Vocabulary Mnemonics

March 15, 2025

Matt’s words

Ameliorate (v):  to make better (implies that things are tough)

For people with chronic stomach problems, Pepto Bismol can ameliorate the pain.

Bunkbeds aren’t working. How can we ameliorate the situation?

Mnemonic: “A meal” can always improve the situation.

Fecund (adj):fruitful; intellectually productive (synonyms are: fruitful and fertile)

Fecund mind… fecund soil…

From the fecundmind of the Coen brothers, this modern-day Western was hailed as a classic nearly from the moment of its independent release. —Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Dec. 2024

Mnemonic: It’s a bit gross, but fecal matter can act as a fertilizer, which helps grass (and, ultimately, other things grow)

Dyspeptic (n): indigestion; disgruntled; ill-humored

I’m feeling dyspeptic…

Being in the loser’s bracket makes me dyspeptic.

Mnemonic 1: Remember that Pepto-Bismol cures you of dyspepsia

Mnemonic 2: Getting “dissed” can put you in a bad mood

Noir (n/adj): crime fiction featuring hard-boiled cynical characters and bleak sleazy settings (The Maltese Falcon, Sunset Boulevard, On the Waterfront)

The Maltese Falcon is classic example of film noir.  (noun)

In this boldly styled first novel, Komarnicki follows a 30-year-old homeless man on a noir odyssey of death and survival through the streets of New Orleans and Hong Kong. —Sybil S. Steinberg (adj)

Mnemonic: Noir derives from the Latin word for “black,” so you know it’s dark.

Mnemonic 2: “Noir star Mar-lon Brando.”

Invidious (adj):objectionable; harmful

Invidiousforms of discrimination…

The coach made invidious distinctions between the starters and the benchwarmers.

Mnemonic: Think of the company Nvidia. They make all these chips, but they’re harmful, you could cut yourself on them.

Dr. Mom’s words

Celerity (n): rapidity of motion or action; lively, swift, quick, speedy

Celerity of movement is vital in war. –Merriam Webster online

People solve mysteries and puzzles with shocking celerity. —Daniel Payne, National Review, 20 July 2019

Mnemonic: “Cele” in the word reminds of accelerate. Think of achieving celerity by accelerating.

Nibling (n): The child of a sibling, as in niece or nephew

I’m so glad my children get along well with their niblings. It’s like having all those brothers and sisters!

Mnemonic: Just think of siblings, but the “n” reminds you that it’s not siblings but nieces and nephews.

Harbinger (n): something that foreshadows a future event or gives an anticipatory sign of what is to come

Rain rather than snow, and buds on the trees, are welcome harbingers of spring.

Mnemonic: Harbinger begins like harbor, which is a place to find protection from the storm (think: safe harbor). You want a harbinger that will give you a sign that it’s time to find a safe harbor. 

Effete (adj): effeminate, snobbish, soft, or delicate of character as if from a pampered existence; also, no longer capable of effective action; declining, enfeebled, weak, burned out, obsolete

Viewed from the south, San Francisco is a pretentious and prettified crackerbox of a city, foggy and filled with a bunch of weirdos and effete snobs. —Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2021

And for centuries the fork remained suspect in Europe, as the effeteaccessory of aristocrats; as late as the 17th century, Louis XIV, amid the pomp of Versailles, is said to have insisted on grabbing food — off a gold plate — with his fingers. —Ligaya Mishan Kyoko Hamada, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024

Mnemonic: Effete is a synonym of effeminate (having feminine qualities untypical of a man), which might make us imagine a man being less effective or weaker. An effete effect would be a weakening, effeminate effect.

Skulk (v): to move in a stealthy or furtive manner; to lurk; to hide or conceal something out of cowardice or fear or with sinister intent

I was often tempted to skulk into my sister’s room after she left for school to borrow one of her shirts, but I dared not face her wrath if she caught me.

Mnemonic #1: Skulk is only one letter different from skunk. Most of us like to avoid skunks, so picture a skunk skulking around, lying in wait to squirt you when you least expect it.

Mnemonic #2: Skulk can also be a collective noun for a group of foxes, animals often held to be furtively lurking around watching for prey.

COLOSSAL COMPILATION:

A noir film I saw recently pitted two niblings, one fecund but dyspeptic and the other effete yet able to skulk with celerity, against an invidious set of harbingers they needed to ameliorate or face certain destruction.