Word Warriors

A friend of mine sent me a list of words that have fallen into disrepute. There have been attempts to bring these words into the public eye once more.


Concupiscence-  /kɒnˈkyupɪsəns, kɒŋ-/ Show Spelled[kon-kyoo-pi-suhns]

noun

1. 

ardent, usually sensuous longing. 

Evanescent- [ev-uh-nes-uhnt]

adjective

1.

vanishing;fading away; fleeting.

2.

tending to become imperceptable; scarcely perceptable.

Ossify- /ˈɒsəˌfaɪ/ Show Spelled [os-uh-fahy] 

verb (used with object)

1.

to convert into or cause to harden like bone.

Paroxysm- [par-uhk-siz-uhm] 

noun

1.

any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion: paroxysms of rage.

2.

Pathology . a severe attack or a sudden increase in intensity of a disease, usually recurring periodically.
Schadenfreude- /ˈʃɑdnˌfrɔɪdə/ Show Spelled[shahd-n-froi-duh]

 

noun

1. 

satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.

Sibilant- [sib-uh-luhnt] 

adjective

1.

hissing.

Hornswoggle- [hawrn-swog-uhl] 

verb 

Slang.

1.

To swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

Draconian- [drey-koh-nee-uhn]

adjective

1.

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Draco  or his code of laws.

2.

( often lowercase ) rigorous; unusually severe or cruel: Draconian forms of punishment.

Also, Draconic.

Penurious- [puh-nyoor-ee-uhs]  

adjective

1.

extremely stingy; parsimonious; miserly.

2.

extremely poor; destitute; indigent.

3.

poorly or inadequately supplied; lacking in means or resources.

These are just a few, I am sure, words that are being ignored or replaced with such words as "LOL," "ROFL," "sup" and "wazzup." As you can probably see there are very few of us who actually care about the preservation of our more archaic words.