raillery \RAY-luh-ree\ (noun) - 1 : Good-humored teasing or banter. 2 : An instance of such good-humored teasing; a jest.

"But as matter for ridicule is always ready to hand, and as most men are only too fond of fun and ...Read More

congeries \KON-juh-reez\ (noun) - A collection; an aggregation.

"But if the congeries of past events, if congeries it was, could be separated from its usual partnership with sentiment, it cannot have been too much to ...Read More

peripatetic \pair-uh-puh-TET-ik\ (adjective) - 1. Of or pertaining to walking about or traveling from place to place; itinerant. 2 : Of or pertaining to the philosophy taught by Aristotle (who gave his instructions while ...Read More

dotage \DOH-tij\ (noun) - Feebleness of mind due to old age; senility.

"Jess, you told me you would never wear that particular bonnet unless you were in your dotage or wished to bewitch the man of your dreams..." -- ...Read More

trencherman \TREN-chuhr-muhn\ (noun) - A hearty eater.

"Dr. Zollner was arranging his large lunch in front of him with the expertise of a real trencherman." -- Nelson DeMille, 'Plum Island'

Trencherman is from trencher, ...Read More

galvanic \gal-VAN-ik\ (adjective) - 1 : Of, pertaining to, or producing a direct current of electricity, especially when produced chemically. 2 : Affecting or affected as if by an electric shock; startling; shocking. 3 : ...Read More