Word of the Day – Valetudinarian I had to chuckle at this one. I was reading it while at the doctor’s office. Noun: A person who is excessively concerned about his or her poor health or ailments. An invalid. Adjective: In poor health; sickly; invalid. …

Kakistocracy Noun (kak-uh-stok-ruh-see) Government by the worst persons; a form of government in which the worst persons are in power. Example: Burt Wheeler arrived in Washington as a Senator in 1923, when the backwash of war and prohibition had brought America about as near to …

Snickersnee noun (snik-er-snee) A knife, especially one used as a weapon. Example: Oh, never shall I / Forget the cry, / Or the shriek that shriekèd he, / As I gnashed my teeth, / When from its sheath / I drew my snickersnee! W. S. …

Enervate Verb: (en-er-veyt) To deprive of force or strength; destroy the vigor of; weaken.

Blarney: Flattering or wheedling talk; cajolery. noun (blahr-ney) Deceptive or misleading talk; nonsense; hooey. Example: A lot of blarney about why he was broke. Origin: Blarney came to English in the mid-1700s from the name of the hamlet in Ireland, where a stone in Blarney …

Afebrile: adjective (ey-fee-bruhl) Without fever; feverless.

Astraphobia: noun (as-truh-foh-bee-uh) An abnormal fear of thunder and lightning.