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Pretenders and Dabblers

  1. astrologaster
    a foolish or petty astrologer
  2. criticaster
    inferior or petty critic
  3. grammaticaster
    a piddling grammarian
  4. hereticaster
    a petty or contemptible heretic
  5. latinitaster
    a petty scholar of Latin
  6. logicaster
    a petty logician
  7. mathematicaster
    minor or inferior mathematician
  8. medicaster
    quack; charlatan
  9. militaster
    soldier without skill or ability
  10. musicaster
    a mediocre musician
  11. opiniaster
    one who obstinately holds to an opinion
  12. parasitaster
    a mean or sorry parasite
  13. philologaster
    petty or contemptible philologist
  14. philosophaster
    amateur or superficial philosopher
  15. poetaster
    petty poet; writer of contemptible verses
  16. politicaster
    petty politician
  17. rhetoricaster
    petty rhetorician
  18. scientaster
    petty scientist
  19. theologaster
    petty or shallow theologian
  20. usageaster
    self-appointed and conservative language usage expert
  21. witticaster
    a petty or inferior wit
Author
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobe
ID
82291
Card Set
Pretenders and Dabblers
Description
This small set of 21 obscure words consists of nouns used to define minor, inferior, or petty members of various professions. The words end with '-aster', a Latin pejorative suffix indicating incomplete resemblance or lesser status. These words are little used today, but in another age were devices of scorn used by the intelligentsia to deride their lesser fellows. With a little creativity, practically any name for a profession can be altered in this way, should you find a desirable object for your contempt.
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