I think I've used, if not this one, then the -ous version, lol...

languor
\LANG-guhr; LANG-uhr\ , noun;
1.Mental or physical weariness or fatigue.
2.Listless indolence, especially the indolence of one who is satiated by a life of luxury or pleasure.
3.A heaviness or oppressive stillness of the air.

Quote:
Outside the window, New Orleans . . . brooded in a faintly tarnished languor, like an aging yet still beautiful courtesan in a smokefilled room, avid yet weary too of ardent ways.
--Thomas S. Hines, William Faulkner and the Tangible Past

Origin:
Languor is from Latin languor, from languere, "to be faint or weak." The adjective form is languorous.
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Isn't that a lovely sentence, too?

I was thinking the same thing when I read it.

And I like languor and langourous - these seem like such rich words, so full of descriptive meaning.

phantasmagoria
\fan-taz-muh-GOR-ee-uh\ , noun;
1.A shifting series or succession of things seen or imagined, as in a dream.
2.Any constantly changing scene.

Quote:
David Nixon created this version of the fairy tale -- a phantasmagoria of grim goblins, dancing cushions, flying fish and magical mirrors -- for his former company, BalletMet Columbus, in 1997.
-- Stephanie Ferguson, "Beauty and the Beast"

Origin:
Phantasmagoria is from French phantasmagorie, from phantasme, "phantasm" (from Greek, from phantazein, "to make visible," from phantos, "visible," from phainein, "to show") + -agorie, perhaps from Greek agora, "assembly."
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A very...specific...word, I think. I don't think I've ever used it but I can see its applications in perhaps a story of the supernatural or maybe in a carnival funhouse, lol.

I've heard it but never used it. I've always associated it with an extravagant show of unusual things.

I love this word. It nestles right into my pull towards the fantastic. Is that also perhaps were the word 'fantasy' came from?

Looks like it:

Here's today's...

salient
\SAY-lee-unt; SAYL-yunt\ , adjective;
1.Shooting out or up; projecting.
2.Forcing itself on the attention; prominent; conspicuous; noticeable.
3.Leaping; springing; jumping.
noun:
1.An outwardly projecting part of a fortification, trench system, or line of defense.
2.A projecting angle or part.

Quote:
He gave science an exciting, positive image when many Americans were skeptical of it, worried that its most salient effect was to disenchant the universe and undercut religion.
-- David A. Hollinger, "Star Power"

Origin:
Salient derives from the present participle of Latin salire, to leap. Other words deriving from salire are sally, to leap forth or rush out suddenly; and perhaps salmon, the "leaping" fish.

I love this word and use it all the time, both in speech and in writing. It just leaps off the tongue, like its meaning. Isn't it interesting that they think "salmon" might be derived from it - the leaping fish. Beautiful image.

Today's word feels very cumbersome but I still kinda like it:

solecism
\SOL-uh-siz-uhm\ , noun;
1.A nonstandard usage or grammatical construction; also, a minor blunder in speech.
2.A breach of good manners or etiquette.
3.Any inconsistency, mistake, or impropriety.

Quote:
In those days smoking in the streets was an unpardonable solecism.
-- Edmund Yates, Recollections

Origin:
Solecism comes from Latin soloecismus, from Greek soloikizein, "to speak incorrectly," from soloikos, "speaking incorrectly," literally, "an inhabitant of Soloi," a city in ancient Cilicia where a dialect regarded as substandard was spoken.
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Sorry today's took so long...I've been in a class at work all day (it was a fun one, too...all about the handling & storage of historical documents, which is a big part of what we do).

This is one of those words that I never know quite what it means. I can read it and try to memorize it, but it so doesn't sound or look like what it means, to me at least, that I will probably forget and never use it.

gravitas
\GRAV-uh-tahs\ , noun;
1.High seriousness (as in a person's bearing or in the treatment of a subject).

Quote:
At first sight the tall, stooped figure with the hawk-like features and bloodless cheeks, the look of extreme gravitas, seems forbidding and austere, the abbot of an ascetic order, scion of an imperial family who has foresworn the world.
-- John Lehmann, "T.S. Eliot Talks About Himself and the Drive to Create"

Origin:
Gravitas is from the Latin gravitas, "heaviness, seriousness," from gravis, "heavy, serious."
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Want to know something sad? I first heard/knew this word from one of the spell names in Final Fantasy...7 or 8? Both? It was a high-gravity spell that smooshed you down

I knew this word but didn't realize it had been taken whole into the English language. I always thought someone was being erudite, using a Latin word. Just goes to show what it takes to keep up with the times

I like this one well enough, though when I was young I'd mix it up with "astute"

hirsute
\HUR-soot; HIR-soot; hur-SOOT; hir-SOOT\ , adjective;
1.Covered with hair; set with bristles; shaggy; hairy.

Quote:
He was incredibly hirsute: there was even a thick pelt of hair on the back of his hands.
-- Tama Janowitz, By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee

Origin:
Hirsute comes from Latin hirsutus, "covered with hair, rough, shaggy, prickly."

This is one of those comfortable words to me. I sometimes associate it with Al Hirt, because of his beard and the name (you know, hirsute Al Hirt). Okay, it is a little silly but it helped me remember the meaning of the word.

For you young'uns, Al Hirt was a famous American trumpeter and bandleader of the '60s and '70s. He died in 1989.

Here's a common enough one:

potable
\POH-tuh-buhl\ , adjective;
1.Fit to drink; suitable for drinking; drinkable.
noun:
1.A potable liquid; a beverage, especially an alcoholic beverage.

Quote:
If you drink from the spring, which is shaded by a fig tree, you will supposedly feel younger and more loving. Unfortunately, you may also feel sick: the government warns that the water is not potable.
-- Gene Burns, "The Stuff of Myths"

Origin:
Potable comes from Late Latin potabilis, from Latin potare, "to drink."
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What's funny is, I first learned this word as a kid by watching Jeopardy...they often had a category called "Potent Potables"