Vocabulary Lesson

[jackshoegazer]

In my ongoing quest to increase my vocabulary, I hereby present some of my latest additions, brought to you by Dictionary.com's Word of the Day. Some of them are very different than what I imagined them to mean.

saturnine \SAT-uhr-nyn\, adjective:
1. Born under or being under the astrological influence of the
planet Saturn.
2. Gloomy or sullen in disposition.
3. Having a sardonic or bitter aspect.

lionize \LY-uh-nyz\, transitive verb:
To treat or regard as an object great interest or importance.

finical \FIN-ih-kuhl\, adjective:
Extremely or unduly particular in standards or taste;
fastidious; finicky.

recreant \REK-ree-uhnt\, adjective:
1. Cowardly; craven.
2. Unfaithful; disloyal.

tumid\TOO-mid; TYOO-\, adjective:
1. Swollen, enlarged, or distended; as, "a tumid leg."
2. Bulging; protuberant.
3. Swelling in sound or sense; pompous; inflated; bombastic.

unfledged \uhn-FLEJD\, adjective:
1. Lacking the feathers necessary for flight.
2. Not fully developed; immature.

betimes \bih-TYMZ\, adverb:
1. Early; in good time; before it is late.
2. At times; on occasion.
3. [Archaic] Soon; in a short time.

glutinous \GLOOT-nuhs\, adjective:
Of the nature of glue; resembling glue; sticky.

durance \DUR-uhn(t)s; DYUR-\, noun:
1. Imprisonment; confinement or restraint by or as if by force
(usually used in the phrase "durance vile").
2. [Archaic] Endurance.

Comments

[parapherna.livejournal.com]

Since I'm a writer, I find Word of the Day to be both a curse and an elevation. So many words, so many compulsions!

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

The hard part is finding a reason to use them in speech. In writing, it's a bit easier, as I'm much more verbose in text than I am in speech and I also tend to 'dumb down' my speech a bit, so that I don't come across as arrogant and educated :P More accurately, I adjust my speech to the person I'm talking to, so in a conversation with say, Britney Spears, I would never tell her she's unfledged and recreant; that her pregnancy makes her look tumid, and that I refuse to lionize her. I could say instead, "What up, grrl? Take your barefoot, preggo ass and make me a chicken pot pie!" :)