labrick: (noun) (a Twain-ism used in, of all places, Missouri
during the 19th century, but why stop there?) a person who is a bit worse than an ass, but not quite as bad
as an idiot. Oh, no, sir. When I called you a labrick I meant it in only the nicest way.
labyrinthine: (adj.) complex; convoluted; complicated. Because
of the labyrinthine problems in splicing the DNA from two different species into an animal that doesn't look like something
from a very bad dream, it will probably be at least another year before pigs can fly.
lachrymose: (adj.) tearful, or given to weeping. All the junior
high drama queens were lachrymose, though they seldom knew why.
lackadaisical: (adj) laid-back; easygoing; lazy; apethetic. Larry
always though of himself as lackadaisical. Everybody else always thought of him as lazy.
lackey: (noun) servant; flunky; pawn; pissant. Sir, you
have besmirched my honour, and this shall not stand. Therefore, I challenge your lackey to a duel with my lackey.
May the best pissant win.
laconic: (adj.) terse; concise; to the point. To make the point as laconically as possible,
all Jed needed was his gun.
lacuna: (noun) an unfilled space or interval; a gap; a missing
section in a manuscript; a cavity or depression, especially in a bone. Since my baby left me, I have a lacuna in my
heart.
lade: (verb) to load, especially for shipment. After
the dock workers lade the ship, they went to town, hopefully to get laid.
lagniappe: (noun) (pronounced: lan-yap) something given
as a bonus or a gift. It's Tuesday. On Tuesdays we beat you to within an inch of your life... but we don't kill
you. Call it a lagniappe.
lambaste:
(verb) to criticize harshly; to beat or whip severely. The press was lambasted for even suggesting the government
wasn't open to opposing views.
lambent: (adj.) glowing, gleaming, or flickering with a soft radiance.
The lambent light filled the night with pure delight.
languorous: (adj.) sleepy; torpid; slow; dreamy. With the cat
languorously lounging on my lap, I felt sleepy, too.
lark: (noun) aside from a bird, a merry, carefree adventure. Having found his owner's
car keys, Rex and the cat went on a lark.
lassitude: weariness; stupor; laziness. Her lassitude was rather
obvious, especially when she yawned just before she said, “I do.”
latescent: (adj.) becoming latent, or obscure. The word "latescent" is latescent.
laudation: (noun) praise; commendation; at-a-boy. It's not
that I don't appreciate your laudations, Mr. Murphy. It's just that I would appreciate a raise more.
lave: (verb) to wash. Make sure you lave behind your
ears!
lazar: (noun) (pronounced: laa-zer) a diseased person,
especially one with a really nasty, scary, and highly contagious disease, such as leprosy. Of course we're sending you
off to the lazaretto. After all, you're a lazar.
lazaretto: (noun) an isolation hospital for people with infectious
diseases, especially nasty ones; a military hospital. Don't worry, dear. I'm sure you'll enjoy staying at the
lazaretto. They have such a lovely greensward.
lede: (noun) (pronounced: leed) the opening sentence
or paragraph of a news story that summarizes the most important elements of the story. You always need to lead with
your lede paragraph.
leman: (noun) (pronounced like the fruit) a lover or a
sweetheart. His leman left him sour.
leonine: (adj.) impressive; imposing; majestic. Yes, dear.
When you wear your crown and ermine cape you look quite leonine.
leveret: (noun) a young rabbit in its first year. Just because
she has a lovely embonpoint doesn't mean you have to act like a leveret.
lexiphanic: (noun) one who uses pretentious words for effect.
The lexiphanic senator would've been just a whole lot more convincing if he had actually used those big words correctly.
liaise: (verb) (pronounced: lee-aze) to link; to
coordinate; to bridge; to mediate; to establish a working relationship. We sent Little Mikey to liaise with Eddy Two
Fingers and his boys on the South Side two days ago, but he ain't come back yet. We suspect hinkiness.
liaison: (noun) among others, a sexual relationship that usually
involves secrecy and unfaithfulness. After Mickey found out about Minnie's liaison with Goofy, he could no longer sing
"I'm a happy mouse" with any real enthusiasm.
libidinous: (adj.) showing excessive sexual drive; lustful; horny.
Your being libidinous changes nothing, my dear. The answer is still, "No."
licentious: (adj.) profilgate; immoral; wicked. The
Licentius Witch of the West just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
lickspittle:
(noun) a person who behaves obsequiously to those in power; a smarmy person; a suck-up. That's Elroy, he's the
Official Lickspittle to the President. It's an obscure Cabinet post.
liege: (noun) a feudal superior or sovereign. My liege,
I ask that you show mercy on my wretched soul.
liminal: (adj.) on the sensory threshold; barely perceptible.
