Entry: scrofulous (adj.)
In context: "First there are the younger scrofulous boneheaded black-T-shirt-and-spiked-braclet types who do not have the the sense to regret the impulsive permanency of their tatts, and will show them off to you with the same fake-quiet pride with which someone more of Ewell's own social stratum would show off their collection of Dynastic crockery or fine Sauvignon."
Definition: Caused by, or of the nature of scrofula.
Scrofula (n.): A constitutional disease characterized mainly by chronic enlargement and degeneration of the lymphatic glands
Other: DFW is reaching here a bit. I looked up the symptoms of scrofula, and can't find anything that would make this sentence make sense.
Oh wait.
Always check the entire list of definitions.
fig. Of literature, etc.: Morally corrupt.
So it turns out the word is perfectly cromulent.
SNOOT score: 1
Page:206
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
Definitive Jest is a vocabulary-building and SNOOT-approved word-of-the-day blog centered around David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.
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