Educated Guesswork

1. dodder — to shake, to tremble

The old man doddered so at the top of the stairs that I began to worry lest he lose his balance entirely.

 

2. debouch — to march out or come forth from a narrow or confined space into an open area

The fans endured the endless zigzag lines through security with good grace and patience, finally debouching enthusiastically into the huge stadium where the Spicy Meatball Plot were about to begin their reunion tour.

 

3. nigrescent — blackish

Joan suppressed a qualm as she noticed the tarry nigrescent stringy stains on the left cuff of his otherwise impeccable sports jacket.

 

4. pursy — corpulent, fat

His pursy jowls quivered as he laughed, white flecks of spittle flying from between his yellowed teeth.

 

5. foin — to thrust or to lunge with a weapon

The bravo distracted the guard with a rapier feint while he foined beneath the guard’s lorica with his main-gauche.

 

6. ptochogony — the creation or production of beggars

Beyond the inability to buy houses, the crushing student debt entailed by most graduates threatens to make universities and colleges institutions of ptochogony rather than higher education.

 

7. fantod — (usu. pl. & usu. preceded by the) the willies

I caught a staggering case of the fantods when my bare foot trod upon the banana slug.

 

8. promulge — to set forth publicly, to publish

Luther not only promulged his theses in the environs of Wittenberg but also had them printed and spread throughout Germany.

 

9. dutch uncle — overly critical person

My newly minted aunt was quite the dutch uncle, and nothing could satisfy her save getting everything her own way.

 

10. supervalent — of or related to the exaggerated importance given thoughts by a thinker which that thinker cannot stop thinking

His thoughts were completely subsumed by Trump Derangement Syndrome; each incident, statement, or image he encountered brought forth an obsessive reaction, somehow relating the most innocuous occurrence to the activities of The Donald by the inordinate connective power of his supervalent fears and despair.

 

network — fabric of netted threads; any work in which threads etc. are made in form of a net

One can almost picture the female denizens of Jane Austen’s novels, fashioning reticules and bonnets from network as they talk of the world around them and its dangers, from which they were by no means exempt.

1. gobsmacked — flabbergasted, utterly astounded

We were gobsmacked to learn that the mole was Mrs. Abernathy’s two year-old toddler, who was actually an Australian midget wearing a very clever disguise.

 

2. footling — blithering, foolish, silly

I managed to make some footling comments, but could barely conceal my very great surprise.

 

3. timoneer — steersman, helmsman

The cutter had almost come abaft of the ship when I saw it fall off suddenly to starboard, losing all its way, and in the resulting confusion I could see that the timoneer lay sprawled across the tiller, a crude arrow shaft transfixing his neck.

 

4. ruffle — to swagger

Emerging from the club, the young bons vivants buttoned back their frock coats to reveal the rapier and main gauche each wore ostentatiously, and set off ruffling down the cobblestoned street, looking for trouble.

 

5. eisegesis — interpretation (esp. of Scripture) which brings the interpreter’s own biases, ideas, etc. to the text, rather than drawing meaning from the text itself

Though we loved her many insights into popular culture, it was clear that her interpretation of Mr. Ed as a parable about the struggles of Bohemian Americans for acceptance in the rapidly changing post-WWII U.S. was plain and simple eisegesis.

 

6. morganatic — of a marriage between a man (usu.) of high rank and a lower rank woman (usu.), in which the woman and any issue of the marriage are not entitled to any titles or property of the higher rank spouse

Though King Edward VIII had suggested the idea of a morganatic marriage to Wallis Simpson, it soon became obvious that he could not marry her and remain king.

 

7. excelsior — short thin curled shavings of wood used for packaging, etc.

The broken swamp cooler still lay on the kitchen floor, the damp excelsior from its cooling pad heaped in a sodden mass among the debris.

 

8. moxibustion — burning dried mugwort close to the skin, often along acupuncture meridians, to facilitate healing in Chinese medicine

One should not attempt to perform moxibustion at home with only online guides; a qualified acupuncturist should give face-to-face instruction in using the moxa sticks.

 

9. rataplan — drumming or beating sound

The jackhammer continued its offensive rataplan as Jack once more struggled to write the article due that afternoon.

 

10. arbalest — crossbow using metal bow to shoot bolts or stones

Though our archers trained their bows upon the powerful enemy arbalest, its thick wooden shield was proof against our hail of arrows, and the devastating attack continued to decimate our troops.

1. murmuration — flock of starlings (sometimes applied to other birds)

The gyring movement of the murmuration resembled a gentle whirlpool in the air as the birds suddenly decided to quit their perches in the elm overhanging the river.

  2. dynamics — variation in volume of musical sounds

The quiet portion of the song “Shout!”, and the subsequent build-up back to the chorus, as seen in the movie Animal House, is a classic example of dynamics in a non-classical musical piece.

  3. cantle — rear part of a saddle, often curved upward

Attempting to do the Kirk Douglas leap onto the horse just below, he tripped on a loose board on the porch and instead of gracefully falling into the saddle found himself hurled groin-first onto the cantle, which at least was not as painful as a collision with the saddle-horn would have been.

  4. sabretache — leather pouch attached to sword-belt of a cavalry officer

The young hussar affected quite the devil-may-care attitude, though we, his closest familiars, knew that in his sabretache were every letter he had received from his aged mother, as well as the small pocket bible she had given him at his first communion.

  5. prevaricate — to deviate from straightforwardness, hence a) to lie or evade the truth, or b) to transgress

Despite my best intentions not to prevaricate when the authorities came upon the bloody scene, I found myself making all manner of excuses for both my presence and my actions in that horrid melee.

  6. jauk — (Scots) to dawdle

“Don’t be jaukin’ along the road home from the Widow Green, but come home the instant you give her the news.”

  7. lithe — flexible, pliant, supple; gentle, meek

Tom Bombadil’s partner was so lithe that she could lean herself backwards head-to-heel, from which position she used to pluck blackberries from the bush behind their cabin.

  8. mensural — pertaining to measure

In a pinch, I suppose, the slide rule could be used for mensural duty, though you would have to do some further calculations to convert from the logarithmic indicium to a linear measure.

  9. coffer — sunken panel in a ceiling or soffit

Visitors to Washington, D.C. find the subway stations are all the same when one exits the train, each being a long arch of gray concrete decorated with dreary rectangular coffers.

  10. grazier — person who grazes cattle for market

Though he often fed his cattle from the public weal of public lands, the British grazier of the 19th Century rarely contributed to the public purse.

Bonus Vocabulary

(slang, current 2018-2019)

to flex on — to (sometimes subtly) put someone down by showing your superior skills, ability, or possession

He should have known better than to try and flex on an English professor by correcting her grammar.

1. ha-ha — sunken fence or wall bounding garden or park, set into ditch so as to not interrupt the view from within

The modern infinity pool uses a more decadent variant of the ha-ha of British gardens, for the view of the former is meant for a select few as opposed to the (perhaps) more public horizon prepared by the 19th-century landscapers.

 

2. curule chair — seat modeled after ancient camp chair with open back and curved legs and often decorated with ivory in which only the highest magistrates of ancient Rome were privileged to sit

The contemporary power seat behind the desk owes nothing to the ancient curule chair, for the connotations of power inherent in the Roman seat must give way to our modern insistence that a chair give strong back support.

 

3. retiarius — gladiator who fought with net and trident

The net-wielding retiarius was an exception to the usual rule whereby gladiatorial types were derived from military roots, as this lowest of gladiators was modeled after fishermen.

 

4. subreption — deceptive representation; an inference from such misrepresentation

Jack knew full well when he told me, “My daughter was sick”, that I would assume that that was why he missed work yesterday, and the fact that he now admits that her two-day illness happened over a week ago reveals the subreption on his part.

 

5. scud — to be driven by the wind

                     all times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea

[Tennyson]

6. salubrious — promoting health

After spending nine months next to the construction site where pilings were being pounded into the earth for eight hours each day, the peace and quiet of the small cabin were at least as salubrious as the clean, fresh air rolling down from the pine-covered mountains.

 

7. forgather — gather together, assemble

While they waited for their clients’ planes to land, the chauffeurs would forgather at the cell phone parking lot, smoking and joking while studiously avoiding any mention of whom they were to pick up.

 

8. chatelaine — ornamental chains attached to a woman’s belt, used for carrying keys, scissors, or other tools

The medieval chatelaine seems to prove that the abhorrence of women’s fashion for pockets goes far back into history.

 

9. emollient — softening or relaxing; a salve or lotion with such a softening effect

Her purse was filled with powerful potions, perfumes, powders, emollients, medicaments, makeup, and only slightly less powerful placebos.

 

10. dibs — small amounts of money

What is this scandal you spoke of, have the dibs you lose at the club’s tables finally mounted to noteworthy sums?

 

pilcrow — the paragraph mark, “¶”

Having turned on hidden character display on his computer, he was quite disappointed when his document was printed out without the pilcrows at the end of each paragraph.

1. stanch — to cut off the flow of; to quench; to repress

O let me stanch my primal force
Sooner than blanch the wild water’s course.

