flummery \FLUHM-uh-ree\ (noun) - 1 : A name given to various sweet dishes made with milk, eggs, flour, etc. 2 : Empty compliment; unsubstantial talk or writing; mumbo jumbo; nonsense.

"Magnificence and flummery. Whether flummery is the price one must pay for magnificence or whether magnificence is the cost of flummery, I should not care to say....Read more

teetotaler \TEE-TOH-tuh-lur\ (noun) - One pledged to entire abstinence from all intoxicating drinks.

"A man who had walked forty miles, in an agony of endurance, to bring wine to a sick person would probably know that a teetotaler would have ordered some other medicine -- for a teetotaler forbids all wine, as the Pacifict forbids all war." -- G...Read more

congeries \KON-juh-reez\ (noun) - A collection; an aggregation.

"If the 'en masse' feels its effects it does so not as a unit but as a congeries of individuals; a wave there may be, but it is a wave of integers dominated by a common thought or purpose." -- Bram Stoker, 'Dracula'

Congeries is from Latin congeries, "a heap, a mass," from ...Read more

refractory \rih-FRAK-tuh-ree\ (adjective) - 1 : Stubbornly disobedient; unmanageable. 2 : Resisting ordinary treatment or cure. 3 : Difficult to melt or work; capable of enduring high temperature.

"Before they were allowed in, the matron announced the single rule within the house: no refractory behaviour. Not exactly certain what refractory ...Read more

collegial \kuh-LEE-jee-uhl; -juhl\ (adjective) - 1 : Characterized by or having authority or responsibility shared equally by each of a group of colleagues. 2 : Characterized by equal sharing of authority especially by Roman Catholic bishops. 3 : Of or relating to a college or university; collegiate. 4 : Characterized by camaraderie among ...Read more

agon \AH-gahn; ah-GOHN\ (noun) - A struggle or contest; conflict; especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work.

"The course was a survey of recorded western sport history as measured against the principles of those who founded sport, the greeks. The principles were agon, the struggle, and its relationship to arete, the ...Read more

preternatural \pree-tuhr-NACH-uhr-uhl; -NACH-ruhl\ (adjective) - 1 : Existing outside of nature; differing from the natural; nonnatural. 2 : Surpassing the usual or normal; extraordinary; abnormal. 3 : Beyond or outside ordinary experience; inexplicable by ordinary means.

"She could not get that sound out of her ears even in Mrs. Kingswards ...Read more

embonpoint \ahn-bohn-PWAN\ (noun) - Plumpness of person; stoutness.

"It was a girl called Tinker Bell exquisitely gowned in a skeleton leaf, cut low and square, through which her figure could be seen to best advantage. She was slightly inclined to embonpoint." -- J.M. Barrie, 'Peter Pan'

Embonpoint is from French, literally "in good condition"...Read more

militate \MIL-ih-tayt\ (intransitive verb) - To have force or influence.

"Where you frequent a house it may militate very much against a girl's making a desirable settlement in life, and prevent her from accepting offers even if they are made." -- George Eliot, 'Middlemarch'

Militate comes from Latin militatus, past participle of militare, "to...Read more

abstruse \ab-STROOS; uhb-\ (adjective) - Difficult to comprehend or understand.

"When Tony Gate's critical sire had come up from Boston to watch his boy play Fluellen at a rehearsal and had taken him and Ronny out for supper, he offered the argument that the play contained Shakespeare's hidden pacifism and that King Henry's seizin on an abtruse...Read more

urbane \ur-BAYN\ (adjective) - Polished and smooth in manner; polite, refined, and elegant.

"My voice was dry, interested, but in an academic sort of way. It was the voice I'd cultivated at court. I had learned to watch the most awful things and make dry, urbane comments." -- Laurell K. Hamilton, 'A Kiss of Shadows'

Urbane comes from Latin ...Read more

commensurate \kuh-MEN(T)S-uhr-it; -shuhr-\ (adjective) - 1 : Equal in measure, extent, or duration. 2 : Corresponding in size or degree or extent; proportionate. 3 : Having a common measure; commensurable; reducible to a common measure; as, commensurate quantities.

"You have a rank commensurate with your achievements... but you will have duties...Read more

travail \truh-VAYL; TRAV-ayl\ (noun) - 1 : Painful or arduous work; severe toil or exertion. 2 : Agony; anguish. 3 : The labor of childbirth

(intransitive verb) - 1 : To work very hard; to toil. 2 : To suffer the pangs of childbirth; to be in labor.

"But not for that dream I on this strange course,
But on this travail look for greater ...Read more

plaint \PLAYNT\ (noun) - 1 : An expression of sorrow; lamentation. 2 : A complaint.

"It then dawned on Sam this could be the plaint the walkers had been to so long ago. He asked if Reeds and Barns could scan the plaint and see if it could hold life." -- C.B. Hollis, 'Cyber Wolf: Deception'

Plaint comes from Old French plainte, from Latin ...Read more

toper \TOH-puhr\ (noun) - One who drinks frequently or to excess.

"He often gives breath to scurrilous conjecture. The toper suborns good fruit and gives it to decay, and the good person who wishes to enjoy the sanivacity and good savor of the wholesome fruit is bereft and must raise this outcry: 'Why have you despoiled me, O toper, of my fruit...Read more

requisite \REK-wuh-zit\ (adjective) - Required by the nature of things or by circumstances; indispensable.

(noun) - That which is required or necessary; something indispensable.

"Birth is not a requisite. If it were, the golden fold would be composed of young people still in their teens... Brains are not a requisite either." -- Edgar Saltus, '...Read more

encomium \en-KOH-mee-uhm\ (noun) - An often formal expression of warm or high praise.

"HRH absorbed the encomiums with the dignity of his office, nodding slowly but continuously as encomium toppled over encomium in quick succession." -- Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, 'The Naked Gods'

Encomium derives, via Latin, from Greek enkomion, from en-, "in" +...Read more

thaumaturgy \THAW-muh-tuhr-jee\ (noun) - The performance of miracles or magic.

"That's where I was really good -- thaumaturgy. Thaumaturgy is traditional magic, all about drawing symbolic links between items or people and then investing energy to get the effect that you want." -- Jim Butcher, 'Grave Peril'

Thaumaturgy comes from the Greek ...Read more

If there's a grad or dad on your giving list this June, consider one of these new books about words.

In "Pronoun Trouble: The Story of Us in Seven Little Words" (Avery, $28), esteemed linguist John McWhorter tracks the escapades of English pronouns through the centuries and explains how these wriggling rascals lie at the very foundation of ...Read more

panoply \PAN-uh-plee\ (noun) - 1 : A splendid or impressive array. 2 : Ceremonial attire. 3 : A full suit of armor; a complete defense or covering.

"While he was here he made a very special panoply, weapons and armor meant to be used against the spreading of evil, forging the lot and crafting it only partly in the way of men." -- Sharon Green, ...Read more