Autodidact

\aw-toh-DAHY-dakt\ refers to a person who has learned a subject without the benefit of a teacher or formal education
........a self-taught person; an automath

Self-teaching kids.

Example1:
Driven by his interest, curiosity and yearning to know everything there is in the world, our friend, Cheekie "the scholar" is not only an erudite but also an autodidact.

Example2:
F.S. Flint, being an autodidact, was an English poet and translator whose extraordinary talent in language acquisition enabled him to become proficient in many languages such as German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Danish and Japanese. Source: Wikipedia

                                Limerick:
                            An autodidact is a person 

Tadao Ando, Source: Wikipedia

             Who finds schooling fun
For he is the teacher 
And the learner
             All rolled into one.

Example 3: Tadao Ando is probably the most famous autodidact architect of the 21st century.


dictionary.com page link for autodidact

Zaftig

\ZAHF-tig\ means
.......full-bodied; well-proportioned; voluptuous
...........(of a woman) having a pleasantly plump and sexually attractive figure

                                                 Example1:

The zaftig and the zealot, both have in common an excessive overabundance but in contrasting ways, for while the fullness of one attracts, the fullness of the other repels.

Example2:
If only the anorexics knew the advantages of being zaftig, they would not be so fanatic in their dieting.

Our Gummy 'd' Bear

Example3:
A zaftig teddy bear named Gummy 'd' Bear went to the zoo to meet his friend, the little wild bear, but could not get into the cage because he was too plump to squeeze through the bars.

dictionary.com page link for zaftig

Sylvan

\SIL-vuhn\  
...means bounding in forests or trees; wooded 
    ...living or located in a wood or forest.
        ...a fabled deity or spirit of the woods 
            ...one that lives in or frequents the woods or forest
                ...a rustic.

Spirit of the Woods

Example1: Rima, a character from W.H. Hudson's Green Mansion, is the girl who lived all her life in the forest who is often referred by the natives as a sylvan or a spirit living in the woods that protects everything in it, a tale that makes these natives don't want to hunt there.

Example2:
I guess I can practically say that our place is sylvan.

dictionary.com page link for sylvan

Writhe

Writhing in pain

 \rahyth\
... means to twist the body about, or squirm, as in severe pain

Related terms: thresh; flail; contort; wriggle

In knot theory, the writhe is a property of an oriented link diagram. It is the total number of positive crossings minus the total number of negative crossings.

Example
      The child tried to writhe free from his uncle's embrace. Guess he didn't like his uncle or he didn't like the embrace itself. Which one, I am not sure!

dictionary.com page link for writhe

Tare

\TAIR\ means
........the weight of a vehicle without cargo or passengers
.............the weight of the wrapping or container that holds an object
.....................any of various climbing plants, generally with edible seeds

Example1:
Is there a case when a truck enters a regular beach resort the entrance fee is not per person but by tare?

Example2:
Junior just brought in an electronic weighing scale that has a button to subtract the tare of a container from its posted weight.

dictionary.com page link for tare

Attar

\AT-er\ is a perfume or essential oil obtained from flowers or petals

Example1:
It was known that many apothecaries have sold attar of jasmine to kings and queens.
Example2:
An attar of roses made by a loved one is worth wearing than a fancy million dollar perfume bought from a store.

Apothecary is a medieval person who studies the art and science of mixing medicine, who is known as pharmacist today.

dictionary.com page link for attar

Juggernaut

\JUHG-er-nawt\ is frequently used today to describe
..........something usually large or massive.
................an irresistible, ruthless force or machine that destroys everything that gets in its way.
.......................in Britain, juggernaut is a very large lorry for transporting goods by road, esp. one that travels throughout Europe.

Juggernaut is also called Jagannath, a crude idol of Krishna worshiped throughout Orissa and Bengal, wheeled through the town on a gigantic chariot and devotees were supposed to have thrown themselves under the wheels as sort of sacrifice.

