compunctious

Pronounced: kuhm-PUNG(k)-shus

Notes: I knew of “compunction”, but not this word

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Yesterday’s word

The word four-flusher means “a pretender, bluffer, or fraudster”

First usage

This word started to be used in the early 1900s

Background / Comments

The word comes from poker. A “flush” is five cards of the same suit. Someone who has four cards of the same suit has a four-flush, but it is a worthless (almost? – I’m not a poker player) hand. A player who pretends to have a full flush when he only has four of the needed cards is a “four-flusher”, and thus the meaning.