Language Memory

verisimilitude - see definition

- Dmitry Vostokov @ LanguageMemory.com -

inebriation - alcohol intoxication, complete drunkeness

- Dmitry Vostokov @ LanguageMemory.com -

stuck up - snobbish

curtsy - (v. & n.) when a woman formally greets an important person (also in dance) like Queen

- Dmitry Vostokov @ LanguageMemory.com -

brow of the hill - the top of the hill

humpback bridge - very steep on both sides

newt - “triton” (in Russian)

- Dmitry Vostokov @ LanguageMemory.com -

wuthering - (alt. of whithering), blowing with a dull roaring sound (like a wind I guess)

ruffian - a violent person (a man committing crimes)

vivacious - a lively and attractive person (a woman)

weedy - with thin weak body

sleazy - socially unacceptable, unpleasant

bumbling - making careless mistakes in a confused way

tumbledown - (building) in a poor condition (old) as if falling down

gambol - jump lively around

shaggy - long untidy (hair)

cribbage - a type of card games

withered - old looking, thin and weak with dry skin (people) 

pluck - (n.) determination and courage

- Dmitry Vostokov @ LanguageMemory.com -

bedeck - to cover/adorn with decorations

chalet - Swiss wooden house

huddle - crowded mass

heave - to lift with effort

quarry - excavation where stone is got from ground for building

janitor - caretaker

shibboleth

excoriate - vehemently denounce

satiate - satisfy to the full

rapacious - greedy

usufract (usufractuary) - the right to use and enjoy something that belongs to others

bourse - continental Europe stock exchange

sassy - rude and lacking respect

gruel - oatmeal boiled in milk/water

- Dmitry Vostokov @ LanguageMemory.com -

In the past, 5 years ago, I was writing down any new word I encountered while reading technical books together with their IPA pronunciation. I remember that greatly reduced my pronunciation errors and improved my vocabulary so I almost never see unknown words now in technical and science books. The downside was slow reading. A few years ago I started reading non-technical books, for example, about history and philosophy, where I see some unknown words. Usually I skip them and most of the time I infer their meaning from the context. As I read these books while commuting to work on a train I started today to mark unknown words in them with a pen. This doesn’t decrease my reading speed because I process marked words later on this blog.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ LanguageMemory.com -  

cloying - so sweet to become unpleasant

- Dmitry Vostokov @ LanguageMemory.com -