agora \AEH-geh-reh\ (noun) - A meeting place or marketplace.

"Jenny agreed that the university was the town's intellectual agora, while her house was neighborhood's the social agora."

From Greek agora "marketplace," the ...Read More

bonanza \beh-NAEN-zeh\ (noun) - 1 : An unexpectedly rich pocket of ore in a mine, a mother lode; 2 : an unexpectedly great supply of anything, as to find a beach with a bonanza of sea shells.

"In their window I spotted a...Read More

apotropaic \ae-peh-treh-PEY-ik\ (adjective) - Having the power or designed to ward off evil, as an apotropaic symbol or talisman.

"Lydia was fond of wearing apotropaic ankle-length dresses with long sleeves and a collars ...Read More

irenic \i-REH-nik\ (adjective) - Favoring, conducive to, or operating toward peace, moderation, or conciliation.

"Jasmine had always been one of the more irenic students on campus, so no one was surprised to learn that ...Read More

murrain \meh-REYN\ (noun) - A plague, a pestilence, especially affecting cattle, such as anthrax or foot-and-mouth disease; any horrendous event.

"A murrain upon your head!" or, as Trinculo put it in Shakespeare's 'The ...Read More

evanescent \e-veh-NE-sehnt\ (adjective) - Tending to vanish like vapor, transient.

"The popular tune by the one-hit-wonder was so evanescent as to disappear from ones mind mere moments after vanishing from the airwaves." ...Read More