50 Fancy Words

The New York Times 50 Fancy Words (defined and used) 1. Inchoate: just begun and so not fully formed or developed; I am glad your inchoate proposals for integrating the company were not accepted this time, thus saving us face. 2. Profligacy: recklessly wasteful; wildly extravagant, profligate behavior; Anderson’s profligacy cost him his job and its better you tighten up your belt before you go the same way. 3. Sui Generis: being the only example of its kind, unique; Mr.Bill Tandy generated his sui generis theory based on little research and more hypothesis, thus finding no takers for his pet project. 4. Austerity: severe and morally strict; the quality of being austere, having no pleasures or comforts; Every major war on this planet were followed by many years of austerity. 5. Profligate: using money, resources, etc. , in a way that wastes them; The firm’s profligate spending only hastened its downfall. 6.Baldenfreude: Satisfaction derived from the misfortune of bald or balding individuals (coined by NYT columnist Maureen Dowd); Humpty Dumpty’s antics remain a constant source of baldenfreude for children and adults alike. 7. Opprobrium: harsh criticism, contempt; His ludicrous attempts at mimicry in the office only earned him the opprobrium of his colleagues. 8. Apostates: pl; a person who abandons a belief or principle; The millionaire technocrat and his cronies were publicly derided for being apostates, after they were exposed of polluting the environment while purporting to have spent large sums for water conservation. . Solipsistic: the theory that the self is all that can be known to exist; His solipsistic view about life ensured that he lived in social isolation. 10. Obduracy: refusing to change in any way; Anthony’s obduracy in his legal case expedited his impeachment. 11. Internecine: causing destruction to both sides; The African states’ internecine conflict continues to extract a terrible toll on innocent human lives . 12. Soporific: adj; causing sleep; The soporific drug caused Tony to fall asleep in the board meeting. 13.Kristallnacht: German, night of (broken) glass : Kristall, crystal (from Middle High German, from Old High German cristalla, from Latin crystallus, crystallum; see crystal) + Nacht, night (from Middle High German naht, from Old High German; see nekw-t- in Indo-European roots); The Kristallnacht remains an infamous event in the German history. 14. Peripatetic: going from place to place; The peripatetic bards of yore propagated the words of the Holy Prophet. 15. Nascent: beginning to exist, not fully developed; In its initial stage, the nascent film industry faced harsh opposition from moral groups. 16.Desultory: going from one thing to another, without a definite plan or purpose; Garcia’s desultory conversation got everybody yawning. 17. Redoubtable: deserving to be feared and respected; Mike’s redoubtable instincts as a prize-fighter kept his opponents at armâ₠¬â„¢s distance. 18. Hubris: excessive pride; The Empire’s vanity and hubris in its exaggerated military were the reason for its downfall. 19. Mirabile Dictu: wonderful to relate; Randy’s winning putt remained mirabile dictu in the golf club gossip for many years. 20. Creches: a place where babies are looked after while their parents work, shop, etc. Go down the Green Avenue and you will find a string of creches and day-care centres. 21. Apoplectic: sudden loss of the ability to feel or move; adj: suffering from apoplexy; easily made angry; His son’s antics on the playground left him apoplectic with rage. 22. Overhaul: to examine carefully and thoroughly and make any necessary changes or repairs; to come from behind and pass them; Michael’s faster car easily overhauled the leading drivers in the F1 championship. 23. Ersatz: used as a poor-quality substitute for something else, inferior to an original item; The DJ’s ersatz musical numbers were a poor rendition of Celina’s work. 4. Obstreperous: very noisy or difficult to control; Andy’s obstreperous behavior just after a few drinks generally caused his early exit from most parties. 25. Jejune: too simple, naive; dull, lacking nourishment; Horrified by the senator’s jejune responses to their problems, the voters guild decided to withdraw their support to him in the forthcoming elections. 26. Omerta: rule or code that prohibits speaking or revealing information, generally relates to activities of organized crime; sub; the Mafia; Henry was vowed to the code of Omerta and sealed his lips during the police interrogation. 7. Putative: generally supposed to be the thing specified; Mr Brown is referred to as the putative father in the document. 28. Manichean: A believer in Manichaeism – an ancient Iranian Gnostic religion; Roberta’s Manichean beliefs found little approval in the stoic theology group discussion. 29. Canard: a false report or rumour, ae rofoil designs on certain airplanes; The disturbing canard about my company’s finances left me in despair. 30. Ubiquitous: seeming to be everywhere or in several places at the same time; The ubiquitous internet is both a blessing, as well as, a curse. 1. Atavistic: relating to the behavior of one’s ancestors in the distant past; The chieftain urged his tribe to curb their atavistic urges and refrain from unnecessary violence. 32. Renminbi: another name for the Chinese Yuan, official currency of People’s Republic of China; Chinese renmin people + bi currency; Around 1950, the Chinese government officially released the Renminbi notes for circulation. 33. Sanguine: hopeful, optimistic; She remained sanguine about our chances of success in the raffle draw. 34.Antediluvian: very old-fashioned; His antediluvian ideas are preposterous! 35. Cynosure: object or someone who serves as a focal point of attention and admiration, something that serves to guide; His wife, Cath erine, remained the cynosure of all eyes throughout the evening gala. 36. Alacrity: eagerness or enthusiasm; Richard accepted her offer of marriage with alacrity. 37. Epistemic: cognitive, relating to learning, or involving knowledge; The monk’s epistemic dissertation was an engaging study of New Testament beliefs. 38.Egregious: exceptional, outstanding; The NBA referee’s decision was the most egregious error of judgment. 39. Incendiary: designed to set something on fire, tending to create public disturbances or violence; Amanda’s incendiary remarks alienated her from the whole campus. 40. Chimera: an imaginary creature composed of the parts of several different animals, wild or impossible idea; Harry gazed awestruck at the monstrous chimera, a gigantic beast with the head of a lion and the body of a winged horse. 41. Laconic: using few words; Jerry’s laconic sense of humor endeared him to the crowd. 2. Polemicist: person skilled in art of writing or spee ch, arguing cases forcefully; Mr. Trimble stands little chance in the public debate against the Republican polemicist candidate, Mr. Burns. 43. Comity: mutual civility; amity, an atmosphere of social harmony, the policy whereby one religious sect refrains from proselytizing the members of another sect; The Shias and Sunnis lived in perfect comity in their remote mountain hamlet. 44. Provenance: the place that something originally came from; He deals in antique furniture of doubtful provenance. 5. Sclerotic: condition in which soft tissue in the body becomes abnormally hard; Doctors were at a loss in explaining the child’s unusual sclerotic condition. 46. Prescient: knowing or appearing to know about things before they happen; His prescient instincts saved him a small fortune when he sold his shares before the stock market crash. 47. Hegemony: control and leadership, by one country over others; The United States’ military hegemony in the region was a source of great dis tress to Iqbal. 8. Verisimilitude: the appearance of being true or real; To add verisimilitude to the play, the stage is covered with snow for the winter scene. 49. Feckless: not able to manage things properly or look after oneself, not responsible enough; The McCarthy’s are feckless parents with more children than they could support. 50. Demarche: step or manoeuvre in political or diplomatic affairs; Thierry’s political demarche with the liberals saved the government a great deal of face in the senate hearings.