoir every bit as lively as its subject. Link

Ben and Sadie ... meet at a Starbucks, fall in love and decide to marry. ... An obstacle lies between them and wedded bliss in the unctuous, smiling person of Robin Williams, who plays a minister with definite ideas about what it takes to make a marriage work. Link

Even though she's a pepperoni die-hard, Keff envisions seafood pizzas that range from snappy and spicy to rich and unctuous. Link

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abnegate

/ˈæbnɪgeɪt/

deny or renounce; "They abnegated their gods"
surrender; "The King abnegated his power to the ministers"
[source: WordNet]

While rejecting government involvement they put the blame on some unidentified criminal groups operating in the country. It is however futile to abnegate government responsibility for bringing the criminals to justice. Link

Sartre and the existentialists once accused Christians and others of living in inauthentic denial because they live with predefined thought systems that allowed them to abnegate personal responsibility for their choices. Link

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fillip

F IH1 L AH0 P  :  /ˈfɪlɪp/

In a major fillip to women seeking Central government jobs, the Centre today made it mandatory to include at least one woman member in the panel of selection boards and committees concerned with the recruitment process. Link

Describing the Union budget as "progressive, inclusive, growth oriented and balanced", the Congress today hoped it would give a fillip and stimulus to the current recessionary economic scenario.  Link

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espy

EH1 S P IY0  :  

Taking some time off my hectic superhero schedule (saving a baby from a burning building, catching a serial killer, surgically removing a cat from a high tree branch, etc) I was relaxing in a dark and dingy bar, when who did I espy but a notorious Supervillain! Link

Captain Lewis climbed from one of the many draws, known in the west as coulees, to a nearby rise to espy the distant line of white peaks where they rise abruptly out of the plains. Link

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intermittent

IH2 N T ER0 M IH1 T AH0 N T  :  /ˌɪntɚˈmɪtn̩t/

stopping and starting at irregular intervals; "intermittent rain showers"
stopping and starting at regular intervals
[source: WordNet]

New R9.3 software had been uploaded onto Spirit in March, but that hardly seemed suspect since it was really just a patch to prevent a possible Y2K type of problem with dates. Moreover, Opportunity has been functioning with the same software even longer without any kind of problem. “The interesting thing is that it's an intermittent problem, the hardest kind of problem to troubleshoot, because they don't happen all the time,” Squyres pointed out. Link

Intermittent lane closures are necessary in each direction overnights from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 p.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday. These lane closures can be expected to continue into mid-September. Link

We've had several short, intermittent rain showers that have kept the roots close to the surface.  Link

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ubiquitous

Y UW0 B IH1 K W AH0 T AH0 S  :  /juːˈbɪkwɪtəs/

But back when radio mattered, nobody on it mattered more than Kasem, whose American Top 40 was ubiquitous -- and I'm not using the word lightly. Link

Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm technology, when technology recedes into the background of our lives. Link

The ubiquitous cell phone has revolutionized the way people communicate. Communication has become more efficient, and way more accessible.  Link

Books, though, haven't been as big of a concern among transit officials nationwide as cell phones and other hand-held electronic devices that have become ubiquitous.
The photo, taken with an iPhone, is just the latest case of riders capturing the misdeeds of Metro employees with their own hand-held devices. Link

His banter with the ubiquitous stooges ... is peppered with the equally ubiquitous in-jokes, his conversation with the guests full of non-sequiturs and cliquey gossip, and his badinage with the studio audience bizarrely fractured and faltering. Link

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bumptious

/ˈbʌmpʃəs/

offensively self-assertive
[source: WordNet]

The usually riotous characters Toby Belch (Jay O. Sanders) and Andrew Aguecheek (Hamish Linklater) also stirred up less hilarity than I hoped. Too bad, since their bumptious antics offer a platform most comedic actors would die for. Link

Snooks was catapulted to national attention in 1936 when Fanny introduced the bumptious brat on her NBC radio comedy hour. L'enfant terrible, whose unpredictable conduct captivated adults and kids alike, quickly became America's Favorite Nuisance. Link

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vituperative

V AY2 T UW1 P ER0 AH0 T IH0 V  :  /vɪˈtuːpɚətɪv/

Cohen says Russia feels a betrayed and deceived by the U.S. ... That's precisely why ex-President Vladamir Putin's vituperative language towards the West and the U.S. in particular sells with many Russians. Link

A sustained, vituperative smear campaign directed against a candidate and family can succeed. Link

