Torrid – 19 January 2025

  Torrid Definition Adjective 1. Extremely hot. 2. Filled with intense emotions, especially associated with love and sex. 3. So hot as to be oppressive. The desert heat ranged from torrid at midday to merely sweltering in the evening.   Word Origin Latin...

Peripatetic – 12 January 2025

  Peripatetic Definition Adjective 1. Given to walking about, especially on foot. 2. Constantly traveling. 3. Having to do with Aristotle, who walked about as he taught, or his philosophy. The peripatetic journalist was in London last week and arrived in Dallas...

Kerfuffle – 5 January 2025

  Kerfuffle Definition Noun 1. A commotion, disturbance, or fuss The kerfuffle at the after-Christmas sales tables caused quite a mess.   Word Origin Derived from Gaelic, though it is uncertain whether it originated from Scots Gaelic curfuffle (from car...

My Four Christmas Ghosts

My first ghost was the one whose death shattered my life nearly three years ago, only a few months after we moved from Massachusetts back to my home state of Wisconsin and bought what I promised would be our last home. It was my husband of nearly twenty-five years,...

Tintinnabulation – 29 Dec 2024

  Tintinnabulation Definition Noun 1. The ringing of bells. 2. A sound like that of bells ringing or the breaking of glass. The New Year’s Eve celebration was filled with bright lights and tintinnabulation.   Word Origin Latin verb tintinnare (to ring,...