1. doolally — [informal British] out of one’s head, temporarily non compos mentis
“You see, George went a bit doolally after losing last night, and he’s burnt the whole game, box and all.”
2. thurifer — acolyte carrying the thurible
We first began to suspect that something was wrong with the thurifer when the young lad swung his censer directly into the flowered hat of old Mrs. Partimbeke, knocking off the gaudy headwear in a cloud of smoke and ash.
3. maculate — to spot or stain, to defile
The once pristine shopping mall had been maculated by pop-up cellular service stands, noodle and pizza vendors, and abandoned spaces where once proud anchor stores had reigned.
4. adventitious — accidental, supervenient, extrinsic
Perhaps what we think of as the supreme glories of civilization are merely the adventitious consequences of an evolutionary mistake, the accidental byproducts of a self-consciousness which has yet to prove its ultimate value.
5. triolet — eight-line poem having rhyme scheme abaaabab with 1st line repeated as the 4th and 7th lines, and the 2nd as the 8th
Suddenly he realized that his back and forth with the customer service rep formed a sort of misshapen triolet, and he had the thought that if poetry could be found on the complaint line to Frito-Lay, perhaps it truly could be found everywhere.
6. supercargo — merchant ship’s officer in charge of the cargo and its sale
Truth be told, when I allowed my nephew to ship out as supercargo of the Bain Marie, I had little hope that he would do more than break even on the voyage.
7. epicondyle — rounded protuberance on or above the condyle of a long bone
The wound pattern shows clearly that he was struck in the temple by the medial epicondyle of the humerus bone found at the scene, though nobody seems to know what that bone was doing there, besides being used as a weapon, I mean.
8. clonic — of or related to spasmodic muscular convulsions
But as soon as I released the arm the clonic contractions began once more, which Pieter was apparently unable to control.
9. fatidic — prophetic
At the time, of course, we thought he was merely reciting his latest burlesque; it was only later that we realized the fatidic portent of Gunnard’s poem.
10. proscenium — that part of the stage in front of the curtain; in ancient theatre, the stage itself
What if all our years of life are merely moments upon the proscenium of existence, if this time upon the earth is mere prologue to the greater drama of creation which will be unveiled when the curtain rises after what we so unknowingly call our demise?
Bonus Vocabulary
(British slang)
lock-in — private party after hours at British pub where customers are ‘locked in’ after closing time and keep on drinking
Though I always made the scene, I was never one of the in-crowd, never got invited backstage, never was at the after party—hell, I never even enjoyed the excitement of a lock-in.