Do you sometimes like to sneak a rare, obscure or funny word into a manuscript? I do. I enjoy catching my readers off guard and tickling them to think about a word’s meaning.
Here are 26 unusual words meant to tickle your brain—one for each letter of the alphabet. See how many you know. Their definitions are at the bottom of the post.
Here are 26 unusual words meant to tickle your brain—one for each letter of the alphabet. See how many you know. Their definitions are at the bottom of the post.
Give yourself two points for each correct answer.
A anonymuncle (n.)(BONUS: Add 50 points if you can pronounce “zenzizenzizenzic” correctly, find an online reference to prove it, and say it fast 10 times without stumbling!)
B blatteroon (n.)
C cribble (v.)
D diplasiasmus (n.)
E engastrate (v.)
F fuscoferuginous (adj.)
G galeanthropy (n.)
H haptodysphoria (n.)
I illeism (n.)
J jowfair (n.)
K kyphorrhinos (n.)
L lexiphanic (adj.)
M mabble (v.)
N nosism (n.)
O oligosyllable (n.)
P pyknik (adj.)
Q qualtagh (n.)
R redactophobia (n.)
S smellfungus (n.)
T turngiddy (n.)
U umbecast (v.)
V vernalagnia (n.)
W witzelsucht (n.)
X xenobombulate (v.)
Y yeuky (adj. you-kee)
Z zenzizenzizenzic (n.)
______________
anonymuncle: a petty anonymous writer (Do you have anonymuncles leaving comments on your blog?)blatteroon: a person who blabbers or boasts incessantly
cribble: to pass something through a sieve
diplasiasmus: the incorrect doubbling of a letter when spelling a word
engastrate: to stuff one bird into another (Ever heard of a turducken?)
fuscoferuginous: having a dark rusty color
galeanthropy: the mental condition of thinking that one has become a cat
haptodysphoria: an unpleasant feeling caused by handling any fuzzy surface (Peaches anyone?)
illeism: the practice of referring to oneself as "he" or "she", or by one's name (Jean likes this one.)
jowfair: an event which does not occur after much planning, such as a wedding without a groom
kyphorrhinos: a nose with a bump on it
lexiphanic: the use of pretentious words (Hmmm… Is this a lexiphanic blog post?)
mabble: to wrap up
nosism: the practice of referring to oneself as “we” (Often used by editors and known as the “editorial we.” We found an error in one of these definitions.)
oligosyllable: a word with fewer than four syllables
pyknik: short and fat
qualtagh: the first person entering a house on New Year’s Day
redactophobia: a fear of editors or editing (Are you redactophobic?)smellfungus: a person who finds fault with everything; a complainer
turngiddy: dizzy
umbecast: to ponder
vernalagnia: spring fever
witzelsucht: inappropriate or pointless humor
xenobombulate: to malinger
yeuky: itchy
zenzizenzizenzic: the eighth power of a number
How did you do? A perfect score, including the bonus, is 102.
