We often hear terms used in the public discourse that we may not fully understand. Seems it might be useful to have a quick lexicon of a some of those terms. Believing as I do that words matter, here’s my contribution to a more informed debate.

Source…The Random House Dictionary Of The English Language  

Narcissism…1. Inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity. 2. Psychoanal. Erotic gratification derived from admiration of one’s own physical or mental attributes, being a normal condition at the infantile level of personality development.

Bluster…1. to roar and be tumultuous, as wind. 2. To be loud, noisy, or swaggering; utter loud, empty menaces or protests. 

Bully…1. A blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people. 2. Archaic. A man hired to do violence. 6. To act the bully, toward; intimidate/domineer.

Xenophobia…(Merriam-Webster) if you look back to the ancient Greek terms that underlie the word xenophobia, you’ll discover that xenophobic individuals are literally stranger fearing.An unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.

Nationalism…3. Excessive patriotism; chauvinism. 5. The policy or doctrine of asserting the interests of one’s own nation, viewed as separate from the interests of other nations or common interests of all nations.

Misogyny… hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women.

Machiavellian…2. Being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli’s The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described. 3. Characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty. 4. A follower of the principles analyzed or described in The Prince, esp. with reference to techniques of political manipulation. 

Racism…1. A belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others. 2. A policy, system or government, etc. based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination. 3. Hatred, or intolerance of another race or races.

Ill-Mannered…having bad or poor manners; impolite; discourteous, rude.

Crude…2. Lacking in intellectual subtlety, perceptivity, etc; rudimentary; underdeveloped.

Vulgarian… a vulgar person, one whose vulgarity is the more conspicuous because of wealth, prominence, or pretensions to good breeding. 

Superficial…4. Concerned with or comprehending only what is on the surface or obvious; a superficial observer. 

Bludgeoning…3. To force into something; coerce; bully: The Boss finally bludgeoned him into accepting responsibility.

Cocky…arrogant; pertly self-assertive; conceited: He walked in with a cocky air.  

Condescending…showing or implying a usually patronizing descent from dignity or superiority.

Duplicity…1. Deceitfulness in speech or conduct; speaking or acting in two different ways concerning the same matter with intent to deceive; double-dealing.

Self-Aggrandizement…increase of one’s own power, wealth, etc., usually aggressively

Conceit…1. An excessively favorable opinion of one’s own ability, importance, wit. 

Selfish…1. Devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s own interests, benefits, welfare, etc. regardless of others.

Provocateur…1. A person who causes trouble, causes dissension, or the like; agitator.

Provocation…1. The act of provoking. 2. Something that incites, instigates, angers, or irritates.

Provocative…1. Tending or serving to provoke; inciting, stimulating, irritating, or vexing. 

Obscene…1. Offensive to morality or decency; indecent; depraved; obscene language. 3. Abominable; disgusting; repulsive.

Superior…5. Showing a consciousness or feeling of being better than or above others; superior airs.

Materialist…1. A person who is markedly more concerned with material things than with spiritual, intellectual or cultural values. 

Trickery…1. The use or practice of tricks or stratagems to deceive; artifice; deception. 

Arrogant…1. Making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud. 

Vain…1. Excessively proud of or concerned about one’s own appearance, qualities, achievements, etc.; conceited. 2. Proceeding from or showing personal vanity: vain remarks. Syn. 1. Egotistical, self-complacent, vainglorious, proud, arrogant, overweening.

Vainglory…1. Excessive elation or pride over one’s own achievements, abilities, et.; boastful vanity.

Unfounded Claims…1. Without foundation; not based on fact, realistic considerations or the like

Haughty…1. Disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant; supercilious. 

Cruel…1. Willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others. 2. Enjoying the pain or distress of others. 3. Causing or marked by great pain or distress; a cruel remark; a cruel affliction. 4. Rigid; stern; strict; unrelentingly severe.

Con Job…Informal. 1. An act or instance of duping or swindling. 2. An act or instance of lying or talking glibly to convince others or get one’s way. 

Patronizing…displaying or indicative of an offensively condescending manner.

Self-absorbed…preoccupied with one’s thoughts, interests.

Self-justifying…1. Offering excuses for oneself, esp. in excess of normal demands.

Hypocrite…1. A person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs. 2. A person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements. 

Delusional…3. A false belief or opinion; delusions of grandeur. 4. Psychiatry. A fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact: a paranoid delusion.