Fun Words

Every so often I find, through my reading, words that just sound good to me.  Whether they are new words to me or words that I always accepted but never really understood, I enjoy looking into them and discovering new uses for them.  This gives rise to Karen calling me Webster, after Noah, thereby defaming a man of immense industry and probably moral rectitude by comparison to me.  In no way am I as wordy as old Noah.  Thankfully, I don't compare to William F. Buckley, either, on any level.  About the only three things we have in common is that we're all white, all men and all American.  The similarities end there.

So here are the words that have piqued my interest lately:

Adumbrate:  To foreshadow, to suggest, to intimate, darkly.  Who knew?  And to think I thought portend was haughty.

Dint:  As in, by dint of...another headscratcher.  It means power.  That's not one I saw coming.  Then again, I can be pretty dense.

Autarky:  For political states, self-sufficient.  Thanks to the biography of Alexander Hamilton that I'm reading, this is a new word.  Boy, they sure did speak funny way back when.

Condign:  Deserved, appropriate.  Again, I'd use this in a sentence because it has less syllables, but then I'd probably be thought snooty.  Aw, heck with it.  Snooty it is.

Fractious:  This I could have guessed by context -- troublesome.  One could say that use of the word condign is fractious...but that would be piling it on.

Trenchant:  Keen, sharp.  That sounds right.

Ken:  When not paired with Barbie, this means ambit, knowledge.  Or just ask a Scotsman.

Conflate: To bring together, usually to confuse.  That makes sense.  This is a hot word right now in political circles which, actually, is useful.

Turbid:  Deficient in clarity or purity, which is appropriate.  I'm sure I'll mix this and turgid up plenty.  

Insouciant:  It means nonchalance, but if one's using insouciant to mean nonchalant, there's nothing nonchalant about its use.

Akimbo:  This means to stand with one's hands on his hips.  I already knew that; I just like the look and the sound of the word.

Victual:  I learned this one reading Plato's The Republic.  Many people are not familiar with it until they realize it's pronounced vittle.

Bawd:  Coarse or suggestive, hence bawdy.

Fillip:  To stimulate, not what I would have thought.  I guess this would suggest Phillip Phillips doesn't need to drink coffee.

(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles