The words

All 440 entries, written and checked by hand.

By theme: Beautiful words Rare words Positive words to describe a person Negative words to describe a person Big words worth using Words for sad Words for light and dark Words for talking Fancy insults Words for tired and sleepy Words for lying and liars Word origins

• absquatulate To leave abruptly; to make off.
• abstruse So difficult to understand as to be obscure.
• abundant Existing in large quantities.
• acquiesce To accept reluctantly, without protest.
• acumen Sharp judgment in a particular field.
• adamant Refusing to change one’s position; unshakable.
• adept Very skilled or talented at something.
• admonish To warn or scold firmly but not harshly.
• adumbrate To sketch in faint outline; to foreshadow.
• adverse Harmful or unfavorable.
• advocate To publicly support or recommend.
• aestival Of or belonging to summer.
• affable Friendly and easy to talk to.
• agelast A person who never laughs.
• alacrity Brisk, cheerful readiness or eagerness.
• alleviate To make suffering or a problem less severe.
• aloof Cool and distant in manner; not friendly or forthcoming.
• ambiguous Open to more than one interpretation.
• ambivalent Having mixed or contradictory feelings about something.
• amble To walk at a slow, easy pace.
• ameliorate To make a bad situation better.
• ample More than enough; plenty.
• anachronistic Belonging to a different time period; conspicuously out of date.
• anfractuous Full of windings and turnings; circuitous.
• animadversion Harsh critical remarks; censure.
• anomaly Something that deviates from what is normal.
• antediluvian Ridiculously old-fashioned; ancient.
• aplomb Self-assured composure under pressure.
• apocryphal Of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as true.
• aposiopesis Breaking off a sentence midway, leaving it unfinished.
• apotheosis The highest point of development; a glorified ideal.
• apprehensive Anxious about something coming.
• apricity The warmth of the sun in winter.
• arbitrary Based on whim rather than reason or rule.
• arduous Requiring great effort; tiring.
• articulate Expressing ideas clearly and fluently.
• assiduous Showing great care and persistence.
• astute Quick to see and use situations to advantage; shrewd.
• aubade A song or poem greeting the dawn.
• audacious Willing to take bold risks; impudent.
• augment To increase or add to something.
• austere Severely plain; strict.
• avarice Extreme greed for wealth.
• avert To turn away; to prevent something bad from happening.
• badinage Light, playful back-and-forth talk.
• bellicose Demonstrating aggression and a willingness to fight.
• benevolent Kind and generous, wishing to do good for others.
• benign Gentle and harmless.
• bewilder To confuse completely.
• bicker To argue about small, unimportant things.
• bland Lacking strong flavor or interest; dull.
• blatant Done openly and without shame.
• bleak Offering little hope or comfort; cold and bare.
• blunt Speaking plainly, without softening anything; having a dull edge.
• bolster To support or strengthen.
• bombastic High-sounding and inflated, with little substance.
• borborygmus The rumbling sound of a stomach.
• brevity Shortness of expression; briefness.
• brisk Quick, active, and energetic; pleasantly cold.
• brittle Hard but easily snapped or broken.
• brood To dwell gloomily on something.
• cachinnate To laugh loudly and immoderately.
• cacophony A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
• cajole To persuade with flattery or gentle coaxing.
• callow Inexperienced and immature.
• candid Honest and direct, even when the truth is uncomfortable.
• candor Open, honest expression.
• capricious Given to sudden, unpredictable changes of mood or behavior.
• castigate To criticize severely.
• casuistry Clever but misleading moral reasoning.
• catalyst Something that triggers change.
• caustic Bitingly sarcastic; able to corrode.
• cautious Careful to avoid danger or mistakes.
• cavil To raise trivial, fault-finding objections.
• celerity Swiftness of movement or action.
• censure To express severe official disapproval.
• chicanery Trickery, especially legal or financial.
• chthonic Of the underworld; dwelling beneath the earth.
• circumlocution The use of many words where fewer would do, often to be evasive.
• circumspect Careful to consider consequences; wary.
• clandestine Kept secret, often for illicit reasons.
• clumsy Awkward in movement or handling.
• coax To persuade gently and patiently.
• cogent Clear, logical, and convincing.
• coherent Logical and consistent; holding together as a clear whole.
