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Sycophantic – a characteristic of or relating to a sycophant (an informer, a talebearer, a parasite, one who seeks favor by flattering people of wealth or influence)
Not until the book was launched did he give an exclusive interview to She on TV4, once again scooping the state-run stations. But the questions were anything but sycophantic.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Delphic – oracular; obscure in meaning; ambiguous
When she was asked why the previous year’s exposé of Wennerström had been such a fiasco, she was even more delphic. She never lied, but she may not always have told the whole truth.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Vitriolic – extremely biting or caustic; sarcastic; sharp and bitter
“For me, it’s also important that you absolutely understand that I have nothing whatsoever to do with this vitriolic attack.”
Vanger to Blomkvist, in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson
Cogitation – the act of thinking; thought; meditation; contemplation
After six months of fruitless cogitation, the case of Harriet Vanger cracked open.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Importunate – pressing or urging in request or demand; urgent and persistent in solicitation; refusing to be denied; annoyingly urgent or persistent; causing vexation; troublesome
Cecelia Vanger kept her distance. Blomkvist did not want to be importunate, so he waited a week before he went to her house.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Gallimaufry – a hodgepodge; a jumbled assortment
Every family had a few skeletons in their cupboards, but the Vanger family had an entire gallimaufry of them.
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Kitsch – something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality; a tacky or lowbrow quality or condition (Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
“That’s where Eugene Norman lives. He’s in his late seventies and is a painter of sorts. I think his work is kitsch, but he’s rather well known as a landscape painter.”
Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Assuaged – to pacify, calm, satisfy, or quench
“And always it assuaged me
from the dry bowl of the very far past.”
Mary Oliver, “Mornings at Blackwater“
Banditti – plural form of bandit – an outlaw, robber, or highwayman
“Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Children’s Hour“
Bivouac – the guard or watch of a whole army, as in cases of great danger of surprise or attack
“In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like the dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Psalm of Life
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