Coolest Words Starting Now

And so begins the coolest list. "Coolest" is roughly determined by a combination of practicality, obscurity, interesting pronunciations, interesting spellings, and odd or awesome definitions. Without further ado, here's 43 of them, including the two lines used for the opening.


Coolest Words

Logodaedalus: someone skilled in the employment or manipulation of words
Cicatrix: deep, permanent scar resultant of serious injury
Anabibazon: a node of the moon’s orbit
Zyzzyva: type of weevil
Mnemonic: relating to, assisting, or intended to assist the memory
Orrery: device that shows the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons
Welkin: the vault of the sky, heavens, celestial abode of the gods
Subfusc: of a dark, dull, or somber color, dingy, drab, dull
Chimerical: created by or as if by a wildly fanciful imagination, highly improbable
Apotheosis: deification, quintessence, exaltation to divine rank or stature
Plasma: distinct phase of matter, separate from the traditional solids, liquids, and gases
Exuviate: to shed a shell, molt, unsheathe
Vivisepulture: the act of being buried alive or burying alive
Cosmogony: astrophysical study of the origin and progress of the universe and its theories
Gelignite: a gelatin dynamite with specific components
Oneiric: of, relating to, or suggestive of dreams
Tourbillion: whirlwind, whirlpool, vortex, tornado
Accismus: rhetoric, affected or false refusal when the item in question is actually wanted
Braggadocio: arrogant person, braggart, arrogant or boastful behavior

Leviathan: very large animal, especially a whale, something of unusually large size

Abacination: torture, blinding the victim with a heated metal plate

Coruscate: sparkle, reflect brightly, shimmer

Esclavage: a necklace having several rows of chains, beads, or jewels 

Quixotic: foolishly impractical, especially in the pursuit of ideals, excessively romantic 

Maximum: greatest possible amount, greatest value of function

Xyresic: sharp as a razor, razor-sharp

Aeviternal: eternal, endless, never-ending

Delitescent: hidden, concealed, kept secret 

Reliquary: receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred relics 

Obloquy: abusively detractive language or utterance, calumny, censure

Catalyst: that which affects or causes activity in something without being affected itself

Apothecary: one who prepares and sells drugs and other medicine, pharmacy

Eldritch: strange or unearthly, eerie, terrifying, alien

Wight: creature, a human being, living being, entity

Omphaloskepsis: contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation, navel-gazing

Embryo: organism in its early stages of development

Catachresis: inappropriate use of one word for another

Mitochondrion: organelle in the cytoplasm of cells that functions in energy production 

Hyperborean: of the far north, very cold, frigid, gelid 

Psithurisma: whisper, sound of wind through the trees, sound of wind-rustled leaves

Metempsychosis: reincarnation, transmigration of souls

Opusculum: minor work of literature

Fulminate: to issue a thunderous verbal attack or denunciation, to explode, detonate