tommyrot /TOM-ee-rot/ (noun) - Nonsense; foolishness.

"While most in the neighborhood were convinced that the old Clancy place was haunted, Bigby was quick to dismiss such notions as utter tommyrot."

From English dialectal tommy (fool), shortening of Thomas + English rot.

pococurante \po-ko-koo-RAN-tee, -kyoo-\ (adjective) - Indifferent, apathetic, nonchalant.

"James' only claim to fame was a single pococurante addition to the company's rules and regulations yet this, along with his esteemed name, was enough to guarantee him a cushy position in upper management for life."

From Italian, poco little + curante, ...Read more

pococurante \po-ko-koo-RAN-tee, -kyoo-\ (adjective) - Indifferent, apathetic, nonchalant.

"James' only claim to fame was a single pococurante addition to the company's rules and regulations yet this, along with his esteemed name, was enough to guarantee him a cushy position in upper management for life."

From Italian, poco little + curante, ...Read more

verisimilitude \ver-uh-suh-MIL-uh-tood; -tyood\ (noun) - 1 : The appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true. 2 : Something that has the appearance of being true or real.

"For those plays, Ms. Smith interviewed hundreds of people of different races and ages, somehow managing to internalize their expressions, anger and quirks enough ...Read more

relegate \RE-leh-geyt\ (verb) - 1 : To refer or assign to an insignificant position or priority, as to relegate a diplomat to an obscure post or relegate a task to someone of little authority; 2 : To turn over, refer or assign, as to relegate a task to someone.

"Richard has been relegated the task of keeping the office windows clean."

Today...Read more

magisterial \maj-uh-STEER-ee-uhl\ (adjective) - 1 : Having the characteristics of a master or teacher; authoritative. 2 : Domineering or overbearing. 3 : Of or relating to a magistrate.

"Everyone agreed that Jason's magisterial qualities ensured that he would not long be toiling in the company's mail room."

From Late Latin magisterialis (...Read more

multifarious \muhl-tuh-FAIR-ee-uhs\ (adjective) - Having great diversity or variety; of various kinds; diversified.

"Others will follow, others will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous and independent denizens." -- Robert Louis Stevenson, 'The ...Read more

acumen \AE-kyu-mehn\ (noun) - Sharpness of perception, keenness of mind, precise insightfulness.

"Kay is not only intelligent and well-educated; her acumen leads us through the murkiest problems quickly and surely."

Today's word comes from Latin acumen "acuteness, keenness" from acuere "to sharpen," akin to acus "needle." The past ...Read more

manse \MAN(T)S\ (noun) - 1 : A large and imposing residence. 2 : The residence of a clergyman (especially a Presbyterian clergyman).

"That Carmela was a certified divorcee was one of many facts about her which failed to fit, along with her still living with her adopted daughter in her eerie gothic Victorian manse."

Manse comes from Medieval ...Read more

spoliation \spo-lee-AY-shun\ (noun) - 1 : The act of pillaging and plundering. 2 : Seizure of neutral ships at sea in time of war. 3 : The deliberate destruction or alteration of a document.

"Before the company's acquisition and inevitable subsequent downsizing were even officially announced the spoliation had commenced, with nary a wheeled ...Read more

victual \VIT-ehl\ (noun) - Human food; (Plural) food and provisions

"Carrie was quick to point out that they had enough victuals in the house to live for three months without leaving it."

From Old French vitaille (also vitale), the normal descendent of Late Latin victualia, the neuter plural of victualis "food, sustenance." In Middle ...Read more

natter \NAE-dehr\ (verb) - 1 : To nag, grumble, complain (mostly Scotland and Northern England); 2 : to chatter mindlessly.

"Whenever Angela gets lonely she comes over to natter the afternoon away with me over tea."

It may be a variant of dialectal gnatter "to nibble, chatter" or it may be a blend of "nag" and "chatter," no one knows for ...Read more

catercorner \KAE-deh(r)-kor-nehr or teh(r)\ (adverb) - Located diagonally across from something else.

"Jason is the sort whose thinking runs absolutely catercorner to everyone else's."

Archaic cater "four" + corner. "Cater" is from Old French catre (today quatre) "four," the historical reflex of Latin "quattuor." The Proto-Indo-European ...Read more

albatross \AL-buh-tros\ (noun) plural albatross or albatrosses - 1 : Any of several large, web-footed birds constituting the family Diomedeidae, chiefly of the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, and having a hooked beak and long, narrow wings. 2 : A constant, worrisome burden. An obstacle to success.

"Getting the albatross that is Jacobs off of...Read more

kibosh \KI-bahsh or ki-BAHSH\ (noun) - 1 : (Slang) A restraining element; something that stops or halts something else. 2 : (Slang) Nonsense; palaver.

"Jasmine had an idea for a weekend getaway, but her husband's plans to go fishing put the kibosh on her scheme."

Etymology is unsettled, but probably not from Yiddish or Anglo-Hebrew "kye b(...Read more

bootless \BOOT-lis\ (adjective) - Unavailing; useless; without advantage or benefit.

"I have seen a swan
With bootless labour swim against the tide."
-- Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III

Bootless is from Old English bot, "advantage, profit" + -less, from Old English from leas, "without."

martinet \mar-tehn-ET\ (noun) - An unreasonably harsh and unyielding disciplinarian; an extreme stickler for detail and form.

"Elliot is such a martinet in the office you could cut the tension with a knife."

The eponym of today's word is Jean Martinet, 17th century French army officer and Inspector-General of the Infantry under Louis XIV. ...Read more

Falstaffian \fohl-STA-fee-ehn\ (adjective) - Characterized by joviality and conviviality.

"Colton's bushy beard, boisterous manner, and overall Falstaffian personality endeared him to as many people as it put off."

A large word for a large personality, today's word comes after Sir John Falstaff, a fictional character who appears in three ...Read more

Neanderthal \nee-AN-duhr-thol\ (adjective) also Neandertal - 1 : Of, or pertaining to Neanderthal man, a member of an extinct subspecies of Homo sapiens who lived in caves in Europe and the Mediterranean 100,000 to 30,000 years ago. 2 : Boorish, uncivilized.

(noun) - 1 : Neanderthal man. 2 : An unenlightened or uncouth man.

"Jimmy ...Read more

A subhead for a recent New York Times story about the audit of a federal department read, "Auditors declined to opine on the agency's financial numbers."

"O the Times! O the Customs!" emailed one of my readers, slyly alluding to Cicero's lament, "O Tempores! O Mores!" He asked, "Is 'opine' even a word?"

You bet it is, and a darn old one at ...Read more