Words of the Week 08

Whenever I read, I keep a pencil handy and I underline words that I don’t know and dog ear the page so that I can go back and look them up in the dictionary. I have always been interested in etymology and even took Latin for three years. I hope that these words can help all of us in our writings. Be sure to check out your dictionary for additional usages of the words and spellings associated with changing the word from adjective to adverb to noun … etc.

BALNEATIONnoun

Pronounced: bal-knee-AY-shun

Meaning: The act or action of bathing.

Example: Alicia uses a sponge to assist her in her dailybalneation.

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ICONOCLAST
noun

Pronounced: eye-CON-no-klast

Meaning: One who attacks established beliefs, ideals, customs or institutions.

Example: Malcolm has always considered himself theiconoclast of the family.

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REDOLENT
adjective

Pronounced: REH-dough-lint

Meaning: Conveying an aura; tending to suggest.

Example: Every page of Ryan’s essay isredolent of fine scholarship.

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DRACONIAN
adjective

Pronounced: dra-KONE-ee-en

Meaning: Marked by extreme severity or cruelty.

Example: The pop star’s main residence was on an island where the tax laws were lessdraconian than in her native England.

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USURPER
noun

Pronounced: you-SERP-er

Meaning: One that infringes or encroaches upon the rights or property of another.

Example: By the end of his term, the mayor had become known as ausurper of authority.

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GLABROUS
adjective

Pronounced: GLAY-bruss

Meaning: Having skin that has absolutely no hair.

Example: Mr. Franklin showed the first graders that reptiles, unlike mammals, are completelyglabrous.

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NASCENT
adjective

Pronounced: NAY-cent

Meaning: Undergoing the process of being born; beginning to exist.

Example: The Boston Tea Party revealednascent revolutionary tendencies among the American colonists.

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CROTCHETY
adjective

Pronounced: KRAW-chit-tee

Meaning: Subject to crankiness or ill temper.

Example: Not getting enough sleep usually makes Trudycrotchety in the morning.

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VENDETTA
noun

Pronounced: vin-DET-ta

Meaning: A prolonged feud marked by bitter hostility.

Example: Chloe’s all-night party exacerbated thevendetta with the neighbor.

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FALLACY
noun

Pronounced: FAAL-uh-cee

Meaning: A false or erroneous idea.

Example: Though Ben’s argument may seem plausible, it is purefallacy.

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EXACERBATE
verb

Pronounced: egg-ZASS-sir-bate

Meaning: make more violent or bitter; intensify the bad qualities of.

Example: Cindy learned how name-calling couldexacerbate an already violent argument.

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MAVERICK
noun

Pronounced: MAV-rick

Meaning: A member of any group who refuses to conform and who takes an unorthodox stand.

Example: The rest of the teachers considered Ms. Thorne to be amaverick because she invited her students to call her by her first name.

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APPENDAGES
noun

Pronounced: uh-PEN-did-jizz

Meaning: Things accompanied or appended to another thing and usually subordinate or not essential to it.

Example: The Abbey-Mill Farm, with all itsappendages of prosperity and beauty, was a favorable spot for a walk.

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OLEAGINOUS
adjective

Pronounced: oh-lee-AD-gin-nuss

Meaning: Characterized by smooth courteousness or sickly sentimentality.

Example: Grandpa was too smart to be taken in byoleaginous salesmen.

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JUVENESCENCE
noun

Pronounced: joo-ven-ESS-scents

Meaning: The state of being youthful or growing young.

Example: The director helped the aging actress produce the illusion ofjuvenescence through careful makeup and lighting.

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TRANSMOGRIFY
verb

Pronounced: trans-MOG-riff-fye

Meaning: Change or alter in form, appearance or structure often with grotesque or humorous effect.

Example: Buford set out totransmogrify the hearse into a hot rod.

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LIGATURE
noun

Pronounced: LIGG-a-tyoor

Meaning: Something that is used to bind, specifically, a thread, wire or other material used in surgery.

Example: Dr. Adams removed theligature that had held the vein closed during the surgery.

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YIELD
verb

Pronounced: YEELD

Meaning: Agree to accept or comply with something; exhibit willingness rather than opposition.

Example: Sarah looks forward to the day when she will not have toyield to her parents’ wishes.

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SILENTIARY
noun

Pronounced: si-LEN-shur-ree

Meaning: One appointed to keep silence and order (as in a court of law or a public assembly).

Example: One stern glance from the silentiarywas all it took to stop Karen’s insipid murmuring.

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KITSCH
noun

Pronounced: KIT-sshh

Meaning: Artistic or literary material held to be of low quality, often produced to appeal to popular taste and marked especially by sentimentalism, sensationalism and slickness.

Example: Souvenir shops are filled withkitsch for the undiscriminating tourist.

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PRECEDENT
noun

Pronounced: PRESS-si-dent

Meaning: Something done or said that may serve as an example or rule to authorize or justify a subsequent act of the same or of the analogous kind.

Example: As far as Sasha knew, the decision to allow a girl to play on the football team was withoutprecedent.

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