More interesting was how poorly this seething chorus of disapproval tracked with the far less vituperative responses — ranging from tepidly disapproving to wholly uninterested — proffered by paying customers in the fan-in-the-seats pieces that ran alongside those fulminating columns. Link

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calumniate

/kəˈlʌmni.eɪt/

One day in the next two weeks there will be a departure ceremony at the Pentagon. Flags will fly, bands will play and the liberal media will calumniate. Link

...Kenneth Starr’s office, said in his interrogation of the president on the grand-jury tape, “Mr. President, it is not our intent to embarrass you.” But of course that was their intent: to embarrass and humiliate and destroy; to calumniate in the press as a prelude to impeaching in the Congress and indicting in the courts. Link

Indeed, real liberals would never make it on "The West Wing."...While he would calumniate others on behalf of the extremist right wing groups that support him, he himself would have a shady past that indicated a deficiency of character. Link

In the United States Senate, it is our responsibility to debate, honestly, candidly and critically, all aspects of our Nation's foreign policy. My only admonition to my colleagues is that this debate be constructive, that it illuminate rather calumniate, and that, when in disagreement, it provide alternatives.  Link

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inveigle

/ɪnˈveɪ.ɡəl/, /ɪnˈviː.ɡəl/

The ASC panel concluded that, “In operating its classic boiler room -- designed to inveigle the unwary into handing over their money - Global exhibited a cynical disregard both for investors and for the spirit (as well as the letter) of Alberta securities laws.” Link

...there is some earnest politicking occurring between the catch-up talk about the kinfolk at family reunions. ...It’s all about efforts to inveigle transplanted brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles to leave destinations where they have roamed and come home. Link

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abrogate

AE1 B R AH0 G EY2 T  :  /ˈæbrəgeɪt/

revoke formally
[source: WordNet]

May Congress abrogate the judicial policy of stare decisis and direct the Court to decide constitutional cases without according decision-altering weight to its precedents? That is, could Congress require the Court not to follow a precedent that the Court is otherwise persuaded is wrong on the merits? Link

In other words, they not only abrogate responsibility for negative events, but tend to blame other people for these events (compared with, say, attributions to chance or fate). Link

Sometimes a new diagnosis about reassuring people in distress that they are not alone, and that others have experienced the same problems. ...Sometimes a diagnosis can be disempowering, and encourage us to abrogate responsibility. Link

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tendentious

T EH2 N D EH1 N SH AH0 S  :  

having or marked by a strong tendency especially a controversial one; "a tendentious account of recent elections"; "distinguishing between verifiable fact and tendentious assertion"
[source: WordNet]

But I’ll start with my overall opinion of the book, which is that it is confused, tendentious, evanescent, and preachy.  Link

Most of this is just personal insult and tendentious prejudgment, and even White tacitly acknowledges that no such hatefulness can actually be found in my work Link

Under Our Skin, the Lyme disease documentary, is a tendentious film primarily interesting to the Lyme community. Link

[I]ntelligent design scholars do not regard intelligent design theory as a form of creationism. Therefore to employ the term "intelligent design creationism" is inaccurate, inappropriate, and tendentious, especially on the part of scholars and journalists who are striving to be fair.  Link

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bellicose

B EH1 L AH0 K OW2 S  :  

On its news pages, it can recommit to reporting on climate change that is authoritative and deep. On the editorial pages, it can present a mix of respected and informed viewpoints. And online, it can encourage dialogue that is robust, even if it becomes bellicose. Link

Today’s comments are the latest in a long line of bellicose rhetoric coming from the Secretary of State. Last month during a television interview she said that Iran was risking the possibility of a US invasion... Link

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bloviate

orate verbosely and windily
[source: WordNet]

I presumed that the Senators were simply doing what Senators do best: providing themselves with a platform to bloviate and look Senatorial (or better yet, Presidential) Link

So you want to bloviate full time?
Best pundit major? I vote for English and Economics1. English makes you write. A lot. A really lot. ...
Economics, at least if you are in a decent program, forces you to attack data analytically... Link

I have such faith in young people like Nikke Alex and Van Jones. They are truly inspirational. While too many elected officials bloviate and our news media spends its time chasing the most meaningless angle on a story, these folks are out there getting the job done. Link

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exogenous

EH2 K S OW1 JH AH0 N AH0 S  :  

derived or originating externally
[source: WordNet]

She says these forecasts do not take exogenous factors into account such as the Fifa World Cup next year. Link

