Expanding our vocabulary

[a pilgrim]

I got this idea from Ronnie's post saying he learned a new word, narcissism. So, let's share a word we've heard recently.

Here's mine: ubiquitous

Main Entry: ubiq·ui·tous
Pronunciation: \yü-bi-kwə-təs\
Function: adjective
Date: 1830
: existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered : widespread <a ubiquitous fashion>

- ubiq·ui·tous·ly adverb

- ubiq·ui·tous·ness noun

[Laura]

obdurate

PRONUNCIATION:
(OB-doo-rit, -dyoo-)

MEANING:
adjective:
1. Stubborn: not easily moved.
2. Hard-hearted: resistant to emotions.

[Here Am I]

loquacious
Definition
(adj.) Very talkative; garrulous

[William]

.
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meretricious
(MER-it-REE-shus)
adjective:

1. Attractive in a tacky, trashy, artificial way:

Obama's rhetoric has a meretricious appeal, but lacks substance.

....the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby)

2. Of or pertaining to a prostitute or prostitution:

The marriage of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley was entirely meretricious. Originally the primary meaning, the word is seldom used this way any more.

[Here Am I]

soph·ist·ry
noun,plural-ries.
1. a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning.
2. a false argument; sophism.

[William]

.
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obsequious
(ob-SEEK-we-us)
adjective:

fawning, toadying, flattering, behaving in a subservient manner to gain someone's approval:

1. Janie's obsequious compliments to her teacher only came when she hadn't done her homework.

2. The IFB pastor was especially obsequious to the members at Faith Promise Giving time.

3. Obama regularly bows in an obsequious manner to foreign heads of state.

[Laura]

cathect

PRONUNCIATION:
(kuh-THEKT)

MEANING:
verb tr.: To invest mental or emotional energy in an idea, object, or person.

[Daniel]

Scintillating - adjective

: brilliantly lively, stimulating, or witty <a scintillating conversation>

[Gary]

vapid

Main Entry: va·pid
Pronunciation: \ˈva-pəd, ˈvā-\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin vapidus flat-tasting; akin to Latin vappa flat wine and perhaps to Latin vapor steam
Date: circa 1656

: lacking liveliness, tang, briskness, or force : flat, dull <a gossipy, vapid woman, obsessed by her own elegance - R. F. Delderfield> <London was not all vapid dissipation - V. S. Pritchett>
synonyms see insipid

- va·pid·ly adverb

- va·pid·ness noun

[Daniel]

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenebrific

tenebrific

Main Entry: ten·e·brif·ic
Pronunciation: \ˌte-nə-ˈbri-fik\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin tenebrae darkness
Date: 1785
1 : gloomy
2 : causing gloom or darkness