It’s not clear how many words there are in the English language. Some sources report a rough number of 470,000 words, while others estimate our vocabulary includes about 1 million words. But some linguists have shared that they wouldn’t be surprised if the number was off the mark by a quarter-million.
Words are the building blocks of a language, and with so many terms, it’s no surprise that some of them can get a little… creative, if not utterly weird. When it comes to strange words, our dear English language is a whole treasure chest of oddities.
If weirdness is your cup of tea, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most unusual, creative, and downright funniest words in English, each with its own meaning explained. Whether you’re looking for some lesser-known words to spice up a conversation or just want to be able to say, “Wait, I know what that means”, these are the words for you!
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Collywobbles
Meaning: icky feeling due to illness or anxiety.
Gobbledygook
Meaning: a language that is incomprehensible or is made unintelligible by excessive use of technical terms.
Snollygoster
Meaning: a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician.
Brouhaha
Meaning: a noisy and overexcited reaction or response to something.
Everywhen
Meaning: an unusual way to say “always” or “all the time."
Rigamarole
Meaning: a long and complicated and confusing procedure.
Lackadaisical
Meaning: a person who is lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy.
Pretty sure lackadaisical is an adjective, not a noun. Remove the 'a person who is' from the definition and it's fine.
Whippersnapper
Meaning: a young and inexperienced person considered to be presumptuous or overconfident.
ATLA, The king of Omashu, Aang says, "Get over here you young whippersnappers!" also in Tintin and the Crab with the Golden Claws I think it could be a different one when tintin and haddock are on the boat and haddock starts a fire he calls tintin a whippersnapper.
Dragooned
Meaning: coerce (someone) into doing something.
Dragoons - mounted soldiers at times used for law enforcement before police forces were formed. Horses can be quite effective at crowd control.
Canoodle
Meaning: kiss and cuddle amorously.
Lollygag
Meaning: This word describes a person that is messing around and doing something that isn’t useful.
Shenanigans
Meaning: high-spirited or mischievous activity.
Bamboozle
Meaning: to confuse, frustrate, or throw off thoroughly or completely.
Cantankerous
Meaning: difficult or irritating to deal with.
Wassail
Meaning: spiced ale or warmed wine drunk during celebrations for Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve.
Quomodocunquizing
Meaning: making money in any way you can.
Malarkey
Meaning: insincere or foolish talk.
Bloviate
Meaning: talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way.
Lickety-split
Meaning: at great speed.
As in, "let's get going lickety-split" to hurry people up, rather than, "well he's going lickety-split" which I've never heard used. Just my experience
Argle-bargle
Meaning: Meaningless gibberish — whether done by talking or writing.
Bumbershoot
Meaning: an umbrella.
Spondulicks
Meaning: money, cash.
There was an episode of Daria where Jane and Daria kept making bets, with the 'currency' differing each time, spondulicks being one of them. Think they included Simoleans.
Hullaballoo
Meaning: a commotion or uproar that's on the unpleasant side.
Not always unpleasant, if used in a jokey way or for example, referring to a noisy fun party that got a bit mental but not dangerous
Doozy
Meaning: an extraordinary one of its kind.
Note: this post originally had 110 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Half of these are still in use in Britain, and occur frequently in the sort of books that I read (few of which were written in the current century). Most of the rest are just weird.
A lot of them are used in the US, too. At least, in the northeast they are.
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Wazzock - a foolish or annoying person.... eg "You utter pea brained wazzock"
Armed with this list I shall be a wazzock to all my family and friends!
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yikes! what does it say about my age or background that I know most of these words, and even use many of them?
You are Stephen Fry and I claim my five pounds.
Load More Replies... Half of these are still in use in Britain, and occur frequently in the sort of books that I read (few of which were written in the current century). Most of the rest are just weird.
A lot of them are used in the US, too. At least, in the northeast they are.
Load More Replies... Wazzock - a foolish or annoying person.... eg "You utter pea brained wazzock"
Armed with this list I shall be a wazzock to all my family and friends!
Load More Replies... yikes! what does it say about my age or background that I know most of these words, and even use many of them?
You are Stephen Fry and I claim my five pounds.
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