Weekly Words

March 7, 2010 - March 13, 2010

mundane
adj. commonplace; ordinary
muhn-dayn
Sp.
mundo : the world, earth
Mondays are so mundane compared to the wild and exciting weekend days.
prosaic
adj. dull; unimaginative
proh-zay-ihk
Lat.
prosa : prose, straightforward
Prose is such prosaic writing when compared to the florid flourishes of poetry.
tedious
adj. boring; monotonous
tee-dee-ous
Lat.
taedium : tedium, monotony
It would be a tedious task to count the number of T's & D's in the dictionary.
atypical
adj. odd; different; unique; unusual; distinct
ay tih-pih-kul
Lat.
a : not
typical : typical
I'm the type of person who's typically atypical; I stopped worrying about fitting in years ago.
avant-garde
adj. using experimental or new techniques
ah-vahnt gard
Fr.
avaunt : before
garde : one who keeps watch
The avant-garde artist was guarded about revealing her revolutionary and controversial techniques.
eccentric
adj. strange; different; odd
ex-sehn-trihc
Gk.
ex : against
kentros : center
The eccentric designer accented her green kitchen with orange and purple fixtures.
idiosyncrasy
n. a unique character trait; eccentricity
ih-dee-oh-singk-ruh-see
Gk.
idio : self
syn : with, together
krasis : mixing
One of my idiosyncrasies is performing soliloquies while engaging in synchronized swimming in the town fountain.