Educational

gloaming

[gloh-ming]

twilight; dusk

polemic

[puh-lem-ik]

a controversial argument, as one against some opinion, doctrine, etc.

logophile

[law-guh-fahyl]

a lover of words

aphelion

[uh-fee-lee-uhn]

the point farthest from the sun in the path of an orbiting celestial body (such as a planet)

aberration

[ab-uh-rey-shuhn]

a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically one that is unwelcome

hamartia

[hah-mahr-tee-uh]

a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a tragic hero or heroine

validate

[val-i-deyt ]

to make valid; substantiate; confirm

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

mendacious

[men-dey-shuhs]

telling lies, especially habitually; dishonest; untruthful

banausic

[buh-naw-sik]

serving utilitarian purposes only; mechanical; practical

conflate

[kuhn-fleyt]

to fuse into one entity; merge

adjudicate

[uh-joo-di-keyt]

to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence

excogitate

[eks-koj-i-teyt]

to think out; devise; invent

equivocal

[ih-kwiv-uh-kuhl]

allowing the possibility of several different meanings, as a word or phrase, especially with intent to deceive or misguide; susceptible of double interpretation; deliberately ambiguous

portend

[pawr-tend]

to indicate in advance; to foreshadow or presage, as an omen does

altruism

[al-troo-iz-uhm]

the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others (opposed to egoism)

spondee

[spon-dee]

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

inveterate

[in-vet-er-it ]

settled or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling, or the like

prosopopoeia

[proh-soh-puh-pee-uh]

personification, as of inanimate things

coruscating

[kawr-uh-skeyt-ing]

flashing or sparkling

acumen

[uh-kyoo-muhn]

keen insight; shrewdness

choleric

[kol-er-ik]

extremely irritable or easily angered; irascible

caducity

[kuh-doo-si-tee]

the infirmity or weakness of old age; senility

avuncular

[uh-vuhng-kyuh-ler]

acting like an uncle, as in being kind, patient, generous, etc., especially to younger people