Look! Listen! and Learn Language!Articulation ComboPhonology II

Favorite Words

This is a list of words that we find interesting. They are roughly organized by category and words can be in more than one category. Choose a category or a word to see pronunciations, definitions, and examples of the word as it is used on the internet.

After each usage there is a link to the web page where it was found. The page may not exist anymore or it may have been moved behind a firewall. The examples of usage are pretty tame but the site where the quotes were taken from may have language or ads that some people will find offensive. Click on the links at your own risk.


Interesting Sounds

Number of words: 73


Not the Word You Usually Hear

Number of words: 24


Not What They Seem

Number of words: 33


Good Words

Number of words: 692

abecedarian

abeyance

abjure

ablation

ablutions

abnegate

abrogate

abstruse

acclimate

acerbic

acolyte

acquit

acuity

acumen

addle

adduce

admonition

adroit

affirm

affray

affront

agita

ahistorical

alacrity

allude

allusion

amanuensis

ambit

amiable

amorphous

anathema

anecdote

angst

animus

anomie

antipathy

aphorism

aplomb

apocalyptic

apologist

apophatic

apoplectic

apoplexy

apostate

apotheosis

appellation

apposite

apprise

ardent

argot

armamentarium

arrant

arrogate

asseverate

assonance

assuage

astringent

astute

atrocity

austere

automaton

autotroph

avuncular

bafflegab

bailiwick

befuddle

bellicose

bereft

bête noire

billet

blithe

bloviate

boffin

bogosity

bork

bovine

brevity

brindle

bugaboo

bumptious

cajole

calque

calumniate

calumny

canard

canine

canoodle

cant

caper

capricious

captious

cardinality

castigate

casuistry

catenary

caterwaul

cathartic

cavil

cavort

celerity

cerebral

charlatan

chatelaine

chthonic

churlish

circa

claque

cloying

cogency

cogent

cogitation

cognizant

cognoscenti

coherence

coherent

cohort

colloquy

comestible

compartmentalize

complicit

comport

concatenation

concomitant

confab

confabulate

confabulation

conniption

connotation

construal

construe

contemporaneously

contrarian

contrite

contumacious

contumely

conurbation

convoluted

copious

corpulent

cosset

craven

credulous

culpable

cumbrous

curmudgeon

cynosure

dastard

daunt

declaim

decry

demigod

demur

demure

denizen

deprecate

deprecatingly

deucedly

deus ex machina

diaspora

didactic

dilatory

dilettante

disabuse

disapprobation

discomfiture

discourse

discursiveness

disingenuous

disoblige

disport

dissemble

dissimulate

dissonance

doctrinal

dogma

doleful

donnybrook

doughty

draconian

drivel

droll

dudgeon

duplicitous

duplicity

dysfluency

ebullient

eclectic

edict

efface

efflorescence

egocentric

eleemosynary

elicit

elide

elitism

elucidate

elude

elusive

emolument

emotive

encomium

encumber

endemic

endogenous

enigmatic

enjoin

envisage

ephemeral

epically

epiphenomena

epithet

equable

equine

equipoise

equitable

erstwhile

erudite

erudition

eschew

escutcheon

esoteric

espy

estimable

ethereal

etiolate

euphemism

evanescent

eventuate

evince

eviscerate

exacerbate

excoriate

exculpate

exculpatory

execrable

execrate

exigency

exigent

exogenous

expiation

explication

exsanguinate

extant

extemporaneous

fabulist

facetious

factotum

fain

fallacious

farcical

fastidious

fatuity

fatuously

fecund

felicitous

feline

fervid

fetid

fillip

florid

flummery

flummox

foozle

forbear

forebear

forfend

forthright

fracas

fractious

frangible

frantic

fraught

frenetic

frenzy

friable

frolic

frowzy

fruition

fulminate

fulmination

fulsome

furl

futile

gadfly

gainsay

gambol

gamine

garish

garrulous

germane

glint

gloaming

grandiose

gratuitous

gregarious

guile

gustatory

habituate

hagiographic

halcyon

hapless

harangue

hauteur

hegemony

hermetic

heterodox

hinky

hirsute

hoary

horological

hyperbole

iconoclast

iconoclastic

ideological

ideology

idiosyncratic

immanent

imminent

impecunious

impedance

implacable

importunate

imprecation

impregnable

impudence

