Misc. 3 Flashcards
culvert
a tunnel carrying a stream or open drain under a road or railway.
festoon
a chain or garland of flowers, leaves, or ribbons, hung in a curve as a decoration; v.) to adorn with a festoon
bunting
flags and other colourful festive decorations; a loosely woven fabric used to make bunting; a hooded sleeping bag for babies; a songbird related to the finch.
lotus-eater
a person who leads a life of dreamy, indolent ease, indifferent to the busy world; daydreamer.
crocodilian
insincere; hypocritical
malfeasance
Law. the performance by a public official of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law; wrongdoing (used especially of an act in violation of a public trust).
runnel
a gutter; a brook; a small stream of a particular liquid
scapegrace
a rogue or rascal; etymol. from someone who would escape God’s grace.
excoriate
to denounce or berate severely; flay verbally; 2.) to strip off or remove the skin from
craquelure
a network of fine cracks or crackles on the surface of a painting, caused chiefly by shrinkage of paint film or varnish.
oscitant
- drowsy or inattentive.
2. yawning, as with drowsiness; gaping.
whiffler
- a person who frequently shifts opinions, attitudes, interests, etc.
- a person who is vacillating or evasive in an argument.
paralogize
to draw conclusions that do not follow logically from a given set of assumptions.
umbra
- shade; shadow.
2. the invariable or characteristic accompaniment or companion of a person or thing.
ataraxia
a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety; tranquillity.
equivoque
an equivocal term; an ambiguous expression
simpatico
congenial or like-minded; likable: I find our new neighbor simpatico in every respect.
intrapeneur
an employee of a large corporation who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services, systems, etc., and does not have to follow the corporation’s usual routines or protocols.
froideur
from the French: an attitude of haughty aloofness; cold superiority.
katzenjammer
- uneasiness; anguish; distress.
2. the discomfort and illness experienced as the aftereffects of excessive drinking; hangover.
myrmidon
- a person who executes without question or scruple a master’s commands.
- Classical Mythology. (initial capital letter) one of the warlike people of ancient Thessaly who accompanied Achilles to the Trojan War.
flackery
publicity and promotion; press-agentry.
ripsnorter
- Informal. something or someone remarkably good or exciting.
- Informal. something or someone exceedingly strong or violent: a ripsnorter of a gale.
frowzy
\FROW-zee\
adjective
1. dirty and untidy; slovenly.
2. ill-smelling; musty.
syncretism
- the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.
- Grammar. the merging, as by historical change in a language, of two or more categories in a specified environment into one, as, in nonstandard English, the use of was with both singular and plural subjects, while in standard English was is used with singular subjects (except for you in the second person singular) and were with plural subjects.
Quotes
This artful procedure was known as syncretism, from a Greek word meaning something like “joining together.” One of the champions of syncretism had been Mahatma Gandhi, who never went anywhere without his three sacred books: the Koran for Islam, the Gospels for Christianity, and the Bhagavad Gita for Hinduism.
– Catherine Clément, Theo’s Odyssey, translated by Steve Cox and Ros Schwartz, 1999
Origin of syncretism
Syncretism comes from New Latin syncrētismus, from Greek synkrētismós, “union of Cretan cities against a common foe” and first appears in Plutarch’s Moralia in the first century A.D. It entered English in the early 1600s.
opuscule
- a small or minor work.
2. a literary or musical work of small size.
bailiwick
- a person’s area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work: to confine suggestions to one’s own bailiwick.
- the district within which a bailie or bailiff has jurisdiction.
galimatias
confused or unintelligible talk.
\gal-uh-MEY-shee-uh s, -MAT-ee-uh s\
I have seen this letter in which you tell me there is so much galimatias, and I assure you that I have not found any at all. On the contrary, I find everything plainly expressed …
– George Eliot, “A Woman in France: Madame de Sablé,” The Westminster Review, January and April, 1854
ensorcell
to bewitch: The beauty of the moon ensorcelled them.
stalwart
- firm, steadfast, or uncompromising: a stalwart supporter of the U.N.
- strong and brave; valiant: a stalwart knight.
harum-scarum
- reckless; rash; irresponsible: He had a harum-scarum youth.
- disorganized; uncontrolled.
olio
- a mixture of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge.
2. a dish of many ingredients.
entelechy
- a realization or actuality as opposed to a potentiality.
2. (in vitalist philosophy) a vital agent or force directing growth and life.
mondegreen
a misinterpretation of a word or phrase that has been heard, especially a song lyric.
psephology
the study of elections
ambisinister
clumsy or unskillful with both hands.
brickbat
- an unkind or unfavorable remark; caustic criticism: The critics greeted the play with brickbats.
- a piece of broken brick, especially one used as a missile.
eleemosynary
- of or relating to alms, charity, or charitable donations; charitable.
- derived from or provided by charity.
beatify
- to make blissfully happy.
- Roman Catholic Church. to declare (a deceased person) to be among the blessed and thus entitled to specific religious honor.