Example1:
The terrifying juggernaut we have to face at the end of life is not the inevitability of Death but the realization that all our existence has been a mere act of artful trickery by that great juggler called Nature.
Example2:
So was set in sudden, ugly motion a juggernaut that, before it was finally put to a halt, cost more than a thousand lives.
Example3:
Juggernaut and lorry are never found in my vocabulary until I came to India. Somehow, in Philippines, though we are used to find big trucks traveling around, mostly at night, and carrying heavy loads, I could not just recall any word that names these trucks...we generally call them "dakong/malaking trak".

dictionary.com page link for juggernaut

Fantod

\FAN-tod\ means
..............a sudden outpouring of anger or outrage
...................a state of worry or nervous anxiety, irritability
.........................a state of extreme nervousness or restlessness

Example1:
There are times when someone just feels uneasy about nothing in particular, characterized by rapid beating of the heart and not able to get himself indulge in anything. Can this be called fantod?
Example2:
It is a rarely known fact that the company of teddy bears is a better cure for fantod than bottles of hot toddy.
Example3:
The fans of the fanatic kind can be identified by their fantod behavior when they fail to gather the attention of the object of their affections.

dictionary.com page link for fantod

Jocose

\joh-KOHS\, an adjective given to or characterized by joking; jesting; humorous; playful

Synonyms:
Jocose, Jovial, Jocular, Jocund agree in referring to someone who is in a good humor.

......Jocose refers to that which causes laughter; it suggests someone who is playful and given to jesting: with jocose and comical airs..............Jovial suggests a hearty, joyous humor: a jovial hostess.....................Jocular means humorous, facetious, mirthful, and waggish: jocular enough to keep up the spirits of all around her.
..........................Jocund (a literary word) suggests a cheerful, light-hearted, and sprightly gaiety: glad and jocund company.

Among the four words listed above, only jovial is familiar to me. I almost always associate it with convivial, a word I cannot forget for it's my nature to be convivial most of the times but moody sometimes. Now, by looking up the word jovial, I found three more similar words which remind me of their opposite, gloomy.

Example1:
A joker must be jocose enough to be able to laugh at himself or else he will end up laughing alone.
Example2:
Even if done jocosely, jaywalking can unfortunately fetch you a ticket to the final joyride of your life, a.k.a. a trip to the cemetery.

dictionary.com page link for jocose

Exiguous

is read as \ig-ZIG-yoo-uhs\ which means scanty; meager; small; or slender

Example1:
Due to floods brought by constant heavy rains, exiguous supply of rice and other crops is imminent and this would only mean one thing: to farmers, less harvest and less or no profit; to consumers, price increase.
Example2:
There has always been a protest against exiguous wage among the working class of people.
Example3:
The exiguous necessities for a Christian life has always been in excessive contrast to the exigent wants of its papal proponents.

dictionary.com page link for exiguous

Nitid

\NIT-id\ means bright or lustrous

Limerick:
On a nitid summer day
If you cannot find your way
You must be wearing sunglasses
Like all the fashionable classes
Who are plain stupid anyway.

Example1:
I rarely dream but last night I dreamt of a small but nitid room. In it was a table full of flowers in different colors and a single bed where a woman lay unconscious. The room was so silent that one can literally hear his own heartbeat. Then, there entered a woman watching the one in bed only to see her own wan face. That's when I woke up and realized the woman was me.
Example2:
Far from the towns, deep in the heart of the countryside, the night filled with numerous stars seems as nitid as a summer day.

dictionary.com page link for nitid

Ullage

\UHL-ij\ refers to the empty or unfilled space in a bottle or container of a liquid.

Example1: The optimist drunkard sees the wine in the half-full bottle while the pessimist drunkard sees the ullage in the half-empty bottle.

Example2: The degree of thirst a man feels when he's lost in the desert is proportional to the ullage of his water cask.

dictionary.com page link for ullage

Gerent

is read as \JEER-uhnt\ which means a ruler or manager

Gerent is an English adaptation of the Latin verb "gerere" meaning to manage or conduct.

Example1: Any complaint regarding the food or services has to be addressed to the newly hired gerent.
Example2: A gerent is one who exercises dominion or controlling power over others.

dictionary.com page link for gerent

Sabulous

is read as \SAB-yuh-luhs\ which means sandy or gritty.

Sabuline plants are plants that grow in sand. What plants are sabulous, anyway? Can you name one?

dictionary.com page link for sabulous

Asthenic

is read as \as-THEN-ik\ which means
..........weak
.............adynamic: lacking of strength or vigor
.................having a slim or slender physique characterized by by long limbs and a small trunk: claimed to be associated with schizoid personality

Example: I have never seen a man as asthenic as Mr. Crawford who seems to look healthy enough.

dictionary.com page link for asthenic

Viridity

is read as \vuh-RID-i-tee\ and means
.................greenness; verdancy; verdure
......................youth; innocence; inexperience

Example1: The country's viridity is too obvious to be missed.
Example2: Often, it is the children's viridity that is being abused.

dictionary.com page link for viridity

Titubant

\TICH-oo-buhnt\ means stumbling, staggering ; with the movement of one who is tipsy

In Pathology: titubation \tich-oo-BEY-shuhn\ refers to the disturbance of body equilibrium in standing or walking, resulting in uncertain gait and trembling, esp. resulting from diseases of the cerebellum.

