26 Weird English Words from A to Z | Voxy Blog

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26 Weird English Words from A to Z
Theresa Dold on 03/3/11
Have you ever worn winklepickers or salopettes? Is the saying about French women and their oxters true? Do your friends complain that you bibble too much? Have you ever experienced zoanthropy and been convinced you were an elephant? If youre confused as to how to answer any or all of these questions, never fear! Weve created this confusion, and were here to clear it up with this alphabetical list of 26 weird English words and their meanings. Do you have a favorite weird word in English or any other language? Drop us the word and definition in the comments section below!
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agastopia
n. admiration of a particular part of someones body

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bibble
v. to drink often; to eat and/or drink noisily

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Voxy on 03/10/11
206 comments

cabotage
n. coastal navigation; the exclusive right of a country to control the air traffic within its borders NOT: v. to sabotage with cabbage and/or Vermont Cabot Cheese

doodle sack
n. old English word for bagpipe
32 comments

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Theresa Dold on 04/15/11

erinaceous
adj. of, pertaining to, or resembling a hedgehog Although she wont know what it means, never, ever tell your date Erin that she is looking quite erinaceous this evening.

26 Weird English Words from A to Z

Theresa Dold on 03/3/11
21 comments

firman
n. in Turkey and some other Oriental countries, a decree or mandate issued by the sovereign

gabelle
n. a tax on salt

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Voxy on 02/17/12
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halfpace
n. a platform of a staircase where the stair turns back in exactly the reverse direction of the lower flight

impignorate
v. to pawn or mortgage something NOT: v. to impregnate a pig
30 comments

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Theresa Dold on 01/19/11

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jentacular
adj. pertaining to breakfast

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Voxy on 01/9/12
32 comments

kakorrhaphiophobia
n. fear of failure This is the last word that someone with kakorrhaphiophobia would want to encounter in a spelling bee.

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Voxy on 02/15/11
29 comments

lamprophony
n. loudness and clarity of enunciation

macrosmatic
adj. having a good sense of smell

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Voxy on 10/26/12
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nudiustertian
n. the day before yesterday NOT: n. a martian nudist

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Voxy on 04/5/11
19 comments

oxter
n. outdated word meaning armpit NOT: n. a creature that is half ox, half otter

pauciloquent
adj. uttering few words; brief in speech If you had to figure out how to use this word in context, you probably wouldnt say much either.

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Voxy on 05/25/11
11 comments

quire
n. two dozen sheets of paper

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ratoon
n. small shoot growing from the root of a plant NOT: n. the offspring of interbreeding rats and raccoons

salopettes
n. high-waisted skiing pants with shoulder straps

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tittynope
n. a small quantity of something left over Undoubtedly the biggest eyebrow-raiser on this list!

ulotrichous
adj. having wooly or crispy hair First time youve heard this word? Its probably a good indication that you dont have wooly or crispy hair. Or that you do, and nobody uses this word anymore.

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valetudinarian
n. a sickly or weak person, especially one who is constantly and morbidly concerned with his or her health Think the valedictorian of hypochondriacs

winklepicker
n. style of shoe or boot in the 1950s with a sharp and long pointed toe A close second to tittynope in the eyebrow-raiser category

xertz
v. to gulp down quickly and greedily

yarborough
n. hand of cards containing no card above a nine

zoanthropy
n. delusion of a person who believes himself changed into an animal
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21 Responses to 26 Weird English Words from A to Z

Mi Habilitador says:
March 4, 2011 at 8:26 pm

humongous/(h)yo o mNGgs/ Adjective: Huge; enormous.

Reply

Christine Daae says:

January 7, 2013 at 10:47 am

oh,so thats why hes called HUMONGOUSAUR!!!!

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Lupe Lenon says:

September 22, 2011 at 3:53 am

I am really enjoying the theme/design of your site. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A handful of my blog audience have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any ideas to help fix this problem?
Reply

Cassondra Backus says:

September 22, 2011 at 6:18 am

I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or 2 pictures. Maybe you could space it out better?
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Voxy says:
September 22, 2011 at 8:57 am

Definitely something we are working! Thanks Cassondra, look for updates soon.
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crystal says:
March 2, 2012 at 2:06 pm

haha so funny
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crystal says:
March 2, 2012 at 2:08 pm

another word is schmoop

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rizza mikhaela vega says:

November 5, 2012 at 5:23 am

what is the meaning of your word?

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ira warner says:

March 2, 2012 at 2:12 pm

this is a cooleo site

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Christine Daae says:

January 7, 2013 at 10:42 am

cooleo?? hahaha!!! nice! i like that! XD

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Mel W says:
March 14, 2012 at 10:33 am

Great Word they r so funny

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Joshua Gomez says:

March 17, 2012 at 11:24 pm

ive got a couple weird words floccinaucinihilipilification- the value of something as worthless pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis- a disease you get in your lungs when you breathe volcanic ash
Reply

Amaresh says:
April 4, 2012 at 6:02 am

I like it words
Reply

gnarlyseahorses says:

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April 9, 2012 at 10:18 pm

How about this word nth or pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanaconiosis

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gnarlyseahorses says:
April 9, 2012 at 10:19 pm

or harrumph
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gnarlyseahorses says:
April 9, 2012 at 10:23 pm

and heres another one: jumentous, definition: smelling like horse urine!
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Charli says:
April 19, 2012 at 5:39 pm

Oxter is actually a very common word where I come fromnot outdated at all
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Person says:
December 5, 2012 at 6:36 pm

i like ths website its cool

Reply

i used it for school work

Christine Daae says:

January 7, 2013 at 10:39 am

i like the DOODLE SACK! hehehehe!!! sounds slangtis cool! i dunno if the word tis is an old english termbut it is a poetic word which means it is / its thanks for this! great job!
Reply

Irene R. says:
January 24, 2013 at 8:56 pm

I would think that fjord is much weirder than firman. Fjord is one of the few English words that start with the prefix fj.
Reply

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natan says:
February 12, 2013 at 4:26 pm

I like the words but what about supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus?

Reply

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