specious (adjective)

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  denigrate

  July 1, 2022 · 1 min read

  To denigrate is to belittle, to treat or represent something as lacking in value or importance. As I used it today: “Before I experienced the churches of Rome, I had a common condescension towards Baroque art…

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  Coeval (adjective)

  February 11, 2019 · 1 min read

  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.”

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  Mira mundi

  May 27, 2022 · 1 min read

  is Latin for “wonderful world.” As I used it today: “I’m a busy person. I don’t want to spend a vast percentage of the hours I’ve got left in this mira mundi on this kind of ever-less-stimulating stuff. So…

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  Manifold

  June 1, 2022 · 1 min read

  means diverse, numerous in kind or variety. As I used it in today’s essay: “Although proving rape against an intimate partner has become more difficult, the damage caused by these accusations can be huge – and…

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  Frisson (noun)

  May 15, 2019 · 1 min read

  Frisson (noun) – A frisson (free-SOHN) is a shudder of emotion; a sudden strong feeling of excitement. As used by Martin Amis: “A novel comes not from a decision but a frisson, a sort of shiver that goes…

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