New Words

Thanks to this endeavor, I have learned some new words!

1. Flummox: confuse
   
2. Ablution: the washing of one's body or part of it (as in a religious rite)
   
3. Voluble: characterized by ready or rapid speech
   
4. Restive: marked by impatience or uneasiness
5. Chimerical: given to fantastic schemes
   
6. Piratical: having qualities of one who commits acts of piracy
   
7. Mercurial: having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness attributed to the god Mercury
8. Conciliatory: gaining goodwill by performing pleasing acts
   
9. Dirigible: capable of being steered
   
10. Fauntleroy: an excessively polite and well-dressed boy
    
11. Feral: not domesticated or cultivated
    
12. Scurrility: an offensively rude or abusive remark
    
13. Forelock: a lock of hair growing from the front of the head
    

I find it amazing that I learned all these words from half a book. For the record, some of these words aren't hard to figure out what they mean (like piratical), but I didn't know such a use existed of the root "pirate." That Marilynne Robinson...

A special thanks goes to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary. You've been my good friend for years!