Tarek's Dictionary - Volume II

Last year I published a list of the new English vocabulary I learnt, and was planning to keep publishing new words as I learn them, but I didn't. Thus, here is the second volume of my newly learnt words.

Benign: If you too are dyslexic, then you may read it begin, but no, benign means gentle and kind. It's of a Latin origin, that's why the equivalent terms in French and Spanish are bénin and benigno respectively.

Wrath: Extreme anger.

Thwart: Prevent someone from accomplishing something. The thieves plans were thwarted by the police.

Indemnity: A payment made to someone because of damage, loss, or injury. It is used more in legal documents. The latin word indemnes means unhurt.

Selfie: You sure know that already, but it is a newly invented word which refers to a photograph one has taken of himself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.

Contemplate: to view or consider with continued attention, or to meditate on.

Futile: incapable of producing any useful result; pointless. Her efforts to educate them good manners were futile.

Squidgy: Soft, spongy, and moist.

Kinship: In biology, it typically refers to the degree of genetic relatedness or coefficient of relationship between individual members of a species. More commonly, it may refer to the feeling of being close or connected to other people. He feels a strong kinship with his colleagues.

Toddler: A toddler is a child between the ages of one and three. It comes from the verb toddle, which is to run or walk with short, unsteady steps.

Tatters: Irregularly torn pieces of cloth, paper, or other material. He was forced to wear rags and tatters a beggar would scorn.

She is easy on the eye: She is good looking or pretty.

Squint: Look at someone or something with one or both eyes partly closed in an attempt to see more clearly or as a reaction to strong light: the bright sun made them squint.

Tongue in cheek: Saying something that shouldn't be taken very seriously. E.g. He always speaks tongue-in-cheek, he never takes things seriously. Ann made a tongue-in-cheek remark to John, and he got mad because he thought she was serious. The play seemed very serious at first, but then everyone saw that it was tongue-in-cheek, and they began laughing.

What's the Craic: An Irish saying, referring to "what's up?" or "what's going on?"

Trough: A a long, narrow open container for animals to eat or drink out of. Pronounced like enough.

Exhume: Dig up, unearth, bring out of the ground. Humus means soil, thus exhume means to dig into the soil and bring something from there. It has a Latin origin, and the French and Spanish verbs are exhumer and exhumar respectively.

Bonkers: Crazy, mad.