Important Infrequently Used Words To Know
Paul V. Hartman
(The Capitalized syllable gets the emphasis)
A
alacrity a-LACK-ra-tee cheerful willingness and promptness
anathema a-NATH-a-ma a thing or person cursed, banned, or reviled
anodyne AN-a-dine not likely to cause offence or disagreement and somewhat dull//anything that sooths or comforts
aphorism AFF-oar-ism a short, witty saying or concise principle
apostate ah-POSS-tate (also: apostasy) person who has left the fold or deserted the faith.
arrogate ARROW-gate to make an unreasonable claim
atavistic at-a-VIS-tic reverting to a primitive type
avuncular a-VUNC-you-lar “like an uncle”; benevolent
B
bathos BATH-ose an anticlimax
bereft ba-REFT to be deprived of something valuable “He was bereft of reason.”
C
calumny KAL-um-knee a slander or false accusation
canard kan-ARD a fabricated story (French=”duck”; morte canard=dead duck)
cant kant insincerity
chimera ki-MEER-ah (not: chim-er-ah) Originally: a mythical beast; any unreal thing; foolish fancy (adj=chimerical ki-MEER-a-cal)
cloy to grow sick from an abundance of something
comitatus com-a-TAY-tus loyalty to one’s band or group
concatenation con-CAT-a-nation things linked together or joined in a chain
copacetic “going just right”
cosseted KOS-a-ted pampered
cupidity que-PID-a-tee greed; avarice
cynosure SIGH-na-shore (from the Greek: “dog’s tail”) center of attention; point to which all eyes are drawn.
(Really? From “dog’s tail”? Yes. The “dog’s tail” appears in a constellation, locating the North star, which rivets the attention of sailors at sea. Thus: center of attention.) (see also: sinecure)
D
dilettante DILL-ah-tent
1. having superficial/amateurish interest in a branch of knowledge;
2. a connoisseur or lover of the fine arts
discursive dis-KUR-seive covering a wide field of subjects
docent DOE-cent a teacher, but not regular faculty; a museum tour guide
E
egregious a-GREE-jous conspicuously bad; flagrant; shocking
epigone EP-a-goan a second rate imitator or follower
F
fatuous FAT-chew-us foolish; stupid; silly
felicity fa-LISS-a-tee bliss; a pleasing aptness in speech and deportment; grace
furtive FURR-tive sly; shifty; secretive
G
gratuitous gra-TOO-a-tus given freely
H
haik HIKE a large piece of cloth worn as an outer garment by Arabs.
heuristic HYOUR-is-tik (noun) an idea or speculation acting as a guide to an investigation
hubris HUE-bris arrogance from excessive pride or passion (hubristic)
I
ignominy IG-na-min-ee (noun) (also: ignoble) signifying disgrace or dishonor (ignominious)
incisive in-SI-seive displaying sharp mental perception; direct and effective
inimical in-IM-a-cal unfriendly; hostile
insipid in-SIP-id (adj.) Lacking flavor, zest, or interest; dull
insuperable in-SUPER-a-bul not able to be overcome
inveigh in-VAY attack verbally
iterative IT-ter-a-tive something recurring or repeating (“An iterative process”)
J
jeremiad jer-a-MY-add a series of doleful, dismal complaints
L
lagniappe lan-yap (noun) (a Creole word) something given away as a gift for buying something else (such as an ashtray given for buying a full tank of gas)
leitmotif LIGHT-moe-teef a dominant or recurring theme or pattern
luddite LUD-ite a person who tries to halt progress by smashing machines
M
manque mon-KAY unfulfilled; frustrated (literally: maimed) “He was an artist manque.”
maudlin MAUDE-lin easily emotional
mendacious men-DAY-shous (adj.) untruthful. (the noun is mendacity)
meretricious mer-a-TRISH-ous deceitful; tawdry (Note that the two words above are pejorative, but if the meaning is not known, they “sound” meritorious.)
misanthrope MISS-an-throwp a person who dislikes the human race
N
nugatory NEW-ga-tory trifling; worthless; ineffective
O
obloquy OB-la-key a public reproach
opprobrium ah-PROBE-re-um disgrace arising from shameful conduct; a reproach mingled with contempt “That word – a term of opprobrium – cut him like a knife.”
P
paradigm PEAR-ah-dime “side by side”; a pattern or example. A “paradigm shift” is usually used to signify a major change in thinking or acting, in the sense of employing new examples.
parvenue PAR-ven-oou an upstart; someone trying to rise above their proper place
pejorative pa-JOUR-a-tive tending to be worse; downgrading; disparaging
penury PEN-your-ee extreme poverty
peremptory per-EM-tory a command which may not be refused
perdition per-DISH-un future misery, such as in going to Hell
perfidy PUR-fa-dee treachery; falsehood (perfidious is the adjective)
perfunctory pur-FUNK-tory done routinely, with little interest or care
peripatetic PER-ee-pa-TET-ick walking about; itinerant (Often used to describe Aristotle)
philistine PHIL-a-stine a person lacking culture; narrow minded with common tastes
poignant POIN-yent An adjective with multiple flavors:
1: appealing to emotion 2: physically painful 3: sharp, pungent
4: piercing, incisive 5: astute, pertinent 6: neat, skillful
poltroon pole-troon a thoroughly cowardly person
polymath polly-math a person of great or (more usually) varied learning. (poly=much math=learning)
presentiment pre-SENT-a-ment a foreboding of misfortune
propitiate pro-PISH-ee-ate pacify
puerile PURE-ill (Fr.: “puer” – child) juvenile, immature, childish
punctilio punk-TILL-ee-oh (noun) a fine point of etiquette; precise observance of formalities or ceremony; precise to the letter
R
rancor RANG-kur vindictive malice
rapacity ra-PASS-a-tee act of seizing that which is coveted; greed
recondite REK-in-dite hard to understand; profound; obscure; concealed
regnant REG-nant reigning; predominant; widespread
S
samizdat SAM-iz-dot an underground newspaper
sanguine SANG-win cheerful, confident
sanguinary SANG-win-airy bloody (note the huge difference in meaning between the above two similarly sounding words)
saturnine SAT-ter-nine morose; gloomy
scurrilous SKER-a-less grossly offensive and vulgar
seriatim sir-ee-AT-um occurring one after another; in serial fashion
sinecure SIN-a-cure a job (usually politically appointed) requiring little or no work. (See also: cynosure)
sobriquet so-bric-KAY a nickname or an assumed name (“Minnesota Fats”)
solecism SOL-a-sys-um an ungrammatical combination of words
specious SPEE-shous appearing to be right; deceptively good looking
spurious SPYOUR-ee-ous false
sycophant SIGH-ko-phant a flattering parasite
T
terse short and to the point; pithy
turpitude TUR-pa-toode depravity
unctuous UNK-shus oily and persuasive
V
venal VEE-nal a sacrifice of honor for profit
veracity ver-ASS-a-tee truthfulness
voracity vor-ASS-a-tee greed (the above two words are very close in spelling and pronunciation, but mean quite different things.)
verisimilitude ver-ah-SIM-ah-la-tude the quality of appearing to be true or real
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68 responses to “Important Infrequently Used Words To Know”
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Just English 
Really interesting and educational. When reading any novels, etc, I come across many of these words that I think I know the meaning of, but really don’t.
People don’t usually use these words in normal everyday conversations, so I usually try to infer the meaning from the context. Most of the time nothing is lost as I continue to follow the storyline to my satisfaction. I don’t subscribe to the old saw that an author is not worth his craft if he does not send the reader deliberately scurrying to a dictionary to find out the meaning of a word.It ruins the flow of the story and destroys the joy of concentration.
I have another comment – I always thought I had a decent vocabulary, but after reading this list, now I find out I don’t know JACK! I am going to make a copy of it to keep by my bedside.
Reblogged this on sueshan123.
