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📖 My personal list of cool words and their definitions, transformed and served in various ways.

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## Contents

[**a**](#a-contrario) - [**b**](#baader-meinhof-phenomenon) - [**c**](#cabal) - [**d**](#dactyl) - [**e**](#e-pluribus-unum) - [**f**](#fabulist) - [**g**](#gaffe) - [**h**](#hajj) - [**i**](#iatrogenic) - [**j**](#jape) - [**k**](#kabuki-theatre) - [**l**](#labile) - [**m**](#macedoine) - [**n**](#nabob) - [**o**](#obdurate) - [**p**](#padnag) - [**q**](#quagmire) - [**r**](#raconteur) - [**s**](#sage) - [**t**](#taciturn) - [**u**](#ubiety) - [**v**](#vacuous) - [**w**](#wallah-wallah) - [**x**](#xanadu) - [**y**](#yahoo) - [**z**](#zaftig) - [**é**](#énouement)
### a contrario
Latin: from the opposite.

### a falsis principiis proficisci
Latin: to set forth from false principlenns.

### a priori
Proceeding from cause to effect; reasoning from a general law to a particular
instance.

### abide
(used without object): To remain; continue; stay. To have one's abode; dwell;
reside: To continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship, etc.;
last. (used with object): to put up with; tolerate; stand:

### abject
Extremely humiliated or debased; the bottom of the barrel.

### ablution
A ritual cleansing.

### abnegate
To deny oneself something.

### abrogate
To formally annul or cancel, as in a contract or a treaty.

### absolution
A release from guilt, sin or sentence.

### abstemious
Taking food and drink in moderation; temperance.

### abstruse
Complicated; difficult to comprehend.

### accede
agree to a demand, request, or treaty; assume an office or position.

### acerbic
Harsh; severe; biting.

### acolyte
An attendant, assistant or novice. A follower.

### acrimony
Biting sharpness or bitterness.

### adduce
To offer a series of facts that will help the recipient prove something.

### adronitis
An emotion; Frustration with how long it takes to get to know someone

### adulatory
Excessive devotion to someone; servile flattery.

### adventitious
Added accidentally, casually or from an outside source.

### aesthete
A lover of beauty.

### affable
Friendly, good-natured, or easy to talk to.

### affectation
An effort to appear to have a quality not really or fully possessed; the
pretense of actual possession.

### afflated
Having inspiration, inspired.

### agelast
A person who never laughs.

### agent provocateur
French: a political spy who provokes people to perform an illegal action that
will lead to their arrest.

### agio
The fee charged by money brokers for exchanging one foreign currency for
another.

### aglet
The covering at the end of a shoelace.

### agnosthesia
The state of not knowing how you really feel about something.

### agnotological statement
A statement designed to propagate ignorance, or cast doubt on scientific fact.

### agnotology
The study of deliberate, culturally-spread ignorance, typically to sell a
product or win favour, particularly through the publication of inaccurate or
misleading scientific data.

### agrypnia
Insomnia.

### ailurophilic
Lover of cats; the opposite of ailurophobia.

### ailuropholic
An abnormal fear of cats.

### ait
A small island in a river or lake.

### alacrity
Cheerfulness; liveliness.

### aleatory
Uncertain; dependent on chance.

### algorithm
A method for solving a mathematical problem.

### alliaceous
Smelling or tasting of garlic or onions.

### alliteration
A poetic device in which words that begin with the same sound are strung
together.

### allodoxaphobia
The fear of other people's opinions.

### altschmerz
An emotion; Weariness with the same old issues that you've always had - the same
boring flaws and arieties that you've been gnawing on for years.

### amanuensis
A scribe; someone employed to take dictation or copy what another has written.

### ameliorate
To make a bad situation better.

### amphigory
A nonsensical composition or parody, often made of sounds that imitate words and
rhyme, or words that rhyme but have no logical meaning.

### anachronism
A person or event erroneously placed in time.

### analects
Selected extracts from the writings of one or more authors.

### Anatidaephobia:
The fear of constantly being watched by ducks.

### ancillary
Supplementary.

### anecdoche
An emotion; A conversation in which everyone is talking, but nobody is listening

### anomaly
An unexpected result that deviates from the standard.

### anomie
The breakdown of norms, ethics and values in a person or in society.

### anosmia
Smell blindness; the loss of the ability to detect one or more smells.

### antediluvian
This word literally means "before the Biblical flood," but it's come to connote
generally ancient or antiquated.

### antepenultimate
The third from the last in a series.

### anthropomorphism
Assignment of human-like attributes to inanimate objects or animals.

### antithetical
Something that is in direct opposition to something else is antithetical to it.

### aphasia
Loss or impairment of speech, or of the power to understand written or spoken
language.

### aphorism
A terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as “Power tends
to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

### aplomb
Self-assurance, especially under duress.

### apocrine
Of or relating to certain glands whose secretions are acted upon by bacteria to
produce the characteristic odor of perspiration (distinguished from eccrine).

### apocryphal
Of doubtful authenticity; practically a fable.

### apogee
The point in the orbit that is furthest from the orbited body.

### apophasis
Rhetoric: denial of one's intention to speak of a subject that is at the
same time named or insinuated, as “I shall not mention Caesar's avarice,
nor his cunning, nor his morality.” In theology: knowledge, understanding,
or description of God through negative statements about qualities and
characteristics that God does not possess, as "God is not confined by space
or time."

### aposiopesis
Breaking off in the middle of a statement upon suddenly realizing that someone's
feelings are hurt or about to be hurt.

### apostasy
Abandonment of one's religion, politics or principles.

### apothegm
A pithy saying. Mark Twain specialized in them. So did Yogi Berra.

### apotheosis
The elevation or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god. Also, an
ideal example; epitome; quintessence: "This poem is the apotheosis of lyric
expression."

### apposite
Appropriate; suitable; well-adapted; pertinent; relevant.

### aptronym
A name that suits its owner in an apt way.

### aquiline
Like an eagle.

### argot
Slang belonging to a specific group or class.

### arrant
Downright; thorough; unmitigated; notorious: "an arrant fool." Also wandering;
errant.

### arriviste
Someone who has acquired success by dubious means and who insists on flaunting
it.

### arrogate
To claim for oneself without justification.

### artifice
A clever trick or stratagem; a cunning, crafty device or expedient; wile.
Trickery; guile; craftiness. Cunning; ingenuity; inventiveness. A skillful or
artful contrivance or expedient.

### ascetic
Self-denying; austere.

### assiduous
Persevering and careful.

### assonance
Describes two words in which the vowels rhyme but the consonants don't—such as
mama and dada. Without assonance, you've got no other way to describe it!

### assuage
To relieve or ease.

### astir
Moving or stirring, especially with much activity or excitement: "The field was
astir with small animals, birds, and insects." Up and about; out of bed.

### atavistic
Exhibiting traits of an ancestor or an earlier evolutionary form.

### Atwood's Law (law of software)
Any application that can be written in JavaScript, will eventually be written in
JavaScript.  -- Jeff Atwood, 2009

### augment
To add on, in the sense of increasing in size or amount.

### augur
To prophesy the future.

### autodidact
A person who teaches himself a subject.

### autolatry
Worship of the self.

### avatar
The incarnation or manifestation of a deity or an idea.

### avocado
Aztec: The original meaning is "testicle".

### avuncular
Like an uncle; kind. Here's the hard part—what do you call someone who's like
an aunt? Avauntular? Regardless, try to be avuncular to all of the children
you meet.

### axiom
An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to
serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments.

### Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon
When we notice something new, like an unusual word, we start seeing it more
often. It feels like it's become more common but really we're just more alert to
it, and we confuse our attention with reality itself. Hence conspiracy theories.

### babbitt
A reference to the eponymous (see eponymous) title of Sinclair Lewis's best-
known novel, the word has come to mean a person who blindly conforms to middle-
class standards.

### babelism
A chaotic situation where people cannot communicate because of different
languages.

### babelize
To make something confused or incomprehensible— derived from the biblical Tower
of Babel. If you earn an advanced degree in your ability to babelize, you can be
certain of a job at the IRS.

### bacchanal
A drunken, riotous orgy, or anyone who parties in the style of the Roman god
Bacchus.

### bacchanalian
Characterized by or given to drunken revelry; riotously drunken.

### badinage
Playful, teasing banter.

### Baedeker
A publisher of very good travel books. The word has come to describe any
complete travel guide.

### bagatelle
An unimportant trifle. (Not a loaf of French bread.) It's best used to describe
a knickknack or a small good deed.

### bailiwick
In one's area of interest or authority.

### baleful
Extremely harmful; pernicious.

### balletomane
A ballet-lover, who for some reason is not called a balletophile.

### baluster
One of the series of pillars that supports a banister along a staircase. (Now
you don't have to call it a thingee any longer!)

### balustrade
A banister plus all the balusters (see above) that hold up the banister.

### barm
Another word for the froth or head on a glass of beer. As in: "On a hot day,
there's nothing like an ice cold beer with a good barm."

### bas-relief
A sculpture or carved work in which projecting parts stand out slightly from
their surrounding surface.

### base rate fallacy
Cognitive bias — the tendency to ignore base rate information (generic, general
information) and focus on specific information (information only pertaining to a
certain case).

### bathos
A fall from the sublime to the commonplace.

### battologize
To write or repeat words or phrases.

### bauhaus
A school of architecture and design developed in Germany in 1918, which
emphasized the functional aspect of objects over their form.

### bavardage
Foolish or nonsensical talk with a touch of light banter.

### beau geste
Literally a "pretty gesture," an act that is meaningless, but looks good or has
the effect of generosity or conciliation.

### beaver
The piece of a suit of armor that is jointed below the ears and protects the
mouth and chin.

### bedizen
To vulgarly dress or gaudily accessorize; too many bangles and beads. An ugly,
old woman.

### beguile
To deceive or delude (using guile); to charm, delight or captivate; to cause
(time) to seem to pass quickly, by way of pleasant diversion.

### bel-esprit
A verbal, witty, intellectually lively person.

### bellwether
The leader of the pack; the one everyone else follows.

### benighted
Ignorant; not so much stupid, but backward.

### benthos
The animals and plants, snails, anemones and such that live at the bottom of
the sea.

### beset
To set or stud with or as if with ornaments; example: a crown beset with rubies.
Trouble, harass, assail.

### besetting
Constantly present or attacking; obsessive.

### bias blind spot
Cognitive bias: the bias blind spot is the cognitive bias of recognizing the
impact of biases on the judgment of others, while failing to see the impact of
biases on one's own judgment.

### bibelot
Pot that decorates a coffeetable or bookcase. Better than a knickknack.

### biblioclast
A person who destroys books.

### bibulous
Given to drinking alcohol, but not necessarily an alcoholic.

### bifurcate
To split into two parts or branches; to fork.

### biggin
The perforated basket that contains the grounds in a coffeepot.

### bilbulous
Fond of or addicted to drink. Absorbent. Spongy.

### bildungsroman
Literally, a novel of education—a coming-of-age story.

### billet-doux
A love letter.

### biotic
Having to do with life, in a scientific sense.

### birl
A nifty way to say "logrolling." Standing on a log while it revolves under you.

### bisextile
Refers to events that fall on February 29, the extra day of a leap year.

### bivouac
An encampment, used either as a noun or a verb. Soldiers bivouac a lot, as do
characters in Hemingway novels.

### blandish
To try to convince with flattering words; to cajole.

### blithe
Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern. "She had a blithe
disregard of cultures outside the United States."

### bloviate
To speak or write verbosely and windily.

### blowzy
Unkempt; messy. Hair out of place or an untucked shirt hanging out of a business
suit qualify as blowzy.

### bluestocking
A woman who devotes herself to scholarly or literary pursuits but who is not
necessarily formally educated.

### bolshiness
Deliberately combative or uncooperative.

### boondoggle
Means "busy work," meaningless tasks carried out laboriously to create the
appearance of being busy.

### bootless
Useless; fruitless; to no avail.

### boulevardier
A man-about-town; the kind of guy who makes sure he's seen at the trendiest
restaurants and the hippest clubs.

### bovine
Scientists use this phrase to classify the family that includes buffalo, kudus,
oxen and cows.

### bowdlerize
To edit a piece of writing by cutting out all the obscene parts.

### brachiation
To progress by swinging from hold to hold by the arms.

### brachycerous
Having short antennae.

### Brandolini's Law (aka the Bullshit Asymmetry Principle)
It takes a lot more energy to refute bullshit than to produce it. Hence, the
world is full of unrefuted bullshit.

### brocade
As a verb: to decorate fabric with raised woven patterns. As a noun: a thick
heavy fabric into which raised patterns have been woven, originally in gold
and silver; more recently any cloth incorporating raised, woven patterns.
Metaphorically: a decorative pattern.

### bromide
A trite or hackneyed remark or a boring person who speaks in meaningless
platitudes.

### Brooks's Law (law of software)
Adding [human resources] to a late software project makes it later.  -- Fred
Brooks, 1975

### bumptious
Overbearing or self-assertive to the point of being obnoxious; conceited
bordering on arrogant.

### cabal
A group engaged in secret plotting against authority.

### cache
A hidden treasure.

### cachet
A mark of distinction, a stamp of approval by a recognized authority.

### cachinate
To laugh too loud or too hard.

### cacology
Bad diction or pronunciation.

### cadence
A balanced, rhythmic flow or movement.

### cadre
A group of people who train others in an expanding organization. Often used
in a military context: "Cadres of medical personnel were sent to the field
hospitals."

### caitiff
A despicable lowlife; a contemptible or cowardly person.

### cajole
To coax or encourage, usually to get someone to do something she doesn't want
to do.

### callipygian
Having shapely buttocks.

### callow
Green; inexperienced; lacking maturity.

### calumny
A false statement designed to harm someone's reputation. It's intentional and
malicious but has no particular legal implications like libel or slander.

### camber
To arch upward in the middle.

### cambist
A classy way to describe someone who is a little too sharp with money.

### campanile
A bell tower that is usually separate from surrounding buildings.

### canard
A rumor, sham, false report or playful hoax.

### canicular
Pertaining to the rising of the Dog Star (also called Sirius) or of the star
itself.

### canonize
To include in a definitive collection — especially refers to written works. Also
used to describe the process of transforming ordinary people into saints.

### canorous
Pleasant-sounding, melodious and resonant.

### caparison
To dress sumptuously; to gussy up.

### capriccio
A frolic or caper among friends.

### capricious
Determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason.
Changeable.

### captious
Critical and hard to please in an irritable, nit-picking way.

### carapace
The tough upper part of the turtle's shell.

### carrel
A small area in a library reserved for individual study.

### caryatid
An architectural support column in the form of a draped female figure—the kind
of structure, often seen in museums and Greek ruins.

### castrophenia
Believing that your thoughts are being stolen by your competitors.

### casuistry
A process of reasoning that seeks to resolve moral problems by extracting or
extending theoretical rules from a particular case, and reapplying those rules
to new instances.

### casus belli
Latin: an act or event that provokes or is used to justify war.

### casus foederis
Latin for "case for the alliance."

### catafalque
The raised platform that holds a coffin containing a corpse during funeral
ceremonies.

### catchpenny
Using sensationalism or cheapness for appeal.

### catharsis
Any purging or release of emotions.

### catholic
A broader meaning than "relating to the Christian church," catholic also means
broad-minded or universal in tastes or views.

### cavil
To nit-pick or make small-minded criticisms or objections.

### celerity
Speed or rapidity.

### cerulean
Deep blue, such as the color of the sky on a sunny day, the water off the coast
of a Greek island, or Paul Newman's eyes.

### Ceteris Paribus
A Latin phrase that generally means "all other things being equal."

### chad
The little paper circles that fall from the hole-puncher.

### chaff
The stuff left over after harvesting wheat.

### changeling
An infant, usually strange or ugly, substituted for another in the crib or in
the nursery.

### charlatan
A fake or a phony; a person who claims to have skills, powers or talents that he
doesn't possess.

### charnel
A house or building in which skeletons or bodies are deposited.

### charrette
An effort to meet a deadline for some task by an all-out effort.

### chary
Cautious; hesitant to act.

### chasm
A huge gap or deep hole.

### chasmophile
A lover of nooks and crannies.

### cheap-jack
A peddler who sells cheap goods.

### cheechako
A greenhorn; not an insult, merely a different way of calling someone
"inexperienced" or "new to the scene."

### cheerleader effect
Cognitive bias: Also known as the group attractiveness effect; the cognitive
bias which causes people to think individuals are more attractive when they are
in a group.

### cherubic
An innocent-looking usually chubby and rosy person

### Chilling Effect
When punishment for what people say becomes widespread, people stop saying what
they really think and instead say whatever is needed to thrive in the social
environment. Thus, limits on speech become limits on sincerity.

### chimera
A mythological monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail
of a serpent.

### Choose Boring Technology (law of software)
Consider how you would solve your immediate problem without adding anything new.
-- Dan McKinley, 2015

### choplogic
Faulty reasoning, often overly complicated and confusing.

### chrysalis
The pupa of a butterfly.

### chrysalism
An emotion; The amniotic tranquilty of being indoors during a thunderstorm.

### cicatrix
The scar that forms on a healed wound.

### cicerone
A guide who escorts tourists or sightseers.

### cinerary
Adjective meaning: containing or used for ashes of the cremated dead; "a
cinerary urn"

### circumlocution
A roundabout way of saying something; using too many words and complicated
expressions.

### circumscribe
To create limits or define boundaries; to establish definite means or
procedures.

### clamjamfry
Ordinary people or the collective mob; politicians walk among the clamjamfry to
shake hands and kiss babies.

### clarion
A shrill-sounding trumpet used as a signal in war. Metaphorically describes any
obvious warning of things to come — often a bad event.

### clemency
Mercy or forgiveness, especially in choosing punishment.

### clerisy
Intelligentsia; the collective group of educated people.

### clinomania
The overwhelming desire to stay in bed.

### clinquant
Glittering, from gold or tinsel.

### clock
Decorations along the sides of socks or stockings.

### cloy
To overdo and become nauseating; may be used as a verb and an adjective.

### cockalorum
A conceited, self-important, pretentious person.

### codification
The systematic organization of methods, rules, etc.

### coetaneous
Of the same age or period.

### cogitation
Concerted thought or reflection.

### colliery
A coal mine and the buildings and equipment associated with it.

### colloquy
Conversation, more like a formal dialogue than a casual chat.

### colophon
The page at the end of a book that describes the typeface used. Also a
publishers' emblem or trademark.

### columbarium
A vault having niches for funeral urns

### comminate
To threaten with divine punishment

### compendious
Concise, expressed in compact form.

### complaisant
Obliging and eager to please.

### concise
Marked by brevity of expression or statement : free from all elaboration and
superfluous detail.

### concocted
Made by mixing several things together.

### concupiscence
A fancy way of saying sexual desire or lust, with undertones of fertility.

### confabulation
Cognitive bias: Confabulation is a memory error defined as the production of
fabricated, distorted, or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world,
without the conscious intention to deceive.

### congenial
Agreeably suited to one's nature, tastes, or outlook.

### congruence bias
Cognitive bias: similar to confirmation bias. Congruence bias occurs due
to people's overreliance on directly testing a given hypothesis as well as
neglecting indirect testing.

### conjecture
Inference formed without proof or sufficient evidence.

### consanguinity
Blood ties or kinship.

### Context effect
The Context Effect is a part of Cognitive Psychology that states that the
context (environmental factors) that surrounds an event effects how an event is
perceived and remembered.

### contretemps
A regrettable situation that leads to embarrassment.

### contumacious
Stubbornly rebellious against authority—not just irreverent, but downright
disobedient.

### Conway's Law (law of software)
Any organization that designs a system (defined broadly) will produce a design
whose structure is a copy of the organization's communication structure.  --
Melvin Conway, 1968

### corpus
All the writings or works of a particular kind or on a particular subject; a
collection or body of knowledge or evidence

### coruscate
Sparkling or gleaming. The word can also be used figuratively. Someone with a
lot of sparkle possesses a coruscating wit.

### cosset
To spoil by coddling or excessively pampering. You can cosset a child by
carrying him instead of letting him walk.

### countenance
A person's face or facial expression.  Also means support or approval.

### cozen
To defraud or trick. Usually less serious than downright fraud.

### craven
Very cowardly, with a connotation of moral disapproval.

### craxis
The unease of knowing how quickly your circumstances could change on you.

### crepuscular
Lit by twilight; dusky. A faintly romantic darkness.

### crinoline
A stiff or structured petticoat designed to hold out a woman's skirt.
Originally, crinoline described a stiff fabric made of horsehair and cotton or
linen which was used to make underskirts and as a dress lining.

### cromulent
Acceptable or adequate.

### crucible
A place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence
change or development; a severe test.

### cryptomnesia
When a forgotten memory returns without it being recognized as such by the
subject, who believes it is something new and original.

### cue-dependent forgetting
Cognitive bias: Cue-dependent forgetting, or retrieval failure, is the failure
to recall information without memory cues.

### Cunningham's Law (law of software)
The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question;
it's to post the wrong answer.  -- Ward Cunningham, 1980

### Curiosity Zone
Curiosity is the desire to fill gaps in knowledge. Thus, curiosity occurs not
when you know nothing about something, but when you know a bit about it. So
learn a little about as much as you can (like you're doing now!), and it will
spur you to learn even more.

### curmudgeon
A mean-spirited, ungenerous, irritable nasty-face who usually has no sense of
humor.

### curriculum
The set of courses constituting an area of specialization.

### cygnet
A young swan. Often used to describe a particularly beautiful young woman.

### cynosure
The center of attention—usually a person who becomes the main attraction and
directs everyone else's focus.

### dactyl
A finger or a toe. You have twenty dactyls; most birds have six. Pterodactyls
had three-toed feet (get it?). Rhymes with fractal.

### dada
A movement of art that hypothesized, "since art is everything, everything is
art." That's why there are urinals and baseballs on exhibit in art museums. Not
limited to the visual arts; use dada to describe any approach that is silly,
stupid or ridiculous.

### Damascene
Relating to the city of Damascus. Also used in reference to an important moment
of insight, typically one that leads to a dramatic transformation of attitude
or belief.

### daymare
An anxiety attack — a nightmare during the daytime.

### de facto
Actually existing; a matter of fact.

### de profundis
A Latin phrase for "out of the depths."

### de trop
From the French "too much," the word means overdone or excessive in a figurative
sense.

### dearth
A shortage or scarcity.

### deciduous
Dropping off after a period of growth, such as leaves, teeth or hair.

### declasse
Low-class in appearance, manners or taste; the word is generally reserved for
those sufficiently upper-class to consider calling others low-class. Also used
by the upper class to describe fashion that has become dated.

### decorous
Proper, elegant in behavior and attitude.

### decry
To put down someone or something; to speak or write about a situation in a way
that reveals regret, outrage or anger.

### defenestration
To throw out the window.

### degage
Not emotionally involved.

### delusion
Something that is falsely or delusively believed or propagated.

### demagogue
Usually refers to a politician or a leader who gains power by playing on the
emotions of his constituents.

### demijohn
A narrow-necked bottle with wicker basket-work woven around it.

### demimondaine
A fallen woman; a woman who has lost her good reputation by a foolish or
indiscreet action.

### demurrage
Charges that the charterer pays to the ship owner for its delayed operations of
loading or unloading.

### depredate
To plunder. Rome suffered depredation at the hands of Attila the Hun.

### deracinate
To uproot in a big sense. Plants are uprooted; families or whole cultures are
deracinated.

### descry
To see or discover something, after careful observation.

### desultory
Casually arranged, without particular or apparent structure.  Lacking a plan,
purpose, or enthusiasm. (Of conversation or speech) going constantly from one
subject to another in a halfhearted way; unfocused:

### detente
A relaxation of tensions between competitors or nations.

### detritus
Both a literal and figurative way of saying "debris."

### detumescence
Subsidence or diminution of swelling or erection

### deus ex machina
Originally in classical Greek drama, the god that came down to earth to solve a
problem that couldn't be solved by any logical turn of events. It now refers to
any chance event that intervenes and prevents a disaster from occurring.

### devil's tattoo
Describing a nervous hand or foot tapping.

### diacritical
Distinctive.

### diaphanous
Delicate and flowing.

### diatribe
A bitter criticism or denunciation; an abusive dispute. (See also polemic.)

### dieresis
The two dots placed on top of the second of two vowels that indicates that they
are supposed to be pronounced separately.

### diffident
Hesitant in acting or speaking through lack of self-confidence.

### diglot
Someone who is fluent in two languages. Bilingual.

### dilatory
Moving slowly and causing delay.

### dilettante
A person with a superficial interest in art or any branch of knowledge; a
dabbler.

### dingbat
A piece of ornamental border, such as a trim of contrasting wallpaper or a
decorative piece of type.

### diphthong
A syllable containing two letters used to make a single sound. For example the
ou in sound.

### diptych
A painting or relief carving made of two parts, which are usually joined by
hinges.

### discreet
Being careful about what you say and the way you act, good at keeping other
people's secrets;

### discrete
Separate or distinct.

### discursiveness
Proceeding coherently from topic to topic; marked by a method of resolving
complex expressions into simpler or more basic ones : marked by analytical
reasoning

### disingenuous
Pretending to be innocent or naive, which has the effect of being insincere.
Smiling when you've been caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Has nothing to
do with ingenious, by the way.

### disposition effect
Cognitive bias: refers to the irrational tendency among traders in financial
markets to hold on to their losing investments while cutting down the profitable
ones.

### dissemble
To give a false or misleading appearance to something. To lie.

### dissimulate
To pretend that something is other than it is.

### dithyramb
A wild and emotional outpouring in speech, song or writing.

### Do Something Principle
We often procrastinate because we're intimidated by our task. So make your task
less intimidating by dividing it into steps and focusing only on the next step.
Action creates traction, so each step you take will facilitate the next.

### docent
A museum guide; the person who walks you through the antiquities room in a
museum and explains how Egyptians built pyramids.

### doctrinaire
Stubbornly insistent on the observation of the niceties of a theory, esp without
regard to practicality, suitability, etc. theoretical; impractical.

### doctrine
A principle of law established through past decisions.

### Doerr's Law (law of software)
We need teams of missionaries, not teams of mercenaries.  -- John Doerr, 2015

### dotard
An old, feeble-minded person is a dotard. Almost certainly no longer politically
correct, the word should be used with great care.

### doughty
Hearty, brave and courageous (as distinguished from dowdy, which means plain
or unattractive).

### doyen
The leader or commander.

### draconian
Drastic; harsh; inhuman.

### dragoon
To force or coerce.

### dulcet
Pleasant; melodious; sweet to the eye or ear.

### duplicity
Deceitful; deception; double-dealing

### dyspepsia
Indigestion.

### dystopia
The opposite of a Utopia; a place where everything goes wrong.

### e pluribus Unum
The official U. S. motto. "one out of the many," as in one country out of many
states.

### earnestness
Sincere and intense conviction. An intense and serious state of mind.

### ecce homo
The words of Pilate when presenting Christ to his accusers, the phrase means
"Behold the man—here he is." It has come to be used for any vaguely similar
contemporary circumstances. A scruffy freshman comes home from college with a
sack full of dirty laundry and announces sarcastically, "Ecce homo."

### echolalia
The involuntary repeating of someone's words or syllables right after they are
uttered; a human echo chamber. Often associated with autism.

### ecru
Cream-colored. A little more tan than off-white, but a lot lighter than beige.
Lace curtains are often ecru.

### ectomorphic
Literally means "skinny," but the word more accurately describes a personality
type. Abbott was the ectomorph, Costello was the endomorph. Ectomorphs are
generally considered type-A personalities.

### ecumenical
Though it has religious implications and is often associated with the Christian
church, the word is used to mean "worldwide" or "universal." An ecumenical
council on hunger would deal with the problem of hunger around the globe.

### edacious
Devouring or consuming.

### effete
Various meanings include sterile and depleted, but the most common usage conveys
decadent, fey or affected. An effete snob is someone who shuns anything remotely
commonplace; an effete person indulges in rare or obscure pleasures.

### efficacious
Efficient; effective. It might take a little longer to do a job efficaciously,
but the desired effect is perfectly obtained. Ideal when used to describe
medical treatment.

### effluence
A flowing out or streaming forth. The waste that comes from sewage-treatment
plants is effluence.

### effluvium
A bad smell, usually invisible, often associated with waste-treatment
facilities.

### effulge
To shine brightly, both literally and figuratively.

### egregious
Outstandingly bad.

### elan
Dash or real style; charisma plus skill. David Niven had elan.

### eldritch
Weird, eerie. "His eldritch neighbor continued to leave voodoo dolls all over
his front lawn."

### eleemosynary
Charitable or supported by a charity.

### elephantine
Like an elephant, not in size but in demeanor; embracery lumbering and clumsy.

### elide
To leave it out, or ignore.

### elision
Any omission of a part or parts.

### ellipsism
An emotion; A sadness that you never be able to know how history will turn out.

### Ellsberg Paradox
People prefer a clear risk over an unclear one, even if it's no safer. E.g.
They'd rather bet on a ball picked from a mix of 50 red & 50 black balls than
on one where the exact ratio of red to black balls is unknown. Helps explain
market volatility.

### embayment
A bay. Physical Geography: the process by which a bay is formed.

### embrangle
Embroil and entangle.

### emeritus
No longer actively employed, but kept on the staff as an honor. a person retired
from professional life but permitted to retain as an honorary title the rank of
the last office held.

### eminence
A person of high rank or attainments. A position of prominence or superiority.

### eminence grise
The power behind the throne—for example, in the '80s, Nancy Reagan (or even
Nancy Reagan's astrologer). Literally means "gray eminence," if you care.

### emolument
The pay or profit from employment, or more likely, from a political office.

### empirical
Evidence or study relies on practical experience rather than theories.

### Empty Name
We can be convinced that a concept is real by the mere fact that it has a name,
but the world is full of names for things that aren't real (e.g. Batman). As
such, assume nothing is true just because it has a name.

### emulsion
A mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible owing to liquid-
liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase
systems of matter called colloids.

### encephalesthenia
Exhaustion due to emotional stress rather than lack of sleep or physical work.

### encomium
A eulogy that sums up the good qualities of a dead person. It's come to mean any
ceremonious praise that celebrates a person dead or alive.

### encyclical
A letter from the pope to all his bishops. A very important letter.

### endemic
Native or indigenous to a region or place.

### enervate
To weaken or take away the energy.

### enigma
A puzzling matter that cannot be easily explained.

### ennui
Indifferent; bored in a world-weary sense.

### enormity
Horribleness or awfulness.

### eonism
A technical way of saying transvestism. A man who dresses in women's clothing
and adopts feminine postures is exhibiting eonism.

### ephemera
Something lasting only a short time. Though often used to denote triviality,
ephemera involves time or lifespan, not importance. An earthquake is ephemeral,
as is youth.

### epicene
Reflecting both male and female characteristics; androgynous.

### epigone
A disciple, not famous in his own right, of a famous writer.

### epigram
A witty little remark such as: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Oscar
Wilde was famous for his epigrams. The quotation at the beginning of a book,
which can sometimes be an epigram, is known as an epigraph. Also distinguish
epigram from aphorism, which is a brief, but not necessarily witty, expression.

### epiphany
The religious meaning is a Christian feast celebrated on January 6 to
commemorate the appearance of Christ, but the word is also used to mean a sudden
realization of the true meaning of something.

### epistemic
Of or relating to knowledge or knowing.

### Epistemic Humility
Instead of trying to be right, try to be less wrong. Avoiding idiocy is easier
than achieving genius, and by beginning from the position that you don't know
enough (which you don't), you'll gain more awareness of your blindspots and
become harder to fool.

### epistemology
The study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with
reference to its limits and validity. The philosophical theory of knowledge. How
we know what we know.

### eponymous
Giving one's name to a book, a record or an organization.

### equable
Uniform; not differing. In an equable distribution, everyone gets the same
amount. Why not say equitable? Because equitable implies fairness. The
distribution might be equal, but it might not be fair.

### equivocal
Having several meanings and therefore capable of being interpreted in several
ways.

### ergasiophobia
Fear of, or aversion, to work. What Maynard G. Krebbs suffered in the Dobie
Gillis show.

### ergodic
Of or relating to a process in which every sequence or sizable sample is equally
representative of the whole (as in regard to a statistical parameter).

### ersatz
Artificial, a substitute for the real thing. Sweet 'n Low is ersatz sugar;
margarine is ersatz butter. Formica can be ersatz marble, wood or any other
number of finishes.

### eruct
An extremely erudite way of saying "belch." One way to remember the word is to
think of erupt: "After the very large meal, the man leaned back in his chair
and eructed."

### escalation of commitment
Cognitive bias: escalation of commitment is a human behavior pattern in which
an individual or group facing increasingly negative outcomes from a decision,
action, or investment nevertheless continues the behavior instead of altering
course. The actor maintains behaviors that are irrational, but align with
previous decisions and actions.

### eschatology
The branch of theology that is concerned with such final things as death and
Last Judgment; Heaven and Hell; the ultimate destiny of humankind.

### eschaton
The final event in the divine plan; the end of the world.

### eschew
To avoid or shun something because you find it loathsome or unbearable. One can
eschew on physical grounds, as in eschewing a wool coat in July, or in terms of
taste, as in eschewing displays of physical affection in front of dinner guests.

### esprit d'escalier
You probably never knew that there was a word for this—a clever remark or reply
that you didn't think of at the appropriate moment but thought of too late, as
in "I should have said..." It comes from the French phrase, "up the stairs":
"I didn't think of a snappy retort to D'Artagnan until I was already up the
stairs." The next time you find yourself speechless, just say, "When I come up
with the esprit d'escalier, I'll give you a call."

### esprit de corps
A feeling of unification or commonly held beliefs or attitudes among a group of
people. The phrase can be used to describe a feeling of excitement and belong-
ng that comes from being part of a successful group. Apple Computer had it for a
while; so did the Peace Corps.

### Essentialism
Cognitive bias: the view that every entity has a set of attributes that are
necessary to its identity and function.

### etagere
One of those pieces of furniture (often referred to by pompous antiques dealers
and interior decorators) that you feel too embarrassed to admit you've never
heard of. It's a group of open shelves used to store knickknacks.

### ethos
The basic characteristics of a person, group, institution or culture; not a form
of anesthesia. "The ethos of '60s America was defined by TV."

### etiolate
To bleach and alter the natural development of (a green plant) by excluding
sunlight; to make pale; to deprive of natural vigor; make feeble.

### etiology
The cause of a disease or abnormal condition; a branch of knowledge concerned
with causes; specifically: a branch of medical science concerned with the causes
and origins of diseases

### eunuch
The term for the unfortunate man who's been castrated. Traditionally employed by
sheiks to protect their harem from loyal servants. Now used to describe someone
who acts as if he'd been castrated.

### eupepsia
A rarely used word meaning "good digestion."

### euphonious
Pleasant to listen to. The word can describe words or music. It's sometimes
confused with cacophonous, which means the opposite.

### evanesce
The word sounds like it means "bubbly," but it really means "to fade slowly."
Champagne doesn't evanesce; sunsets do.

### exacerbate
To incrementally increase the irritation or annoyance of something, as in:
"Scratching his poison ivy did little but exacerbate the itching."

### excogitate
More than just thinking about an issue, to excogitate is to carefully reason
it out.

### excoriate
To peel or take the skin from. The word is generally used figuratively. You peel
an apple, but you excoriate someone for screwing up.

### exculpate
To free from blame. Exculpation doesn't mean forgiveness; it means that you were
never guilty to begin with, and now your name is cleared.

### exigency
An unexpected set of circumstances. Urgent needs or demands arising from a set
of circumstances.

### existential
Of, relating to, or affirming existence; grounded in existence or the experience
of existence.

### exordium
A more precise way to describe the introduction to a speech, presentation or
book. Readers (such as yourself?) often skip over the preface, but they'll
certainly spend the time to read the exordium if it is clearly labeled.

### exoteric
Appropriate for general consumption. A lovely twist on the commonly used
esoteric. If goat cheese is esoteric, then cheddar is exoteric.

### expatiate
To expand upon, as in a speech that goes on to explain the causes and symptoms
of an event.

### expeditious
Quick and speedy in the sense of "most rapidly accomplished." An expeditious
solution to feeling nauseatingly drunk is to pass out.

### extirpate
To uproot or completely destroy. An earthquake may extirpate a small village.

### exulansis
An emotion; The tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because
people are unable to relate to it.

### fabulist
A liar. If you want to accuse someone of not telling you the truth without
instantaneously enraging them, call them a fabulist. It sounds gentler.

### facetious
Flippant. When a tourist asks, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" the facetious
New Yorker answers, "Practice, practice, practice."

### facinorous
Exceptionally evil or wicked. Not just the Witch of the West; more along the
lines of Satan.

### fakir
An Arabic word for a guy who makes his living charming snakes or lying on a bed
of nails.

### fallal
A showy ornament especially in dress; costume jewelry or cheap, flashy trimmings
on clothing.

### false memory
Cognitive bias: a psychological phenomenon where a person recalls something that
did not happen or differently from the way it happened.

### farinaceous
Made from flour or meal and containing a lot of starch, such as bread, pasta or
cereal. Vegetarians frequently eat farinaceous meals.

### farrago
A jumbled hodgepodge, a mixture.

### fastuous
Overbearingly snotty, pretentious, or arrogant.

### fatuous
Foolish or inane. Clowns aren't fatuous, they're silly. A boorish drunk or a
fawning suitor can easily become fatuous, however.

### faux pas
From the French for "false step." This is a wonderful word for a social blunder,
an error of etiquette. If you pronounce your boss's name incorrectly while
introducing his speech at a large convention, you have committed a faux pas.

### feral
Animalistic; existing in a wild state. With his ripped shirt and slight drool,
Robert seemed almost feral.

### filtrum
That little canal that leads from your nose to your mouth. You knew there was a
name for it, and now you know what it is.

### Fitt's Law (law of software)
The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance to and the size of
the target.  -- Paul Fitts, 1954

### flaccid
Limp or flabby, like the stems of wilted flowers or the thighs of people who eat
too much and don't exercise.

### flaneur
A word that comes from the French and means "idler" or "loafer," such as someone
who sits around all day eating croissants and smoking Gauloises and not doing
much of anything else. Not the ideal mate.

### fletcher
A person who makes arrows. There's not much use for this word today, but you
never know when you might run into Robin Hood and need some ammunition.

### flocculant
A chemical for producing flocculation of suspended particles, as to improve the
plasticity of clay for ceramic purposes.

### florid
The word has two equally used meanings: "rosy or ruddy" and also "flowery or
elaborate." The man with the florid complexion sitting behind the bar com-posed
a poem in florid language about the woman he loves.

### floromancy
The belief that flowers have feelings and will respond to the way they are
treated. People who talk to their plants and play music for them to help them
grow most certainly believe in floromancy.

### flotsam
Flotsam is the floating remains of a sunken or wrecked ship. Jetsam is the
floating stuff purposely thrown overboard to keep a ship from sinking in the
first place. In our modern age, the two words are generally used together, as
in, "This antique store carries a collection of the flotsam and jetsam of our
society."

### flout
To mock or show contempt: "The student flouted university rules by coming to
class naked to the waist." It is important to distinguish flout from flaunt.
Haunt is slightly more positive. You can flaunt wealth by wearing a diamond
bracelet to play tennis, for example. Flout rhymes with doubt.

### flubdub
You could also say claptrap, or bunkum. But there are times when only flubdub is
adequate to describe a ridiculous, poorly-thought-out, bombastic argument.

### flump
To drop with a heavy thud. Sort of the noise you make when you collapse
in a chair or throw the laundry on the bed. Talk about onomatopoeia (see
onomatopoeia)!

### foozle
To bungle or goof up. Not recommended in referring to truly serious goof-ups,
like erasing your hard disk. Better for describing the acts of a waiter who
brings every single person the wrong dish at dinner. It's one of those words
that makes you smile every time you use it.

### foray
An investigation, or and attack or raid.

### forbearance
1) a refraining from the enforcement of something (such as a debt, right, or
obligation) that is due. 2) the act of forbearing : patience. 3) the quality of
being forbearing : leniency

### forer effect
Cognitive bias: also called Barnum Effect, is the phenomenon that occurs
when individuals believe that personality descriptions apply specifically to
them (more so than to other people), despite the fact that the description is
actually filled with information that applies to everyone.

### forte
Strong point, or strong skill; In classical music, forte means "play this
loudly!"

### fortuitous
Depending on luck or chance; accidental.

### founder
To be wrecked and to sink.

### fractious
Irritable, whiny, quarrelsome and rebellious, a word that best applies to the
behavior of children or to adults who are acting like children.

### friable
The condition of being friable, describes the tendency of a solid substance to
break into smaller pieces under duress or contact, especially by rubbing. The
opposite of friable is indurate.

### frisson
A shiver, as from a thrill or a fright. A frisson passes through an audience
watching the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The word is best used as
a reaction to situations that intend to scare, such as roller coaster rides or
horror films. It's actually a nice way to say goosebumps.

### fulgent
Very bright; shining or radiant. Dazzling.

### fulgurant
Flashing like lightning.

### fulsome
Disgusting, tasteless and generally repellent. It's often confused to mean the
opposite.

### fungible
Easily interchangeable with something else; the opposite of unique.

### gaffe
A social blunder, just like a faux pas (see faux pas).

### gainsay
To verbally contradict what another person says.

### galactoid
Milk-like; White and opaque, like milk.

### galagog
The state of being simultaneously entranced and unsettled by the vastness of the
cosmos, which makes your deepest concerns feel laughably quaint, yet vanishingly
rare. (Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows)

### Gall's Law (law of software)
A complex system that works has evolved from a simple system that worked. A
complex system built from scratch won’t work.  -- John Gall, 1975

### Gambler's Fallacy
We often feel we're owed luck for being unlucky. "The coin was heads 10 flips
in a row, the next flip has gotta be tails!" But probability has no memory;
it won't make amends for its past behavior. Therefore, treat every possibility
independent of the past.

### garrulous
Excessively talkative in a silly, chattering way.

### gatefold
This is a large page, folded and bound into a book or magazine.

### gelid
A word for icy or frozen.

### genre
Category.

### germane
Relevant, pertinent or appropriate, but strictly reserved for referring to
ideas.

### gerrymander
The reorganization of the electoral districts of a state to give one political
party an advantage.

### gestalt
A way of describing the big picture of a situation.

### gild
To coat with gold.

### glean
To gather or absorb information.

### gobbet
Another way of saying morsel or lump.

### Goodhart's Law (law of software)
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.  -- Charles
Goodhart, 1975

### Google Scholar Effect
We all get our answers from whatever tops the search results, so these results
come to dominate a topic, muscling out unluckier viewpoints. Google has trapped
us in an orgy of intellectual incest where everyone is drawing from the same
tiny meme-pool.

### googol
The number 1, followed by 100 zeros.

### Gordian knot
An apparently unsolvable problem.

### gossamer
Originally a cobweb, now the word describes any translucent, wispy object.

### gracile
Slender and graceful, such as a fawn, a gazelle or a ballet dancer.

### grammalogue
This is the word for any sign or letter which signifies a word, such as &.
(and), $ (dollars) or @ (at).

### grand guignol
Connoting a drama with strains of horror.

### grandiloquent
A lofty, extravagantly colorful, pompous, or bombastic style, manner, or quality
especially in language.

### Greenspun's tenth rule (law of software)
Any sufficiently complicated C or Fortran program contains an ad hoc,
informally-specified, bug-ridden, slow implementation of half of Common Lisp.
-- Philip Greenspun,

### gregarious
Friendly. Occasionally used to imply insincerity.

### griffin
A mythical beast with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.

### grimalkin
An old female cat.

### grommet
A small, metal-reinforced hole, especially in a sail or other piece of canvas.
Used to attach ropes or other tie-downs.

### grum
Grim, glum or surly.

### gudgeon
An easy mark, someone who is duped without effort. Also, especially on boats: a
metal pivot for a pintle.

### gunkhole
To sail slowly along a coastline, stopping along the way in quiet ports.

### gunwale
The top of the side of a boat (where the rail might be).

### Gurwinder's Third Paradox
In order for you to beat someone in a debate, your opponent needs to realize
they've lost. Therefore, it's easier to win an argument against a genius than
an idiot.

### gustatory
Tasting. A place of tasting. The gustatory sense is the sense of taste.

### gynarchy
Government by a woman or by women.

### hajj
A pilgrimage to Mecca made at least once by pious Muslims. Can be used
figuratively to refer to any pilgrimage. Many senior citizens make their annual
hajj to Florida in the winter, for example.

### halcyon
Calm, tranquil, and happy.

### halidom
A holy place, thing, or sanctuary, such as a chapel or church. Halidome can also
be spelled with an e on the end.

### handsel
A gift or present that is meant to bring good luck, such as a bottle of
champagne to the owner of a new restaurant.

### Hanlon's razor
An aphorism expressed in various ways including "Never attribute to malice that
which is adequately explained by stupidity."

### haptics
Science concerned with the sense of touch.

### harbinger
A person, thing or event that foreshadows the arrival of something. The first
robin is a harbinger of spring; the sight of billboards for hundreds of miles is
a harbinger of Wall Drug in South Dakota.

### harridan
A bad-tempered old woman; a hag. Harridan could be used to describe your eighth-
grade history teacher, a nasty neighbor or the wicked witch in a fairy tale.

### haruspex
In ancient Rome, a fortuneteller who predicted the future by reading sheep
entrails.

### haughty
Blatantly and disdainfully proud. Having or showing an attitude of superiority
and contempt for people or things perceived to be inferior

### havelock
A cloth covering for a cap which has a flap to protect the back of the neck from
the sun—the kind of thing Lawrence of Arabia wore.

### hedonist
A person addicted to things that give pleasure or happiness.

### heeltap
Remainder of drink left in a glass or bottle.

### hegemony
Political and/or economic leadership, as in one country over another or one
state over another.

### hegira
A flight or escape from one situation to another that offers better
circumstances.

### heliotrope
Any of a genus (Heliotropium) of herbs or shrubs of the borage family compare
garden heliotrope; A variable color averaging a moderate to reddish purple

### hermaphrodite
This is a human being or an animal that has both male and female sex organs.

### heterodox
A person or a belief that is not in accordance with established orthodox belief.

### heteronym
A word spelled like another, but with a different sound and meaning, such as
lead and lead, read and read.

### heuristic
The hints, techniques and concepts we use to make decisions.

### hiatus
A break in a career or routine.

### highbinder
A swindler or confidence man.

### hirsute
A man in need of a shave.

### histological
The anatomical study of the microscopic structure of animal and plant tissues.
The microscopic structure of tissue.

### histrionic
Overly dramatic; so excessively theatrical as to be unbelievable.

### hoary
Gray- or white-haired with age.

### Hobson's choice
A 16th- 17th century English stable owner who insisted that his clients take the
horse closest to the door. The phrase, named after Hobson, means a decision that
offers no alternative. In short—take it or leave it.

### Hofstadter's Law (law of software)
It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account
Hofstadter's Law.  -- Douglas Hofstadter, 1979

### hoi polloi
Common people.

### homeopathy
Treating disease by administering minute doses of drugs that normally produce
symptoms like those of the disease.

### homily
A sermon or a moral lecture.

### homunculus
"little man".

### honorarium
A token payment made for professional services, generally less than should be
charged.

### hoodoo
Bad luck.

### hortatory
Urging someone to do something. The sergeant made a hortatory speech in an
effort to convince the boys to join the army.

### hot spur
A rash, impetuous person who is volatile, hottempered, and easily spurred
to violence. There's some generosity in the insult; it's kinder than calling
someone a homicidal maniac.

### hubris
Excessive pride; proud to a fault.

### huggermugger
Chaotic secrecy.

### hunks
A mean, disagreeable, old person who is often cheap and miserly.

### hyperbole
An intentionally exaggerated exaggeration, not meant to be taken literally.

### hypocorism
A word for baby talk.

### hyponym
A generic name not based on a recognizable species.

### hyposmia
A decreased sensitivity to some or all smells.

### hypothesis
An assumption or concession made for the sake of argument; a tentative
assumption made in order to draw out and test its logical or empirical
consequences; the antecedent clause of a conditional statement.

### Hyrum's Law (law of software)
With a sufficient number of users of an API, it does not matter what you promise
in the contract: all observable behaviors of your system will be depended on by
somebody.  -- Hyrum Wright, 2012

### iatrogenic
Making something worse in an effort to make it better.

### ichthyoid
"fish-like."

### iconoclast
Someone who attacks traditional or popular values, beliefs or symbols of
traditional values.

### iconography
Pictorial or symbolic representation of something.

### idem
The Latin word for "ditto." Ditto means "repeat that last item again."

### idiogamist
A man who is capable of engaging in sexual intercourse only with his wife.

### idioglossia
Gibberish. The invented, unintelligible form of speech shared by twins, siblings
or any children who are closely associated.

### idiograph
Any private trademark or signature.

### idiopathy
A disease not preceded or occasioned by any known morbid condition.

### ignoble
The opposite of "noble", contemptible and of generally low character.

### IKEA effect
cognitive bias: in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on
products they partially created.

### illusory truth effect
Cognitive bias: (also known as the validity effect, truth effect or the
reiteration effect) is the tendency to believe information to be correct after
repeated exposure.

### imbroglio
A state of confusion; an entangled mess.

### imminent
About to happen. Thunderstorms and temper tantrums are often described as
imminent. Imminently is a powerful way to say "soon."

### immure
To enclose within walls; cloister; incarcerate; to shut in; seclude or confine;
to imprison; to build into or entomb in a wall; to surround with walls; fortify.

### impecunious
Poor. Penniless. The word has a slightly antiquated flavor. Huckleberry Finn was
impecunious; the people on welfare lines today are unemployed and poor.

### imperative
As an adjective, imperative means absolutely necessary or required; cumpulsory;
unavoidable: "It is imperative that we leave."  It also means commanding. As a
noun, imperative means a command; something that demands attention or action; an
unavoidable obligation or requirement; necessity.

### imperative
Necessary.

### impertinence
The quality or state of being impertinent: such as incivility, insolence,
inappropriateness

### implacable
Stubborn. Not pleased, convinced or reconciled.

### implicit stereotypes
Cognitive bias — an implicit bias, or implicit stereotype, is the unconscious
attribution of particular qualities to a member of a certain social group.

### importune
To beg or plead with great intensity and persistence.

### imprimatur
A stamp of approval from an acknowledged expert.

### impudence
A contemptuous or cocky boldness, or disregard of others; impertinet; insolent.

### impunity
Freedom from punishment. If you do something with impunity, you know you'll get
away with it.

### in extremis
The Latin expression for "near death."

### in flagrante delicto
Latin phrase for being caught in the middle of a sexual act.

### In Omnia Paratus
Prepared in all things; ready for anything.

### inchoate
Not yet formed; just begun.

### incontinent
Unable to restrain natural discharges or evacuations of urine or feces.

### incubus
An evil spirit that annoys people while they are sleeping and, in particular, a
spirit that badgers women for sexual favors.

### inculpate
The opposite of exculpate; to blame, more in a legal sense than a moral one.

### indefectible
Perfect; without flaw or defect.

### indemnity
Insurance or compensation against loss.

### indulgences
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence is "a way to reduce the
amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins".

### ineffable
Indescribable, impossible to capture in words. Usually used for things that are
indescribably good or too mysterious or spiritual to put into words.

### infamous
A famous person whose fame is based on unsavory acts.

### inflammable
Just like flammable.

### Information-Action Ratio
The mark of useful info is that it makes us act differently. Most info we
consume doesn't make us act differently; we just passively graze on it like
cattle before defecating it undigested. Stop mindless scrolling and seek out
info that changes you.

### ingenue
A naive young woman or, just as common, an actress who plays the role of a naive
young woman.

### ingenuous
Naive and unworldly.

### inimical
Hostile and unfriendly.

### iniquity
Complete wickedness.

### innervate
To stimulate or furnish with nervous energy.

### inscrutable
Mysterious; difficult to understand or fully grasp.

### insipid
Uninteresting. Plain. Boring.

### insouciance
Indifference, but with a subtle twist of devil-maycare.

### intense
Existing in an extreme degree. Having or showing a characteristic in extreme
degree. Marked by or expressive of great zeal, energy, determination, or
concentration. Exhibiting strong feeling or earnestness of purpose. Deeply felt.

### intents and purposes
Under usual circumstances or during normal conditions.

### interdict
To forbid or sternly prohibit.

### interjacent
In between.

### internecine
Mutually destructive. Destructive to both sides in a conflict. Also relating to
conflict within a group.

### intestate
Dying without a will.

### intort
Twisting or curling something around a fixed point.

### intractable
Stubborn or obstinate, such as a child who won't behave even after being
scolded.

### intransigent
Stubborn, obstinate. Like intractable but with more intensity.

### inure
To become hardened and unaffected by hardship, difficulty or attack.

### invective
A noun that means "strongly abusive verbal criticism."

### invidious
Of an unpleasant or objectionable nature. Like obnoxious invidious remarks.
Also: of a kind to cause harm or resentment. An invidious comparison. Tending to
cause discontent, animosity, or envy.

### irascible
Of an irritable temperament; easily annoyed.

### irenic
Peaceful, calm and capable of inducing serenity.

### iterate
It means the same thing as reiterate: to repeat over and over.

### jape
To joke or to tease; also a taunt, wisecrack or practical joke.

### jejune
Dull and uninteresting, immature and lacking in wisdom.

### jerry-built
Shoddily built or slapped together.

### jettison
To throw overboard. Jetsam (see flotsam) is jettisoned all the time.

### jihad
The word literally means a holy war waged by Muslims as a religious duty, but it
has come to be used for any cause undertaken on behalf of certain principles.

### jingoism
Aggressive patriotism, usually manifested by chanting slogans and waving banners
or symbols.

### jocose
Someone who's always joking around is jocose. Compare to verbose, which
describes someone who's always talking.

### jodhpurs
Pants, worn by horseback riders and motorcycle cops, with very wide thighs and
narrow calves.

### joey
A baby kangaroo.

### jouska
An emotion; A hypothetical conversation that you compulsively play out in your
head.

### Jungian
Carl Jung was a contemporary and follower of Freud, and is best known for his
theories of a universal mythology, a connection that brings us all back to basic
roots.

### juvenescent
Youthful.

### juxtapose
To put next to something else for comparison.

### Kabuki Theatre
Kabuki is a classical form of traditional Japanese theatre characterized by
its stylized performances, elaborate costumes, distinctive makeup, and dramatic
music.

### Kafkaesque
A reference to the early 20th-century novels of Franz Kafka, whose surreal,
nightmarish plots revolve around protagonists who are caught in a strangling
web of bureaucracy. Now applied to any event in which a person is trapped by
stultifying bureaucratic measures.

### kakistocracy
A wonderfully descriptive word, often needed and rarely recognized, that means
"government by the worst people in the state."

### katabatic
Moving down a slope or valley.

### Kayfabrication
Politics is pro-wrestling in suits. Opposing parties are collaborators in a
greater system, whose choreographed conflict entertains and distracts us from
what is really going on.

### kef
The word refers to a drowsy, dreamy state induced by a narcotic, such as
marijuana, but can be used to mean a stupor brought about by anything.

### kegler
A person who bowls (bolwing).

### ken
Area of expertise or authority. '"That's outside my ken,' said the detective."

### kenopsia
An emotion; The eerie, forlom atmosphere of a place that is usually bustling
with people but is now abandoned and quiet.

### kente
A type of African cloth. Developed hundreds of years ago, kente cloth is a sign
of royalty and wealth. Also spelled kinte.

### Kerchkhoff's principle (law of software)
In cryptography, a system should be secure even if everything about the system,
except for a small piece of information - the key - is public knowledge.  --
Auguste Kerckhoffs, 1883

### Kernighan's Law (law of software)
Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first
place. So if you’re as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever
debug it?  -- Brian Kernighan, 1974

### key grip
The grip sets up scenery and camera dollies; the head of all the grips on a film
is called the key grip.

### killjoy
A spoilsport. The opposite of "the life of the party."

### kinetic
Filled with motion.

### kiosk
A small, open-sided building, often used for selling tickets or dispensing
information.

### kismet
Fate or destiny. Usually used in a positive sense—it was kismet that Lana Turner
happened to be at the counter at Schwab's the day she was discovered.

### kith
Your family is kin; your friends are kith. When the whole gang gets together,
you refer to them as your kith and kin.

### knave
A tricky deceitful person.

### knell
The sound of a bell tolling.

### knurl
A series of small ridges, such as those found along the edge of a quarter.

### Knuth's optimization principle (law of software)
Premature optimization is the root of all evil.  -- Donald Knuth, 1974

### kowtow
To bow before someone.

### krotoscope
A device used to measure applause volume.

### kudos
Applause or praise.

### kuebiko
An emotion; A state of exhaustion inspired by acts of senseless violence

### labile
Although the word means unstable in general, it is most frequently used to mean
emotionally unstable, as in temperamental or moody.

### lachesism
An emotion; The desire to be struck by disaster - to survive a plane crash, or
to lose everything in a fire.

### lachrymose
Given to weeping.

### lackey
Servant. Someone who does menial tasks or runs errands for another. A servile
follower.

### lacuna
A gap or a missing portion.

### Lady Lovelace's Objection (law of software)
The Analytical Engine has no pretensions to originate anything. It can do
whatever we know how to order it to perform.  -- Ada Lovelace, 1842

### lambent
Dealing gently but brilliantly with a subject, or touching something lightly and
playfully on the surface.

### lanai
Hotel jargon for a private terrace or balcony that comes with a room.

### languor
Weakness or weariness of body or mind. Also Listless indolence or inertia.

### lanugo
Lanugo is the soft, downy hairs that cover the fetus and newborn babies.

### larrikin
An Australian English term meaning "a mischievous young person, an uncultivated,
rowdy but good hearted person", or "a person who acts with apparent disregard
for social or political conventions".

### lascivious
Filled with or showing sexual desire.

### Law of Leaky Abstractions (law of software)
All non-trivial abstractions, to some degree, are leaky.  -- Joel Spolsky, 2002

### Law of Triviality
A company needs a nuclear reactor and a bike shed. Few workers understand
reactors, but all understand sheds, so the shed becomes the focus of debate as
everyone tries to enact their vision. Projects that require the least attention
tend to get the most.

### lee
The sheltered side of something; the side away from the wind.

### legerdemain
Dexterity in the use of one's hands to perform magic tricks, juggling, or other
feats of deception.

### leitmotif
A theme maintained throughout a body of work, particularly a musical work,
associated with a character, an idea or an emotion.

### lethologica
A temporary inability to remember a word or a name.

### lexicon
The working or usable vocabulary of a language, a person ora culture.

### liberosis
An emotion; The desire to care less about things.

### libertarian
An advocate of liberty of thought and action. Also refers to a political party
which supports minimal government intervention, except in law and military
defense.

### libertine
Someone who advocates the liberty to be dissolute, particularly with regard to
sexual needs.

### licentious
A licentious person is a libertine (see above); someone uncontrolled in sexual
indulgence.

### lickerish
Lustful and lecherous. (See licentious above.)

### light year
The distance light travels in one year.

### Lilliputian
Describes someone from the mythical island of Lilliput.

### limbic system
The part of the brain involved in our behavioural and emotional responses,
especially when it comes to behaviours we need forsurvival: feeding,
reproduction and caring for our young, and fight or flight responses.

### liminal
Relating to, or situated at a sensory threshold : barely perceptible or capable
of eliciting a response.

### limn
To capture through an artistic medium; to evoke or describe, either in a drawing
or in words.

### limpid
Clear or transparent.

### linchpin
A piece of hardware that holds together a piece of machinery, now used to
describe the crucial element in an argument or organization.

### Lindy Effect
The longer a non-biological system has existed, the longer it's likely to exist,
because its age demonstrates its ability to weather the fickleness of fashions
and the erosion of eons.

### lingua franca
A common language.

### Linus's Law (law of software)
Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.  -- Linus Torvalds, 1999

### lissom
Supple; agile; lithe.

### lissome
Easily flexed.

### litotes
Someone who speaks in litotes uses understatements in which two negatives make
a positive.

### liverish
Unpleasant, disagreeable, easily irritated person.

### livery
The clothing or uniform worn by the servants of highranking people.

### livid
The word literally means the color of flesh after being strangled—bluish-gray —
but most of the time it's used to describe furious anger, as in choking with
anger.

### logorrhea
Diarrhea of the mouth.

### longtermism
a) Future people matter morally as much as people alive now. b) There are likely
many more future people than people alive now. c) Small changes now can have
huge repercussions in future. If these are true, should we be doing more for
future generations?

### looby
An awkward person, especially one who is lazy or stupid; lout; lubber.

### loquacious
Full of excessive talk, wordy; given to fluent or excessive talk, garrulous.

### Lothario
A silly, stupid person. A reference to a character in an 18th-century play by
Rowe, this is a man who charms women and lies to them in order to gain sexual
favors.

