Maybe nuns don't even have navels. There is no way to know.
CRYPTIC means seeming to have a hidden meaning. If your mother says, "Consider yourself grounded, mister!" it is not at all cryptic. But if she says in a certain voice, "We need to talk," she is being cryptic. And you are about to be grounded.
DESPICABLE means deserving of contempt. I began to describe something despicable, but it was too upsetting so I stopped. You can come up with your own example.
DIABOLICAL means extremely cruel or evil. The French word for it is diabolique. There is a French movie called Diabolique that I saw more than fifty years ago, and it is still the scariest movie I have ever seen.
EXPOSTULATION means a sound that expresses disagreement or disapproval. "Yuck!" is an expostulation. So is "Arrrggghh."
FORTUITOUS means a good thing happening just by chance. If you buy a winning lottery ticket, it is very fortuitous. (Also very unlikely.) A better example (but boring compared to the lottery) is if it begins to rain unexpectedly but you have fortuitously brought an umbrella.
GLOSSARY means an alphabetical list of terms and their meanings, usually at the end of a book. Hey! We are right smack in the middle of a glossary right now!
GLUTINOUS means just what it sounds like: sticky and disgusting. When my dog has to take a pill, I disguise the pill by putting it inside a glutinous wad of mozzarella cheese, and he gulps it right down.
HEINOUS means shockingly evil or wicked. Right up there with nefarious and reprehensible.
IGNOMINIOUS means shamefully weak and ineffective. Oliver Twist saying, "Please sir, might I have some more?" would be ignominious, except that he isn't shameful, just sort of pathetic. This book has ignominious illustrations. They are shamefully weak because the person who drew them is not an artist.
INSIGNIFICANT means very unimportant and having no power at all. One ant on the sidewalk is insignificant. A three-year-old could step on it and smoosh it, though it wouldn't be a very nice thing to do. An entire army of fire ants is very significant, and a three-year-old should definitely get out of the way.
IRASCIBLE means having outbursts of bad temper. I myself had a very irascible third-grade teacher and it made for a miserable year.
LUGUBRIOUS means very gloomy or mournful. Some funeral directors are lugubrious. They make a very sad face and say, "I'm so sorry for your loss," but secretly they are probably thinking about who is going to win the Super Bowl.
MALEVOLENT means wanting to harm others or having an evil influence. Even though if you glance quickly at the word, it may look like "male violent" this word has nothing to do with males. It is actually pronounced mah-LEV-oh-lent. Some females are very malevolent.
MELANCHOLY means sad. "Come to me, my melancholy baby; cuddle up and don't be blue" is the beginning of a romantic old song. Bad comedians used to tell a joke that went like this: "My girlfriend is very melancholy. She has a body like a melon and a face like a collie." But that has nothing to do with the meaning of the word and I'm sorry I brought it up.
METICULOUS means extremely precise and careful. Surgeons have to be meticulous. Some people think great cooks are meticulous, but they are wrong. Great cooks read a recipe, maybe, but then they ignore the instructions and add extra garlic if they feel like it. Surgeons can't do that.
NEFARIOUS means utterly, completely wicked. The character in The Wizard of Oz could have been called the Nefarious Witch of the West but authors like to use the same beginning consonant, often. Perhaps L. Frank Baum crossed out nefarious after wicked came to his mind. Thank goodness, because Nefarious would be a terrible name for a musical.
OBFUSCATE means to make something unclear. Lawyers have a way of obfuscating.
OBLIVIOUS means unaware of or paying no attention. If you press the mute button on your remote at the right time, you can be oblivious to the
CRYPTIC means seeming to have a hidden meaning. If your mother says, "Consider yourself grounded, mister!" it is not at all cryptic. But if she says in a certain voice, "We need to talk," she is being cryptic. And you are about to be grounded.
DESPICABLE means deserving of contempt. I began to describe something despicable, but it was too upsetting so I stopped. You can come up with your own example.
DIABOLICAL means extremely cruel or evil. The French word for it is diabolique. There is a French movie called Diabolique that I saw more than fifty years ago, and it is still the scariest movie I have ever seen.
EXPOSTULATION means a sound that expresses disagreement or disapproval. "Yuck!" is an expostulation. So is "Arrrggghh."
FORTUITOUS means a good thing happening just by chance. If you buy a winning lottery ticket, it is very fortuitous. (Also very unlikely.) A better example (but boring compared to the lottery) is if it begins to rain unexpectedly but you have fortuitously brought an umbrella.
GLOSSARY means an alphabetical list of terms and their meanings, usually at the end of a book. Hey! We are right smack in the middle of a glossary right now!
GLUTINOUS means just what it sounds like: sticky and disgusting. When my dog has to take a pill, I disguise the pill by putting it inside a glutinous wad of mozzarella cheese, and he gulps it right down.
HEINOUS means shockingly evil or wicked. Right up there with nefarious and reprehensible.
IGNOMINIOUS means shamefully weak and ineffective. Oliver Twist saying, "Please sir, might I have some more?" would be ignominious, except that he isn't shameful, just sort of pathetic. This book has ignominious illustrations. They are shamefully weak because the person who drew them is not an artist.
INSIGNIFICANT means very unimportant and having no power at all. One ant on the sidewalk is insignificant. A three-year-old could step on it and smoosh it, though it wouldn't be a very nice thing to do. An entire army of fire ants is very significant, and a three-year-old should definitely get out of the way.
IRASCIBLE means having outbursts of bad temper. I myself had a very irascible third-grade teacher and it made for a miserable year.
LUGUBRIOUS means very gloomy or mournful. Some funeral directors are lugubrious. They make a very sad face and say, "I'm so sorry for your loss," but secretly they are probably thinking about who is going to win the Super Bowl.
MALEVOLENT means wanting to harm others or having an evil influence. Even though if you glance quickly at the word, it may look like "male violent" this word has nothing to do with males. It is actually pronounced mah-LEV-oh-lent. Some females are very malevolent.
MELANCHOLY means sad. "Come to me, my melancholy baby; cuddle up and don't be blue" is the beginning of a romantic old song. Bad comedians used to tell a joke that went like this: "My girlfriend is very melancholy. She has a body like a melon and a face like a collie." But that has nothing to do with the meaning of the word and I'm sorry I brought it up.
METICULOUS means extremely precise and careful. Surgeons have to be meticulous. Some people think great cooks are meticulous, but they are wrong. Great cooks read a recipe, maybe, but then they ignore the instructions and add extra garlic if they feel like it. Surgeons can't do that.
NEFARIOUS means utterly, completely wicked. The character in The Wizard of Oz could have been called the Nefarious Witch of the West but authors like to use the same beginning consonant, often. Perhaps L. Frank Baum crossed out nefarious after wicked came to his mind. Thank goodness, because Nefarious would be a terrible name for a musical.
OBFUSCATE means to make something unclear. Lawyers have a way of obfuscating.
OBLIVIOUS means unaware of or paying no attention. If you press the mute button on your remote at the right time, you can be oblivious to the
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