Here are the meanings of the least-found words that were used in (mostly) recent Times articles.

1. tinhorn — pretending to have money, influence, ability — though actually lacking in these:

“If some tinhorn terrorist wants me, tell him to come get me,” the fictional Mr. Bush, played by Timothy Bottoms, barked at an overprotective security officer. “I’ll just be waiting for the bastard.” — A Macho Moment for America (Nov. 1, 2012)

2. tortoni — an ice cream made with heavy cream, maraschino cherries, almonds and more:

The rest are what kids in Bay Ridge and Corona used to want on their birthdays: tortoni, tartufo, spumoni. Of course, the other people at your table will say they have no room for dessert. Even on your first visit, you’ll know they don’t mean it. — At Don Peppe, Expect a Lot of Everything (June 20, 2017)

3. catarrh — inflammation of a mucous membrane, especially of the nose or throat, causing an increased flow of mucus:

Is it Kuh-TAR, like guitar? Or Kuh-TAH, like the British pronunciation of catarrh, a phlegmy sore throat?— How Do You Pronounce Qatar? Probably Incorrectly. (Nov. 21, 2022)

4. labile — liable to change; unstable:

Journals were key to the dissemination of the Jena Set’s ideas, but trying to fill their pages with good writing presented a logistical challenge, demanding a methodical pragmatism that didn’t always come naturally to the labile Romantics.— These Romantics Celebrated the Self, to a Fault (Sept. 14, 2022)

5. bilabial — articulated with both lips:

P and b are both bilabial plosives, meaning that your mouth does the same thing when you make the sound of both letters. The difference is that “b” is voiced, which for some people, makes it sound funny or strange coming at the end of a word. — IHOP Promotes Burgers by ‘Changing’ Name to IHOb, Gets Reaction (June 11, 2018)

6. arhat — one who has attained nirvana:

Another arhat also sits with mouth agape, a three-eyed demon by his side; the arhat Nagasena is half-naked, his robe bowing off his gaunt and starved frame. — The Lessons of Nothingness From Maverick Zen Monks (June 22, 2022)

7. bailee — The party to whom property is delivered under contract of bailment:

My grandfather’s system of dealing with a “skip” was to write largely fictional letters to the judge explaining that he went to great efforts to retrieve the still-missing bailee, and therefore did not deserve to be held accountable. — Grandfather and the Bounty Hunters (Aug. 26, 2017)

8. amebae — the plural of amoeba, a one-celled, microscopic organism:

More fortunate are bureaucracy, science, technology, sex, the executive branch of government and rationality itself — these, wisdom tells us, are rising, proliferating, differentiating and diffusing like amebae in the primordial biological soup. — The Symmetrical Family (Feb. 3, 1974)

9. eidetic — marked by mental images that are unusually vivid and almost photographically exact:

Among her varied gifts is a near eidetic recall. “What impresses me stays with me,” she said on a recent afternoon. — Pat Field’s New Hustle (Feb. 9, 2023)

10. iambi — A metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable:

Again, yes, if it’s by Edmund Conti of Summit, whom I know from a previous contest can get ornery if he doesn’t win something:

It takes more than pentametric iambi

To discuss all the woes of Giambi. — Can’t Anyone Here Write This Game? (April 3, 2005)

And the list of the week’s easiest words: