n. a system of flexible and informal organization and management in place of rigid
bureaucracy The need for informational flexibility undermines old organisational structures: adhocracy takes over as leaders seek to bypass hierarchies. APODICTIC adj. of a proposition; necessarily true or logically certain It has also been pointed out that the laws in the Old Testament may be classified as either apodictic in form ("thou shalt" or "thou shalt not") or "casuistic" ("when a man, he shall"). ASPERITY n. the quality of being hard to endure, uninviting or formidable I dread the asperity of northern winters. BEATITUDE n. a state of supreme happiness or blessedness His face had taken on the expression of imbecile beatitude the religious sometimes adopt. CAPRICIOUS adj. changeable; determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason The capricious bride-to-be has a different church in mind for her wedding every few days. CAPTIOUS adj. tending to find and call attention to faults A captious attitude often causes difficulties in a relationship. CHOLERIC adj. easily moved to anger Men of the choleric type take to kicking and smashing. CORNUCOPIA n. goat's horn filled with grain and flowers and fruit symbolizing prosperity; the property of being extremely abundant This is a time of abundance when bird, beast and insect gather to share the cornucopia. DENOUEMENT
n. the unraveling of a plot or story; the outcome of a complex sequence of events
I waited by the eighteenth green with thousands of spectators to see the denouement. DILATORY adj. slow to act; intended to cause delay The White House scolds Congress for being dilatory in finding cash for Panama and Nicaragua. EKISTICS n. the study of human settlements In ekistics, the terms polis, metropolis, and megalopolis denote settlement populations of 75 thousand, 4 million, and 150 million, respectively. To anybody familiar with the rudiments of ekistics the horrendous traffic jams were foreseeable. EXTEMPORE adj. & adv. with little or no preparation or forethought This is usually performed extempore, following the whims of the singer, musician and/or dancer. FECUNDITY n. fertility or productiveness His work has been translated into over twenty languages and is a prime example of the brilliance and fecundity brought to the English novel by writers who have landed on these shores. LUMPEN adj. relating to a dispossessed social class; a member of the crude and uneducated lowest class of society; mentally sluggish; misshapen and ponderous Both families had been transformed from what might be called alumpen peasantry into what Marx did call the lumpen proletariat. The nose was large and lumpen; the hair was stringy and unkempt. MENDACIOUS adj. dishonest; given to lying The loss of confidence which set in after Stalingrad was not least a consequence of the totally misleading and outrightly mendaciousGerman propaganda which had preceded the catastrophe. MEPHISTOPHELIAN
adj. characteristic of a devil; wicked
His Mephistophelian eyes unsettled his teachers. NUGATORY adj. having little or no value or importance Social custom made this proviso almost nugatory. OPSIMATH n. person who begins to learn or study only late in life. It was strange, yet refreshing, to see the opsimath working diligently in his study group with piers 50 years his junior. ORNERY adj. bad-tempered, irritable, or very difficult and contrary. Few took any notice of his complaints for he was well known around the village as the ornery old military man. OTIOSE adj. superfluous or redundant (of a word or phrase); indolent; futile or functionless The linking commentary is often otiose and always plonking. Therefore, although there is a substantial overlap between section 1 and section 15, section 15 is not otiose. PECCADILLO n. a petty misdeed, sin, offense, or foible Equally if one lived in a society where everybody was constantly protesting against the smallest governmental peccadillo life would become intolerable. PELLUCID adj. transparent or clear (physically and metaphorically) At the end of the garden, the waters of the stream that had risenpellucid at their source lay curdled. Galbraith, as always, writes in pellucid prose. PERCIPIENT adj. discerning and quick in perceiving The ever percipient @jendziura is always worth a read. PHYLOGENY
n. the history or evolutionary development of something (especially a species)
The evolution of fins may also be traced across this phylogeny. PROLIXITY n. boring, drawn out verbosity Di Leonardo's personal secretary had issued a statement shortly after midday, a masterpiece of prolixity that took about five minutes to say that Ruggiero Miletti had been found dead and that another statement would be issued in due course. RUBRIC n. an established rule, tradition, or custom There are of course significant political differences between the USA and Italy, even though both come under the rubric of industrial capitalism. SARDONIC adj. humorously mocking, scornful, or cynical Separate rooms don't mean a thing, he retorted with a glimmer of asardonic smile. ...a sardonic dismissal of the philologists of our time for their joy at capturing worms and their indifference to the true problems, the urgent problems of life. SCHADENFREUDE n. delight taken in another's misfortune This led to divorce from his wife, who could perhaps be permitted some Schadenfreude at the fact that Van Den Hauwe's relationship had, perforce, become platonic. SEDENTARY adj. spending much time sitting and taking little exercise He was forced by illness to lead a sedentary life. SYBARITE n. a person devoted to luxuries and sensual pleasures He liked the good things of life but he was no sybarite. TELEOLOGY n. explanation of phenomena in terms of a design or end purpose rather than in terms of their causes The teleology of evolution as a goal-seeking activity persists in indefensible form a hundred years later in the writing of biologists. TIMOROUS
adj. having a timid or fearful disposition
He had been a quiet, timorous boy until he discovered the excitement of chasing women. TRUCULENT adj. scathingly harsh; ferocious He still took care to be rude and truculent at school to keep up appearances, but the old venom had faded. UNCTUOUS adj. fatty, oily, or greasy; excessively flattering, suave, or ingratiating It's wonderful richer and more unctuous in stuffings or to flavour sauces where you would normally use lemon or lime. He seemed anxious to please, but not in an unctuous way. UNGUENT n. an ointment used to soothe, heal, or lubricate A delightful unguent jar from Mostagedda carved from ivory in the form of a hippopotamus argues that the animal attracted favourable attention. VENIAL adj. forgivable or pardonable Half of the thousands of imprisoned debtors had been reduced to their state by venial errors or innocent misfortune. VERDANT adj. green and lush with grass or other rich vegetation Pompeii lay in verdant, wine-growing country and so gave special prominence to Venus, goddess of fecundity, Hercules and Bacchus. VITRINE n. a glass cabinet for displaying and protecting delicate items or specimens The preserved corpse was subsequently recased in the nineteenth century in a glassfronted mahogany vitrine