Cinnamon’s word of the day: adversary An enemy or opponent. “My latest adversary is an insolent gray mouse that hides under the couch just when I’m about to finish it off.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: posterity People in the future. “The female human took a paint-your-pet class and said it was for posterity, then got teary-eyed and hugged me.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: fret To worry or be concerned. “It’s not in my nature to fret, but it’s been two hours since anyone told me I’m a good kitty.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: chthonic Of or relating to the underworld. “I dreamt that hell’s chthonic darkness was filled with lippy squirrels, yapping dogs, neighborhood turkeys, and veterinarians.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: tribulation An experience that causes someone to suffer. “When the spider climbed over the computer screen the female human screeched, but her tribulation got worse after she watched me eat it.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: feckless Weak, ineffective, or worthless. “I’ve had it with feckless telephone solicitors because they have never offered me anything remotely interesting, like a monthly box of catnip.”

Today’s word of the day, as requested by @DeliaTheSheep: shiv A small usually improvised pointed or bladed weapon. “Cats have built-in shivs, but they must be used wisely: I sharpen them only in one spot on the sofa, even though the humans don’t appreciate my restraint.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: lucid Very clear and understandable. “My lucid demands for cat snacks include yowling, begging (I’m not proud to admit this one), hanging on the pantry doorknob, and perhaps a shiv.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: deter To cause someone to decide not to do something. “The humans spend a good portion of their days trying to deter me from any number of things, but I’ve got to be me.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: ilk Sort or kind. “If a person selling something comes to the door and doesn’t bring cat snacks or something of that ilk, I won’t open it.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: jerkwater Remote and unimportant. “I’d like to send the lippy squirrel to a jerkwater town with an overpopulation of bored cats and dogs.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: aspersion A false or misleading charge against someone. “The keys went missing and the humans tried to cast aspersions my way but I spent the afternoon sleeping on the back of the sofa (as far as they could tell).”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: dulcet Pleasant to hear. “When I was a kitten my mother and I sang the songs of our people, but when I sing them to the humans they don’t seem to appreciate my dulcet voice—or maybe it’s the time I sing them (2 a.m.).”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: jurisprudence The science or philosophy of law. “The humans and I disagree about this family’s jurisprudence: my understanding includes more cat snacks; their understanding includes more rules.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: herald To signal the beginning or arrival of something. “The sound of the garage door heralds the return of the humans from work, which excites me because they might have gone to the grocery store.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: fealty Intense loyalty or fidelity to a person, group, etc. “When I was adopted I pledged fealty to them, but I never mentioned anything about occasional shivs (when called for), throwing up in the most inconvenient places, or instant mood changes.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: sanctimonious Behaving as though one is morally superior to other people. “I’ve been accused of being sanctimonious but that can’t be true because I AM superior to humans.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: catastrophe A terrible disaster. “It’s a catastrophe that the dog and squirrel unions lobbied to make the word catastrophe instead of dogastrophe or squirrelastrophe, which is far more accurate.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: extenuate To lessen the strength or effect of something, such as a risk. “To extenuate the consequences of putting bite marks in the butter—and because it’s so good—I hid it under the ottoman and had a glorious day eating it.”

Cinnamon’s word of the day: nonplus To perplex. “I just saw the neighborhood raccoon and the lippy squirrel sitting together telling jokes and I’m so nonplussed I need to lie down.”