The introduction of exogenous DNA into a cell is called transfection. This can take place naturally, as occurs when a virus infects cells, or artificially. Link

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endogenous

derived or originating internally
of or resembling an endogen
[source: WordNet]

When I run the program (see below) it assumes that all variables are endogenous. Is it possible to keep only one the variables as endogenous and the rest as exogenous? Link

Here, we report the findings of a study in which we sampled, under real working conditions, endogenous steroids from a group of male traders in the City of London. We found that a trader's morning testosterone level predicts his day's profitability. Link

Yet this recovery is dismissed by western analysts, who appear unable or unwilling to believe the region is capable of endogenous growth. That 2009 will be the second year in a row in which the increase in Chinese domestic demand exceeds that of the US is a point roundly ignored. Link

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fulminate

F UH1 L M AH0 N EY2 T  :  /fʌlˈmɪn.eɪt/

a salt or ester of fulminic acid
cause to explode violently and with loud noise
come on suddenly and intensely; "the disease fulminated"
criticize severely; "He fulminated against the Republicans' plan to cut Medicare"; "She railed against the bad social policies"
[source: WordNet]

He also has a blog where he has been fulminating about the event and wallowing in his own incomprehension. It's funny stuff... Link

Why do we continue to fulminate over something that is not going to be answered anytime soon? Link

I don’t need to fulminate about the educational outcome if this panoply of gobbledygook is funneled into the heads of Canadian children. Link

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insouciant

/ɪnˈsusiənt/

Watching this kung fu spectacle, which claims to be China's longest-running show, you rapidly get used to the feel of your jaw going slack, to the sound of yourself yelping crazily. The three little boys doing forward flips on to their heads, in insouciant disregard of their spines; the man barrelling across the stage in a combat roll under a line of jumping bodies – surely the ambulance must be on its way. Link

...Jennifer Jason Leigh worked the fast-food grind in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), in which Sean Penn’s insouciant surfer dude also had a pizza delivered to class.  Link

"It was not just his voluminous charms and wisdom, but this insouciant, even reckless, posture against authority that made us embrace him as ally." Link

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cynosure

/ˈsaɪnəˌʃʊr/

something that provides guidance (as Polaris guides mariners); "let faith be your cynosure to walk by"
something that strongly attracts attention and admiration; "if he was the cynosure of all eyes he didn't notice"
[source: WordNet]

The focus tomorrow will, however, shift back to the sport when shuttlers take to court in the premier event.
Sixth seeded Saina, who has just recovered from mild chicken pox, will undoubtedly be the cynosure of all eyes on her home turf.
 Link

A grateful nation catapulted Mrs. Aquino to the presidency and the successful revolution focused the world’s attention to the Philippine republic. For weeks the country was the cynosure of world praise and admiration. Link

Banks journeyed to Tahiti as an Enlightenment botanist determined to catalog shrubs and flowers and returned to England a Romantic adventurer who journeyed into the heart of human nature and helped pioneer the science of anthropology.
Back in England, Banks became a cynosure of London society with his exotic Tahitian tales. Link

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luminary

L UW1 M AH0 N EH2 R IY0  :  

a celebrity who is an inspiration to others; "he was host to a large gathering of luminaries"
[source: WordNet]

The War Veterans Development Fund says the late Cde Joseph Msika was a loyal, dedicated, selfless and visionary luminary whose consistent leadership style endeared him to Zimbabweans from all walks of life. Link

Welcome to our website, Tahoe candle is producing the highest quality candles on the market today. Each luminary is handmade using the finest quality food grade wax, giving them a vibrant illumination.  Link

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hermetic

/hɜː(ɹ)ˈmɛt.ɪk/

completely sealed; completely airtight
[source: WordNet]

The Hermetic Journal explored alchemy and hermetic philosophy from various angles and attracted a wide range of contributors. Link

Tekna Seal, a custom manufacturer of hermetic seals, specializes in glass-to-metal hermetic seals. Our glass to metal seals are custom built to your design specifications, using our proprietary "Oxide-Free" hermetic sealing process. Link

The concept of the hermetic seal is found in building construction. Double paned windows that are used in both home and office building construction rely on the presence of the hermetic seal in order to prevent any type of moisture or contaminants from getting between the two panes of glass. Link

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gratuitous

G R AH0 T UW1 AH0 T AH0 S  :  /gɹəˈtjʊ.ɪt.ʌs/

unnecessary and unwarranted; "a strikers' tent camp...was burned with needless loss of life"
without cause; "a gratuitous insult"
[source: WordNet]

