valor Word: valor Definition: great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle. “the medals are awarded for acts of valor” March 24, 2024 untenable Word: untenable Definition: If a theory or argument is untenable, it cannot be supported or defended against criticism. If three people in four no March 24, 2024 ad hominem Word: ad hominem Definition: (of an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining. “vicious ad March 24, 2024 spry Word: spry Definition: (especially of an old person) active; lively. “he continued to look spry and active well into his eighties” March 24, 2024 Epistemological rupture Word: Epistemological rupture Definition: Epistemological rupture (or epistemological break) is a notion introduced in 1938 by French philosopher March 24, 2024 terpsichorean Word: terpsichorean Definition: relating to dancing. “aside from singing, she shows her terpsichorean skills in some of the numbers” March 24, 2024 austere Word: austere Definition: severe or strict in manner, attitude, or appearance. “an austere man, with a rigidly puritanical outlook March 24, 2024 reticent Word: reticent Definition: not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily. “she was extremely reticent about her personal affairs” March 24, 2024 inchoate Word: inchoate Definition: just begun and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary. “a still inchoate democracy” March 24, 2024 tragicomic Word: tragicomic Definition: adjective. Something that is tragicomic is both sad and amusing at the same time March 24, 2024 cadenza Word: cadenza Definition: a virtuoso solo passage inserted into a movement in a concerto or other work, typically near the end March 24, 2024 eudaimonia Word: Eudaimonia Definition: Eudaimonia, sometimes anglicized as eudaemonia or eudemonia, is a Greek word literally translating to the state or March 24, 2024 adroit Word: adroit Definition: clever or skillful in using the hands or mind. “he was adroit at tax avoidance” March 24, 2024 enigmatic Word: enigmatic Definition: difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious. “he took the money with an enigmatic smile” March 24, 2024 elan Word: elan Definition: energy, style, and enthusiasm. “a rousing march, played with great elan” March 24, 2024 hedonic adaptation Word: hedonic adaptation Definition: The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return March 24, 2024 intestate Word: intestate Definition: not having made a will before one dies. “he died intestate” March 24, 2024 cavort Word: cavort Definition: jump or dance around excitedly. “spider monkeys leap and cavort in the branches” March 24, 2024 misanthrope Word: misanthrope Definition: a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society. “Scrooge wasn’t the mean-spirited misanthrope most of us March 24, 2024 harlot Word: harlot Definition: a prostitute March 24, 2024 countenance Word: countenance Definition: a person’s face or facial expression. “his impenetrable eyes and inscrutable countenance give little away” March 24, 2024 technological determinism Word: technological determinism Definition: Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that assumes that a society’s technology progresses March 24, 2024 grift Word: grift Definition: engage in petty or small-scale swindling. “how long have you been grifting?” March 24, 2024 calque Word: calque Definition: another term for loan translation. verb originate or function as a loan translation of. ““it goes without saying” is March 24, 2024 staircase wit Word: staircase wit Definition: L’esprit de l’escalier or l’esprit d’escalier is a French term used in English for the predicament of thinking of March 24, 2024 morpheme Word: morpheme Definition: a meaningful morphological unit of a language that cannot be further divided (e.g. in, come, -ing, forming incoming ) March 24, 2024 autological Word: autological Definition: Possessing the property it describes. The word polysyllabic is autological, but the word monosyllabic is not March 24, 2024 rump state Word: rump state Definition: A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state, left with a reduced territory in the wake of secession, March 24, 2024 spoonerism Word: spoonerism Definition: a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to March 24, 2024 heteroclite Word: heteroclite Definition (adjective): abnormal or irregular. “the book suffers from the heteroclite and ill-fitting nature of its various March 24, 2024 scree Word: scree Definition: a mass of small loose stones that form or cover a slope on a mountain. “they had to pick their way up precarious scree” March 24, 2024 inselberg Word: inselberg Definition: an isolated hill or mountain rising abruptly from a plain March 24, 2024 etiology Word: etiology Definition: the cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition. “a group of distinct diseases with different March 24, 2024 sanctimonious Word: sanctimonious Definition: making a show of being morally superior to other people “What happened to all of the sanctimonious talk about March 24, 2024 gerontocracy Word: gerontocracy Definition: a state, society, or group governed by old people. government based on rule by old people March 24, 2024 sine qua non Word: sine qua non Definition: an essential condition; a thing that is absolutely necessary. “grammar and usage are the sine qua non of language March 24, 2024 anathema Word: anathema Definition: something or someone that one vehemently dislikes. “racial hatred was anathema to her” Definition: a formal curse by a March 24, 2024 lithobreaking Word: lithobreaking Definition: Lithobraking is a whimsical “crash landing” euphemism used by spacecraft engineers to refer to a spacecraft March 24, 2024 moonlighting Word: moonlighting Definition: Moonlighting is when someone works more than one job at a time March 24, 2024 Jerma twerking youtube comment From this video “That was the saddest and most miserable attempt at a twerk I’ve ever seen. Even with all that cake he has no idea how to bake” March 24, 2024 persona non grata Word: persona non grata Definition: A Latin phrase meaning “unwelcome person.” As a legal term, it refers to the practice of a state prohibiting a March 24, 2024 cachet Word: cachet Definition: the state of being respected or admired; prestige. “no other shipping company had quite the cachet of Cunard” March 24, 2024 prenup Word: prenup Definition: an agreement made by a couple before they marry concerning the ownership of their respective assets should the marriage March 24, 2024 contrite Word: contrite Definition: feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt. “a broken and a contrite heart” March 24, 2024 introjection Word: introjection Definition: the unconscious adoption of the ideas or attitudes of others. “Hesse’s introjection of his parents’ emotional values” March 24, 2024 unscrupulous Word: unscrupulous Definition: having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair. “unscrupulous landlords might be tempted to harass March 24, 2024 anachronism Word: anachronism Definition: a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is March 24, 2024 bucolic Word: bucolic Definition: relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life. “the church is lovely for its bucolic setting” March 24, 2024 psephology Word: psephology Definition: the statistical study of elections and trends in voting March 24, 2024 tabula rasa Word: tabula rasa Definition: an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals; a clean slate. “the team did not have complete freedom and a March 24, 2024