Words Pronunciation

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(The Capitalized syllable gets the emphasis)

alacrity a-LACK-ra-tee
cheerful willingness and promptness

anathema a-NATH-a-ma
a thing or person cursed, banned, or reviled

anodyne AN-a-dine
anything that sooths or comforts

aphorism AFF-oar-ism
a short, witty saying or concise principle

apostate ah-POSS-tate (also: apostasy)
person who has left the fold or deserted the faith.

arrogate ARROW-gate
to make an unreasonable claim

atavistic at-a-VIS-tic
reverting to a primitive type

avuncular a-VUNC-you-lar
"like an uncle"; benevolent

bathos BATH-ose
an anticlimax

bereft ba-REFT
to be deprived of something valuable
"He was bereft of reason."

calumny KAL-um-knee
a slander or false accusation

canard kan-ARD
a fabricated story (French="duck"; morte canard=dead duck)

cant kant
insincerity

chimera ki-MEER-ah (not: chim-er-ah)
Originally: a mythical beast; any unreal thing; foolish fancy
(adj=chimerical ki-MEER-a-cal)

cloy
to grow sick from an abundance of something

comitatus com-a-TAY-tus
loyalty to one's band or group

concatenation con-CAT-a-nation
things linked together or joined in a chain

cosseted KOS-a-ted
pampered

cupidity que-PID-a-tee
greed; avarice

cynosure SIGH-na-shore (from the Greek: "dog's tail")
center of attention; point to which all eyes are drawn.
(Really? From "dog's tail"? Yes. The "dog's tail" appears in a constellation,
locating the North star, which rivets the attention of sailors at sea. Thus:
center of attention.)
(see also: sinecure)

dilettante DILL-ah-tent
1. having superficial/amateurish interest in a branch of knowledge;
2. a connoisseur or lover of the fine arts

discursive dis-KUR-seive
covering a wide field of subjects

docent DOE-cent
a teacher, but not regular faculty; a museum tour guide

egregious a-GREE-jous
conspiculously bad; flagrant; shocking

epigone EP-a-goan
a second rate imitator or follower

fatuous FAT-chew-us
foolish; stupid; silly

felicity fa-LISS-a-tee
bliss; a pleasing aptness in speech and deportment; grace

furtive FURR-tive
sly; shifty; secretive

gratuitous gra-TOO-a-tus
given freely

haik HIKE
a large piece of cloth worn as an outer garment by Arabs.

heuristic HYOUR-is-tik (noun)
an idea or speculation acting as a guide to an investigation

hubris HUE-bris
arrogance from excessive pride or passion (hubristic)

ignominy IG-na-min-ee (noun) (also: ignoble)
signifying disgrace or dishonour (ignominious)

incisive in-SI-seive
displaying sharp mental perception; direct and effective

inimical in-IM-a-cal
unfriendly; hostile

insipid in-SIP-id (adj.)
Lacking flavor, zest, or interest; dull

insuperable in-SUPER-a-bul
not able to be overcome

inveigh in-VAY
attack verbally

iterative IT-ter-a-tive
something recurring or repeating
("An iterative process")

jeremiad jer-a-MY-add
a series of doleful, dismal complaints

lagniappe lan-yap (noun) (a Creole word)
something given away as a gift for buying something else;
(such as an ashtray given for buying a full tank of gas)

leitmotif LIGHT-moe-teef
a dominant or recurring theme or pattern

luddite LUD-ite
a person who tries to halt progress by smashing machines

manque mon-KAY
unfulfilled; frustrated (literally: maimed)
"He was an artist manque."

maudlin MAUDE-lin
easily emotional

mendacious men-DAY-shous (adj.)
untruthful. (the noun is mendacity)

meretricious mer-a-TRISH-ous
deceitful; tawdry
(Note that the two words above are pejorative, but if the
meaning is not known, they "sound" meritorious.)

misanthrope MISS-an-throwp
a person who dislikes the human race

nugatory NEW-ga-tory
trifling; worthless; ineffective

obloquy OB-la-key
a public reproach

opprobrium ah-PROBE-re-um
disgrace arising from shameful conduct;
a reproach mingled with contempt
"That word - a term of opprobrium - cut him like a knife."

paradigm PEAR-ah-dime
"side by side"; a pattern or example. A "paradigm shift" is
usually used to signify a major change in thinking or acting,
in the sense of employing new examples.

parvenue PAR-ven-oou
an upstart; someone trying to rise above their proper place

pejorative pa-JOUR-a-tive
tending to be worse; downgrading; disparaging

penury PEN-your-ee
extreme poverty

peremptory per-EM-tory
a command which may not be refused

perdition per-DISH-un
future misery, such as in going to Hell

perfidy PUR-fa-dee
treachery; falsehood (perfidious is the adjective)

perfunctory pur-FUNK-tory
done routinely, with little interest or care

peripatetic PER-ee-pa-TET-ick
walking about; itinerant (Often used to describe Aristotle)

philistine PHIL-a-stine
a person lacking culture; narrow minded with common tastes

poignant POIN-yent An adjective with multiple flavors:
1: appealing to emotion 2: physically painful 3: sharp, pungent
4: piercing, incisive 5: astute, pertinent 6: neat, skillful

poltroon pole-troon
a thouroughly cowardly person

polymath polly-math
a person of great or (more usually) varied learning.
(poly=much math=learning)

presentiment pre-SENT-a-ment
a foreboding of misfortune

propitiate pro-PISH-ee-ate
pacify

puerile PURE-ill (Fr.: "puer" - child)
juvenile, immature, childish

punctilio punk-TILL-ee-oh (noun)
a fine point of etiquette; precise observance of formalities
or ceremony; precise to the letter

rancor RANG-kur
vindictive malice

rapacity ra-PASS-a-tee
act of seizing that which is coveted; greed

recondite REK-in-dite
hard to understand; profound; obscure; concealed

regnant REG-nant
reigning; predominant; widespread

samizdat SAM-iz-dot
an underground newspaper

sanguine SANG-win
cheerful, confident
sanguinary SANG-win-airy
bloody
(note the huge difference in meaning between the above two
similarly sounding words)

saturnine SAT-ter-nine
morose; gloomy

scurrilous SKER-a-less
grossly offensive and vulgar

seriatim sir-ee-AT-um
occuring one after another; in serial fashion

sinecure SIN-a-cure
a job (usually politically appointed) requiring little or no
work.
(See also: cynosure)

sobriquet so-bric-KAY
a nickname or an assumed name ("Minnesota Fats")

solecism SOL-a-sys-um
an ungrammatical combination of words

specious SPEE-shous
appearing to be right; deceptively good looking

spurious SPYOUR-ee-ous
false

sycophant SIGH-ko-phant
a flattering parasite

terse
short and to the point; pithy

turpitude TUR-pa-toode
depravity

unctous UNK-shus
oily and persuasive

venal VEE-nal
a sacrifice of honor for profit

veracity ver-ASS-a-tee
truthfulness

voracity vor-ASS-a-tee
greed
(the above two words are very close in spelling and
pronunciation, but mean quite different things.)

verisimilitude ver-ah-SIM-ah-la-tude
the quality of appearing to be true or real