Wondrous Words Wednesday: June 17, 2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Bermudaonion, where we share new (to us) words that we've come across during our week of reading.

This is my first time contributing to this fun meme. At first glance, the words I've picked seem like words I know, but there's a twist to their forms which makes them new (and useful!).

From THE AIR BETWEEN US by Deborah Johnson

1. ex i gen cy

“. . . she satisfied a need within him that was more visceral than sex. She listened to him. But, as with sex, when this exigency was met, he would disappear as quickly, and as completely, as her clients in New Orleans had done.”

• exigent state or character; urgency.


• Usually, exigencies. the need, demand, or requirement intrinsic to a circumstance, condition, etc.: the exigencies of city life.


• a case or situation that demands prompt action or remedy; emergency: He promised help in any exigency.
  

2. con tra ri e ty

“And he was tired of searching out motives, wanting, and not finding, excuses for the obvious contrarieties of his life.”

• noun, plural -ties for 2.


• the quality or state of being contrary.


• something contrary or of opposite character; a contrary fact or statement.


• Logic. the relation between contraries.

From CLEMENTINE by Sara Pennypacker

1. spec tac u lar ful

"Thursday morning I woke up with a spectacularful idea."

2. sproing ing

"I am lucky that way--spectacularful ideas are always sproinging up in my brain."

I'm sorry -- no matter how hard I tried, no matter where I looked, I just couldn't find definitions or useage guidelines for these words from CLEMENTINE. Sometimes you just have to let your mind go and feel your way through a word!