7 March 2017 - INTERESTING WORDS

INTERESTING WORDS

G'day folks,

Our vocabulary is forever changing, especially since the invention of computers. Who’d have thought back in the 30’s, 50’s, and 60’s that words like ‘mouse’ and ‘gay’ would have totally different meanings? They do. However, whilst we invent new words or meanings, we have tended to forget words that have been around for decades. Here’s a list of words; some of which you may not have ever seen. Many might bring back memories of a bygone era.

Acquiesce Submit or comply silently or without protest.
Ailurophile A cat-lover.
Ameliorate To make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory
Assemblage A gathering.
Becoming Attractive.
Beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.
Brood To think alone.
Bucolic In a lovely rural setting.
Bungalow A small, cozy cottage.
Callipygous Having beautifully proportioned buttocks.
Cathartic Inducing catharsis; purgative.
Chatoyant Like a cat’s eye.
Comely Attractive.

 

Conflate To blend together.
Crestfallen Dejected; dispirited; discouraged
Cynosure A focal point of admiration.
Dalliance A brief love affair.
Demesne Dominion, territory.
Demure Shy and reserved.
Denouement The resolution of a mystery.
Desuetude Disuse.
Desultory Slow, sluggish.
Diaphanous Filmy.
Dissemble Deceive.
Dulcet Sweet, sugary.
Ebullience Bubbling enthusiasm.
Effervescent Bubbly.
Efflorescence Flowering, blooming.

Effluence The act or an instance of flowing out.
Elision Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.
Elixir A good potion.
Eloquence Beauty and persuasion in speech.
Embrocation Rubbing on a lotion.
Emollient A softener.

 

Ephemeral Short-lived.
Epiphany A sudden revelation.
Erstwhile At one time, for a time.
Ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.
Evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.
Evocative Suggestive.
Fetching Pretty.
Felicity Pleasantness.
Forbearance Withholding response to provocation.
Fugacious Fleeting.
Frisson A moment of intense excitement.
Furtive Shifty, sneaky.
Gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.
Glamour Beauty.
Gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk.
Halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.
Harbinger Messenger with news of the future.
Imbrication Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.
Imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.
Imbue To infuse, instill.
Incipient Beginning, in an early stage.
Ineffable Unutterable, inexpressible.
Ingénue A naïve young woman.
Inglenook A cozy nook by the hearth.
Insouciance Blithe nonchalance. 

Clancy's comment:  Mm … It’s a shame that many words are still not used in every day language. Some have a nice ring to them.  Sometimes I slip words like scamp and scamper into stories, just because I can ...

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