He paused, then said, “Gahhh, I love the word crux.  How could anyone not love that word?”

I giggled.

He continued, “The word even looks like what it is, like this important little block, this core.”

“Mmm,” I said in agreement.  “How about cavalier?  Rolls right off your tongue.”

“Applause,” he said.

“Callous.”

“Archaic.”

“Valor,” I said.  “Doesn’t it just make you want to storm a castle?”  I pushed up my sleeve.  “Look, I have goosebumps!”

Other favorites:

intrepid

sentinal

civic

rogue

What are yours?