Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, I had way too much time on my hands and, despite my variety of hobbies, I found myself unaccountably bored. What better, I thought, than to wade through my Collins Concise English Dictionary and make a list of words of which I had never heard!

Yes, I really did this.

Yes, I know: I am a very, very sad person.

No, don't write to bully me about it - I had enough of that at school!

Anyway, as "Reader's Digest" says: "It pays to enrich your word power"! I might be sad enough to have a look at the entire Oxford English dictionary one day - probably not until about twenty years time when I retire though. So if you have heard of any interesting words that are not listed here, by all means send me an e-mail!

A

• Amanuensis:  Literary assistant
• Anachronism:  Something/someone out of harmony with a time period
• Anthropocentric:  Regarding man as centre of existence
• Anthropomorphism:  Attribution of human form to god, animal or thing
• Antonym:  Word opposite in meaning to another
• Aphasia:  Partial or total loss of speech - i.e. "Phased"!
• Aphorism:  Short, pithy maxim.
• Apophthegm:  Terse or pithy saying
• Apostacy:  Renunciation of a belief once held
• Arcadian:  Ideally rustic; one who leads simple, rustic life
• Atavism:  Resemblance to remote ancestors rather than parents
• Autochthonous:  Indigenous, aboriginal
• Axiom:  Established or accepted principle; self-evident truth

B

• Baksheesh:  Gratuity, tip, (Persian)
• Bathos:  Unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the absurd or trivial
• Bellicose:  Eager to Fight; warlike
• Benthanism:  Belief in greatest happiness, or greatest number as a guiding principle of ethics; philosophy based on this
• Blitzkrieg:  Intensive campaign of war intended to bring about a swift victory
• Bohemian:  Socially unconventional
• Borborygmus:  Rumbly tummy noises!
• Bucolic:  Of shepherds, rustic, pastoral
• Byzantine:  Inflexible, underhand

C

• Cabal:   Secret intrigue, political clique
• Callipygous:   having shapely buttocks
• Calumniate:   Slander, defame
• Calumny:   Slander; malicious representation
• Canard:   Unfounded rumour or story
• Cant:   Insincere pious or moral talk; language peculiar to one class of people; jargon
• Cantabile:   In smooth, flowing style
• Capitulate:   Surrender, esp. on stated conditions
• Captious:   Fond of finding fault; raising petty objections
• Carminative:   Curing flatulence
• Catachresis:   Incorrect use of words
• Catamite:   The passive partner in homosexual practices
• Categorical:   Unconditional, absolute, explicit
• Catharsis:   Emotional release in drama or art; purgation
• Cavil:   Take exception (at); carp; find fault; petty objection
• Celidh:   Informal gathering for music, dancing, etc
• Chiaroscuro:   Treatment of light and shade in painting; contrast in literature
• Chicanery:   Clever but misleading talk, trickery, deception
• Chryselephantine:   made of, or overlaid with, gold and ivory
• Circadian:   Occurring about once a day
• Circumlocution:   Roundabout expression, evasive talk, verbosity
• Cicatrix:   Scar tissue
• Cladistics:   Study of connections between animal species by analysis of their common features
• Colloquy:   Talk, conversation
• Comestibles:   Things to eat
• Concatenate:   Link together, form sequence of
• Concupiscence:   Intense sexual desire
• Confrere:   Fellow member of profession
• Consanguineous:   Descended from same ancestor; kin
• Crepuscular:   Of twilight; dim; not yet fully enlightened.
• Croesus:   Person of great wealth
• Curmudgeon:   Bad tempered person
• Cynosure:   Centre of attraction or admiration

D

• Daguerreotype:   Early photograph using chemically treated plate
• Deliquesce:   Become liquid; melt; dissolve in moisture from air
• Dendrochronology:   Chronology by study of tree growth rings
• Desideratum:   Thing that is lacking but needed or desired
• Dichotomy:   Division into two parts or kinds
• Dilettante:   One who dabbles in subject without serious study of it
• Dionysian:   Sensual, wild, unrestrained
• Dirigible:   Capable of being guided
• Discombobulated:   Confused
• Doppelganger:   Wraith of living person
• Draconian:   Very harsh; cruel

