Word of the Day - let's add 100 words to our vocabulary

[MariaWaria]

This thread follows on from my recent thread on AIBU saying that I wanted to add 100 words to my vocabulary. The response was incredible; so much encouragement given, and ideas shared.
And AdaColeman suggested I start a Word of the Day thread, so here we are.

The way this will work is that I will post the Word of the Day (each day ) and state its meaning as I understand it which will no doubt have been gleaned from Google, books, wherever.

The aim is not to teach or preach or offer words that ordinary folk, like me, are not likely to use in general conversation. They will be words that we may already have heard of but have not felt assured enough to use in conversation.

Perhaps we can aim to use the Word of the Day three times in our conversation in the next 24 hours and report on how that went.

Let’s see how this thread develops. My aim is to continue for 100 days by which time I (and hopefully you too) will have an extra 100 words in your vocabulary.

The first Word of the Day is INIMITABLE meaning incapable of being copied, in a class of its own.

Oh myriad is an excellent word!

For a myriad of reasons I fear that there is skullduggery afoot!

There are myriad reasons why I can not join in with No Drink January. 🤣

I'm mumsnetting, surrounded by a myriad of noisy people, while the children run around at an indoor play place.

A myriad of punctilious mince pies from Mr Kipling forced their way into my mouth over the Christmas period after our petulant and pugnacious cook in his inimitable style attempted skullduggery by running off with the mincemeat.

Savvy I am in awe

A myriad (from Ancient Greek μυριάς, myrias) is technically the number ten thousand; in that sense, the term is used almost exclusively in translations from Greek, Latin, or Chinese, or when talking about ancient Greek numbers. More generally, a myriad may be an indefinitely large number of things. from Wiki

Chagrin - which means annoy

Word of the Day No. 7 is EMPIRICAL - practical as opposed to theoretical.

"Although an experienced gardener with much empirical knowlegdge, she had little understanding of botony."

en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/empirical

A cursory glance at this thread empirically shows that MNers are reluctant to expand their vocabularies.

More robust empirical data could be obtained by; viewer lurker numbers, advanced search of the WotD, key-loggers on MNer's devices or asking Alexa to listen out for the WotD.

A questionnaire would be a more ethical form of empiric research .

Chagrin is annoyance of being embarrassed or failure isn't it?

This is another word I struggle to use as I have to think how it's pronounced - tend towards char-grin so always pause before I might use it to correct myself in my head!

According to Google either CHA-grin or Cha-GRIN with the latter being a more American version. In my head it’s a French word pronounced sha-GRAN so it’s a good job I never say it out loud.

Chagrin with an UK English pronunciation. As ever the Americans seem to have a different pronunciation.

One of the first things we did when we moved in, to the chagrin of the architect, was to replace the leaded windows.

One of the first things we did when we moved in, to the annoyance of the architect, was to replace the leaded windows. She thought we were skullduggerous Philistines and was embarrassed to have her name associated with the project.

Love this. I have no empirical evidence of this working for me but I think it will.

I'm falling behind but did use petulent in conversation the other day. May I suggest conjecture for a future word - I got to use it on here yesterday.

Long ago, I realised that knowledge acquired empirically could be relied upon.

Empirical treatment is necessary in the early stages of a bacterial infection but can be adjusted to more targeted treatments once the causative pathogen has been identified.

Bit of the day job there

Word of the Day No. 8 is INVETERATE - having a particular habit, activity or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change.

en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/inveterate

" MrWaria is an inveterate football fan who never misses a match."

I read that as "invertebrate" and wondered why on earth that would be a new word.

I may need to get my eyes tested

MsDragon is an inveterate lurker on a myriad of threads.

I'd just like to say that this thread has actually inspired me to use longer/unusual words in conversation with the kids at school. Year 8 were accused of skulduggery when they were making too much noise, and then they were petulant that I'd told them off using a word they didn't understand, lol. It sidetracked us somewhat from the actual purpose of the lesson.

Oh I missed a day. Will try and use inveretate and empiracle today

Empirical I meant

I'm an inveterate re-reader of novels as I enjoy meeting old friends from within their covers.

Just caught up. Bellicose has a very specific meaning for me - someone who is grumpy after having been woken up, I just can't make it not mean 'sleepy' somehow.

Will try and keep up better

Glad to read that the thread is useful to MNetters and that you're using it any way that's good for you.

Word of the Day No. 9 is TREPIDATION - a feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen.

en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/trepidation

"Though the woman was filled with trepidation, she confronted her clown phobia face to face at the circus."

Ooh I've actually heard of this one! I haven't been on this thread for a couple of days so I've got a few pages of catching up to do!