### louche
Decadent, depraved, seedy and immoral.

### loup
A half-mask, the kind that covers only the eyes and nose.

### lubricious
Slippery in a literal sense (as in lubricated), or slippery in a more figurative
sense (lecherous, lascivious or licentious).

### lubricous
Marked by wantonness; letcherous.

### lucubrate
To burn the midnight oil—to work or study late into the night.

### lugubrious
Marked by wantonness (lecherous); having a smooth or slippery quality.

### lumpen
People deprived of their rights and homes, or otherwise degraded in social
standing.

### lurid
Vulgar; designed in a way that appeals to our baser instincts, which generally
means not very subtle.

### lysophobia
Means a morbid dread of going insane.

### macedoine
Diced and mixed.

### machination
A secret plot or scheme and has a particularly sneaky and underhanded tone.

### macroeconomics
The study of the broad and general aspects of an economy, such as the general
level of inflation, rather than of a particular aspect of a society's economy
(see microeconomics).

### madrilene
A kind of soup—tomato-flavored broth, served jellied and cold or liquid and hot.

### magna cum laude
summa cum laude is the highest praise. magna cum laude is the next highest and
means with great praise; cum laude is the lowest of three honors and it means,
simply, with honor.

### magniloquent
Boastful, pompous.

### mahpiohanzia
n. the frustration of being unable to fly, unable to stretch out your arms
and vault into the air, having finally shrugged off the burden of your own
weight, which you’ve been carrying your entire life without a second thought.
(Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows)

### maillot
A type of fabric of a particularly close knit, the kind often used to make one-
piece swimsuits. It's come to denote any one-piece swimsuit, regardless of the
fabric.

### maladroit
Physically awkward or clumsy, as well as verbally awkward in the sense of
tactless.

### malapropism
The confusion of similar-sounding words, usually with ridiculous results.
"Beware the ideas of March." "It's not the heat; it's the humility."

### malfeasance
Misconduct.

### malice
The desire to see a great deal of evil done upon another.

### malinger
To pretend to be sick in order to avoid work.

### manque
Unfulfilled, or might-have-been.

### martinet
A strict disciplinarian.

### matutinal
Happening in the morning.

### mauerbauertraurigkeit
The inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends who you really
like.

### maunder
To walk or talk in a random or confused manner.

### maverick
A nonconformist or a rebel, a person whose thoughts and actions are different
from most others.

### mawkish
Overly sentimental or maudlin.

### Media Naturalness Theory
Writing has existed for < 2% of human history, so our brains are not evolved
for reading; we need vocal/facial cues for context. Thus, accept that you'll be
misunderstood online, but never stop posting, for the only way to write clearer
is by writing.

### meet
Something that is meet is fitting, suitable or appropriate.

### megrims
A depression or sinking into low spirits.

### melange
This French word for "mixture".

### melee
One step short of a riot; a confused or tumultuous fight among several people.

### mellifluous
Music or sound that flows smoothly or sweetly.

### Meme Theory
An ideology parasitizes the mind, changing the host’s behavior so they spread it
to other people. Therefore, a successful ideology (the only kind we hear about)
is not configured to be true; it is configured only to be easily transmitted and
easily believed.

### mendacious
Given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolute
truth.

### mendacity
The quality or state of being mendacious. To lie.

### mendicant
A beggar.

### mensch
A Yiddish word for someone who combines wisdom, humor and honor.

### menticide
A way of saying "brainwashing."

### mercurial
Describes someone whose mood changes in a heartbeat. It's also used to describe
someone who is always upbeat—the assumption being, perhaps, that they must be
depressed in private. In both cases, mercurial people may be difficult, but they
are always interesting.

### mere-exposure effect
Cognitive bias: the mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon by which
people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar
with them.

### meretricious
Acting flashy in an effort to look like something you're not. A meretricious
artist paints with a lot of elaborate brush strokes, but the painting isn't
interesting; a meretricious novelist may use fancy language but write a book
with no real literary impact.

### merman
The male version of a mermaid. We hear about them less often, but they still
make their way into fairy tales.

### messianic
Someone who is messianic acts like a messiah. An excellent way to describe
someone who seems to be on a mission from God, or who promotes her ideas with a
little too much fervor.

### mestizo
Not a kind of wood used for grilling at a California restaurant, but a person of
mixed ancestry, usually part Indian and part African.

### metaphrase
A word-for-word translation, to be distinguished from a paraphrase, which
summarizes the gist of something. A nice way of saying "verbatim" and sounding
hightech about it.

### mete
To mete out something is to distribute it in measured portions, as in to mete
out a punishment to a group of students (for some reason, it seems punishment is
always meted). It sounds just like meat but spelled differently.

### metier
This is another word for forte (see forte)—an occupation or activity in which a
person has a particularly strong talent.

### metonymy
This is a figure of speech used as a stylistic device by many writers who
probably don't know there is a name for it. When you use a metonymy, you
substitute an attribute or an example of a thing for the thing itself, evoking
one idea by a term that is related. "Today, the White House announced a tax
hike," for example, or "He gave up the bottle".

### mettle
Courageous spirit or vigorous energy. A person of mettle is a brave person who
is willing to take action. For some reason, mettle is always being tested.

### miasma
The foul-smelling gases given off by decaying matter in marshes and swamps. It's
usually used figuratively to describe any confusing subject or event that's hard
to sort out. "Her explanation of biogenetics was a miasma of scientific theories
and incomprehensible equations..

### microeconomics
The opposite of macroeconomics (see macro-economics) economics applied to the
specific aspects of an economy: supply and demand and the price of sugar, for
example.

### mien
A person's demeanor, the manner or habits that reflect character or attitude.
I can tell by his mien— his furrowed brow, his grimace, the way his hands are
clutching his elbows and his foot is tapping—that he's furious.

### milieu
The environment or the conditions surrounding a person or thing; it's kind of
like a natural habitat, the place where someone is most comfortable. A dog on
a leash set free to run in a park will usually bound about, happy to be in his
milieu.

### millennium
Literally a period of a thousand years, the word can also refer to a supposedly
approaching period of general happiness and prosperity, or figuratively to any
great length of time: "How have you been? I haven't seen you in a millennium!"

### milquetoast
Someone with a character like bread dipped in milk— bland, timid, meek and
unassertive. The word refers to the comic-strip character Caspar Milquetoast,
created by H. T. Webster. That's why it's spelled with a qu and not with a k.

### mimetic
Relating to, characterized by, or exhibiting mimicry.

### Mimetic Desire
Craving is contagious; watching other people want a thing makes us want it too.
It's why ads are so effective. But it puts us all into unnecessary competition
as we fool ourselves into chasing what others are chasing simply because they
are chasing it.

### minatory
Threatening or menacing. When they bark, growl and bare their teeth, dogs are
making minatory postures at mail carriers.

### mingy
An onomatopoeic (see onomatopoeia) way of saying meanspirited, stingy and
ungenerous. It wraps up the definition nicely in one word, and you're sure that
whomever it's directed to will catch the drift, even without knowing the word.

### minikin
A delicate or diminutive object or person. A porcelain miniature on a shelf is a
minikin, but so is a very short and attractive person. Of course, if that person
models clothes, you've found a minikin mannequin.

### minion
A servile follower of an important or powerful person: a secretary, assistant,
associate and the like. Acolytes (see acolyte) and disciples serve voluntarily—
minions are caught up in the swirls of the bureaucracy.

### minutia
The small, trivial details of something. Someone who worries about minutiae
often overlooks the stuff that matters.

### mirabile dictu
A Latin phrase meaning "wonderful to relate" or "strange to tell."

### mirth
Gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter.

### misanthrope
A person who hates or distrusts humankind.

### miscegenation
Marriage or cohabitation of people from different races; the mixture of races
by interbreeding.

### miscreant
Depraved or villainously wicked.

### misogamy
Hatred of marriage, a common condition.

### misogyny
Hatred of women.

### mnemonic
A trick used to help remember something.

### mo
Canadian slang for emotional stress, shortened from emo. Usually used with a
suffix. A bride who gets a run in her stocking two minutes before the ceremony
is moing. A group of students hit with a surprise quiz have a mofest. The word
is unique in its ability to capture an all-too-common state of mind. Rhymes
with go.

### modus operandi
A Latin phrase that means "mode of operation."

### moil
Hard work and drudgery.

### mollify
To soothe, appease or calm down.

### monachopsis
An emotion; The subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place.

### monism
A view that there is only one kind of ultimate substance; the view that reality
is one unitary organic whole with no independent parts

### monodomous
Living in a single nest, as do bees, ants or humans who can't afford a country
house.

### monomania
Like an obsession, an overwhelming enthusiasm for a single idea, interest or
activity to the exclusion of other pursuits.

### monotheism
The belief that there is only one God.

### Moore's Law (law of software)
The complexity for minimum component costs has increased at a rate of roughly a
factor of two per year. Certainly over the short term this rate can be expected
to continue, if not to increase. Over the longer term, the rate of increase is
a bit more uncertain, although there is no reason to believe it will not remain
nearly constant for at least 10 years.  -- Gordon Moore, 1965

### mordant
Biting or sarcastic; often combined with wit.

### morose
Moody, sullen or gloomy. Much more powerful than the overused "depressed."

### motile
Capable of motion or moving.

### mountebank
A trickster or charlatan.

### mufti
The civilian clothes donned by one who usually wears a uniform.

### mugwump
Someone who acts independently of a political party, or who can't decide, and so
remains neutral on political or other issues.

### mummer
A person wearing a mask or costume at a parade or a masquerade party.
Particularly appropriate to describe participants in the Mardi Gras parade.

### munificent
Extremely generous and willing to give.

### mussitation
Silently imitating the lip movements of people who are speaking.

### mycology
A branch of biology dealing with fungi

### myopia
Near-sightedness. Also connotes a more figurative lack of vision, or short-
sightedness.

### myriad
"a lot."

### nabob
A person of great wealth who has made a fortune in a faraway country, especially
India.

### nadir
Directly opposite the zenith. A low point.

### naissance
The birth or origin of a concept, an organization, a movement or an idea.

### narcolepsy
A condition characterized by an overwhelming desire for brief periods of sleep.

### nascent
In the formative stages or in the process of being created.

### Naïve Realism
We know others are biased, but think we see the world as it is. Thus, teaching
people about biases & fallacies doesn't make them doubt their own beliefs, it
only makes them even more doubtful of their opponents'.

### ne plus ultra
The Latin phrase for the absolute top, the culminating point, the highest
degree.

### necromancy
Sorcery or witchcraft.

### nefarious
Very evil or wicked.

### negativity bias
Cognitive bias: The negativity bias refers to the often asymmetrical way we
perceive the negative and the positive. Negative experiences tend to exert
greater psychological impact on us than positive experiences of the same
magnitude.

### neologism
A newly coined word or expression.

### neophobia
The fear of anything new, especially a persistent and abnormal fear.

### neophyte
A novice or a beginner.

### nepenthe
Anything which makes someone forget sorrow, suffering or pain. F

### nephology
The study of clouds.

### nepotism
Showing favoritism to friends or relatives in business or politics.

### nethermost
A long word for "lowest" or "farthest down".

### nettlesome
Irritating or annoying.

### next-in-line effect
Cognitive bias: the phenomena of people being unable to recall information
concerning events immediately preceding their turn to perform.

### nihilism
Skepticism so complete that it denies there can be any objective basis for truth
and, by extension, that there are no morals or values in the universe.

### nirvana
A Buddhist belief in the release from the cycle of reincarnation that leads to
the end of all desire and suffering.  Also: a state akin to heaven on earth.

### niveous
Snowy; resembling snow.

### Nobel Disease
We idolize those who excel in a particular field, inflating their egos and
afflicting them with the hubris to opine on matters they know little about. By
celebrating people for their intelligence, we make them stupid.

### nodus
A complication or a difficulty, kind of like a snag.

### Nodus Tollens
An emotion; The realization that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to
you anymore

### noisome
Foul-smelling.

### nom de guerre
A Pseudonym.

### normalcy bias
Cognitive bias: disbelieving one's situation when faced with grave and imminent
danger and/or catastrophe.

### Norvig's Law (law of software)
Any technology that surpasses 50% penetration will never double again.  -- Peter
Norvig, 1999

### nosce hostem
Latin: know the enemy.

### nostrum
A medicine, especially one that is not considered effective, prepared by an
unqualified person.

### nubbin
A lumpy stub, a bumpy nub.

### nubile
Of marriageable age or condition.

### nugatory
Means "worthless" or "insignificant."

### nympholepsy
The condition of having deep emotional longings for something unattainable.

### obdurate
Cruelly stubborn and hard-hearted; insensitive.

### obfuscate
To confuse. Perfect if you want to confuse someone who's not being clear with
you—tell her to stop obfuscating.

### oblique
Refers to things that are not straight or straightforward, but indirect.

### oblivescence
An act, or the process, of forgetting.

### obloquy
Public censure or blame, usually verbal.

### obscurantism
obscurantism is intentional vagueness or obscurity, a conscious keeping in the
dark.

### obsequious
To fawn, sucks up to, or kowtows to someone else.

### obtuse
When describing an idea or explanation, obtuse is the opposite of lucid or
clear.

### obumbrate
To darken, overshadow or make difficult to see or understand.

### obviate
To anticipate and prevent (something, such as a situation) or make (an action)
unnecessary.

### occhiolism
An emotion; The awareness of the smallness of your perspective.

### occiput
The back part of the head or skull.

### octogenarian
A person between the ages of 80 and 90.

### octothorpe
The # or pound sign.

### odalisque
A female slave or concubine in a harem.

### oenology
The science of wine or winemaking.

### officious
An officious person meddles or interferes without being asked.

### oligarchy
A government in which a small group exercises power over the majority.

### olio
A hodge-podge, a mixture of miscellaneous elements.

### ombudsman
An official whose job is to investigate complaints made by private citizens
about abuses or wrongdoing performed by the government or by the organization
he represents.

### omnifarious
Of all varieties or forms; diverse.

### omnificent
Having supreme creative power; able to create all things.

### oniomania
An irrepressible urge to buy things.

### onism
An emotion; The frustration of being stuck in just one body, that inhabits only
one place at a time.

### onomatopoeia
A word that sounds like what it defines.

### ontology
PHILOSOPHY: The branch of metaphysics that addresses the nature or essential
characteristics of being and of things that exist. LOGIC: A logical system
involving theory of classes. COMPUTER SCIENCE: A structure of concepts or
entities within a domain, organized by relationships; a system model.

### opia
An emotion; The ambiguous intensity of Looking someone in the eye, which can
feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable.

### oppugn
To fight against or counterattack.

### orthography
The correct spelling of words according to established rules or usage.

### oscitant
Lazy, drowsy, inattentive and unfocused.

### osculate
To kiss and/or hug.

### ossify
To turn to bone.

### ostrich effect
Cognitive bias: a colloquial term for the mistaken belief that your problem will
go away if you just ignore them.

### otiose
Idle, useless and unnecessary.

### oubliette
A hidden dungeon that can only be entered from above.

### Overblown Implications Effect
“We think people judge us by a single success or failure, but they don’t. If you
mess up one meal no one thinks you're a bad chef, and if you have one great idea
no one thinks you're a genius. People just aren't thinking about you that much.”
—Ethan Mollick

### Overton Window
The Overton window is the range of policies politically acceptable to the
mainstream population at a given time. Also known as the window of discourse.

