Word of the Week 2002-2003
fugaciouis | wildcatter | cynosure | dovecote | meliorism | sylvan | lothario | haplology | billet-doux | hie | regale | maudlin | abjure | tantara | panjandrum | netiquette | coterie | impugn | Cassandra | avatar | onus | frisson | Götterdämmerung | youthquake | ambrosia | monomania | objet trouve| estival | quisling | nepenthe | comestible | Methuselah
fugacious \fyew-GAY-shus\ (adjective)
*1. lasting a short time : evanescent
2. disappearing before the usual time (used chiefly of plant parts)
Example Sentence:
Julie's sorrow over her quarrel with Angela was fugacious, melting rapidly into excitement about the unexpected arrival of Mr. Daniels.
wildcatter \WILD-cat-er\ (noun)
*1. one that drills wells in hope of finding oil in territory not known to be an oil field
2. one that promotes unsafe and unreliable enterprises, especially one who sells stocks in suck enterprises
3. a worker who goes out on a wildcat strick
Example Sentence:
Jarvis made his fortune as a risk-taking wildcatter with an uncanny knack for drilling gushers where no one expected there was a drop of oil.
cynosure \SIE-nuh-shoor or SIN-uh-shoor\ (noun)
1. capitalized : the northern constellation Ursa Minor; also : North Star
2. one that serves to direct or guide
*3. a center of attraction or attention
Example Sentence:
"The fair young Queen," wrote Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle, referring to Marie Antoinette, ". . . walks like a goddess of Beauty, the cynosure of all eyes."
dovecote \DUHV-kote or DUHV-kaht\ (noun)
1. a small compartmental raised house or box for domestic pigeons
*2 a settled or harmonious group or organization
Example Sentence:
Professor Kipple's controversial claims so fluttered academic dovecotes that new studies were immediately launched to refute him.
meliorism \MEE-lee-uh-riz-um\ (noun)
1. the belief that the world tends to become better and that humans can aid its betterment
Example Sentence:
Jane's view that the world is flawed but capable of being improved places her firmly in the tradition of meliorism, that middle ground between optimism and pessimism.
1. one that frequents groves or woods
2. a: living or located in the woods or forest b: of, relating to, or characteristic of the woods or forest
3. a: made, shaped, or formed of woods or trees b: abounding in woods, groves, or trees : wooded
Example Sentence:
The collection of sylvan photographs featured famous forests and trees from around the world.
lothario \loh-THAR-ee-oh\ (noun)
1. a man whose chief interest is seducing women
Example Sentence:
In his latest movie, John plays a loutish lothario who pursues and seduces his boss's wife, his wife's sister, and a bartender named Sue.
haplology \hap-LAH-luh-jee\ (noun)
1. contraction of a word by omission of one or more similar sounds or syllables
Example Sentence:
If you have ever pronounced "library" as if it were spelled "libry," you have demonstrated haplology in your own speech.
billet-doux \bill-ee-DOO or bill-ay-DOO\ (noun)
1. a love letter
Example Sentence:
"Oh, it's a billet-doux from my sweet Petunia!" cried Francis in delight, lifting the perfumed love letter to his lips for a kiss and then pressing it to his heart.
hie \rhymes with "fly"\ (verb)
*1. to go quickly : hasten
2. to cause (oneself) to go quickly
Example Sentence:
"As for thee, boy, go, get thee from my sight; thou art an exile, and thou must no stay. Hie to the Goths and raise an army there." (William Shakespear, Titus Andronicus)
1. to entertain sumptuously : feast with delicacies
*2. to give pleasure or amusement to
Example Sentence:
After the wonderful meal, everyone settled into comfortable chairs for coffee while their garrulous host regaled them with tales of his boyhood adventures.
maudlin \MAWD-luhn\ (adjective)
1. drunk enough to be emotionally silly
*2. weakly and effusively sentimental
Example Sentence:
"Oh, please don't be maudlin," cried Monica when Mills dropped to his knees, held her heand to his tear-soaked cheek, and begged her for forgiveness.
1. a: to renounce upon oath b: to reject solemnly
*2. to abstain from : avoid
Example Sentence:
Martin Luther King, Jr. called upon black Americans to abjure violence in favor of civil disobedience and to meet hatred with love.
tantara \tan-TAR-uh or tan-TAHR-uh\ (noun)
1. the blare of a trumpet or horn
Example Sentence:
"But hardly had we sat down ere we heard the tom-toming of the kettledrum and the tantara of trumpets and clash of cymbals...." (Sir Richard Burton, translator, The Arabian Nights)
panjandrum \pan-JAN-drum\ (noun)
1. a powerful person or pretentious official
Example Sentence:
After years of expanding his vocabulary and perfecting his word play strategies, Uncle Ira considers himself to be a panjandrum in the world of Scrabble players.
netiquette \NET-uh-kut or NET-uh-ket\ (noun)
1. etiquette governing communication on the Internet
Example Sentence:
Internet newbies should remember that typing in all capital letters is interpreted as yelling and is generally considered a breach of netiquette.
coterie \KO-tuh-ree or ko-tuh-REE\ (noun)
1. an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose
Example Sentence:
Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S. Kaufman, and the other members of the literary coterie known as the Algonquin Round Table were legendary for their terse, acerbic remarks and writing.