E

• Ebullition:   Sudden outburst of passion or emotion; boiling
• Ebullient:   Exuberant, high spirited
• Eclectic:   Selecting ideas or beliefs from various sources
• Ectomorph:   A slim person!
• Egalitarian:   Of or advocating equal rights for all
• Egregious:   Outstandingly bad
• Eldritch:   Weird, hideous
• Elysium:   Abode of the blessed after death
• Encomium:   Formal or high-flown praise
• Endomorph:   Person with soft round build of body
• Ennui:   Mental weariness; feeling of boredom
• Ephemeral:   Lasting or living only a day; transitory
• Epistemology:   Theory of method or grounds of knowledge
• Eructation:   Belching
• Eschatology:   Doctrine of death and afterlife
• Etymology:   Origin and development of words
• Euphemism:   Use of mild or indirect expression instead of blunt one
• Evanescent:   Quickly fading
• Exegesis:   Explanation
• Existentialism:   Philosophical theory emphasising existence of the individual as free and responsible agent determining his own development
• Exonerate:   Free or declare free from blame

F

• Fabian:   Cautiously persistent; aiming at gradual social change
• Fecund:   Prolific, fertile; fertilising
• Floccinaucinihilipilification:   The above is the longest word in the English language but is not in many dictionaries!
• Fulminate:   Express censure loudly and forcefully; explode violently; flash like lightening

G

• Galvanic:   Producing an electrical current by chemical action; stimulating; full of energy; sudden and remarkable
• Garrulous:   Talkative
• Grandiloquent:   Pompous or inflated in language

H

• Hades:   (Greek myth.) - the underworld; abode of the dead
• Halycon:   Calm and peaceful; happy and prosperous
• Harangue:   Lengthy and earnest speech
• Hebdomadal:   Weekly
• Hedonism:   Belief in pleasure as the proper aim
• Heuristic:   Serving or helping to find out or discover; proceeding by trial and error
• Histrionic:   Dramatic or theatrical in manner or to impress others
• Hyperbole:   Statement exaggerated for special effect

I

• Iambus:   Metrical foot
• Icthyology:   Study of fishes
• Iconoclast:   One who assails cherished beliefs
• Ignominious:   Humiliating
• Imbroglio:   Complicated or confused situation
• Impecunious:   Having little or no money
• Incorporeal:   Without substance or material existence
• Incubus:   Oppressive person or thing; evil spirit
• Isochronous:   Occupying equal time; occurring at same time
• Isomorphic:   Substance having same form as another

J

• Jingoism:   Blustering patriotism; supporter of bellicose(qv) policy
• Jurisprudence:   Science or philosophy of law
• Juxtapose:   Put side by side

K

• Kinematic:   Of motion considered abstractly without reference to force or mass
• Kleptomania:   Abnormal urge to steal

L

• Lachrymose:   Given to crying; tearful
• Laconic:   Terse, using few words
• Lammas:   First day of August
• Laodicean:   Lacking zeal, esp. in religion or politics
• Lascivious:   Lustful; inciting to lust
• Lassitude:   Languor, disinclination to exert or interest oneself
• Lattitudinarian:   Liberal, esp. in religion
• Legerdemain:   Slight of hand; trickery; sophistry; juggling
• Leviathan:   Anything very large or powerful
• Lexical:   Of the words of a language
• Lexicography:   Compiling of dictionaries
• Lexis:   Words, vocabulary; total stock of words in a language
• Ligneous:   Of the nature of wood; woody
• Lilliputian:   Diminutive person or thing
• Lingua franca:   Language used by speakers whose native languages are different
• Lubricity:   Skill in evasion; lewdness; slipperiness
• Luddite:   Person engaged in seeking to obstruct progress
• Lugubrious:   Doleful