### ovine
Sheep, or sheep-like behavior. This could include lack of individual initiative.

### oxhaft
Approximately 57 gallons.

### oxymoron
A phrase that is internally contradictory.

### padnag
Something old and slow.

### paillette
A large sequin or spangle, the kind sewn onto evening gowns to make them
glitter.

### paladin
A brave knight or a chivalrous champion.

### palaver
Idle chitchat or meaningless chatter. Adults make palaver at cocktail parties,
as do teenagers on the telephone.

### palimpsest
A piece of parchment or other tablet, used for early writing, that was erased
and reused a second time.

### palindrome
A word or phrase that reads the same backward as forward.

### palliative
Something that eases or soothes a situation, feeling or condition without
solving or curing it.

### panacea
A cure for all ills.

### pandemic
Distributed or prevalent practically throughout the world; universal.

### panegyric
A speech that lavishly praises someone or something.

### panjandrum
A pompous, self-important official.

### panoply
A complete array of something that is usually quite splendid in its breadth
and size.

### papilote
The little piece of colorful fringed paper wrapped around the end of a lamb chop
or a roast turkey.

### paraclete
A person you call upon to intercede. Referees, umpires, and judges are all
paracletes.

### paradigm
A model example; the standard to hold up for comparison. Politicians hold up the
decline of the U.S. auto industry as a paradigm for Japanese strategy in other
areas.

### Paradox Of Unanimity
Researchers Gunn et al. (2016) found that when eyewitnesses unanimously agreed
on the identity of suspects, they were more likely to be wrong. The more people
agree, the less likely they are thinking for themselves.Therefore, beware of
consensuses.

### paralogize
To draw illogical conclusions from a series of facts.

### paraph
The word for the elaborate flourishes people add to their signatures to make
them unique.

### paravalent
Sexually potent only in unusual circumstances. A fancy word for kinky.

### Parkinson's Law (law of software)
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.  -- Cyril
Parkinson, 1955

### parlous
Perilous, dangerous and difficult to escape from.

### parochial
Excessively narrow in outlook; having backward views stemming from a lack of
worldly experience.

### paroxysm
A fit or outburst, often of emotion, as in: "The comedian inspired the crowd to
paroxysms of laughter."

### parure
A matched set of jewelry, such as earrings and a necklace;.

### parvenu
Nouveau riche. Someone who has recently acquired money or social status, but has
not yet acquired the appropriate style or manner.

### pasquinade
A lampoon posted in a public place. Satire.

### passementerie
Braided trimming on clothing.

### pastiche
A literary or musical work composed of a mixture of borrowed themes or styles.
Some might say that rap is a pastiche of soul music, poetry and reggae.

### pathetic fallacy
The attribution of human emotions to elements of nature; for example, describing
a rainy day as a sad or depressing day. Distinguish from anthropomorphism (see
anthropomorphism), which attributes human characteristics to inanimate objects.

### pathos
Any work or situation that inspires pity or sorrow.

### patina
The outermost layer of a metal surface.

### patois
Local dialect or jargon; a language peculiar to people of a certain area that is
distinct from the standard language.

### patronize
Two very different but useful meanings. To patronize a store means to do
business there, while to patronize a fellow human is to condescend to him or
her: "Of course, I'll be there on time. Let me give you a signed statement."

### peccadillo
The word refers to small sins or minor offenses, often sexual.

### peccant
Guilty of a moral sin.

### pedagogue
This word can simply mean "teacher," but more often it has the same meaning as
pedant, an extremely opinionated teacher who tries to force those opinions on
others, ignoring common sense in favor of theoretical knowledge.

### pedant
A teacher, but the implication is one who is tiresome, and always focused on
small details.

### pellucid
Transparent or translucent.

### penicil
The short, bristly tufts of hair or fur you find along the backs of
caterpillars.

### pentimento
A reappearance in a painting of an original drawn or painted element which was
eventually painted over by the artist.

### penultimate
Second to last.

### perdition
Utter ruin of the spirit; eternal damnation.

### peregrinate
To wander or travel with no plans or itinerary.

### peremptory
Dictatorial or authoritarian; allowing no room for argument. Brusque. "Go to
your room!" is a peremptory order.

### perfervid
Extremely ardent or intense; fervent to the nth degree. Zealots are perfervid,
whatever their cause.

### perfidious
Treacherous; nefarious; wicked.

### perfidy
deceitfulness; untrustworthiness; treachery. An act or an instance of
disloyalty.

### perfunctory
Routine; performed automatically, without thought or feeling.

### periohrasis
The use of indirect and circumlocutory speech or writing.

### peripatetic
An adjective or noun that means traveling from place to place; itinerant.

### pernoctate
To spend the night.

### perorate
To make a lengthy speech, often summarizing everything that's been said before.

### perquisite
Abbreviated to "perk." The perquisites of a job are the advantages or fees that
come in addition to the regular salary; fringe benefits.

### persevere
To persist.

### persiflage
Light banter.

### perspicacious
Of acute discernment; having keen insight; mentally perceptive.

### perspicacity
A penetrating discernment — a clarity of vision or intellect which provides a
deep understanding and insight.

### perspicuous
Clearly expressed, easy to understand; lucid.

### pertinacious
Holding firmly to a belief or opinion; unwilling to be drawn away from a
previously held idea.

### peruse
To review thoroughly, study carefully.

### pestle
A traditional tools used by a pharmacist. The pestle is the stick that looks
like a knee bone.

### Peter Principle
People in a hierarchy such as a business or government will be promoted until
they suck at their jobs, at which point they will remain where they are. As a
result, the world is filled with people who suck at their jobs.

### Peter Principle (law of software)
People in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence."  --
Laurence J. Peter, 1969

### pettifogger
A person overly concerned with details.

### pharisee
A sanctimonious, self-righteous hypocrite; someone who loudly criticizes others
for behavior he engages in himself.

### phatic
Language that conveys friendship or sociability rather than information.
Greetings exchanged among friends at a party, or conversations on a receiving
line at a wedding or funeral, are generally phatic.

### phenology
The study of the role of climate in annually recurring natural phenomena, such
as bird migration, animal hibernation, plant flowerings and so forth.

### philipic
A hostile speech that denounces a person or thing with great bitterness.

### philistine
An uncultured person; someone who has no interest or knowledge of art or
civilization.

### philobat
A lover of travel.

### picaresque
Roguish or devilish. Don Quixote was the original picaresque character (see
quixotic).

### piebald
Covered with irregular patches of different colors, especially black and white.
Often used to describe horses, cows or cats.

### pilaster
A fake column, the kind that doesn't stand freely, but runs along the walls
of rooms that are trying to resemble the Colosseum in Rome or an ancient Greek
ruin.

### pindlin
Frail or puny.

### pintle
A metal pivot. The pintle is a little pin that sticks into the hinge-like holes
of the gudgeon, holding a rudder to the back of a small sailboat.

### piquant
A pleasantly sharp or spicy flavor.

### pismire
An "ant." You can use it to refer to the little bug, or to describe something
equally tiny.

### pithy
having substance and point : tersely cogent.

### plangent
Deep, low and resonantly mournful. Used to describe the music at a funeral or
the mooing of a lone cow in an open field.

### pledget
A small wad of cotton or paper used to absorb liquid, such as the little patch
of tissue you use to staunch the blood when you cut yourself shaving.

### Pleistocene era
Of all the geological periods, probably the most interesting to remember
since it includes the Ice Ages and the evolution of early man. It is also the
geological epoch that immediately precedes our present epoch. If you haven't
seen someone for a while, you can hyperbolize (see hyperbole) back to the
Pleistocene era.

### plenipotentiary
A person vested with the full power to act on behalf of someone else. It's more
than a power of attorney. A parent may act as a plenipotentiary for a child; an
ambassador may be sent to act as a plenipotentiary for the ruler of a country.

### pleonasm
The use of more words than those necessary to denote mere sense. Redundancy.

### plethora
An excess; more than enough to choose from; a glut. Imelda Marcos, for example,
had a plethora of shoes in her closet.

### Plouter
To splash about, to wade.

### plunder
To pillage.

### plutocracy
Government by the wealthy.

### pococurante
Someone who is careless or shows little concern or interest for a job or
responsibility. A pococurante employee is one who doesn't care about his work. A
pococurante boss is one who doesn't care about his employees.

### pogonip
a dense winter fog containing frozen particles that is formed in deep mountain
valleys of the western U.S.

### poi
Mashed taro root. A very mushy, traditional Hawaiian dish that hasn't attracted
much attention on the mainland.

### polemic
A controversy or an argument made to refute something (similar in tone to a
diatribe; see diatribe).

### politesse
A refined or courteous behavior.

### polyandry
It's the act of having more than one husband at a time. Don't confuse it with
polygyny (that's having more than one wife at a time) or polygamy (either spouse
having more than one partner at a time).

### polyglot
Able to speak several languages fluently. A polyglot group is composed of people
who speak a variety of languages.

### polymath
Someone who knows a great deal about many different subjects; a well-educated,
intelligent person with eclectic interests.

### polymorphous
Occurring in any number of varied forms.

### polysemous
Ambiguous in the sense of having several different meanings.

### pontificate
To express opinions in a pompous, overly ponderous way.

### popinjay
A vain, narcissistic, empty-headed person of either sex— the kind of person you
date once and never again.

### popple
Tumble about or bob up and down irregularly.

### portico
An open porch consisting of four columns and a roof (but no walls) that you
often see along the sides of old colonial houses.

### portmanteau
A blend or combination of uses. The word is most often used as a noun to
describe words that combine or blend other words like "smog" or "docudrama."

### Postel's Law (law of software)
Be conservative in what you send, liberal in what you accept.  -- Jon Postel,
1980

### postiche
A wig.

### Postjournalism
The press lost its monopoly on news when the internet democratized info. To save
its business model, it pivoted from journalism into tribalism. The new role of
the press is not to inform its readers but to confirm what they already believe.

### postpositive
A word that is always used after another. For example, manque (see manque) never
stands alone, instead we say "artist manque."

### postprandial
Something that happens after dinner, such as a postprandial walk or postprandial
snifter of brandy. If it happens before dinner, it's called preprandial— imagine
a cocktail or, if it's a weekend, a nap.

### pother
It's kind of like "bother" when it's used as a noun. A pother is a fuss or
commotion: "Don't make such a pother about it. We promised we'd visit our
relatives, and we're going."

### precept
A command or principle intended especially as a general rule of action. Also an
order issued by legally constituted authority to a subordinate official.

### preciosity
An excessive fastidiousness, particularly in the use of language. It refers to
something precious or affected, not precious in the ordinary sense of the word.

### precis
A summary. Book reviews frequently contain a precis of the plot of the book
discussed.

### predicable
Something that can be stated as true or that can be proved.

### predormition
The period of semiconsciousness before sleep.

### preponderant
Predominant in influence, number, or importance. Having superior weight, force,
or influence; "the preponderant influence of the US within the alliance"

### prepossess
Has nothing to do with a pawn shop. To impress favorably either beforehand or
immediately. Someone who makes a good first impression is very prepossessing.

### presage
It means to forewarn or to portend. The first snowflake presages winter.

### preterhuman
This is another way of saying superhuman or beyond the powers of mere mortals.
(Clark Kent must have thought that "Preterman" sounded pretty silly.)

### preternatural
Beyond the course of nature—almost supernatural. The forest can be
preternaturally quiet—so quiet that it's not natural.

### prevaricate
To make vague or misleading statements without telling an outright falsehood.

### prima facie
A Latin term for self-evident or apparent. Getting caught with your hand in the
cookie jar is prima facie evidence of theft.

### primer
A book that covers the basics of a subject.

### primogenitor
Ancestor.

### Principle Of Humanity
Every single person is exactly what you would be if you were them. This includes
your political opponents. So instead of dismissing them as evil or stupid, maybe
seek to understand the circumstances that led them to their conclusions.

### pristine
Belonging to the earliest period or state. Not spoiled, corrupted, or polluted
(as by civilization). Fresh and clean as or as if new.

### proactive
Acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes.

### probity
Integrity, especially of the quality of having strong moral principles; decency
and honesty. Synonyms: godliness, goodness, honour, righteousness, saintliness,
uprightness, virtue. Antonym: wickedness

### profligacy
Wildly extravagant.

### prognosticate
To predict from available facts, to foresee or prophesize.

### projection bias
Cognitive bias: overestimating the degree to which other people agree with us.

### prolicide
The killing of one's own or other children. The kind of act you'd like to commit
when the four-year-old that's sitting right in front of you on a trans-Atlantic
flight begins to scream.

### prolix
Unnecessarily wordy; verbose.

### Promethean
Daringly original; innovative and creative. In Greek mythology, Prometheus got
in big trouble for stealing fire from Mount Olympus and giving it to mankind.

### Promethean Gap
Technology is outpacing wisdom; we're changing the world faster than we can
adapt to it. Lagging ever more behind accelerating progress, we're increasingly
unable to foresee the effects of what we create. We're amassing the power of
gods, yet we remain apes.

### propinquity
Social psychology: Closeness or nearness, either physically (as in proximity) or
spiritually (as in affinity). Something lying right next to something else is in
propinquity to it; two people who share spiritual, philosophical or intellectual
ideas also have a propinquity. The physical or psychological proximity between
people.

### prosaic
It doesn't mean fancy—exactly the opposite. The word literally means commonplace
or ordinary but has an added touch of meaning boring and dull. Apricot tea is
exotic; orange pekoe is prosaic.

### proscribe
To forbid something or label something dangerous.

### proselytize
Trying to convert others by using strongly persuasive language or convincing
argument. It implies a certain degree of oppressive lecturing.

### protean
Easily changeable from one form to another. Someone who can fit into any social
situation, changing types to fit the circumstances, is protean.

### Proustian
Any sensory experience that provokes a flood of nostalgia.

### provenance
Place of origin or source.

### puce
Purplish-brown colour.

### puerile
Childish or immature.

### pulchritude
Absolutely beautiful. A person of breathtaking, heartbreaking beauty is
pulchritudinous.

### punctilious
Someone who is meticulous and pays attention to details. Marked by or concerned
about precise accordance with the details of codes or conventions.

### Purity Spiral
Members of political tribes inevitably begin competing with their fellows to be
the most ideologically pure. The constant one-upmanship toward moral superiority
causes the whole group to gradually become more extreme. E.g. Maoist China,
Twitter echo-chambers.

### purlieu
A habitat or a place one frequents.

### putative
Commonly accepted or supposed; assumed to exist or to have existed.

### putsch
A sudden uprising and takeover.

### putz
A stupid or worthless person.

### pyrrhic
Achieved at excessive cost.

### quagmire
This word means swamp or bog or any earth that shakes when trodden upon, but it
is probably more often used figuratively to mean a murky mess.

