Wondrous Words Wednesday

What new words have you learned this week? Join Kathy and friends to see more.

I finished “Life of Pi” and found these 6 new words, bringing the total to at least 15 words I didn’t know. I like that in a book! Do you?

1. frugivorous
(adj) [froo-JIV-er-uhs]

Definition—fruit-eating, as certain bats

Use—“But it seemed to me highly improbable, if not totally incredible, that when brought together these frugivorous tree-dwellers and carnivorous savannah-dwellers would so radically carve out their niches as to pay no attention to each other.”

2. fistula
(n) [FIS-choo-luh]

Definition—an abnormal passage from a hollow organ to the body surface, or from one organ to another.

Use—“It had a two-foot-wide hole in its body, a fistula like a freshly erupted volcano.”

3. insouciant
(adj) [in-SOO-see-uhnt]

Definition—free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant

Use—“But in the final set, when the challenger has nothing left to lose, he becomes relaxed again, insouciant, daring.”

4. rufous
(adj) [ROO-fuhs]

Definition—reddish; tinged with red; brownish red

Use—“It brought less attention to itself than it did to the one part of the face left untouched by it, the bridge, whose rufous luster shone nearly with a radiance.”

5. ambit
(n) [AM-bit]

Definition—circumference; circuit

Use—“Fish that were local in their ambit made the net their neighbourhood.”

6. gaff
(v)

Definition—to hook or land (a fish) with a gaff (which is an iron hook with a handle for landing large fish)

Use—“I managed to gaff some of the shark’s remains, but to my disappointment the vertebrae of sharks do not hold fluid.”

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Which words did you already know?