leak leak / lēk noun 1. a crack or unintended hole through which something such as liquid, gas, or light, can escape or enter Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship. Ben Franklin, 1706-1790 2. the act of liquid, gas, light, etc. entering or escaping through a crack or unintended hole, or an instance thereof It’s amazing how people can get so excited... Read More

bombast bom-bast / bŏm–băst noun 1. pompous, pretentious or grandiloquent language What torture it is to hear a frigid speech being pompously declaimed, or second-rate verse spoken with all a bad poet’s bombast! Jean de la Bruyere, 1645 – 1696

voluble vol-u-ble / vŏl-yə-bəl adjective 1. talkative, fluent, glib It is a common error to imagine that to be stirring and voluble in a worthy cause is to be good and to do good. John Lancaster Spalding, 1840 – 1916 2. (archaic) able to turn or rotate easily Neither the weight of the matter of which a cylinder is made, nor its round voluble form, which,... Read More

staid staid / stād adjective 1. sober; sedate; serious; conforming to proper, conventional standards Madame Reuter looked more like a joyous, free-living old Flemish fermiere, or even a maitresse d’auberge, than a staid, grave, rigid directrice de pensionnat. From “The Professor” by Charlotte Brontë, 1816 – 1855 2. permanent; stationary There is nothing settled, nothing staid in this universe. From “The Waves” by Virginia Woolf, 1882 –... Read More

nostalgic nos-tal-gic / nŏ-stăl-jĭk, nə-stăl-jĭk adjective 1. homesick; having a deep longing for things or people from one’s past; sentimental There’s something about the sound of a train that’s very romantic and nostalgic and hopeful. Paul Simon, 1941 –

xenophobia xe-no-pho-bi-a / zē-nə-fō-bēə, zĕn-ə-fō-bēə noun 1. fear or hatred of anything foreign or strange The library card is a passport to wonders and miracles, glimpses into other lives, religions, experiences, the hopes and dreams and strivings of ALL human beings, and it is this passport that opens our eyes and hearts to the world beyond our front doors, that is one of our best hopes... Read More

usefulness use-ful-ness / yo͞os-fəl-nəs noun 1. the quality of having a practical purpose or use; helpfulness The sweetness of life lies in usefulness, like honey deep in the heart of a clover bloom. Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867 – 1957

zoonotic zo-o-no-tic / zō-ə-nä-tĭk adjective 1. (pertaining to a disease) having the ability to be transmitted between animals and humans Zoonotic pathogens, such as coronaviruses and avian influenza viruses, are more likely to infect people in crowded, unsanitary settings, where multiple animal species from a wide geographic area intermingle. In general, the risks of a human outbreak increase when zoonotic pathogens are novel—because of a lack of... Read More

esoteric es-o-ter-ic /  ĕs-ə-tĕr-ĭk   adjective 1. belonging to a select few Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. Will Smith, 1968 –   2. designed or intended only for a group with specialized knowledge: difficult for the general public to understand The grain of real knowledge is concealed in a vast deal of... Read More

aardvark aard-vark / ärd–värk noun 1. a medium sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal with a long snout, Orycteropus afer, that feeds on ants and termites and is native to Africa The aardvark gets its name from a South African word meaning “earth pig.” Although the aardvark looks like a pig, especially with its body and snout, aardvarks actually share common ancestors with elephants and golden moles.... Read More