firmament \FUR-muh-muhnt\ (noun) - 1 : The region of the air; the sky; the heavens. 2 : The field or sphere of an interest or activity.

"Then all at once he reached the gates of the firmament and the cloud opened, so that Moses could step out." -- Howard Schwartz, 'Gabriel's Palace: Jewish Mystical Tales"

Firmament comes from Late Latin ...Read more

benefaction \BEN-uh-fak-shuhn; ben-uh-FAK-shuhn\ (noun) - 1 : The act of conferring a benefit. 2 : A benefit conferred; especially, a charitable donation.

"Benefaction is its own reward, to be sure, but benefaction is not enough. To do good is good; to free up to do good is greater." -- Tim Jorgenson, 'Mrs Keckly Sends Her Regards: The Last ...Read more

xenophobia \ZEN-uh-FOE-bee-uh\ (noun) - Fear or hatred of strangers, people from other countries, or of anything that is strange or foreign.

"Even if Indians had been accepting of mixed alliances, the xenophobia of the British warranted no other response to Anglo-Indian alliances..." -- Indu Sundaresan, 'The Splendor of Silence'

The word ...Read more

quaff \KWOFF; KWAFF\ (transitive verb) - To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. (intransitive verb) To drink largely or luxuriously. (noun) A drink quaffed.

"Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!' Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'" -- Edgar Allen Poe, 'The Raven'

Quaff is of unknown ...Read more

officious \uh-FISH-uhs\ (adjective) - Marked by excessive eagerness in offering services or advice where they are neither requested nor needed; meddlesome.

"Another officious-looking woman, who looked remarkably like the first officious-looking woman, down to the little chain on her reading glasses, had him sit down across from her while she ...Read more

hauteur \haw-TUR; (h)oh-\ (noun) - Haughty manner, spirit, or bearing; haughtiness; arrogance.

"The earl's eyes were momentarily hurt, his expression baffled; then he dismissed the emotions and replaced them with cold disdain, relying on the hauteur Robin knew so well." -- Jennifer Roberson, 'Lady of the Forest'

Hauteur is from the French, ...Read more

deliquesce \del-ih-KWES\ (intransitive verb) - 1 : To melt away or to disappear as if by melting. 2 : (Chemistry) To dissolve gradually and become liquid by attracting and absorbing moisture from the air, as certain salts, acids, and alkalies. 3 : To become fluid or soft with age, as certain fungi. 4 : To form many small divisions or branches --...Read more

modicum \MOD-ih-kum\ (noun) - A small or moderate or token amount.

"She and the last three queens before her had been hard pressed to maintain a modicum of control over the miners and smelters in the Mountains of Mist..." -- Robert Jordan, 'The Fires of Heaven'

Modicum is from Latin modicus, moderate, from modus, measure.

mountebank \MOUN-tuh-bank\ (noun) - 1 : A peddler of quack medicine, who stands on a platform to appeal to the audience. 2 : A charlatan; a boastful pretender to knowledge or a skill.

"I am God's mountebank, doing God's precious business in my own way. But God's precious business cannot be carried on, even by a mountebank, without money..." -- ...Read more

quandary \KWAHN-duh-ree; -dree\ (noun) - A state of difficulty, perplexity, doubt, or uncertainty.

"It was a perfect correlative to my actual financial quandry, the thought of which sent me further into a dismal spiral. What would I do when the bills came..." -- T. Jefferson Parker, 'Summer of Fear'

Quandary is of unknown origin.

scuttlebutt \SKUHT-l-buht\ (noun) - 1 : A drinking fountain on a ship. 2 : A cask on a ship that contains the day's supply of drinking water. 3 : Gossip; rumor.

"I'd never been there, of course, so my information was only scuttlebut." -- Stephen Greenleaf, 'Blood Type'

Scuttlebutt comes from scuttle, "a small opening" + butt, "a large cask" --...Read more

plebeian \plih-BEE-uhn\ (adjective) - 1 : Of or pertaining to the Roman plebs, or common people. 2 : Of or pertaining to the common people. 3 : Vulgar; common; crude or coarse in nature or manner.

(noun) - 1 : One of the plebs, or common people of ancient Rome; opposed to patrician. 2 : One of the common people or lower classes. 3 : A coarse, ...Read more

contretemps \KAHN-truh-tahn\ (noun) plural contretemps \-tahnz\ - An inopportune or embarrassing situation or event; a hitch.

"'I am very sorry, Mr Slater, if you have recently had some - some contretemps with the law, but please, that should not affect this matter!" -- Ann Granger, 'The Companion'

Contretemps comes from French, from contre, "...Read more

eschew \es-CHOO\ (transitive verb) - To shun; to avoid (as something wrong or distasteful).

"Normally, I would eschew the Minneapolis skyway system. Only normally it wasn't five degrees below zero and normally the wind that seemed to gain velocity as it was funneled between the downtown skyscrapers wasn't pwereful enough to lift you off your ...Read more

uxorious \uk-SOR-ee-us; ug-ZOR-\ (adjective) - Excessively fond of or submissive to a wife.

"Of looks, words, consideration, habitual deference, and eager attention, I was quite as uxorious as I should have been of the warm kiss, or the yielding, fond embrace." -- W. Gilmore Simms, 'Confession, Or, the Blind Heart'

Uxorious is from Latin ...Read more

megalomania \meg-uh-lo-MAY-nee-ah; -nyuh\ (noun) - 1 : A mania for grandiose or extravagant things or actions. 2 : A mental disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur.

"I assure you all that I'm not trying to be melodramatic, and that I don't think I'm allowing my megalomania or paranoia to get the better of me." -- David Weber, 'War of ...Read more

toothsome \TOOTH-suhm\ (adjective) - 1 : Pleasing to the taste; delicious; as, "a toothsome pie." 2 : Agreeable; attractive; as, "a toothsome offer." 3 : Sexually attractive.

"She got very soft pillows and clean bed-clothes for Lisbeth and she placed toothsome dishes before Lisbeth..." -- Caradoc Evans, 'My Neighbors'

Toothsome is derived from...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.

"Here within these hallowed portals the Vestal Virgins had assembled to greet their new paterfamilias on the only ground within the Domus Publica which was common to ...Read more

aubade \oh-BAHD\ (noun) - A song or poem greeting the dawn; also, a composition suggestive of morning.

"She sang the first aubade welcoming the sun, then turned westward and moved into the second one, the song which sang the daystar farewell." -- Eliszbeth Haydon, 'Elegy for a Lost Star'

Aubade comes from the French, from aube, dawn + the noun...Read more

Q: What's the deal with people using "flounder" when they really mean "founder"? Has it become such a common misuse that it's now acceptable? -- Sandra Duncan, San Jose, California

A: I'm not gonna flounder or founder here. The answer to your question is an unwavering and unsinkable "No!"

"Flounder" means "to struggle, to thrash about wildly...Read more