Vocabulary!

[Jade]

I love words! Here are a few that some of you may or may not know already or know but don't use often enough. Please, everyone post words and their definitions. I love learning new words or being reminded of ones that exist.

ab·ject [áb jèkt, ab jékt]
adj
1. miserable: allowing no hope of improvement or relief
abject poverty

2. humble: extremely or excessively humble, e.g. in making an apology or request
an abject apology

3. despicable: utterly despicable or contemptible
abject cruelty

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hu·bris [hyoo briss]
n
1. pride: excessive pride or arrogance
2. excessive ambition: the excessive pride and ambition that usually leads to the downfall of a hero in classical tragedy

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fur·tive [fúrtiv]
adj
1. secretive: done in a way that is intended to escape notice
conspirators exchanging furtive glances

2. shifty: presenting the appearance, or giving the impression, of somebody who has something to hide

[Zoom]

orphic - adj, having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding;

Odium - n, hate coupled with disgust

Specious - adj, based on pretense; deceptively pleasing

maudlin - adj, self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness.
and
bathetic - adj, effusively or insincerely emotional

Cavil - n, an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections

Betoken - v, to indicate by signs

empirical - adj, based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic.

numen - n, the spirit or divine power presiding over a thing or place (wiki says, "an influence perceptible by mind but not by senses")

autodidact - n, a person who is selt taught.

polymath - n, a person of great learning in several fields of study

susto - soul loss from spiritual fright or trauma


I've got a whole .txt of these Whenever I come across a good one I write it down.

[Jade]

Pure awesomeness, Zoom! I'll have to write those down in my handy-dandy notebook!

Xanadu -- noun -- a beautiful idyllic place

Xebec -- noun -- a three masted ship of small size

Xenolith -- noun -- Foreign rock fragment; a fragment of rocks different in origin from the igneous rock in which it appears.

Xenon -- noun -- colorless, orderless gaseous element

Xeric -- adj. -- relating to dry habitat

Austral -- adj. -- southern

Palter -- verb -- 1. To talk or act insincerely or deceitfully; lie or use trickery 2. To bargain with; haggle 3. To act carelessly trifle

Tardigrade -- adj. -- Slow in pace or movement.

[Zoom]

Oooh, these are good ones! I have to remember xeric and austral in particular. "Down in the austral hemisphere, the xeric deserts hide a xanadu."

[Jade]

I'm actually transferring all my vocab words onto a .txt document, so here are a few more:

Adroit - adjective - cleverly skillful, resourceful or ingenious. 2. Expert or nimble in the use of the hands or body.

Aglets - noun - plastic pieces at the end of shoelaces.

Agley [UH-glee] - adjective - off the right line; awry; wrong.

Apoplectic - adjective - intense enough to threaten or cause a stroke.

[Spectre]

March 2013 contest. Use all of the epic words in this thread in a story.

Eh? Eh? Whaddya think?

[Jade]

LOL! Maybe not all, but maybe five-ten. It would be like those days in school when you get your weekly vocabulary words and have to use them in sentences. I think it would be a good idea though. This site is suppose to help with writing.

This is one of my favorite words:

Intaglio - noun - a hollowed-out design; a carving made by cutting a hollowed-out design in material such as stone. 2. A carved gem.

[Spectre]

"Skullduggery!" I think it's a noun for mischief. Also, "Tomfoolery!" I believe that, as well, is a noun for mischief.

They're pretty much my favorite words ever.

[Jade]

Like Skullduggery Pleasant? I totally thought Skullduggery was a made up name; so it is indeed a real word? Wow. I feel pretty dumb right now. Lol. Tomfoolery sounds like a made-up name too. Ha ha. Let's see, per Dictionary.com:


skul·dug·ger·y -- noun

1. dishonorable proceedings; mean dishonesty or trickery: bribery, graft, and other such skulduggery.
2. an instance of dishonest or deceitful behavior; trick.


tom·fool·er·y -- noun

1.foolish or silly behavior; tomfoolishness.
2.a silly act, matter, or thing.

[Jade]

I know these are a lot, but I'm transferring them from computer 1 to computer 2 via this thread ;D


absquatulate
(v.i.,)to flee; abscond:

bowdlerise
(v.t.,)to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

fletcherise
(v.i., v.t.,)to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

Eremophobia -- Fear of being alone
Dexterity - mental or physical skill -- cleverness
Adroitness -- skill
Hypnophobia -- Fear of sleep
Brontophobia -- Fear of thunder
Kakorrhaphiophobia -- fear of failure
Ophidiophobia -- Fear of snakes
Taphephobia -- Fear of being buried alive
Phobophobia -- Fear of acquiring a phobia
Aquaphobia -- Fear of water
Gephyrophobia -- Fear of Bridges + Crossing them
Gesticulate -- Speak with arms and hands
Evince -- show clearly: to show a feeling or a quality clearly 2. reveal: to indicate something by action or implication


Portenous --

1. significant: very serious and significant, especially with regard to future events
2. pompous: excessively serious or pompous
3. amazing: inspiring wonder and amazement

Bereave: To take away

disheveled

adj
1. with messed-up hair or clothes: with messed-up hair or clothes
2. untidy: disordered and untidy

Voracious -- hungry

betimes
1. early: early or in good time
2. soon: in a short time

betide
(3rd person present singular be·tides)
vti
happen: to happen, or happen to somebody (literary) (usually used in the subjunctive)
Whether good or ill betide you, trust in yourself.

bethink
remind oneself: to think of or remember something

Quietus -- death

potlatch - feast
Profligate -- wasteful
Reconnoiter -- gather info
Pithy -Concise
riant - laughing
Expunction / erasure - removal
relucent -gleaming
radix - root
sutout - overcoat
restive -figety
diadem - drown
sibilance - hissing sound
intransigence - stubborness
carp - find fault
locution - expression
fester / rankle - cause bitter feelings
tumid - swollen

incontrovertible - certain

inurbane - lacking sophistication

inure - harden somebody to something. To make somebody used to something unpleasant over a period of time, so that he or she no longer is bothered or upset by it.
Invective - abusive language. Abusive or violent language used to attack, blame, or denounce somebody.

Inveigh - Speak out angrily. To speak angrily in criticism of or protest at something.

Inveige - Persuade

inveterate - fixed in a habit or practice, especially a bad one
invacation - calling upon higher power
inyanga - traditional healer
Altruism - selflessness
despondent - discouraged
timorous - timid
detrition - wear away by friction

[sapphire]

Ha, good idea, Spectre. Unfortunately, the March contest has already been decided. Maybe April, though.


I think this thread is better suited for the Chat section - it's not really a discussion of literature, just of words in general - so I'm moving it there.