Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Words I Don't Know: Sinister Things.

 demimondaine (n.):  a woman of the demimonde (promiscuity).
quenelle (n.):  a dumpling of finely chopped fish or meat that is poached in water or stock and usually served with a sauce.
laconic (adj.):  using few words; expressing much in few words; concise.
pied-a-terre (n.):  a residence, as an apartment, for part-time or temporary use.
offal (n.):  the parts of a butchered animal that are considered inedible by human beings.
novitiate (n.):  the state or period of being a novice of a religious order or congregation.
bourgeois (n.):  a member of the middle class;a person whose political, economic, and social opinions are believed to be determined mainly by concern for property values and conventional respectability; a shopkeeper or merchant.
pederast (n.):  a person who engages in pederasty (love of young boys).
perfidious (adj.):  deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful.
ephemeral (adj.):  lasting a very short time; short-lived; transitory.
provincial (adj.):  belonging or peculiar to some particular province.
fatuous (adj.):  foolish or inane, esp. in an unconscious, complacent manner; silly.
dishabille (n.):  the state of being dressed in a careless, disheveled, or disorderly style or manner; undress.
equanimity (n.):  mental or emotional stability or composure, esp. under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.
treatise (n.):  a formal and systematic exposition in writing of the principles of a subject, generally longer and more detailed than an essay.
portentous (adj.):  ominously significant or indicative.
sophistry (n.):  a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning.
bastion (n.):  a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.
recalcitrant (adj.):  resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.
gumma (n.):  a rubbery, tumor-like lesion associated with tertiary syphilis.
anachronism (n.):  an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one.
obsequious (adj.):  characterized by or showing servile complaisance or deference; fawning.
acquiesce (v.):  to assent tacitly; submit or comply silently or without protest; agree; consent.
magnate (n.):  a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc.
idealogue (n.):  One given to fanciful ideas or theories; a theorist; a spectator.





definitons from dictionary.reference.com

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