Ten-dollar words

[OC]

This morning I heard the word "specificity" used in a news report - twice! Not a word I hear too often...

What other big-ish words do you not hear very often?

-OC

[Markel]

Sesquipedalian (http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=sesquipedalian)

adj 1: given to the overuse of long words; "sesquipecalian orators"; "this sesquipedalian way of saying one has no money" 2: (of words) long and ponderous; having many syllables; "sesquipedalian technical terms" [syn: polysyllabic] n : a very long word (a foot and a half long) [syn: sesquipedalia]

[mojo]

it's been a while since i heard "holy repost, batman"...although that is more like 3 words

[oblongmelon]

Impudent
Plethura (although I use that one often)
Vexed or Vex

[mojo]

Originally posted by oblongmelon
Impudent
Plethura (although I use that one often)
Vexed or Vex

el guapo:"would you say i have a plethora of friends?"
jefe:"yes, i would say you have a plethora."
el guapo:"jefe, do you know what a plethora is?"
jefe:"el guapo, could it be that you're upset about turning a year older and are taking it out on me?"

[Ladogaboy]

I usually need some sort of catalyst to think of large or unusual words.

[CornMonkey]

DISCOMBOBULATED

[molecularfire]

Serendipitous
loquacious
molecularfire

[mojo]

egregious
gregarious
euphemistic
stoicism
philistine



Originally posted by molecularfire
Serendipitous


oddly enough, i just tried to googlewhack with this word a few minutes ago

[Ladogaboy]

nictitating
ubiquitous
quagmire
tintinnabulation
pogrom

:shrug:

[eSDee]

epistemological: the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity.

:confused:

[leemaj]

Originally posted by DarkFury
Dayuum inflation!!!

Back in "my day" these just used to be "50 cent words"!!!! :2far:

hahahahaha:heh:

[jujubees]

concatenation

[StonedWheat]

Cynosure

I want to open a night club called cynosure, or maybe just buy the domain name. It sounds so cool!

lethologica

the state of not knowing what word to use. Oddly enough, I've never found this word in the dictionary, but i think i've seen it somewhere on the internet.

[coleslaw]

One of my electronics professors used to always say: reciprocity

Bugged the heck out of me! :P

[mojo]

Originally posted by DarkFury
Dayuum inflation!!!

Back in "my day" these just used to be "50 cent words"!!!! :2far: i saw some of these on the deals page a few days back for $2 after rebates. if you price match you can get them down to $1 with american express blue.

[dbax791]

Not necessarily $10 but I hate when people use the "fashionable" term when a nickel word would do....

strawman - "rough draft"
robust - "flexible/adaptable"
granularity - "detail" :angry: I hate that one!
low-hanging fruit - "the easy stuff"

[BigJon]

superfluous

[Blu]

infatigable

[Ladogaboy]

Originally posted by Blu
infatigable

:hmm: Isn't that indefatigable?

[johnnymk]

I haven't heard the word "persnickety" since I left Viginia in the sixties.
The word that really upsets me is "Paradigm", especially when used as "Paradigm Shift". (or is it spelled Paradygm?). It seems a couple of years ago that every snob in the world was using that term.

[Nanotech9]

titillating - To excite another, especially in a superficial, pleasurable manner.

bucolic - Of or characteristic of the countryside or its people; rustic.

[welfareloser]

a useless word that's fun to use anyway: decidedly.

it's like the snob version of "very;" it adds nothing to your writing, and yet it's so damned fun...

like a magic 8ball! "it is decidedly so" is just a lot more weighty than "yes."

paradigm shift annoys me, too. you see it all over scientific papers these days.


i like to laugh at big words that are useless because they mean EXACTLY the same thing as a perfectly good common word, like using impecunious for poor.

[ChrisMG187]

Technetium

[OC]

enervate -
1 : to reduce the mental or moral vigor of
2 : to lessen the vitality or strength of

In other words, to make something "tired", like a child.

-OC

[mojo]

Originally posted by welfareloser
a useless word that's fun to use anyway: decidedly.

it's like the snob version of "very;" it adds nothing to your writing, and yet it's so damned fun...

like a magic 8ball! "it is decidedly so" is just a lot more weighty than "yes."

paradigm shift annoys me, too. you see it all over scientific papers these days.


i like to laugh at big words that are useless because they mean EXACTLY the same thing as a perfectly good common word, like using impecunious for poor. but your way would leave us with exactly 28 words. and 13 of them would be swear words :P

kidding, of course. and no, i'm not giving you a bad time. i happen to like...vocabulary. when i see a girl i like...the first thing i think is "look at the vocabulary on her!"

[OC]

Nefandous (adj): Unspeakably evil

"Sorry, I've had these socks on for three days. They've gone a bit nefandous on me."

[OC]

Prosopopoeia (n): Speaking of an inanimate object as if it were human

"Have you heard the way she talks about her damn GPS receiver? She's totally prosopopoeic about it."

[ZrEo0]

is

[RoniMan]

inconceivable!
ambivalent
laconic
clandestine
(omg! this is like SAT english all over again!)

[welfareloser]

retronym - a word that used to be good enough by itself, but now has to be modified to be more specific due to advancements. for example, "bass" is a retronym. 200 years ago, a bass was just a big cello-lookin thingy. now that is called an "upright acoustic bass," as opposed to an upright electrical bass, a bass guitar, etc...

"album" ... now have to specify cd, tape, vinyl...

book... hardback, paperback, ebook, etc...

faineant - lazy

cunctator - a procrastinator

"i am a faineant cunctator."

[Greykiller2k2]

I love all of the perspicacious people who post in this thread.

Sorry I have no good words of my own to add to it...