catzilla! words

[abstemious] - refraining from drinking or eating in excess

[abstruse] - obscure, difficult to understand

[acequias] - community run irrigation

[acrid] - strong smelling

[adroit] - skillful

[akaakai] - hawaiian bulrush for mats and baskets

[allassotonic] - induced by external stimulus

[altricial] - hatched and born helpless requiring significant parental care (often of birds)

[analgesia] - inability to feel pain

[anathema] - something intensely disliked

[anhedonia] - lack of interest in daily activities

[apian] - relating to bees

[apostate] - person who rejects/abandons strong beliefs

[aqsaqals] - central asian elders

[arquebuss] - early firearm

[arriviste] - ambitious person who recently gained power

[atoll] - ring shaped island of coral

[atotized] - nitrogenize

[aureola] - radiant cloud around iconographic/religious figures

[auxotonic] - determined/induced by growth

[avifauna] - birds in area

[avuncular] - uncle-like

[bacchius] - metrical foot of three syllables

[bagatelle] - small bag or thing

[banxring] - small shrew

[berghaan] - south african eagles

[bilk] - to flimflam

[bouzouki] - west asian instrument

[brouhaha] - uproar, noisy reaction

[bryophyte] - mosses taxonomy

[bryozoan] - aquatic colony phylum

[burnish] - make shiny

[caddishness] - ungentlemanly

[cadenza] - end passage in performance by virtuouso

[calumny] - slander

[catjang] - plant

[cavalcade] - horse parade

[censure] - harshly criticize

[chamfer] - transitional cut in edge of corner to make it slope, similar to a bevel

[ciceron] - guide gives speeches to sightseers

[cicisbei] - male mistress, cortejo

[circuitousness] - indirect or circular pathway

[circumlocution] - use of many words, especially to be deliberately vague or evasive

[clodpoll] - stupid person

[cognoscenti] - experts in particular subject

[coruscate] - (of light) to flash or sparkle

[coterie] - group shared interest

[cryptomnesia] - phenomenon where a previously learned idea is falsely believed to be original

[cuauhxicalli] - aztecan sacrificial stone altar

[dearth] - paucity

[deixis] - context-dependent reference

[derisory/derisive] - expressing contempt

[dghajsa] - maltan water taxi

[dhole] - asian canine

[dilettante] - someone interested in area but not true expert

[dissociate] - disassociate

[dochmius] - metrical foot of five syllables

[doctrinaire] - (adj) sticking to fixed way despite changes

[doshpuluur] - long-necked Tuvan lute made from wood, usually pine or larch

[drowsihead, sleepihead, lustihead] - states of drowsiness, sleepiness, or lust

[dysgenic] - causing genetic decline

[ebullient] - vigorously enthusiastic

[ecclesiastical] - relating to churches

[ecumenical] - aimed at uniting churches

[elision] - omission, typically in linguistics

[euhemerize] - rationalize mythology

[eupnea] - natural breathing

[evzone] - greek army unit

[exegetic] - interpretive, especially of texts

[exuviate] - shed or remove skin

[fecundity] - fertile

[fetid] - heavy offensive smell

[flimflam] - (verb) to swindle; (noun) insincere talk

[floccinaucinihilipilification] - action/habit of estimating something as worthless

[foible] - 1) minor weakness/eccentricity in character; 2) weak part of sword blade in fencing

[forsythias] - flowers

[foutra] - archaic vulgar expression of contempt

[frond] - large divided leaf, like leaves of ferns

[garrulous] - chatty or loquacious

[gauche] - clumsy socially awkward

[gratuitous] - unwarranted and uncalled for

[hagiography] - church writing

[halcyon] - calm, happy

[hematocrit] - measure of % of red blood cells

[hoa(c)tzin] - amazonian tropical bird

[horripilation] - goosebumps

[Hurufiyya] - islamic aesthetic movement

[ichthyofauna] - fish in area

[impetuous] - reckless

[impolitic] - unwise

[indolence] - laziness

[insouciant] - lack of interest

[intemperate] - given to excess

[jeremiad] - long speech of complaints

[jiggety] - jerky

[jipijapa] - panama hat material

[junket] - extravagant trip, usually funded by govt

[kaama] - hartebeest

[kadi/kadhi] - indian food

[kamees] - long arabic blouse

[kaolins] - fine white clays

[katzenjammer] - hangover

[kerygmatic] - (adj) preaches gospel

[kiaats] - deciduous tree south africa

[kingbolt] - kingpin in a mechanical structure

[kinkajous] - tree-dwelling mammals

[kitsch] - cheap art whose owners are usually aware of lack of value(!)

