The right word

Egotism is a negative term that combines extreme self-preoccupation with a tendency to show off or attract attention.

There is nothing neutral about conceit, which carries strong connotations of superiority and a failure to see oneself realistically (: he was so rich and
powerful that conceit came easily).

Vanity, on the other hand, is not based so much on feelings of superiority as it is on a love for oneself and a craving for the admiration of others (:
his vanity drove him to cosmetic surgery).

Narcissism and solipsism were once considered technical terms drawn from psychology and philosophy, respectively, but nowadays they are also in the
general language. Narcissism means self-love and preoccupation with one's physical or mental attributes (: the beautiful young actress had a reputation for
narcissism), while solipsism refers to someone who is completely wrapped up in his or her own concerns (: the solipsism of the theoretical mathematician).

THE RIGHT WORD

The origin of something is the point from which it starts or sets out, or the person or thing from which it is ultimately derived (: the origin of the custom
of carving pumpkins at Halloween; the origin of a word). It often applies to causes that were in operation before the thing itself was brought into being.
Source, on the other hand, applies to that which provides a first and continuous supply (: the source of the river; an ongoing source of inspiration and
encouragement).
Root, more often than source, applies to what is regarded as the first or final cause of something; it suggests an origin so fundamental as to be the
ultimate cause from which something stems (: money is the root of all evil).
Inception refers specifically to the beginning of an undertaking, project, institution, or practice (: she was in charge of the organization from its inception).
Provenance is similarly restricted in meaning, referring to the specific place, or sometimes the race or people, from which something is derived or by
whom it was invented or constructed (: in digging, they uncovered an artifact of unknown provenance).

ganache ¦gə na sh ¦
noun
a whipped filling of chocolate and cream, used in desserts such as cakes and truffles.

emancipate ¦i mansə pāt¦

verb [ trans. ]
set free, esp. from legal, social, or political restrictions : the citizen must be emancipated from the obsessive secrecy of government | [as
adj. ] ( emancipated) emancipated young women.
• Law set (a child) free from the authority of its father or parents.
• free from slavery : it is estimated that he emancipated 8,000 slaves.

farouche ¦fə roō sh ¦

adjective
sullen or shy in company.

USAGE Tortuous and torturous have different core meanings. Tortuous means 'full of twists and turns' or 'devious,
circuitous': : both paths were tortuous and strewn with boulders. Torturous is derived from : torture and means 'involving torture or
excruciating pain': : the emergency amputation was torturous. Torturous should be reserved for agonized suffering; it is not a fancy
word for 'painful' or 'discomforting,' as in : I found the concert torturous because of the music’s volume.

impetrate ¦ impə trāt¦

verb [ trans. ] archaic
beseech or beg for : a slight testimonial which I thought fit to impetrate from that worthy nobleman.

propensity ¦prə pensətē¦

noun ( pl. -ties)
an inclination or natural tendency to behave in a particular way : a propensity for violence | [with infinitive ] their innate
propensity to attack one another.

regale ¦ri gāl¦

verb [ trans. ]
entertain or amuse (someone) with talk : he regaled her with a colorful account of that afternoon's meeting.
• lavishly supply (someone) with food or drink : he was regaled with excellent home cooking.

divagate ¦ dīvə gāt¦

verb poetic/literary [ intrans. ]
stray; digress : Yeats divagated into Virgil's territory only once.

zephyr ¦ zefər¦
noun
1 poetic/literary a soft gentle breeze.
2 historical a fine cotton gingham.
• a very light article of clothing.

agnostic ¦ag nästik¦

noun
a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material
phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.
adjective
of or relating to agnostics or agnosticism.

lechery ¦ le ch (ə)rē¦
noun
excessive or offensive sexual desire; lustfulness.

parsimony ¦ pärsə mōnē¦

noun
extreme unwillingness to spend money or use resources : a great tradition of public design has been shattered by government parsimony.

unrequited ¦ ənri kwītid¦

adjective
(of a feeling, esp. love) not returned or rewarded.

indelible ¦in deləbəl¦

adjective
(of ink or a pen) making marks that cannot be removed.
• not able to be forgotten or removed : his story made an indelible impression on me.

THE RIGHT WORD

Someone who likes to talk frequently or at length might be described as talkative (: he was the most talkative person I'd ever met).

While talkative implies a readiness to engage in talk, loquacious implies an inclination to talk incessantly or to keep up a constant flow of chatter (: a
loquacious woman who never seemed to tire of hearing her own voice).

