Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by Bermudaonion’s Weblog. Kathy says: “Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading.”

My word for the week is minatory. This is from General Winston’s Daughter by Sharon Shinn:

That did make him smile, though it made Lady Selkirk frown, misliking Averie’s tone again. “Well, General, if you’re sure,” she said in minatory accents.

Minatory according to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1979) means “having a menacing quality” and is a synonym for threatening.

Minatory sounds like just the right word to describe the actions of overly formal, disapproving people. It reminds me of the word bluenose that I posted about in the March 2 Wondrous Words Wednesday post. A typical bluenose wagged a minatory finger at early filmmakers.

Comments

Wondrous Words Wednesday — 6 Comments

bermudaonion (Kathy) on April 20, 2011 at 11:58 am said:

I like that one and will have to try to remember to use it tonight!

Reply ↓
mary Ann Langan on April 20, 2011 at 12:19 pm said:

Interesting word, thanks! for sharing.

Reply ↓
Martha@Hey, I want to read that on April 20, 2011 at 1:40 pm said:

Funny, when I first saw the word in the sentence I thought it would mean something like prissy not menacing. I like it. I’m with Kathy I’m going to try and use it soon.

Reply ↓
Laura Fabiani on April 20, 2011 at 2:34 pm said:

I would have thought this word was connected with “minor” therefore meaning low or small, etc., but I guessed wrong! Thanks for sharing and for visiting my writing blog.

Reply ↓
Julie @ Read Handed on April 20, 2011 at 2:39 pm said:

Thanks for sharing this word. It is new for me, as well. If you get a chance, my words are here: http://readhanded.blogspot.com/2011/04/wondrous-words-wednesday_20.html

Reply ↓
Margot on April 20, 2011 at 3:01 pm said:

Very good new word. My reaction was like Martha’s. But it makes sense, especially with your sentence including bluenose.

Reply ↓