New Game: What's the Word?

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: DÉMARCHE

pronunciation: [dey-MARSH]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: French, 17th century

 

Meaning:
1. A political step or initiative.

 

Example:

"The démarche of President Nixon visiting China in 1972 is remembered for warming U.S.-Chinese relations."

"Most politicians have careers full of attempted démarches that never go anywhere, but some are remembered for initiatives that really captured the public’s enthusiasm."

 

About Démarche

“Démarche” is based on the French verb “démarcher,” meaning “to take steps.”

 

Did you Know?

One of the features of American democracy is the right for citizens to launch their own political démarches. In many other countries, political programs may be presented and approved only by elected officials; however, the U.S. system of initiatives and referendums gives citizens the ability to introduce legislation to ballots for approval by popular vote. Known in different states and districts as “ballot measures,” “ballot questions,” and “propositions,” these popular decisions have led to legislative changes on démarches as wide-ranging as legalizing cannabis, setting the minimum wage, adopting renewable energy, and recalling elected leaders.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: PIFFLING

pronunciation: [PIF-ling]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: English, 19th century

 

Meaning:
1. Trivial; unimportant.

 

Example:

"Dora felt disappointed to have worked so hard for such a piffling amount of pay."

"I’m hesitant to call professionals for piffling repairs, so I always try to fix things myself first."

 

About Piffling

“Piffling” is based on the English word “piffle,” meaning “nonsense.”

 

Did you Know?

“Piffling” is an adjective formed in English to describe unimportant things, based on the noun “piffle.” “Piffle” can also be a verb: “To piffle” means to speak in a useless or meaningless way. Thus, a “piffling” matter is that associated with meaningless things, and the kind of speech that promotes meaninglessness.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: TORPID

pronunciation: [TOR-pid]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Latin, 17th century

 

Meaning:

1. Mentally or physically inactive; lethargic.

2. (Of an animal) Dormant, especially during hibernation.

 

Example:

"After working the street fair all weekend, Lali spent Monday in a state of torpid inertia."

"The stress of closing up the restaurant after a busy Friday night left me torpid."

 

About Torpid

“Torpid” is based on the Latin “torpidus,” meaning “benumbed.”

 

Did you Know?

A “torpid” state is common and easy to identify: It’s when we get nothing done physically or mentally, either because we choose not to, or because we’re just too tired to do any more. “Torpid” can also describe dormant animals in hibernation. So it’s strange to note that the term is closely linked to the word “torpedo,” albeit through a circuitous route. The Latin root “torpere” means “be numb or sluggish,” and the word “torpedo” was given as a nickname to the electric ray fish, thanks to the numbness caused by its stings. It is after these fish, and the torpid state they can cause, that the underwater missile known as the “torpedo” was named in the late 18th century.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: FANTOD

pronunciation: [FAN-tod]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: Unknown, 19th century

 

Meaning:

1. A state or attack of uneasiness or unreasonableness.

 

Example:

"The innkeeper was nice enough, but the B&B gave me the fantods, so we left after just one night."

"The uneasiness ahead of a workweek is called “the Sunday scaries,” but that feeling can be called “the fantods” on any day."

 

About Fantod

The origin of “fantod” is unclear, but it may be related to “fantastic” or “fatigue,” with the Welsh ending “-od,” indicating plurality in animals.

 

Did you Know?

“Fantod” usually appears in the plural — in part because its “-od” ending may be a Welsh plural. So rather than hear of a singular “fantod,” we’re likelier to hear of “the fantods.” This expression — describing a feeling of vague uneasiness — is very similar in meaning to “the willies” or “the heebie-jeebies,” though having been first noted in the mid-19th century, “the fantods” predates both of those terms.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: RIVIÈRE

pronunciation: [riv-ee-AIR]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: French, 19th century

 

Meaning:

1. A necklace of gems that increase in size toward a large central stone, typically consisting of more than one string.

 

Example:

"While a rivière is a striking piece of jewelry, it can make a subtle fashion statement."

"The standard rivière is made with matching gems of the same cut and color, though the stones get larger toward the center of the necklace."

