Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Wondrous Words Wednesday - February 10, 2010

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy aka Bermuda Onion where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun.

THE UNNAMED by Joshua Ferris

etiolated - He remembered hearing the first time stepping out onto the lawn, etiolated, held upright on trembling legs, blinking in the awesome sun. (p. 149)

etiolated: to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor.

O, JULIET by Robin Maxwell

harridan - His mother, Mona Ginetta, to which neither man paid the slightest attention, was a grim harridan who regarded all her guests with equal disdain. (p. 69)

harridan: a scolding, vicious woman; hag; shrew.

chasuble - "For whom is the chasuble?" I asked, by way of making polite conversation. (p. 85)

chasuble: a sleeveless outer vestment worn by the celebrant at Mass.

campanile - My nerves were so frayed that when the campanile bell tolled the first of its twelve chimes, I came nearly out of my skin. (p. 152)

campanile: a bell tower, esp. one freestanding from the body of a church.

What new words did you discover this week?

2 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Those are all great words, but I can't see myself using any of them any time soon!

Unknown said...

I don't usually participate in this meme on my own blog, but today I came across a few doozies in Marriage and Other Acts of Charity:

contumacy:–noun, plural -cies. stubborn perverseness or rebelliousness; willful and obstinate resistance or disobedience to authority.


inchoate: –adjective
1. not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.
2. just begun; incipient.
3. not organized; lacking order: an inchoate mass of ideas on the subject.