As an antidote to all of the FEELINGS brought on by recent events, I've decided to resurrect my old hobby of blogging. I'm not sure that anyone reads blogs anymore. It's been 15 years since I've made a post on this vocabulary blog, but recent developments on social media are leading me to find different communication formats. 

I had selected a word for today, a word I thought would be a fitting restart to this blog, but a dear friend posted the following word on his social media today and I thought it much more appropriate. Thanks Tim!

NEFANDOUS

Pronunciation: (nuh-FAN-duhs)

Meaning

adjective: So wicked as to defy description: abominable, appalling.

Etymology:

From Latin nefandus (wicked), from ne- (not) + fandus (to be spoken), gerundive (verbal adjective) of fari (to speak). Earliest documented use: 1649.

Notes:

A synonym of today’s word is nefarious, but it’s from Latin fas (right, divine law) instead of fari (to speak).

Usage: 

“Does it not, then, fit such a man to a hair to call him nefandous? ... Better kiss an asp or a viper; then the risk is a bite and a pain which the doctor cures when you call him. But from the venom of your kiss, who could approach victims or altars? What god would listen to one’s prayer?”

Lucian (Translation: H.W. Fowler and F.G Fowler); The Works of Lucian of Samosata; Oxford University Press; 1905.

Stay tuned to increase your vocabulary.