Here are the meanings of the 10 hardest words that have also been used in New York Times articles.
1. tumid — swollen, or bombastic:
His once-tumid imagination now sagged like an empty skin. I tried to save him. I told Boss Christine had ghosted him. That she wasn’t a good lady. That she didn’t love him, never had, never would. His face turned dark against me. He erased me. — Opinion: Confessions of a Dating Profile (Jan. 3, 2020)
2. tippet — a long piece of cloth often worn over the shoulders; or, in fishing, a line that connects the leader to the fly:
I want a juicy Lucy and Gabrielle Hamilton’s fries. Also some good tippet nippers for fishing, new deck boots and a Fenix flashlight to replace the one someone stole from my desk. — What to Cook This Week (June 2, 2019)
3. pipit — a type of small, often brown, ground-nesting songbird found throughout the world:
Over the past 17 years, the numbers of birds in farming areas have dropped by a third. Some of the species have declined even more: Meadow pipit populations, for example, fell by 68 percent. Dr. Fontaine described the situation as “catastrophic.” — Farmland Birds in France Are in Steep Decline (April 11, 2018)
4. tempi — the speeds of pieces of music:
“I’ve had to rethink some of my tempi and how to keep that excitement,” he said. “To know when to press on the gas a little bit more.” The orchestra’s sound is mixed with that of the singers and transmitted live as an FM signal to each car’s radio. — Rossini at the Drive-In, as San Francisco Opera Returns (April 30, 2021)
5. acyclic — not having, or not part of, a cycle:
I would own health care, which is not eclectic, but also industrial commodity stocks, like paper and chemicals, and a combination of retailers, some media companies and some auto suppliers. Three of those sectors are cyclical. The fourth, health care, is acyclical. — Turnaround Prospects After Two Bad Years (Dec. 30, 2001)
6. tedium — monotony or dullness:
This show was created with another comic, Ramy Youssef, whose own superb, self-named Hulu series, “Ramy,” recorded an episode in Israel portraying daily life in the occupied territories of the West Bank, including the tedium of waiting at a checkpoint to cross over. — Dave Chappelle and the Perils of Button-Pushing Comedy (Oct. 26, 2023)
7. tutee — someone being tutored:
On the other hand, this is not your only tutee, and the school is, you say, good for many students, all things considered. — Should I Turn in My Tax-Cheating Relative? (Aug. 22, 2017)
8. nonillion — 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, at least in America (in Britain, there would be 24 more zeros):
According to The New York Times’s Playoff Simulator, there are 325 nonillion ways the season could end. That’s 325 followed by 30 zeros. So, a lot. — Who Will Make the N.F.L. Playoffs? Here’s Your Guide (Nov. 16, 2018)
9. nonclinical — not directly observing and treating patients:
In contrast to many other directories, ours include many low-cost, nonclinical supports, like warm lines that offer callers emotional support from volunteers who are in recovery themselves and information on local AA meetings. — I Answer the Phone at a Mental Health Hotline. Here’s What I’ve Learned. (Feb. 12, 2023)
10. logogram — characters or pictures that represent words:
A tiny likeness of a horse’s head was the logogram for “horse”; a tiny symbol that to my eyes resembles a television antenna was the logogram for “tree.” Soon, however, his progress stalled. — Book Review: Margalit Fox’s ‘Riddle of the Labyrinth’ (June 14, 2013)
The list of the week’s easiest words:
Eve Washington, Josh Katz and Tom Giratikanon
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