 

About Rivière

“Rivière” is taken from the French for “river.”

 

Did you Know?

The necklace style known as the “rivière” links gemstones together on a string or chain with a continuity that brings to mind the flow of a river — the root of the style’s name. The style emerged in 18th-century France, during the time of Queen Marie-Antoinette, who was associated with a rivière called “le collier de la Reine” (“the Queen’s necklace”). This rivière was the subject of the infamous “Affair of the Diamond Necklace,” in which Marie-Antoinette was accused of refusing to pay the crown jeweler for making the ornate rivière in 1845. It later emerged that Marie-Antoinette had rejected the piece, but a notorious thief named Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy forged the queen’s signature hoping to steal the set of jewels.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: EPIGRAPH

pronunciation: [EP-ih-graf]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: Greek, 16th century

 

Meaning:

1. An inscription on a building, statue, or coin.

2. A short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

 

Example:

"I didn’t recognize the man in the statue, but the epigraph said he was the city’s first mayor."

"The brief epigraph at the beginning of the book of poetry described the author’s love of the wilderness."

 

About Epigraph

“Epigraph” is based on the Greek “ἐπιγραφή” (“epigraphḗ”), meaning “inscription.”

 

Did you Know?

Though epigraphs were originally inscribed upon solid physical works, such as statues, buildings, and coins, the modern usage of “epigraph” mostly refers to the short quotes at the beginnings of works of writing in order to suggest the theme. Perhaps the most notable epigraph in modern literature is the quote from Gertrude Stein that precedes Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises”: “You are all a lost generation.” That epigraph took on a life of its own as “the lost generation” became a common term used to describe rootless men struggling to find meaning after World War I, like those in Hemingway’s novel.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: HAPTIC

pronunciation: [HAP-tik]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Greek, 19th century

 

Meaning:

1. Relating to the sense of touch, in particular relating to the perception and manipulation of objects.

2. Using the senses of touch and proprioception.

 

Example:

"My new phone replaced the physical click button with a haptic system."

"Touchscreen devices have trained people to be more responsive to haptic sensations."

 

About Haptic

“Haptic” is based on the Greek “haptikos,” meaning “able to touch or grasp.”

 

Did you Know?

In electronics, “haptic technology” is also called “kinesthetic communication” or “3D touch,” and its goal is to give users more feedback when a task is accomplished — for example, when a button on a glass screen is tapped, a haptic buzz gives an acknowledgment. For many, the first introduction to haptic technology was through gaming controls, which introduced haptic features to make players feel more deeply invested in the games. However, the technology also has lifesaving applications in aviation, where haptic signals delivered through controls can be used to warn pilots of potential dangers, and automotive design, where haptic alerts encourage drivers to monitor lane departure.

 

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: PIRANDELLIAN

pronunciation: [pir-ən-DEL-ee-ən]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Proper name, 20th century

 

Meaning:

1. Describing drama in which actors become inseparable and indistinct from the characters that they play.

2. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the works of Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), Italian dramatist and poet.

 

Example:

"The experimental play mixed fiction and reality in a truly Pirandellian manner."

"Not all audiences respond favorably to the Pirandellian move of merging characters with the real-life identities of the actors who play them."

 

About Pirandellian

“Pirandellian” is based on the proper name of Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello, plus the suffix “–ian.”

 

Did you Know?

“Pirandellian” is a word based on Italian playwright and author Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936), best known for writing challenging plays that were the foundation for a movement called the Theater of the Absurd. Plays by Pirandello (who won the 1934 Nobel Prize in literature) drew attention to the relationship between the characters and the actors who played them. In these plays, actors often portrayed characters that partly included the identities of the actors themselves. As a result, “Pirandellian” became a term to describe the dramatic merging of actors and their characters, such as when actor and writer Larry David plays a fictional character named “Larry David” on the hit show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: EXTEMPORANEOUS

pronunciation: [ik-stem-pə-RAY-nee-əs]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Latin, late 17th century

 

Meaning:

1. Spoken or done without preparation.

 

Example:

"I was surprised to be asked to give an extemporaneous speech at the wedding."