M

• Machiavellian:   Elaborately cunning; deceitful, perfidious
• Macrocosm:   Universe; any great whole
• Malapropism:   Ludicrous misuse of word, i.e. mistaking it for one sounding similar
• Malthusianism:   Doctrine that population should be restricted to prevent increase beyond means of subsistence
• Mendacious:   Untruthful, lying
• Mephistophelean:   Fiendish
• Meritocracy:   Government by persons selected for merit
• Mesomorph:   Person with muscular, compact body build
• Metaphysics:   Theoretical philosophy of existence and knowledge
• Micturition:   Urination
• Misanthrope:   One who avoids human society; hater of mankind
• Misogynist:   One who hates all women
• Myopia:   Short sighted
• Myrmidon:   Hired ruffian, base servant

N

• Naevus:   Birthmark in form of sharply defined red mark in skin
• Narcissism:   Abnormal self-love or self-admiration
• Narcosis:   Insensible state; induction of this
• Necessitarianism:   Denial of free will and belief that all action is determined by causes
• Nepotism:   Favouritism shown to relatives in conferring offices
• Nescient:   Not having knowledge of
• Neuralgia:   Intense intermittent pain in nerves, esp.of face and head
• Nictitate:   Blink, wink
• Noblesse oblige:   Privilege entails responsibility

O

• Obfuscate:   Obscure or confuse, stupefy, bewilder
• Objurgate:   Chide or scold
• Obloquy:   Abuse; being generally ill spoken of
• Obsequious:   Servile; fawning
• Omnifarious:   Of all sorts
• Omniscient:   Knowing everything or much
• Onanism:   Look it up, its a rude word I had not heard before!
• Ontology:   Branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being
• Opprobrious:   Severely scornful, abusive
• Opprobrium:   Disgrace; bad reputation, cause of this
• Orotund:   Dignified, pompous, imposing, boastful
• Ostensible:   Pretended, put forward to conceal what is real
• Oxymoron:   Contradictory words, e.g. Cheerful pessimist

P

• Pabulum:   Food, esp. for the mind
• Palindrome:   Word or verse, etc., that reads the same backwards as forwards
• Panacea:   Universal remedy
• Pandemic:   Prevalent over whole country or world
• Panegyric:   Lauditory, discourse
• Pantheism:   Belief that God is everything and everything God
• Pariah:   Member of low caste; social outcast
• Parkinson's Law:   Notion that work will always take as long as the time available for it!
• Paroxysm:   Sudden outburst of rage, laughter, disease, etc
• Parsimonious:   Someone who is thrifty, careful use of money; mean or stingy
• Parthenogenesis:   Reproduction from gametes without fertilization
• Peccadillo:   Trifling offence; venial sin
• Pedagogue:   Schoolmaster; teacher
• Pedagogy:   Science of teaching
• Perfidious:   Breaching faith
• Peripatetic:   Going from place to place; itinerant
• Periphrastic:   Circumlocution; roundabout way of speaking
• Persiflage:   Banter; light raillery
• Perspicacious:   Having mental penetration or discernment
• Perspicuous:   Clearly expressed; easily understood
• Pertinacious:   Determined in some belief or cause; persistent; obstinate
• Phantasmagoria:   Shifting scene of real or imagined figures
• Philanthropist:   One showing concern for welfare of mankind, esp.as shown by acts of benevolence
• Philology:   Science of language
• Phlegmatic:   Calm; not easily agitated
• Physiognomy:   Features or type of face; the study of this
• Polemics:   Art or practice of controversial discussion
• Polemic:   Verbal attack; controversial
• Polymorphous:   Varying in individuals; passing through successive variations
• Pontificate:   Be pompously dogmatic; play the pontiff
• Popinjay:   Fob, conceited person
• Postprandial:   After lunch or dinner
• Prophylactic:   Tending to prevent disease or other misfortune
• Protagonist:   Chief character in drama or plot
• Pugnacious:   Disposed to fight; aggressive
• Pulchritude:   Beauty
• Pusillanimous:   Lacking courage; timid