Salon.com tends to bury the work of Patrick Smith under a pile of political diatribes and pop-culture effluvia. That's too bad, because more people should see his Ask the Pilot column, in which he shares his expertise on the airline industry -- with mild snark and delightfully gratuitous references to 80's alt-rock. Link

Roman versions of mythological events are riddled with gratuitous violence, often to the point of absurdity. In Pyramus and Thisbe however, Ovid actually uses the violence to his own advantage, allying it with the dark tone of the overall story. Link

Much of the verbal wit of the Levin original is sacrificed in favor of one-line quips; there is also an overabundance of gratuitous slapstick ... Link

Gratuitous political slams like this are uncalled for and are irrelevant to the matter at hand. Link

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perorate

conclude a speech with a formal recapitulation
deliver an oration in grandiloquent style
[source: WordNet]

We want to do away with the bridgehead in the frontier of the Empire drawn across our land but no, we must be silenced if we demand that and the man who puts forward that case has, as I repeat, the audacity to perorate on national security and freedom, justice and the rights of man. Link

Or are we simply going to sit on the messageboard and perorate about what should be done, rather than doing it... Link

If it had been the other way round, the socialists would perorate: "It is obvious that bakeries and automobile plants cannot pay like railroads.... Link

I have seen too many meetings where a few people perorate endlessly to make themselves sound important and this is a complete waste of time. If you can't have useful and organised meetings it's probably better not to have any. Link

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reticent

R EH1 T AH0 S AH0 N T  :  /ˈrɛtɪsənt/

reluctant to draw attention to yourself
temperamentally disinclined to talk
[source: WordNet]

Randomized response methods, which were designed to elicit candid answers to sensitive questions, have not succeeded in eliminating reticence in survey responses. We implement a methodology that effectively stands the randomized response technique on its head, using it to identify reticent respondents. Link

She has the mannerisms of a shy, reticent young woman -- along with a cute, bespectacled boyfriend -- and is the most normal-looking cast member "The Real World" has seen in a long time. Link

Reticent Winona Ryder kept quiet after the trial, reappearing in the successful Adam Sandler movie "Mr. Deeds" in 2002 and some smaller indie films. Link

Our neighbors always say hello when they see us, trying to be friendly. We are more reticent although we don't snub them and we don't even complain about their noisy little dog. Link

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qua

K W AA1  :  /kwɑː/, /kweɪ/

For Aristotle, biology studied Being qua living things, physics studied Being qua changing things. Link

...even if the claimant would have received them qua employee and not qua shareholder save that that did not apply to the loss of future benefits to which the claimant had an expectation but no contractual entitlement. Link

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opprobrium

AH0 P R OW1 B R IY0 AH0 M  :  /əˈpɹoʊbɹiəm/

Ghostwritten clinical papers. Off-label marketing. Channel-stuffing. Hiding of negative data.
Pharma companies have earned a hefty percentage of the opprobrium heaped on them by a skeptical public. Link

And why hold Xu any longer? His detention was drawing more and more international opprobrium, and if the prosecutor wants to bring a case against Xu he knows where to find him. Link

There was plenty to dislike about Edward Kennedy and some of the opprobrium he attracted was deserved. Some of it was also an honour: Kennedy was worth disliking and, yes, fearing too. Link

Some politicians, he said, liked to “escape the opprobrium of unpopular decisions”, and avoid responsibility. Link

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rime

/raɪm/

Comments
Often used redundantly as an adjective e.g. rime ice.

Rime is that crunchy, rough snow that looks like popcorn or styrofoam that you notice plastered onto trees on windy mountaintops (making "snow ghosts").  Link

There are several classifications of structural ice; clear, rime and mixed....Rime ice is a much more common form of ice, and is much less dangerous. Rime ice forms when the aircraft is flying through visible moisture and small particles of snow or water adhere to the aircraft. Link

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forfend

/ˈfɔːˌfɛnd/

Heaven forfend that we provoke eye-rolling by asking for a "medium cup" rather than the specific store-created appellation in a coffee emporium... Link

One way to forfend foreclosure: accept a stranger
It appears that more and more Americans faced with foreclosure are chartering out rooms in their homes to serve make up the mortgage. Link

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trepidation

T R EH2 P AH0 D EY1 SH AH0 N  :   /ˌtrɛp.ɪˈdeɪ.ʃən/

a feeling of alarm or dread
[source: WordNet]

