30 April 2026

Ensconsed: Positioned safely and comfortably somewhere. 

• Often it’s by taking on the style of someone who is established, who is safely ensconced at the top of a tower where people can’t attack them. (Interviewwith Danilyn Rutherford)

26 April 2026

 Divining: To guess someting.  

• My tenth-grade students—they were growing up near the Mexican border, and many spoke Spanish as their first language—were left to endure my inept attempts at divining what their regular teacher (beloved, on maternity leave) had covered to date, and my baffling explanations of why and how to use the subjunctive. (Wyatt Mason) 

2 April 2025

 Cravenly: In an extremely cowardly (not brave) way. 

• Six days later, she had convened an emergency meeting with 75 faculty memebrs after the university had cravenly surrendred to the demands of the Trump administration in the hopes of recovering $400m in the federal grants and contracts. (Guardian)

30 March 2025

Titillating: Pleasantly stimulating or exciting; pleasantly and superficially exciting 

• Hint: That's how to destroy your brand, with titillating stunts, because what you want first is for people to trust and respect you.  (Umair Haque). 

29 March 2025

Brandish: Wave or flourish (something, especially a weapon as a threat or in anger or exceitement. 

• We know from his exchanges with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that he has been quick to brandish his "bigger (nuclear) button" that has the unilateral power to kill all of us. (Melvin Goodman)

4 November 2024

Charade: An absurd pretence intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance. 

• Such "peace talks" led by a biased interluctor are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade for public consumption.  (Dawn)

21 August 2024

 Admonition: A firm warning or reprimand.

• Each of us needs to take to heart Viktor Frankl's admonition that each of us must be responsible for our own lives, and for the life of our community and our world. (Learning to Lead by Warren Bennis and Joan Goldsmith)