Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where a group shares new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join by posting your new words, then leaving a comment for Kathy with your link at Bermuda Onion.

The object is to increase our vocabulary while having a bit of fun.

Here is the one new word that I’ve discovered this past week from The Last Word by Kathy Herman:

1. misogynist - One who hates women.
Pronunciation: \mə-ˈsä-jə-nist\

"Brill, you're being stalked by an ex-con who wants revenge, and who also happens to be a misogynist"(175).

When I clicked to have the word pronounced, I realized that I'd heard it many times so it's not altogether new to me!

Wondrous Wordless Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where a group shares new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join by posting your new words, then leaving a comment for Kathy with your link at Bermuda Onion.

The object is to increase our vocabulary while having a bit of fun.

Here are some new words that I’ve discovered this past week from Let Darkness Come by Angela Hunt:

1. moue - a little grimace; pout.
Pronunciation: \ˈmü\

She makes a moue. "What if I don't want to deal with no overblown catfight?"(34).


2. chuffs - the sound of noisy exhaust or exhalations
Pronunciation: \ˈchəf\

Erin chuffs softly. "She was a drunk. We lived on food stamps and welfare, which probably explains why I was attracted to Jeffrey" (90).


3. skirling - to scream, shriek;
Pronunciation: \ˈskər(-ə)l, ˈskir(-ə)l\

The skirling wind skitters past Briley, tossing hair into her face and whippin her skirt around her legs (287).

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where readers share new (to us) words encountered in our reading.

Feel free to join by posting your new words, and then leaving a comment for Kathy with your link at Bermuda Onion.

The object is to increase our vocabulary while having a bit of fun. Here are new words that I’ve discovered while reading this week;

miasma - "A dusty miasma assaulted her nostrils as she pulled the door open, and she faced a darkness as impenetrable as granite" (367). Fatal Illusions, a fantastic first novel by Adam Blummer.

miasma - a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere.

♈ ♈ ♈

The following words are from The Unquiet Bones, an enjoyable medieval English mystery by Melvin R. Starr. Even with an extensive five page glossary, these nine words stumped me, and I had to look them up!

coney - "John had sent the two girls from the castle to clean the dusty place,and I found a coney pie still warm on the table" (39).

coney - any of various burrowing animals of the family Leporidae having long ears and short tails; some domesticated and raised for pets or food



osseous - "But my expertise in osseous materials seemed hardly necessary" (40).

osseous - Composed of, containing, or resembling bone; bony.



dags - "The long sleeves were cut in dags, ornamented with a trim of yellow velvet, and emgroidered with gold thread" (78).

dags - A hanging end or shred.



fecundity - "The youth spoke of his reasons for desiring Margaret for a wife, among which were her health, her likely fecundity, her reputation for hard work won at her father's forge, an even her appearance" (88).

fecundity - The quality or power of producing abundantly; fruitfulness or fertility.



surfeit - "I gave him three farthings, which did not cause him a surfeit of joy" (122).

surfeit - excess; an excessive amount:



imprecations - "He will kick and struggle while students shout imprecations at him" (158).

imprecations - A curse



parsimonious - "Not so, Lord Gilbert, who, as I have related, could be parsimonious" (196).

parsimonious - frugal or stingy.



trencher - "I sat before the trencher assigned to me, and washed my when servants brought pitcher and towel" (196).

trencher - a rectangular or circular flat piece of wood on which meat, or other food, is served or carved.



destrier - "The horse was large and strong, a destrier worth 40 or more" (209)

destrier - a war-horse; charger.

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where readers share new (to us) words encountered in our reading.

Feel free to join by posting your new words, and then leaving a comment for Kathy with your link at Bermuda Onion.

The object is to increase our vocabulary while having a bit of fun.

Here are new words that I’ve discovered this week;

1. portcullis - "The gate here was no retractable barrier, but a massive portcullis set in ancient-looking stone-blockwall running in both directions" (108). Deadlock by Robert Liparulo

portcullis - a grating of iron hung over the gateway of a fortified place and lowered between grooves to prevent passage

2. sumptuary - Sumptuary laws can be slippery things, Miss Arlington" (87). A Vote of Confidence by Robin Lee Hatcher

sumptuary - designed to regulate extravagant expenditures or habits especially on moral or religious grounds

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where a group shares new (to us) words encountered in our reading. Feel free to join by posting your new words, and then leaving a comment for Kathy with your link at Bermuda Onion.

The object is to increase our vocabulary while having a bit of fun.

Here are some new words that I’ve discovered or rediscovered this week:

1. desiccating - from Journey by Angela Hunt. It was used while describing ancient Egyptian embalming like this:

"The natron would cover the body for forty days, completely desiccating it" (41).

desiccating - to dry up; to preserve by drying : dehydrate


2. felucca - from Journey by Angela Hunt. It was used like this:

"The hard-packed paths of Thebes dis not rock and yield like the deck of the felucca they had boarded for the journey, and as he thumped over the ground he knew he would never become accustomed to the Egyptians' sea-going ways" (182).

felucca - traditional sailboats of Egypt’s Nile.


3. obsequiousness - from Journey by Angela Hunt. It was used like this:

"Though he was accustomed to respect from common folk, in Jokim's presence the man's obsequiousness embarrassed him" (196).

obsequiousness - marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where a group shares new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join by posting your new words, then leaving a comment for Kathy with your link at Bermuda Onion.

The object is to increase our vocabulary while having a bit of fun.

Here are some new words that I’ve discovered or rediscovered this week:

1. obfuscation - from Last Mango in Texas by Ray Blackston It was used like this:

Or perhaps I could employ more vagueness, some small obfuscation.(103)

obfuscation - The act of darkening or bewildering; the state of being darkened.