Uncommon

calumniate

[kuh-luhm-nee-eyt]

to make false and malicious statements about; slander

gasconade

[gas-kuh-neyd]

extravagant boasting

friable

[frahy-uh-buhl]

easily crumbled or reduced to powder; crumbly

elegy

[el-i-jee]

a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead

breviloquent

[bre-vil-uh-kwuhnt]

speaking or expressed in a concise or terse style; using brevity of speech

perfidious

[per-fid-ee-uhs]

deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful

exhort

[ig-zawrt]

to urge, advise, or caution earnestly; admonish urgently

dowdy

[dou-dee]

not stylish; drab; old-fashioned

feckless

[fek-lis]

lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible

inimical

[ih-nim-i-kuhl]

adverse in tendency or effect; unfavorable; harmful

cravat

[kruh-vat]

a short, wide strip of fabric worn by men around the neck and tucked inside an open-necked shirt

widdershins

[with-er-shinz]

in a direction contrary to the sun's course, considered as unlucky; counterclockwise

ameliorate

[uh-meel-yuh-reyt]

make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better

corybantic

[kawr-uh-ban-tik]

wild; frenzied

staid

[steyd]

of settled or sedate character; not flighty or capricious

pulchritude

[puhl-kri-tood]

physical beauty; comeliness

ennui

[ahn-wee]

a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom

svelte

[svelt]

slim; slender in figure or lithe

oeillade

[œ-yad]

an amorous glance; ogle

nonplussed

[non-pluhst]

completely puzzled or perplexed by something unexpected

meretricious

[mer-i-trish-uhs]

alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions; tawdry

convivial

[kuhn-viv-ee-uhl]

friendly; agreeable

nadir

[ney-der]

the lowest point; point of greatest adversity or despair

diaphanous

[dahy-af-uh-nuhs]

very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent