10 Vocab Words You Probably Didn't Know
Photo by Dorie Palmer.
I decided to follow the advice of Charger Press article “Quarantine: Ways to Kill Time”, number 14: Study a dictionary. I know, a complete nerd move. But I learned some pretty cool words that definitely deserve some attention and a re-emergence to modern vernacular. All definitions come from good old Merriam-Webster.
Lassitude (n.)
a condition of weariness or debility.
a condition characterized by lack of interest, energy, or spirit.
Some may feel themselves to be full of lassitude due to many current events. Others relish in the opportunity to catch up on activities, books, movies, and more that they didn't have time for before. Lassitude is a word that you should add to your emotional vocabulary and spice up your writing.
Bonhomie (n.)
good-natured easy friendliness.
This word makes itself easy to remember as it is made up of two parts: ‘bon’, meaning good, and ‘homie’, a slang word for a friend. According to Merriam-Webster, English speakers borrowed bonhomie from the French word bonhomme, meaning “good man”. According to Google Books, bonhomie emerged in the mid-1700s and peaked around 1892. While the word has certainly seen a sharp decrease in use since the year 2000, bonhomie is absolutely a fun word to be brought back to the modern vernacular.
Myopia (n.)
a condition in which the visual images come to a focus in front of the retina of the eye resulting especially in the defective vision of distant objects.
a lack of foresight or discernment/a narrow view of something.
Myopia really is just a fun way to say ‘near-sighted’. However, myopia, or its adjective form myopic, are excellent contributors to rhetoric and can help you sound educated when arguing against someone who is not seeing the full picture. For example, “The myopic view of my opponent makes it clear that the foundation of their argument is invalid.”
Salubrious (adj.)
Favorable to or promoting health or well-being.
Sarcasm does not bode well in journalistic pieces, especially in primarily high-school audiences where it is likely sarcasm and satire will be mistaken as genuine. With that being said, I certainly can’t think of an instance to use this word. I don't believe there is any sort of current event that this word relates to or would be helpful when describing practices geared to prevent the spread of illness. But what do I know? I’m just some nerd with a dictionary.
Zephyr (n.)
a breeze from the west.
any of various lightweight fabrics and articles of clothing.
Obviously, zephyr is a must-know. Still, it presents many more questions than it answers. If we have a word for a west wind, does English have one for North? South? East? Fear not! I have the answer. The other points of the compass do not have simple words the same way as zephyr does. Levanter describes an east Mediterranean wind; Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind--or a personified version of the wind; and the south wind also has a personified name, auster among many others.
Imprecate (v.)
to invoke evil on (curse).
to utter curses.
Imprecate sounds like a made-up word from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Yet, it is a real word that almost exclusively refers to spellcasting and other magic. This word came about in the 17th century and has yet to make a definitive comeback. I can't imagine why -- imagine the sentences you can construct! “Bad luck? No, probably the result of an imprecation.” “Late? You’ll be imprecated!” “Be quiet! I’m imprecating!”
Burgeon (v.)
to send forth new growth (sprout).
to grow and expand rapidly.
With the coming of spring, why not expand your vocabulary relating to garden words? Burgeon is a word often used to describe flowers and other plants but is easily used to talk about someone’s career, a new building, or even the workload of a poor, unassuming student--“Their homework burgeoned exponentially.”
Contumacious (adj.)
stubbornly disobedient (rebellious).
Few teens are strangers to contumacious behavior, despite many teens being strangers to the word. Take it from the coolest person this side of their thesaurus, there is nothing more rebellious than using obscure yet precise terms to describe behavior.
Vapid (adj.)
lacking flavor, zest, interest, animation, or spirit. (flat/dull)
While many of the words on this list have descended out of common use, vapid is a vocab word that remains in the public eye. The word emerged in the 1650s and literally comes from the Latin word vapidus which means “that has exhaled its vapor” and was in reference to drinks. Vapid was applied to speak about the lifelessness of writing in 1758.
Misanthrope (n.)
a person who hates or distrusts humankind.
Perhaps you can't think of someone whom this applies to, but I highly doubt it. When researching the history of this word and famous people who were misanthropes, I ran into Jean-Paul Sartre. Sartre, a 20th-century philosopher most notable for his contribution to existentialism and is quoted as saying “Hell is other people” in his play No Exit. No Exit follows three people who are trapped in a room. All three of these people have died, and come to realize that being locked in a room together is their punishment for the crimes they committed while living. They drive each other insane and in a moment of frustration, one of the characters attempts to leave. He finds the door unlocked, yet none of the characters can bring themselves to leave because they are worried about what the others will think of them. “Hell is other people” came about as a quote which reveals the misanthropic message of the whole play, and contributes to Sartre’s collection of misanthropic quotations.
I hope you pick up at least one of these words for regular use. And with the coming of new, online AP tests—it never hurts to show off an expansive vocabulary and command of the English language!
