Gnomic is a formal word that describes something cryptically said or written in few words.
// The painter is notorious for offering terse, gnomic responses to questions about her work that leave interviewers and critics scratching their heads.
Pedagogical is a formal word used to describe things that are of or related to teachers or education.
// The new professor is known for particularly engaging pedagogical methods.
Nurture is most often used to mean “to help someone or something grow, develop, or succeed.” It can also mean “to take care of someone or something that is growing or developing by providing food, protection, a place to live, etc.,” or “to hold something, such as an idea or strong feeling, in your mind for a long time.”
// Art teachers nurture their students’ creativity.
// She nurtured a secret ambition to be a professional singer.
Invidious is a formal word used to describe things that are unpleasant and likely to cause bad feelings in other people. Such bad feelings may include resentment, discontent, animosity, or envy.
// Psychologists caution against drawing invidious comparisons between other people’s lives as portrayed on social media and one’s own.
Torpor is a formal word for a state of inactivity and sluggishness. It can also be used, especially in the context of hibernating and estivating animals, to refer to a state of lowered physiological activity.
// The magazine offers lots of ideas for activities designed to shake off the torpor of a rainy day.
Colloquial is used with words like term and word and expression to describe language that is used in familiar and informal conversation.
// The author can switch from formal academic language to a charmingly colloquial style, depending on the audience and subject of her writing.
To mitigate something is to make it less severe, harmful, or painful.
// One way we can mitigate the impact the construction project will have on residents is to commit to completing it in the allotted time.
Spindrift refers to spray blown from waves during a gale or to fine wind-borne snow or sand.
// Our whale-watching cruise was a whirlwind of flukes, fins, and clinging to the handrails amid the waves and salty blasts of spindrift.