WORDS!!!!!

Who loves words??? I do! Here's a list of underused words.

agelast

one who never laughs.

aglet

the plastic tip on the end of a shoelace.

akimbo

of the arms, with the hands on the hips and elbows bent outward. "He stood akimbo and surveyed the wreckage."

anadromous

of fish, migrating up rivers from the sea to spawn in fresh water.

anile

like a doddering, foolish old woman.

anserine

goose-like; also, silly, foolish, or stupid.

anthropophagy

cannibalism.

apolaustic

wholly devoted to the seeking of enjoyment.

arcadian

idyllically pastoral, simple, or untroubled.

avuncular

of or pertaining to an uncle; also, uncle-like.

barratry

the offense of frequently stirring up lawsuits or quarrels; also, in maritime law, fraud or gross criminal negligence by a captain or crew at the expense of a ship's owner or of the owner of a ship's cargo.

bastinado

torture by beating on the soles of the feet.

bezonian

a scoundrel.

bibcock

a faucet that is bent downward

bibliobibuli

those who read too much.

biffy

a toilet or outhouse.

bodewash

dried buffalo dung, used as fuel for fire.

boeotian

stupid, dull, obtuse; also, such a person.

bolus

a large medicinal pill; also, a mass of chewed food.

boondoggle

an unnecessary activity or wasteful expenditure.

borborygmic

pertaining to the rumbling of one's stomach or intestines.

bosky

having an abundance of trees or shrubbery.

brobdingnagian

enormous, immense.

brummagem

cheap and showy but inferior and worthless.

buccal

of or pertaining to the cheek or the mouth.

bugaboo

something that causes baseless fear or worry; also, a false belief used to intimidate.

bumf

toilet paper; also, worthless paperwork, literature, or junk mail.

callipygian

having shapely buttocks. See also: steatopygic.

captious

apt to raise objections to trivial faults or defects; given to fault-finding; difficult to please.

caryatid

a draped female figure supporting an entablature.

caseifaction

the act of turning into cheese.

cataglottism

kissing with the tongue.

cerumen

earwax.

chatoyant

changing in luster or color, as cat's eyes.

chiaroscuro

distribution of light and shade in a picture

chthonic

dwelling in the underworld.

cicisbeo

a male escort or lover of a married woman.

collation

a light meal.

contumelious

insolently abusive and humiliating.

corrigendum

a mistake to be corrected, especially an error in a printed book.

corybantic

frenzied or agitated.

crapulous

given to, characterized by, or suffering from gross excess in eating and drinking.

cynosure

a center of attraction or admiration.

dandle

to dance (a child) on one's knees; the action taken by a dandler.

deasil

clockwise. See also: widdershins.

defenestrate

to throw out of a window

dendrochronology

the study of growth rings on trees.

dipsomania

uncontrollable craving for alcohol.

discalced

barefooted.

doddle

something easy or requiring little effort.

donnybrook

a brawl or heated public dispute.

dottle

the plug of unburned tobacco left in a pipe after smoking.

draggle

make wet and dirty by dragging on the ground.

duff

decaying matter in a forest

ecdysiast

stripper.

edacious

devouring, consuming, voracious.

eesome

pleasing to the eye.

emollient

characteristic of that which softens or soothes the skin.

enantiodromic

characteristic of something that has become its opposite.

energumen

one who is possessed by a demonic entity.

epeolatry

worship of words.

epigone

an undistinguished imitator or descendant of an illustrious person or family.

eructation

belching; also, discharge of a volcano.

esprit d'escalier

a remark that occurs to someone later, after it should have been said (often a witty retort that occurs after the moment to use it has passed).

estivate

to spend the summer.

esurient

hungry.

evancalous

pleasant to embrace.

expiscate

to learn through laborious investigation.

exsanguinate

to drain blood from.

factotum

employee or assistant who does just about everything.

fantods

a state of nervous irritability; the fidgets; the willies. "Waiting for this semester's report card is giving me the fantods."

fernticle

freckle.

fescue

a small stick used to point out letters to a child learning to read.

flews

the pendulous corners of the upper lip of certain dogs, such as the bloodhound.

floccinaucinihilipilification

the categorizing of something as worthless.

flummery

meaningless chatter; also, deceptive language.

footle

to talk or act foolishly; to waste time.

foudroyant

dazzling, flashing; also, thunderous, noisy.

friable

easily crumbled; crumbly.