What do you expect? This is the 21st Century. Your expectations of privacy should be liminal,
if at all.
limn: (verb) (pronounced: lim, with a silent "n,", just like "limb,"
which has a silent "b") to depict or describe in painting or words. Once you finish limning what you saw,
you're free to go.
lineament: (noun) (pronounced: lin-ee-ah-mint) a distinct
feature or characteristic, especially of the face. Such a long nose, granny. What a peculiar lineament you have.
linearity: (noun) the property, quality, or state of being linear;
something that can be graphically illustrated in a straight line. The linearity of events is seemingly without question,
when, in fact, nowhere in nature do straight lines exist.
liquefaction: (noun) the process of turning what is usually a solid into
a liquid. During the earthquake, liquefaction turned the dirt into a swirling mass of... well, dirt.
lissome: (adj.) in reference to a person, thin, supple, and graceful. The barista was rather
lissome, but still looked silly wearing nothing but lacy underwear.
litigious: (adj.) that which comes from litigation; controversial.
Carla discovered how litigious her husband was when he demanded as condition of their divorce that he have custody of the
philodendron.
liturgical: (noun) relating to liturgy or public worship, and, of
course, liturgy is the generally formulaic process of conducting usually Christian worship. If the service weren't liturgical,
then how would anybody know they've even been to church?
livery: (noun) the special uniform worn by the servants of a wealthy household; a place where
horses are kept. The liveried butler showed Sir Basil's horse to the livery.
loathsome: (adj.) causing hatred or disgust. Even though
many people profess that they find the quality of television programming not only to be vapid, but loathsome, for whatever
reason, they still watch TV.
loggerheads:
(noun -- usually preceded by "at") in or into a state of quarrelsome disagreement. The couple was at
loggerheads on who would get the cat when they divorced, but the cat settled it all when she divorced both of them, getting
the house and alimony in the settlement.
logomaniac: (noun)
a lover of words; logophile. Well, yes, a logomaniac pretty much means the same thing as a logophile. But then,
if you were truly a logomaniac, you'd already know that.
logophile: (noun)
philologos; logomaniac; lover of words. If you are a regular viewer of this site, then perhaps you are a logophile.
logy: (adj.) tired; run-down; enervated. We were all
feeling logy after a long day on the road.
lollygag: (verb) to aimlessly spend time; dawdle. Are you going to spend the entire day
lollygagging about, or are you going to figure out where they got the meaning to this silly word? Gag, of course, means
to gag, and if I have to define that for you, it’s probably not going to help. A lolly, on the other hand, can
mean a small piece of candy (such as a lollipop), a bribe, to lose one’s temper, or an outdoor pit used as a toilet.
So the combination of “lolly” and “gag” makes sense if you’re talking about chocking on a piece
of candy or the smell of slowly rotting feces. A bribe or losing one’s temper? Not so much.
loth: (adj.) reluctant; unwilling. He was loth to take
the tortuous route.
Lothario: (noun) from a character in Cervantes Don Quixote;
a person who is unscrupulous in his sexual conquests; a Casanova; womanizer; philanderer; smarmy bastard. Edward liked
to think of himself as a Lothario, but the women didn't like to think of him at all.
lour: (verb) to look sullen; to frown; to become dark, gloomy,
and threatening. The weather loured on their picknick, which in turn caused everyone there to lour.
lout: (noun) hoodlum; yob; oaf; vandal; thug. The Square
used to be such a nice place to hangout until all them young louts started hanging around outside the malt shop.
louche: (adj.) disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing
way. The louche young lady was quite popular with the boys.
lubberly: (adj.) big and clumsy. I'm sorry, Nate, but we're
going to have to let you go. When we hired you to work here in the china shop, we didn't realize you were so lubberly.
lucre: (noun) (pronounced: luke-er) money which is gained
in a distasteful or dishonest way. Ya know, callin' your 30 pieces of silver lucre doesn't make it any better.
Lucullan: (proper adjective) (pronounced: loo-kull-ann)
extremely luxurious (especially when it comes to food) The oysters, wine, and caviar all helped to make the meal Lucullan,
but it was the Gummy Bears that put it over the top.
Luddite: (Proper Noun) from early 20th Century English
workers who destroyed machinery because they feared it would take their jobs; anybody who fears technology. You have
to be a certified Luddite if you believe you can put the technology genie back into its bottle.
lugubrious: (adj.) looking or sounding sad or dismal. We were rather lugubrious when the boss
announced we all had to come into work this weekend.
lummox: (noun) a clumsy, often stupid person. The little
lummox couldn’t quite comprehend how the definition of one word could lead to the definition of others.
luridity: (adj.) glaringly vivid or sensational; shocking.
After giving the lurid details of his previous date, he shouldn't've been surprised when we gazed on him with such luridity.
