immure \ih-MYUR\ (verb) - 1 : To enclose within walls, or as if within walls; hence, to shut up; to imprison; to incarcerate. 2 : To build into a wall. 3 : To entomb in a wall.

"When I tried to think clearly about this, I...Read More

capitulate \kuh-PICH-uh-layt\ (intransitive verb) - To surrender under agreed conditions.

"I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'Self-Reliance'

We say "capitulate" ...Read More

hauteur \haw-TUR; (h)oh-\ (noun) - Haughty manner, spirit, or bearing; haughtiness; arrogance.

"My silence, I hoped, would be taken as expressive of the hauteur of a man who was above it all -- a man with a mission, in ...Read More

A few years ago, I was answering listeners' questions on a radio call-in show. Everything was hunky-dory until a caller stumped me by asking, "What's the origin of 'hunky-dory'?"

In my most mellifluous radio voice, I ...Read More

sybarite \SIB-uh-ryt\ (noun) - A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.

"And when the final blessing of a perfect French cook appeared to make our domestic picture complete, we became utter sybarites, frank worshippers of...Read More

trammel \TRAM-uhl\ (noun) - 1 : A kind of net for catching birds, fish, etc. 2 : A kind of shackle used for making a horse amble. 3 : Something that impedes activity, progress, or freedom, as a net or shackle. 4 : An iron ...Read More