Friday Vocabulary

1. kakistocracy — government by the worst citizens

If all good people abdicate their responsibilities as citizens, eventually we shall all live under a kakistocracy.

  2. exuberate — to be exuberant; to abound

I would fain exuberate your news has moved me so!

  3. stillicide — a falling (as of water) in drops

The laws of stillicide govern where the fault lies when rainwater falls from one person’s roof onto the property of another.

  4. preterlabent — gliding or floating past

The fallen leaves formed a preterlabent flotilla of red and gold upon the slow moving stream.

  5. trocar — perforator enclosed in a cannula or metal tube used in surgery for draining fluids, etc.

His victims were stabbed with an embalming trocar, which though thematic is a rather punctilious weapon.

  6. zugzwang — a position in chess in which every move leads to a worse situation

I was trapped in an emotional zugzwang, for if I did not tell her of my indiscretions Jenks would continue his blackmail, while if I did tell her she would be irrevocably hurt.

  7. theriac — antidote; specifically a medical paste compounded of many ingredients used by Greeks to cure poisons

As yet no sage has discovered the alchemy by which a theriac for racial hatred may be compounded.

  8. rubicund — red, reddish, red-faced

Santa Claus is usually portrayed as a portly rubicund fellow, though his overall good health is never questioned.

  9. hymnody — the singing or composition of hymns

Though Routley was a noted expert on hymnody, he also wrote one work about Puritan themes in the modern detective story.

  10. garth — enclosed ground, usu. beside a building, yard, etc.

The stables, barn, and other outbuildings formed a garth for the horses, with only a short length of fencing with a gate completing the paddock.

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