• colloquial Used in ordinary conversation, not formal speech.
• compel To force or strongly drive someone to act.
• complacent Self-satisfied and unaware of danger.
• comply To act according to a rule or request.
• concede To admit something is true after resisting; to yield.
• conciliatory Intended to calm anger and restore goodwill.
• concise Saying much clearly in few words.
• concomitant Occurring together with something else.
• condone To accept or overlook behavior that is wrong.
• conflate To mistakenly merge two distinct things into one.
• conjecture A conclusion based on incomplete information.
• console To comfort someone in disappointment.
• contemplate To think about deeply and at length.
• contretemps An awkward clash or minor dispute.
• contumacious Stubbornly disobedient to authority.
• convey To communicate or transport.
• copious Abundant in amount.
• cordial Warm and polite.
• corroborate To confirm with supporting evidence.
• coruscate To flash and sparkle with light.
• cower To crouch down or shrink back in fear.
• cozy Comfortable, warm, and inviting.
• credible Believable; convincing.
• crepuscular Relating to twilight; active at dusk.
• crisp Firm and fresh; cold and clear.
• cumbersome Awkwardly heavy or complicated to deal with.
• cunning Clever at getting what one wants, often by trickery.
• cursory Done quickly with little attention.
• curtail To cut short or restrict.
• cynical Believing people act mainly from self-interest.
• cynosure The center of attention; a guiding focal point.
• dainty Delicately small and pretty.
• daring Willing to take bold risks.
• daunting Seeming difficult enough to intimidate.
• dawdle To waste time; to move slower than needed.
• dazzle To impress greatly; to blind briefly with light.
• debacle A sudden, embarrassing failure.
• debunk To expose a belief or claim as false.
• deceive To make someone believe something false.
• defenestration The act of throwing someone or something out of a window.
• defer To postpone; to yield to another’s judgment.
• deipnosophist A masterful dinner-table conversationalist.
• deleterious Causing harm or damage, often in an unexpected way.
• deliberate Done consciously and intentionally; careful and unhurried.
• deliquesce To melt away; to dissolve gradually.
• demeanor Outward manner or bearing.
• denouement The final resolution of a story or situation.
• despondent In low spirits from loss of hope.
• desultory Lacking plan or enthusiasm; aimless.
• deter To discourage someone from acting.
• devise To plan or invent by careful thought.
• diaphanous Light, delicate, and translucent.
• dichotomy A division into two opposed parts.
• diligent Showing steady, conscientious effort in work or duties.
• discreet Careful not to attract attention or share secrets.
• disdain The feeling that something is beneath you.
• dismal Gloomy and depressing; disgracefully bad.
• dismay A sinking mix of distress and disappointment.
• disparate Essentially different in kind; not comparable.
• disperse To scatter in different directions.
• distort To twist out of its true shape or meaning.
• divulge To reveal private information.
• dread To fear something before it happens.
• drench To soak completely with liquid.
• drowsy Sleepy and slow to react.
• duplicity Deceitfulness; double-dealing.
• dwindle To shrink gradually until little remains.
• eager Full of keen interest and enthusiasm.
• earnest Serious and sincere in intention.
• ebullient Overflowing with enthusiasm.
• eclectic Drawing from many diverse sources.
• eerie Strange and frightening in a quiet way.
• efficacious Effective in producing the desired result.
• effulgent Shining brilliantly; radiant.
• egregious Outstandingly bad; shocking in its degree.
• eloquent Fluent, forceful, and persuasive in speaking or writing.
• elusive Difficult to find, catch, or pin down.
• empirical Based on observation rather than theory.
• empyrean The highest heaven; the vault of the sky.
• emulate To imitate in hopes of matching or surpassing.
• endorse To publicly approve or support.
• enigmatic Mysterious and hard to interpret.
• ephemeral Lasting for a very short time.
• epigone An inferior imitator of an admired original.
• epitome A perfect example of a quality or type.
• equanimity Calmness under stress.
• equivocate To use vague language to avoid committing oneself.
• eremite A hermit, especially a religious recluse.
• ersatz An inferior substitute; artificial.
• erudite Showing deep, wide-ranging knowledge.
• esoteric Understood by only a small, specialized group.
• etiolate To make pale and weakened, as a plant kept from light.
• evade To escape or avoid, especially by cleverness.
• evanescent Quickly fading from sight or memory.
• exacerbate To make a problem worse.
• excoriate To criticize scathingly.
• exemplary So good it serves as an example.
• exigent Urgent; demanding immediate attention.
• exiguous Extremely scanty; meager.
• exonerate To clear officially of blame.
• expatiate To speak or write at great length on a subject.
• falter To lose steadiness; to hesitate or begin to fail.
• farrago A confused jumble or hodgepodge.
• fastidious Extremely attentive to detail and accuracy; hard to please.
• fathom To understand something deeply; to get to the bottom of.
• fatuous Silly and pointless without knowing it.
• feasible Possible to do; practical and achievable.
• fecund Highly fertile; intellectually productive.
• feeble Weak in strength or effect.
• fickle Changing loyalties, interests, or affection often.
• fierce Intense, forceful, or aggressive.
• fissiparous Tending to split into parts or factions.
• flair A natural talent or stylishness.
• flimsy Weakly made; easily damaged or dismissed.
• fluctuate To shift back and forth irregularly.
• fond Having warm affection or liking for.
• forlorn Sadly abandoned or lonely in appearance.
• foster To encourage the development or growth of.
• frugal Careful with money or resources; avoiding waste.
• fugacious Fleeting; passing quickly away.
• fuliginous Sooty; dark and smoky in color.
• fulminate To protest loudly and bitterly.
• funambulist A tightrope walker.
• futile Producing no useful result.
• gallimaufry A confused jumble; a hodgepodge.
• galvanize To shock or spur into sudden action.
• garrulous Excessively talkative.
• gaudy Showy in a tasteless or overly bright way.
• gaunt Thin and worn, especially from hardship.
• gloomy Dark, dim, or low in spirits.
• glum Quietly gloomy or dejected.
• gongoozler An idle spectator, especially one who stares at length.
• grandiloquent Pompous or extravagant in language or style, meant to impress.
• grasp To seize firmly; to understand.
• gregarious Fond of company; sociable.
• grim Serious, harsh, or without hope.
• gruff Rough or stern in manner or voice.
• grumble To complain in a low, muttering way.
• halcyon Blissfully calm and prosperous, especially of a remembered past.
• harbinger A sign that foreshadows what is coming.
• hasty Done with too much speed and too little thought.
• hazy Veiled by mist; unclear or vague in memory.
• hearty Warm, vigorous, and unrestrained; of food, filling.
• hebdomadal Occurring weekly.
• hebetude Mental dullness or lethargy.
• hegemony Dominance of one group over others.
• hinder To make progress difficult.
• hoard To collect and store away, often beyond need.
• hollow Empty inside; without real meaning.
• humble Modest about one’s own importance.
• hypnagogic Of the drowsy state just before sleep.
• iconoclast A person who attacks cherished beliefs.
• idiosyncratic Peculiar to one individual; distinctively personal.
• idle Not working or in use; lazy.
• ignominious Deserving public shame; humiliating.
• illeism The habit of referring to oneself in the third person.
• imbroglio A confused, embarrassing entanglement.
• impartial Treating all sides equally; unbiased.
• incessant Continuing without pause.
• indefatigable Never tiring or giving up.
• indifferent Having no particular interest, concern, or preference.
• ineffable Too great or extreme to be expressed in words.
• ineluctable Impossible to escape or resist.
• inimical Harmful; hostile.
• innate Present from birth; natural rather than learned.
• insipid Lacking flavor or interest; dull.
• insouciant Showing a casual lack of concern; cheerfully unconcerned.
• intransigent Refusing to compromise.
• inveterate Long-established and unlikely to change.
• invidious Likely to cause resentment; unfairly discriminating.
• jagged Having rough, sharp points along an edge.
• jentacular Of or relating to breakfast.
• jeremiad A long, mournful complaint or lament.
• jubilant Overflowing with joy, especially at a success.
• juxtapose To place side by side for contrast.
• keen Sharp, eager, or highly developed.
• lachrymose Tearful; inclined to weep.
• laconic Using very few words; terse to the point of seeming curt.
• lambent Glowing softly; flickering lightly over a surface.
• lassitude A state of weary lack of energy.
• legerdemain Sleight of hand; skillful deception.
• limn To depict or describe in painting or words.
• linger To stay longer than necessary, reluctant to leave.
• loathe To feel intense dislike or disgust for.
• lofty Impressively high; grand, sometimes in a distant way.
• logomachy A dispute about words rather than substance.
• loquacious Very talkative.
• lucid Expressed clearly and easy to understand; mentally sharp.
• lucubration Laborious study late into the night; its written product.
• lugubrious Looking or sounding sad and dismal, often to an exaggerated degree.
• lull A brief calm period in activity or noise.
• magnanimous Generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival or someone less powerful.
• matutinal Of or occurring in the early morning.
• maudlin Excessively sentimental.
• meek Quiet, gentle, and unwilling to argue.
• mellifluous Sweet or musical in sound; pleasant to hear.
• mellow Softened, relaxed, and free of harshness.
• mendacious Habitually lying.
• meretricious Attractive in a flashy way but without real value.
• meticulous Showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.
• mimic To copy the way someone or something speaks or moves.
• minatory Expressing a threat; menacing.
• mitigate To make less severe or harmful.
• modest Unassuming about one’s own merits; moderate in size.
• mondegreen A misheard song lyric or phrase.
• mumble To speak quietly and unclearly.
• mumpsimus A person who clings to an error even after correction.
• mundane Ordinary and unexciting; of everyday life.
• murky Dark and unclear.
• muster To gather up strength, courage, or support.
• nefarious Wicked, villainous, or criminal.
• negligent Failing to take proper care.
• nimble Quick and light in movement or thought.
• nostalgia Sentimental longing for the past.
• novice A person new to a skill or activity.
• nudge To push gently, often to prompt action.
• nugatory Of no value or importance; futile.
• numinous Having a strong spiritual or mysterious quality.
• obfuscate To deliberately make something unclear or difficult to understand.
• obnubilate To cloud over; to obscure.
• obsequious Excessively eager to please or obey.
• obstreperous Noisy, unruly, and difficult to control.
• oleaginous Oily; unctuously flattering.
• omphaloskepsis Navel-gazing; idle self-absorbed reflection.
• oneiric Of or resembling dreams.
• opsimath A person who begins learning late in life.
• orotund Full and resonant in voice; pompously grand in style.
• ostensible Stated as true, though perhaps not actually so.
• otiose Serving no practical purpose; idle.
• palimpsest Something reused that still bears traces of its earlier form.
• panacea A cure-all for every problem.
• panegyric A speech or text of elaborate praise.
• pellucid Transparently clear, in water or in prose.
• penchant A strong habitual liking for something.
• perendinate To postpone until the day after tomorrow.
• perfidious Deceitful and untrustworthy; treacherous.
• peripatetic Traveling from place to place, especially for work.
• pernicious Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
• perspicacious Having keen insight and sharp understanding.
• phlegmatic Calm and unemotional by temperament.
• placate To calm someone’s anger, usually with concessions.
• plausible Seemingly reasonable or believable.
• plead To beg urgently; to argue a case.
• pleonasm The use of more words than necessary.
• plight A difficult or unfortunate situation.
• plummet To fall or drop steeply.
• ponder To think about something carefully and at length.
• pragmatic Dealing with things in a practical way rather than by theory or ideals.
• precocious Developing abilities unusually early.
• propinquity Nearness in place, time, or relationship.
• prosaic Commonplace and unimaginative; dull.
• protean Readily taking many forms; endlessly versatile.
• prudent Acting with care and thought for the future.
• psithurism The whispering sound of wind through leaves.
• pulchritude Physical beauty.
• quench To satisfy thirst; to put out a fire.
• quiddity The essence of a thing; also, a hair-splitting quibble.
• quidnunc A busybody eager for the latest gossip.
• quintessential Representing the most perfect example of a quality or type.
• quirky Appealingly unusual in character.
• quixotic Extremely idealistic to the point of being unrealistic or impractical.
• quotidian Occurring daily; thoroughly ordinary.
• raconteur A skilled teller of stories.
• rebarbative Repellent; irritating and unattractive.
• recalcitrant Stubbornly resistant to authority, direction, or control.
• reckless Careless about danger or consequences.
• recondite Dealing with obscure subject matter; little known.
• resent To feel bitter about being treated unfairly.
• resilient Able to recover quickly from setbacks or difficult conditions.
• reticent Reluctant to speak or reveal one’s thoughts.
• rodomontade Boastful, arrogant talk.
• rugged Rough and sturdy; built to endure.
• rummage To search by moving things around carelessly.
• sagacious Having deep practical wisdom.
• sanguine Cheerfully optimistic, especially in difficulty.
• sardonic Grimly mocking or cynical.
• saturnine Gloomy and brooding in temperament.
• savor To enjoy something slowly and completely.
• savvy Having practical knowledge and sound judgment.
• scarce Hard to find; in short supply.
• scorn Open contempt for someone or something.
• scrutinize To examine closely and critically.
• sempiternal Everlasting; of endless duration.
• serendipity The occurrence of happy or beneficial events by chance.
• sesquipedalian Given to using long words.
• shiver To shake slightly from cold or fear.
• shrewd Sharp-witted and practical in judgment.
• sinecure A paid position requiring little or no work.
• skeptical Inclined to question or doubt claims rather than accept them.
• sleek Smooth, glossy, and streamlined.
• sluggish Slow-moving; lacking energy.
• snug Comfortably warm and sheltered; fitting closely.
• soar To rise or fly high; to increase rapidly.
• soggy Unpleasantly wet and soft.
• solecism A grammatical blunder; a breach of etiquette.
• somber Dark, serious, or gloomy in tone.
• somnolent Sleepy; inducing drowsiness.
• soothe To calm or ease pain.
• soporific Causing sleep; extremely boring.
• sparse Thinly scattered; present in small amounts.
• sprachgefühl An intuitive feel for the natural idiom of a language.
• squander To waste something valuable carelessly.
• stale No longer fresh; dulled by overuse.
• stark Severely bare; harshly clear in contrast.
• stentorian Extremely loud and powerful in voice.
• stern Serious and strict, especially in discipline.
• stubborn Refusing to change one’s mind or course.
• sturdy Strongly built; not easily broken.
• susurrus A soft whispering or rustling sound.
• swift Moving or happening quickly.
• sybarite A person devoted to luxury and pleasure.
• sycophant A person who flatters the powerful to gain advantage.
• taciturn Habitually quiet and reserved in speech.
• tactful Careful not to offend when dealing with others.
• tatterdemalion A person in ragged, tattered clothing.
• temerity Reckless boldness; audacity.
• tenacious Holding firmly to a goal or position; persistent and not easily discouraged.
• tenuous Very weak or slight.
• tergiversate To repeatedly change positions; to equivocate or desert a cause.
• thaumaturgy The working of wonders or miracles.
• threnody A song or poem of mourning.
• thrive To grow vigorously; to flourish.
• tidy Neat and well arranged.
• timid Lacking courage or confidence.
• tintinnabulation The ringing or jingling of bells.
• tmesis Splitting a word with another word inserted, as in “abso-bloody-lutely.”
• trenchant Sharply incisive and effective.
• truculent Eager to argue or fight; aggressively defiant.
• trudge To walk heavily, with effort or reluctance.
• tyro A beginner; a novice.
• ubiquitous Present or found everywhere at once.
• ultracrepidarian A person who opines confidently beyond their knowledge.
• unctuous Excessively smooth and flattering; oily.
• uxorious Excessively devoted to one’s wife.
• vague Unclear or imprecise in meaning.
• vaticinate To prophesy; to predict.
• vehement Showing intense, forceful feeling.
• velleity A wish too faint to prompt any action.
• venerable Respected because of age and wisdom.
• verisimilitude The appearance of being true or real.
• versatile Able to adapt to many different functions or uses.
• vespertine Of, occurring in, or active in the evening.
• vindicate To clear of blame; to prove right.
• vivid Producing strong, clear images in the mind.
• vociferous Expressing opinions loudly and forcefully.
• wander To move about without a fixed path or purpose.
• wane To decrease gradually in strength or intensity.
• wary Cautiously watchful for danger or trickery.
• weary Very tired, especially after long effort.
• welter A confused, seething mass or turmoil.
• widdershins In a direction contrary to the sun’s course; counterclockwise.
• wistful Full of gentle, thoughtful longing.
• witty Cleverly amusing with words.
• yearn To long deeply for something.
• zeugma One word yoking two others in different senses, as in “she left in tears and a taxi.”