My Top 30 New Words in 2018 /// and it's only day 74

If you read a lot of books, like me, you end up coming across new words all the time -- no matter how much you read, there's ALWAYS more to discover.

These are words that have been there for decades, or centuries, as the case may be.... Words that have always been there in the dictionary, I just never looked them up before.

Well, here's a list of 30 fascinating, new-to-me pieces of vocabulary that I've found while reading just in the 74 days we've had of 2018.



What new words have you discovered recently?



Obsolescence
The process of becoming obsolete or outdated and no longer used.

Amanuensis
A literary or artistic assistant, in particular one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts.

Detritus
Waste or debris of any kind.
Gravel, sand, silt, or other material produced by erosion.

Synchronic
Concerned with something, especially a language, as it exists at one point in time.

Neologism
A newly coined word or expression.

Parallax
The effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions, e.g. through the viewfinder and the lens of a camera.

Spate
A large number of similar things coming in quick succession.

Jeremiad
A long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes.

Apotheosis
The highest point in the development of something; a culmination or climax.

Cynosure
A person or thing that is the centre of attention or admiration.

Uroboros
A circular symbol depicting a snake, or less commonly a dragon, swallowing its tail, as an emblem of wholeness or infinity.

Simulacrum
An image or representation of someone or something.
An unsatisfactory imitation or substitute.

Aphorism
A pithy observation which contains a general truth.

Putative
Generally considered or reputed to be.

Compunction
A feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad.

Verboten
Forbidden, especially by an authority.

Redolent
(redolent of/with) Strongly reminiscent or suggestive of.
Strongly smelling of.

Collude
Cooperate in a secret or unlawful way in order to deceive or gain an advantage over others.

Oeuvre
The body of work of a painter, composer, or author.

Circumlocution
The use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive.

Risible
Provoking laughter through being ludicrous.

Enmity
A state or feeling of active opposition or hostility.

Anachronism
A thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.

Obviate
Remove (a need or difficulty).
Avoid or prevent (something undesirable).
 
Nimbus
A luminous cloud or a halo surrounding a supernatural being or a saint.
A large grey rain cloud.
  
Pensée
A thought or reflection put into literary form; an aphorism.

Proclivity
A tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition towards a particular thing.

Sylvan
Consisting of or associated with woods; wooded.
Pleasantly rural or pastoral.
 
Perspicacity
The quality of having a ready insight into things; shrewdness.

Concatenation
A series of interconnected things.



If you have any fresh vocab, please share it with me in the comments!

*Word definitions taken from Oxford Dictionaries online.

Ebullient with words.

Do you ever come across little gems of vocabulary in your daily life? Especially the definitions of certain words which elude your knowledge, yet they drawn you in as you wonder what their enigmatic meaning is. Here's a few words that have sparked my interest recently:


Ebullient   [ih-buhl-yuhnt]   adjective
Overflowing with fervor or enthusiasm; boiling over, like a liquid.
"Grandfather is ebullient about his postage stamp collection."
{...see also: ebulliently, nonebullient, unebullient...}

Glib   [glib]   adjective
Smooth; slippery; easily moving; often superficial.
"Mrs. Parsons has a glib tongue."
{...see also: glibber, glibbest, glibly, unglib...}

Quixotic   [kwik-sot-ik]   adjective
Befitting Don Quixote; chivalrous to extravagance; visionary or impractical.
"His quixotic ways often put his family in fatal danger."
{...see also: quixotically, half-quixotic, unquixotic...}

Pother   [poth-er]   noun
Confusion; tumult; also, a suffocating cloud, as of smoke or dust.
"Those little boys brought a lot of pother with them, wherever they went."
{...see also: pother (verb)...}

It's progress.

18,680 words written in November 2012.

Not a novel, but more than one-third of the way there.

It's progress.

A book that is shut....

Now, wasn't that a fun little game? Thank you to all the people who commented yesterday and completed the puzzle.

This is one of my new favorite quotes and I'm glad to have shared it with you all!

Letters, anyone?

I have a little game for you today. Anyone can participate. Just guess a letter or two of what you think might fit into the following phrase. It's actually a new quote I happened across and really like.

So, just leave a comment with a letter and I'll fill in the blanks. I'll continue to update this post as I receive your guesses!

a     book    that    is    shut,    is    but    a    block.

