Designing Your Character & Other Handy Things

Unusual Words

I'm gonna continue to update this chapter with lots of really cool words, so check back every now and then.

Vex. To cause someone to feel annoyed, frustrated, or worried. 

Example: You take delight in vexing me by deliberately using bad grammar. 

Portmanteau. A large suitcase or trunk that opens into two equal parts. 

Example: That portmanteau will not fit in the overhead bin and must be checked. 

Naught. Means zero or nothing. It can also mean to ruin, disregard, or despise. 

Example: Her behavior tends to set propriety at naught. 

Foible. A weakness or eccentricity in someone's character. 

Example: She loved him in spite of his foibles. 

Parvenu. A person who has suddenly risen to a higher social or economic class, but who has not gained social acceptance in that class. 

Example: He was treated like a parvenu at the country club dinner. 

Sentinel. A soldier or guard who keeps watch; to keep guard or watch. 

Example: Bennett heard a strange noise and asked the sentinel to stay close. 

Moribund. At the point of death; dying. 

Example: Kathryn was unsure how to save her moribund career. 

Beslobber. To smear with spittle or anything running from the mouth. 

Example: In this drunken and beslobbered state, the lieutenant returned to the ship. 

Nonplussed. Bewildered or unsure how to respond. 

Example: Anna's hot and cold behavior has left me completely nonplussed. 

Loquacious. Means talkative or continually chattering. 

Example: Jane was pleased that her new assistant was not particularly loquacious. 

Forbear. To refrain or resist; to be tolerant or patient if provoked. 

Example: My approach this year has been to forbear and maintain a professional demeanor at all times. 

Erudite. An educated or learned person; scholarly with an emphasis on knowledge gained from books. 

Example: "Not everything is in your books," Steve told his erudite friend. 

Mellifluous. Means smooth or sweet and is generally used to describe a person's voice, tone, or writing style. 

Example: Patrick O'Brian's style is best described as mellifluous, sweeping the reader along from the first words. 

Redolent. Fragrant or sweet smelling; strongly reminiscent or suggestive of something. 

Example: These words are redolent of earlier times, when language was more formal. 

Denouement. The final resolution of a story or a complex series of events. 

Example: Will the denouement be explosive or serene? 

Pluviophile. A person who takes great joy and comfort in rainy days.

Example: Your average pluviophile will be in utter glory when thunder roils, as she can curl up with blankets and books while rain pours down outside.

Librocubularist. One who reads in bed.

Example: When you’re married to a librocubularist, you can rest assured that you’ll have to compete with a stack of books for nighttime attention.

Starrify. To decorate with stars.

Example: The student council would starrify the high school gym every year in preparation for the homecoming dance. 

Mullock. Rubbish, nonsense, or waste matter.

Example: I don’t know what kind of mullock you’re gibbering on about today, but you really need to stop reading those conspiracy magazines.

 Uglyography. Poor handwriting, and bad spelling.

Example: His uglyography was so heinous that his essay was used as kindling, but the flames extinguished themselves rather than be tainted by association.

Namelings. Those bearing the same name.

Example: There were six boys named Jason in that particular class, prompting the teacher to address them all by their last names. When faced with namelings who both answered to “Jason Birch”, she called them “Birch” and “tree”, respectively.

Ultracrepidarianism. The habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge.

Example: Child-free people who try to give parenting advice are often guilty of the worst kind of ultracrepidarianism.

Pannychis. An all-night feast or ceremony.

Example: Edmund took another energy drink, hoping that its caffeine content would help him survive this raucous pannychis.

Guttle. To gobble greedily; to cram food into one’s gut.

Example: The dinner guests watched in horror as Lord Penderquist guttled an entire roasted boar into his maw.

Eventide. The end of the day, just as evening approaches.

Example: Moonflowers only bloom at eventide, opening their petals as the sun slips below the horizon.