Sunday, January 15, 2012

Word Nerd

Vocabulary is a fun hobby for me. I love hundred dollar words, the uniqueness and subtlety of one word instead of another, synonyms and word play. I'm reading another L'Engle book; Walking on Water; Reflections on Faith and Art and, as usual, it is excellent. One of my fav authors writes on two topics I'm passionate about; theology and art. What's not to love? In addition, Madeline was classically trained (more good feelings) and she is constantly using words I'm not familiar with (ooh, goody- I actually have a reason to read the dictionary! KB so totally inherited my love of reference books!).

Here's my latest list of didn't know befores:

Paladin- A chivalrous hero- a combination of King's advisor and warrior.

Munificence- very liberal in giving or bestowing : lavish;  characterized by great liberality or generosity

Pusillanimous- lacking courage and resolution : marked by contemptible timidity

 inimical -: being adverse often by reason of hostility or malevolence

Numinous- supernatural, mysterious: filled with a sense of the presence of divinity, holy; appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense, spiritual

anachronisticc-an error in chronology; especially : a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other

2 more, courtesy of Lamott
Mensch - a person of integrity and honor
Ersatz - substituting for, and typically inferior in quality to'

Have you discovered any new words in the New Year?

3 comments:

Books For Breakfast said...

I love the word numinous. I discovered it a few months back in a C.S. Lewis book and havw been waiting for the right context in which to use it. I just found your blog and will be lurking in the archives awhile.

the striped rose said...

I foam at the mouth when I see writing directives that state "Use the smallest, most Anglo-Saxon word possible." Sure if you're explaining how to unstop a toilet! I want to read beautiful, euphonious words that evoke, stimulate, and challenge and enlarge my limited vocabulary. One of the reasons I like reading on a Kindle is the instant dictionary available.

readingcare said...

Thanks for sharing the such good vocabulary words this will really help to increase the my knowledge of vocabulary!!!!!


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