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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Pluviophile
Meaning: a person who loves rainy days and rain, how it looks, sounds, etc.
Euneirophrenia
Meaning: the contented feeling of waking up after a good dream.
Petrichor
Meaning: a pleasant aroma that often follows the first rain after prolonged warm, dry weather.
Scurryfunge
Meaning: to frantically rush around the house to clean up before guests arrive.
Eccedentesiast
Meaning: someone who puts on a fake smile.
Uhtceare
Meaning: to lie awake late at night worrying about something.
Blithering
Meaning: talking foolishly.
Eventide
Meaning: evening; the end of the day.
Raven-messenger
Meaning: a messenger who takes too long to arrive.
Twankle
Meaning: to twang with the fingers on a musical instrument.
Here's a tip: Don't use part of the root word you're defining in the definition.
Chork
Meaning: to make a squelching sound when walking, especially if your shoes are soaked with water.
Sillage
Meaning: the aroma trail left behind by someone wearing perfume.
Tarantism
Meaning: a mania marked by an uncontrollable need to dance.
Twirlblast
Meaning: apparently, that's what a tornado was called in the 1700s.
Crapulence
Meaning: sickness brought on by overindulging in food or drink (or hangover).
Widdershins
Meaning: in a direction opposite to the sun's path or counter-clockwise.
Apricity
Meaning: relating to or associated with early spring or the sun's warmth in winter.
Rawgabbit
Meaning: someone who confidently comments on a subject they know little about, similar to ultracrepidarian.
Zenosyne
Meaning: the perception that time is going faster than it formerly did, especially as one grows older.
Uglyography
Meaning: bad handwriting and/or poor spelling.
Callipygian
Meaning: someone who has nicely shaped buttocks.
Nibling
Meaning: a kid of your sibling.
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.
Chasmophile
Meaning: lover of nooks and crannies.
Thomas English muffins enthusiasts finally have a fan club name!
Hyemation
Meaning: the passing of winter in a particular place.
Growlery
Meaning: a place to growl.
Eucatastrophe
Meaning: a happy ending.
Iddy-umpty
Meaning: slang term for Morse code used in the mid-19th century.
This is my new subtle insult to the next iddy-umpty that annoys me
Zalabia
Meaning: a sort of fried dough resembling doughnuts.
Yogibogeybox
Meaning: the holding place for spiritualists’ paraphernalia.
Interrobang
Meaning: a punctuation mark used to denote a question asked in an exclamatory tone (‽).
Ultracrepidarian
Meaning: a person who gives an opinion on a subject they know little or nothing about.
Aphthongs
Meaning: the silent letters in words that are spelled but not pronounced.
Egrote
Meaning: to fake illness to skip work or school.
Eldritch
Meaning: weird or abnormal, especially in a manner that makes you feel scared.
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.
Zemblanity
Meaning: the opposite of serendipity, an unfortunate though predictable discovery.
Scurrilous
Meaning: (of a person) distributing defamatory information about someone to harm their reputation.
Mountweazel
Meaning: a bogus entry purposefully added to a reference work, typically as a copyright protection measure.
Wantum
Meaning: a blend of want and quantum to indicate “a quantifiable deficiency or desire.”
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.
Trumpery
Meaning: either used as a noun for beautiful but useless objects or as an adjective to describe showy but worthless items.
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.
Mucksluff
Meaning: a worn-out garment or an overcoat used to conceal the faulty clothing underneath.
Nefelibata
Meaning: a "cloud-walker"; being a nefelibata entails thinking and acting differently from others and choosing your own path.
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.
Lawrence
Meaning: a heat haze — the air over a heated surface that appears shimmering and wavy.
Nyctograph
Meaning: a tool that makes it possible to write in nyctography, a type of shorthand, in the dark.
Schnapsidee
Meaning: (German) crazy or crackpot idea, especially when drunk; literally, a “booze idea.”
Finger-post
Meaning: a guide post with a sign (or signs) indicating a direction, sometimes fashioned like a pointing finger or hand.
I was somewhat surprised by how many of these words are still fairly common in my part of Appalachia
Alot of these words aren't, and likely never were, commonly used, but used as appropriate still. I don't believe they are going out. Just not common.
I was somewhat surprised by how many of these words are still fairly common in my part of Appalachia
Alot of these words aren't, and likely never were, commonly used, but used as appropriate still. I don't believe they are going out. Just not common.
