lexicography \lek-suh-KAH-gruh-fee\ (noun) - 1 : The writing or compiling of dictionaries; the editing or making of dictionaries. 2 : The principles and practices applied to writing dictionaries.

"I am of course stopping short still of the needs of practical lexicography in one conspicuous respect : I am attending only to the cognitive side..."...Read more

titivate \TIT-uh-vayt\ (transitive and intransitive verb) - To smarten up; to spruce up.

"I decided tonight it was time to put away all the black mourning clothes, cut my hair, and titivate myself a bit, as Blackie so aptly calls it." -- Barbara Taylor Bradford, 'Emma's Secret'

Titivate is perhaps from tidy + the quasi-Latin ending -vate. When...Read more

precocious \pri-KOH-shus\ (adjective) - 1 : Characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude); as, "a precocious child"; "a precocious achievement." 2 : (Botany) Flowering or fruiting early.

"Henry was precocious. His parents had great hopes for their offspring, and Henry, because...Read more

sesquipedalian \ses-kwuh-puh-DAYL-yuhn\ (adjective) - 1 : Given to or characterized by the use of long words. 2 : Long and ponderous; having many syllables.

(noun) - A long word.

"Poor Miss Matty got sadly puzzled with this, for the words gathered size like snow-balls, and towards the end of her letter, Miss Jenkyns used to become quite ...Read more

proclivity \pro-KLIV-uh-tee\ (noun) - A natural inclination; predisposition.

"Nothing has emerged, except a marked proclivity for the gibbet; for he took great delight in stringing up renegade Frenchmen whom he surprised in the ranks of the English or caught in towns which showed signs of disloyalty to the King."

Proclivity comes from Latin ...Read more

reticent \RET-ih-suhnt\ (adjective) - 1 : Inclined to keep silent; reserved; uncommunicative. 2 : Restrained or reserved in style. 3 : Reluctant; unwilling.

"But poor Harry little knew the difficulty of reticence when the heart is full. He had intended to be very reticent when he came up to London..." -- Anthony Trollope, 'Mr. Scarborough's ...Read more

autocrat \AW-tuh-krat\ (noun) - An absolute monarch who rules with unlimited authority; by extension, any person with undisputed authority in a relationship or situation.

"Whenever the Autocrat felt the need of money, he sent his tax-gatherers far and wide, and people who up to that time had no idea of such a thing found that they lived in the ...Read more

disheveled \dih-SHEV-uhld\ (adjective) - In loose disorder; disarranged; unkempt; as, "disheveled hair."

""Sometimes Bethany came to school disheveled, or wearing dirty clothes... it raised a red flag for us." -- Jodi Picoult, 'Vanishing Acts'

Disheveled is from Old French descheveler, "to disarrange the hair," from des-, "apart" (from Latin ...Read more

concomitant \kuhn-KOM-uh-tuhnt\ (adjective) - Accompanying; attendant; occurring or existing concurrently.

(noun) - Something that accompanies or is collaterally connected with something else; an accompaniment.

"She began also to understand what it was that had brought about her son's love, and to feel that but for certain unfortunate ...Read more

stasis \STAY-sis; STAS-is\ (noun) plural stases \STAY-seez; STAS-eez\: - 1 : A state of balance, equilibrium, or stagnation. 2 : Stoppage of the normal flow of a bodily fluid or semifluid.

"Eons ago there had been a war of galactic extermination, of which naught remained but scattered artifacts preserved for eternity within stasis fields." -- ...Read more

prepotency \pree-POTE-n-see\ (noun) - 1 : The quality or condition of having superior power, influence, or force; predominance. 2 : (Biology) The capacity, on the part of one of the parents, as compared with the other, to transmit more than his or her own share of characteristics to their offspring.

"The prepotency of a Lepage stud is such that...Read more

bagatelle \bag-uh-TEL\ (noun) - 1 : A trifle; a thing of little or no importance. 2 : A short, light musical or literary piece. 3 : A game played with a cue and balls on an oblong table having cups or arches at one end.

"My wife and I have naturally simple tastes, and we used to play bagatelle in the evening. When the new servant saw us at it ...Read more

insensate \in-SEN-sayt; -sit\ (adjective) - 1 : Lacking sensation or awareness; inanimate. 2 : Lacking human feeling or sensitivity; brutal; cruel. 3 : Lacking sense; stupid; foolish.

"Just now, I couldn't keep back the insensate words -- insensate because useless -- but I judged myself all the time as distinctly as I do now it's over." -- ...Read more

confute \kuhn-FYOOT\ (transitive verb) - To overwhelm by argument; to refute conclusively; to prove or show to be false.

"And can there still be any need to confute the Diatribe? Who can more effectually confute it, than it confutes itself! This truly, is that beast that devours itself! How true is the proverb, that 'A liar should have a good ...Read more

waylay \WAY-lay\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To lie in wait for and attack from ambush. 2 : To approach or stop (someone) unexpectedly.

"They waylay you. They waylay anybody who tries to come in here. I had to walk a... gauntlet just now to get in my own building." -- Tom Wolfe, 'The Bonfire of the Vanities'

Waylay comes from way (from Old English...Read more

spoony \SPOO-nee\ (adjective) - 1 : Foolish; silly; excessively sentimental. 2 : Foolishly or sentimentally in love.

"'I think every man is bound to do the best he can for himself -- that is, honestly; there is something spoony in one man allowing another to get before him, as long as he can manage to be first himself." -- Anthony Trollope, '...Read more

osculation \os-kyuh-LAY-shuhn\ (noun) - The act of kissing; also: a kiss.

"If by osculation you mean kissing, Miss Cobb... I guess you don't remember the Austrian count who was a head waiter here. If there was anything in the way of osculation that that member of an old Austrian family didn't know I've got to find it out. He could kiss all ...Read more

mores \MOR-ayz; -eez\ (plural noun) - 1 : The fixed customs of a particular group that are morally binding upon all members of the group. 2 : Moral attitudes. 3 : Customs; habits; ways.

"Now: mores are the customs of society. As such, they are traditional. ... We see you in church and you're not a thier, so you must also respect the laws of ...Read more

propound \pruh-POWND\ (transitive verb) - To offer for consideration; to put forward; to propose.

"So they called after them, and they stopped and stood still till they came up to them; but they concluded as they went, not that Mr. By-ends, but old Mr. Hold-the-World, should propound the question to them, because, as they supposed, their answer...Read more

A good friend of mine wonders about this sentence from a billing statement she received: "Beginning in April of 2025, your payment date will be moved forward from April 19 to April 26." She asks, "Shouldn't 'moved forward' be 'moved back'"?

(In raising this question, she perhaps becomes the first person in history to ever question a notice ...Read more