nouns
- prorogue: to discontinue (a session) without dissolving it – related to parliament
- ululation: howl, wail
- farmstead: the buildings and adjacent service areas of a farm
- sinecure: a position requiring little or no work but giving the holder status or financial benefit
- rivulet: a very small stream
- talisman: an object thought to have magic powers and bring good luck
- calumny: slander; defamation (false)
- extreme unction: anointing of the sick, before dying
- parlance: a particular way of speaking or using words, especially a way common to those with a particular job or interest
- nadir: the lowest point in the fortunes of a person or organization
- sycophant: bootlicker
- wog: slur (Engl.) for dark-skinned people
- cacique: (kuh-SEEK) a local political boss; Spanish origin
- triptych: a picture or relief carving on three panel; a set of three works meant to be appreciated together
- dowager: widow with money (pronounced like “endow”)
- fugue: (pronounced “fyoog”) a disassociative state; related to memory loss and wandering
- apocrypha: writing of doubtful authorship
adjectives
- protracted: prolonged
- diegetic: known to the characters IN the film/comic/etc (as opposed to known just by the audience, not the characters)
- incipient, nascent: beginning to exist
- irascible: easily angered
- adjunct: attached (dependent/subordinate)
- inimical: adverse, hostile
- querulous: whining
- fractious: unruly, cranky
- fugacious: evanescent
- noisome: noxious, harmful
- antipathy: aversion, DISLIKE (and NOT indifference!)
- nonplussed: at a loss, bewildered
- bemused: preoccupied with one’s thoughts
- jejune: (emphasis on JUNE) dull, childish
- inviegled: won over, enticed
- salubrious: healthful
- baneful: harmful, ominous
- copacetic: in excellent order
- dolorous: feeling great sorrow or distress
- irascible: having or showing a tendency to be easily angered
- preternatural: beyond what is normal or natural
- sidereal: of or relating to stars or constellations; measured by the apparent motion of the stars
- aseptic: free from contamination
verbs
- recant: revoke (a declaration)
- aerate: to supply with air
- avulse: to tear off forcibly
- aver: to assert, to affirm
- parlay: turn an initial winning from a previous bet into a greater amount
expressions
- hair of the dog: an alcoholic beverage you drink to recover from drinking
- be on the dole: receiving unemployment benefits
- never the twain shall meet: suggests that two things are too different to coexist