a sweet almond-flavored nonalcoholic syrup used as a cocktail ingredient or food flavoring

Pronunciation:
ORR-zha

In a sentence:
When the sorority girls insisted on having orgeat in their drinks, the fraternity boys ran to the liquor store, stocked up, and ran back hand-in-hand, as much giddy as they were pathetic.

In a different sentence:
The party wasn’t the same once the orgeat ran out; one person suggested they use peanut oil instead, but that idea was met with several boos and a good many hisses.

the state or fact of being subjected to hatred and contempt as a result of a despicable act or blameworthy circumstance

Pronunciation:
OH-dee-um

In a sentence:
The odium resulting from his plagiarism of a well-known Shakespearean sonnet was too much for Dr. Leonard to bear—he drank a glass of poison lemonade, sat behind his mahogany desk, and waited.

In a different sentence:
Mrs. Bancroft had anticipated the odium to come while bombing the mailboxes of her son’s more intelligent classmates around report card time. But it had to be done.

a person or thing without an equal

Pronunciation:
NUN-such

In a sentence:
Brett was viewed as a nonesuch amongst his medical school peers; but his close friends knew that he was just an attractive poser who was having an affair with the dean.

In a different sentence:
In the sport of glove-less boxing, Ricky was a nonesuch and an idol; he was four-foot-four, bald, and did one thousand push-ups a day using only his knuckles.

a noxious, pestilential, or foul exhalation from the earth; also : STENCH

Pronunciation:
meh-FIE-tis

In a sentence:
The mephitis was so unbearable to the hunters, that they unanimously resolved to give up their life-long hobby, become vegetarians, and pick up golf instead.

In a different sentence:
Gina turned to her friend and raised her eyebrows while plugging her nose; her friend suggested that it was mephitis—but Gina knew the awful, shameful truth.

a mark placed over a vowel to indicate that the vowel is long or placed over a syllable or used alone to indicate a stressed or long syllable in a metrical foot

Pronunciation:
MAY-krahn

In a sentence:
Jason - unprepared and generally unintelligent - became very intimidated and very nervous when he saw the macron over the “a” on his exam paper. He became even more nervous when he saw the “f” with a “-” beside it two weeks later.

In a different sentence:
Dr. Karen’s favorite diacritic was the macron, which she found to be very pleasing to the eye, and very simple. Paradoxically, she absolutely hated the sound of a long vowel, and cringed whenever she heard one spoken aloud.

a bad state of affairs : MESS

In a sentence:
Harold and Nancy could think of no better way to describe their night than to say that it was a kettle of fish; they walked in the door covered in dirt and cough syrup, and went straight to bed.

In a different sentence:
The monthly newsletter accurately described the team building exercise as a kettle of fish; three VPs were found washed up ashore, the head of HR was found crying in the public restroom, and twelve interns just disappeared.

not capable of being broken or separated into parts

Pronunciation:
in-FRAN-jih-bul

In a sentence:
Lisa’s infrangible ethical resolve was the envy of all the younger girls in her community—all of whom wanted to be like Lisa, talk like Lisa, and unashamedly drink bourbon like Lisa.

In a different sentence:
The infrangible bond that Steven had forged with his stepmother made both Steven’s mother and father extremely jealous and resentful.

exhibiting excessive tone or tension

Pronunciation:
hi-pur-TAHN-ick

In a sentence:
Carrie’s hypertonic bladder was the talk of the town; especially during the winter months, when people would gather from far and wide to watch her lose control and shiver with shame as she performed single and double axels on the skating rink.

In a different sentence:
Harry’s hypertonic muscles were impressive to some, but seemed excessive to most.

a predatory person : LEECH

Pronunciation:
HAR-pee

In a sentence:
When Jacob’s friends called him a harpy, they did so because he never bought his own cigarettes. When they called him an idiot, they did so because he insisted on smoking, despite being aware of all the known risks.

In a different sentence:
Although it was clear to all her friends that Gina was a harpy and a money hoarder, they still loved her for her sense of humor and her willingness to share any prescription medication she might have available.

a diagram outlining the history of the behavior patterns (as of divorce, abortion, or suicide) of a family over several generations; also : a similar diagram detailing the medical history of a family in order to assess a family member’s risk of developing disease

Pronunciation:
JEN-oh-gram

In a sentence:
On the eve of his divorce being finalized, Richard looked over a genogram that his mother had prepared several decades ago, called her immediately, and sarcastically thanked her for warning him ahead of time.

In a different sentence:
When Sally got to the question about family illnesses on her new patient form, she attached a 300-page copy of a genogram which she’d whipped up the night before, and sat back in her waiting room chair, completely satisfied and incredibly proud.