Repartee (noun) – Repartee (re-per-TEE or re-per-TAY) is a quick, witty reply or a conversation made up of such replies. As used by Louis Theroux: “It’s difficult to describe the weirdness of speaking to a man who appears to be perfectly in control of his faculties, who can deliver off-the-cuff repartee, and yet who is actually utterly disconnected from who he is.”
Lenitive (adjective or noun) – Something that is lenitive (LEN-ih-tiv) softens, soothes, or mitigates; alleviates pain or harshness. As used by Laurence Sterne: “There is one sweet lenitive at least for evils, which nature holds out; so I took it kindly at her hands, and fell asleep.”
Degustation (noun) – Degustation (dee-gus-TAY-shun) is the act of tasting or savoring, especially with care or relish. As used by Liane Moriarty in Nine Perfect Strangers: “There would be no alcohol, sugar, caffeine, gluten, or dairy – but as she’d just had the degustation menu at the Four Seasons, she was stuffed full of alcohol, sugar, caffeine, gluten, and dairy, and the thought of giving them up didn’t seem that big a deal.”
Peripeteia (noun) – Peripeteia (per-uh-pih-TAYE-uh) is a literary term that refers to a turning point in the plot; an unexpected reversal of fortune. Example: the sudden change in Oedipus Rex’s situation when he realizes that he killed his father and married his mother.
Ratiocinate (verb) – To ratiocinate (rash-ee-AH-sih-nate) is to reason, to figure things out. As used by Robert Louis Stevenson: “But I give you warning – Stasie may weep and Henri ratiocinates – it will not serve you twice.”
Today’s Word: tergiversation (noun) –Tergiversation(tur-jih-ver-SAY-shun) is equivocation; the act of being deliberately ambiguous. As used by Tobias Smollett in The Expedition of Humphry Clinker: “I must tell you, however, in confidence, I suspect Tabby of tergiversation.”
Coeval (adjective) – Coeval (koh-EE-vuhl) means of the same age or time period. As used by Henry David Thoreau in Walden: “Such an eye was not born when the bird was, but is coeval with the sky it reflects.”
Supplicate (verb) – To supplicate (SUP-lih-kate) is to make a humble and earnest entreaty or petition. As used by Gabriele D’Annunzio in The Child of Pleasure: “Andrea might writhe and supplicate and despair as he would – in vain.”
Egalitarian (adjective) – Egalitarian (ih-gal-ih-TAIR-ee-un) means asserting, resulting from, or characterized by belief in the equality of all people. As I used it today: “They were shy and I did my best to relax them in that American sort of egalitarian way.”
Today’s Word: roseate (adjective) Roseate (ROH-zee-it) is rose-colored, resembling a rose. It can also mean overly optimistic. As used by Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Speak not too well of one who scarce will know himself transfigured in its roseate glow.”