Example1: I could hardly believe that titubant movements are characteristics of certain nervous disorders.
Example2: The rambling monologues of an inebriated man are no less entertaining than the titubant motions of his walk.

dictionary.com page link for titubant

Eristic

\e-RIS-tik\ means a person who engages in disputation
.........a controversialist
.............argumentative
.................the art of logical disputation

Example1: Seldom we can find people who are logically eristic nowadays.
Example2: Among our teddy friends, it is Browlee who is eristic. She is the advocate of law in Teddyland.
Example3: A lawyer should always be careful to reserve his eristic skills only for the court room and not at his chambers, or else he will have no client at all.

dictionary.com page link for eristic

Scabrous

Scabrous \SKAB-ruhs\ means
........having a rough surface because of minute points or projections
..............indecent or scandalous' risque'; obscene
....................full of difficulties

Related words: lepidote \LEP-i-doht\, leprose \LEP-rohs\, scurfy, scaly

Example1. "Come with me at the barber shop and I'll let you know how does a scabrous head feels like," urges Jonathan to his little sister.
Example2. Scabrous books are heavily censored these days, aren't they?
Example3. I don't know anyone who has never experienced a scabrous life.

dictionary.com page link for scabrous

Amerce

Amerce \uh-MURS\ means to punish by imposing a fine not fixed by statute.

Example: Usually, some people are amerced beyond what they can afford. Sometimes, the fine is even more than what they have done.

dictionary.com page link for amerce

Amaranthine

\am-uh-RAN-thin; thahyn\ means
........unfading or everlasting
...........of purplish-red color

Example1:  
A woman of amaranthine loveliness is a rare beauty to behold.
Example2:
If the sky was amaranthine, would the sunset be amethyst?
Example3:  
An amorous amaranthine angel accosted another and absconded.

Limerick:
If love were amaranthine
Then aging will be fine
Man and woman each other cherish
And their love never perish
But sparkle like ageless wine.

dictionary.com page link for amaranthine

Adit

is read as \AD-it\ which means
...........an entrance or a passage
.................an approach or access
.......................also called entry

In mining, the horizontal (nearly) passage leading into a mine is called adit.

Example: I have a niece whose nickname is Adit. Now, this word is easier to remember than I thought.

dictionary.com page link for adit

Ziggurat

is read as \ZIG-oo-rat\ and means a rectangular tiered temple or terraced mound erected by ancient Assyrians and Babylonians.
..............a stepped tower or pyramid of ancient Mesopotamia.

Casuistry

is read as \KAZH-oo-uh-tree\ which means specious (plausible but false), deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning esp. in questions of morality.

.......it's the application of general ethical principles to particular cases of conscience or conduct.

Casuistry comes from the French casuiste and the Latin casus, "case", perhaps related to making a case or justifying behavior.

dictionary.com page link for casuistry

Vagary

\vuh-GAIR-ee; VEY-guh-ree\ means unpredictable or erratic action, occurrence, course, or instance

Related definition: a whimsical, wild, odd or unusual idea, desire or action

Example: This group around here is indulging in other vagaries. God knows what!

dictionary.com page link for vagary

Prolix

\proh-LIKS; PROH-liks\ means (of a person) given to speaking or writing at great, unnecessary, or tedious length; long and wordy

Example: I got bored listening to a prolix lecturer telling us more than we want to know. He could have made the lecture brief and concise.

Limerick:
A prolix fop
Went to a shop
And asked for a shoe
But got in lieu
Stuff that made his jaw drop.

dictionary.com page link for prolix

Prorogue

is read as \proh-ROHG\ which means to defer; postpone; to discontinue or suspend a session.

Example: "Let's prorogue the schedule of the exam to next week," suggested the principal.

I am more acquainted with 'defer' or 'postpone' than the word prorogue that's why it seems so new to me. I hope it's not for you!

dictionary.com page link for prorogue

Dilatory

\DIL-uh-tawr-ee\ means tending to cause delay or procrastinate; delaying

I am a victim of dilatory tactics. I have applied for extension/conversion of visa in 2008 yet until now I don't have a proper answer from those people in-charge. Just great!

dictionary.com page link for dilatory