Words
Newer words on top
Last updated: 7/9/2022
Newer words on top
Last updated: 7/9/2022
Contents on this page:
Frustum (geometry): the portion of a cone or pyramid which remains after its upper part has been cut off by a plane parallel to its base, or which is intercepted between two such planes. Found on math stack exchange discussion on Reimann Integrability.
Miasma: (literary) a highly unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapor. Found in. Cowen, T. (2018). Complacent Class (Reprint ed.). Picador Paper. P. 21.
Mortmain: (legal) the status of lands or tenements held inalienably by an ecclesiastical or other corporation. Found in legal document on Singapore legal history.
Scofflaws (informal): a person who flouts the law, especially by failing to comply with a law that is difficult to enforce effectively. Found in Caplan blog.
Hobnob (informal): mix socially, especially with those of higher social status. Found in Peters, R. (1997). Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student’s Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. (REV ed.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. P. 147.
Penury: extreme poverty; destitution. Found in Wrong Side of History substack: Why men don’t age like wine?
Catechise: instruct (someone) in the principles of Christian religion by means of question and answer, typically by using a catechism. Found in The Common Reader substack: Homeschool update: your education is your life.
Sclerotic: becoming rigid and unresponsive; losing the ability to adapt. Found in Blas, J., & Farchy, J. (2022). The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources. Oxford University Press. P. 297.
Pratfalls: a fall onto one's buttocks; a stupid and humiliating action. Found on Marginal Revolution blog: The Unfairness Doctrine.
Pettifoggery: The actions of a pettifogger; a trivial quarrel. Found in Maalouf, A. (2003). Samarkand (Interlink World Fiction) (First American Edition). Interlink Books. P. 9
Gale: strong wind. Found in review of Wyatt Wells. Permanent Revolution: Reflections on Capitalism. Stanford: Stanford Briefs (Imprint of Stanford University Press), 2020. P. 192.
Aver: (formal) state or assert to be the case. Found in Bet on It substack.
Terminally online: a group the habit of whom is to interpret minor annoyances (“that afternoon meeting should have been an email”) as high-dudgeon sins of humanity (“my neoliberal boss conscripted my full 2 o’clock hour at threat of permanent termination, because capitalism”). Found in Atlantic article: The Myth That Most Americans Hate Their Job.
Flummox (informal): to perplex (someone) greatly; bewilder. Found in Olsson, K. (2020). The Weil Conjectures: On Math and the Pursuit of the Unknown (Reprint ed.). Picador. P. 46.
Imbroglio: an extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation. Found in Karabell, Z. (2008). Peace Be Upon You: Fourteen Centuries of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Conflict and Cooperation. Vintage. P. 288.
Numerate: having a good basic knowledge of arithmetic; able to understand and work with numbers. Found in Tyler Cowen's Conversation with Kahneman.
Gerontocracy: a state, society, or group governed by old people. Found in Tyler Cowen's Conversation with Collinson and Zuckerberg.
Peccadilloes: a small, relatively unimportant offense or sin. Found in Barr, J. (2011). A line in the sand: Britain, France and the struggle that shaped the Middle East. Simon and Schuster. P. 9.
Inveigled: persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery. Found in TV series Billions. Season 3: episode 12.
Twain: archaic term for two. Found in Pressfield, Steven, & Coyne, S. (2016). Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: And Other Tough-Love Truths to Make You a Better Writer. Black irish Entertainment LLC. P. 11.
Drats: something you say to express mild frustration, disappointment, or disgust. Found in TV series Suits. Season 1, episode 3, min 10.
Scansion: The action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm. Found in an article, The Lawnmower Essay and the Problems of Philosophy, by Nate Meyvis.
Blitzkrieg: An intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory. Found in an article, My Personal Moonshot, by Tyler Cowen.
Dolt: a stupid person. Found in Getting What you Came For by Robert Peters. p. 40.