### quash
Verb meaning "to put an end to" or "to get rid of."

### quasi
Seeming to be, but not really being.

### quay
A wharf.

### querinous
adj. longing for a sense of certainty in a relationship; wishing there were some
way to know ahead of time whether this is the person you’re going to wake up
next to for twenty thousand mornings in a row, instead of having to count them
out one by one, quietly hoping your streak continues. (Dictionary of Obscure
Sorrows)

### querulous
Complaining in a whining, peevish sort of way.

### quid pro quo
Tit for tat; something given in return.

### quidnunc
A gossip. The only word that ends in unc.

### quiescent
Motionless, or still.

### quincunx
The arrangement of five objects with one at each corner of a square, and the
remaining one in the center.

### quisling
A collaborating spy.

### quixotic
Someone who is romantic and idealistic and pursues lofty but impractical goals.

### quotidian
Ordinary, common, or occurring every day, such as a dose of vitamins.

### raconteur
A great storyteller.

### raffish
Tacky, cheap or in bad taste.

### raillery
Good-natured banter and light teasing.

### rakish
Having a trim or streamlined appearance suggestive of speed; dashingly or
carelessly unconventional.

### rallentando
From Italian, meaning slowing down.

### ramekin
A ramekin is the lidless ceramic baking dish used for individual servings of
foods such as French onion soup.

### randy
Lustful or lecherous.

### rankle
To cause long-lasting anger or resentment. Nasty, superior and unfair employers
rankle their employees.

### rapacious
Plundering or taking by force.

### rapturous
To fill, or be filled, with joy.

### rara avis
A Latin phrase for an unusual person or thing—a rare bird. A very scholarly way
of saying one-in-a-million.

### rasher
One thin slice of bacon is a rasher, although many people now use the word to
mean an order of several slices. Next time you order breakfast, ask for six or
seven rashers of bacon.

### ratiocinate
When you give a great deal of thought to a problem, you can say you figured it
out by ratiocination.

### reactance
Cognitive bias: an unpleasant motivational arousal (reaction) to offers,
persons, rules, or regulations that threaten or eliminate specific behavioral
freedoms.

### rebarbative
Irritating, repellent.

### recalcitrant
Rebellious, stubborn and disobedient.

### recidivate
To relapse. Most often used to describe convicts who are released from prison,
then commit more crimes. Chain smokers who try to quit are prone to recidivism.

### recondite
Esoteric; little known; obscure.

### reconnoiter
To engage in a preliminary survey of something in order to gain information.

### recreant
A traitor or a coward, someone who abandons his friends, family or country.

### recrudesce
To recur, or break out anew after a dormant period.

### rectitude
Moral righteousness or integrity.

### red herring
Something introduced merely to divert attention from a more important and
possibly controversial issue.

### redolent
Fragrant or sweet-smelling.  Redolent (of/with) means Strongly reminiscent or
suggestive of. As in, "names redolent of history and tradition."

### refractory
Hard to manage; resistant to conventional treatment.

### refulgent
Shining or gleaming.

### reify
To make an abstract concept concrete. en discussed in a meeting.

### Reiteration Effect
Joseph Goebbels said*, "Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth," and
he was right; repetition can make people believe things they otherwise wouldn't.
Goebbels didn't actually say this, but everyone thinks he did because of the
Reiteration Effect.

### rejoinder
A response to an answer.

### remonstrate
To plea in protest; kind of like a verbal version of "to demonstrate."

### remontado
A person who escapes the pressures of civilization by fleeing to the mountains
or other remote locales.

### renege
To go back on one's word or break a promise.

### reprobate
A depraved or unprincipled person; someone who is all but morally hopeless.

### resplendent
Shinning brilliantly; gleaming.

### restive
The opposite of restful, this word means fidgety, nervously impatient and
uneasy. A variation on restless.

### retrench
To reduce or cut back.

### reverse psychology
Cognitive bias: to make someone do what you want by asking them to do the
opposite and expecting them to disagree with you.

### rimple
A wrinkle or crease.

### riparian
Relating to or living or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (such as a
river) or a lake or a tidewater.

### riposte
A sharp, usually clever, retort.

### rodomontade
A bragging, boastful speech. None of us could bear to listen to another word of
that arrogant pedant's rodomontade.

### roman a clef
Literally, "novel with a key." A novel in which the characters are real people
disguised by fictitious names.

### rosy retrospection
Remembering experiences more favorably than they were experienced.

### roue
A rake; a dissipated, lascivious man, but with a touch of the dashing romantic.

### rubatosis
An emotion; The unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat.

### rubric
A set of regulations for behavior or procedure.

### rubricate
To colour with red. To furnish with, or regulate,  by rubrics

### ruthful
Having pity, compassion or remorse. To use it as a noun, just say "ruth": "At
the funeral, the murderer showed ruth."

### rückkehrunruhe
An emotion; The feeling of returning home after an immersive trip only to find
it fading rapidly from your awareness.

### sage
A spice, also meaning "extremely wise".

### salient
The most notable; the things that stand out as the most important. The salient
features of a product are the things that make it worth buying.

### salmagundi
A mixture or miscellaneous collection. (See also farragoand olio.)

### salubrious
Promoting good health.

### salutary
Effecting or designed to effect an improvement; remedial: salutary advice.
Promoting good health and physical well-being; wholesome; curative.

### samovar
A metal urn for heating water for making tea.

### sanctimony
Affected or hypocritical holiness

### sang froid
Composure or calm in the face of danger, difficulty or annoyance.

### sanguine
Cheerful and optimistic. After looking through the annual report, he felt
sanguine about his investment.

### sans souci
Resorts are fond of naming themselves with this French phrase, perhaps because
it means "carefree."

### sardonic
Bitter, cynical, or scornful.

### sartorial
Relating to clothing, especially men's clothing. The emperor who wanted new
clothes called on the sartorial skills of everyone in his kingdom.

### sasturgi
Sastrugi, or zastrugi, are features formed by erosion of snow by wind.

### saturnalia
A period of wild revelry.

### scarify
To make superficial cuts or scratches.

### scatology
The study of or excessive interest in excrement or obscenity.

### schwa
The upside-down e glyf.

### scintilla
A spark or minute particle. It's usually accompanied by a modifier, as in, "not
even a scintilla" or "not one scintilla."

### scion
A child, in particular an heir.

### scotch
Not just a whiskey. It means to wound without killing; to render harmless, such
as shooting someone in the leg to prevent her escape.

### scunner
Lots of people feel the victims of scunners. It means a dislike taken for no
reason. If a teacher takes a scunner to you, you're in trouble.

### scurrilous
Incredibly abusive, obscenely nasty. Villains are guilty of scurrilous deeds.

### sedulous
Someone who is sedulous is diligent and persevering and never gives up the ship,
such as the Terminator, or, on the brighter side, the pioneers who settled the
West.

### self-consistency bias
Cognitive bias: The psychological tendency to see oneself as consistent which
affects our actions.

### self-serving bias
Cognitive bias: people's tendency to attribute positive events to their own
character but attribute negative events to external factors.

### semantics
The aspect of linguistics that is concerned with the meaning and usage of words.

### seminal
The source of a style, an idea or a philosophy.

### semiotic
Relating to signs and symbols, and related behaviour.

### semiotics
The study of signs and symbols. Like linguistics, an often misunderstood yet
fascinating field of study.

### senectitude
The final stage of the normal life span.

### senescent
Aging, or becoming old. Generally used to describe people rather than things.
Houses become decrepit; people become senescent.

### sententious
The word has two almost contradictory meanings: full of terse, pithy truths, or
self-righteously moralizing and pedantic. Be careful how you use it.

### sentient
Responsive to or conscious of sense impressions; responsive to or conscious of
sense impressions.

### sequacious
Following smoothly or logically; happening in a sequence.

### serendipity
Serendipity is something wonderful that happens suddenly and unexpectedly.

### serial position effect
Cognitive bias: Serial-position effect is the tendency of a person to recall the
first and last items in a series best, and the middle items worst.

### serry
To crowd together closely. Sardines are packed, but people in an elevator are
serried.

### sesquipedalian
A very long word (literally "a foot and a half'), or given to using very long
words.

### sessile
Attached directly by the base; not raised upon a stalk or peduncle; permanently
attached or established; not free to move about

### sexagenarian
Aged between sixty and seventy years old. (See also octogenarian.)

### shaman
A priest or witch doctor who uses supernatural powers in various tribal
religions in Africa and Asia.

### shibboleth
A doctrine or belief once held to be of great importance by a particular group
or sect but now seen as rather old-fashioned and useless.

### Shibboleth
An absurd ideological belief is a form of tribal signaling. It signifies that
one considers their ideology more important than truth, reason, or sanity. To
one's allies, this is an oath of unwavering loyalty. To one's enemies, it is a
threat display.

### Shirky principle (law of software)
Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.
-- Clay Shirky, 2010

### shoah
The mass murder of Jewish people under the German Nazi regime during the period
1941–45; the Ηolocaust.

### sibilant
Any speech sound that resembles a hiss; in particular, words that begin with s,
z or sh.

### SIC
Intentionally written. When used in printed materials, it means, "The person who
wrote this article/ letter/speech is an idiot; look at the mistake he made. But
we the editors are smart, so don't blame us." Place it in parentheses after a
misteak (sic).

### sidereal
Relating to or determined by the stars.

### simian
Resembling a monkey or ape in physical characteristics.

### simpatico
In sympathy in ideas, manners or personalities. A successful computer-dating
service puts simpatico people in contact.

### simper
As a verb, to smile in a silly, affected, or ingratiating manner. As a noun: a
silly, affected, or ingratiating smile.

### simulacrum
Deceptive likeness to or seeming similarity. Wax museums specialize in them.

### sine qua non
A Latin phrase for an indispensable requirement or essential need.

### sinecure
An office or post that provides honor or prestige and possibly even profit but
which requires almost no work.

### sinistrodextral
Moving from left to right. An obvious example: written English is a
sinistrodextral language; written Hebrew is not.

### sipid
The opposite of insipid (tasteless) is a word in its own right. It means having
a pleasing taste, flavor or character, such as a good full-bodied wine or a
strong cheese.

### sirenic
Having the qualities of a siren (the human kind) — irresistibly alluring and
almost dangerously tempting.

### sitomanic
An abnormal or even neurotic craving for food.

### skeuomorph
an object or feature which imitates the design of a similar artifact made from
another material. In computing, an element of a graphical user interface which
mimics a physical object.

### skulduggery
Something sneaky and underhanded.

### sloven
This is the noun for "slovenly." Carelessly sloppy; slob.

### slubber
To do hastily and carelessly.

### smarmy
Ingratiating; falsely flattering or fawning in order to get in someone's good
graces.

### snood
A hairband. Also a netlike cap worn by women.

### sociopath
Selfish, nasty, ungenerous and unthoughtful person; someone who is hostile to
society.

### sodality
Companionship or union in attitude or belief.

### soigne
Well-groomed or carefully put together.

### soiree
From the French: a social gathering that takes place in the evening or at night.

### solecism
Any mistake or inconsistency, including a grammatical error.

### solipsism
Asserts that the self is the only thing that exists or can be proved to exist,
but its meaning has now been stretched to convey narcissism.

### somatist
A psychiatrist who believes that all mental illnesses are physical in origin.

### sonder
An emotion; The realization that each passerby has a life as vivid and complex
as your own.

### sonorous
Capable of producing deep, rich sound.

### sophism
A deceptive or false argument or belief.

### sophistry
A subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of
reasoning. A false argument; sophism.

### soporific
Inducing sleep. It can be used as a noun or an adjective.

### Sorites Paradox
What's the minimum number of grains of sand needed to make a heap? We don't
know, because human language (in this case the word "heap") is imprecise. If our
language can't even quantify a heap, how can it resolve the complex questions we
so fiercely debate?

### sororal
Of, relating to, or characteristic of a sister or sisters; sisterly.

### sotto voce
These Latin words mean "in a whisper"—in a very low voice so as not to be
overheard.

### sough
To make a sighing or rustling sound.

### soupçon
The French word for a hint, a dash, a trace.

### spado
Another word for a castrated man or animal (see also eunuch).

### sparge
A sprinkling or a spattering.

### specious
Something that seems correct on the surface but turns out to be false or wrong.

### spelunk
To explore caves.

### spiniferous
Sounds like something that's either marvelous or delicious, but it's not.
Blowfish and porcupines are spiniferous. The word means "covered with spines."

### spoonerism
A spoonerism is the exchange of the first letter of two or more syllables or
words with comic or clever results. This word comes from an English clergyman
named W. A. Spooner who often made such slips of the tongue: "flutterby" for
"butterfly," for example.

### spoor
One of those words you hear often but are never quite sure what it means —
a track or trail of bones, dung, or fur made by a person or an animal being
hunted.

### spurious
Not genuine; counterfeit. You could be talking about money or sympathy. If it's
fake, it's spurious.

### squib
A short, witty composition or saying, often an item in a newspaper. It also
describes a short football kick.

### stalactite
The icicle-like formation that hangs from the roof or wall of a cave.

### stalwart
Stout; steady; dependably courageous.

### stentorian
Speaking loudly and harshly.

### stochastic
Of or relating to a process involving a randomly determined sequence of
observations each of which is considered as a sample of one element from a
probability distribution.

### stodge
To eat greedily; to gorge or stuff.

### stolid
Unemotional, or at least slow to express feelings.

### stroppy
Bad-tempered and argumentative.

### subadditivity effect
The subadditivity effect is the tendency to judge probability of the whole to be
less than the probabilities of the parts.

### subaltern
Subordinate or of lower rank. It's used as an adjective.

### subjacent
Adjacent means side by side; so subjacent means lying directly under.

### subrogate
To substitute.

### subsume
To consider an idea, principle, theory or category as part of a larger whole.

### subterfuge
An evasion or deceit used to conceal or avoid something.

### succinct
Compact precise expression, without wasted words.

### succor
Noun: help; relief; aid; assistance. A person or thing that gives help, relief,
aid, etc. Verb: to help or relieve.

### succubus
A female demon which comes to men in their dreams to seduce them and have sexual
intercourse, drawing energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the
point of exhaustion or death.

### suerza
n. a feeling of quiet amazement that you exist at all; a sense of gratitude
that you were even born in the first place, that you somehow emerged alive
and breathing despite all odds, having won an unbroken streak of reproductive
lotteries that stretches all the way back to the beginning of life itself.
(Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows)

### sui generis
A Latin phrase for "unique" or "one of a kind."  Opposite of generic.

### sultry
Very hot and humid, like the air on a mid-August night in Miami, or sensual
and voluptuous.

### summa cum laude
Latin for "with highest praise," the highest honor granted to exceptional
graduates. (See also magna cum laude.)

### supercilious
Haughty, contemptuous or superior. From the Latin word for "eyebrows."

### supernal
Celestial; heavenly; above ordinary human existence. Gods exhibit supernal
powers; people with oversized egos think they do, too.

### superordinate
Superior in rank, class, or status.

### supposition
An uncertain belief.

### supranational
Having power or influence that transcends national boundaries or governments.

### surfeit
Excess. The wealthy have a surfeit of assets.

### susurrus
A gentle whispering or rustling, such as the sound of tall grass blowing in the
wind or dry leaves dancing along pavement on an autumn day.

### sybarite
A person who lives luxuriously and self-indulgently.

### sybaritic
Of or having the qualities of a sybarite; self-indulgent or decadent. Having the
character of or dedicated to excessive luxury.

### syllabus
An outline or other brief statement of the main points of a discourse, the
subjects of a course of lectures, or the contents of a curriculum.

### sylph
A slender, graceful woman.

### syncope
In linguistics, phonology, prosody: The loss or elision of a sound, from the
interior of a word, especially of a vowel sound with loss of a syllable. For
example, the change of cannot to can't, never to ne'er, or the pronunciation
of the -cester ending in placenames as -ster (for example, Leicester pronounced
Leister or Lester, and Worcester pronounced Wooster). In pathology: a loss of
consciousness when someone faints, a swoon. In music: a missed beat or off-beat
stress in music resulting in syncopation.

### synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is substituted for the whole, such as "Get
your butt in here."

### synergy
Cooperative activity.

### syzygy
In astronomy: an alignment of three celestial bodies (for example, the Sun,
Earth, and Moon) such that one body is directly between the other two, such as
occurs at an eclipse. In medicine: the fusion of some or all of the organs.

### taciturn
Preferring to remain silent; unwilling to talk.

### talaria
The winged sandals worn by Mercury.

### talisman
A lucky charm.

### Tantalize
To torment with something desireable but just out of reach.

### tartuffery
Religious hypocrisy.

### tatterdemalion
A person dressed in ragged clothing.

### tautological
A needlessly repetitive without adding information or clarity. In logic,
something defined in terms of itself.

### tautology
Redundant use of words, a pleonasm, an unnecessary and tedious repetition.

### taxonomy
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification,
especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into
groups or types.

### telegenic
Someone who looks good on television.

### teleology
The belief that all things in nature are created for a particular purpose.

### temblor
An earthquake.

### temerity
Daring, but meaning reckless or bold, more than brave. Someone who saves a
mugging victim has courage; a student who talks back to a teacher has temerity.

### tendentious
Having a particular tendency; leaning; lacking impartiality.  written or spoken
with a partisan, biased or prejudiced purpose, especially a controversial one.

### tenebrous
Gloomy and dark.

### tergiversation
Ambivalence; a continual changing of one's mind.

### terrapin
An edible freshwater turtle.

### thalassic
Of or relating to seas and oceans or smaller bodies of water.

### The Liar's Dividend
Teaching people about deepfakes and other disinfo doesn't make them skeptical of
falsehoods as much as it makes them skeptical of reality. Amid such confusion,
they default to believing what they want to, discounting anything they don't
like as disinfo.

### The Potato Paradox
Alice has 100kg of potatoes, which are 99% water. She lets them dry till they
are 98% water. What is their new weight? 50kg. Sound crazy? A reminder that the
truth is often counterintuitive.

### The Two-Minute Rule
If a task would take less than two minutes, do it immediately. This is because
adding the task to your mental to-do list, keeping it in your memory, and
managing the anxiety of not having done it will take far more effort than just
doing it now.

### theomania
Someone who believes he is God or has been chosen by God for some special
purpose. Distinguish from messianic, which can have less heavenly associations.

### thersitical
Verbally abusive; using foul language.

### thespian
Anything relating to acting or the theatre.

### thot
A woman who has many casual sexual encounters or relationships. "That Ho Over
There."

### Throat-Clearing
Before criticizing their own tribe, people feel the need to reaffirm their
loyalty to the tribe. "I support X but..." They do this because other people
cannot comprehend that someone could see flaws in anyone other than the enemy
team.

### throe
A sharp pang of emotion.

### tiffin
A light midday meal in India.

### tilak
The colored mark worn on the forehead by Hindu men and women.

### Tilting At Windmills
An online stranger doesn't know you; all they have are a few vague impressions
of you, too meager to form anything but a phantasm. So when they attack "you",
they're really just attacking their own imagination, and there is no need to
take it personally.

### timorous
Meek, fearful; another word for timid.

### tintinnabulation
The sound of ringing bells.

### tonsorial
Someone skilled in the tonsorial arts is a great barber.

### tontine
A financial arrangement where a group of people pool their money, with payouts
to surviving members based on the longevity of the group. When a member dies,
their portion of the investment is redistributed among the remaining members,
potentially increasing the payouts to the survivors.

### toothsome
Delicious or luscious.

### toper
Someone who drinks alcohol in excessive quantities.

### topiary
An aria of trimmed shrubs and trees in ornamental shapes.

### toponym
A name which is derived from the name of a place, such as Indiana Jones or
Broadway Joe Namath.

### torpor
A state of mental or physical inactivity or insensibility.

### torporific
It means producing a state of inertia, called a torpor.

### tortuous
Winding, twisting or crooked.

### traduce
To slander, malign, or ruin someone's reputation.

### transmogrify
To change in form or appearance, usually much for the worse.

### tremulous
Characterized by trembling, as from fear, nervousness, or weakness.

### trepidatious
Trembling, quivering.

### treppenwitz
From German. It means, thinking of the perfect retort after the moment is gone.

### triage
An arrangement derived from medical situations that separates things into three
categories of urgency: kill it, save it, or leave it where it is for the time
being.

### trichomegaly
A condition in which eyelashes are abnormally long.

### trichophobia
The fear of hair.

### trilemma
Like a dilemma but with one extra problem—a situation in which there are three
mutually exclusive alternatives.

### triskaidekaphobia
Fear of the number 13.

### trite
(Of a remark, opinion, or idea) overused and consequently of little import;
lacking originality or freshness.

### trompe l'oeil
A painting intended to create an illusion.

### trope
The use of figurative language, via word, phrase or an image, for artistic
effect. Also: commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or
clichés.

### truculent
Cruel, brutal, savage.

### tumescent
Somewhat swollen. Swollen or becoming swollen, especially as a response to
sexual arousal.

### turbid
Opaque in the sense of muddy or clouded.

### turnback
The curved end of a clothes hanger.

### turtlet
A baby turtle.

### tutti frutti
“all the fruits” in Italian.

### tyro
Also spelled tiro, it means abeginner or novice.

### ubiety
Presence, or the state of being there.

### ubiquitous
Appearing everywhere at the same time; omnipresent.

### ultramarine
Deep blue in color.

### umbrage
Being slighted or of having one's feelings hurt.

### unctuous
Oily or slimy.

### unexceptionable
Ordinary or average.

### unseemly
Inappropriate; not in keeping with good taste.

### untoward
Very close to unseemly (see above). Untoward behavior is improper, not so much a
question of good taste as of being rude.

### urbane
Sophisticated, suave, worldly; at home in most social situations.

### usury
The practice of lending money at illegally high interest rates.

### utilitarianism
The doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of
a majority. Alternately the doctrine that an action is right insofar as it
promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number
should be the guiding principle of conduct.

### uvula
The little glob of flesh that hangs down at the back of the mouth.

### uxorious
Completely enamored with one's wife, in fact overly so.

### vacuous
Empty-headed; without ideas or purpose.

### vagary
A whimsical, capricious or eccentric idea or action.

### valetudinarian
An invalid or a convalescing person who is obsessed with his poor health.

### vassal
A subordinate. Not exactly a slave—more like a subject.

### vatic
Describing or predicting what will happen in the future.

### vaunt
It means "to boast of' or "to brag about," and is usually used to describe
a reputation.

### Veblen Goods
We often attach value to things simply because they're hard to get. People will
be more attracted to a painting if it costs $3 million than if it costs $ The
price becomes a feature of the product in that it allows the buyer to signal
affluence to others.

### vedic
Of or relating to the Aryans who settled in India c1500 b.c., or to their
literature or religion. The language used in the Vedas, an early form of
Sanskrit. Also called Vedic Sanskrit. the language of the Veda, closely related
to classical Sanskrit.

### vellichor
An emotion; The strange wistfulness of used bookshops.

### vemödalen
An emotion; The frustration of photographic something amazing when thousands of
identical photos already exist.

### venal
Capable of being bribed; open to being corrupted.

### venial
Pardonable. A venial sin is one that can be pardoned, overlooked or forgiven.

### veracity
Truth. The veracity of something can be proven by hard evidence. Something that
has veracity is veracious.

### verisimilitude
The appearance of truth.

### vernal
Happening in the spring. For example, an equinox, or the budding of flowers, or
the sighting of the first robin.

### victress
A female victor, such as Joan of Arc, is a VICK-TRESS.

### vigorish
This is a charge paid to a bookie for placing a bet; it can also refer to an
interest fee paid to a moneylender.

### vinous
of, relating to, resembling, containing, or characteristic of wine. Produced by,
indicative of, or given to indulgence in wine.

### virago
A fierce-tempered woman. "Hell hath no fury like a..." Well, virago.

### viridescent
Slightly green; greenish.

### vitiate
To impair or pollute or to make illegal or invalid. Toxic wastes can vitiate a
body of water; cheating in a team sport vitiates the winning results.

### vituperate
Vituperate means to blame or insult someone in strong or violent language. To
use or address with harsh or abusive language; revile.

### vituperative
Violently abusive or fault-finding language, kind of like carping. When you bawl
someone out, you use vituperative language.

### volitation
The act of or capacity for flying. Birds have it; so does Superman.

### volition
Free will. Doing something of your own volition means that you decided on your
own to do it.

### voluble
Someone who is voluble is talkative or loquacious. The word is generally
used as a compliment to describe a friendly and verbal person. Use garrulous
(see garrulous) for "overly talkative." A big mouth is garrulous; a talkative
companion is voluble.

### vulgate
A popular word with literature buffs, it means the generally recognized or most
used version of a work. The vulgate version of Shakespeare is the one professors
assign most often.

### vulpine
Fox-like. Someone who is crafty or sneaky.

### wallah wallah
The person in charge.

### wamble
To move unsteadily or stagger about.

### wampus
An unpleasant person, kind of like a lout. The lone heckler who keeps
interrupting a great speech is a wampus.

### wanton
Unprovoked, unjustified and generally egregiously out of control.

### warison
A note sounded to start an attack.

### Warnock's Dilemma
Online content that provokes people gets more engagement than content people
merely agree with, which incentivizes content creators to be provocative.
So much is alarming and enraging only because so much is trying to get your
attention.

### welt
A bruise.

### Weltanshauung
A German word that means world outlook, world view, or perspective.

### welter
A lot or a great many; confusion, turmoil.

### Weltschmerz
World pain, but used to evoke a strong melancholy over the state of the world.

### whelk
A pimple or zit.

### whelp
The young of a carnivore, for example a dog, bear, lion, seal, etc. Also a
youth, especially an impudent or despised one.

### whiffle
To vacillate or go back and forth about something.

### white paper
An official report about a specific issue.

### winnow
To separate the grain from the chaff by getting rid of the chaff.

### winsome
Charming or attractive in a disarming way. Used to refer to both sexes.

### Wirth's Law (law of software)
Software gets slower faster than hardware gets faster.  -- Niklaus Wirth, 1995

### witch ball
You probably know it as a disco ball, but this is the original word; it came
before disco was even invented. A witch ball is one of those globes with many
mirrored facets that hangs from the ceiling and sparkles as it rotates.

### wittol
A variation on cuckold, a wittol is a man who knows about his wife's adultery
and tolerates it. A cuckold is a man whose wife has been unfaithful, but he may
not know about it.

### wizened
Dried up and shriveled. An apple left in the sun too long is dried up; an old
man's wrinkled face is wizened.

### worm
This isn't just the squiggly, slithering invertebrate. A worm is another word
for the thread of a screw.

### wraith
A ghost. The word is supposed to mean a ghost that appears before a person to
foretell his or her death, but it's now used more generally to refer to any
apparition. The Ghostbusters, for instance, fought wraiths.

### Xanadu
Originally a place of idyllic beauty in Samuel Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan," it
has come to refer to any place of idyllic beauty. For many people, Xanadu would
be a beautiful cabin overlooking a mirror pond, surrounded by lush evergreens.
Maybe that's why so many people have named their vacation homes Xanadu. Say ZAN-
AH-DOO.

### xebec
A three-masted sailing ship. A perfect word to use in Scrabble or Ghost. Or if
you see a tall ship passing by, you can say, "Hey, there goes a ZEE-BEK."

### xenophobia
Fear or hatred of foreigners, or of anything strange or foreign.

### xeric
Characterized by having or needing a very small amount of moisture. Deserts are
xeric, as are many desert plants.

### yahoo
The word comes from the name of a race of coarse and vulgar people invented
by Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels, but it has expanded over the past two
centuries to mean any utterly gross person: a slob with no common courtesy is a
yahoo. (See also Lilliputian.)

### yatter
Like natter or patter, to make idle chatter. (What's the matter? You wish the
definition were fatter?) Not something you eat with yacon.

### yegg
A yegg is a petty burglar or common thug. What we generally refer to as a mugger
can also be called a yegg.

### yin and yang
You may know that these refer to the two universal forces in Chinese philosophy
that are said to create the harmonious balance of nature and control the destiny
of all things, but do you know which is which? Yin is the dark, cold, still,
and feminine aspect of things; Yang is the bright, warm, active and masculine
aspect.

### zaftig
A Yiddish adjective that describes a woman who is pleasingly plump or well-
rounded.

### zarf
The holder for a handleless coffee cup. Though Styrofoam and cardboard have
largely put zarfs out of business, you often see the plastic variety piled next
to the office coffee machine.

### Zawinski's Law (law of software)
Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which
cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.  -- James Zawinski, 1995

### zealous
Eager and diligently devoted; ardent. A zealous worker comes in at the crack of
dawn and works till the wee hours of the night to get a job done as thoroughly
and perfectly as possible. A zealot, on the other hand, is someone who is
devoted to a fault—a fanatic.

### Zeitgeist
Another great German word, in the spirit of Weltanshauung and Weltschmerz, that
has broad philosophical implications. It means "spirit of the times," and refers
to the general cultural, moral, and intellectual climate of a particular era.

### zenith
The word literally refers to the point on the celestial sphere that is directly
above the observer at any given location, and is therefore the highest point. It
is the opposite of the nadir (see nadir), which is directly below. It is used to
refer to any highest point, as in the zenith of someone's career or life.

### zephyr
A gentle breeze. It might blow through the trees and grasses, soughing and
creating susurruses (see sough and susurrus).

### zero-risk bias
Cognitive bias: Zero-risk bias is a tendency to prefer the complete elimination
of a risk even when alternative options produce a greater reduction in risk
(overall).

### zielschmerz
n. the dread of finally pursuing a lifelong dream, which requires you to put
your true abilities out there to be tested on the open savannah, no longer
protected inside the terrarium of hopes and delusions that you started up in
kindergarten and kept sealed as long as you could.

### zinfandel
A pink or white wine. Made from a small black grape, usually in California.

### zoanthropy
A mental illness in which the patient believes he is an animal. A woman says
to a psychiatrist, "My husband has believed he's a chicken for the last four
years." "Why'd you wait so long to come to me?" he asks. "We needed the eggs."
That's zoanthropy.

### zoetrope
The forerunner of the motion picture, a zoetrope is a device consisting of
a drum inside which is placed a series of images representing successive
positions of a moving object. When the drum is rotated rapidly, the images,
seen through slits on the walls of the drum, give an illusion of motion. This
is the conceptual breakthrough that led to the development of motion pictures.
It's also the name of Francis Ford Copolla's film company. (Now you can say you
know everything.)

### zoology
The science of animal study.

### zugzwang
Chess enthusiasts probably know this word because it means a situation in a
game of chess where all the moves open to one player will cause damage to his
position. Like many chess moves, it's an excellent word to use metaphorically.

### zwieback
Sweetened bread, cooked twice and sliced thin. Usually used by teething
youngsters to give them something to do with their newfound teeth.

### zygote
A term from cellular biology, generally used in conversation to refer to the
cell that results from the meeting of the egg and the sperm. Father to son:
"I've known you ever since you were a zygote."

### énouement
An emotion, the bittersweetness of having arrived here in the future, finally
learning the answers to how things turned out but being unable to tell your past
self. (Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows)

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