16 letters guessed: A, B, C, D, E, F, H, I, K, L, N, O, S, T, R, U

Taking a look at these words...

Time to reveal the answers to those intriguing words from my Dictionary Dash post. Let's begin...



Milquetoast \MILK-toste\
A timid, meek, or unassertive person. (noun)

Milquetoast is a little comical (for me) because it sounds like the words "milk toast"---somehow it sounds about right for a "timid, meek, or unassertive person"---"a milk toast kind of person". I learned from Jenny's comment that there are actually other spellings of the word.

"Don't be a milquetoast," said the young boy to his friend, "the water's not too cold. Come jump in the lake!"



Ferly \FAIR-lee\
Unexpected; strange; unusual. (adj)

A Scottish word from the thirteenth century!

Wee hoverin’, fleein’ ferlie fello’.
(first line of "Ode Tae a Bumble Bee" by Stuart McLean)



Otiose \OH-she-ose\
Producing no useful result; lacking use or effect. (adj)

An dull pencil is an otiose object.



Druthers \DRUHTH-erz\
One's own way, choice, or preference. (noun)

After I learned how this word was formed, it really stuck in my mind better. Druthers is actually a variation of the words "would rather". A person's druthers are the things they would rather do. It came about as a word sometime around 1870.

If I had my druthers, I would curl up with a book tonight.



Concatenate \con-CAT-eh-net\
Linked together. (adj) ... To link together in a series or chain. (verb)

The electrical wiring must be concatenated before the machine will work.



Have you found any new, interesting words lately?

Dictionary Dash

I've come across some interesting new words lately. They either have unusual spellings, pronunciations, or definitions.

Take a guess at what these words mean by trying to match them up to their definitions below. All guesses are welcome!

Otiose Concatenate Milquetoast Ferly Druthers

\OH-she-ose\ \con-CAT-eh-net\ \MILK-toste\ \FAIR-lee\ \DRUHTH-erz\

A timid, meek, or unassertive person. (noun)

Unexpected; strange; unusual. (adj)

Producing no useful result; lacking use or effect. (adj)

One's own way, choice, or preference. (noun)

Linked together. (adj) ... To link together in a series or chain. (verb)

Don't forget to enter in my giveaway for a READ or WRITE sign!

GIVEAWAY: for the writers & the readers

To make things exciting for November, especially because of the NaNoWriMo hype going around right now....

I'm giving away a simply delightful prize that a lot of you are really going to like. The prize comes from one of my favorite shops on Etsy!


{ THE PRIZE }



A WORD SIGN
from . . .
My Heartfelt Designs




Well, there's more.
The winner can select any of these! It's your choice!

I have one of my own, which I enjoy seeing there on my desk. If you get one of these, I tell you... it makes a good reminder to read or write! You can hang these signs on the wall, or set them on your desk, table, or on a bookshelf!

Made from wood & handpainted

Size varies for each word, but approximately:
10" inches long & 3.5" inches high

Would you get one for yourself, or for a gift for a friend?





Visit My Heartfelt Designs on Etsy to see more items
& to read the details about the prize.


Please fill out the Rafflcopter form below to submit your entries!
Contest ends on November 30. USA & Canada only.


(can't see the form to fill out above? just leave a comment below with your name & email and you'll be entered)

Favorite Finds #27 {Writing Edition}

Looking for some writing inspiration this month? Splendid posts about writing can be found at Rachelle's blog, Inspiring Daring. Anytime I visit, she has new thoughts about her latest writing motivations. I've been finding good tidbits in other blogs too, especially in certain posts like this one called Writerly Rambles: Tense, and by scouring the fantastic articles posted on the Southern BelleView blog--I actually just found that place, and it is quite wonderful.

The Author Culture site contains some good thoughts to keep in mind about writing, and I found this post of theirs to be particularly entertaining: Pre-Writing Preparation (read if especially if you need to lighten up a bit before settling down to write). You might also like perusing some of the questions & answers presented on Wordplay, and then read through this article: 5 Fun and Easy Ways to Lengthen Word Count.


There are many many methods of tracking down the perfect character name, but if you need to acquire a name for your character quickly (you can always change out their name later on), then grab one (or a few) from the Random Name Generator.

If you can't put your finger on a certain word you're trying to think of, type the definition into the Reverse Dictionary and it will show you possible choices for a matching word. Handy!

