January 2011

1. plenipotentiary: invested with full power.

2. nostrum: a questionable remedy.
3. descry: to catch sight of; to detect.
4. exculpate: to clear from alleged fault or guilt.
5. prevaricate: to depart from or evade the truth.
6. chatoyant: changing in luster or color.
7. katzenjammer: the discomfort and illness experienced as the aftereffects of excessive
drinking; hangover.
8. sockdolager: a decisive blow or remark.
9. byzantine: complex or intricate.
10. lickerish: fond of and eager for choice food.
11. autoschediastical: something that is improvised or extemporized.
12. mansuetude: mildness; gentleness.
13. creolize: to combine local and foreign elements into a new, distinct whole.
14. klatsch: a casual gathering of people, esp. for refreshments and informal conversation
15. felicitate: to compliment upon a happy event; congratulate.
16. spirituel: showing or having a refined and graceful mind or wit.
17. offal: the edible internal parts of an animal, such as the heart, liver, and tongue.
18. concupiscible: worthy of being desired.
19. fain: gladly; willingly.
20. grangerize: to add to the visual content of a book by inserting images not included in the
original volume, often by mutilating other books.
21. totemic: pertaining to an object or natural phenomenon with which a family or group
considers itself closely related.
22. lollop: to move forward with a bounding or leaping motion.
23. homograph: a word of the same written form as another but of different meaning,
whether pronounced the same way or not.
24. paphian: of or pertaining to love, esp. illicit physical love.
25. dharna: the practice of exacting justice by sitting at the doorstep of an offender until the
demand is granted.
26. gung-ho: wholeheartedly enthusiastic and loyal.
27. jobbery: the conduct of public or official business for the sake of improper private gain.
28. rakish: smart; jaunty; dashing.
29. cacoethes: an irresistible urge; mania.
30. vulpine: cunning or crafty.
31. thimblerig: to cheat or swindle, as in the traditional shell game known as thimblerig.
February 2011

1. ambisinister: clumsy or unskillful with both hands.

2. elide: to suppress; omit; ignore; pass over.
3. eclat: brilliance of success, reputation, etc.
4. effluvium: a slight or invisible exhalation or vapor, esp. one that is disagreeable.
5. abscond: to depart secretly.
6. verdant: green.
7. desideratum: something desired.
8. philomath: a lover of learning; a scholar.
9. doppelganger: a ghostly double.
10. daedal: skillful; artistic; ingenious.
11. imbroglio: a complicated and embarrassing state of things.
12. risible: exciting or provoking laughter.
13. buss: a kiss; to kiss.
14. inveigle: to persuade or obtain by ingenuity or flattery.
15. uxorious: excessively fond of or submissive to a wife.
16. factotum: a person employed to do all kinds of work.
17. ululate: to howl; to wail.
18. libation: the act of pouring a liquid as a sacrifice; also, a beverage.
19. lucubration: laborious work, study, thought, etc., esp. at night.
20. malinger: to feign illness or inability.
21. inkhorn: affectedly or ostentatiously learned.
22. bailiwick: a person's specific area of knowledge, authority, interest, skill, or work.
23. nimbus: a dark gray rain cloud; also, a halo, an aura.
24. hypnagogic: inducing sleep; of or pertaining to drowsiness.
25. lexicography: the writing or compiling of dictionaries.
26. halcyon: peaceful; undisturbed; happy.
27. rubicund: inclining to redness; ruddy.
28. cosset: to treat with excessive indulgence; to pamper.
March 2011
1. masticate: to chew.
2. wunderkind: one who achieves success or acclaim during youth.
3. gimcrack: a showy but useless or worthless object.
4. gastronome: a lover of good food and drink.
5. confute: to refute conclusively.
6. demagogue: a leader who obtains power by means of appeals to the emotions and
prejudices of the populace.
7. chortle: to utter, or express with, a snorting, exultant laugh or chuckle.
8. puckish: whimsical; mischievous; impish.
9. fanfaronade: empty boasting; bluster.
10. ersatz: being a substitute or imitation.
11. epicene: having the characteristics of both the male and the female.
12. prolix: wordy.
13. aver: to assert as true.
14. pusillanimous: cowardly.
15. blandishment: flattering speech or action.
16. apposite: of striking appropriateness and relevance.
17. quaff: to drink heartily.
18. truckle: to act in a subservient manner.
19. interregnum: the interval between two reigns; also, any breach of continuity in an order.
20. largess: generous giving; also, gifts of money or other valuables.
21. prescience: knowledge of events before they take place.
22. fugacious: lasting but a short time.
23. eschew: to shun; to avoid.
24. kismet: destiny; fate.
25. bumptious: crudely, presumptuously, or noisily self-assertive.
26. verisimilitude: the quality of seeming to be true.
27. equivocate: to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear.
28. afflatus: a divine inspiration.
29. bedaub: to besmear; also, to overdecorate.
30. lucre: money; profit.
31. bivouac: a usually temporary encampment; also, to encamp.