Wondrous Words Wednesday {4-8-09}

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun.

My words for this week come from pages 65 - 295 of The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer. There are lots of them this time.

1) delphically- "'Let him come poking his bad-tempered nose into my kitchen, that's all, Mr Finch!' she said delphically"

delphic (the lowercase version; NOT Delphic) adjective -- oracular; obscure; ambiguous

2) sepulchral- "Your name was spoken in a sepulcgral voice, and out you went, feeling a little sick at the pit of your stomach."

an adjective -- of, pertaining to, or serving as a tomb

3) laconic- "Dinah sighed, wishing that he would be a little less laconic."

an adjective -- using few words; expressing much in few words; concise

4) catarrh- "He was a worried-looking man of about fifty, with a quick, fussy way of talking, and what appeared to be a chronic catarrh."

noun -- inflammation of a mucous membrane, esp. of the respiratory tract, accompanied by excessive secretions (yum!)

5) evinced- "Lola, unlike Camilla, evinced not the slightest desire to leave the Grange."

verb -- to show clearly; make evident or manifest; prove

6) matutinal- "She even forebore to complain any more of the matutinal habits of cocks [roosters], though she did once announce that once she was married to Geoffrey the matter would have to be arranged."

adjective -- pertaining to or occurring in the morning; early in the day

7) pecuniary- "'Did Miss deSilva, then, break the engagment for pecuniary reasons?'"

adjective -- of or pertaining to money

8) expatiate- "His tone implied that he was prepared to expatiate on the subject, but the telephone suddenly buzzed at his elbow, and he was obliged to answer it."

verb -- to enlarge in discourse or writing; be copious in description or discussion

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by Bermudaonion. Here is the link to today's post. "What new words have you discovered lately?"