ennui \on-WEE\ (noun) - A feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction arising from lack of interest; boredom.

"The day at Swampscott passed in ennui, the lack of activity causing the three attorneys to make constant calls to...Read More

blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\ (noun) - Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement -- often used in the plural.

"The woman was temptation personified, and every blandishment she ...Read More

sojourn \SOH-juhrn; so-JURN\ (intransitive verb) - To stay as a temporary resident; to dwell for a time.

(noun) - A temporary stay.

"At times during this interminable sojourn, I might disappear for hours on end; Sita ...Read More

bombast \BOM-bast\ (noun) - Pompous or pretentious speech or writing.

"Sain Flint decided not to run Amelia Lowell's bombast on the front page. Instead, he put it on page three." -- Richard S. Wheeler, 'Flint's Truth'

...Read More

sardonic \sar-DON-ik\ (adjective) - Scornful, mocking; disdainfully humorous.

"The young man stood looking down at her with sardonic contempt, a cowed self-conscious look on his thick, pale face." -- D.H. Lawrence, 'Women...Read More

perspicacity \pur-spuh-KAS-uh-tee\ (noun) - Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment.

"Such a horse gives its rider discernment and perspicacity, if not clairvoyance. It will save you from being ...Read More