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I am a word maven. I collect words for various
reasons. Some are so specific that I wonder
how often they can be used. Others have a wonderful sound. A few are obsolete,
unusual, or just tickle my fancy in some other way.
This page is not meant to be scholarly. I present
these words for your pleasure. I will provide sources if the words come
from an obscure or antique book or only from someone else's published
collection of words. If I find the word in several books, or if it can
be found in most common dictionaries, I won't bother citing its source.
However, the archive contains a list of some of the sources that I use
frequently.
![[row of dictionaries]](wordbooks.jpg)
The green star  marks new additions to the list. Words that are removed will be kept in an archive.
specific
chatoyant- having a shimmering quality, like a cat's eye (thanks, Jess)
- brix
- a measurement of the sugar content in juice used to make wine
- diglot
- a book that is published in two different languages in the same volume
- fartlek
- a specific type of training for runners
- flagitious
- vicious, brutal, scandalous
- frustum
- the base of a cone or pyramid
- glyptography
- the process of engraving on a stone or gem
- gobo
- a device that blocks, diffuses, or otherwise alters light
- keckling
- material applied to a cable to keep it from chafing or rubbing away
- lipogram
- writing that consists of words that do not contain a certain letter
- manicule
- a disembodied hand with a pointing finger used as a graphic element in printing
- nidifugous
- quitting a nest shortly after hatching
- nuciferous
- producing nuts
- orfgild
- the restitution of goods stolen during the day
- pareidolia
- seeing meaningful images in meaningless pattern, such as constellations
- parergon
- a secondary activity or motif
- pishing
- mimicking bird calls (from The Boston Globe)
- ptarmic
- causing sneezing
- reddsman
- a man who clears rubbish from coal mines
- roof socks
- old hosiery filled with calcium chloride and tossed onto a roof to melt ice dams
- sabian
- one who worships the sun
- subnivean
- referring to the environment beneath the blanket of snow
- surd
- a sound produced without the vibration of the vocal cords
- treen
- small functional wooden household objects
- veduta
- large, detailed drawing depicting a landscape or cityscape
sound
- allolalia
- a speech disorder
- bucculent
- having a large mouth
- clypeus
- a shieldlike plate on an insect's head
- frit
- raw material from which glass is made
- glis glis
- a type of dormouse
- harry-gad
- a reckless person
- limsy
- weak, flexible
- liripoop
- a part hanging from a gown, such as a graduation gown
- mammothrept
- a spoiled child
- nyxis
- puncture
- pheese
- to chastise
- pasquinade
- a sharp satire
- quincunx
- an arrangement of five items in a square shape
- rumbustious
- wildly exuberant
- rumty-too
- ordinary; common
- sneck
- a door latch
- snool
- a cringing, cowering person
- susurration
- a quiet, whispery sound
- sweven
- a vision or dream
- tuz
- a lock of hair
- tweag
- distress
- ulu
- a crescent shaped Inuit blade
obsolete, unusual
- accidie
- slothfulness
- blandation
- gross flattery
- fard
- a whitish face paint or make-up
- folkmoot
- a meeting of people
- frootery
- an action performed because of superstition
- gelicide
- frost
- gibus
- a collapsible opera hat
- luctual
- producing grief
- kex
- a dry stalk
- mawmish
- silly or foolish
- octothorpe
- the hash symbol, which looks like a slanted tic-tac-toe board
- quap
- to beat or throb
- rubaboo
- a type of soup or stew made with pemmican
- ruttle
- the gurgling sound made at death
- spronke
- a new sprout on a plant
- threap
- to obstinantly disagree
- tatterdemalion
- person wearing torn clothing
- wimble
- a handheld tool used to make holes
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