"The director stood up to give a few extemporaneous remarks at the end of the day."

 

About Extemporaneous

Impromptu, spur of the moment, off the cuff — all casual ways to describe an extemporaneous speech. Extemporaneous comes from the Latin "ex tempore," meaning out of time. There's no time to prepare, but you'll improvise.

 

Did you Know?

Members of the high school speech team probably know this word. In an extemporaneous challenge, participants square off in a one-to-one debate on a given topic, with limited time to prepare. They don't know the topic ahead of time, so it's a test of their ability to think on their feet.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: HOMONYMOUS

pronunciation: [hə-MON-ə-məs]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Latin, 17th century

 

Meaning:

1. Having the same name as another (i.e., like a namesake).

2. Of or pertaining to a homonym.

 

Example:

"Coincidentally, the judge and the lawyer had homonymous family names."

"Though “compliment” is homonymous with “complement,” the words describe two different actions."

 

About Homonymous

“Homonymous” is from the Latin “homōnymus,” meaning “of the same name.”

 

Did you Know?

Homonyms describe two classes of words: “homographs,” which are different words with identical spellings, regardless of pronunciation (such as the metal “lead” and the verb “to lead”); and “homophones,” which are pronounced the same regardless of spelling (such as “by” and “buy,” or “merry” and “marry”). In order for words to be homonymous, they must share one of these characteristics. As a result, “homonymous” is usually shorthand for “spelled differently but pronounced the same way.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: HIDEBOUND

pronunciation: [HAHYD-bownd]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: English, 17th century

 

Meaning:

1. Unwilling or unable to change because of tradition or convention.

 

Example:

"With the exception of a few hidebound urban traditionalists, the whole city council voted to absorb the suburbs into the city limits."

"Despite several decades of advances in camping equipment, my hidebound uncle insists his 1970s mountaineering tools are still superior."

 

About Hidebound

“Hidebound” was formed out of two words in English: “hide,” meaning “animal skin,” and “bound,” meaning “tied.”

 

Did you Know?

The term “hidebound” once referred simply to animals — an animal was hidebound when it was emaciated, with skin so tight against its body that it restricted motion. Today, the term refers to anyone or anything held in place by the tension of some tradition or convention and a fixation on doing things as they’ve always been done. For example, hidebound music companies that have not embraced the rise of TikTok and other social media are at risk of losing out in the new landscape of streaming and musical discovery.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: VERISIMILAR

pronunciation: [ver-ə-SIM-ə-lər]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Latin, 17th century

 

Meaning:

1. Appearing to be true or real; probable; likely.

2. (Fiction) Faithful to its own rules; internally consistent.

 

Example:

"The bartender told us a far-fetched story, but with enough confirmable details to make it seem verisimilar."

"I need a book to be verisimilar; if the details start to conflict, I quickly lose interest."

 

About Verisimilar

“Verisimilar” is based on the Latin “vērisimilis,” meaning “having the appearance of truth.” This root combines “vērus” (meaning “true”) and “similis” (meaning “like” or “similar”).

 

Did you Know?

To describe something as “verisimilar” is not to say that it is necessarily true — only that it has the appearance of truth. In many cases, without evidence proving something is true beyond doubt, confirming it is verisimilar may be the closest available verification to truth. For example, in a court case based on the testimony of eyewitnesses rather than on a wealth of physical evidence, the outcome of the case will depend on how verisimilar the judge and jury find the eyewitnesses to be.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: PARISOLOGY

pronunciation: [pahr-ə-sah-lə-jee]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: Greek, 19th century

 

Meaning:

1. The use of equivocal or ambiguous words.

 

Example:

"The lawyer folded so much parisology into her argument, we could barely understand what she had said."

"What makes parisology frustrating is that the listener wants to understand, but the message is so ambiguous, it’s impossible to decipher."

 

About Parisology

“Parisology” combines the ancient Greek “πάρισος” (“párisos,” meaning “almost equal, balanced”) with the suffix “-logy” (meaning “way of speaking”).

