slake v. — to cool or refresh inculcate v. — to implant by repeated statement or admonition; teach persistently and earnestly rubicund adj. — inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life; picayune adj. — of little value or account; small; trifling orotund adj. — 1. (of the voice or speech) characterized by strength, fullness, richness, and clearness. 2. (of a style of speaking) pompous or bombastic. diaphanous adj. — 1. very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent. 2. delicately hazy. timorous adj. — full of fear; fearful paroxysm n. — any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion epithet n. — 1a . A term used to characterize a person or thing, such as rosy-fingered in rosy-fingered dawn or the Great in Catherine the Great. 1b. A term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person, such as The Great Emancipator for Abraham Lincoln. 2. An abusive or contemptuous word or phrase rapacious adj. — given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed. demimonde n. — 1a. A class of women kept by wealthy lovers or protectors. 1b. Women prostitutes considered as a group. 2 A group whose respectability is dubious or whose success is marginal salubrious adj. — favorable to or promoting health nacreous adj. — resembling nacre; lustrous; pearly. caterwaul v. — To cry or screech like a cat in heat. cur n. — 1. a mongrel dog, esp. a worthless or unfriendly one. 2. a mean, cowardly person. obdurate adj. — unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding. lugubrious adj. — mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner surfeit n. — excess; an excessive amount. v. — to bring to a state of surfeit by excess of food or drink. unctuous adj.—1. Characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness. 2. Having the quality or characteristics of oil or ointment; slippery. supercilious adj. — haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression vacillate v. — to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute. lachrymose adj. — suggestive of or tending to cause tears; mournful. churlish adj. — like a churl; boorish; rude. effluvium n. — a slight or invisible exhalation or vapor, esp. one that is disagreeable or noxious. hirsute adj. — hairy; shaggy. turpitude n. — vile, shameful, or base character; depravity surreptitious adj. — obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine umbrage n. — 1. Offense; resentment 2. shade or shadows, as cast by trees 3. A vague or indistinct indication; a hint paramour n. — A lover, especially one in an adulterous relationship. august adj. — inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic: bokeh n — a Japanese term for the subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of a photographic image sacrosanct adj. — extremely sacred or inviolable carbuncle n. — 1. a painful circumscribed inflammation of the subcutaneous tissue, resulting in suppuration and sloughing, and having a tendency to spread somewhat like a boil, but more serious in its effects. 2. a gemstone, esp. a garnet, cut with a convex back and a cabochon surface. demesne n. — possession of land as one's own anfractuous adj. — characterized by windings and turnings; sinuous; circuitous pogonology n. — the study of beards verisimilitude n. — the appearance or semblance of truth ululate v. — to utter howling sounds, as in shrill, wordless lamentation; wail. bucolic adj — of, pertaining to, or suggesting an idyllic rural life. miasma n. — A noxious atmosphere or influence poltroon n. — a wretched coward; craven. adj. — marked by utter cowardice. avuncular adj. — of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an uncle tumbril n. — 1. one of the carts used during the French Revolution to convey victims to the guillotine. 2. a farmer's cart, esp. one for hauling manure, that can be tilted to discharge its load. susurrus n. — a soft murmuring or rustling sound; whisper firmament n. — the vault of heaven; sky anathema n. — a person or thing detested or loathed pernicious adj. — causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful eschew v. — to abstain or keep away from; shun; avoid flotilla n — a group of small naval vessels tenet n. — any opinion, principle, doctrine, dogma, etc., esp. one held as true by members of a profession, group, or movement tawny adj — of a dark yellowish or dull yellowish-brown color luthier n. — a maker of stringed instruments, as violins paean n. — any song of praise, joy, or triumph puerile adj. — childishly foolish; immature or trivial jeremiad n. — a prolonged lamentation or mournful complaint portmanteau n. — a new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings; "'smog' is a blend of 'smoke' and 'fog'"; luddite n. — 1. Any of a group of British workers who between 1811 and 1816 rioted and destroyed laborsaving textile machinery in the belief that such machinery would diminish employment. 2. One who opposes technical or technological change. fecund adj. — 1. producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in abundance; prolific; fruitful: 2. very productive or creative intellectually ersatz adj. — Being an imitation or a substitute, usually an inferior one; artificial analemma n. — a scale shaped like the figure 8, showing the declination of the sun and the equation of time for each day of the year simulacra n. pl. — a slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance umami n. — A taste that is characteristic of monosodium glutamate and is associated with meats and other high-protein foods. It is sometimes considered to be a fifth basic taste along with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. helot n. — A person in servitude; a serf kowtow v. — 1. to act in an obsequious manner; show servile deference. 2. to touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling, as an act of worship, reverence, apology, etc., esp. in former Chinese custom. usurious adj. — practicing usury; charging illegal or exorbitant rates of interest for the use of money flotsam n. — the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water.

Whenever I find an interesting word, I keep track of it right here.