friable · /FRIY-ə-bəl/ · /ˈfrʌɪəb(ə)l/. adjective. Crumbly; easily broken up into fine fragments. In medicine, tumors that are easily torn apart and prone to malignancy. From Latin friāre (to crumble). Related to fricare to (to rub), from which we get friction, among other words. See also: pulverulent, frangible, brittle, flaky.
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fizgig · /FIZZ-gig/ · /ˈfɪzgɪg/. noun and adjective. A frivolous or flirtatious girl. A silly notion. A firework that fizzes. A spinning top. A harpoon or spear (also fishgig). In Australian slang, an informer. Perhaps from fizz (a hissing sound or disturbance), from obsolete fise (to break wind) + gig (multiple meanings, including frivolous person and whipping top), origin unknown but possibly onomatopoeic.
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/fəʊk/ noun. A people; a nation (collectively). A species; a kind. One’s family or kin.
farrago /fə-RAW-goh/. noun. A medley, a confused mess, a mixture, a miscellany. From Latin farrago (mixed fodder for cattle, also generally a mixture), from far (grain). See also: hodgepodge, hotchpotch, mélange, potpourri.
“What strange farrago of impossibilities have these holy dealers in occult divinity jumbled together?” (Thomas Holcroft)[Read more…]
fugacious /fyoo-GAY-shəs/. adjective. Inclined to flee. Fleeting, transient, evanescent. In botany, things that last for a short time, usually leaves. From Latin fugere (flee).
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fake /FAYK/. adjective or noun or verb. Not genuine. A counterfeit or forgery. To pretend. To produce a counterfeit.
feisty /FIY-stee/. adjective. Lively, tenacious, excitable, aggressive. From American English feist (small dog) > from fisting cur(derogatory term for lap dog) > from Middle English fysting curre (stinking cur) > from Middle English fysten (break wind) > from Proto-Germanic fistiz (fart). See also: spunky, plucky, gutsy, spirited, etc. || Pairs with the legendary Embuggerance & Feisty article.
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funambulist /foo-NAM-byoo-list/. noun. A tightrope walker. From French funambule (tightrope walker); from Latin funambulus; from funis (rope) + ambulare (walk).
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