[klepht] - greek outlaw

[klezmer] - jewish folk music

[kohl] - egyptian cosmetic darken eyelids

[kolkhoznik] - member of collective farm kolkhoz

[kopje] - small hill

[laconic] - speaks briefly

[lilliputian] - extremely small

[limivorous] - mud-eating

[littoral] - situated on the shore of a sea or lake

[locution] - phrase, especially with regard to style or idiom

[lycaenid] - type of butterfly (not lycanid)

[magnanimous] - generous and forgiving to someone less powerful

[mahlstick] - stick used by painters to rest hand while working

[malaxate] - make with clay

[mandorla] - almond shaped frame(aureola) around iconographic/religious figures

[matjes] - salted herring

[maudlin] - overly self pitying

[mawkish] - overly cloyish

[mesic] - moderate amount of moisture

[mirza] - persian honorific prefix

[miscegenation] - racial mixing

[moribund] - death bound

[mugwump] - politically independent, comes from anti-corruption Grover Cleveland supporters

[mulish] - obstinate

[nanization] - artificial dwarfing (as of trees/plants by horticulturists)

[novitiate] - newbie

[obmutescent] - silent/stubbornly mute

[obstreperous] - noisy and out of control

[oneiric] - dreamy

[optoelectronics/optronics] - study of light electronics, subfield of photonics

[oxycephalies] - congenital deformities to skull (due to early synostosis of the parietal and occipital bones)

[palaver] - idle chatter

[paleogeographies] - geography of ancient times

[palmhouse] - tall greenhouse

[palmtop] - lightweight laptop

[pan(a)esthesia] - awareness or perception

[pareidolia] - seeing patterns, typically faces, in things

[pastiche] - A mixture of elements that typically don’t go together.

[paucity] - scarcity

[pavonazzo] - red veined marble

[pellucid] - extremely clear

[perfunctory] - careless, going through the motions

[periphrasis] - the use of circumlocutory speech or writing

[persnickety] - fastidious

[petiol(ul)e] - stalk of (compound) leaf

[pfefferkuchen] - gingerbread

[phantasmagorical] - many changing images like nightmare

[phlegmatic] - apathetic

[pogonip] - dense winter fog in west USA

[poleaxes] - battle axes

[predilection] - special fondness

[prehensile] - (organ) adapted for grabbing

[prehension] - capacity for grabbing

[prepossessing] - attractive and charming

[presage] - indicate bad omen

[prescient] - knowledge before happens

[presentiment] - feel bad omen

[priggish] - sanctimonious

[prosaic] - diction without poetic beauty

[prosaicness] - dull, uninteresting

[proscribe] - to ban

[prosopagnosia] - face blindness

[protandry] - mtf sequential hermaphroditism

[protogyny] - ftm

[punctilious] - careful about details

[qalqalah] - linguistic shaking or disturbance

[quiescent] - state or period of inactivity

[quixotic] - foolish and impractical

[rachis] - continuation of stipe into leafy area

[raillery] - to tease

[ramekin] - little white dish

[rathskeller] - basement restaurant or bar

[recondite] - abstruse

[redress] - make right or correct wrongdoing

[repudiate] - to reject

[restive] - restless

[reticule] - womans small handbag

[rijksdaalers] - dutch currency

[riposte] - quick witty reply

[rooibos] - type of tea

[rufescent] - reddish/bronze

[sangfroid] - utter calmness

[sayyid] - islamic chief or leader

[schadenfreude] - delight taken in anothers misfortune

[schuyt] - dutch riverboat

[sedulous] - hardworking and attentive

[senescence] - deterioration from aging

[sesquipedalia] - overly wordy

[sforzando] - music notation indicating sudden strong emphasis

[shegetz, shkotzim] - goy, goyim

[shnaps] - strong liquor

[shtchi] - russian soup

[sinamay] - stiff coarse textile (hat material)

[skaamoog] - catshark

[skirred] - move rapidly

[skokiaan] - south african alcoholic beverage

[slipshod] - careless

[somniloquies] - sleep talks

[sovkhoz] - state farm

[sphygmomanometer] - blood pressure measurer

[sprachbund] - linguistic area resulting from contact

[squabash] - to crush or demolish especially with criticism

[stipe] - petiole for specifically fronds

[supine] - lay on back (antonym of prone)

[surfeit] - too much of something

[susurrus] - whispering or rustling

[svarabhaktis] - sanskrit word insert vowel btwn consonants

[synecthry] - hostile commensalism

[syngamic] - related to fertilization

[taciturn] - quiet and reserved

[tergite] - dorsal plate of arthropod

[thylakoids] - compartments in chloroplasts, convert light to ATP and NADPH

[tikoloshes] - mischievous south african spirits

[torpid] - sluggish

[tortuous] - twisty

[traduce] - to slander

[txapela] - basque beret

[vacuolate] - having vacuoles

[vaivose] - winding/twisting

[vallhund] - swedish herding dog

[venal] - open to bribery

[venial] - forgivable/pardonable

[vespertilionine] - relating to bats of Vespertilioninae subfamily

[vicissitudes] - ups and downs of life

[waifish] - thin

[welk(e)] - to lose freshness or greenness

[xanthochromism] - yellow pigmentation mutation

[yatagan] - ottoman short sabre

[zeugma] - figure of speech where a word applies to two others in different two senses

[zydeco] - genre of music blues and jazz

[zyzzyva] - weeviles

Words