frisson

an emotional thrill; a shudder of emotion.

frowzy

ill-smelling, musty; also, slovenly, unkempt.

fugacious

fleeting, transitory; difficult to capture.

funambulist

a tightrope walker

gallimaufry

jumble or medley; hodgepodge.

geck

a dupe.

genuflect

bend the knee and lower the body, especially in reverence.

gleek

to joke or jest.

gobbledygook

windy gibberish or jargon.

gorbellied

corpulent.

gormless

dull, stupid, clumsy.

gound

the gunk that collects in the corners of the eyes during sleep.

gowpen

two hands placed together to form a bowl-shape; also, the amount that can be contained in a pair of cupped hands.

graustark

an imaginary place of high romance.

grimthorpe

remodel or restore an old building without proper grounding or knowledge of its authentic character or without exercising care to remain faithful to its original quality and uniqueness; after Baron Grimthorpe, English lawyer and architect, restorer of St. Alban's cathedral.

hallux

big toe.

hangdog

shamefaced, browbeaten, or intimidated.

hebdomedal

weekly.

hircine

goat-like; also, lustful.

hirple

to hobble or walk lamely.

hornswoggle

bamboozle, deceive.

hoyden

a boisterous, carefree girl; a tomboy.

infucate

to apply cosmetics.

inglenook

a nook by a fireplace.

insouciant

blithely unconcerned.

insufflate

to blow on or breathe into.

izzat

honor, prestige, reputation.

jillick

to skip a stone across water.

jocoserious

combining serious and humorous matters.

jugulate

to slit the throat.

kalopsia

the delusion that things are more beautiful than they really are.

katzenjammer

a loud, discordant noise; also, a hangover; also, a state of depression or bewilderment.

kibitz

to look on and offer unsolicited, meddlesome advice; to make wisecracks when others are trying to work or speak seriously.

kickshaw

a trinket or bauble; a culinary delicacy.

lambent

softly radiant; of a light or flame, playing on a surface without burning it; also, dealing lightly and gracefully with a subject of discussion.

lapidate

to stone to death.

latrinalia

graffiti found in restrooms.

legerdemain

slight of hand; magic tricks.

liripipe

a long scarf or cord attached to and hanging from a hood.

ludic

characterized by playfulness.

macerate

to make or become soft by steeping in a liquid; also, to waste away by fasting.

madefy

moisten.

maffick

to rejoice with an extravagant and boisterous public celebration.

malinger

pretend to be ill in order to avoid work or shirk duty.

marmoreal

resembling marble.

mawkish

excessively or feebly sentimental; also, having a faint, sickly taste.

meldrop

a drop of mucus at the end of the nose.

mendacious

telling lies, especially habitually; untruthful.

miasma

a noxious atmosphere or influence; unpleasant or unwholesome air.

misprision

neglect or wrongful action committed by a public official.

moiety

about half of something.

monomania

obsession with one idea or interest.

moonglade

the bright reflection of the moon on a body of water.

mordant

bitingly sarcastic.

mosh

to engage in uninhibited, frenzied activities with others near the stage at a rock concert. See also: mosh pit.

mosh pit

the place near the stage at a rock concert where moshing occurs. See also: mosh.

mulct

to take money from, by taxation or by trickery.

mundungus

stinky tobacco.

myrmidon

an unscrupulously faithful follower; henchman.

napiform

resembling a turnip.

neologist

one who makes up new words.

nidify

to build a nest.

noctambulist

a sleepwalker; somnambulist.

nosocomephrenia

depression due to a prolonged hospital stay.

nothosonomia

the act of calling someone a bastard.

nudiustertian

pertaining to the day before yesterday.

nyctalopia

night blindness.

obdormition

numbness caused by pressure on a nerve, as when one's foot is "asleep."

obnubilate

cloud over, darken, or obscure.

ochlocracy

mob rule.

octothorpe

the '#' symbol; also, "octothorp."

omphalopsychite

one who contemplates his navel. See also: omphaloskepsis.

omphaloskepsis

contemplation of one's navel. See also: omphalopsychite.

opsimath

one who begins to learn late in life.

ort

a scrap of food left after a meal is completed.

osculate

kiss.

ovoviviparous

producing eggs that hatch within the female's body without obtaining nourishment from it.

oxter

armpit.

pandiculation

the stretching that accompanies yawning.

panjandrum

a pompous official or pretender; also, the mock title of a self-important person.