Hyperlexia: advanced and unexpected reading skills and abilities in children way beyond their chronological age. Found in Aug. 31, 2021, Beginnings substack.
Agog: very eager or curious to hear or see something. Found in The Tracinski Letter. "How not to fight wokism."
Liminal: in between. Found in Awards for Good Boys, p. 133.
Careen: move swiftly and in an uncontrolled way in a specified direction. Found in Awards for Good Boys. Can't remember page number.
Hortatory: aiming to exhort. Found in Elements of Style. Introduction.
Pith: the essence of something. Found in Elements of Style. Introduction.
Rigmarole: a lengthy and complicated procedure. Found in Science article. "Recs for requesting recs"
Garble: to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression or change the meaning. Found in Experimental Persuasion paper by Jose Sanchez.
Filigreed: decorated with ornamental openwork of delicate or intricate design. Found in Economical Writing p. 36.
Sesshin for session. Found in Writing Down the Bones. p. 163.
Balderdash: nonsense. Found in April 7, 2021 release of The Grumpy Economist Blog.
Anhedonia: the loss of the ability to take pleasure in activities. Found in NYT weekend briefing, April 4 release. Defined in same article.
Missive: an official, formal, or long letter. Found on p. 256 in Freaks of Fortune (summary here).
Zazen: A meditative practice that’s meant to give insight into your true nature of being. It originates from the teachings of Buddha and it rhymes with my name. Found on p. 84 of Writing Down the Bones and defined on healthline.com.
Picayune: having little value or importance. Dated definition: half of a Spanish real. Found on p. 81 in Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.
Hapax legomenon: A complex item presented for its complexity only once within a work. Found in a lecture on writing (video here) min 34.
Ken: One's range of knowledge or sight. Found in Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and defined here in Oxford's Lexico.
Thitherward and thereat: the first meaning "in that direction" and the second, "after that." Found in The Pit: A Story of Chicago by Frank Norris on pages 189 and 199.
Monomanically: derived from monomania which represents either a pathological obsession with one idea or subject or an intent concentration on or exaggerated enthusiasm for a single subject or idea. Found on Kalzumeus.
Moxie: energy, courage, determination, know-how. Found on Reformed Broker books page.
Asymptopia: a society in which its members are striving to create a utopia while realizing that they can never quite accomplish that goal. Related to the mathematical concept of an asymptote. Found on page 209 in "Mostly Harmless Econometrics" and tellingly defined in the Urban Dictionary.
Seisin: A legal concept from early English property law that continues to influence certain concepts in the modern law of real property and is thus helpful and, at times, essential to understanding this area of the law. In brief, the term refers to the possession of land. However, the nature of this possession is a complex matter deserving a full academic explanation. In early English property law, a landholder was considered "seised of" his estate- an idea which somewhat overlaps with the modern meaning of ownership- but differs in a number of respects. Seisin was passed through a ceremony known as "livery of seisin." Found in an 1890 Harvard Law Review article titled The Story of Mortgage Law by H.W. Chaplin.
Doldrums: (used as plural) a condition of inactivity, retardation, or stagnation. Found in Freaks of Fortune on p. 214.
Curlicues: a fancifully curved or spiral figure. Found in Feb 5 issue of Money Stuff.
Afflatus: a divine imparting of knowledge or power. Found in Feb 10 issue of Money Stuff.
Sprezzatura: doing something extremely well without showing that it took any effort... the art which conceals art... nonchalance, grace, or just trickery. Found in Feb 10 issue of Money Stuff and defined in The Local.
Huffily: in a haughty or arrogant manner. Found in Feb 11 issue of Money Stuff.
Found in Ackerman, D. (1991). A natural history of the senses. Vintage.
Coming soon... This book is rich with funky words
Found in Holt, E. M. (2017). Fictitious Capital: Silk, Cotton, and the Rise of the Arabic Novel (1st ed.). Modern Language Initiative.
Syncopate (page 4): displace the beats or accents in (music or a rhythm) so that strong beats become weak and vice versa.
