Carolina Institute for Faith & Culture

Paul Schleifer According to the OED, taciturn means “Characterized by silence or disinclination to conversation; reserved in speech; saying little; uncommunicative.” The first recorded use is from the Tobias Smollett […]

Paul Schleifer According to the OED, evanescent is an adjective describing something “That is on the point of vanishing or becoming imperceptible” or something “That quickly vanishes or passes away; […]

Paul Schleifer This is a new one for me. In fact, it is so new that it draws the red squiggly line under it in MicroSoft Word. Adultescent refers to […]

Paul Schleifer Royal is an adjective that means “of or related to a king, queen, or other sovereign.” There are also noun forms of royal, but the chief one, royals, […]

Paul Schleifer The noun egress means three different but similar things: “the act of going out,” “the place where one goes out,” or “the right to go out.” There is […]

Paul Schleifer Facile is primarily an adjective, but it has a variety of meanings, in part depending upon the type of noun that it is modifying. The OED lists its […]

Paul Schleifer Ameliorate means “to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve (www.dictionary.com). It can be used as a transitive (takes an object: The mediator could not […]

Paul Schleifer Babble is a flexible word. As a verb, it can be intransitive (used without an object) or transitive (used with an object). It means “to utter sounds or […]

Paul Schleifer Histrionic without a final –s is an adjective that means “overly dramatic.” If you add a final –s, you turn it into a noun meaning “melodramatic behavior designed […]

Paul Schleifer A bushwhacker is a person who whacks his way through the bushes. Makes sense, right? The word is an Americanism. According to the OED, it first appears in […]

Paul Schleifer According to the OED, complementary means “combining in such a way as to enhance or emphasize the qualities of each other or another.” At www.dictionary.com, we find simply […]

Paul Schleifer According to the OED, sodality is a noun meaning “a confraternity or association, especially a Roman Catholic religious guild or brotherhood.” It appears in English in the early […]