clinquant \KLING-kunt\ (adjective) - Glittering with gold or silver; tinseled.

(noun) - Tinsel; imitation gold leaf.

"Beaming, the lady held out a purse, heavy and all clinquant, as the man says, with gold." -- Kage Baker, 'The Garden of Iden'

Clinquant is from the French.

cant \KANT\ (noun) - 1 : The idioms and peculiarities of speech in any sect, class, or occupation. 2 : The use of religious phraseology without understanding or sincerity. 3 : Empty, solemn speech, implying what is not felt; insincere talk; hypocrisy. 4 : A whining manner of speaking, especially of beggars.

"He could, said he, talk their cant ...Read more

avuncular \uh-VUHNG-kyuh-luhr\ (adjective) - 1 : Of or pertaining to an uncle. 2 : Resembling an uncle, especially in kindness or indulgence.

"He had found himself at parties recently taking on the role of someone avuncular who stood back and watched and considered and approved (or worse, disapproved)." -- Tessa Hadley, 'Accidents in the Home' ...Read more

patina \PAT-n-uh; puh-TEEN-uh\ (noun) - 1 : The color or incrustation which age gives to works of art; especially, the green rust which covers ancient bronzes, coins, and medals. 2 : The sheen on any surface, produced by age and use. 3 : An appearance or aura produced by habit, practice, or use. 4 : A superficial layer or exterior.

"It was not ...Read more

obtrude \uhb-TROOD; ob-\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To thrust out; to push out. 2 : To force or impose (one's self, remarks, opinions, etc.) on others with undue insistence or without solicitation.

(intransitive verb) - To thrust upon a group or upon attention; to intrude.

"I think we feel that to speak of our sufferings or, deeper feelings is to...Read more

felicitous \fuh-LIS-uh-tuhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Suitably applied or expressed; appropriate; apt. 2 : Happy; delightful; marked by good fortune.

"'My lord, may I tender my most felicitous wishes for a hasty recovery?' ... 'You may tender more than felicitous wishes,' the earl said plainly." -- Jennifer Roberson, 'Lady of Sherwood'

Felicitous is ...Read more

obfuscate \OB-fuh-skayt\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To darken or render indistinct or dim. 2 : To make obscure or difficult to understand or make sense of. 3 : To confuse or bewilder.

"You obfuscate. You stupefy me. You bewilder me. ... And I do not know why you obfuscate. Presumably it's because nothing is clear to you any more..." -- Paul Scott,...Read more

extraneous \ek-STRAY-nee-uhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Coming from or existing on the outside. 2 : Introduced from an outside source. 3 : Not essential or intrinsic; foreign. 4 : Not pertinent to the matter at hand; irrelevant.

"That is what I have been seeking to do -- clear away the extraneous matter so that we can see the truth - the naked shining ...Read more

discomfit \dis-KUHM-fit; dis-kuhm-FIT\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To make uneasy or perplexed, or to put into a state of embarrassment; to disconcert; to upset. 2 : To thwart; to frustrate the plans of. 3 : (Archaic). To defeat in battle.

"Ahead, the children raced gaily in between bushes and trees, ignoring the maids' discomfit; assuming she was ...Read more

paterfamilias \pay-tuhr-fuh-MIL-ee-uhs; pat-uhr-; pah-\ (noun) plural patresfamilias \pay-treez-; pat-reez-; pah-treez-\ - The male head of a household or the father of a family.

"I'll tell you what I am - I'm the darn paterfamilias! You can't marry him!" -- Ulysses Everett McGill, 'O Brother, Where Art Thou'

Paterfamilias is from Latin pater,...Read more

commensurate \kuh-MEN(T)S-uhr-it; -shuhr-\ (adjective) - 1 : Equal in measure, extent, or duration. 2 : Corresponding in size or degree or extent; proportionate. 3 : Having a common measure; commensurable; reducible to a common measure; as, commensurate quantities.

""You have a rank commensurate with your achievements," said Admiral ...Read more

parse \PAHRS\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To resolve (as a sentence) into its component parts of speech with an explanation of the form, function, and syntactical relationship of each part. 2 : To describe grammatically by stating its part of speech, form, and syntactical relationships in a sentence. 3 : To examine closely or analyze critically, ...Read more

dotage \DOH-tij\ (noun) - Feebleness of mind due to old age; senility.

"'So, what are you up to in your dotage?' Dotage! He realized he absolutely loathed this word; he refused to be in a dotage -- in any way, shape, or form." -- Jan Karon, 'Light from Heaven'

Dotage comes from the verb to dote, "to be weak-minded, silly, or foolish; to have ...Read more

alfresco \al-FRES-koh\ (adverb) - In the open air; outdoors.

(adjective) - Taking place or located in the open air; outdoor.

"We often have alfresco teas at Four Oaks. The gentlemen thought it a pleasant idea, ... The alfresco tea, for instance, was a great success." -- Joy Reed, 'Anne's Wish'

Alfresco is from the Italian al fresco, "in the ...Read more

pantheon \PAN-thee-on; -uhn\ (noun) - 1 : A temple dedicated to all the gods; especially (capitalized), the building so called at Rome. 2 : The collective gods of a people; as, a goddess of the Greek pantheon. 3 : A public building commemorating and dedicated to the famous dead of a nation. 4 : A group of highly esteemed persons.

"Argentina had...Read more

surly \SUR-lee\ (adjective) - 1 : Ill-humored; churlish in manner or mood; sullen and gruff. 2 : Menacing or threatening in appearance, as of weather conditions; ominous.

"A large surly- looking human in sunbleached khakis and a military cap stood facing them, impressive arms folded across his equally impressive chest." -- Sean Williams, Shane ...Read more

fatidic \fuh-TID-ik\ (adjective) - Of, relating to, or characterized by prophecy; prophetic.

"With a fatidic clarity that conies only occasionally and only to the young, she understood that, like the mythic marking of her purple-banded lake, this too was a sign, an omen." -- Kathleen Cambor, 'In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden'

Fatidic comes ...Read more

turbid \TUR-bid\ (adjective) - 1 : Muddy; thick with or as if with roiled sediment; not clear; -- used of liquids of any kind. 2 : Thick; dense; dark; -- used of clouds, air, fog, smoke, etc. 3 : Disturbed; confused; disordered.

"And he had a friend, a Slow- Solid Tortoise, who lived on the banks of the turbid Amazon, eating green lettuces and ...Read more

renege \rih-NIG; -NEG\ (intransitive verb) - To go back on a promise or commitment.

"At three PM on Tuesday afternoon Clark and Murphy arrived at the villa, alarmed by reports that their new protege intended to renege on the armistice he had signed six hours earlier?" -- Rick Atkinson, 'An Army at Dawn'

Renege is from Medieval Latin renegare, ...Read more

It's "H" hour! Can you choose the correct derivation for each word beginning with "h"?

1. harbinger: A. a corruption of "messenger" B. a variation of "bringer" C. from the French word for a lodger D. a contraction of "hearty binger," referring to the warning signs of alcoholism

2. halo: A. from the Greek for a threshing floor, where ...Read more