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

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I've always been jealous of my friends who studied for the GRE. They had an excuse to learn massive amounts of vocabulary, whereas I have to do it all on my lonesome :P I'm constantly digging in the dictionary and thesaurus any time I happen across an unfamiliar word.

Learning for the sake of learning. God, I'm a nerd.

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

Hey, you're telling this to someone who likes to read the Scrabble Dictionary for fun.

And what other reason is there to learn? ;)

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Hey, I read that too! I go to used book stores and buy old dictionaries and thesauruses (thesauri?).

Mostly, I hate to admit, I learn so I don't ever have to appear unintelligent. In astrology, I blame it on Saturn in my 3rd house, which translates to a fear of restriction in communications, and in my life, I blame it on spending many of my formative years in white-trash, hick southern Indiana and having to be surrounded by the ignorant and maladjusted. It's compensatory to guarantee that I am never confused for one of them.

TMI?

[anubis75.livejournal.com]

Learning for the sake of learning.

Ain't nothin' wrong with that.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I know that :) It just goes against the current paradigm on purposeful ignorance that most of society seems to be striving for.