Definition
- Exceeding reasonable limits: immoderate
- archaic: disorderly, unregulated.
(Ref: Merriam-Webster Online, Word of the Day, 1 October 2020)
Use it in a sentence
‘Oh no,’ Carlo groaned, as Frank walked towards them. He nudged the new girl, Lauren, and said under his breath, ‘It’s our resident alien.’
She looked at him, puzzled. Quickly and quietly, Carlo said, ‘It’s an office theory that Frank is actually an alien and had to attend a “How to be Human 101” course. I think he failed. You’ll see.”
As Frank reached them, his thus-far expressionless face positively burst into a smile. His grin was so broad Lauren swore she could count almost all of his teeth. ‘Carlo! Hi!’ he boomed.
‘Hey Frank. How are you?’
Frank stood there for a moment, hands on his hips. For a good 15 seconds, they stood looking at each other and Lauren did indeed get the sense that Frank’s mental computer was figuring out what to do next.
Suddenly, he threw his head back. ‘Oh! Oh! Carlo! I’m just great. AMAZING!’ At the end of the sentence Lauren almost heard the little autocue inside Frank’s head: smile again. He smiled again. ‘How was your weekend Carlo?’
‘Yeah, not bad. Bit of gardening. Good weather and all that.’
‘Oh!’ Frank threw his hands up in the air, making Lauren flinch. ‘Glorious weekend! The sunshine! It was marvellous. Marvellous!’ Smile broadly.
He turned to her. ‘And who’s this?’ Cock head to one side, use curious tone.
‘Hi, I’m Lauren. I’ve just started this week. Pleased to meet you.’
‘Wow! New! Well, welcome! Welcome Lauren!’ Nod and smile. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but possibly it was Frank’s inordinate enthusiasm for all things mundane that made him sound off-key. You could hear the capital letters, the exclamation point at the end of each ordinary sentence. His beady eyes watched and computed and seemed to make minor adjustments as needed.
‘Anyway! Must go. I’m off to give a presentation to some very eager beavers in Sales this morning. Some new technology being rolled out. Fascinating. So FASCINATING.’ His face contorted into an expression of wonder and he shook his head. Cue friendly grin. ‘See you later Lauren. Bye Carlo.’
Lauren watched him go in silence.
‘Well, what do you reckon?’ asked Carlo.
‘I was waiting for his forked tongue to zip out and catch a fly.’
Carlo laughed long and loud. ‘You’re going to fit in just fine.’