24/08/2025
📝 60 ENGLISH (with a couple of Americanisms thrown in) WORDS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW (some of which will probably make you pull all manner of expressions, some of them wistful or rueful.)
1. Apricity — warmth of the winter sun
2. Petrichor — the earthy smell after rain
3. Susurrus — a soft, whispering sound
4. Borborygmus — a rumbling stomach noise (I only learnt this one last year.)
5. Callipygian — having well-shaped buttocks
6. Defenestration — throwing someone out of a window
7. Limerence — intense romantic infatuation
8. Pareidolia — seeing patterns (like faces) in random things
9. Mondegreen — a misheard lyric or phrase
10. Spoonerism — swapping the first sounds of words
11. Tmesis — inserting a word inside another word
12. Zugzwang — being forced to make a bad move (chess)
13. Schadenfreude — pleasure from someone else’s misfortune
14. Weltschmerz — deep sadness about the world
15. Agelast — a person who never laughs
16. Clinomania — a strong desire to stay in bed
17. Psithurism — the sound of wind in trees
18. Nudiustertian — relating to the day before yesterday
19. Erinaceous — resembling a hedgehog
20. Crapulence — sickness from overeating or overdrinking
21. Kakistocracy — rule by the worst people
22. Quire — a set of 24 sheets of paper
23. Floccinaucinihilipilification — judging something as worthless
24. Tintinnabulation — the ringing of bells
25. Logorrhea — excessive talkativeness
26. Sesquipedalian — fond of long words
27. Blatherskite — a person who talks nonsense
28. Skedaddle — run away quickly
29. Kerfuffle — a fuss or commotion
30. Brouhaha — a noisy, excited reaction
31. Lollygag — waste time; dawdle
32. Cattywampus — crooked; askew
33. Discombobulate — to confuse
34. Hullabaloo — loud noise and confusion
35. Flummox — to bewilder; confuse
36. Nincompoop — a foolish person
37. Ragamuffin — a ragged, dirty child
38. Shenanigans — secret or dishonest tricks
39. Bamboozle — to trick or fool
40. Taradiddle — a petty lie; nonsense
41. Thingamajig — a thing whose name you forgot
42. Doohickey — a small gadget or device
43. Whippersnapper — an overly confident young person
44. Flibbertigibbet — a silly, flighty person
45. Gubbins — small things; odds and ends
46. Snollygoster — a clever, unprincipled person
47. Malarkey — nonsense; meaningless talk
48. Codswallop — complete nonsense
49. Hornswoggle — to deceive or cheat
50. Hootenanny — an informal folk-music party
51. Skulduggery — underhanded or dishonest behavior
52. Serendipity — a lucky, unexpected find
53. Quixotic — wildly idealistic and impractical
54. Obfuscate — to make something unclear
55. Ineffable — too great to describe in words
56. Ephemeral — lasting a very short time
57. Epiphany — a sudden realization
58. Mellifluous — sweet-sounding; pleasant to hear
59. Lachrymose — tearful; given to weeping
60. Noctambulist — a sleepwalker
