I’m a little late this week, but I’m still ready to learn some new words, so let’s do Wondrous Words Wednesday Thurdsday! Wondrous Words Wednesday, hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion, is a meme which encourages us to share words we have learned while reading. The words I share will sometimes be completely new to me, and other times they will be words I am familiar with, and maybe even use correctly, but when I think about how to explain the meaning, I’m lost — I have to look it up. It’s all about expanding my vocabulary!
Here are the words I want to share this week.
importunate - urgent or persistent in asking or demanding
“They were scruffy, importunate men in raincoats and fedoras.” - page 56
dotage - feeble and childish state due to old age
“He did not look like a man in his dotage, susceptible to charlatans.” - page 56
hawsers - very thick rope for towing or tying off a ship
“And when the whistle sounded and the hawsers were cast off, Sir Arthur could feel satisfied about his mission.” - page 68
profligate - extremely wasteful; recklessly extravagant
“Even for the times he was remarkably profligate.” - pg 18
And this last one I am throwing in, not so much because I don’t know the meaning, but to show how meanings change and evolve through time.
tweet - to make a chirping sound
“So entirely in search of amusement, I went with [Kitty] in order to gather some good laughing material with which to tweet the doctor.” - pg 84
My first reaction here was of course, that she was texting a quick joke using Twitter. But of course, as this took place in 1923, I immediately rejected that definition, and realized at one time people may have tweeted each other but in an entirely different way!
What new-to-you words have you discovered this week?
You cracked me up with tweet! Hawsers totally surprised me - I thought it would be someone selling things.
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