- The extremely old man was lucid right up until the moment he died; his body had given
out but his mind was still going strong.
To elucidate something is to make it clear, to explain it.
LUMINOUS (LOO muh nus) adj giving off light; glowing; bright
- The moon was a luminous disk in the cloudy nighttime sky.
- The dial on my watch is luminous; it casts a green glow in the dark.
NOMENCLATURE (NOH mun klay chur) n a set or system of names; a designation; a
terminology
- I’d become a botanist in a minute, except that I’d never be able to memorize all of that
botanic nomenclature. - In the Bible, Adam created a nomenclature when he gave all of the animals names. You
could call him the world’s first nomenclator (NOH mun klay tur). A nomenclator is a giver
of names.
NOMINAL (NOM uh nul) adj in name only; insignificant
- Bert was the nominal chair of the committee, but Sue was the one who ran things.
- The cost was nominal in comparison with the enormous value of what you received.
Nominal is also used to mean “A-OK” during rocket launches:
- “All systems are nominal,” said the NASA engineer as the space shuttle successfully
headed into orbit.
NOVEL (NAHV ul) adj fresh; original; new
- Ray had a novel approach to homework: He did the work before the teacher assigned it.
PSEUDONYM (SOO duh nim) n a false name; an alias
- Dr. Seuss was the pseudonym of Theodor Seuss Geisel.
- The philandering couple used pseudonyms when they checked into the hotel for the
afternoon because they didn’t want anyone to know what they were up to. - “I’m going to use a pseudonym so as not to attract people’s attention when I go out in
public,” announced the famous actor. “I’ll call myself Rumblebumble Wart.”
The prefix pseudo- (SOO doh) means “false.” A pseudointellectual is someone who pretends
to be interested in intellectual things.
REPUGNANT (ri PUG nunt) adj repulsive; offensive; disgusting
- The thought of striking out on his own is absolutely repugnant to Allan; he would much
prefer to continue living in his old room, driving his parents’ car, and eating meals
prepared by his mother.