From the Heart of My Mind

For one reason or another, the following is a list of some of my favorite words. They might be favorites for their sound, definition, association, whatever. But they’re favorites and I guess I’ll share them, in case you were wondering.

Anathema: a person or thing detested or loathed.

Attrition: a reduction or decrease in numbers, size, or strength.

Antithetical: directly opposed or contrasted; opposite.

Banal: devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite.

Bedlam: a scene or state of wild uproar and confusion.

Bungle: to do clumsily and awkwardly; botch.

Cadence: rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words: the cadence of language.

Coagulate: to change from a fluid into a thickened mass; curdle; congeal.

Copacetic: fine; completely satisfactory; okay.

Deluge: a great flood of water; inundation; flood.

Euphoria: a feeling of happiness, confidence, or well-being sometimes exaggerated in pathological states as mania.

Ebullient: overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited.

Epeolatry: the worship of words.

Etymology: the derivation of a word.

Emulsify: to make into or form an emulsion.

Erudite: characterized by great knowledge; learned or scholarly.

Fructiferous: fruit-bearing; producing fruit.

Fallacious: containing a fallacy; logically unsound.

Gregarious: fond of the company of others; sociable.

Garrulous: excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters.

Glyph: a pictograph or hieroglyph.

Girandole: a rotating and radiating firework.

Hypnagogic: of or relating to the state immediately before falling asleep.

Hyperbolic: having the nature of hyperbole; exaggerated.

Indolent: having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful.

Imbroglio: a misunderstanding, disagreement, etc., of a complicated or bitter nature, as between persons or nations.

Indefatigable: incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue; untiring.

Insomnia: inability to obtain sufficient sleep, especially when chronic; difficulty in falling or staying asleep; sleeplessness.

Impertinent: intrusive or presumptuous, as persons or their actions; insolently rude; uncivil.

Jettison: to throw off (something) as an obstacle or burden; discard.

Jargon: the language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group.

Kerfuffle: a commotion or fuss.

Lugubrious: mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner.

Lassitude: weariness of body or mind from strain, oppressive climate, etc.; lack of energy; listlessness; languor.

Malady: any disorder or disease of the body, especially one that is chronic or deepseated.

Malefaction: an evil deed; crime; wrongdoing.

Murmur: a low, continuous sound, as of low, indistinct voices.

Miasma: a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere.

Moiety: each of two parts into which a thing is or can be divided.

Modicum: a moderate or small amount.

Niminy-piminy: affectedly delicate or refined; mincing; effeminate.

Nascent: beginning to exist or develop.

Nescience: lack of knowledge; ignorance.

Obfuscate: to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.

Opulent: wealthy, rich, or affluent.

Occult: beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding; mysterious.

Petrichor: the distinctive scent which accompanies the first rain after a long warm dry spell.

Prurient: having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc.

Penury: extreme poverty; destitution.

Pulchritude: physical beauty; comeliness.

Panacea: an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties; cure-all.

Redolent: having a pleasant odor; fragrant.

Rubicon: a point of no return.

Rarefy: to make rare or rarer; make less dense.

Recalcitrant: resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.

Rigmarole: an elaborate or complicated procedure.

Sonorous: giving out or capable of giving out a sound, especially a deep, resonant sound, as a thing or place.

Somnolent: sleepy; drowsy.

Somnambulism: sleepwalking.

Scintilla: a minute particle; spark; trace.

Syzygy: an alignment of three celestial objects, as the sun, the earth, and either the moon or a planet.

Schadenfreude: pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune.

Truncate: to shorten by cutting off a part; cut short.

Timbal: a kettledrum.

Umbrage: offense; annoyance; displeasure.

Vacillate: to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute.

Vilify: to speak ill of; defame; slander.