As I read a new book, I use an index card as my bookmark.  On it I write every word that I don’t know.  Sometimes the word is familiar to me, and I feel I could almost use it in a sentence, but if I can’t define it, I write it on the card.  Then when I’m finished with the book, I look up the meaning of those words and record them here.  Join me in improving our vocabulary!  Your new words journal will be due at the end of each nine weeks.  Don’t worry about copying down the definition exactly as it appears in the dictionary; instead, paraphrase the definition in words that you will remember.

 

agon                      a conflict, especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a work of literature (from ancient Greek drama)

apophasis         an allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned
(a-POF-uh-sis) 

apotheosis        deification; a sublime example

a priori                knowable without appeal to particular experience;
made before or without examination

bardolatry         excessive love of Shakespeare (coined by Shaw)
(bard is a lyric poet in Gaelic and Welsh)

bathos                  an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the absurd or trivial; anticlimax

bombast               grandiloquent, pompous speech or writing

bucolic                  rustic, pastoral

casuistry          excessively subtle reasoning intended to rationalize or mislead; the determination of right and wrong by analyzing cases that illustrate general ethical rules

cerebral               appealing to or requiring the use of the intellect; intellectual rather than emotional

conterminous        contiguous

cosmology             the study of the physical universe

desultory              constantly turning from one subject to another
(DEZ-ul-TOR-ee)

elliptical               relating to the omission from a sentence of a word or words that would be required for complete clarity but which can be understood from the context

empiric                 one who is guided by practical experience rather than precepts or theory; an unqualified or dishonest practitioner

empirical              relying on or derived from observation or experiment

ennui                    listlessness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest

epigram                 a clever, to the point saying

extant             still in existence; not destroyed

gentrification       the restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-class or affluent people, often resulting in the displacement of lower-income people

germane               being both pertinent and fitting

grandiloquent        pompous in speech or expression

insidious               working or spreading harmfully in a subtle or stealthy manner

intransigent       refusing to moderate a position, especially an extreme one

jingoism           extreme nationalism characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy; fanatical patriotism

legerdemain          sleight of hand; a show of skill or deceitful cleverness

midden                  (archaeology) a mound or deposit containing shells, animal bones, and other refuse that indicates the site of human settlement

millenarian            relating to a thousand years; one who believes in the millenium

mordant               caustic

nihilism                 a rejection of all religious and moral principles; a belief that nothing really exists

opine               to express an opinion

paean                   a song of joyful praise (PEE-an) from ancient Greek hymns
to Apollo

paeon                   a foot of one long syllable and three short syllables (used primarily in the poetry of Gerard Manley) from paeans (PEE-on)

pathos                  the evocation of sadness or pity (in writing or speech)

pedantic               characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules (pedantry)

perfidious             of, relating to, or marked by treachery; treacherous

perfidy                 deliberate breach of faith; calculated violation of trust; treachery

pernicious         very harmful

perspicacious      having mental penetration or discernment

phantasmagoria    a fantastic sequence of haphazardly associative imagery, as seen in dreams or fever; a shifting series of real or imaginary figures as in a dream

polemic            a controversial argument, especially one refuting or attackinga specific opinion or doctrine; a person engaged in controversy     

promulgate           to make known by public declaration; to announce officially

prurient               having or encouraging unhealthy sexual curiosity

quid pro quo         an equal exchange or substitution

ratiocination         the act of reasoning methodically and logically

redaction               the act or process of editing or revising; preparation for publication

spurious                 lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine;
false

tacit                    understood or implied without words

tendentious          calculated to promote a particular cause or viewpoint

tortuous           winding or twisting (also complex and devious)

torturous          causing torture; twisted; strained

trenchant             forceful, effective, and vigorous (argument)

zaftig                  full-bussomed; having a full, shapely figure