missive \MIS-iv\ (noun) - A written message; a letter.

"A missive! Yes, he would to his beloved, to the pure-as-the-whitest-snow queen of his heart, pen a missive. It took him a week to think about it, draft it, polish it and finally, in his neatest handwriting on a pastel-blue, best quality Croxley sheet the missive was ready." -- P.C. Feller,...Read more

effrontery \ih-FRUN-tuh-ree\ (noun) - Insulting presumptuousness; shameless boldness; insolence.

"There was no doubt but that she was telling the truth; what astonished her was the effrontery, the sheer, naked effrontery of men." -- Alexander McCall Smith, 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'

Effrontery is from French effronterie, ultimately ...Read more

vade mecum \vay-dee-MEE-kuhm; vah-dee-MAY-\ (noun) - 1 : A book for ready reference; a manual; a handbook. 2 : A useful thing that one regularly carries about.

"The same day the youth set out on his journey equipped with his father's three gifts, namely, the fifteen crowns, the horse and the letter to Monsieur de Treville. As may well be ...Read more

dictum \DIK-tuhm\ (noun) - 1 : An authoritative statement; a formal pronouncement. 2: Law) A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.

"Some vague sympathy evoked by the scent of the limes, some sisterly desire to see for herself, some idea of demonstrating the ...Read more

cabal \kuh-BAHL; kuh-BAL\ (noun) - 1 : A secret, conspiratorial association of plotters or intriguers whose purpose is usually to bring about an overturn especially in public affairs. 2 : The schemes or plots of such an association.

(intransitive verb) - To form a cabal; to conspire; to intrigue; to plot.

"So much for looking at the deaths of ...Read more

maunder \MON-duhr\ (intransitive verb) - 1 : To talk incoherently; to speak in a rambling manner. 2 : To wander aimlessly or confusedly.

"But if it be given to a man 'to maunder away his mind in softness,' he cannot live otherwise than as nature has made him. Such a man must maunder." -- Anthony Trollope, 'An Old Man's Love'

Maunder is perhaps...Read more

contretemps \KAHN-truh-tahn\ (noun) - An inopportune or embarrassing situation or event; a hitch.

"For the moment, the author goes from contretemps to contretemps. I have nothing against contretemps. I adore the Inferno. But how could I read it if I didn't know in advance that Dante won't let himself be turned away at the last minute from ...Read more

ululate - \UL-yuh-layt; YOOL-\ (intransitive verb) - To howl, as a dog or a wolf; to wail; as, ululating jackals.

"They began to ululate again, rolling their tongues so that their spittle flew as they emitted that terrible keening sound." -- Wilbur Smith, 'The Triumph of the Sun‎

Ululate derives from Latin ululare, to howl, to yell, ...Read more

impervious - \im-PUR-vee-uhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Not admitting of entrance or passage through; impenetrable. 2 : Not capable of being harmed or damaged. 3 : Not capable of being affected.

"She lay peacefully asleep, impervious to the man who watched her. Impervious to the fate that awaited her. Impervious to the cold that would blanket her." -- ...Read more

auspicious - \aw-SPISH-uhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Giving promise of success, prosperity, or happiness; predicting good; as, "an auspicious beginning." 2 : Prosperous; fortunate; as, "auspicious years."

"She is thin, wears only auspicious ornaments, speaks slowly and haltingly, and the pale complexion of her face outdoes the moonlight of the morning...Read more

equanimity - \ee-kwuh-NIM-uh-tee; ek-wuh-\ (noun) - 1 : Evenness of mind; calmness; composure; as, "to bear misfortunes with equanimity."

"When he made a profit, he accepted it with equanimity; when he made losses, he laughed and said: 'Well, look at this, so this one turned out badly!'" -- Herman Hesse, 'Siddhartha'

Equanimity comes from ...Read more

megalomania - \meg-uh-lo-MAY-nee-ah; -nyuh\ (noun) - 1 : A mania for grandiose or extravagant things or actions. 2 : A mental disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur.

"I'd call it incipient megalomania because he's spending far beyond sanity on self-aggrandisement." -- Dick Francis, 'Come to Grief'

Megalomania is Scientific Latin, from...Read more

euphonious - \yoo-FOH-nee-uhs\ (adjective) - Pleasing or sweet in sound; smooth-sounding.

"Pink isn't euphonious. I had a girlfriend once who called me Rosy. That wasn't good either." -- Antonia Susan Byatt, 'Still Life'

Euphonious comes from Greek euphonos, "sweet-voiced," from eu-, "well" (hence "sweetly") + phonos, from phone, "voice, sound...Read more

introspection \in-truh-SPEK-shuhn\ (noun) - The act or process of self-examination; contemplation of one's own thoughts and feelings; a looking inward.

"One could argue that most of the trouble in the world is caused by introspection. I'm not thinking of things like war, famine, disease, or violent crime -- not that sort of trouble." -- Nick ...Read more

aggress \uh-GRES\ (intransitive verb) - To commit the first act of hostility or offense; to make an attack.

"No, sir. We know they exist, of course, because we trade with them for chairs and bottles, and we know there are tmes we face away from certain places because they might be there and if we don't see them, we won't aggress because we have...Read more

osculation \os-kyuh-LAY-shuhn\ (noun) - The act of kissing; also: a kiss.

"Within a week fifty thousand women in forty counties had pictured to themselves this osculation of intellects, and shrugged their shoulders, and decided once more that men were incomprehensible." -- Arnold Bennett, 'The Old Wives' Tale'

Osculation comes from osculatio, ...Read more

mores \MOR-ayz; -eez\ (plural noun) - 1 : The fixed customs of a particular group that are morally binding upon all members of the group. 2 : Moral attitudes. 3 : Customs; habits; ways.

"After him I love
More than I love these eyes, more than my life,
More, by all mores,than e'er I shall love wife.
If I do feign, you ...Read more

chimerical \ky-MER-ih-kuhl; -MIR-; kih-\ (adjective) - 1 : Merely imaginary; produced by or as if by a wildly fanciful imagination; fantastic; improbable or unrealistic. 2 : Given to or indulging in unrealistic fantasies or fantastic schemes.

"They never overtook the chimerical friend, yet Andrea frequently inquired of walking passers and at ...Read more

upbraid \uhp-BRAYD\ (transitive verb) - To scold or criticize harshly.

"Verily, I have taken from you a hundred formulae and your virtue's favourite playthings; and now ye upbraid me, as children upbraid." -- Friedrich Nietzsche, 'Thus Spake Zarathustra'

Upbraid is from Middle English upbreiden, from Old English upbregdan, "to twist up, hence ...Read more

Dear Word Guy,

I have a lot of time on my hands now, what with being expelled from the U.S. Congress and all, so I've had time to ponder several important questions: Are criminal penalties tax deductible? Is it wrong to while away the hours binge watching "The Decameron" on Netflix? Or should that be "wile away the hours"? -- George S.

Dear ...Read more