 

2. soffit — under surface of architectural feature, such as a lintel, architrave, vault, or arch

An accent color of pale orange had been used on the soffit of the hallway ceiling running beneath the staircase, lending a festive and autumnal touch to the passageway.

 

3. backhand — handwriting that slopes to the left

His bold backhand was ruined by the smudging caused as his left hand dragged into the still wet ink while he wrote his plaint.

 

4. fascicule — a part of a printed work published separately

The Green Mile by Stephen King was originally printed in fascicule, as a series of short paperback books of less than 100 pages each, save for the final volume.

 

5. crenellate — to furnish with battlements, embrasures, or loopholes

The stout logs making up the western fort had been crenellated as well, giving excellent protection to even a single marksman standing atop the wooden fortification.

 

6. crenulate — minutely notched or scalloped (Zoo. & Biol.)

The circumference of the sand dollar was delicately crenulate, and a magnifying glass would be required to see all the detail in the fine notching along its edge.

 

7. network — light fabric made of netted threads

Originally a lady’s reticule was made from network but eventually other materials such as silk or rayon was used.

 

8. muriatic acid — hydrochloric acid

A solution of muriatic acid may be used to remove excess material from the stray tile, but the powerful solution should not be used to excess.

 

9. anxiolytic — relieving anxiety

The foot massage began to have its anxiolytic effect, and Jeremy began to think clearly for what seemed to be the first time in quite a while.

 

10. sanguine — courageous or hopeful

She remained quite sanguine about their situation, realizing that they still had the worn leather satchel to use as leverage.

1. clarigation — solemn demand for redress made through heralds prior to declaration of war

Despite their important mission, the members of the clarigation delegation were not immune to the siren song of the boogie woogie.

 

2. swadkin — diminutive of “swad” meaning country bumpkin, lout

“Stop pressing that button, you pestiferous swadkin! Cannot you see that the elevator doors close no faster for all your pressing and puffing about?”

 

3. caterwaul — to yowl like rutting cats

Leslie fell to her knees and began to caterwaul upon being informed of yet another choiced pronoun change by her quondam uncle.

 

4. jarvey — hackney coachman

The jarvey remained seated upon his bench and touched his whip hand to his top hat rather than doffing his headgear.

 

5. clapboard — board with one edge thicker than the other, used to weatherboard walls of buildings

The small clapboard building Franklin Delano Roosevelt used as his so-called Little White House would seem too small for many middle class families today.

 

6. cicatrize — to heal by forming new skin tissue over a wound

The bandages had been removed several weeks ago and the slashing wound had now fully cicatrized, leaving only a pale pink line across his left cheek where no facial hair grew.

 

7. insecution — (obs.) close pursuit

Hard upon her heels she felt the pressure of the midget’s insecution and not for the first time wished she were not wearing heels.

 

8. bemused — confused, utterly muddled

I could not tell whether the vaguely bemused look upon his face was the result of my shocking news or the muddled remains of what looked to be at least his third mojito.

 

9. obstreperous — unruly; characterized by great noise or outcry

The council meeting was gaveled to a close despite the obstreperous crowd who lustily booed the politicians’ plan.

 

10. quinsy — peritonsillar abscess, suppuration of the tonsils

He would no longer be an opera singer even after his recovery from quinsy, he realized, for the incision and drainage had permanently altered his singing voice.

1. sennight — seven days, a week

It is difficult to believe that Christmas is only Tuesday sennight from today.

 

2. forearm — to arm beforehand

I forearmed myself with the relevant facts in support of my plan to clean the filthy stables by tricking some godlike idiot into undertaking the job.

 

3. burgeon — to begin to grow

Listening to the fifteenth objection from a resident whose hair was falling out in clumps due to the plant’s effluvium, Harry realized that his plans were foiled and the Greater Community Industrial Park would never burgeon into the fabulous success he had been convinced was its destiny.

 

4. anent — in respect to, concerning

I have endeavored to gather multiple bids for the remaining work, anent which I have written you under separate cover.

 

5. apposite — well put, suitable

Despite his advancing years, great uncle Henry may always be counted upon for an entirely apposite summing up of the whys and wherefores of our annual Thanksgiving dinner debates.

 

6. yoicks — fox hunting cry used to urge on the hounds; exclamation of exultation or excitement

“Yoicks!” and “Tally-ho!” he would cry as he spied a sought after volume at the library, which might have led to opprobrious looks had not his delightful habit of dressing as Dumbledore allayed any disturbance the patrons might have felt.

