Word of the Day: unusual words you may not have heard of

[Brian G Turner]

I came across a couple of words I'm not familiar with recently, and thought it might be fun to have a thread showcasing perhaps less common words.

Here's my first:

magniloquent

using high-flown or bombastic language.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Another one:

malversation

corrupt behaviour in a position of trust, especially in public office.

 

[SilentRoamer]

Ooooh I love this thread already

Chiaroscuro
- the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting

 

[The Judge]

Ha! Knew all three so far!

A word I used recently that some non-Chrons writers objected to as too difficult:

Peroration
- the conclusion of a speech in which the main points are reiterated with greater emphasis (but the use of the word suggests the speech has gone on far too long already)


And if anyone is interested in some old thoughts on arcane words here's a thread I prepared earlier eloquent... exotic... esoteric... (please provide definitions)

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

sesquipedalian

noun (plural sesquipedalians)
1. A long word.
2. A person who uses long words.

adjective (comparative more sesquipedalian, superlative most sesquipedalian)
1. (of a word or words) long; polysyllabic.
2. Pertaining to or given to the use of overly long words.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

And this following is a personal favourite …

mallemaroking

noun (uncountable)
1. (historical, nautical) Carousing on icebound Greenland whaling ships.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

heteroglossia

noun (uncountable)
1. (linguistics) the coexistence of distinct varieties within a single language.

 

[AlexH]

I can't remember any off the top of my head, but it didn't occur to me than an American would have no idea of what a lilo was. It comes from a brand "Li-Lo", much like many of us in the UK say "hoovering" whether we're using a Hoover or not.

A type of inflatable mattress which is used as a bed or for floating on water.

It comes from "lie low" according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

prosody

noun (countable and uncountable, plural prosodies)
1. (linguistics) The study of rhythm, intonation, stress, and related attributes in speech.
2. (poetry) The study of poetic meter; the patterns of sounds and rhythms in verse.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

absquatulate

verb (third-person singular simple present absquatulates, present participle absquatulating, simple past and past participle absquatulated)
1. (intransitive, slang) To leave quickly or in a hurry; to take oneself off; to decamp; to depart, flee. [from 19th c.][3]
2. (intransitive, slang) to abscond.

Anyone's best guess is that this word is a blend of abscond +‎ squat +‎ perambulate. But the weird thing is that the UK English dictionary in my version of MS Word recognised it!

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

Let's see if we can push the forum's typographical capabilities, just a whimsy. This Japanese word is one that I collected while still working at HBJ …

つじぎり (rōmaji tsujigiri, literally crossroads killing)

noun
1. The killing of a chance passerby on the road at night, in order to test the sharpness of a sword or to improve one's skill.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

Here's a handy word, for writers of fantasy:

grith

noun (countable and uncountable, plural griths)
1. (obsolete) guaranteed security, sanctuary, safe conduct; asylum.
2. (historical) security, peace or protection guaranteed in particular instances in Old English law.
3. (historical) a place of protection, a sanctuary; asylum.

 

[CTRandall]

Perhaps this is too well-known to be of interest but I always liked exsanguinate--to drain of blood, or exsanguinated--drained of blood

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

Hooray! There's life in this thread, yet.

 

[Danny McG]

つじぎり (rōmaji tsujigiri, literally crossroads killing)

noun
1. The killing of a chance passerby on the road at night, in order to test the sharpness of a sword or to improve one's skill.

Can I ask ... is there a different word if you kill a passerby in daytime?

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

I've not the foggiest, man.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

gobemouche

noun (plural gobemouches)
1. A naïve person.

 

[Guillermo Stitch]

One of my favourite words is "chitinous".

None of you can use that now, it's mine.

 

[ZlodeyVolk]

I'm tempted to respond with 'integument' … but this thread seems to be a bit of a fizzer.

 

[Guillermo Stitch]

Integument - I like it! I can see myself using this thread as a reference.