Q

• Quintessence:   Purest and most perfect form or manifestation of something
• Quixotic:   Extravagantly and romantically chivalrous
• Quotidian:   Daily; everyday; commonplace

R

• Rabelaisian:   Exuberant in style with coarse humour
• Raconteur:   Teller of anecdotes
• Rancour:   Inveterate bitterness; malignant hate
• Rapacious:   Grasping, extortionate, predatory
• Repudiate:   Disown, disavow, reject, refuse dealings with
• Rhetoric:   Art of persuasive or impressive speaking or writing
• Rodomontade:   Boastful talk
• Rubicund:   Ruddy, high coloured (esp.complexion)
• Rumbustious:   Boisterous, uproarious

S

• Sagacious:   Having or showing insight or good judgement
• Salacious:   Indecently erotic; lecherous
• Sanguinary:   Accompanied by or delighting in bloodshed
• Sanguine:   Optimistic; bright, florid complexion
• Sassenach:   Englishman
• Saturnine:   Of gloomy temperament
• Scatology:   Preoccupation with the obscene or with excrement
• Schadenfreude:   Malicious enjoyment of other peoples misfortunes
• Scurrilous:   Grossly or obscenely abusive
• Scylla and Charybdis:   Two dangers or extremes such that one can be avoided only by approaching the other
• Semantic:   Of meaning in language
• Sequester:   Seclude; isolate; sequestrate
• Serendipity:   Faculty of making happy discoveries by accident
• Sibylline:   Mysteriously prophetic
• Sinology:   Study of Chinese language and history
• Sisyphean:   Endless and fruitless task
• Soubriquet:   Nickname
• Socratic irony:   Pose of ignorance assumed to entice others into refutable statements
• Solecism:   Offence against grammar, etiquette or idiom
• Soliloquy/Soliloquize:   Talking without or regardless of hearers
• Solipsism:   View that the self is all that exists or can be known
• Somnambulism:   Sleep walking
• Somnolent:   Sleepy, drowsy
• Sophism/Sophistry:   False argument, one that is intended to deceive
• Sophist:   Captious or fallacious reasoner; quibbler
• Speleology:   Scientific study of caves
• Stakhanovite:   Worker (esp.Russian)
• Stentorian:   Loud and powerful voice
• Strabismus:   Squinting, squint
• Sudorific:   Causing sweating
• Sybarite:   Self-indulgent or luxury-loving person
• Sycophant:   Flatterer, toady
• Syllogism:   Form of reasoning in which from two propositions a third is deduced

T

• Taciturn:   Reserved in speech; saying little
• Tautology:   Saying of same thing twice over but using different words
• Tendentious:   Designed to advance a cause
• Tergiversation:   Change of party or principles; apostasy; making of conflicting statements
• Termagant:   Overbearing woman, virago
• Teutonic:   Of Germanic peoples and languages
• Thespian:   Of tragedy or drama
• Thraldom:   Bondage
• Trichology:   Study of hair
• Truculent:   Pugnacious, defiant, aggressive

U

• Ubiquitous:   Present everywhere or in several places simultaneously
• Unequivocal:   Not ambiguous, plain, unmistakable
• Urbane:   Courteous, elegant
• Ursine:   Of or like a bear
• Utilitarianism:   Doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for benefit of the majority
• Utopia:   Imagined perfect place or state of things
• Uxorious:   Greatly or excessively fond of one's wife!

V

• Vacillate:   Fluctuate in opinion or resolution
• Valediction:   Bidding farewell; words used in this
• Valetudinarian:   Person of poor health or unduly anxious about his health
• Verisimilitude:   Appearance of being true or real
• Vicarious:   Experienced imaginatively through another person; acting or done for another; delegated
• Vicissitude:   A change of fortune or circumstances
• Vitriolic:   Caustic or hostile
• Vulpine:   Crafty, cunning, of like a fox

W, X, Y, Z

• Xenophobia:   Morbid dislike of foreigners
• Yahoo:   Bestial person (race of brutes in Gulliver's Travels)
• Zenith:   Point of heavens directly above observer