I love words. And lists. This post was pure bliss.
This will be so cool for someone looking for word for the A to Z blogging April Challenge!
yes its correct madam
Why does this list contain so many negative words? Was the author in a bad mood? I’d like to see a list of joyful words I should learn as we’ll
Any and all education is enlightenment however it may differ in value and I’m enlightened by this
Would be great to have a Printer Friendly version of these words if you can figure out how to do that 🙂 Not saying I know how! Thank you for the list. It’s excellent.
Dear Kat,
Thank you for stopping by. Here you may download a printer-friendly version of the article: http://wp.me/a2whkt-ty
Should you need any additional assistance, please feel free to ask.
All the best,
Zoe
Hi Zoe,
I clicked on the link, which brought up a virtually empty page, (except for the title), then with the sharing buttons in the “More” category, I clicked on the printer icon, clicked to print and it printed the virtually empty page with just the title. Is there something I’m not understanding? Thanks! 🙂
Dear Kat,
Indeed the link disappeared. Please try again here: https://englishinbulgaria.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/important-infrequently-used-words-to-know.pdf
Regards,
Zoe
That worked perfectly. Thank you, printed it out! 🙂 ❤
Reblogged this on Official Site of Alex Laybourne – Author and commented:
Some important words indeed on this list!
Reblogged this on Anakin's reveries in multiverses.
Reblogged this on John Learns How To Write.
You might want to review ‘anodyne’ (and run a spell checker over your definition). As a noun it’s a general class of drug, but the more common use is as an adjective meaning ‘dull’ or ‘unremarkable’. Normally this kind of correction would seem rather pedantic, but you have rather set yourself up as an expert here.
WOW I love this list! It makes the English major in me tingle with excitement. I found your blog through stumbleupon and will absolutely be bookmarking this site! keep up the good work-
Brett
Justwritedamnit.com
Thank you for the good words, Brett.
I am glad that you find interesting pieces of information in here 🙂
Reblogged this on kelleyc416.
It is so cool for us speakers of Romanic languages that ALL of your “magniloquent” words are just our simple words without the last vocal. 😀
(the “words to know” in Italian are all of greek origins).
Reblogged this on My Little Beehive Blog.
Reblogged this on Daphodill's Garden and commented:
Hey! One of my favorite words is on this list. Perhaps it’s a sign that I should finish my story “Lagniappe”.
Reblogged this on 0JZ and commented:
An educational and beautiful post 😀
I like the list! I’ll review it in more detail later. I see overlap with the 245 words I’ve collected over the years: http://j.mp/1h2qDuh
Reblogged this on A Writer’s Guide to Words: and commented:
I love this list. So many words that need to be repeated! LOL
Hi! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content.
Please let me know. Many thanks
Sharing is caring 🙂 Shoot away.
Hi nowyblog1. I hope you take this as a positive response to your response, e.g. constructive criticism. There’s is a contraction of there is, of course. You are speaking of people (plural) not a person (singular), so your sentence should begin “There ARE”. Also; ”There are a lot of people WHO would really enjoy…” For example: There is a farm THAT is for sale, a lovely girl WHO is walking down the street…
Cool?
All the best!
Jeremy ;-))
This is amazing stuff…thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Parvenu is spelled wrong (not parvenue). Also, some of your pronunciation guidelines seem suspect. Other than that, not a bad list.
Thanks for sharing
Reblogged this on Jrmessi's Blog and commented:
Segunda língua
there are no q’s ): what about quixotic?
Reblogged this on Jesi Lee and commented:
A wonderful list for writers!
That is a cool list 🙂 These are often used words :!
Morte canard means dead duck in French? Err, no. Try canard mort
Reblogged to http://www.thoughtsonlifeandlove.com Brilliant article!
Many of the pronunciation guides suggest ‘e’ be pronounced as ‘a’ for some reason (e.g. bereft). It is a wonderful list of words though, very useful.
Some of these were definitely new to me, and I think I’m going to struggle with pronunciation.
Good word list. Thanks.