Something described as titanic is very great in size, force, or power.

// The batter saved the game in the bottom of the ninth inning by hitting a titanic home run right out of the park.

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“Absurdly, though, if you were standing on a Rodinian beach [on the ancient supercontinent of Rodinia] you might not have even noticed the seas rising at all. This is because, as the land bounced back from underneath the weight of the now-vanished ice sheets, and the gravitational pull of these titanic ice sheets on the oceans disappeared, the seas might have appeared to some Rodinian beachgoers to instead retreat from the coast, and even drop by over three hundred feet—despite the unthinkable rise in sea level globally.” — Peter Brannan, The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World, 2025

Before becoming the name of the most famous ship in history, titanic described that which resembled or was related to the Titans, the family of giant gods and goddesses in Greek mythology who were believed to have once ruled the earth. They were subsequently overpowered and replaced by the younger Olympian gods under the leadership of Zeus. The size and power of the Titans is memorialized in the adjective titanic and in the noun titanium, a chemical element of exceptional strength that is used especially in the production of steel.

Senescence is a formal and technical word that refers to the state of being old or the process of becoming old.

// Our grandparents, now in their senescence, are enjoying spending more time with family and going on new adventures together.

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“Pilates provides improvements in core strength, flexibility and balance, even when done just once a week. It can help with stress relief, as well as anxiety and depression. Among those 60 years of age and older, Pilates has even been shown to slow the process of senescence.” — Leah Asmelash, CNN, 7 Sept. 2025

Senescence can be traced back to Latin senex, meaning “old.” Can you guess which other English words come from senex? Senile might (correctly) come to mind, as well as senior. But another one might surprise you: senate. This word for a legislative assembly dates back to ancient Rome, where the Senatus was originally a council of elders composed of the heads of patrician families. There's also the much rarer senectitude, which, like senescence, refers to the state of being old (specifically, to the final stage of the normal life span).

Febrile is a medical term meaning "marked or caused by fever; feverish." It is sometimes used figuratively, as in "a febrile political climate."

// I'm finally back on my feet after recovering from a febrile illness.

// The actor delivered the monologue with a febrile intensity.

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"Peppered with exclamation marks, breathless and febrile, this is an utterly mesmeric account of how one man's crimes can affect an entire community." — Laura Wilson, The Guardian (London), 20 June 2025

The English language has had the word fever for as long as the language has existed (that is, about a thousand years); the related adjective feverish has been around since the 14th century. But that didn’t stop the 17th-century medical reformer Noah Biggs from admonishing physicians to care for their "febrile patients" properly. Biggs apparently thought his medical writing required a word that clearly nodded to a Latin heritage, and called upon the Latin adjective febrilis, from febris, meaning "fever." It’s a tradition that English has long kept: look to Latin for words that sound technical or elevated. But fever too comes from febris. It first appeared (albeit with a different spelling) in an Old English translation of a book about the medicinal qualities of various plants. By Biggs’s time it had shed all obvious hallmarks of its Latin ancestry. Febrile, meanwhile, continues to be used in medicine in a variety of ways, including in references to such things as "febrile seizures" and "the febrile phase" of an illness. The word has also developed figurative applications matching those of feverish, as in "a febrile atmosphere."

To amortize something, such as a mortgage, is to pay for it by making regular payments over a long period of time.

// If you apply extra payments directly to your loan balance as a principal reduction, your loan can be amortized sooner.

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“As part of some of the league’s commercial deals—where companies pay the league for rights of some sort—the NFL has received equity or warrants. … The warrants are priced at fair market value on the date of vesting and amortized over 10 years.” — Jacob Feldman and Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico, 5 Aug. 2025

When you amortize a loan, you figuratively “kill it off” by paying it down in installments, an idea reflected in the etymology of amortize. The word comes ultimately from a Latin word meaning “to kill” that was formed in part from the Latin noun mors, meaning “death”; it is related both to murder and a word naming a kind of loan that is usually amortized: mortgage. The original use of amortize dates to the 14th century, when amortizing was about transferring ownership of a property to a corporation, and especially to an ecclesiastical corporation—that is, a corporation consisting wholly of clergy. Such land was said to be in mortmain, which under the feudal system meant that the property was permanently exempt from a lord’s usual payment collections. Mortmain is of course another mors word. Its second syllable comes from Latin manus, meaning “hand,” the implication being that the property was held in the dead hand of a corporation—a hand incapable of paying out.

Retrospective describes something that relates to the past or to something that happened in the past.

// The museum has curated a retrospective exhibit of the artist's early works.

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"Our retrospective sense of time hinges on memory: Periods rich in novel, significant experiences feel longer, while routine collapses duration ..." — Marc Wittmann, Psychology Today, 16 Nov. 2025

At the year's end, both introspection and retrospection are common. While introspection involves looking inward and taking stock of oneself, retrospection is all about recollecting and contemplating things that happened in the past. A look back at the history of the related adjective retrospective reveals that it retains a strong connection to its past: its Latin source is retrospicere, meaning "to look back at." Retrospective can also be used as a noun referring to an exhibition that "looks back" at an artist's work created over a span of years. Once you have retrospective and retrospection behind you, you can also add their kin retrospect (most familiar in the phrase in retrospect to describe thinking about the past or something that happened in the past) and retro (usually meaning "fashionably nostalgic or old-fashioned") to your vocabulary, too.

