foofaraw · /ˈfu:fəˌrɔ:/ · /FOO-fə-rah/. noun. Originally fussy, vain or tawdry. Now: frivolous trappings, trinkets, or a great fuss or excessive amount of attention. From two languages: French fanfaron (boastful), Spanish fanfarrón (vain, ostentations, braggart). See also: brouhaha, commotion, fracas, hubbub, furore.
[Read more…]funest
funest · /fju:ˈnɛst/ · /fyoo-NEST/. adjective. Causing or portending death or disaster. Catastrophic, calamitous, lamentable. From French funest, same meaning, from Latin fūnus (funeral, death). See also: funestal, funestous.
[Read more…]friable
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.
[Read more…]fizgig
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.
[Read more…]folk
/fəʊk/ noun. A people; a nation (collectively). A species; a kind. One’s family or kin.
farrago
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)
fugacious
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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