Another writing tool I found recently: The Bookshelf Muse. If you need help describing a scene, a character, an emotion... they have a helpful list for all these things, ways to describe scenes or actions, all packed into their sidebar. For example, look at all the wonderfulness in the entry for bookstore--reading a book in the aisle, the woodsy, dry scent of paper and cardboard, carrying a basket heavy with books. All that and more.

If you're looking for other girls who are writing this November, you can look in my sidebar where I have a list of my blogging friends who are writing this month, whether they're doing Nanowrimo or not. I, for one, enjoy keeping up with everyone's progress.

MyWriMo: Day 1, and Sharing Our Bookshelves {November 2011}

Today is the start of NaNoWriMo, for many people. For myself, it is the opening day of a month in which I hope to move forward in, concerning my writing. My only goal is to make progress. The focus is not on what my word count will be at the end of these thirty days, but simply on the fact that I did accomplish something. Months have passed since I last tried formulating a story worth writing, and I don't have much to show for in 2011. This is why I would like to set aside this month to have something to remember the year by.

I have a new bit of inspiration for the month too, as you might have seen in the photo here. Glancing at the word "write" on my desk is sure to be a motivation, don't you think?

Throughout November I will probably post here and there about what I'm doing, and I hope to hear what you other writers are accomplishing throughout the month too. You are welcome to link to your posts on the linky below, and we can all click over and read each others' posts. (Remember: Sharing Our Bookshelves linky is all about connecting to readers and writers, so whether you're posting about your November writings, or your recent reads, please feel free to link up, all month long.)

"The great advantage of being a writer is that you can spy on people. You're there, listening to every word, but part of you is observing. Everything is useful to a writer, you see—every scrap, even the longest and most boring of luncheon parties." —Graham Greene, British author

November Writing Plans

The obvious fact is that November is on its way, which requires plans of action to be made for the tasks of writing throughout this next month.

For me, I don't think that NaNoWriMo would be able to find time to run its course for me this year. What I'm thinking about is still having November to be a month full of writing... it just won't have a 50k novel at the end. So...



Anyone remember last year? To re-introduce the idea: I invited anyone who wanted to join me, to each create our own personal goals of what writing we would like to get done through the month---so that we're not totally left in the dust of our NaNo-ing friends! Well, I'd like to do MyWriMo again for this year. I have some stories I've been thinking about for a while, and I sure would love to get them on paper! I was wondering if anyone else would like to do this with me? The more, the merrier! We could each have our own "MyWriMo". We'll all have different goals. Mine is to finish some stories, so that I'll have some completed projects from this year.

{If you have some ideas for stories (or something bigger like a novel)--maybe you already have something in the works that you'd like to finish up, this could be your motivation. You don't have to commit yourself to the entire month of November either--just take whatever time you'd like in November to do anything you need with your writing.}

If you are going to be posting (or have already posted) about your November writing plans, you might want to come link your posts in my monthly event Sharing Our Bookshelves, and you might find other people doing the same. New links can be added all month long.



To wrap up, if there is anyone up for MyWriMo 2011, I'd love to hear what you plan on doing yourself!

Dictionary Dash Answers

Thanks for all your comments on last week's Dictionary Dash post. If you wanted to see the answers (and if you haven't already looked them up in the dictionary!), then here they are.

Burgeon \BUR-jen\ To send forth new growth; to grow and expand rapidly. (verb) Ascertain \a-ser-TANE\ To find out or learn with certainty. (verb) Tyro \TIE-row\ A beginner in learning; novice. (noun) Nepotism \NEH-peh-ti-zem\ Favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship. (noun) Dearth \derth\ An inadequate supply; lack; famine. (noun)

Have you found any new, interesting words lately?

Favorite Finds #26

Here's some "Favorite Finds" links that I have found particularly interesting to read this past week.


These first four all come from the Inspiring Daring blog. It's a wonderful series of posts if you have time to read them all.

Mrs. Noah Series, Part One


Mrs. Noah Series, Part Two


Mrs. Noah Series, Part Three


Mrs. Noah Series, Part Four




And here's a few more from other blogs which you should check out too.


Doubt: That Horrible, Creeping Thing

{ whisperings of the pen }

diy: scrap busting pot holders

{ my girl thursday }

Words in Time

{ scribbles and ink stains }

Dictionary Dash

Here's a quick little puzzle for my readers. Take a guess at what these words mean by trying to match them up to their definitions below. All guesses are welcome! The answers will be revealed next week.

