1. treen — made wholly of wood
Our current age may best be judged by the label attached to a decorative rabbit-shaped bowl that I found at the store: “Our treen products are made of resin and is not for use with food.”
2. pillock — [British informal] stupid person
I always thought that Tom-Tom was a complete pillock, and he proved it on this occasion, telling us later that he’d thought it was Sunday we needed the ride back from the swap meet, not Saturday.
3. questionless — without question; unquestioning; unquestionable
Few better places exist, questionless, for repose and reflective solace, but my mind was set upon vengeance, and for that I needed a computer.
4. guillemot — sea bird belonging to the auk family
The black guillemots wheeled above the treacherous rocks beneath the jagged cliff.
5. hodge — [British] rustic person
That’s all I’d need, to have some old hodge come by asking why I was painting my lorry in the middle of the woods.
6. axillary — of or related to the armpit
The main image was beautifully preserved, but the vintage concert t-shirt was marred by quite noticeable axillary stains.
7. cob — male swan
That vicious cob attacked poor old Gammage and nearly sent him to hospital.
8. pavid — fearful, timid
You’ve only to look into the eyes of these pavid men to know that we stand little chance of repelling the next assault.
9. reboant — loudly booming or reverberating
I couldn’t hear my radio for the reboant clangor of the pounding machinery.
10. gloriole — nimbus, halo
I first saw the cabin in the crepuscular light of the late summer sunset, framed in a hazy gloriole of the gold and green light drifting through the trees.
11. scarp — line of cliffs; steep banked fortification
The jagged scarp of the Sierras loomed over the valley always, ever threatening drought and doom to the hardscrabble farms below.
12. pluvial — of or related to rain or rainfall, rainy
Making my way through the pluvial swamp beneath the pines in the backyard, I lost my shoe.
13. embranglement — state of being embroiled, implicated, or entangled
His business dealings are like his family tree, a incestuous embranglement of dead-end branches and overdetermined connections that eventually produce nothing but entitled misery and sneering incompetence.
14. gaff — to grab with a long handled hook
Oh, she had me gaffed well and good, and I just paid the bill and followed her meekly.
15. lickerish — overfond of eating, greedy; lecherous, wanton
She gave me and Ernie a lickerish smile and invited us to sit with her at her corner booth table, nodding her flushed face at the waiter to bring more drinks.
16. fritinancy (also fritiniancy, fritiniency) — twittering
Lefferts paid it no mind, no more than he would have been bothered by the fritinancy of the elder ladies at a church social.
17. largophone (also lagerphone) — musical instrument made of a long wooden pole with jingles attached, played by shaking or pounding or with another smaller notched stick
The highlight of every winter’s evening was Alexander Sutcliffe’s solo rendition of “The Last Ride of Willie and Poor Robert”, all twenty-eight verses accompanied only by the mournful pounding of his largophone.
18. shikaree (also shikari) — hired big game hunter
“Next time,” said my shikaree as he bandaged my wound, “shoot, don’t talk.”
19. furbelow — flounce, pleated border of petticoat or skirt; showy trimming
For all the finery and ribbons and fancy furbelows, Jane was at heart just a simple girl with simple tastes.
20. sessile — [biology] immobile; [botany] attached immediately by the base
He eventually adapted to his new role, becoming almost happy with his sessile existence behind the (supposedly) bulletproof glass, sitting upon his stool night after night handing out the filthy tickets for the almost as filthy lucre proffered by the greasy hands of the almost as greasy men.
21. palladium — rare metallic element resembling platinum
Its ductile properties make palladium useful in dentistry, but only for crowns and such, never for fillings.
22. Palladium — statue of Pallas Athena, esp. that of Troy; (usu. lowercase) thing upon which the safety of a people or institution is supposed to depend
The franchise was once thought the palladium of democracy, and the expansion of the right to vote was seen as fulfilling the promise of liberty for all.
23. brake — thicket, overgrown area
I found myself lost in a brake of oak and scrub, every sound swallowed up by the rustling brush.
24. welkin — the arc of heaven, the firmament, the sky
With a triumphant roar that made the welkin resound, our company entered the fallen town.
25. tumid — swollen; bombastic
Jackson’s tumid poetry hides only an empty heart, devoid of true feeling and all the manly virtues.
Bonus Vocabulary
(from Shakespeare)
coign of vantage — good position for observation or action
From my coign of vantage I’d be able to see almost the entire library, and would be able to rush to Francine’s aid if the beast made it necessary.