Interesting words

[CruCru]

Today I read the word “batrachoid” (it means toad-like) and was rather taken with it. It’s been ages since I learned any new words. Can we have a thread about interesting words we’ve discovered?

nudiustertian

Of or relating to the day before yesterday

Obsolete, apparently, but I think we should bring it back!

Zeugma is a fun one!

a figure of speech in which a word applies to two others in different senses (e.g. John and his driving licence expired last week ).

Not as rare as the words above, but I jokingly told a colleague she had besmirched my character the other day. We were both impressed at my vocabulary.

Ktenology - the science of putting people to death. I've never heard of it and didn't know of many (any!) words starting with kt but it was the answer to a crossword clue yesterday.

Ooh, besmirch is an excellent word. I would never manage to think of it in the moment, it would be a shower argument word for me.

At school, the headteacher used to call every scrimshankers. It appears to mean one that shirks work. Considering how well the school did on the tables, I’m not sure if it was deserved.

• everyone

Strigine means "owl like" (cf bovine, canine, feline etc)

I like the lesser known "-ine" words ... vulpine, lupine, ranine ...

😂 Thanks GiveBetteDavis.. I've never used it before, or even thought it; it came from nowhere!

@GiveBetteDavisHerEyesBack you need L'esprit d'escalier for that shower thing! It means thinking of the perfect retort after one has left the argument!

@bsc, that is beautiful, thank you!

I was chatting to a friend yesterday and somehow the conversation came round to her saying that something was defunct, then she mused 'what is the opposite of defunct ?' I offered 'funct' which we both really liked and have decided to try and insert into everyday usage

(actually the opposite of defunct is probably something like functional or functioning ? - but that's much duller)

Not obscure as such but I like 'happenstance' meaning by chance or coincidence. I don't think it gets used enough.

I recently learned “azimuth” to describe one of the angles in a globe, and i’ve always been fond of “benthic” to describe the deepest level of the sea. It’s so satisfying to say.

I always thought that if i was ever famous and deserved an autobiography i would call it “Marcescent” which means “withering, without dropping off”

Word Nerds of the world unite! We have nothing to lose but our thesauruses...thesaurii...thesauripodes...hang on, i’ll be right back...

I'd love to linger on this thread but I need to clear up some tittynopes from my toast.

Lackadaisical is one of my favourite interesting words - it means lacking determination and enthusiasm.

I've always liked it since a teacher used it in a drama lesson.

I learnt the word 'collywobbles' today.. It's an informal word meaning stomach pain or queasiness, or extreme anxiety. An attack of the collywobbles..
I had to look it up to see if was an actual word after watching a toddler programme called 'Moon and Me' and having a whole discussion with my husband about it.
Not exactly refined like some of the above but I like it...!

azimuth

Good Arab word we had to nick to make sense of their geometry ....

Antidisestablishmentarianism. A word that my huge dictionary lacks, but I believe it means to be in favour of the establishment.

Nothing to add but I agree that it’s been a long time since I learnt any new words and there’s quite a few on here I’ve never heard of! I love words

Yes, it's against the breakup of the establishment. A good word for today.

I like rapscallion - a mischievous person
And gruntled, opposite of disgruntled, as immortalised by P G Wodehouse.

Had to look up refulgent the other day - shining brightly. Though it doesn’t sound like that IMO - sounds more like smelling rather nasty.

I also really like ugsome, archaic form of ugly, which I learned of ages ago in Bill Bryson’s brilliant ‘Mother Tongue’.