pantaloon

a man's close-fitting garment for the hips and legs, worn especially in the 19th century

pate

top of the head, usually a bald head.

penny-farthing

an old-fashioned kind of bicycle with a huge front wheel.

penultimate

next to last.

perendinate

to put off until the day after tomorrow; also, to keep postponing from day to day.

peripatetic

going from place to place; itinerant.

philtrum

the vertical groove between the nose and upper lip.

picaresque

of fiction, dealing with the adventures of a rogue.

pilose

covered with hair.

pilpul

a nitpicking, unproductive argument.

pinguid

fat; also, greasy.

placebo

a harmless substance given as medicine, usually to humor a patient.

poetaster

an inferior poet.

popinjay

a talkative and conceited person.

popliteal

of or pertaining to the back of the knee.

preponderate

to surpass others in numbers, intensity, force, or prowess.

prescind

turn aside.

psithurism

a low whispering sound, such as the rustle of leaves.

puckeroo

useless, broken.

pulchritude

attractiveness.

purulent

containing, consisting of, or discharging pus.

pusillanimous

timid, faint-hearted, or cowardly.

quidnunc

a busybody or a gossip.

quincunx

the pattern of five objects arranged such that four of the five objects form a square, while the fifth is positioned in the middle. "The dots on the '5' side of a die are arranged in a quincunx."

quisquilious

like rubbish; trashy, worthless.

raconteur

one skilled in telling stories.

rebarbative

causing aversion or irritation.

recension

an editorial revision of a literary work.

recidivist

one who continually commits crime and seems incurable of criminal tendencies.

recrudesce

of a disease, sore, or hostile feeling, to break out again.

renitent

resistant to pressure.

retroussé

turned up at the tip, especially a nose.

rhabdomantist

one who practices divination by means of a rod to locate underground water; a dowser.

riant

smiling.

sanguinary

bloodthirsty; murderous.

sanguine

cheerfully confident or optimistic; also, having a healthy, reddish color.

saturnine

characteristic of a person having a gloomy or forbidding appearance.

scuttlebutt

gossip.

seersucker

a light, thin fabric, such as cotton or rayon, with a crinkled surface and a usually striped pattern.

sericate

silky.

simous

having a very flat or snub nose, with the end turned up.

skosh

a small amount; a tad.

smithereens

fragments or splintered pieces.

snollygoster

a shrewd, unprincipled person.

sockdolager

a conclusive blow or remark; also, something outstanding.

somnambulist

a sleepwalker; noctambulist.

spanghew

to cause a frog or toad to fly up in the air.

spartle

to move the body or limbs in a sprawling or struggling manner.

squidger

the huge disc, or wink, used to propel other winks in the game of Tiddly-Winks.

squiffed

intoxicated.

steatopygic

having fat buttocks. See also: callipygian.

sternutation

the act of sneezing; also, a sneeze.

stymie

to thwart, stump, or obstruct.

subderisorious

ridiculing in moderation.

subfusc

drab, dusty.

suppurate

to form pus; to fester.

susurration

whispering, murmuring, or rustling.

sycophant

one who attempts to gain a personal advantage by servile flattery.

tantalolagnia

arousal caused by teasing.

tantivy

a headlong dash or rapid gallop; also, characteristic of one in a tantivy; also, the blare of a trumpet or horn. "The man was running tantivy after the thief."

tauromachy

the art of bullfighting.

tenebrific

producing darkness; obscuring.

tergiversate

to turn one's back on one's party or cause; also, to make evasive statements or equivocate.

termagant

a shrewish, bullying woman.

thewy

muscled, brawny.

tintinnabulous

of or relating to bells or the ringing of bells

tohubohu

a state of chaos, disorder, and confusion.

tragus

the little flap of cartilage that projects over the hole in one's ear.

trollop

a promiscuous woman.

twee

affectedly cute or quaint; overly precious or nice.

ultra-crepidarian

giving opinions or criticism beyond one's own range of experience.

ululate

lament loudly and shrilly; wail.

umbrage

the feeling of being offended.

vermiculate

having wavy, wormlike lines or motion; sinuous, tortuous.

vexillologist

one who studies flags.

vicissitude

a change of circumstances affecting one's life.

walla-walla

the unintelligible sound made by many people talking at once.

whelm

to cover or engulf completely, usually with disastrous effect.

whinge

complain fretfully, whine.

widdershins

counterclockwise; also, in a contrary direction.