Humanities Cafe

Words of the Day: Sept. 13-17

Conflagration: (noun) a wild uncontrollable fire.

Chronology: (noun) timeline; arrangement of events in order of occurrence.

Troglodyte: (noun) cave dweller, hermit.

Tittles:(noun) the little dots over “j” and “i”

Vociferous: (adjective) intense and aggressive

Inert: (adjective) still, not moving.

Penultimate: (adjective) second to last; as in second to last chapter of a novel.

Deuteranope (noun) person who is color blind

Deuteranopia (noun) color blindness due to inability to process green light.

Vivacious (adjective) high-spirited, enthusiastic

Chlorofluorocarbons (noun) organic compounds that are destructive to the environment (CFCs)

Sympatico (adjective) in sympathy with, feeling a kindred spirit with, compatible

Obsequious (adjective) overly respectful to point of falseness, fawning, cloyingly complimentary

Funambulist (noun) a tightrope walker

Pococurante (adjective) non-chalant, cool or (noun) a person who is suave, non-chalant, cool.

Dearth (noun) a scarcity of something, the lack of

Myriad (adjective) many, a plethora of something

Deluge (noun) a flood

triskaidekaphobia: (noun) fear of the number 13!

merge (verb) to combine into one

converge (verb) come together from different directions

ensconce (verb) to settle (someone) in a safe, or secret place

anthropomorphic (adjective) having human characteristics

anthropomorphize (verb) describe something non-human using human qualities

gobbledygook (noun) nonsense, a confused mess

omniscient (adjective) all-seeing, all-knowing

interminable (adjective) never-ending

pedagogue (noun) a strict or pedantic teacher

pedantic (adjective) overly concerned with rules and details, insistent, inflexible about rules.

luminiferous (adjective) emitting light

contest (verb) to argue, to object to (accent on second syllable)

idiosyncrasy (noun) one’s little quirk or habit

tantamount (adjective) equal to, as good as, comparable to

schadenfreude (noun) enjoyment gotten from the troubles of others

eddy (verb) swirl, whirl, spiral; (noun) a whirlpool or vortex

faux (adjective) false, fake

thwart (verb) to block, to impede, to foil, to prevent, to stop

supercilious (adjective) arrogant, conceited, haughty

tenacity (noun) perseverance, willpower

lycanthropy (noun) a magical transformation into a wolf or a beast

disgruntled (adjective) unhappy, upset, dissatisfied 

stigmatized (adjective) rejected as being outside social norms, ridiculed for a particular characteristic

Stigmatize (verb form)

mollified (adjective) calmed, soothed

mollify (verb form) to calm down from being angry

palpitate (verb) beat strongly or irregularly (as in a heartbeat), tremble

demotic (adjective) pertaining to the language common people, everyday speech, popular or colloquial.  Also, a simple form of ancient Egyptian script around 650 BCE.

idioglossia (noun) a private, original form of speech invented by children; especially prevalent with twins.

sesqipedalian (adjective) multi-syllabled

Tertiary: adjective, meaning : third Plethora: adjective,meaning: an abundance of something