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 their offices in the hopes that someone wanted their services..." -- Robert Ludlum, 'The Road to Omaha'

Ennui is from the ...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 offered contained a challenge, I thought, to my ultimate moral strength." -- Jack Whyte, 'The Singing Sword'

Blandishment ...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 would wake from her fitful slumber and find herself alone..." -- Ashok Mathur, 'The Short, Happy Life of Harry Kumar'

Sojourn ...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'

Bombast comes from Medieval French bombace, "cotton, hance padding," from Late Latin bombax, "cotton."

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 in Love'

Sardonic comes from French sardonique, from Latin sardonius, from Greek sardonios, sardanios, "derisive."

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 surprised by your enemies." -- Sudhin N. Ghose, 'Folk Tales and Fairy Stories from India'

Perspicacity comes from Latin ...Read more

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

"She was unremarkable in every way save for the hauteur with which she regarded him." -- Karen Robards, 'Scandalous'

Hauteur is from the French, from haut, "high," from Latin altus, "high." It is thus related to altitude.

skulk \SKUHLK\ (intransitive verb) - 1 : To hide, or get out of the way, in a sneaking manner; to lurk. 2 : To move about in a stealthy way. 3 : To avoid responsibilities and duties.

(noun) - 1 : One who skulks. 2 : A group of foxes.

"You're too large to skulk about. They'd see you in an instant." -- Kinley MacGregor, Claiming the Highlander

...Read more

contumely \kon-TYOO-muh-lee; -TOO-; KON-tyoo-mee-lee; -too-; KON-tum-lee\ (noun) - 1 : Rudeness or rough treatment arising from haughtiness and contempt; scornful insolence. 2 : An instance of contemptuousness in act or speech.

"But surely it would be desperate unkindness to add contumely to our self-protection, unless, indeed, we believe that ...Read more

doppelganger \DOP-uhl-gang-uhr\ (noun) - 1 : A ghostly double or counterpart of a living person. 2 : Alter ego; double.

"The doppelganger dropped Ray to the linoleum and whispered to the mirror." -- Steven Deighan, 'A Dead Calmness'

Doppelganger is from the German doppel, "double" + Gänger, "goer."

vituperate \vy-TOO-puh-rate, -TYOO-, vi-\ (verb) - To find fault with; to scold; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.

"The incensed priests...continued to raise their voices, vituperating each other in bad Latin." -- Sir Walter Scott, 'Ivanhoe'

Vituperate comes from Latin vitupero, vituperare, to scold, ...Read more

juju \JOO-joo\ (noun) - 1 : An object superstitiously believed to embody magical powers. 2 : The power associated with a juju.

"They have powerful juju. They can make juju to kill all of us." -- T. M. Aluko, 'One Man, One Matchet'

Juju is of West African origin, akin to Hausa djudju, fetish, evil spirit.

specious \SPEE-shuhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Apparently right; superficially fair, just, or correct, but not so in reality; as, "specious reasoning; a specious argument." 2 : Deceptively pleasing or attractive.

"Our breach of hospitality went to my conscience a little; but I quickly silenced that monitor by two or three specious reasons, which ...Read more

autodidact \aw-toh-DY-dakt\ (noun) - One who is self-taught.

"I'm an autodidact and a good one, because I'll kick my own (butt) if I don't learn, which is a sight to see with this leg brace." -- Dean Koontz, 'One Door Away from Heaven'

Autodidact is from Greek autodidaktos, "self-taught," from auto-, "self" + didaktos, "taught," from didaskein...Read more

exalt \ig-ZOLT\ (verb) - 1 : To praise, glorify, or honor. 2 : To heighten or intensify. 3 : To raise in rank, character, or status; as, "exalted the humble shoemaker to the rank of King's adviser."

"A warrior should never exalt in his victory, Wharton, before the enemy is completely disarmed." -- Christina Dodd, 'A Knight to Remember'

Exalt ...Read more

ineluctable \in-ih-LUCK-tuh-buhl\ (adjective) - Impossible to avoid or evade; inevitable.

"All of this, she thought, more probable than battle orders wrapping up cigars in enemy territory, a sad and ineluctable fact of history." -- Padgett Powell, 'Mrs. Hollingsworth's Men'

Ineluctable is from Latin ineluctabilis, from in-, "not" + eluctari, "...Read more

Brobdingnagian \brob-ding-NAG-ee-uhn\ (adjective) - Of extraordinary size; gigantic; enormous.

"The cover was removed... revealing two gigantic pots... capable of holding 200 gallons each...a cooking apparatus as might have graced a Brobdingnagian kitchen." -- Frank T. Bullen, 'Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales'

...Read more

grok \GRAWK\ (transitive verb slang) - To understand, especially in a profound and intimate way. Slang.

'"Even if you explain it in short words I'm not going to grok it, okay?" Benjamin frowned the uncomprehending frown of someone whose learning of the English language had missed the word "grok" entirely."' - Eric Flint, Andrew Dennis, '1634: ...Read more

tittle-tattle \TIT-uhl TAT-uhl\ (noun) - 1 : Idle, trifling talk; empty prattle. 2 : An idle, trifling talker; a gossip.

(verb) - 1 : to talk idly; to prate.

"Both were in their seventies, and like two old parrots they told, in identical words, the tale they had heard so often from their mother...The tittle-tattle of a half-starved countryside...Read more

While you're enjoying a deck, a dock or a daiquiri this summer, dip into the one of these new books about words and language.

Did you know that "lick into shape" originated from the medieval belief that bear cubs are born shapeless and are licked into shape by their mothers? Have you heard that "stealing someone's thunder" arose when a London...Read more