Do You Remember These April Words of the Day?

In April, we learned an adjective describing the gentle tap-tap from your smartphone to let you know it’s responding (“haptic”), as well as a word for folks with the same name (“homonymous”). We also added a few nouns from foreign languages to our English vocabulary: The German “eigengrau” is the specific shade of dark gray seen in total darkness (or when your eyes are closed), and “saudade” is a sense of melancholy or nostalgia, borrowed from Portuguese. Brush up on the rest of the words of the day from the past month — did you miss any?

Démarche

noun

dey-MARSH

French, 17th century

1. A political step or initiative.

The démarche of President Nixon visiting China in 1972 is remembered for warming U.S.-Chinese relations.

Piffling

adjective

PIF-ling

English, 19th century

1. Trivial; unimportant.

I’m hesitant to call professionals for piffling repairs, so I always try to fix things myself first.

Torpid

adjective

TOR-pid

Latin, 17th century

1. Mentally or physically inactive; lethargic.
2. (Of an animal) Dormant, especially during hibernation.

After working the street fair all weekend, Lali spent Monday in a state of torpid inertia.

Fantod

noun

FAN-tod

Unknown, 19th century

1. A state or attack of uneasiness or unreasonableness.

The innkeeper was nice enough, but the B&B gave me the fantods, so we left after just one night.

Rivière

noun

riv-ee-AIR

French, 19th century

1. A necklace of gems that increase in size toward a large central stone, typically consisting of more than one string.

While a rivière is a striking piece of jewelry, it can make a subtle fashion statement.

Epigraph

noun

EP-ih-graf

Greek, 16th century

1. An inscription on a building, statue, or coin.
2. A short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme.

I didn’t recognize the man in the statue, but the epigraph said he was the city’s first mayor.

Haptic

adjective

HAP-tik

Greek, 19th century

1. Relating to the sense of touch, in particular relating to the perception and manipulation of objects.
2. Using the senses of touch and proprioception.

My new phone replaced the physical click button with a haptic system.

Pirandellian

adjective

pir-ən-DEL-ee-ən

Proper name, 20th century

1. Describing drama in which actors become inseparable and indistinct from the characters that they play.
2. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the works of Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), Italian dramatist and poet.

The experimental play mixed fiction and reality in a truly Pirandellian manner.

Saudade

noun

SOH-dahd

Portuguese, 20th century

1. A feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia that is supposedly characteristic of the Portuguese or Brazilian temperament.

On the first warm day of every year, Elena was overwhelmed with a feeling of saudade for her childhood home in Brazil.

Homonymous

adjective

hə-MON-ə-məs

Latin, 17th century

1. Having the same name as another (i.e., like a namesake).
2. Of or pertaining to a homonym.

Coincidentally, the judge and the lawyer had homonymous family names.

Hidebound

adjective

HAHYD-bownd

English, 17th century

1. Unwilling or unable to change because of tradition or convention.

Despite several decades of advances in camping equipment, my hidebound uncle insists his 1970s mountaineering tools are still superior.

Verisimilar

adjective

ver-ə-SIM-ə-lər

Latin, 17th century

1. Appearing to be true or real; probable; likely.
2. (Fiction) Faithful to its own rules; internally consistent.

The bartender told us a far-fetched story, but with enough confirmable details to make it seem verisimilar.

Parisology

noun

pahr-ə-SAH-lə-jee

Greek, 19th century

1. The use of equivocal or ambiguous words.

The lawyer folded so much parisology into her argument, we could barely understand what she had said.

Favonian

adjective

fə-VOH-nee-ən

Latin, 17th century

1. Pertaining to the west wind.
2. (By extension) Mild, gentle.

The bright morning promised favonian weather for the rest of our trip.

Rigorism

noun

RIG-ə-riz-əm

English, 18th century

1. Extreme strictness in interpreting or enforcing a law, precept, or principle.
2. (In the Roman Catholic Church) Formerly, the doctrine that in doubtful cases of conscience the strict course is always to be followed.

Despite my father’s rigorism around instructing me on proper behavior at the dinner table, he was always sure to sneak me a treat before bedtime.

Plutography

noun

ploo-TOG-rə-fee

American English, 1980s

1. Depiction, presentation, or coverage of the rich, particularly the lifestyles they enjoy.

From “Dynasty” to the “Real Housewives” series to “Succession,” viewers are obsessed with watching plutography on television.

Shambolic

adjective

sham-BOL-ik

English, mid-20th century

1. Chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged.

The play was a disaster and closed after a single shambolic performance.

Amphibology

noun

am-fə-BOL-ə-jee

Old French, 14th century

1. A phrase or sentence that is grammatically ambiguous, such as “She sees more of her children than her husband.”

I was alarmed by an amphibology in my adviser’s letter of recommendation, because an ambiguous statement could be misread.

Paramnesia

noun

par-am-NEE-zhə

English, 19th century

1. A condition or phenomenon involving distorted memory or confusions of fact and fantasy, such as confabulation or déjà vu.

Because of her paramnesia, Cherie has difficulty telling the difference between her dreams and yesterday’s events.

Sublunary

adjective

sub-LOO-nə-ree

Latin, 16th century

1. Belonging to this world as contrasted with a better or more spiritual one.

I have a pretty regular practice, but some days my mind is occupied with sublunary thoughts, and I can’t settle into my morning meditation.

Pococurante

adjective

poh-koh-koo-RAHN-tee

French, 18th century

1. Apathetic, indifferent, or nonchalant.

The pococurante taxi driver nearly sideswiped several other cars getting us to the airport, yet he didn’t seem especially troubled.

Diablerie

noun

di-AH-blə-ree

French, 17th century

1. Reckless mischief; charismatic wildness.
2. (Archaic) Sorcery supposedly assisted by the devil.

Hair metal bands of the 1980s, such as Mötley Crüe, were known as much for their diablerie as for their hit records.

Eigengrau

noun

AI-gən-grau

German, 20th century

1. The dark gray color people report seeing in the absence of light.

Henry awoke in the eigengrau of total darkness.

Colporteur

noun

KOL-pohr-tər

French, 18th century

1. A person who sells books, newspapers, and similar literature.
2. Someone employed by a religious society to distribute Bibles and other religious tracts.

All along the Seine, Parisian colporteurs line up to sell books out of wagons.

Bedight

adverb

bih-DIHYT

Middle English, 15th century

1. Adorned.

The artist’s walls were bedight in mirrors, which maximized the light.

Hippodrome

noun

HIP-ə-drohm

French, 16th century

1. A theater or other performance venue.
2. (In ancient Greece or Rome) A course for chariot or horse races.

When we heard who was playing at the hippodrome this weekend, we got tickets for the whole family.

Glyph

noun

glif

French, 18th century

1. A small graphic symbol.
2. Strictly, a sculptured symbol (e.g., as forming the ancient Mayan writing system).

Each page of the manuscript was marked by a glyph in lieu of numbering.

Quiescent

adjective

kwahy-ESS-ənt

Latin, 17th century

1. In a state or period of inactivity or dormancy.

My favorite band never broke up, but they’ve been quiescent for over a decade.

Ornithopter

noun

awr-nə-THOP-tər

French, 20th century

1. A machine designed to achieve flight by means of flapping wings.

The historian assured me that several models of ornithopters were flown short distances in the 19th century.

Gloaming

noun

GLOH-ming

Old English, 11th century

1. Twilight, as at early morning (dawn) or (especially) early evening; dusk.
2. Sullenness; melancholy.

My husband likes to describe our evening walks as “roaming in the gloaming.”

Featured image credit: Grafissimo/ iStock