Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Great Words: A Dictionary

I keep running across wonderful words that are not used frequently enough, and I've decided to make a dictionary of them here.  One wonderful word at a time, including my two favorite words.

bizarre (adjective) very strange or unusual; unconventional, outlandish ("As arrows fell around them, Fawcett gave a bizarre order: he told his crew to start singing." - The Quest for Z: The True Story of Explorer Percy Fawcett and a Lost City in the Amazon, Pizzoli)

cacophony (noun) a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds ("The room erupted into a cacophony of screams and exhalations." - Lost Girls, Marsons)

chortle (verb) to laugh in a breathy, gleeful way; chuckle ("The chortling and rocking continued unbroken until I felt ridiculous standing there, glaring intothe old woman's mirthful face." - Colorless, Stradling)

enigmatic (adjective) difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious ("Perhaps the painting was my favorite because its meaning had always been enigmatic to me." - Colorless, Stradling)

forage (verb) to search widely for food or provisions (Goats scamper past.  They forage through the trash for food." - One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, Paul/Zunon))

jargon (noun) special words or expressions used by a group that are difficult for other people, outside that group, to understand ("One called it Rosa Sylvestris seu canina.  Another called it Rosa Sylvestris alba cumrubore, folio glabro.  "Chaos!" Karl cried.  "Barbarian jargon!" - Karl, Get Out of the Garden by Anita Sanchez)

prudent (adjective) acting with or showing caring thought for the future ("And sometimes things to bed I take,/As prudent sailors have to do;/Perhaps a slice of wedding cake,/Perhaps a toy or two." from "My Bed is a Boat" by Robert Louis Stevenson" - Under the Silver Moon by Pamela Dalton)

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