Words Slate Editors Aren't Sure They Know

In a piece for Slate, travel writer Seth Stevenson created an 18-word quiz of "bubble" vocabulary, words Slate editors confess they will avoid because they are not sure what they mean. Here, we present Slate editors' trouble words in learnable form, to accompany our blog post, "Words You Ought to Know But Don't: Call it Bubble Vocab?"

Test your erudition as you master the words they don't know!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. atavistic
    characteristic of a throwback
    In team sports, coaches inculcate the atavistic spirit and focus of a hunting clan.
  2. ontology
    the metaphysical study of the nature of being and existence
    The shift in perspective from theism to atheism is arguably the single most important bit of progress in fundamental ontology over the last 500 years. Slate (May 9, 2013)
  3. shibboleth
    a favorite saying of a sect or political group
    Jindal mocked the “liberal shibboleth of ‘universal coverage,’” saying his plan is more focused on “containing the rising tide of health costs.”
  4. didactic
    instructive, especially excessively
    “Didactic courses are very adaptable to the Web,” she says.
  5. pedantic
    marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning
    Mr Gandhi was composed and reasonably articulate - if slightly pedantic - while setting out his vision for much-needed reforms in his party and for India's development.
  6. demur
    politely refuse or take exception to
    Told by a reporter that he and his wife looked glamorous, the mayor was quick to demur.
  7. solipsism
    the philosophical theory that the self is all that exists
    QBists are often charged with solipsism: a belief that the world exists only in the mind of a single agent.
  8. solecism
    a socially awkward or tactless act
    “Getting your itses mixed up is the greatest solecism in the world of punctuation,” she writes. Slate (May 23, 2013)
  9. heuristic
    a commonsense rule to help solve some problem
    In that, I presented the following heuristic visual.
  10. cache
    a secret store of valuables or money
    Video game archaeologists have found a huge cache of old Atari games that were buried in the desert 30 years ago.
  11. cachet
    an indication of approved or superior status
    The Times knows their cachet and brand trust with consumers. Forbes (Apr 29, 2014)
  12. avuncular
    resembling an uncle in kindness or indulgence
    Ghosh, 51, has the kind of soft, avuncular demeanor and tired eyes that evoke sympathy. Slate (Apr 11, 2014)
  13. suppurate
    cause to fester and discharge pus
    Many have trudged for days to get here, through swamps and murky rivers, and their wounds are suppurating and gangrenous. New York Times (Jan 12, 2012)
  14. erstwhile
    belonging to some prior time
    And its erstwhile frontline nations—East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Poland—have been absorbed into the West, indeed into NATO. Slate (Mar 28, 2014)
  15. sinecure
    a job that involves minimal duties
    Another key lure: These jobs are usually lifetime sinecures, with employees dismissed only for gross negligence. BusinessWeek (Oct 26, 2012)
  16. casuistry
    argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle
    This is the sort of right-wing casuistry that has marked not only the 2012 campaign but nearly every day that Obama has served in office.
  17. recondite
    difficult to understand
    He has the reputation of being a cerebral, even recondite, composer, but this is a tuneful and accessible score.
  18. tendentious
    having a strong bias, especially a controversial one
    Why should we be reassured by Obama’s reliance on a fuzzy and tendentious metadata/data distinction? Slate (Jan 17, 2014)
  19. sententious
    concise and full of meaning
    A short, pithy, and instructive saying; a terse remark, conveying some important truth; a sententious precept or maxim. Webster, Noah
  20. inveigle
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
    Even just the way computers would inveigle their way into our everyday lives.
  21. ravish
    hold spellbound
    Soprano Sophie Bevan brought ravishing vocal colours and a strong interpretive sensibility to the cycle, with both nonchalance and perceptiveness in equal measure.
Created on Wed Apr 30 10:35:49 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Apr 30 13:44:40 EDT 2014)

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