Word of the Week: gibber (JĬB-ǝr) Definition (Verb) To speak rapidly and inarticulately; to chatter, talk nonsense. Said also of an ape. In Context “He gazed out at the Pacific again, as if daring it to rave and gibber at him, but it lay there calmly and played with the sandpipers.” Douglas Adams, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, 1984.
Word of the Week: recondite (RĔK-ən-dīt) Definition (Adjective) Especially of a subject of study or discussion: little known or understood; abstruse, obscure; profound. In Context “He relentlessly sought and printed the strangest of words from the most repugnant areas, some by direct contact with the people that used them, but most of them from dusty old recondite collections of slang and cant words from the 17th century onwards.” Robert Burchfield, “The Solo Lexicographer,” The Guardian, June 7, 1994. This word was suggested by Rand Mirante ’70 in the Office of Development.
Word of the Week: diaphanous (dī-ĂF-ə-nəs) Definition (Adjective) Permitting the free passage of light and vision; perfectly transparent; pellucid. In Context “An ethereal full-length evening gown in diaphanous layers of claret and coffee silk chiffon ($250) by the couturier John Anthony, who made dresses for Jacqueline Kennedy, still bore its original tag – a jaw-dropping $12,500.” Zarah Crawford, “After Lunching, the Ladies Go Shopping,” The New York Times, April 19, 2007.
Word of the Week: raree show (RÂR-ē shō) Definition (Noun) In extended use: an exhibition, show, or spectacle of any kind, especially one regarded as lurid, vulgar, or populist. In Context “There are times, on the contrary, when one gets the impression that her successor, King James, regarded the ceremonial antics of his scholars in Cambridge as providing a sort of raree show.” Elisabeth Leedham-Green, A Concise History of the University of Cambridge, 1996.
Word of the Week: conundrum (kə-NŬN-drəm) Definition (Noun) Any puzzling question or problem; an enigmatical statement. In Context “The North’s recent belligerence poses a conundrum for China, which has long seen the poor police state as a buffer against the alliance between the United States and South Korea.” Jane Perlez, “China Bluntly Tells North Korea to Enter Nuclear Talks,” The New York Times, May 24, 2013.
Word of the Week: sundowner (SŬN-dou-nər) Definition (Noun) An alcoholic drink taken at sunset. In Context “A shower, a sundowner at the campfire, supper, and then camera maintenance and image selection make up the evening’s activity until you collapse into bed – so tired that you probably wouldn’t notice if you had to share your tent with a lion.” Uwe Skrzypczak, Wildlife Photography: On Safari with Your DSLR, 2010.
Word of the Week: taradiddle (TĂR-ǝ-dĭd-l) Definition (Noun) A trifling falsehood, a petty lie; a colloquial euphemism for a lie; a ‘fib.’ In Context “Party feeling is capable of making quite decent people believe any taradiddle they want to believe – even if it involves taking leave of their senses.” A. G. Gardiner, “President Wilson,” The Contemporary Review, May 1920.
Word of the Week: puerile (PYŎŎR-īl) Definition (Adjective) Usually derogatory. Of conversation, thought, humor, etc.: befitting children rather than adults; childish, infantile, immature; unsophisticated; silly. In Context “The duke’s puerile love letters were read out, and he was mocked as a corrupt, lovesick old fool.” Kate Williams, Becoming Queen Victoria: The Tragic Death of Princess Charlotte and the Unexpected Rise of Britain’s Greatest Monarch, 2008.
Word of the Week: argot (ˈär-gət, -gō) Definition The language used by a particular type or group of people : an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group In Context This is a poem rendered in rough and rowdy seaman’s argot, about a petty officer dying in his hammock. Colin Fleming, Washington Post, "Celebrating Herman Melville, the poet," 26 Aug. 2019
Word of the Week: fiesty (ˈfī-stē) Definition (adjective) chiefly Southern US and Midland US 1. a) full of nervous energy : fidgety b) touchy, quarrelsome c) exuberantly frisky 2. having or showing a lively aggressiveness : spunky In Context "She's feisty. She's bawdy. She's bodacious.... She's a bit of a wild child." Vicki Lawrence, quoted in The New York Magazine, 5 Oct. 2018
