embonpoint \ahn-bohn-PWAN\ (noun) - Plumpness of person; stoutness.

"It was a girl called Tinker Bell exquisitely gowned in a skeleton leaf, cut low and square, through which her figure could be seen to best advantage. She was slightly inclined to embonpoint." -- J.M. Barrie, 'Peter Pan'

Embonpoint is from French, literally "in good condition"...Read more

militate \MIL-ih-tayt\ (intransitive verb) - To have force or influence.

"Where you frequent a house it may militate very much against a girl's making a desirable settlement in life, and prevent her from accepting offers even if they are made." -- George Eliot, 'Middlemarch'

Militate comes from Latin militatus, past participle of militare, "to...Read more

abstruse \ab-STROOS; uhb-\ (adjective) - Difficult to comprehend or understand.

"When Tony Gate's critical sire had come up from Boston to watch his boy play Fluellen at a rehearsal and had taken him and Ronny out for supper, he offered the argument that the play contained Shakespeare's hidden pacifism and that King Henry's seizin on an abtruse...Read more

urbane \ur-BAYN\ (adjective) - Polished and smooth in manner; polite, refined, and elegant.

"My voice was dry, interested, but in an academic sort of way. It was the voice I'd cultivated at court. I had learned to watch the most awful things and make dry, urbane comments." -- Laurell K. Hamilton, 'A Kiss of Shadows'

Urbane comes from Latin ...Read more

commensurate \kuh-MEN(T)S-uhr-it; -shuhr-\ (adjective) - 1 : Equal in measure, extent, or duration. 2 : Corresponding in size or degree or extent; proportionate. 3 : Having a common measure; commensurable; reducible to a common measure; as, commensurate quantities.

"You have a rank commensurate with your achievements... but you will have duties...Read more

travail \truh-VAYL; TRAV-ayl\ (noun) - 1 : Painful or arduous work; severe toil or exertion. 2 : Agony; anguish. 3 : The labor of childbirth

(intransitive verb) - 1 : To work very hard; to toil. 2 : To suffer the pangs of childbirth; to be in labor.

"But not for that dream I on this strange course,
But on this travail look for greater ...Read more

plaint \PLAYNT\ (noun) - 1 : An expression of sorrow; lamentation. 2 : A complaint.

"It then dawned on Sam this could be the plaint the walkers had been to so long ago. He asked if Reeds and Barns could scan the plaint and see if it could hold life." -- C.B. Hollis, 'Cyber Wolf: Deception'

Plaint comes from Old French plainte, from Latin ...Read more

toper \TOH-puhr\ (noun) - One who drinks frequently or to excess.

"He often gives breath to scurrilous conjecture. The toper suborns good fruit and gives it to decay, and the good person who wishes to enjoy the sanivacity and good savor of the wholesome fruit is bereft and must raise this outcry: 'Why have you despoiled me, O toper, of my fruit...Read more

requisite \REK-wuh-zit\ (adjective) - Required by the nature of things or by circumstances; indispensable.

(noun) - That which is required or necessary; something indispensable.

"Birth is not a requisite. If it were, the golden fold would be composed of young people still in their teens... Brains are not a requisite either." -- Edgar Saltus, '...Read more

encomium \en-KOH-mee-uhm\ (noun) - An often formal expression of warm or high praise.

"HRH absorbed the encomiums with the dignity of his office, nodding slowly but continuously as encomium toppled over encomium in quick succession." -- Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, 'The Naked Gods'

Encomium derives, via Latin, from Greek enkomion, from en-, "in" +...Read more

thaumaturgy \THAW-muh-tuhr-jee\ (noun) - The performance of miracles or magic.

"That's where I was really good -- thaumaturgy. Thaumaturgy is traditional magic, all about drawing symbolic links between items or people and then investing energy to get the effect that you want." -- Jim Butcher, 'Grave Peril'

Thaumaturgy comes from the Greek ...Read more

panoply \PAN-uh-plee\ (noun) - 1 : A splendid or impressive array. 2 : Ceremonial attire. 3 : A full suit of armor; a complete defense or covering.

"While he was here he made a very special panoply, weapons and armor meant to be used against the spreading of evil, forging the lot and crafting it only partly in the way of men." -- Sharon Green, ...Read more

contemporaneous \kuhn-tem-puh-RAY-nee-uhs\ (adjective) - Originating, existing, or occurring at the same time.

"I must confess my contemporaneous existence was becoming tiresome, though I did not recognize this until this day." -- Piers Anthony, 'Centaur Isle'

Contemporaneous is from Latin contemporaneus, from con-, com-, "with, together" + ...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.

"I wound up by telling him he was an autocrat; which disturbed his graven serenity. Autocrat and autocracy were not pleasant- sounding words just then." -- James B. Connolly, ...Read more

objurgate \OB-juhr-gayt\ (transitive verb) - To express strong disapproval of; to criticize severely.

"It would be my advice to persons situated in this way, to not roll or thrash around, because this excites the interest of all the different sorts of animals and makes every last one of them want to turn out and see what is going on, and this ...Read more

vitiate \VISH-ee-ayt\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To make faulty or imperfect; to render defective; to impair; as, "exaggeration vitiates a style of writing." 2 : To corrupt morally; to debase. 3 : To render ineffective; as, "fraud vitiates a contract."

"...When such ideas are brought before out minds, it is natural to be so affected; because all ...Read more

putative \PYOO-tuh-tiv\ (adjective) - Commonly thought or deemed; supposed; reputed.

"Someday... our species will again send out interstellar explorers, just as we did in the twenty-second century. Maybe those future spacecraft will finally confirm that we are not the only putative intelligence in the universe." -- Gentry Lee, 'The Tranquility ...Read more

impassive \im-PASS-iv\ (adjective) - 1 : Devoid of or unsusceptible to emotion. 2 : Showing no sign of emotion or feeling; expressionless.

"And he held out his cup imperiously to Horemheb, who accepted it with impassive face, brushed aside the servant who stepped forward automatically to assist..." -- Allen Drury, 'Return to Thebes'

Impassive ...Read more

What do these oddball sentences have in common? "Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz"; "The five boxing wizards jump quickly."

As you probably guessed, each of these sentences includes every letter of the alphabet (in just 31 letters). Such sentences are called "pangrams," literally, "all letters." (Just for fun, I've sprinkled some ...Read more

visage \VIZ-ij\ (noun) - 1 : The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. 2 : Look; appearance; aspect.

"And then he put off his helm, and she saw his visage, she said, 'O sweet Jesu, thee I must love, and never other.' Then show me your visage,' said he." - Thomas Malory, 'Le Morte d'Arthur'

...Read more