Glib and voluble pertain to the ease with which someone is able to converse or speak, although voluble may be used in either an approving or a
critical sense (: a voluble speaker who was in great demand; a voluble neighbor who could not keep a secret).

Glib is almost always negative, referring to a superficial or slick way of speaking (: the glib manner of a used-car salesperson).

Garrulous also has negative overtones, implying a tedious or rambling talkativeness, usually about trivial things (: a garrulous old man who bored everyone
with his stories about “the old days”).

hubris ¦ (h)yoōbris¦
noun
excessive pride or self-confidence.
• (in Greek tragedy) excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis.

Coiffed verb ¦kwäf; koif¦ ¦kwɑf¦ ¦kwɑːf¦ ¦kw f¦ ( coiffed, coiffing; also coifed ¦kwɑft¦, coifing ¦kwɑf ŋ¦) [ trans. ]
style or arrange (someone's hair), typically in an elaborate way : [as adj. ] ( coiffed) her elaborately coiffed hair.
• style or arrange the hair of (someone) : she was sent to Paris to be groomed and coiffed.

harbinger ¦ härbənjər¦
noun
a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another : witch hazels are the harbingers of spring.
• a forerunner of something : these works were not yet opera, but they were the most important harbinger of opera.

Occam's razor ¦ äkəmz¦ (also Ockham's razor)

the principle (attributed to William of Occam) that in explaining a thing no more assumptions should be made than are necessary. The principle is
often invoked to defend reductionism or nominalism. Compare with principle of parsimony at parsimony .

gazebo ¦gə zēbō¦

noun ( pl. -bos or -boes)
a roofed structure that offers an open view of the surrounding area, typically used for relaxation or entertainment.

carte blanche ¦ kärt blä n sh; blän ch ¦

noun
complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best : we were given carte blanche.

epistemic ¦ epə stemik; - stē-¦

adjective
of or relating to knowledge or to the degree of its validation.

flâneur ¦flä nər; - nœr¦ (also flaneur)

noun ( pl. flâneurs pronunc. same)
an idler or lounger.

zilch ¦zil ch ¦ informal

pronoun
nothing : I did absolutely zilch.
adjective
not any; no : the character has zilch class.

hobo ¦ hō bō¦
noun ( pl. -boes or -bos)
a homeless person; a tramp.
• a migrant worker.
THE RIGHT WORD
If you're not an experienced cook, you're likely to burn your vegetables and char your meat, and, if you put your face too close to
the stove, you might even singe your eyebrows. All of these verbs mean to injure or bring about a change in something by
exposing it to fire or intense heat.
Burn, which is the most comprehensive term, can mean to change only slightly (: she burned her face by staying out in the sun) or to
destroy completely (: the factory was burned to the ground).
To char is to reduce a substance to carbon or charcoal (: the beams in the ceiling were charred by the fire).
Like char, singe and scorch mean to burn only partially or superficially (: scorched the blouse while ironing it;: singe the chicken before cooking
it). Singeing is often done deliberately to remove the hair, bristles, or feathers from the carcass of an animal or bird.
Scald refers specifically to burning with, or as if with, a hot liquid or steam (: the cook scalded herself when she spilled the boiling water); it
can also mean to parboil or heat to a temperature just below boiling (: scald the milk to make the sauce).
Sear is also a term used in cooking, where it means to brown the outside of a piece of meat by subjecting it briefly to intense heat
to seal in the juices.
When it's human flesh that's being seared in surgery, the correct verb is cauterize, which means to burn for healing purposes (: the
doctor cauterized the wound to ward off infection).

facile ¦ fasəl¦
adjective
1 (esp. of a theory or argument) appearing neat and comprehensive only by ignoring the true complexities of an issue;
superficial.
• (of a person) having a superficial or simplistic knowledge or approach : a man of facile and shallow intellect.
2 (of success, esp. in sports) easily achieved; effortless : a facile victory.
• acting or done in a quick, fluent, and easy manner : he was revealed to be a facile liar.

pandemonium ¦ pandə mōnēəm¦

noun
wild and noisy disorder or confusion; uproar : pandemonium broke out.

heuristic ¦hyoō ristik¦

adjective
enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves : a “hands-on” or interactive heuristic approach to learning.
• Computing proceeding to a solution by trial and error or by rules that are only loosely defined.
noun
a heuristic process or method.
• ( heuristics) [usu. treated as sing. ] the study and use of heuristic techniques.

