1. stound — a throbbing pain; ache
Her unkind words left a stound in my heart.
2. calced — wearing shoes
According to past popular misconception, the calced natives of the South consisted solely of the upper class.
3. feckless — irresponsible, unreliable
The feckless attempts of politicians to fulfill their campaign promises were overmatched by their insistent need for more and more cash.
4. catalectic — missing the last metrical foot in a line of verse
He died singing “Mary Had A Little Lamb”, his sudden attack leaving only the catalectic “Her fleece was white….”
5. asseverate — assert, aver
We must asseverate that our children’s happiness depends upon happy parents.
6. quondam — former, at one time
The quondam Alaska governor now contemplates her presidential aspirations.
7. lustrum — a five year period
Soviet Russia’s several lustrums of so-called economic “planning” led instead to unintended chaos and famine.
8. turgid — pompous, overblown
He made some good points in his essay, but they were difficult to discern beneath his turgid prose.
9. ineluctable — inescapable
Comes the day when the ineluctable pressure of rising interest rates and late fees for missed payments plunges the borrower into debt he can never repay.
10. dote — to be foolish, especially due to old age
As my maudlin thoughts turn to imagined ideas of ‘how it used to be’, I dote and panic before each new technology.