| |
Interesting Words| Your overall rating on Interesting Words = | |
Based on the Wiktionary Word of the Day Archive. Some editing of the list to remove ones that would be too easy in question form, and some editing of the descriptions to make them shorter or fit the questions better.
Usually made of marble or glass.

|
|
Should be capitalized for the first inhabitants of Australia

|
|
Especially as a symptom of mental illness. Frequently spelled abulia.

|
|
From Latin-later Shakespeare included it to refer to moderation in sex (Tempest)

|
|
From the Irish: ícuisle - O pulse (of my heart)

|
|
As in the lemon of a used car you bought

|
|
Especially between the protagonist and antagonist in a literary work

|
|
Masculine personification of Nemesis. Frequently evoked in Greek tragedy

|
|
Composed of a silicate of alumina and soda. It is a common constituent of granite and of various igneous rocks.

|
|
An early chemical apparatus, consisting of two retorts connected by a tube, used to purify substances by distillation. A retort is a glassware device used for distillation or dry distillation of substances. It consists of a spherical vessel with a long downward-pointing neck.

|
|
Especially in computers

|
|
Especially snow covered mountains

|
|
Having two left hands

|
|
To heal or solve a problem

|
|
A chronological mistake

|
|
This is distinct from anesthestia, which is the absence of all sensation (numbness), including touch and temperature.

|
|
Used for emphasis

|
|
Accompanied by excommunication

|
|
Pertaining to snakes or serpents. Synonym: ophidian.

|
|
'before the flood'

|
|
... though in fact diametric and opposite mean the same thing. This often used expression literally means oppositely opposite (which is redundant)

|
|
As in a US President arrogating the power of Congress to declare war

|
|
The noun form is 'asininity'.

|
|
One dressed in black

|
|
As distinct from "oral"

|
|
Greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity.

|
|
"Yet until middle age and avoirdupois overtook her, Mary was no slouch."-John Updike

|
|
One of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

|
|
Festival of Bacchus

|
|
Described in Job 40:15-24, used to illustrate God's mightiness.

|
|
Also used as a transitive verb.

|
|
From the Latin 'bellum' meaning war.

|
|
More efficacious than "to brandish"

|
|
To divulge inconsiderately, to utter suddenly and unadvisedly.

|
|
A pointless activity

|
|
Reading direction changes from right-to-left to left-to-right each line.

|
|
Open and without shame

|
|
Not quite as much as a ruckus.

|
|
American origin

|
|
Dissonance

|
|
Slang

|
|
Also called vilification, slander or libel. A falsification or misrepresentation intended to disparage or discredit another

|
|
Often ornate

|
|
Or as an adverb: in a diagonal position.

|
|
As of monks or uni-cellular organisms

|
|
Usually made from flowers.

|
|
A person who pretends to more knowledge or skill than he or she possesses

|
|
By quibbling or sophistry

|
|
Spanish

|
|
Often referring to the gods of the underworld

|
|
Or - unbelievable audacity. From the Yiddish "khutspe".

|
|
Sometimes to conceal an illicit or improper purpose.

|
|
The Greek Colossus of Rhodes is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

|
|
A chain, a succession.

|
|
Usually of punishment

|
|
A general burning.

|
|
Can be used specifically to mean expose to radioactive material. Also, a noun meaning the same as contaminant.

|
|
Apologetic.

|
|
Surcharged with liquor; alcoholism; drunk; given to excesses

|
|
As of pneumonia patients

|
|
Following the direction of the sun's movement

|
|
Medical jargon. From the Latin Decalvare - to make bald

|
|
The word comes from the Latin de ("from; out of") and fenestra ("window").

|
|
Or bush or any plant, really. Also can be used as an adjective.

|
|
Such as youth

|
|
Esp. between nations

|
|
Obviously different from "defuse"

|
|
To deny responsibility for, approbation of, and the like; to disclaim; to disown

|
|
To befuddle or perplex

|
|
From a ship, or leave a vehicle or aircraft

|
|
Incongruous

|
|
See: Java Jive

|
|
In classical literature, a poem featuring rural themes and structured as a dialogue among shepherds.

|
|
Especially writing

|
|
???