 

7. accoucheur — a male midwife or obstetrician

Under the orders of her accoucheur, May restricted her physical activity to a brief walk in the garden for a few minutes before eating a light supper.

 

8. opsimath — one who begins to learn late in life

In spite of the imprecations urging skills retraining, no Computer Science opsimath is likely to be hired by any major tech company.

 

9. dirndl — outfit patterned after that of Alps peasants, consisting of a bodice over a low-cut blouse with a full skirt and (possibly) an apron

She looked quite fetching in her Tyrolean dirndl in dark green, though a bit too “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” for my taste.

 

10. plashy — full of puddles; boggy

The front yard had become a plashy morass, the steady rain having left a sodden mess which the thin grass and fallen pine needles did nothing to abate.

1. trow — to believe, to trust

“The parson would never indulge in such reprehensible behavior, as I trow.”

 

2. theodolite — portable surveying instrument with telescopic sight for measuring horizontal, and sometimes vertical, angles

The aging theodolite rarely was put into service, having been replaced in most mensural functions by wireless computer assisted lasers, and even its lenses had begun to fog, rendering the telescopic views hazy at best.

 

3. tintinnabulation — ringing or sound of bells

The audience in their pews basked in the luxurious tintinnabulation echoing through the church as the bell-ringers continued their Christmas concert with a stirring rendition of “I Saw Three Ships”.

 

4. nonesuch — unequaled thing or person

Though Chaucer’s poetry is often portrayed as a nonesuch of English literature, it is by no means inaccessible.

 

5. crapulous — given to intemperate eating or drinking

The dozens of fast food wrappers strewn about the back seat of the late model coupe gave proof to the driver’s crapulous nature.

 

6. crapulent — sick from gross excess in eating or drinking

The vile sights and smells of the confined space behind the kitchen presented evidence of the crapulent results of the previous evening’s debauchery.

 

7. solecism — grammatical error; breach of good manners; any inconsistency or error

At times a solecism may merely be the proverbial ‘distinction without difference’, especially when they are noted merely to prove one’s own superiority.

 

8. liripipe — hood with a long tail, worn in medieval Europe, especially in academe

George was certain he had discovered the hidden location of Waldo, having failed to note that his suspect was wearing a striped liripipe instead of a bobble hat.

 

9. supererogate — to do more than required; to make up for lack in one by excess merit in another

Johnny attended church three, sometimes five, times a week in an uncomfortable and ultimately futile effort to supererogate for the failings of his drunk ass brother.

 

10. oblate — flattened at the poles

The earth’s shape is not perfectly spherical, but instead is oblate, as the rotation about the axis causes its surface to be further from the world’s center than the poles.

1. drolatic — humorous, comically strange

The drolatic characters and incidents in John Kennedy Toole’s prize-winning novel sometimes conceal and sometimes reveal the deep philosophic roots of this posthumously published fiction.

 

2. jodhpurs — riding pants cut very loosely over the hips and thighs with a tight fit from the calf to the ankle

Though some associate jodhpurs with military uniforms, especially those of World War I, they have their roots in peacetime riding, as they were specifically designed to be practical for wear while playing polo.

 

3. serry — to press close together (usu. in ranks)

The terra-cotta warriors stood serried in the large flat tomb.

 

4. quillon — one of two pieces making up the cross guard of a sword

He caught the fearsome blow of the black knight’s claymore on the quillon of his own broadsword, though he was disarmed by the attack.

 

5. surcease — cessation or stop, esp. when temporary

He desperately desired surcease from the mental anguish that had become his constant companion since the last full moon.

 

6. croodle — to crouch down; to draw oneself together, as for warmth; to cling closely to a person

The baby boy had fallen asleep as he croodled his father with tiny fingers enmeshed in the man’s long beard and with his face tucked deeply into the crook formed between his parent’s neck and shoulder.

 

7. oleograph — picture printed in oil colors on cloth or canvas in imitation of an oil painting

Above the monstrous fireplace stood an oleograph of Joe Isuzu dressed in 16th-Century Flemish garb, a human skull held in his left hand while his right stroked his chin in contemplation.

 

8. hunker — to squat on the heels with acutely bent haunches, knees, and ankles

The aging catcher grimaced with pain as he hunkered behind the plate to await the payoff pitch.

 

9. plenilunar — of or relating to the full moon

Moonbathing in the plenilunar rays the naked witch swayed from side to side, seeming quite comfortable and relaxed despite the chilly temperature.

 

10. feculent — full of dregs or feces

“Hie yourself back to the feculent swamp from which you arose, you pestilent product of crossbreeding a dungheap with a floating pile of offal.”