Educational

fledgling

[flej-ling]

young, new, or inexperienced

endemic

[en-dem-ik]

natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place; native; indigenous

diegetic

[dahy-uh-jet-ik]

(of sound in a movie, television program, etc.) occurring within the context of the story and able to be heard by the characters

exacerbation

[ig-zas-er-bey-shuhn]

the act of making a negative situation feel worse than it is

entrench

[en-trench]

establish (an attitude, habit, or belief) so firmly that change is very difficult or unlikely

comely

[kuhm-lee]

pleasing in appearance; attractive; fair

ailurophile

[ahy-loor-uh-fahyl]

a person who likes cats; cat fancier

spondee

[spon-dee]

in poetry, a "foot" of two syllables, both of which are long in quantitative meter or stressed in accentual meter

choleric

[kol-er-ik]

extremely irritable or easily angered; irascible

castigate

[kas-ti-geyt]

to criticize or reprimand severely

virulent

[vir-yuh-luhnt, vir-uh-]

actively poisonous; intensely noxious

quisling

[kwiz-ling]

a person who betrays his or her own country by aiding an invading enemy, often serving later in a puppet government; a traitor

tautology

[taw-tol-uh-jee]

needless repetition of an idea, especially in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in "widow woman"

heuristic

[hyoo-ris-tik]

encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error