unselfish un-self-ish / ŭn-sĕl-fĭsh adjective 1.  generous; concerned about others more than oneself; altruistic Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain love for one another. Erma Bombeck, 1927 – 1996

wonky won-ky / wŏng-kē adjective 1. unsteady; wobbly; shaky That thought made Ki-jeong want to straighten out the rumpled bed sheets and make the bed up neatly, fold a thick piece of paper and stick it beneath the wonky chair leg to balance it, attach a deadbolt to the flimsy goshiwon door, and take the purple trench coat off of the dingy wall, place it in a... Read More

fecund fe-cund / fē-kənd, fĕk-ənd adjective 1. able to produce fruit, offspring, etc. in abundance; fruitful; fertile  The rain, the humid flux descending from heaven for both man and animal, for both thick and strong, germinated the wheat, swelled the furrows with fecund mud and brought forth the buds in the orchards. Aeschylus, c. 525 BC – c. 456 BC 2. very productive intellectually; prolific A sterile mind... Read More

death death / dĕth noun 1. the end of life Every man goes down to his death bearing in his hands only that which he has given away. Persian Proverb 2. the end of something, termination The fear of God is the death of every other fear; like a mighty lion, it chases all other fears before it. Charles Spurgeon, 1834 – 1892 3. murder; the act of... Read More

nightmare night-mare / nīt–mâr noun 1. a bad dream that produces feelings of terror or distress Just because you have a nightmare doesn’t mean you stop dreaming. Jill Scott, 1972 –  2. something that produces a feeling of fear or distress Vision with action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare. Japanese Proverb 3. an evil spirit that was thought to suffocate or cause suffering in... Read More

macabre ma-ca-bre / mə-kä-brə, mə-käb, mə-kä-bər adjective 1. horror provoking; gruesome; ghastly Every generation has a macabre notion that wars, government prohibition, natural disasters or mankind itself could be the downfall of society and the world as a whole. Lauren DeStefano, 1984 – 2. representing or pertaining to death It was like a macabre march of struggling corpses towards a distant grave. From “A Set of Six”... Read More

conviviality con-viv-i-al-i-ty / kən-vĭv-ē-ăl-ĭ-tē noun 1. a jolly or sociable temperament; the state of having good humor If time, so fleeting, must like humans die, let it be filled with good food and good talk, and then embalmed in the perfumes of conviviality. From “The Art of Eating” by M. F. K. Fisher, 1908 – 1992 2. a festive or lively celebration After you have exhausted what... Read More

sticker stick-er / stĭk-ər noun 1. something or someone that adheres or attaches to another The sticker has no meaning, but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning. Shepard Fairey, 1970 – 2. something or someone that sticks, pierces or stabs Most toad stickers are actually barbed spears with two or prongs. From “Rough Rider’s Long Bladed Toad Stickers”, www.blindkat.hegewisch.net/RRR/rr_toadstickers.html, accessed October... Read More

banal ba-nal / bə-năl, bā-nəl, bə-näl adjective 1. ordinary, commonplace, trite; unoriginal It is almost banal to say so yet it needs to be stressed continually: all is creation, all is change, all is flux, all is metamorphosis. Henry Miller, 1891 – 1980

meticulous me-tic-u-lous / mĭ-tĭk-yə-ləs adjective 1. extremely careful or detail oriented; very thorough We do not fear being called meticulous, inclining as we do to the view that only the exhaustive can be truly interesting. Thomas Mann, 1875 – 1955