I’d planned a longer new post this weekend but (best excuse possible!) I got so absorbed in a new fiction project this week that I completely lost track of time.
So, as a follow-up to the last post, I want to share my list of new/interesting words that I have been writing down over the last 18 months (this is 2020-just last week). I originally came across these words in any number of places—usually in novels or articles I was reading… occasionally they’re actually from children’s books from bedtime! Cool new words come at all times and at all levels.
So, if you’re in need of a fun writing prompt this weekend, consider one of these words as a title, theme, or just something that comes up in dialogue or a description:
THE LIST
(Most definitions below are taken from merriam-webster.com)
1) Evert (v.) turn (a structure or organ) outward or inside out. [From a Twitter discussion I ended up in randomly]
2) Lambent (adj.) (of light or fire) glowing, gleaming, or flickering with a soft radiance.
3) Folletto (plural folletti) (n.) elf (imp, goblin, fairy; esp : a supernatural being who is a survivor in popular form of an ancient Etruscan or Roman deity) [From Julia’s House for Lost Creatures by Ben Hatke, a wonderful children’s book]
4) Planetesimal (n.) a minute planet; a body that could or did come together with many others under gravitation to form a planet. [From an episode of Storybots on Netflix]
5) Effulgent (adj.) shining brightly; radiant. (of a person or their expression) emanating joy or goodness.
6) Necrocapitalism (n.) a form of capitalism where a country’s trade and industry are founded on, linked to and dependent directly or indirectly on death and the profits accruing from it. [This was from a presentation by a job candidate where I work]
7) Abecedarian (adj.) 1. arranged alphabetically. 2. rudimentary; elementary. 3. (n.) a person who is just learning; a novice.
8) Quatrefoil (n.) an ornamental design of four lobes or leaves as used in architectural tracery, resembling a flower or four-leaf clover. [From Have You Seen My Monster? by Steve Light]
9) Idiolectic (n.) an individual's distinctive and unique use of language, including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. [This, and the next few, all from Nabokov’s The Luzhin Defense - weirdly, I did not realize I’d read this one before (previously published as just The Defense, which suggests that I did not absorb all these words when I read it 10 years ago.]
10. Solivagant (adj.) rambling alone; marked by solitary wandering.
11. Filipendulous (adj.) suspended by or strung upon a thread.
12. Legato (adj.) smooth and flowing in manner, without breaks between notes.
13. Ordure (n.) excrement.
14. Götterdämmerung (n.) a collapse (as of a society or regime) marked by catastrophic violence and disorder; broadly: downfall. [Wonder why this one came up… hmm…]
15. Albedo (adj.) extremely good at reflecting sunlight.
16. Ramify (v.) To form branches or offshoots.
17. Exarate (adj.) 1. grooved or furrowed. 2 (of a pupa) having the appendages not cemented to the body — versus “obtect.”
18. Petrichor (n.) a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.
19. Judder (v.) especially of something mechanical) shake and vibrate rapidly and with force.
20. Exophthalmic (adj.) having protruding eyes.
21. Argillaceous (adj): of, relating to, or containing clay or clay minerals : CLAYEY.
22. Debouch (v) emerge from a narrow or confined space into a wide, open area.
23. Telestrator (n.) a device that allows its operator to draw a freehand sketch over a moving or still video image. Also known as a video marker, this device is often used in sports and weather broadcasts to diagram and analyze sports plays or incoming weather patterns.
24. Aglet (n.) - a metal or plastic tube fixed tightly around each end of a shoelace. [From an episode of Phineas & Ferb]
25. Acnestis (n.) - the part of an animal's skin that it cannot reach to scratch itself, usually the space between the shoulder blades.
26. Pot-valor (n.): boldness or courage resulting from alcoholic drink
27. Anagoge (n.) A mystical interpretation of a word, passage, or text, especially scriptural exegesis that detects allusions to heaven or the afterlife.
28. Limpid (adj.) 1. Characterized by transparent clearness; pellucid. 2. Free from clouds or haze: a limpid sky. 3. Easily intelligible; clear: writes in a limpid style. 4. Easily or pleasantly heard; distinct: playing the violin with a limpid tone. 5. Flowing or moving gracefully: limpid movements of a dancer.
29. Perfidy (n.) 1: the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal : TREACHERY 2: an act or an instance of disloyalty
30. Beau geste (bō ˈZHest) (n.) a noble and generous act.
31. Pleonasm (n.) 1. a. The use of more words than are required to express an idea; redundancy. 2. A superfluous word or phrase.
32. Orotund (adj.) (of the voice or phrasing) full, round, and imposing. (of writing, style, or expression) pompous or pretentious.
33. Canorous (adj.) (of song or speech) melodious or resonant.
34. Granitic (adj).1. - showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings; "his flinty gaze"; "the child's misery would move even the most obdurate heart"
35. Demiurge (n.) a being responsible for the creation of the universe.
(in Platonic philosophy) the Maker or Creator of the world.
(in Gnosticism and other theological systems) a heavenly being, subordinate to the Supreme Being, that is considered to be the controller of the material world and antagonistic to all that is purely spiritual.
36. Phalanstery (n.) a group of people living together in community, free of external regulation and holding property in common.
37. Sequaciousness (n.): the blinkered, unreasoning, and slavish following of another, no matter where it leads.
38. Exsibilate (v): to hiss a poor performer off the stage.
39. Scopaesthesia (n.): The psychic staring effect (sometimes called scopaesthesia) is a supposed phenomenon in which humans detect being stared at by extrasensory means.
40. Acedia (n.): spiritual or mental sloth; apathy.
41. Millihelen (plural millihelens) (informal, humorous) (n.) A unit of measure of beauty, corresponding to the amount of beauty required to launch one ship.
42. Corrida - (/kôˈrēdə/) (n.) a bullfight.
43. Boscage (n.) - massed trees or shrubs.
44. Pallesthesia (\ˌpal-es-ˈthē-zh(ē-)ə\), (n.) - or vibratory sensation, is the ability to perceive vibration. This sensation, often conducted through skin and bone, is usually generated by mechanoreceptors such as Pacinian corpuscles, Merkel disk receptors, and tactile corpuscles.
45. Viaticum (n.) 1.the Eucharist as given to a person near or in danger of death. 2. ARCHAIC a supply of provisions or an official allowance of money for a journey.
46. Limerence (n.) the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person, typically experienced involuntarily and characterized by a strong desire for reciprocation of one's feelings but not primarily for a sexual relationship.
47. Excursus, (n.) - a detailed discussion of a particular point in a book, usually in an appendix. OR a digression in a written text.
48. Melisma (n.) an ornamental phrase of several notes sung to one syllable of text, as in plainsong or blues singing. [This from an online class I’m taking about Classical Music]
49. Vampirine - (adj.) vampiric [Sometimes it’s just nice to have some options!]
50. Phlogiston (/flōˈjistən/) (n.) - a substance supposed by 18th-century chemists to exist in all combustible bodies, and to be released in combustion.
51. Parataxis (n.) - the placing of clauses or phrases one after another, without words to indicate coordination or subordination, as in “Tell me, how are you?”
Have fun!