Vocabulary Mnemonics

March 1, 2025

Matt’s words

Eclat (n): dazzling effect; sensation

Few are aware that P.T. Barnum’s first attempts to make an eclat were by displaying a giant claw at the circus.

“To make an eclat,” to make a sensation…

Mnemonic: Picture P.T. Barnum trying to dazzle people with a giant claw.

Saccharine (adj): resembling sugar; overly sweet

Folks with a sweet tooth for saccharinelove stories, Nicholas Sparks movie adaptations hit the spot — most of the time. —Sezin Devi Koehler, EW.com, 23 Feb. 2025

Saccharine taste… saccharine flavor…

Mnemonic 1: Saccharin without the “e” at the end is a sweetener in calorie-free drinks.

Mnemonic 2: Imagine Yoda eating sugar out of a sack. You ask him, where’s the sugar? “The sack, are in.”

Excogitate (v): think out; devise

She sat staring off, excogitating a plan to get back at her ex.

Mnemonic: Cogitate comes from cog (think), as in cognizant, cogent. Remember “ex” by picturing someone trying to get back at their ex.

Inveterate (adj): habitual

Inveterate gambler… Inveterate liar…

An inveteratebus rider of the old No. 6, Eldridge believed in public transportation. —Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun, 28 Nov. 2024

Mnemonic: Veter has its roots in “veteran.” Veterans ate the same food in the army over and over again (habitual).

Anthropomorphize (v): to attribute human characteristics to something non-human

Seeing constant images of AI robots, it’s hard not to anthropomorphize them.

Mnemonic: Anthropo means “human,” as in anthropology. Morph means “to change into.”

Dr. Mom’s words

Taciturn (adj): tempermentally disinclined to talk; a person of few words

I went on speech strike … remaining defiantly taciturn through a procession of speech therapists and psychotherapists, verbalizing only to the gardener and swearing him to silence. —Simon Schama, New Republic, 22 July 2002

Mnemonic: Related to “tacit,” which means implied, or left unsaid. You could also imagine hanging out with Tac (“Tass”), who never wants to talk. You have to keep saying, “Tass, your turn!”

Jejune (adj): From the Latin, means empty of food, hungry, meager; also intellectually devoid of significance or interest, dull; doesn’t satisfy

I quickly lost interest in that jejune novel because it never went anywhere.

Mnemonic: Saying “June” is too much work for the jejune person. The response is meager, unsatisfying, even “ju”venile. The person is devoid of substance.

Monomania (n): an excessive interest in one thing; a mental disorder characterized by irrational preoccupation with one subject

Hadley’s impending nuptials preoccupied Aunt Grace with a feverish monomania. Katherine Mosby, The Season of Lillian Dawes

Mnemonic: “Mono” means one (as in monotone or monologue), “Mania” means an excitement about something, an extreme mood elevation.

Comestible (adj): edible

                    (noun): an item of food

Make sure there are plenty of comestibles available as we watch the Superbowl!

Mnemonic: “Comer” in Spanish means, “to eat.”  Also, the word looks and sounds a bit like, “Come to the table.” You’re ready to eat edible food items.

Depute (v): to appoint or instruct someone to perform a task for which one is responsible; to delegate

Extra officers were deputed to provide security for the visiting starlet.

Mnemonic: Think of a deputy, the right-hand person to the sheriff. He/She is always at the ready to perform needed tasks.

COLOSSAL COMPILATION:

Matilda’s struggles as an inveterate monomaniac took a variety of forms over time, including a spell during which she excogitated about ways to create an eclat of saccharine comestibles, and later deputing her normally taciturn, jejune assistant to publicly and enthusiastically anthropomorphize every machine and device in the office.