Cathects (page 121): transitive verb. To invest with mental or emotional energy.
Found in Khanna, P. (2019). The future is Asian. Simon and Schuster:
Rote (page 206): mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned.
Paroxysm (page 257): a sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity.
Ateliers (page 342): a workshop or studio, especially one used by an artist or designer.
Found in Said, E. W. (2002). Power, Politics, and Culture: Interviews with Edward W. Said. Vintage.
Cosh (page 7): a thick heavy stick or bar used as a weapon; a bludgeon. Informal British.
Heirophantic (page 84): A hierophant is a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy. As such, a hierophant is an interpreter of sacred mysteries and arcane principles. The word comes from ancient Greece, where it was constructed from the combination of ta hiera and phainein.
Jejune (page 127): naive, simplistic, and superficial; (of ideas or writings) dry and uninteresting.
Found in Smith, R. P., & Zheutlin, P. (2009). Riches Among the Ruins: Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy (1st ed.). AMACOM.
Seersucker (page 20): printed cotton or synthetic fabric that has a surface consisting of puckered and flat sections, typically in a striped pattern.
Fetid (page 132): smelling extremely unpleasant.
Found in Knausgaard, K. O., & Bartlett, D. (2013). My Struggle: Book 1 (My Struggle, 1) (Reprint ed.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Chthonic (page 10): concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld.
Philately (page 14): the collection and study of postage stamps.
Found in Byatt, A. S. (1991). Possession. Vintage.
Relumed (page 12): relight or rekindle (a light, flame, etc.). Literary word.
Pheasant (page 17): a large long-tailed game bird native to Asia, the male of which typically has very showy plumage.
Bathetic (page 18): producing an unintentional effect of anticlimax.
Scry (page 26): foretell the future using a crystal ball or other reflective object or surface.
Mouldiwarp (page 52): archaic, dialect. A mole (animal). 'A 'mouldwarp', for example, is a mole, which was often used as a symbol for Richard III.
Amethystine (page 103): of a violet or purple color. Amethyst is a precious stone consisting of a violet or purple variety of quartz.
Assay (page 169): archaic, attempt.
Natheless (page 170): archaic, nevertheless.
Found in Pinker, S. (2015). The sense of style: The thinking person's guide to writing in the 21st century. Penguin Books.
Blue pencil (page 3): edit or make cuts in (a manuscript, movie, or other work).
Cockamamie: ridiculous; implausible.
Wily (page 14): skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully.
Stupor: a state of near-unconsciousness or insensibility.
Whinge (page 41): complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way.
Pastiche (page 42): an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period.
Prissy (page 42): fussily and excessively respectable.
Flibbertigibbet (page 43): a frivolous, flighty, or excessively talkative person.
Found in Smith, A. (2010). The theory of moral sentiments. Penguin:
Colic (page 38): severe, often fluctuating pain in the abdomen caused by intestinal gas or obstruction in the intestines and suffered especially by babies.
Raillery (page 40): good-humored teasing.
Coxcomb (page 68): a vain and conceited man (archaic).
Contemned (page 74): treat or regard with contempt (archaic).
Intermeddle (page 96): interfere in something that is not one's concern.
Found in Das, S. (2006). Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns And Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives (1st ed.). Ft Pr.
Boodle (page 16): money
Febrile (page 22): having or showing the symptoms of a fever.
Cauterize (page 105): a medical practice or technique of burning a part of a body to remove or close off a part of it.
Leptokurtic (page 163): having greater kurtosis than the normal distribution; more concentrated about the mean.
Doyen (page 185): the most respected or prominent person in a particular field.
Drawl (page 182): speak in a slow, lazy way with prolonged vowel sounds.
Snide (page 208): derogatory or mocking in an indirect way. Or, of a person: devious and underhanded.
Novation (page 267): the substitution of a new contract in place of an old one. Legal term.
All definitions are copied from online dictionaries or Wikipedia.