folderol [fol-duh-rol]

noun:
1 a useless ornament or accessory; a trifle
2 mere nonsense; foolish talk or ideas

Examples:

Americans left all that royal folderol about titles behind them in 1776. Yet here we are, nearly 250 years later, agog about princes and dukes, queens and consorts, and the rest of the mystifying rules about royal style ( Read more... )

December 17, 2024

Surfeit (noun, verb)
sur·feit [sur-fit]

noun
1. excess; an excessive amount: a surfeit of speechmaking.
2. excess or overindulgence in eating or drinking.
3. an uncomfortably full or crapulous feeling due to excessive eating or drinking.
4. general disgust caused by excess or satiety.

verb (used with object)5. to bring to a ( Read more... )

equipoise [ee-kwuh-poiz, ek-wuh-]

noun:
1 a state of equilibrium
2 counterbalance

Examples:

One reason for the endurance of George Stevens’s film, from 1953, is the supreme equipoise that it finds between two contending impulses - the will to wander, moving restlessly through a desert land, versus the urge to take root, battling for your ( Read more... )

JOMO

In the past few years people became acquainted with abbreviations like FOMO (fear of missing out) or YOLO (you only live once) but perhaps less frequently used is JOMO - joy of missing out.

JOMO first originated in a 2012 blog post by Anil Dash. 2012 seems like forever ago--but it's a thoughtful phrase to remember now and then to get ( Read more... )

December 10, 2024

Wayworn (adjective)
wayworn [ wey-wawrn, -wohrn ]

adjective
1. worn or wearied by travel: She was wayworn after the long trip.

Origin: First recorded in 1770-80; way + worn

Example SentencesAlhaji Kamara lifted the wayworn visitors to their first road win of the season last Friday at Kansas City, smashing his first MLS touch ( Read more... )

augury [aw-gyuh-ree]

noun:
1 the art or practice of an augur; divination
2 the rite or ceremony of an augur
3 an omen, token, or indication

Examples:

"First sale of the day," said Guna brightly; in India, a day's first sale is often taken as a bright augury. (Guy Trebay, Finding Peace (and Quiet) in India's Tamil Nadu, Condé Nast ( Read more... )

Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024

Circumlocution (noun)
cir·cum·lo·cu·tion [sur-kuhm-loh-kyoo-shuhn]

noun
1. a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea.
2. a roundabout expression.

Other Words Fromcir·cum·loc·u·to·ry [sur-k, uh, m-, lok, -y, uh, -tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], cir cum·lo·cu tion·al cir cum·lo·cu ( Read more... )

recherché [ruh-shair-shey, ruh-shair-shey; French ruh-sher-shey]

adjective:
1 very rare, exotic, or choice; arcane; esoteric
2 of studied refinement or elegance; precious; affected; pretentious

Examples:

It is like no eggnog you have ever had, and once you try it, your palate will be far too recherché for the lowly, ready-made sort found ( Read more... )

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024

Ostracize (verb)
os·tra·cize [os-truh-sahyz]

verb (used with object), os·tra·cized, os·tra·ciz·ing.
1. to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc.: His friends ostracized him after his father's arrest.2. to banish (a person) from his or her native country; expatriate ( Read more... )

mélange [mey-lahnzh, -lahnj]

noun:
a mixture sometimes of incongruous elements, a medley

Examples:

Made with a mouliné yarn which twists two colored threads together for a mélange effect, the cardigan is both chunky and cloud-like with a plush, wide shawl collar and tailored fit. (Gerald Ortiz, The Best Cashmere Sweaters for Men Are Literally ( Read more... )