But I remain uneasy in my mind, with lingering trepidation, and will be watching what happens on the site over the next few months. Link

"Nothing is more integral to city services than police and fire and city snow removal," Ald. Joe Moore (49th) said. "I think we have to approach this with a degree of trepidation." Link

"He was a fierce advocate, and no senator would oppose him in debate without a little trepidation," McCain said. "Actually, quite a lot of trepidation." Link

I give this advice with some trepidation because too many writing courses today teach everything but the craft of writing and are instead the vehicles of the instructor’s social and political obsessions. Link

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loquacious

L OW0 K W EY1 SH AH0 S  :  /loʊˈkweɪʃəs/

This morning I woke up early, showered, and dressed. Then my wife and I woke up our daughter, who seeing it was dark did protest loudly. But we got her out of bed, and a few minutes later she was her usual happy loquacious self at the breakfast table. Link

Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey has defended the loquacious Chad Ochocinco before and "I love the way he talks," Bailey said. Link

Hubert Humphrey had just been nominated for vice president of the United States in the summer of 1964 when he returned to his adopted hometown of Waverly, Minn., climbed the steps of the Village Hall and talked. And talked and talked some more.
On Saturday, citizens of Waverly and other Minnesotans will get their chance to talk about how the Depression-era hall should be remodeled into a museum to perpetuate the loquacious Humphrey's memory, personality and ideas. Link

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inure

IH2 N Y UH1 R  :  

cause to accept or become hardened to; habituate; "He was inured to the cold"
[source: WordNet]

Why is it always the poor and middle-class people who embrace propaganda that can inure only to the benefit of the corporations and the wealthy? Link

Although you cannot inure yourself completely to the poverty, once you get accustomed to the myriad number of people "working" the riverside, you can actually enjoy the antics and goings on, sit back, and enjoy the feeling of relaxation that Cambodia is famous for. Link

Even becoming accustomed to the presence of such aliens might not improve matters significantly, other than to inure humans to the idea that they are outside the bounds of comprehension. Link

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serene

S ER0 IY1 N  :  

completely clear and fine; "serene skies and a bright blue sea"
[source: WordNet]

This serene view records a late summer night sky over the rolling, green hills of planet Earth. Link

There aren't any houses you're out here and it's serene and quiet. You come out in the evening and you see a lot of wildlife.  Link

And, in fact, the band’s hushed, somewhat precious approach to live performance went hand-in-hand with the serene outdoor setting on a beautiful September night. Link

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lucubrations

Comments
Almost always written as a plural word.

Somehow I don’t think that Armstrong’s sweaty lucubrations are going to convince the religious masses that “existence” isn’t something they need in their deity. Link

He saw that the superficially plausible lucubrations of such Tory writers as Montesquieu and Blackstone, with their talk of mixed constitutions and checks and balances, masked the repression and hobbling of the democratic element by unchecked aristocracy and oligarchy. Link

...when you see these things laid out — ripped from their texts — in a Powerpoint slide, they make you realize how truly fatuous are the lucubrations of people like Armstrong, Eagleton, and Haught. Link

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proximate

P R AA1 K S AH0 M AH0 T  :  

closest in degree or order (space or time) especially in a chain of causes and effects; "news of his proximate arrival"; "interest in proximate rather than ultimate goals"
very close in space or time; "proximate words"; "proximate houses"
[source: WordNet]

What you may not know is that the UK has also produced quite a few influential philosophers and cosmologists, making it an ideal venue for a small conference that aims to bring these two groups together.
The proximate reason for this particular conference is George Ellis’s 70th birthday party.  Link

Themes were few and far between in trading, with the dollar higher while industrial metals and energy are lower. Those are the proximate causes of the declines and a source of weakness.  Link

Mayfield, Jeremy that is, claims that his father’s death, which occurred two years ago and was ruled a suicide, was “a direct and proximate result of the defendant’s intentional acts”. Link

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avuncular

AH0 V AH1 NG K Y AH0 L ER0  :  /əˈvʌŋkjʊlɚ/

being or relating to an uncle
like an uncle in kindness or indulgence; "showed avuncular concern"
[source: WordNet]

'Ben Franklin: Unplugged' gives history a personal charge
But it turns out to be an apt description of Kornbluth's mission to turn down the volume on the Franklin cliches (avuncular Founding Father, incorrigible ladies man, eccentric tinkerer...) and let something more authentic come through. Link

