DIRECTORY OF BEAUTIFUL WORDS
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DIRECTORY OF OBSCURITY
​The Old, Rare & Unusual
OBSCURE | WEIRD | OBSOLETE
Obscurity WordMap

WORD LISTS SPECIAL FEATURES ​WORDS FROM OTHER CATEGORIES ​ARTICLES FROM THE REFERENCE CORNER Learn about weird and wacky words

WEIRD AND WACKY WORDS
strange and bizarre old and rare words
OBSCURITY OF THE NORM
obscure words for everyday things

BRINGING BACK
the old, rare & archaic​OBSOLETE WORDS

DIRECTORY OF WORD LISTS
SEE ALSO FROM THE REFERENCE CENTER:
​Death March for an Obsolete Word
Classifying Words by Usage - New to Obsolete
​Ye Olde Fossils Keep On Kicking
​Tracing the Etymology of a Word

DRUNKEN SEANCE ​
Raises the Forgotten from the Dead


​ACNESTIS - the part of your back that you can't quite reach to scratch is called the acnestis. It's derived from the Greek word for "cheese-grater."

BAMBOOZLE - derives from a French word, embabouiner, meaning "to make a baboon out of someone."

BATTOLOGIZE - repeat a word so incessantly in conversation that it loses all meaning and impact.

BUMFUZZLE - we all find ourselves confused and flustered from time to time, perhaps even to the point where we might describe ourselves as perplexed. But if those words don't quite capture your bewildered state of mind, then you may want to use the term bumfuzzle.

CATTYWAMPUS - if something is askew, awry, or lined up in a way that's not totally straight, such as diagonally—basically, slightly off-center or not quite right—then it's not just annoying, you could say it's cattywampus.

CLANK-NAPPER - in the 18th century, a clank-napper was a thief who specialized in stealing silverware.

CRINKUM-CRANKUM - an elaborate detail or decoration, often seen on the raiment (clothing) of conceited and vain men (coxcombs).

CUMBERGROUND - an utterly useless person who literally serves no other purpose than to take up space.

EEKSIE-PEEKSIE - if you like everything in your world to be perfectly balanced or appreciate even numbers and identical amounts, then you like things to be eeksie-peeksie, which is a term for equal.

ENNEACONTAKAIENNEAGON - is a word in English that means “a shape with ninety-nine sides.” And you thought pronouncing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was difficult?

FANTYSHEENY - if you like the finer things in life and like to show them off, then you appreciate anything that's fantysheeny, which is a word that can be used for someone or something that's fancy or even ostentatious.

FELLOWFEEL - to crawl into the skin of another person so as to share his or her feelings. Today we have the word empathy, but fellowfeel suggested greater intensity of experience.

GARDYLOO - although we no longer toss garbage out of the windows the way people did years ago, it's still helpful to know that if you hear someone shout "gardyloo" then you better watch out for flying trash since that's the appropriate warning to use.

HEBEPHRENIC - a condition where one acts in a silly and immature way much like an adolescent. Let's face it, we all know hebephrenic behavior is most often manifested by non-adolescents.

HEMIDEMISEMIQUAVER - is a musical term meaning a 64th note.

HOBIDY-BOOBIES - a rare and obscure for a Scarecrow.

JAMAIS-VU - opposite of déjà-vu is called jamais-vu - it describes the odd feeling that something very familiar is actually completely new.

JIRBLE - means "to spill a liquid while pouring it because your hands are shaking. Most common to drunks and nervous nellies at parties.

LIBBERWORT - food or drink that has no nutritional value and may actually be detrimental to one's health.

MYFFIN-WALLOPERS - in Victorian slang, muffin-wallopers were old unmarried or widowed women who would meet up to gossip over tea and cakes.

OYSTERHOOD - reclusiveness or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

PASQUINADE - style of satire usually delivered in a public place. The word originated in the sixteenth century.

PERCONTATIONS - questions that require more than just a straightforward "yes" or "no" answer.

PRINKING - small fuss you make over the way you're dressed right before you leave the house.

PUCKFISTS - self-entitled people who braggingly dominate a conversation about themselves.

QUOMODOCUNQUIZE - to make money by whatever means possible.

SERMOCINATION - the proper name for posing a question and then immediately answering it yourself.

WINKLEPICKER - while a winklepicker sounds like it should refer to someone who picks winkles (whatever those might be), a winklepicker is, in fact, a shoe or boot that features a sharp-pointed toe.

WITZELSUCHT - a rare neurological disorder whose sufferers have an excessive tendency to tell pointless stories or inappropriate jokes and puns.

WHIPPER-TOOTIES - pointless excuses or groundless justifications for trying not to do something.

XENOGLOSSY - the apparent ability to speak a language that you've never actually learned.

ZOILISTS - unfair or unnecessarily harsh critics or people who particularly enjoy finding fault in you, everyone else and the whole world.

The Old, Rare & Unusual
OBSCURE | WEIRD | OBSOLETE
Obscurity WordMap

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