THE RIGHT WORD

An angry crowd might be vociferous, which implies loud and unrestrained shouting or crying out (: a vociferous argument).
A happy crowd might be boisterous, which implies noisy exuberance or high-spirited rowdiness (: a boisterous celebration of spring).
A crowd that wants something is likely to be clamorous, which suggests an urgent or insistent vociferousness in demanding or
protesting something.
If people's demands are not met, they might become obstreperous, which means noisy in an unruly and aggressive way, usually in
defiance of authority (: an obstreperous child).
Strident suggests a harsh, grating loudness that is particularly distressing to the ear (: her strident voice could be heard throughout the
building).

croon ¦kroōn¦
verb [ intrans. ]
hum or sing in a soft, low voice, esp. in a sentimental manner : she was crooning to the child | [ trans. ] the female vocalist crooned smoky
blues into the microphone.
• say in a soft, low voice : “Goodbye, you lovely darling,” she crooned.

THE RIGHT WORD

To say that someone has a wide range of interests implies that these interests are not only extensive but varied.
Another way of expressing the same idea would be to say that the person's interests run the gamut from TV quiz shows to nuclear
physics, a word that suggests a graduated scale or series running from one extreme to another.
Compass implies a range of knowledge or activity that falls within very definite limits reminiscent of a circumference (: within the
compass of her abilities), while sweep suggests more of an arc-shaped range of motion or activity (: the sweep of the searchlight) or a
continuous extent or stretch (: a broad sweep of lawn).
Latitude and scope both emphasize the idea of freedom, although scope implies great freedom within prescribed limits (: the scope of
the investigation), while latitude means freedom from such limits (: she was granted more latitude than usual in interviewing the disaster
victims).
Even someone who has a wide range of interests and a broad scope of authority will sooner or later come up against something
that is beyond his or her reach, which suggests the furthest limit of effectiveness or influence.

disengagement ¦ disen gājmənt¦

noun
1 the action or process of withdrawing from involvement in a particular activity, situation, or group : their steady disengagement
from politics and politicians.
• the withdrawal of military forces or the renunciation of military or political influence in a particular area.
• the process of separating or releasing something or of becoming separated or released : the mechanism prevents accidental
disengagement.
• archaic the breaking off of an engagement to be married.
2 emotional detachment; objectivity : contemporary criticism can afford neutral disengagement.

olio ¦ ōlēō¦
noun ( pl. -os)
another term for olla podrida .
• a miscellaneous collection of things.
• a variety act or show.

coeval ¦kō ēvəl¦

adjective
having the same age or date of origin; contemporary : these lavas were coeval with the volcanic activity.
noun
a person of roughly the same age as oneself; a contemporary : like so many of his coevals, he yearned for stability.

heuristic ¦hyoō ristik¦

adjective
enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves : a “hands-on” or interactive heuristic approach to learning.
• Computing proceeding to a solution by trial and error or by rules that are only loosely defined.
noun
a heuristic process or method.
• ( heuristics) [usu. treated as sing. ] the study and use of heuristic techniques.

inspirit ¦in spirit¦

verb ( -spirited , -spiriting ) [ trans. ] [usu. as adj. ] ( inspiriting)
encourage and enliven (someone) : the inspiriting beauty of Gothic architecture.

bamboozle ¦bam boōzəl¦

verb [ trans. ] informal
fool or cheat (someone) : Tom Sawyer bamboozled the neighborhood boys into doing it for him.
• (often be bamboozled) confound or perplex : bamboozled by the number of savings plans being offered.

bruit ¦broōt¦
verb [ trans. ]
spread (a report or rumor) widely : I didn't want to have our relationship bruited about the office.
noun
1 archaic a report or rumor.
2 a sound, typically an abnormal one, heard through a stethoscope; a murmur.

détente ¦dā tänt¦ (also detente)

noun
the easing of hostility or strained relations, esp. between countries : a serious effort at détente with the eastern bloc.

consanguineous ¦ kän sa ng gwinēəs¦

adjective
relating to or denoting people descended from the same ancestor : consanguineous marriages.

USAGE NOTE
Always meaning “easy” in one sense or another, facile may connote either proficiency or shallowness. The writer must achieve
clarity through context. Sometimes the word connotes the ease that comes with artistic mastery—e.g.: “Nicolai Dobrev played
the jester, a noble baritone with a facile instrument.” ( Boston Herald; Mar. 30, 2002.) More often, it connotes triteness or
oversimplification—e.g.: “But most mental health experts say closure is no holy grail, only rendered so by people seeking facile
solutions to complex problems.” ( Christian Science Monitor; Mar. 28, 2002.) — BG