Occasionally, customers arrive with their guard up, but he reassures with an avuncular attitude and a straight-talking style. Link

A longtime Boy Scout leader with a broad light bulb of a forehead, Mr. Wilson, 56, seems to take avuncular pleasure in mentoring his young staff members... Link

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doleful

D OW1 L F AH0 L  :  

filled with or evoking sadness; "the child's doleful expression"; "stared with mournful eyes"; "mournful news"
[source: WordNet]

This gentle Israeli comedy is the story of the doleful Herzl, fat since childhood and desperately putting himself through an endless series of dietary hoops in the grim working-class Israeli town of Ramle. Link

Since then, only doleful images of Reid's face have been published on the Emerald Isle, the player tumbling inexorably down the pecking order with every squad announcement and each subsequent conscription of alternative backup. Link

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perseverate

/pɚˈsevəˌreːɪt/

psychology: repeat a response after the cessation of the original stimulus; "The subjects in this study perseverated"
[source: WordNet]

Perseveration is not specific to autism; children with other disorders also perseverate. Other children who perseverate, include those diagnosed with Downs’ Syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder and fragile X syndrome Link

Why does Lou Dobbs perseverate about Borders?
Whether you agree or disagree with him is beside the point. Aren't you getting tired of it? Link

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intrepid

IH2 N T R EH1 P AH0 D  :  

Seldom in the annals of liberation technology and the right to know has an intrepid and visionary few so successfully endeavoured to meet the need of the hour with the resources available. Link

Teresa Dixon Murray, intrepid multi-year Black Friday veteran, reports from the Wal-Mart in Macedonia that is snowing. Yes snowing as Black Friday shoppers return to their cars. Link

Robert Peary is remembered as the intrepid explorer who successfully reached the North Pole in 1909. Far less celebrated is his companion, Matthew Henson... Link

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obscurantism

a deliberate act intended to make something obscure
a policy of opposition to enlightenment or the spread of knowledge
[source: WordNet]

I have zero patience for this kind of rambly, meaningless, intentional obscurantism, ... espoused by this author, among others.  Link

...anyone who reads deconstructive texts with an open mind is likely to be struck by the same phenomena that initially surprised me: the low level of philosophical argumentation, the deliberate obscurantism of the prose, the wildly exaggerated claims, and the constant striving to give the appearance of profundity by making claims that seem paradoxical, but under analysis often turn out to be silly or trivial. Link

As we slip into a new Dark Ages of willful obscurantism on global warming, it is hard to remember that in this country science and public opinion once converged... Link

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abeyance

AH0 B EY1 AH0 N S  :  

temporary cessation or suspension
[source: WordNet]

There are voter-approved initiatives that mandate minimum spending on education, so Prop 98 and company should be held in abeyance, so legislators can reduce. Say goodbye to things like class reduction, pre-school programs, and so forth. Link

The bitter internal wrangling in the ruling National Democratic Congress is not showing any signs of abeyance as the Majority Leader Alban Sumana Bagbin hacks the president and his men. Link

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asseverate

It was incumbent upon Mr. Beck to make a speech, and he spoke on the Supreme Court. "Once again," he asseverated, "the Supreme Court has survived a real crisis in its existence. A distinguished Senator, leading a new party movement . . " Link

In fact, we might even asseverate that this possibility suggests itself upon consideration of the entities involved... Link

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abstruse

AH0 B S T R UW1 S  :   /æbˈstruːs/, /əbˈstruːs/

difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge; "the professor's lectures were so abstruse that students tended to avoid them"; "a deep metaphysical theory"; "some recondite problem in historiography"
[source: WordNet]

You should talk to people on the ground instead of making these grandiose abstruse claims ... Link

I say that something as abstruse as the validity of a claim of an issued patent is beyond the ability of any jury ... Link

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screed

S K R IY1 D  :  

a long monotonous harangue
a long piece of writing
an accurately levelled strip of material placed on a wall or floor as guide for the even application of plaster or concrete
[source: WordNet]

Comments
In current usage, it almost always refers to blog posts or articles that the author strongly disagrees with.

Showing absolutely that has learned absolutely nothing about science or critical thinking since I last took him to task for his attacks on skeptics and skepticism way back in 2005, Chopra recently posted a brand new screed against skeptics. Link

Santelli’s screed is part of a continuing effort to blame the poor and minority communities for the economic meltdown. Link

...his screed clunks along with so many anti-war cliches that it reads more like an attempt to start a drinking game than a serious argument. Link

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ratiocination