requisite \REK-wuh-zit\ (adjective) - Required by the nature of things or by circumstances; indispensable.

(noun) - That which is required or necessary; something indispensable.

"Those with the requisite talents made drawings and watercolors of the birds, the flowers, the untouched landscapes that unfolded before them." -- Barbara Crossette, ...Read more

habitue \huh-BICH-oo-ay; huh-bich-oo-AY\ (noun) - One who habitually frequents a place.

"In the public house kept by Jesper Darkes, 'zealous partizans in the cause of Liberty,' as one habitue called them, met day and night, laying plans, discussing whether this man or that could be trusted or whether he was spying for the government, ...Read more

concatenation \kon-kat-uh-NAY-shuhn; kuhn-\ (noun) - A series of links united; a series or order of things depending on each other, as if linked together; a chain, a succession.

"The process of fossilization and discovery is a concatenation of chance built upon chance. It's amazing that anything ever becomes a fossil at all." -- Henry Gee, 'In ...Read more

agog \uh-GOG\ (adjective) - Full of excitement or interest; in eager desire; eager, keen.

"He was now so interested, quite so privately agog, about it, that he had already an eye to the fun it would be to open up to her afterwards." -- Henry James, 'The Ambassadors'

Agog derives from Middle French en gogues, "in mirth; lively."

panoply \PAN-uh-plee\ (noun) - 1 : A splendid or impressive array. 2 : Ceremonial attire. 3 : A full suit of armor; a complete defense or covering.

"Every step taken to that end which appeases the obsolete hatreds and vanished oppressions, which makes easier the traffic and reciprocal services of Europe, which encourages nations to lay aside ...Read more

hobbledehoy \HOB-uhl-dee-hoy\ (noun) - An awkward, gawky young fellow.

"His memories, even only reveries, of incomparable women, made me feel like a hulking hobbledehoy." -- Edith Anderson, 'Love in Exile'

The origin of hobbledehoy is unknown, though it perhaps derives from hobble, from the awkward movements of a clumsy adolescent.

chicanery \shih-KAY-nuh-ree\ (noun) - 1 : The use of trickery or sophistry to deceive (as in matters of law). 2 : A trick; a subterfuge.

"What is more, it can be deliberately adulterated by the farmer with sand, tree sap or ash, although a trained opium buyer can spot these tricks and few farmers dare resort to such chicanery." -- Martin Booth,...Read more

disparate \DIS-puh-rit; dis-PAIR-it\ (adjective) - 1 : Fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind. 2 : Composed of or including markedly dissimilar elements.

"When a poet's mind is perfectly equipped for its work, it is constantly amalgamating disparate experience; the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary." ...Read more

malleable \MAL-ee-uh-buhl\ (adjective) - 1 : Capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer, or by the pressure of rollers; -- applied to metals. 2 : Capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces; easily influenced. 3 : Capable of adjusting to changing circumstances; adaptable.

"The natives proved less malleable and ...Read more

gelid \JEL-id\ (adjective) - Extremely cold; icy.

"The house was silent, filled with a gelid, wintery hush even as lilac and dogwood leaves brushed darkly against the windowpanes." -- Michael Cunningham, 'A Home at the End of the World'

Gelid comes from Latin gelidus, from gelu, "frost, cold."

luculent \LOO-kyuh-luhnt\ (adjective) - Clear; easily understood.

"From the high ground all is clear, interpretable, luculent: this is what this means." -- Thomas Lux, 'The Cradle Place'

Luculent comes from Latin luculentus, from lux, luc-, "light."

Quick quiz! A "hurricane" is so called because...

a. It "hurries" the sugar cane in the West Indies as it blows over it b. Harry Caine, a common seaman with a valuable knot collection, was the first English sailor blown overboard in such a storm c. When Cain killed Abel, God used a strong wind to hurry Cain away from his parents d. The Arawaks...Read more

pecuniary \pih-KYOO-nee-air-ee\ (adjective) - 1 : Relating to money; monetary. 2 : Consisting of money. 3 : Requiring payment of money.

"The young man of the house was absorbed in his vegetable garden and the possibilities for pecuniary profit that it held." -- Samuel Chamberlain, 'Clementine in the Kitchen'

Pecuniary comes from Latin ...Read more

sapid \SAP-id\ (adjective) - 1 : Having taste or flavor, especially having a strong pleasant flavor. 2 : Agreeable to the mind; to one's liking.

"Chemistry can concentrate the sapid and odorous elements of the peach and the bitter almond into a transparent fluid" -- David William Cheever, 'Tobacco', The Atlantic, August 1860

Sapid comes from ...Read more

potboiler \POT-boi-lur\ (noun) - A usually inferior literary or artistic work, produced quickly for the purpose of making money.

"The play was a mixed blessing. Through it O'Neill latched on to a perennial source of income, but the promise of his youth was essentially squandered on a potboiler." -- Jane Scovell, 'Oona. Living in the Shadows'

...Read more

nimiety \nih-MY-uh-tee\ (noun) - The state of being too much; excess.

"Just as daily life contains all the comforts of what one owns, there is also a natural shedding or forgetting and a natural dulling, otherwise one becomes burdened with a sense of nimiety, a sense (as Kenneth Clark put it in his autobiography) of the 'too-muchness' of life."...Read more

acuity \uh-KYOO-uh-tee\ (noun) - Acuteness of perception or vision; sharpness.

"Horses tend to shy a lot because the construction of their eyes is optimized for a near 360-degree field of view, useful for spotting danger, but the price the horse pays for that is relatively poor acuity and some out-of-focus spots that can cause objects within ...Read more

lubricious \loo-BRISH-us\ (adjective) - 1 : Lustful; lewd. 2 : Stimulating or appealing to sexual desire or imagination. 3 : Having a slippery or smooth quality.

"I was born to be a Turk and spend my days watching exquisite girls perform those lubricious oriental dances that are like the dreams of virtuous men..." -- Victor Hugo, 'Les Misé...Read more

urbane \ur-BAYN\ (adjective) - Polished and smooth in manner; polite, refined, and elegant.

"Taylor comes across as an intelligent man, suave and urbane, articulate and smooth as butter." -- Bill Berkeley, 'The Graves Are Not Yet Full'

Urbane comes from Latin urbanus, "of a city," hence "refined, polished," from urbs, "city." The noun form is ...Read more

Today, let's weed our grammatical garden.

Betty Lundy of West Point, Mississippi, wonders how to say that her son removed weeds yesterday with a Weed Eater. Should she say, "he weed eated the lawn," or "he weed ate the lawn"? ("Weed Eater" is a trademark for a line of lawn care equipment, but, like "kleenex" and "band-aid," it has become a ...Read more