Word of the Week: fatuity

Fatuity (n)
1. stupidity, esp. complacent stupidity; smug; foolishness
2. a fatuous remark, act, etc.
3. idiocy or imbecility


Her fatuity was so disruptive, the teacher became visibly irritated.

Word of the Week: coalesce

Coalesce: v. 1. to grow together, as the halves of a broken bone 2. to unite or merge into a single body

This is one of those words that I thought I knew, but looking at the dictionary gave me a completely different perspective.

The vines coalesced into one thick branch.

Word of the Week: tourbillion

I thought this word really fit for this week... and probably the next few...

Tourbillion: (n) 1. a whirlwind 2. a fireworks device that rises with a spiral motion.

As in...

My life is a tourbillion right now.

Word of the Week: spumescent

Spumescent: (adj) frothing or foaming

The spumescent fountain was quite a spectacle.

Word of the Week: hodaddy

This word caught my eye, and the definition wasn't at all what I expected. I've never heard this before, and the dictionary does call it slang, so I don't know how useable it will be in building my vocabulary, but it was too fun to pass up.

Hodaddy: (n) one who engages in the sport of surfing or, esp., one who spends much time on beaches with surfers for vicarious excitement: also hodad plural: hodaddies

Interesting. I guess you could have called me a hodaddy when I took this picture at the North Shore in Oahu:

Word of the Week: concomitant

Todays word is brought to you by the SAT. I tutor kids in test prep, and this word showed up last week. I had no idea what it meant. Even after looking it up, I am not sure I totally get how to use this word.

Concomitant: adj. existing or occurring with something else, often in a lesser way; accompanying; concurrent

I'm not really sure how else I could use this in a sentence except the way the dictionary shows:
an event and its concomitant circumstances.

Could a sidekick, for example, be concomitant? Not sure. Nevertheless, I now have an idea of what the word means if it ever pops up on practice SATs or ACTs.

Word of the Week: osculate

Osculate: v. 1. to kiss: a pretentious or facetious usage 2. to touch closely

My Sentence: In Hollywood, everyone osculates at parties.
My sentence using last week's word: His haptic way of getting around wasn't osculating, but had real meaning behind it.

Word of The Week: Haptic

It’s really quite amazing how quickly plans can be derailed. I meant to start the New Year with a post with my word a week and some thoughts on the year to come. Instead, I got food poisoning and have spent the past two days curled up on the couch. Not exactly the way I had hoped to start 2007.

So, #79 on my list is to learn a new word each week. This week, I pulled out my ratty dictionary and opened up to a random page and went down the words until I found one I didn’t know that seemed applicable to my life.

As a future English teacher and current writer, I think it’s important to keep developing my vocabulary. Having an extensive vocabulary definitely never hurt anyone. The trick is to take the week to use the word as well as listen and watch for the word on TV or in what you’re reading. This will really help the word become a part of your every day vocabulary.

This week’s word is…HAPTIC: adj. Of or having to do with the sense of touch; tactile
My sentence: A blind person may develop a haptic way of getting around.

1 down, 51 to go.