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DFW has a fabulous vocabulary. I started keeping a list of my favorite new words from the novel. Here are a few.
homodont - only having one kind of tooth. I didn't even know this was possible, much less that there was a word for it.
figurant - 1. A member of a corps de ballet who does not perform solos. 2. A stage performer having no speaking part.
pedalferrous - So obscure that it does not appear in any online dictionary, but this is what I could piece together. It is related, I think, to pedalfer which means soil that is characterized by an abundance of aluminum and iron oxides. Pedalfers are common in humid regions and are deposited in the B horizon of ABC soils, through leaching. And a comment I found posted two years ago on Wordie says it is an adjectival form of the noun pedalfer, used within Infinite Jest antonymically in relation to denuded and fallow.
annular - ring-shaped. Knew this word already, but now it is a part of my everyday vocabulary instead of being a strictly special occasion kind of word.
What are your favorites? I wish I had written down more, but since I didn't, I will steal some of yours!
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