tautological

tautological \taw-TOL-uh-guh-kuhl\, adjective:

unnecessarily or uselessly repetitive

Perhaps the very term novel of ideas is tautological, for what novel is barren of ideas, unshaped by ideas?
-- Joyce Carol Oates, Loving the Illusions, New York Times, July 17, 1983

It may sound tautological to suggest that he wrote historically, because that was the way his culture had taught him to think, but that is the case nonetheless.
-- Donald Harman Akenson, Surpassing Wonder

by 1620 from tautologic, from Late Latin tautologia "representation of the same thing", from Greek tautologia, from tautologos "repeating what has been said," from tauto "the same" + -logos "saying," related to legein "to say"

consternation

consternation \kon-ster-NEY-shuhn\, noun:

sudden dread or paralyzing terror

To our consternation, the phone rang just as we were about to leave.

by 1611, from French consternation, from Latin consternationem, from consternare "overcome, confuse, dismay," from com- intensive prefix + sternare "throw down"

burnish

burnish \BUR-nish\, verb, noun:

1. to make shiny by polishing
2. a polish or shine

A burnish on the copper pots made them very attractive.

The craftsman burnished and refurbished metalworks.

c.1325, from Old French burniss-, extended stem of burnir, metathesis of brunir "to make brown/bright, polish," from brun "brown, polished," from a Germanic source

interminable

interminable \in-TUR-muh-nuh-buhl\, adjective:

so long as to seem endless; never stopping

The mother-in-law's talking was interminable.

c.1374, from Late Latin interminabilis, from in- "not" + terminabilis

pinchbeck

pinchbeck \PINCH-bek\, noun, adjective:

1. an alloy of zinc and copper used to imitate gold in jewelry-making; by extension, something counterfeit; an imitation
2. not genuine; fake

Watch out for the pinchbeck on the auction site.

We laughed at the pinchbeck heroism in the movie.

by 1734, named for Christopher Pinchbeck (c1670-1732), London watchmaker, who developed the alloy

myopia

myopia \mahy-OH-pee-uh\, noun:

1. an abnormal eye condition in which only closeup objects are seen clearly; nearsightedness
2. shortsightedness; lack of foresight

She wears contact lenses for myopia.

His myopia left him without supplies after the storm.

by 1727, medical Latin, from Late Greek myopia, from myops "near-sighted," from myein "to shut" + ops "eye"

expurgate

expurgate \EK-sper-geyt\, verb:

to remove objectionable words or passages from a document

Grimms' fairy tales have been expurgated for children.

by 1621, from Latin expurgat-, from expurgare, from ex- + purgare "to make clean"