 

Did you Know?

“Parisology” has nothing to do with Paris, France. In fact, the City of Light was named after the Parisii, a Gallic people who inhabited it early in its history. Instead, “parisology” is based on the ancient Greek word “πάρισος” (“párisos”), meaning “almost equal.” In this definition, “almost” is important because it indicates the way a person engaged in parisology comes close to making a statement equal to the clear truth. However, “parisology” describes the use of ambiguous language that is hard to determine the exact meaning of. As a result, parisology is “almost equal” to a direct description — except it leaves out enough details to remain obscure.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: FAVONIAN

pronunciation: [fə-VOH-nee-ən]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Latin, 17th century

 

Meaning:

1. Pertaining to the west wind.

2. (By extension) Mild, gentle.

 

Example:

"The bright morning promised favonian weather for the rest of our trip."

"The flight from Los Angeles to New York was helped along by favonian tailwinds."

 

About Favonian

“Favonian” is based on the Latin “Favōnius,” referring to the “god of the west wind.”

 

Did you Know?

In ancient Rome, the god of the west wind — known in Latin as “Favōnius” — was considered the bringer of spring. As a result, “favonian” may technically refer to the west wind, but what it really calls to mind is the gentle and fertile promise of springtime. Today, “favonian” refers to things that are favorable, gentle, or pleasant.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: RIGORISM

pronunciation: [RIG-ə-riz-əm]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: English, 18th century

 

Meaning:

1. Extreme strictness in interpreting or enforcing a law, precept, or principle.

2. (In the Roman Catholic Church) Formerly, the doctrine that in doubtful cases of conscience the strict course is always to be followed.

 

Example:

"The vice principal was known for her rigorism, and every student expected the full term of detention allowed after they were called to her office."

"Despite my father’s rigorism around instructing me on proper behavior at the dinner table, he was always sure to sneak me a treat before bedtime."

 

About Rigorism

“Rigorism” was formed in English by combining the existing word “rigor” (meaning “strictness”) with the suffix “-ism.”

 

Did you Know?

The term “rigorism” can describe any tendency to great strictness in interpreting rules, but it was originally associated with a particular doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. In Catholicism, “rigorism” refers to the idea that in circumstances where it’s unclear which path is right and which is wrong, the safest path is to adhere to the response most closely associated with church teachings and rules. Another way of interpreting Catholic rigorism would be to say, “When in doubt about which choice is best, follow the rules to the letter.”

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: PLUTOGRAPHY

pronunciation: [ploo-TOG-rə-fee]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: American English, 1980s

 

Meaning:

1. Depiction, presentation, or coverage of the rich, particularly the lifestyles they enjoy.

 

Example:

"From “Dynasty” to the “Real Housewives” series to “Succession,” viewers are obsessed with watching plutography on television."

"Plutography is a hallmark of classic American literature, as the lives of the rich and famous have been featured in works such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and Henry James’ “The Portrait of a Lady.”"

 

About Plutography

American journalist and author Tom Wolfe coined “plutography” in the early 1980s by combining the prefix “pluto-” (referring to wealth) with the suffix “-graphy,” suggesting the representation of a thing.

 

Did you Know?

Reporter and author Tom Wolfe coined the word “plutography” to describe one of the key concerns of the 1980s, an era fascinated with wealth. Wolfe reported on and wrote fiction about the lives of America’s richest people, most notably in his 1987 novel, “The Bonfire of the Vanities.” Earlier in his career, Wolfe was a standard-bearer of the late 1960s movement called “New Journalism,” in which journalists inserted themselves into the story and shared their own thoughts and feelings in a literary style that did more than just report the facts. Wolfe was perhaps best known for his 1979 book “The Right Stuff,” which charted the lives and careers of high-speed aircraft pilots who were drafted into NASA’s space program.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: SHAMBOLIC

pronunciation: [sham-BOL-ik]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: English, mid-20th century

 

Meaning:

1. Chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged.

 

Example:

"The play was a disaster and closed after a single shambolic performance."

"The new CEO brought in an auditing team to make sense of the shambolic records kept under her predecessor."