|
|
However, in Astronomy, it means one billion years. Which only seems like an eternity.

|
|
Especially the activation and deactivation of genes

|
|
As in, "alone, alone, all alone, alone on a wide wide sea" -- Coleridge

|
|
As in a tribe, place, crater, law that is named after a person etc.

|
|
A person, real or imaginary, from whom something e.g. a tribe, a nation or a place takes its name. Brut, the supposed grandson of Aeneas, is the eponym of the Britons

|
|
To cleanse; to purge.

|
|
A highly contagious disease of horses, mules, and donkeys -- caused by the bacterium Actinobacillus mallei.

|
|
Also the notation of such a prolongation, usually represented as a dot with a semi-circle above it, written above the clef.

|
|
Such as a good meal, a good book, etc

|
|
Flok-sih-noh-see-Nee-hee-lee-Pee-lih-fih-Kay-shun

|
|
Also refers to vagrant populations.

|
|
Not necessarily fortunate

|
|
As opposed to eggs which are fryable

|
|
Unlike to gamble

|
|
Not to be confused with ganglion, which are not really that tall.

|
|
Glaucous leaves

|
|
From French, literally, with his mouth open swallowing flies

|
|
Floating in the air or caught on bushes etc.

|
|
Usually identified with the kingfisher, and derived from the Greek myth of Alcyone.

|
|
Anatomically

|
|
Literally translated as "belly cut". Hara-kiri is a informal term for seppuku.

|
|
Can be either a verb or a noun - you can harangue someone, or you can deliver a harangue.

|
|
As a beard on a woman or large breasts on a man

|
|
One who adheres to the doctrine of iconoclasm

|
|
Not flammable

|
|
Having the quality of being difficult to remove, wash away, blot out, or efface

|
|
As in to make stubborn, insensitive or callous

|
|
Or negotiator

|
|
Most often applied to warfare

|
|
Unreasonable; irreconcilable; stubborn.

|
|
Bothersome; annoying; irritating; wearisome; tedious.

|
|
Advanced chauvinism

|
|
E.g a coin or on a thumbscrew as an aid in gripping.

|
|
Sad, pertaining to tears, weeping, causing tears or crying

|
|
"magic" trickery

|
|
Characterized by lewdness; sensual; lascivious.

|
|
Comes from the diminutive inhabitants featured in "Gulliver's Travels"

|
|
In Medieval times, a play or poem using both Latin and vernacular languages.

|
|
To babble, prattle, or ramble.

|
|
As in a mellifluous voice

|
|
A boundary-marker

|
|
Fo shizzle.

|
|
Pacify; appease

|
|
Refers to the verse "They hae slain the Earl Amurray and laid him on the green".

|
|
Inferior pole of the horizon; point of the celestial sphere directly under the place where we stand.

|
|
After the satirical poem 'Namby Pamby' written by Henry Carey in 1725.

|
|
Generally within the thickness of a wall, for a statue, bust, or other erect ornament.

|
|
As in a party animal

|
|
Also somnambulism

|
|
To make consistent

|
|
Discovered by Lord Rutherford. From the Latin for little nut, or kernel.

|
|
Bang, boom etc

|
|
Having correct or accepted opinions; approved

|
|
As formerly used in eastern Asia

|
|
Although, I wouldn’t try paring your beard.

|
|
Especially on foot; hence, to sojourn in foreign countries.

|
|
As in pidgin English; a linguistic effort to bridge the gap between peoples with no common language

|
|
Used by mountain climbers

|
|
Originally a pathological condition meaning excessive blood or other bodily fluids

|
|
Also can be used as an adjective.

|
|
A term from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. In this operetta, the haughty character Pooh-Bah holds numerous exalted offices, including Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Buckhounds, Lord High Auditor, Groom of the Back Stairs, and Lord High Everything Else. The name has come to be used as a mocking title for someone self-important or high-ranking and who exhibits an inflated self-regard. Also 'Grand Poobah'.

|
|
Facts contributed by:

Bowler

cazza

dodgydjnoo

JMK

Nakul

saguingoira

Sammi

scratch

skyrider

Sleeper Service

Staci

Susana Sànchez

Tushers

wabzy
|