impugn

impunity

inane

incarnate

inchoate

incontrovertible

inculcate

inculcation

indolence

indomitable

ineffable

ineffably

ineluctable

inept

inevitable

inexorable

ingenious

ingenuous

inimical

inimitable

innocuous

innuendo

inscrutable

insidious

insipid

insouciant

insular

insuperable

intemperate

interdiction

interminable

intermittent

internecine

intimation

intonation

intractable

intransigence

intransigent

intrepid

intuit

inure

invective

inveigh

inveigle

inveterate

invidious

iota

ipsative

irascible

itinerant

jeremiad

jingoistic

jovial

karst

ken

kitsch

kodachrome

lachrymose

laconic

lassitude

laudable

lede

leitmotif

levity

limn

loquacious

lucid

lucubrations

luminary

maelstrom

magisterial

maladroit

malarkey

malfeasance

malleable

manifest

manufactroversy

masochism

maudlin

maven

mediate

megalomaniacal

mendacious

mendacity

mercurial

meretricious

meritocracy

metaphorical

metastasis

meticulous

miasma

minatory

misfeasance

misogynistic

misogyny

misology

misoneism

misprize

mitigate

modicum

mollify

morass

mordant

moribund

morose

mot juste

mountebank

multifarious

mundane

myopic

myriad

nadir

naif

naiveté

narcissism

nascent

natal

nescient

nihilism

nominal

nontroversy

nuance

nubiferous

nugatory

obambulate

obdurate

obfuscate

obfuscatory

oblique

obscurantism

obsequies

obsequious

obsolescence

obstreperous

obtuse

offal

onerous

ontological

opaque

opprobrium

orotund

osculate

osculation

otiose

overweening

pablum

paean

palaver

pallid

palpable

palpably

panacea

panache

pander

panoply

parapraxis

pareidolia

parsimonious

pastiche

pathos

paucity

peccadillo

peckish

pedagogical

pedant

pedantic

pedantry

pejorative

pell-mell

pellucid

penultimate

perdition

peregrinate

peremptory

perfidious

perfidy

perfunctory

perfuse

permeate

pernicious

perorate

perquisite

perseverate

perspicacious

perspicacity

perversity

petulant

philomath

pique

placate

platitude

platitudinously

plausible

plenary

plenitude

plethora

poignant

polemic

polymath

pontificate

porcine

portentous

portmanteau

pother

prance

precipitous

prefecture

prehensile

premise

preponderance

presage

prescient

prescriptive

prevaricate

probity

proclaimer

procure

proffer

profligate

profligately

prognosis

prolix

propitiate

propound

proscribe

provocateur

proximate

pundit

purport

purveyor

putative

pyroclastic

qua

quell

querulous

quibble

quiescence

quietus

quintessential

raiment

rapacity

rapprochement

ratiocination

recalcitrance

recalcitrant

recapitulation

recondite

redolent

redound

refractory

replete

reprehensible

resile

resolute

reticent

rhetoric

rhetorical

rime

romp

rubric

rue

rumination

salacious

salient

salutary

sanctimonious

sanguine

sardonic

satrap

savory

schema

scintilla

scintillate

scot

screed

scrupulous

sectarian

semantics

senescence

sententious

serein

serene

sidereal

simper

sinter

sinuous

sobriquet

solecism

solicitous

solipsism

somnolent

soupçon

spandrel

stalwart

stare decisis

stolid

strident

stultify

sublate

sublimation

sublime

subliminal

subterfuge

sultry

supplicate

surfeit

surreptitious

susurration

sycophant

symbiotic

tatterdemalion

tawdry

tchotchke

teleological

temerity

tendentious

tenuous

tepid

thoughtlet

timorous

torpor

tortuous

tout

treacly

trenchant

trepidation

truthy

twee

ubiquitous

ubiquity

umbrage

unctuous

untenable

ursine

usurpation

uxorious

vacuity

vacuous

vainglorious

vapid

vehement

venal

venerable

veracious

veracity

verbiage

verdant

verdigris

verklempt

vexatious

vicissitude

virga

virulent

visceral

vitalism

vitiate

vitriol

vitriolic

vituperation

vituperative

volition

vulpine

wanton

whinge

whingeing

woebegone

wont


There's a Word for That.

Number of words: 110


Not Really a Word—But It Should Be.

Number of words: 10


Obsolete or Obscure

Number of words: 5


Old Words with New Meanings.

Number of words: 1


Borrowed

Number of words: 41


Words About Words

Number of words: 30