One of my fascinations in life is words. I have subscribed to Word-of-the-Day for years. Here are some of my highlights over the last couple months. Now let’s see you use them in a sentence. If you already knew most of these words, please email me. I would love to learn some more sesquipedalians.
Words of the Day
esurient ..ih-SUR-ee-uhnt; -ZUR-.., adjective:
Hungry; voracious; greedy.
recondite ..REK-uhn-dyt.., adjective:
1. Difficult to understand; [1]abstruse.
2. Concerned with obscure subject matter.
sine qua non ..sin-ih-kwah-NON; -NOHN; sy-nih-kway-.., noun:
An essential condition or element; an indispensable thing
gastronome ..GAS-truh-nohm.., noun:
A connoisseur of good food and drink.
quiddity ..KWID-ih-tee.., noun:
1. The essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity of a thing.
2. A hairsplitting distinction; a trifling point; a quibble.
3. An eccentricity; an odd feature.
jollification ..jol-ih-fuh-KAY-shuhn.., noun:
Merrymaking; festivity; revelry.
melange ..may-LAHNZH.., noun:
A mixture; a medley.
sacrosanct ..SAK-roh-sankt.., adjective:
Sacred; inviolable.
paladin ..PAL-uh-din.., noun:
1. A knight-errant; a distinguished champion of a medieval
king or prince; as, the paladins of Charlemagne.
2. A champion of a cause.
tmesis ..TMEE-sis.., noun:
In grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a
compound word, now generally done for humorous effect; for example, “what place soever” instead of “whatsoever place,” or “abso-bloody-lutely.”
lassitude ..LASS-uh-tood; LASS-uh-tyood.., noun:
Lack of vitality or energy; weariness; listlessness.
anodyne ..AN-uh-dyn.., adjective:
1. Serving to relieve pain; soothing.
2. Not likely to offend; bland; innocuous.
noun:
1. A medicine that relieves pain.
2. Anything that calms, comforts, or soothes disturbed
feelings.
alpenglow ..AL-puhn-gloh.., noun:
A reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of
mountains.
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.