fiction \FIK-shehn\ (noun) - 1 : The process of creative fabrication or its result, a creative fabrication; that is, something dreamed up and not real. 2 : A kind of completely creative writing in which the characters and actions have no basis in reality.

"In order to get an interview for the job, Melanie submitted a mostly fictional ...Read more

illation \i-LAY-shuhn\ (noun) - 1 : The act of inferring. 2 : An inference or conclusion drawn.

"As her friends were quick to point out, Courtney's political illations were by any standards excessively childish."

From Late Latin illation-, from Latin illatus, past participle of inferre (to bring in), from il- + ferre (to carry).

chuffed \chuft\ (adjective) - Pleased; satisfied.

"While not convinced that he had done his absolute best, Mike was chuffed that he had won the blue ribbon in spite of all the obstacles in front of him."

From chuff (boor, churl), from Middle English chuffe.

laconic \luh-KON-ik\ (adjective) - Sparing with words, concise, terse.

"Lana's laconic way of speaking was completely at odds with her wordy, rambling prose style."

From Latin Laconicus, from Greek Lakonikos, from Lakon, Laconian, a resident of Laconia, an ancient country in southern Greece (Capital: Sparta). From the the reputation of the ...Read more

recrudescent \ree-kroo-DES-uhnt\ (adjective) - Breaking out again after temporary abatement or suppression; as, a recrudescent epidemic.

"Jenna's recrudescent acne had a tendency to make its appearance at the most inconvenient of times, such as when she had a date or public appearance."

Recrudescent derives from the present participle of Latin...Read more

fain \fayn\ (adverb) - 1 : Willingly; gladly. 2 : Rather. (adjective) - 1 : Pleased. 2 : Obliged. 3 : Eager.

"As the delay continued Mordecai was both busy and happy at the Mill, for he liked and loved this damsel well, and was fain of her company."

From Middle English, from Old English faegen (glad).

libertine \LI-behr-teen\ (noun) - 1 : A free-thinker (originally used to refer to an emancipated slave or freedman). 2 : A person who lives without constraints, including moral ones.

"In her third affair in as many months, Michelle is treading the thin line between a libertine and a trollop."

Latin libertinus from liber "free". The origin ...Read more

corybantic \kor-i-BAN-tik\ (adjective) - Wild; frenzied; uncontrolled.

"Harold felt that the radio show was worse than merely 'bad,' thinking that it penetrated the mind, filling it with a babble of distractions, blasts of corybantic or sentimental music, and continually repeated doses of drama that brought no catharsis."

After Corybant, an ...Read more

thalassic \theh-LAE-sik\ (adjective) - Pertaining to the sea; marine.

"We can dream thalassic dreams until the occasion for a thalassic respite from work presents itself."

The adjective "thalassic" goes back to Greek thalassa "sea." It was made memorable by Xenophon in his "Anabasis" as the cry of the Greek mercenaries ...Read more

Goth /goth/ (noun) - A rude or uncivilized person.

"The speaker's announcements swung wildly between statesman and Goth."

From Goth, one of a Germanic tribe who invaded the Roman empire during the third, fourth and fifth centuries.

ploce \PLO-see\ (noun) - The repetition of a word or phrase to gain special emphasis or to indicate an extension of meaning, as in Ex. 3:14: "I am that I am.'

"Popeye's ploce of 'I am what I am' seemed to Terry to be the perfect mantra for an imperfect man living in an imperfect society."

Earlier ploche, from Late Latin ploce, from Greek ploke...Read more

perforce \pur-FORS\ (adverb) - By necessity; by force of circumstance.

"Should it actually come to pass, even those who followed every twist and turn of the process will perforce rub their eyes, incredulous that such a man could be elected to such a high office."

Perforce comes from French par force, "by force."

runagate \REHN-eh-geyt\ (noun) - The same as that of "renegade:" 1 : an apostate, someone who deserts a religion, cause or obligation; 2 : an outlaw, especially one who runs rampant over a territory.

"The new music teacher put together a jazz ensemble composed of runagates from the symphony orchestra."

Today's word probably originated as a ...Read more

snook \SNOOK\ (noun) - 1 : A gesture of defiance and/or derision. 2 : Any of several kinds of salt-water fish of family Centropomidae, such as the sergeant-fish and the robalo.

"Sarah's rendition of 'I'm still standing' at the karaoke evening was a transparent snook aimed at the management cabal trying to force her resignation."

No-one ...Read more

explicate \EK-spluh-kayt\ (transitive verb) - To explain; to clear of difficulties or obscurity.

"Every day I would come home from the office to find him waiting and he would stay until dinnertime. During that time I would read and explicate a German introduction to philosphy to him. In return he would instruct me on the Yuishikiron, the ...Read more

bivouac \BIV-wak, BIV-uh-wak\ (noun) - An encampment for the night, usually under little or no shelter.

(intransitive verb) - To encamp for the night, usually under little or no shelter.

"When the weather suddenly turned snowy and cold, Jack and Pete decided it would be better to bivouac where they were rather than risk getting lost in the ...Read more

unique \yu-NEEK\ (adjective) - Sole, one of a kind, without equal or match.

"Going out with Mary Ellen to the county sausage-eating contest was an almost unique experience in my life."

Today's word comes to us, as so many others, from Latin "unicus" via Old French. The underlying root is oi-no- from which English "one" is ...Read more

cacodylic \kae-keh-DI-lik\ (adjective) - 1 : Belonging to the arsenic group of poisons. 2 : Foul-smelling.

"After playing in the yard, Meghan found a cacodylic substance clinging stubbornly to the bottom of her right shoe."

Greek kakos "bad, ugly" + od from od-ein "to smell" + yl + ic. Kakos is related to kakka, a ...Read more

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

"There is no doubt whatever that I was a lackadaisical young spoony; but there was a purity of heart in all this, that prevents my having quite a contemptuous recollection of it, let me laugh as I may." -- Charles Dickens, 'David...Read more