Show Words Flashcards
Strabismus
The inability of one eye to obtain binocular vision with the other because of an imbalance of the muscles of the eyeball.
In the schoolyard, Billy protested that he wasn’t cockeyed. “I suffer from Strabismus,” he said, whereupon the bullies beat him harder.
Capybara
A tailless, largely aquatic South American rodent often exceeding four feet in length
Don’t look now Pedro, but I think that tailless, largely aquatic four-and-a-half-foot rodent swimming next to you may be a capybara
Boanthropy
The delusion that one has become an ox
(No sentence given)
Dystopia
A place or state where things are as bad as it gets.
Whenever Jack gets depressed about living in a dystopia, he calls his brother in Florida
Ecdysiast
A striptease artist.
Politically correct Tom told his son, “say ‘ecdysiast,’ the word ‘stripper’ is insulting.”
Bankrupt
The state of being hopelessly in debt.
Having to choose between being morally bankrupt or financially bankrupt, Philip chose moral, saying “if I have to be bankrupt, I at least want money.”
Phylactery
Either of two square leather boxes containing religious texts, traditionally worn on the left arm and head by Jewish men during morning weekday prayers.
Billy, put down that phylactery—we’re Episcopalian.
Cow
It means “a cow.”
Please spell cow.
Cystitis
An inflammation of the urinary bladder.
Sally’s mother told her it was her cystitis that made her special.
Acouchi
A South American rodent of the genus Myoprocta, resembling an agouti
(No sentence given)
Thalposis
A sensation of warmth
After feeling another wave of thalposis, Tommy realized he was in the kiddie pool.
Arriviste
A person who has attained high position or great power without due merit, effort, or intelligence.
Kim Kardashian received top honors at this year’s first annual Arriviste Awards.
Pheochromocytomata
Tumors that produce excess epinephrine and cause hypertension, nausea, and diarrhea in one’s sympathetic nervous system.
When the Dr told John about his Pheochromocytomata, he wondered how nausea and diarrhea could be part of a Sympathetic nervous system.
Tittup
It means lively movement or behavior, or to move restlessly. It refers to the sound of horse hooves—tittup, tittup, tittup.
(No sentence given)
Catterjoons
That definition is unknown. It exists in the oral tradition, seems to be an old Nantucket whaling term. There is only one written citation.
The neap tide is upon us. The leviathan nears. Catterjoons.
Xerophthalmiology
Abnormal redness of the eyes or dilation of the pupils, caused by a deficiency of vitamin A.
Stoner Billy’s gullible mother always buys his xerophthalmiology excuse.
Sluice
It’s an artificial passage for water with a valve or gate for stopping and regulating flow.
Yes- a channel or drain to carry off excess water.
Yes-it’s a body of water pent up behind a floodgate.
Chimerical
It means unreal. Imaginary. Visionary. Wildly fanciful. Highly unrealistic.
Crepuscule
It means “twilight.”
Vug
Cornish dialect, a Latin derivative.
Floccinaucinihilipilification
The action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
Despite her mother’s floccinaucinihilipilification, Becky’s habit of saving her fingernail clippings did come in handy eventually.
Wangan
A shed for keeping small supplies in a lumber camp.
Kenny took refuge in the wangan when he didn’t make any friends at lumber camp.
Bully
A mean-spirited or aggressive person, usually acting at another’s expense.
This gymnasium is a bully-free zone.
Alcohol
A volatile liquid used as an industrial solvent, or often consumed as a beverage.
If anyone has alcohol they would like to share with me, please bring it to the house manager
Sermunckle
A short sermon by a priest.
There is no such thing as a sermunckle.
Pancake
A thin, flat cake of batter, usually fried in a pan and eaten with syrup
Bobby nicknamed his oldest child “pancake”, because the first one is always a mistake.
Bobby went to the Halloween party as a thin pancake, hoping to give people the crepes.
Bobby ran an illegal pancake restaurant, but got arrested for un-waffle activities.
Epicalyx
An involucre resembling a plant stem but consisting of a whorl of bracts that is exterior to the calyx or results from the union of the sepal appendages
Look at that epicalyx
Honorificabilitudinitatibus
A word meaning “with honorableness,” appearing in the first surviving edition of Shakespeare’s play Loves Labours Lost.
“For thou art not so long by the head as honorificabilitudinitatibus; thou art easier swallowed than a flapdragon.”
Pneumonoultramicroscopicailicovcanoconiosis
Often said to be the longest word in the English language, it refers to a disease coal miners get by inhaling silica and quartz dust.
Pneumono…coniosis sure is a long word.
Onomatopoeia
A word based on the occurrence of a sound, such as “sizzle” or “cuckoo”
I’m gonna go cuckoo if you can spell onomatopoeia.
Phthisis
Pulmonary tuberculosis, or a similar progressive systemic disease.
It’s like my mother always said, an apple a day keeps the phthisis away.
Mnemonic
A sentence, song, or other verbal device to help a person remember something.
Ironically, Timmy could never remember how to spell the word mnemonic.
