Over the past few weeks, or should I say months, I have enjoyed constructing my A to Z list of unusual, often obsolete words . When we reached words beginning with the letter z I thought we had reached an end. However, I have been asked to summarise this project, to give all the words we have looked at in one blog with a brief explanation for each one. On reflection I thought what a good idea! If anyone is looking for a different word to use, hopefully they will find some inspiration here. We have a bit of everything, from fun words, to some that can only be described as insulting. Anyway, here we go!
Asinine – extremely or utterly foolish.
Balter – to tumble or dance clumsily, can also mean to tangle or stick together.
Cachinnator – a person who laughs loudly and immoderately.
Cockalorum – describes a little man with a very high opinion of himself.
Defenestration - the act of throwing something or someone out of the window.
Ebberman – one who fishes under bridges.
Flibbertigibbet – one who is flighty and whimsical.
Gobemouche – a silly or naive person who believes everything they hear.
Hornswoggle – a slang term meaning to cheat, hoodwink, swindle or deceive.
Impignorate - to place in pawn or to mortgage.
Illecebrous – pretty, attractive, alluring and enticing.
Jocoserious – half serious and half in jest.
Janiform – to resemble the god Janus, having two faces looking in different directions.
Koniology - the study of atmospheric dust and the effect it has on animal and plant life.
Leman – a secret lover or mistress.
Lavolta – a lively, bouncy dance.
Maunder – to ramble foolishly, or to move or act in a dreamy way,
Malefic – describes someone capable of causing harm and destruction, especially by supernatural ways.
Nitid – bright, glistening and radiant.
Obstreperous – to refuse to act in a reasonable way.
Postprandial – after a meal.
Preprandial – prior to a meal.
Posthumous – occurring after death.
Panurgic - skilled and adept at all kinds of work.
Quidnunc – an inquisitive and gossipy person.
Riziform – shaped like a grain of rice.
Ragabash – an idle and worthless fellow.
Runagate – a deserter or renegade.
Rampallian – a scoundrel and a rascal.
Sabrage – the technique of opening champagne bottles with a sabre.
Tantalus – A locked case containing bottles or decanters of wine; the contents of which can be seen.
Ubiquitous – to appear to be in many places at the same time.
Ventripotent – describes a greedy individual with a big belly.
Vesthibitionism – flirtatious display of undergarments by a woman.
Verecund – shy and modest.
Woundy – causing or characterised by wounds: or excessive.
Xerophagy – is a restrictive diet, often a form of fasting.
Xerophobia – the fear of dryness or dry places.
Xylophobia – the fear of forests.
Xenophobia – the fear of anything or anyone foreign.
Xenophilia – a person who is attracted to that which is foreign such as people tradition and cultures.
Yegg – a thief or burglar.
Yex – to hiccup or burp.
Zenzizenzizenzic – an obsolete mathematical term represent the eighth power of a number.
Zelotypia – a morbid jealousy; or an excessive zeal for carrying out a project.
Zonary – of a relating to a zone.
Zwischenzug – a tactical chess move.
As I'm sure you realize this is just a fraction of the many rare and unusual words we could have looked at. This is simply a list of words that I would like to share with you. As you will have notice some letters have lots of words that appeal to me and I hope I am forgiven that I did not include the same number of words for each letter; I just can't help myself, sometimes I get carried away!
If you would like any help with your written English, please visit our website at www.writtenenglishcorrected.com. Don't forget there is a 10% discount available throughout June for any customers who mention the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment