Weird Words

Browsing on the web today I came across an interested website that lists hundreds of weird words from the English language. Here are some that caught my attention:

Alexipharmic - Having the quality or nature of an antidote to poison.

Astrobleme - An eroded meteor impact crater.

Bloviate - To speak pompously.

Bromopnea - Bad breath.

Ceraunograph - A lightning recorder.

Contumely - Insolent or insulting language or treatment.

Droogish - Relating to the nature or attitudes of a member of a street gang.

Engastrimyth - A ventriloquist.

Florilegium - A collection of writings; a portfolio of flower pictures.

Fustilugs - A grossly fat or slovenly woman.

Ginglyform - Hinge-shaped.

Lipogrammatist - A writer of lipograms.

Mongo - An object retrieved from rubbish; a scavenger.

Pogonotrophy - Cultivation of a beard; beard-growing.

You might need a good dictionary to find those. My Firefox extension is not recognizing them, for instance.

What about you, got any weird words to share?

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Daniel Scocco on April 29, 2008 | Filed Under Vocabulary

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11 Responses to “Weird Words”

Susabelle on April 29th, 2008 7:57 pm

I have a couple of wonderful books full of weird words. One is “I Always Look Up the Word Egregious,” and the other is “The Grand Pajundrum.” Lots of great weird words in those books!
QuietRebelWriter on April 30th, 2008 2:09 am

Ooooo, weird words! Love it. In fact, I showcase a batch of wonky words each Friday on my blog in a little segment I call Word Porn. A few recent winners:

Fugacious: lasting a short time
Eupeptic: cheerful or optimistic
Cunctation: a delay
Kudzu on April 30th, 2008 10:01 am

Is Droogish not just a word Burgess made up for “A Clockwork Orange”? Does it strictly count?
Daniel Scocco on April 30th, 2008 11:00 am

@Kudzu, good point about Droogish. I could not find it on any of my dictionaries, so could be just an invention (or a neologism that didn’t catch…).
carol cherry on April 30th, 2008 4:57 pm

I discovered the word ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’ recently.
It is the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
(Imagine. . . if you were to have to “buy a vowel”. . . )
Charlie on April 30th, 2008 6:04 pm

The book I got my e-mail name from - Weird Words by Berent & Evans. agroof - flat on one’s face. Love the weird world of words!
m on May 1st, 2008 11:34 am

I mash up my own words. Common ones are like fantabulous and all that. One of my faves is Uglify. To make something less attractive.
Kudzu on May 1st, 2008 1:30 pm

@m - I find myself doing that too!
I love making up names for animals that kind of seem to better describe them. For instance a Jack Russel, can become a Velocorussel, or a Jack Raptor due to their inherent vicious streak….
carol cherry on May 1st, 2008 6:34 pm

my daughter says Jynourmous,which would be pretty big.
Richard McLaughlin on May 6th, 2008 4:49 pm

I go with Dr. Seuss and think these words are all wonderous