despoil - des-POYL - ransack, devastate, pillage, ravage

Example: "Reuters Press reported that the massive earthquake to hit Chile yesterday despoiled a huge swath of the Andean country, as cars lay mangled and upended on streets littered with telephone wires and power cables; a new 14-story apartment building fell, while an older, biochemical lab at the University of Concepción caught fire. The mayor said that at least 300 people had been killed."

gemuetlichkeit - ghem-OOT-lich-KITE - warmth, friendliness, a kind of coziness

Example: "Good news for guzzlers: Researchers at the U of California found that drinking beer in moderation not only produces feelings of gemuetlichkeit, but also builds strong bones & helps prevent osteoporosis."

cloture - cloh-chyur - a procedure for ending a debate & taking a vote

Example: "Columnist Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post called a filibuster intentionally frustrating, but wonderful if you are trying to block something from happening. Senate rules allow members to supposedly debate a matter (to filibuster) indefinitely unless at least 60 out of 100 senators vote to cut off the filibuster; in other words, to invoke cloture. She wonders if cloture can occur with the ongoing filibuster over the health bill which remains now in 'debate'."

sagacious - sah-GAY-shus - shrewd, keen, perceptive, discerning, sage

Example: "After watching 35-minutes of TV advertisements during an hour segment of the Olympics, an observer made a sagacious comment: 'No doubt about it; all ads lie.'"

bucolic - bew-CALL-ik - relating to or characteristic of country life, especially noted for its rustic aspects

Example: "Hendrik, a young German fellow who volunteered to spend a year with Little Brothers in Upper Michigan's Copper Country, found the bucolic nature of the area very much to his liking."

voracious - voh-RAY-shuss - insatiable, out-of-control, rabid

Example: "Jon Meacham, critic for Newsweek, voraciously attacks the government with hopes for a change, insisting that '...there is a renewed sense that Washington works only for itself, fighting for narrow partisan advantages while large national & international issues go unresolved.'"

sturm und drang - shtoorm-un'-drahm - literally 'storm & stress,' a state of great emotional stress

Example: "Although the national economy has begun to bounce back, governors at a meeting of the National Governors Association said Saturday that the worst was yet to come at the state level, where revenues are still falling short of projections; therefore, they agreed, the sturm und drang also still exists at their level."