 

About Shambolic

“Shambolic” is based on the word “shambles,” meaning “great disorder,” with the suffix “-olic” possibly borrowed from “symbolic.”

 

Did you Know?

The term “shambolic” has been in use since the early 1950s, though in the 1980s, William Safire noted in his “New York Times” column “On Language” that it was a slang term popular among “our British cousins.” The first citation of the term in the Oxford English Dictionary dates to an issue of “The Times of London” in 1970, but the term took off among English speakers worldwide in the 2010s, reaching the peak of its use on both sides of the Atlantic around 2018.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: AMPHIBOLOGY

pronunciation: [am-fə-BOL-ə-jee]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: Old French, 14th century

 

Meaning:

1. A phrase or sentence that is grammatically ambiguous, such as “She sees more of her children than her husband.”

 

Example:

"Avoid accidental amphibology by using an Oxford comma, such as in the list of actions “eats, shoots, and leaves,” instead of the ambiguous list “eats, shoots and leaves.”"

"I was alarmed by an amphibology in my adviser’s letter of recommendation, because an ambiguous statement could be misread."

 

About Amphibology

“Amphibology” is based on the Old French “amphibologie,” from the late Latin “amphibologia,” meaning “ambiguous.”

 

Did you Know?

An amphibology (to be distinguished from “amphibiology,” the study of amphibians) is a statement that can be misread because it contains ambiguous language, or words with multiple definitions. For example, in “Jury sentences defendant to six months in stolen trophy case,” it’s clear that there is a legal case regarding a stolen trophy, yet “trophy case” is a common term in an entirely different context, so it turns the statement into an amphibology. The same is true of “Last night I was surprised by a guest in my bathrobe.” This amphibology could be interpreted to mean that the guest was wearing the bathrobe — surprising indeed.

 

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: PARAMNESIA

pronunciation: [par-am-NEE-zhə]

 

Part of speech: noun
Origin: English, 19th century

 

Meaning:

1. A condition or phenomenon involving distorted memory or confusions of fact and fantasy, such as confabulation or déjà vu.

 

Example:

"Because of her paramnesia, Cherie has difficulty telling the difference between her dreams and yesterday’s events."

"One of the most common forms of paramnesia is the experience of déjà vu."

 

About Paramnesia

“Paramnesia” is formed by combining the prefix “para-,” meaning “beside,” with “amnesia,” meaning “loss of memory.”

 

Did you Know?

“Paramnesia” was an idea introduced by German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin in 1886 as a term describing errors of remembering. Kraepelin saw “paramnesia” as referring to a number of conditions affected by faulty memory, key among them confusing reality with fantasy or dreams, experiencing déjà vu, and “reduplicative paramnesia.” In this last state, a person believes a physical location exists in multiple places simultaneously. Sometimes people suffering paramnesia also engage in “confabulation,” a remembering error that causes a person to generate false or distorted memories.

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by DarkRavie

[DarkRavie]

What's the Word: SUBLUNARY

pronunciation: [sub-LOO-nə-ree]

 

Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Latin, 16th century

 

Meaning:

1. Belonging to this world as contrasted with a better or more spiritual one.

 

Example:

"I have a pretty regular practice, but some days my mind is occupied with sublunary thoughts, and I can’t settle into my morning meditation."

"Nina appreciated the summer landscaping job and the time to sink into the sublunary experiences of being outside and working with her hands."

 

About Sublunary

“Sublunary” is based on the Latin “sublunaris,” which combines the prefix “sub-,” meaning “beneath,” and “lunary,” meaning “of the moon.”

 

Did you Know?

Because “sublunary” refers to the often mundane circumstances of the material world, it’s a term that can be used to dismiss concerns as insufficiently lofty. Compared with the great questions of life, death, and philosophy, wondering about the fastest commute to work or what to make for dinner may seem simply sublunary. Yet “sublunary” can also cut through high-brow conversation and focus on the subjects that matter in the moment. For example, “The city council asked speakers to limit philosophical discussions so they could quickly get to the sublunary concerns shared by residents.”