Rare words
English is full of words almost nobody uses, and some of them name things you have always noticed and never had a word for: the rumble of a stomach, a misheard song lyric, a person who stands and stares. These are the best of them.
defenestration
dee-fen-uh-STRAY-shuhn, noun
The act of throwing someone or something out of a window.
“The pivot began with the ceremonial defenestration of the old roadmap.”
absquatulate
ab-SKWOCH-uh-layt, verb
To leave abruptly; to make off.
“The cat absquatulated the moment the carrier appeared.”
agelast
AJ-uh-last, noun
A person who never laughs.
“Even the office agelast cracked at the typo in the CEO’s memo.”
anfractuous
an-FRAK-choo-uhs, adjective
Full of windings and turnings; circuitous.
“The refund process was anfractuous by design.”
aposiopesis
ap-uh-sy-uh-PEE-sis, noun
Breaking off a sentence midway, leaving it unfinished.
“Her text was a single aposiopesis: ‘If you think for one second…’”
borborygmus
bor-buh-RIG-muhs, noun
The rumbling sound of a stomach.
“A solemn silence, broken only by one traitorous borborygmus.”
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cachinnate
KAK-ih-nayt, verb
To laugh loudly and immoderately.
“Something in row three cachinnated through the entire eulogy scene.”
deipnosophist
dyp-NOS-uh-fist, noun
A masterful dinner-table conversationalist.
“Seat the deipnosophist mid-table and the party runs itself.”
funambulist
fyoo-NAM-byuh-list, noun
A tightrope walker.
“She budgets like a funambulist: steady, precise, no looking down.”
gallimaufry
gal-ih-MAW-free, noun
A confused jumble; a hodgepodge.
“The garage sale was a gallimaufry of three generations’ hobbies.”
gongoozler
gon-GOOZ-ler, noun
An idle spectator, especially one who stares at length.
“Every construction fence gathers its faithful gongoozlers.”
hebdomadal
heb-DOM-uh-duhl, adjective
Occurring weekly.
“The hebdomadal trash scramble happens every Sunday at eleven.”
illeism
IL-ee-iz-uhm, noun
The habit of referring to oneself in the third person.
“His illeism made the memo read like a royal decree.”
jentacular
jen-TAK-yuh-ler, adjective
Of or relating to breakfast.
“He guards his jentacular hour against all calendar invites.”
logomachy
loh-GOM-uh-kee, noun
A dispute about words rather than substance.
“The standards meeting collapsed into logomachy over ‘shall’ and ‘should.’”
lucubration
loo-kyoo-BRAY-shuhn, noun
Laborious study late into the night; its written product.
“The thesis owes its best chapter to one desperate week of lucubration.”
mondegreen
MON-dih-green, noun
A misheard song lyric or phrase.
“For years her favorite mondegreen was ‘hold me closer, Tony Danza.’”
mumpsimus
MUMP-sih-muhs, noun
A person who clings to an error even after correction.
“The style-guide mumpsimus still writes ‘alot,’ defiantly.”
omphaloskepsis
om-fuh-loh-SKEP-sis, noun
Navel-gazing; idle self-absorbed reflection.
“The retreat’s third day dissolved into group omphaloskepsis.”
opsimath
OP-sih-math, noun
A person who begins learning late in life.
“At seventy she became an opsimath of the cello, unembarrassed.”
perendinate
per-EN-dih-nayt, verb
To postpone until the day after tomorrow.
“He doesn’t procrastinate; he perendinates, with a calendar entry.”
quidnunc
KWID-nungk, noun
A busybody eager for the latest gossip.
“The building’s quidnunc knows the elevator schedule of every tenant.”
sprachgefühl
SHPRAHK-guh-fyool, noun
An intuitive feel for the natural idiom of a language.
“Grammar rules take you far; sprachgefühl writes the good sentence.”
tatterdemalion
tat-er-dih-MAYL-yuhn, noun
A person in ragged, tattered clothing.
“The scarecrow stood like a cheerful tatterdemalion among the rows.”
thaumaturgy
THAW-muh-tur-jee, noun
The working of wonders or miracles.
“Restoring the corrupted file struck the office as pure thaumaturgy.”
tmesis
TMEE-sis, noun
Splitting a word with another word inserted, as in “abso-bloody-lutely.”
“Her tmesis game peaks at ‘un-be-lievable’ during playoffs.”
ultracrepidarian
uhl-truh-krep-ih-DAIR-ee-uhn, noun
A person who opines confidently beyond their knowledge.
“Every comment section has its resident ultracrepidarian.”
velleity
vuh-LEE-ih-tee, noun
A wish too faint to prompt any action.
“Learning the cello remained a velleity, renewed each January.”
widdershins
WID-er-shinz, adverb
In a direction contrary to the sun’s course; counterclockwise.
“Superstitious, she stirs the batter widdershins on game days.”
zeugma
ZOOG-muh, noun
One word yoking two others in different senses, as in “she left in tears and a taxi.”
“He exited the meeting with his laptop and his dignity … a zeugma, barely.”
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