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Though missing a physical body, languages are living things that change and evolve throughout time. In fact, it's estimated that a new English word is created every 98 minutes — that's around 14 new words per day! Because humans have a much shorter lifespan than languages do, we might not feel the shift as consequential to our vocabulary. However, if we looked at old literary works, we would spot plenty of unfamiliar words that have fallen out of common usage. In fact, literary works now might be one of the few remaining sources to find beautiful forgotten words; not just Shakespearean words, but many old English words not used anymore.
Still, many other beautiful words other than literary words have fallen victim to the passage of time. Technologies have evolved and will continue to do so, requiring each new invention or phenomenon to be given a name. Hence, it's inevitable that so many more terms, some already rare words, will become forgotten. However, that's also a generational input: Archaic words are replaced with more contemporary options, and hard-to-spell words are replaced with others that trip off the tongue. Hence, the list of obscure English words will only keep expanding, which is, essentially, how things work in life and how they always did. Survival of the fittest, even in matters of linguistics! However, the process of these forgotten words going extinct can be slowed down.
To help with the latter, below, we've compiled the many obscure words or rare English words that need to be saved (a point for debate: do they really?) from falling into disuse. Do you still use any of these rare English words on a daily basis? Which 'forgotten' word would you like to be given a fresh lease on life? Let us know in the comments!
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#1
Pluviophile
Meaning: a person who loves rainy days and rain, how it looks, sounds, etc.
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#2
Euneirophrenia Meaning: the contented feeling of waking up after a good dream.
#3
Petrichor Meaning: a pleasant aroma that often follows the first rain after prolonged warm, dry weather.
#5
Scurryfunge
Meaning: to frantically rush around the house to clean up before guests arrive.
#6
Eccedentesiast Meaning: someone who puts on a fake smile.
#8
Blithering Meaning: talking foolishly.
#9
Guttle Meaning: to greedily and noisily consume food or beverages.
#10
Eventide
Meaning: evening; the end of the day.
#11
Raven-messenger Meaning: a messenger who takes too long to arrive.
#12
Twankle Meaning: to twang with the fingers on a musical instrument.
Mister Dave 2 years ago
Here's a tip: Don't use part of the root word you're defining in the definition.
#13
Chork Meaning: to make a squelching sound when walking, especially if your shoes are soaked with water.
#15
Librocubularist
Meaning: someone who reads in bed.
#17
Tarantism Meaning: a mania marked by an uncontrollable need to dance.
#18
Twirlblast Meaning: apparently, that's what a tornado was called in the 1700s.
#19
Empurple
Meaning: to become or make something purple.
#20
Crapulence Meaning: sickness brought on by overindulging in food or drink (or hangover).
#21
Widdershins Meaning: in a direction opposite to the sun's path or counter-clockwise.
#22
Apricity Meaning: relating to or associated with early spring or the sun's warmth in winter.
#25
Rawgabbit Meaning: someone who confidently comments on a subject they know little about, similar to ultracrepidarian.
#26
Zenosyne Meaning: the perception that time is going faster than it formerly did, especially as one grows older.
#27
Uglyography Meaning: bad handwriting and/or poor spelling.
#28
Callipygian Meaning: someone who has nicely shaped buttocks.
#30
Nibling Meaning: a kid of your sibling.
Squirrelly Panda 2 years ago
Funny, I lived more than 50 years without hearing this word once. Learned it in the last couple of years. Not common to hear, but it pops up every once in a while.
#31
Chasmophile Meaning: lover of nooks and crannies.
Firstname Lastname 2 years ago
Thomas English muffins enthusiasts finally have a fan club name!
#32
Hyemation Meaning: the passing of winter in a particular place.
#35
Growlery Meaning: a place to growl.
#42
Eucatastrophe
Meaning: a happy ending.
#44
Iddy-umpty Meaning: slang term for Morse code used in the mid-19th century.
Stephanie Did It 2 years ago
This is my new subtle insult to the next iddy-umpty that annoys me
#47
Zalabia
Meaning: a sort of fried dough resembling doughnuts.
#48
Yogibogeybox Meaning: the holding place for spiritualists’ paraphernalia.
#49
Interrobang Meaning: a punctuation mark used to denote a question asked in an exclamatory tone (‽).
#50
Ultracrepidarian Meaning: a person who gives an opinion on a subject they know little or nothing about.
#51
Throttlebottom Meaning: an incompetent person in a public position.
Richard Darwin 7 months ago
We definitely, desperately, need to revive this term (for this term...)!
#52
Aphthongs
Meaning: the silent letters in words that are spelled but not pronounced.
#54
Egrote Meaning: to fake illness to skip work or school.
#55
Eldritch Meaning: weird or abnormal, especially in a manner that makes you feel scared.
#60
Mundivagant Meaning: wandering all over the world.
#62
Phosphenes Meaning: a sense of a light flash (as in "seeing stars") without actual light stimulation to the eye. This could occur by rubbing the eyes while closed.
#67
Zemblanity Meaning: the opposite of serendipity, an unfortunate though predictable discovery.
#68
Scurrilous Meaning: (of a person) distributing defamatory information about someone to harm their reputation.
#73
Mountweazel Meaning: a bogus entry purposefully added to a reference work, typically as a copyright protection measure.
#75
Wantum Meaning: a blend of want and quantum to indicate “a quantifiable deficiency or desire.”
#76
Groaning-cheese Meaning: a large cheese divided among the household members after childbirth. It was cut from the middle, making a hole large enough to pass the newborn through.
#77
Trumpery Meaning: either used as a noun for beautiful but useless objects or as an adjective to describe showy but worthless items.
#78
Pilgarlik Meaning: a bald head or a man with a bald head. Or a person who is treated with mild or fake contempt or pity.
#81
Mucksluff Meaning: a worn-out garment or an overcoat used to conceal the faulty clothing underneath.
#82
Nefelibata Meaning: a "cloud-walker"; being a nefelibata entails thinking and acting differently from others and choosing your own path.
#83
Ostranenie Meaning: a process of alienation or defamiliarization. In arts, depicting things in a way that we are unfamiliar with or modifies how we interpret them.
#87
Lawrence Meaning: a heat haze — the air over a heated surface that appears shimmering and wavy.
#88
Nyctograph
Meaning: a tool that makes it possible to write in nyctography, a type of shorthand, in the dark.
#89
Schnapsidee Meaning: (German) crazy or crackpot idea, especially when drunk; literally, a “booze idea.”
#95
Finger-post Meaning: a guide post with a sign (or signs) indicating a direction, sometimes fashioned like a pointing finger or hand.
#96
Kelter Meaning: proper or regular state or condition.
What do you think ?
1_Evil_Genius 2 years ago
I was somewhat surprised by how many of these words are still fairly common in my part of Appalachia
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1_Evil_Genius 2 years ago
I was somewhat surprised by how many of these words are still fairly common in my part of Appalachia
HENI OCTAVIANI 11 months ago
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