Ailing

From Reader's Digest February 2009 p.27-8, by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon

1. nuptial  (adj.): Pertaining to a marriage.
   Ex: Everyone at the church was elated to see Matilda sob happily as she recited her nuptial vows.
2. Casanova  (n.): Man with many love affairs.
   

ambit \AM-bit\, noun:

1. Circuit or compass.
2. The boundaries or limits of a district or place.

profligate \PROF-luh-guht; -gayt\, adjective:

1. Openly and shamelessly immoral; dissipated; dissolute.
2. Recklessly wasteful.

conflagration \kon-fluh-GRAY-shuhn\, noun:

1. A large and destructive fire; a general burning.
2. Something like a conflagration; conflict; war.

entreat \en-TREET\, intransitive verb:

1. To make an earnest petition or request; to plead.
2. To ask earnestly; to beseech; to petition for.

impregnable \im-PREG-nuh-buhl\, adjective:

1. Not capable of being stormed or taken by assault; unconquerable; as, an impregnable fortress.
2. Difficult or impossible to overcome or refute successfully; beyond question or criticism; as, an impregnable argument.

raffish \RAF-ish\, adjective:

1. Characterized by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity, crudeness, or rowdiness; tawdry.
2. Marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputableness; rakish.

satiety \suh-TY-uh-tee\, noun:

The state of being full or gratified to or beyond the point of satisfaction.

crux \KRUHKS\, noun;
plural cruxes, also cruces \KROO-seez\:

1. The basic, central, or critical point or feature.

bucolic \byoo-KOL-ik\, adjective:

1. Relating to or typical of the countryside or its people; rustic.
2. Of or pertaining to the life and occupation of a shepherd; pastoral.

missive \MIS-iv\, noun:

A written message; a letter.

genial \JEEN-yuhl; JEE-nee-uhl\, adjective:

1. [Obsolete] Pertaining to generation or marriage.
2. Friendly, warm; kindly; sympathetically cheerful and cheering.

idee fixe \ee-day-FEEKS\, noun:

An idea that dominates the mind; a fixed idea; an obsession.

Pyrrhic victory \PIR-ik\, noun:

A victory achieved at great or excessive cost; a ruinous victory.

conspectus \kuhn-SPEK-tuhs\, noun:

1. A general sketch or survey of a subject.
2. A synopsis; an outline.

roseate \ROH-zee-it; -ayt\, adjective:

1. Overly optimistic; bright or cheerful.
2. Resembling a rose especially in color.

moribund \MOR-uh-bund\, adjective:

1. In a dying state; dying; at the point of death.
2. Becoming obsolete or inactive.

pellucid \puh-LOO-sid\, adjective:

1. Transparent; clear; not opaque.

homily \HAH-muh-lee\, noun:

1. A sermon; a discourse on a religious theme.

cohort \KOH-hort\, noun:

1. A group or band of people.