Educational

troglodyte

[trog-luh-dayt]

a person living in seclusion

quisling

[kwiz-ling]

a person who betrays his or her own country by aiding an invading enemy, often serving later in a puppet government; a traitor

sarcophagus

[sahr-kof-uh-guhs]

a stone coffin, typically adorned with a sculpture or inscription and associated with the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Rome, and Greece

clerestory

[kleer-stawr-ee]

a portion of an interior rising above adjacent rooftops and having windows admitting daylight to the interior

persnickety

[per-snik-i-tee]

requiring painstaking care

complicit

[kuhm-plis-it]

choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others; having complicity

frazil

[fraz-uhl]

ice crystals formed in turbulent water, as in swift streams or rough seas

tyro

[tahy-roh]

a beginner in learning anything; novice

peristyle

[per-uh-stahyl]

a colonnade surrounding a building or an open space

aphelion

[uh-fee-lee-uhn]

the point farthest from the sun in the path of an orbiting celestial body (such as a planet)

validate

[val-i-deyt ]

to make valid; substantiate; confirm

tergiversate

[tur-ji-ver-seyt]

to turn renegade

chthonian

[thoh-nee-uhn]

of Classical Mythology, relating to the deities, spirits, and other dwellings under the earth

weave

[weev]

to interlace (threads, yarns, strips, fibrous material, etc.) so as to form a fabric or material

dodecahedron

[doh-dek-uh-hee-druhn]

a three-dimensional shape having twelve plane faces, in particular a regular solid figure with twelve equal pentagonal faces

prescient

[presh-uhnt]

having prescience, or knowledge of things or events before they exist or happen; having foresight

mammonism

[mam-uh-niz-uhm]

the greedy pursuit of riches

malapropism

[mal-uh-prop-iz-uhm]

an act or habit of misusing words ridiculously, especially by the confusion of words that are similar in sound

cunctation

[kuhngk-tey-shuhn]

lateness; delay

inveterate

[in-vet-er-it ]

settled or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling, or the like

conviction

[val-i-deyt]

a fixed or firm belief

exacerbation

[ig-zas-er-bey-shuhn]

the act of making a negative situation feel worse than it is

prodigious

[pruh-dij-uhs]

extraordinary in size, amount, extent, degree, force, etc.

convey

[kuhn-vey]

to communicate; impart; make known