Vocabulary Mnemonics

May 17, 2025

Matt’s words

Froufrou (adj): showy or fancy, especially when it comes to clothes; frilly

Check out that froufrou skirt!

When she had put on her makeup, he set her on his bed in her froufrou dressing gown. –John LeCarre

Mnemonic: From French, it comes from the swishing sound a frilly skirt might make.

Abstemious (adj): not self-indulgent, especially when it comes to eating and drinking

When it comes to desserts, I’m (Matt) an abstemious eater. (He’s a salty snacks guy.)

Mnemonic: The word begins like “abstain,” which means not to do something at all. The “stain” part means something leaves a mark, so it’s hard core. Ab”steam,” however, means not to do something much, so it’s a lesser version, just like steam is a lesser version of a stain.

Haboob (n): a super-violent dust storm

On our camping trip in Arizona, we got caught in a haboob.

Mnemonic: Aladdin’s sidekick Abu is a monkey. You can imagine Abu in a haboob, trying to get out, swirling around, screeching.

Cromulent (adj): adequate or acceptable

“It’s a perfectly cromulent word.” (This is a made-up word for a Simpson’s episode, and it is now in the dictionary. 😊 )

Mnemonic: There’s “mule” in the middle of cromulent. Though a horse would probably be a preferable mode of transportation, a mule is adequate.

Impinge (v): to encroach, to infringe, to affect negatively

This new law impinges on our freedoms.

Mnemonic: You can hear “pinch” in the word. If someone comes up and pinches you, they’re usually impinging on your personal space, akin to pinching you.

Dr. Mom’s words

Zarf (n): the cardboard sleeve on a coffee cup; historically, a metal, handleless holder for a hot drink a prefix

Knowing he’d be drinking a lot of coffee while writing his dissertation, the graduate student pilfered a few zarfs every time he went to 7-11.

Mnemonic: Zarf rhymes with scarf, which wraps around one’s neck. The zarf wraps around the cup or mug.

Gauche (adj): lacking social experience or grace; unsophisticated, crude, awkward, clumsy

In recent years, running seemed strictly prohibited, and playing anything resembling a real basketball game was considered gauche. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 13 Feb. 2025 (related to the NBA all-star game at the Golden State Warriors’ new arena)

Mnemonic: In French, gauche is the word for “left.” A left-handed person in a right-handed world may appear awkward or clumsy.

Pecuniary (adj): relating to or consisting of money

My sketchy uncle finally came clean about obtaining his recent pecuniary advantage by deception.

Mnemonic: “Pecs” are your chest muscles, so think of a chest full of—what else?—money!

Peculate (v): to embezzle, or to appropriate something (e.g., property) that is entrusted to one’s care

It was a shock to find out my trusted brother-in-law had peculated thousands of dollars from the family business.

Mnemonic: You want to speculate (in the pecuniary sense), but you have to peculate first to get the funds.

Murmuration (n): a large group of birds that all fly together and change direction together, can have a mesmerizing effect; can also refer to an emergent phenomenon in a social system.

…the murmuration of crowds (in a complaining sense)

A murmuration, or flock of starlings, here includes thousands of these tiny birds collectively flying and swirling about. —Huffington Post

Mnemonic: Picture a big flock of birds and how the flapping of the wings sounds. It’s a murmuring sound that allows the birds to communicate and, thus, all move together. Can also imagine a group of people murmuring (as in complaining) and moving in sync toward their desired goal.

COLOSSAL COMPILATION:

After a haboob destroyed his formerly cromulent home and sent him into pecuniary distress, Uncle Larry unfortunately became an impinging cad who peculated funds from his employer, abandoned his abstemious lifestyle in favor of gorging on lattes in zarf-covered cups, and dated only froufrou, gauche women inclined to murmurate incessantly.