1. to assail by words or arguments : oppose or attack as false or lacking integrity
Example Sentence:
Damaging testimony from several witnesses helped the prosecutor impugn the defendant's character and contributed much to persuading the jury to convict him.
Cassandra \kuh-SAN-druh\ (noun)
1. a daughter of Priam endowed with the gift of prophecy but fated never to be believed
*2. one that predicts misfortune or disaster
Example Sentence:
"At the White House, the upbeat mood was marred by some nagging warning from an in-house Cassandra." (Evan Thomas, Time Magazine, December 12, 1983)
*1. a: an incarnation in human form b: an embodiment (as of a concept or philosophy) often in a person
2. a variant phase or version of a continuing basic entity
Example Sentence:
To millions of people around the world, Mother Teresa was an avatar of selflessness, piety, and generosity
*1. burden
2. a disagreeable necessity : obligation
3. blame
Example Sentence:
Everyone else on the overworked staff was relieved when the onus of handling the new project fell to Cindy, but she complained bitterly about the extra workload.
1. a brief moment of emotional excitement : shudder, thrill
Example Sentence:
As the roller coaster reached the top of the first hill, a frisson of fear shot through Angie, a delicious, tingling anticipation of that thrilling and terrifying downward plunge.
Götterdämmerung \guh-tuhr-DEH-muh-rung or guh-turh-DA-muh-rung\ (noun)
1. a collapse (as of a society or regime) marked by catastrophic violence and power
Example Sentence:
Although we all hoped for a peaceful transfer of power, we feared the conflict would end in a chaotic Götterdämmerung.
youthquake \YOOTH-kwayk\ (noun)
1. the impace of the values, tastes, and mores of youth on the established norms of society
Example Sentence:
These days, clothing designers look to the young and hip for inspiration, and the tremor of the youthquake sends a ripple through the fashion world.
1. a: the food of the Greek and Roman gods b: the ointment or perfume of the gods
*2. something extremely pleasing to taste or smell
3. a dessert made of oranges and shredded coconut
Example Sentence:
"We feasted that evening as on nectar and ambrosia; and not the least delight of the entertainment was the smile of gratification with which our hostess regarded us, as we satisfied our famished appetites on the delicate fare she liberally supplied." (Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre)
1. a form of insanity in which the patient is irrational on one subject only
*2: (in popular use) an exaggerated enthusiasm for or devotion to one subject : a craze (for)
Example Sentence:
Some critics claimed the Cabbage Patch Doll craze in the early 1980's was a form of monomania.
objet trouve \AWB-zhay-true-VAY\ (noun)
1. a natural object (as a piece of driftwood) found by chance and held to have aesthetic value especially through the working of natural forces on it; also : an artifact not originally intended as art but held to have aesthetic value especially when displayed as a work of art
Example Sentence:
Carefully displayed on the windowsills of Amy's home were sea-smoothed rocks, sand dollars, bits of sea glass, and other objet trouves from the shore.
estival \ES-tuh-vuhl\ (adjective)
1. of or relating to summer
Example Sentence:
Curt basked in the simple estival joys, lolling in his hammock in the heat of midday, sipping an icy lemonade, and listening to the gentle hum of nearby bees.
1. traitor, collaborator
Example Sentence:
Many scorn Benedict Arnold as the quintessential quisling, a man whose loyalties lay not with his compatriots but with foreigners trying to subjugate them.
nepenthe \nuh-PEN-thee\ (noun)
1. a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow
*2. something capable of causing oblivion of grief or suffering
Example Sentence:
When Ruth left, Henry threw himself into his artwork with such intensity that his painting became his nepenthe, numbing the pain of his broken heart.
comestible \kuh-MESS-tuh-buhl\ (adjective)
1. edible
Example Sentence:
The magazine's December issue featured recipes for roast goose, plum pudding, gingerbread, and other comestible treats for the holidays.
Methuselah \mu-THUZE-uh-luh\ (noun)
1. an ancestor of Noah held to have lived 969 years
*2. an oversize wine bottle holding about 6 liters
Example Sentence:
Dave's friends surprised him on his eightieth birthday with a Methuselah of champagne, claiming they needed a huge bottle to toast his many accomplishments.