Charisma refers to a special magnetic charm or appeal that causes people to feel attracted and excited by someone. A person with charisma is captivating and often admired.

// The young singer has the kind of charisma that turns a performer into a star.

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"Sports and showbiz have gone hand in hand since newsreels in the 1920s showcased the skills and charisma of Babe Ruth." — Carole Horst, Variety, 16 July 2025

The Greek word charisma means "favor" or "gift." It comes from the verb charizesthai ("to favor"), which in turn comes from the noun charis, meaning "grace." In English, charisma was originally used in Christian contexts to refer to a gift or power bestowed upon an individual by the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church—a sense that is now very rare. These days, we use the word to refer to social, rather than divine, grace. For instance, a leader with charisma may easily gain popular support, and a job applicant with charisma may shine in an interview.

Nefarious is a formal word that describes something as evil or immoral.

// Authorities suspect that the recovered materials were going to be used for nefarious purposes.

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“Introducing characters like Gorilla Grodd on DC Crime would help familiarize audiences with these figures before they potentially receive an expanded role in another project. Perhaps each season could focus on a different villain, highlighting their nefarious actions.” — Chris Agar, comicbook.com, 16 Nov. 2025

If you need a fancy word to describe someone who’s up to no good, nefarious has got you (and them) covered. It’s also handy for characterizing the “no good” such a dastardly devil gets up to, as in “a nefarious business/plot/deed.” Nefarious is most often used for someone or something that is flagrantly wicked or corrupt—it’s more applicable to the mustache-twirling supervillain than the morally gray antihero. In other words, there’s no question that a nefarious scheme, or schemer, is not right. Etymologically, this makes perfect sense: nefarious can be traced back to the Latin noun nefas, meaning “crime,” which in turn combines ne- (“not”) and fas, meaning “right” or “divine law.” It is one of very few English words with this root, accompanied only by the likes of nefariousness and the thoroughly obscure nefast (“wicked”).

A yen is a strong desire, urge, or craving for something.

// After dinner, the family went out for ice cream to satisfy their yen for something sweet.

// Students with a yen to travel should consider studying abroad.

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“If you’ve got a yen for succulent, right-off-the-boat Maine sea scallops, now is the time to get them.” — Stephen Rappaport, The Bangor Daily News, 26 Mar. 2025

Although yen suggests no more than a strong desire these days (as in “a yen for a beach vacation”), at one time someone with a yen was in deep trouble: the first meaning of yen, used in the late 19th century, was an intense craving for opium. The word comes from yīn-yáhn, a combination of yīn, meaning “opium,” and yáhn, “craving,” in the Chinese language used in the province of Guangdong. In English, the Chinese syllables were translated as yen-yen, and eventually shortened to yen.

Apropos is used as a preposition to mean "with regard to." It is frequently used in the phrase "apropos of."

// Sean interrupted our conversation about politics and, apropos of nothing, asked who we thought would win the basketball game.

As an adjective, apropos describes something that is suitable or appropriate, as in "an apropos nickname."

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"Once, at the height of COVID, I dropped off a book at the home of Werner Herzog. I was an editor at the time and was trying to assign him a review, so I drove up to his gate in Laurel Canyon, and we had the briefest of masked conversations. Within 30 seconds, it turned strange. 'Do you have a dog? A little dog?' he asked me, staring out at the hills of Los Angeles, apropos of nothing. He didn't wait for an answer. 'Then be careful of the coyotes,' Herzog said." — Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 8 Jan. 2025

Apropos wears its ancestry like a badge—or perhaps more fittingly a beret. From the French phrase à propos, meaning "to the purpose," the word's emphasis lands on its last syllable, which ends in a silent "s": \ap-ruh-POH\. Apropos typically functions as an adjective describing what is suitable or appropriate ("an apropos comment"), or as a preposition (with or without of) meaning "with regard to," as in "apropos (of) the decision, implementation will take some time." The phrase "apropos of nothing" is used to signal that what follows does not relate to any previous topic.

Grandiose is usually used disapprovingly to describe something that seems impressive or is intended to be impressive, but that is either not possible or practical.

// The long-vacant historic building has finally been purchased, and the developer has announced grandiose plans to make it the center of a new theater district.

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“Henry [VIII] was a leader known for his grandiose presentation, a love of dramatic rhetoric and self-promotion, and a fondness for blaming others. He carefully curated his image, issuing official portraits and closely managing public appearances. His reign concentrated power in one man and his obsessions.” — Philippa Gregory, LitHub.com, 29 Oct. 2025

When it comes to bigness, there’s grand and then there’s grandiose. Both words can be used to describe something impressive in size, scope, or effect, but while grand may lend its noun a bit of dignity (i.e., “we had a grand time”), grandiose often implies a whiff of pretension. The difference between a grand plan for the city park and a grandiose one, for example, might be the difference between a tasteful fountain and a garden full of topiaries cut in the shapes of 19th century literary figures. So if you’re choosing between the two, a helpful mnemonic might be that the extra letters in grandiose suggest that one’s ideas, claims, promises, schemes, dreams—you get the idea—are a bit extra.