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Sesquipedalian
Of words, style etc., cumbrous, awkward, prolix. 'Sesquipedalian' is itself a sequipedalian word. It is derived from a phrase in Horace's Art of Poetry, sesquipedalia verba, literally 'words a foot and a half long', i.e. words of inordinate length, polysyllabic words ( Read more... ) -
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced KAY-fayb; IPA: ['keɪfeɪb]) refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real, that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or worked. Referring to events as kayfabe means that they are worked events, and/or part of a wrestling storyline. In relative terms, a wrestler ( Read more... ) -
[admin] Adding tags to entries
emperor asked me to change the settings for the community so that members could add tags to their posts if they wished to. I've now done this. I'm sorry if the previous state of affairs has inconvenienced anyone, but I think that I set this community up before there were such things as tags, and it had slipped my mind that anything might need altering.
mhw, ( Read more... ) -
isinglass
I'm not sure this word is really "unusual", but the etymology interested me, so there you go. Also, it gives me a chance to ask people posting to unusual_words to tag their entries, please ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
sacrosanct
sac·ro·sanct [ sákrō sàngkt ]
adjective Definition: 1. sacred: very holy and sacred
2. inviolable: not to be criticized or tampered with
[Early 17th century. < Latin sacrosanctus, "made holy through religious rites" < sacr- "sacred" + sanctus, past participle of sacrare "make holy"]
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Gamboge
gamboge: (noun) A strong yellow color.
Synonyms: lemon yellow, maize, lemon
Usage: His blood may be gamboge yellow with green spots, for all anybody knows. -
Sockdolager
from Wide World of Words:SOCKDOLAGER ( Read more... ) -
dithyramb
Main Entry: dith·y·ramb ( Read more... ) -
Regiment
Not an unusual word, but one with a little-known (and frequently misused and clichéd) sense.
Last week on the radio I heard someone refer to a group of women as "that monstrous regiment of women." Many people using that phrase seem to use it in (sometimes mock-) disparagement of a group of women, thinking that regiment in the phrase has the ( Read more... ) -
Nincompoop
From Mr. Quinion's newsletter, as usual...
Weird Words: Nincompoop
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A foolish or stupid person.
It's a silly-sounding word for a silly sort of person.
Many writers have tried hard to find an origin for it, though most
dictionaries play safe and list it as "origin unknown". The good Dr
( Read more... )