Burgeon Ascertain Tyro Nepotism Dearth

\BUR-jen\ \a-ser-TANE\ \TIE-row\ \NEH-peh-ti-zem\ \derth\

A beginner in learning; novice. (noun)

Favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship. (noun)

To send forth new growth; to grow and expand rapidly. (verb)

An inadequate supply; lack; famine. (noun)

To find out or learn with certainty. (verb)

Correct Meanings to those 5 words

Thanks to everyone who left their guesses on last week's Puzzle of Interesting Words. I have the answers below, so you can find out the right word definitions. Congratulations to both Emily and Redwriter for getting all the answers correct!

Oppugn \uh-PYOON\    To fight against; to call in question. (verb)

Snollygoster \SNOL-ee-gos-ter\    A clever, unscrupulous, shrewd person, especially a politician. (noun)

Eleemosynary \el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee\    Of or relating to alms, charity. (adj)

Higgler \HIG-lur\    An itinerant dealer or peddler. (noun)

Nudiustertian \nu-di-uhs-TUR-shuhn\    Of or relating to the day before yesterday. (adj)

Puzzle of Interesting Words

I have a little puzzle for you to today. It contains just 5 words. These words may seem very unique in their own way. They look (and sound) a little odd to be in our English language... but they are real words, I can assure you--with real definitions.

Take a guess at what these words mean by trying to match them up to their definitions below. All guesses are welcome... the answers will be revealed next week.

Eleemosynary Higgler Nudiustertian Oppugn Snollygoster

\el-uh-MOS-uh-ner-ee \HIG-lur\ \nu-di-uhs-TUR-shuhn\ \uh-PYOON\ \SNOL-ee-gos-ter\

To fight against; to call in question. (verb)

Of or relating to the day before yesterday. (adj)

A clever, unscrupulous, shrewd person. (noun)

An itinerant dealer or peddler. (noun)

Of or relating to alms, charity. (adj)

A word from Thomas Jefferson...

6 important questions

View more of my favorite quotes.

Favorite Finds #19

Coming to the end of the third week in January now.... time for a new Favorite Finds post to show you what I've been reading the past few days.

cute-NESS ~ The Last Rose of Summer
An entire blog post dedicated to a special store in Scotland, appropriately named Ness... such delightful clothes!

use [your] words. ~ the Mrs.
Wonderful post I just happened across... all about WORDS.

The Best of Betty Crocker 2010 ~ free download! Scrumptious recipes.

Going Green ~ Urban Comfort
Such lovely furniture! ~ "eco-friendly design and creative upcycling"

Practical Simplicity - 3rd week of giveaways on Miss Antoinette's blog.
This time it's a subscription to "The Kings Blooming Rose Magazine". Contest ends January 22.


the joy of LOVE ~
Free Photography Class
~ every day in February

Favorite Finds #17

Hi Readers,
It has been a couple weeks since I last did a Favorite Finds post. Because of that, I have a bigger collection of links to share with you all today! Hope you will find something interesting below...

For my first link, I must share that Hannah Grace has recently posted some Favorite Finds on her own blog. I was thrilled! Take a look here:
Favourite Finds Friday, #1... {Walking in Thy Truth}

I'd also like to mention that if anyone else would like to post your own Favorite Finds, I'd be happy to link to your blog for that.


A list of more blog posts that I enjoyed reading lately....

Favorites of 2010 - Books {Before My Penn has Gleaned}

50 Books Reading Challenge (2010 list) {Blogging Beth}

days like pearls slipping off a string {Shirley Goodness & Mayhem}

www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com - Nifty webpage for the spelling of 'definitely'.

extra day {Ali's World Adventures}

How we are known {Resolved to Be}

Reflect. Rejoice. Resolve. {Simply Vingtagegirl}

Writer's Resources {Before My Penn has Gleaned}



Here's a section of links just for giveaways you could enter. Some are from my own friends, or from others that looked interesting.

Maria's Handmade Scarflette (Castle on a Cloud)

Health For Godly Generations by Renee DeGroot (ends January 8)

Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy (ends January 9)

Samantha: An American Girl DVD (ends January 10)

"Pink Paris" Wooden Wall Hanger (ends January 11)

Rosetta Stone Giveaway (ends January 11)

Andi's Pony Trouble by Susan K. Marlow - (ends January 20)