nacreous: (adj.) having a pearl-like luster; iridescent; from the word “nacre,” which
is also known as mother of pearl, or, in certain countries, the mother of all pearl. After drinking the entire bottle,
his skin had a nacreous tone to it.
nadir: (noun) rock bottom; depths of despair; all-time low. Hey,
buddy, can you spare some change? Anything will help. I’m at my nadir.
naïf: (adj.) naivety or inexperience. She was naïf
to believe that a letter is über cool if it has two dots above it.
natheless: (adv.) nevertheless. I know it was an accident,
but natheless, I'm going to sue you for everything you have, and then some.
natter: (verb) to talk casually about unimportant things; to chatter. Oh, that's just
Elvin, nattering on about the aphids.
navvy: (noun) a labourer employed to excavate and construct
roads, railroads, and canals. If the Navy is going to be able to use this port, then the navvies need to complete this
canal.
nebulous: (adj.) vague; foggy; clouded over. The politician’s
nebulous answer seemed plausible until we realized that she had really said nothing at all.
nefarious: (adj.) famously wicked; iniquitous. The Wicked
Witch of the West, won this year’s award for nefariousness.
neophyte: (noun) a person who is new to a subject, skill,
or belief; a recent religious convert. The neophytes made up in zeal what they lacked in knowledge.
neoteny: (noun) (pronounced: nee-ot-tin-nee) biologically
speaking, the retention of juvenile features in an adult animal, such as some bugs becoming sexually mature while still in
the larvae stage, or some salamanders still having gills when an adult. The best place to see examples of neoteny is
the junior high.
nesient: (adj.) lacking knowledge; ignorant. What made the
young man so nesient was that he didn't realize that everything he didn't know was cognizable.
nettlesome: (adj.) causing annoyance or difficulty. The nettles
in our yard were nettlesome.
niggardly: (adverb) an excessively parsimonious person. (OK,
really, this word is so close to such a nefarious word that you really should avoid it. However, next time you hear
it, you won’t think bad things automatically.) If she hadn’t been so niggardly, maybe they would’ve
had a second date. niggle: (verb) to complain; to object; to grumble. I had a niggling feeling that the cats
were partying the entire time we were gone. nigh: (adj., adv., or prep., depending on usage) near; almost. That building, nigh the
lake, is nigh over 100 stories tall, and you nigh near fell off of it.
nimbus: (noun) halo; aura; radiance. Get your nimbus shined
here. While you wait. Best shine in Eastern Heaven. Get your nimbus shined here.
nincompoop: (noun) a silly or foolish person. I wouldn’t believe that nincompoop, or
any of his nincompoopery. nitid: (adj.) bright; lustrous. She often knitted with
nitid yarn.
noblesse oblige: (noun) from the French, "nobility obligates," the
idea that with wealth, privilege, and power there also comes certain definite responsibilities. M'lady, when the peasants
insisted that you exercise your noblesse oblige, they had in mind a little more than cake.
noisome: (adj.) repellant; repulsive; repugnant; foul. After
finding the queen's offer to give them cake quite noisome, the locals counter-offered with the queen to give them her head.
nombril: (noun) on your shield, it's the half-way point between
the fess point (the center of the shield) and the middle base point of an escutcheon (a shield); on you, it's your belly button.
You carry an escutcheon so you can protect your nombril.
non sequitur: (noun) from the Latin “It doesn’t follow;”
a statement that does not follow logically from what proceeded it. It’s not so much a challenge to define a non
sequitur as it is to properly use that phrase in a sentence, so we ordered out for Chinese.
nosh: (verb) to eat food greedily or quickly; to wolf
down food. We're so glad you could be here to nosh on the turkey with us.
nougat: (noun) a candy made from sugar or honey, egg whites,
and nuts. Ted liked the nougat, but he would’ve preferred nuggets.
novitiate: (noun) (pronounced: no-vishy-et) a novice,
especially of a religious order. Listen, Carla. Get out while you can. Right now you're just a novitiate
teacher, but once you take the vows, there's no escape!
nubbin: (noun) a small lump;
a stunted piece; a stub. If you arrive late for dinner around here, you shouldn't expect anymore than nubbins.
nuditity: (noun) the act of not just being naked, but being profoundly naked. Bob was proud
of his nuditity, often walking out to get the paper completely nude.
nullity: (noun) something of no importance or worth. Tell those lies and you will see how
your credibility becomes nothing more than a nullity.
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