Good Words
- aleatoryAY·lee·ə·tor·ee
- adj. Dependent on uncertain things, random.
- anaphoraə·NAH·fər·ə
- n. Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of clauses, sentences, or paragraphs.compare epistrophe
- apotheosisə·pah·thee·OH·sis
- n. The highest point of development of something2 Ascension to heaven; deification.
- antediluveanan·ti·də·LOO·vee·ən
- adj. Of the period before the Biblical flood.2 Figuratively, especially archaic.
- AnthropoceneAN·thrə·pə·seen
- n. The current geological epoch, in which human activity has been the dominant influence on the environment.
- aubadeoh·BAHD
- n. A musical piece or poem about the dawn.compare nocturne
- aureateOR·ee·ət
- adj. Of, made of, or the color of gold.
- cenotaphSEH·nə·taf
- n. A monument to someone who is buried somewhere else.
- dinkusDEEN·kus
- n. A typographer’s mark of three spaced asterisks: * * *. Sometimes used as a section break or to indicate an omission.
Historically an asterism: ⁂.
- egregoreə·GRƏ·gore
- n. A non-physical entity manifested by the collective thoughts of a group of people.
- ekphrasisEK·frə·səs
- n. A detailed description of a work of visual art as a literary device.
- etiolateEE·tee·ə·layt
- v. To cause a plant to grow with less chlorophyll, often by restricting the amount of light it receives.2 To make feeble.
- epistrophei·PIS·trə·fee
- n. Repetition of a word at the end of a series of clauses or sentences.compare anaphora
- gnomonNO·mən
- n. The bit of a sundial that sticks out and casts a shadow for marking the time.
- imbricateIM·bri·kət
- adj. Overlapped in a regular way, like fish scales or roof tiles.
Can also be used as a verb meaning to place in that way, pronounced IM·bri·kayt.
- interpellatein·TƏR·pə·layt
- v. To assign someone a particular identity.
Social construction of identity. The identity may not be accurate, and it may be assigned without agreement from the subject.
- internecenein·tər·NƏ·seen
- adj. Conflict within a group.
This meaning was accidentally invented by Samuel Johnson in his 1755 A Dictionary of the English Language. Previously, the word meant “deadly;” it’s speculated that Johnson mistook the inter as meaning “within.”
- interregnumin·tə·REG·nəm
- n. The period between the end of a monarch’s reign and the start of the successor’s.2 A gap or interruption in government or social structure.
- katabasiskə·TAH·bə·sis
- n. A journey to the underworld, especially in Classical mythology.
- lagomorphLA·gə·morf
- n. Of the order Lagomorpha, which includes pikas, hares, and rabbits.
“I love lagomorphs, because on the one side you have sweet round bois, and on the other side you have feral wilderness prophets who have gone mad with the knowledge of the universe” —@RobotLyra (external link)
- prelapsarianpree·lap·SER·ee·ən
- adj. Of the time before the Biblical Fall of Man; innocent.
- quireKWAI·ər
- n. A small book, especially one made from a single piece of paper folded three times, or four pieces of paper folded once into eight leaves. Zines count.2 Twenty four or twenty five pieces of paper; one twentieth of a ream.3 ARCHAIC OF choir. A division of angels.
- rogalian
- adj. Of or pertaining to a great fire.
The only known appearances of rogal and rogalian are in Thomas Blout’s 1656 Glossographia; or a dictionary,… with the above definition.
BUT COMPARE roge, meaning a pyre.
- synanthropeSI·nan·thrope
- n. An undomesticated animal that lives near / with humans and benefits from human changes to the environment.
Think pigeons, raccoons, ants.
- synecdochesə·NEK·də·kee
- n. A figure of speech where a part stands for the whole, or vice versa.
“Wheels” as a reference to an entire car.
Not pronounced SEYE·nə·keye·nə·DO·dee·CHO·dee (external link), although maybe it should be?
Mostly sourced from the Oxford English Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster online dictionaries.
I’m preferring American English spelling and pronunciations.
The definitions are incomplete; I’m highlighting the parts I like.