Words that could be used more frequently

[jimbogumbo]

jejune

[ab_grp]

lachrymose

[dismalist]

And then, of course, we could use the word lachrymator instead of the term tear gas!

[Harlow2]

Inchoate

[Langue_doc]

anathema

[Vkw10]

Toothsome
Scofflaw

I second scofflaw.

[dismalist]

I love all this stuff! I've known all the words, save one, but do not use all that many talking and writing.

The one new word I learned is gurried:

Thanks to Meville, I know that gurried means "covered in fish slime."

Can't wait to use it :-)

[aside]

Please

[Langue_doc]

flaneur

[sinenomine]

behoove

perspicacity

[writingprof]

Racist.

Oh, no, scratch that.

[mamselle]

Compassion.

Even if it's already been mentioned above.

M.

[Cheerful]

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

[lillipat]

"Lugubrious" reminds me of a dear aunt, whom I didn't know well until I was grown, but my father, her brother, always mentioned with pride what an extensive vocabulary she had.  We were singing together at a workshop on sacred music, and she mentioned that she'd always disliked the lugubrious tune of a particular well-known piece.  And that was when I knew that she and I were indeed related!  I too had always disliked that tune, and I so loved that she termed it "lugubrious," because that's exactly what it was.

"Inchoate," on the other hand, reminds me vividly of my music theory prof, who used the term to discuss early developments of functional harmony.

[aside]

Coeval. Often a better choice than "contemporary."