14, of 32. It's Definitely a Number.

You know, it's amazing that these words don't get used more often. Stupid canonical colloquialism undermining the integrity of great words. Luckily, "slizzard" has entered the lexicon. Erryone should be deplorin', 'cause erryday I'm hustlin'.


Uxorial: of a wife, relating to, involving, or characteristic of a wife
Lithium: silvery, soft, highly-reactive metal
Witzelsucht: excessive facetiousness and inappropriate or pointless humor, the disorder
Glyph: a sigil or specific insignia, a letter of language, an arcane mark
Kaleidoscope: optical item that utilizes mirrors to create interior symmetrical visions
Infinity: quality or condition of being infinite, unbounded space, time, or quantity
Quicquidlibet: whatever one pleases, anything whatsoever, typified by absolute volition
Troglodyte: hermit, recluse, person considered to be reclusive, out of date, or brutish
Cenobite: member of a convent or other religious community, cloistered person
Phrontistery: athenaeum, establishment for study, thinking, and/or learning
Recidivism: act of repeating punished act, chronic tendency to repeat crimes
Bacchante: female bacchant, carousing woman, priestess or woman votary of Bacchus
Coracle: small rounded boat made of waterproof material stretched over a frame
Oxydactyl: having slender, tapered digits or fingers
Valetudinarian: sickly or weak person, hypochondriac
Zenzezenzizenzic: the eighth power of a number
Clairvoyant: having the “power” to see things that can’t be perceived by the senses
Excogitate: to contemplate with diligence and care to obtain intuitive grasp thereof
Discotheque: nightclub that features dancing to recorded or live music
Vicarious: performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another
Maugre: in spite of, notwithstanding

Baroque: of, relating to, or like of a style in art and architecture of a time

Telefacsimile: a fax machine, a document sent over a telephone line

Luddite: person who fears or loathes technology, person opposed to technology

Cathismata: pl. one of the 20 divisions in a Greek Psalter

Quoddamodotative: existing or behaving in a certain manner

Prismatic: refractive light of a spectrum, brilliantly colored

Contagion: disease that is or may be transmitted by direct or indirect contact, epidemic

Immure: to enclose with walls, ensconce

Ennui: listlessness, weariness, discontent

Pluterperfect: beyond perfect or perfection, more than perfect

Clarion: medieval trumpet with clear shrill tones, clear and shrill, loud burst of sound

Sardonyx: type of stone(onyx) with sandy bands

Rastaquouere: social climber, social upstart, man of finished and polished manners

Thymoleptic: psychologically energizing, drug designed to reverse depression

Gravamen: the material, basis, or significant part of a grievance or complaint

Acropolis: fortified height or citadel, raised area holding a building or cluster of buildings

Cosmopolitan: pertaining to the world at large, without localized prejudices

Permeate: to pervade, to spread or flow throughout, to diffuse through

Symbiosis: mutual biological synergy between two dissimilar organisms 

Escamotage: juggling, hand trickery, sleight of hand, legerdemain 

Terpsichorean: pertaining, relating to, or referring to dancing or the art thereof

Haecceity: property that uniquely identifies an object, compare quiddity

Zingaro: a gypsy, an Italian gypsy, mendicant, beggar, vagabond

Thylacine: Extinct Tasmanian Tiger

14th Page, I Can Go On Forever!

"Epigone" is a point of curiosity. I pronounce it erroneously(though intentional) as eh-pig-ohn-ee, as opposed to epp-e-gohn or epp-ee-gone. This is sheerly phonoaesthetic, but it's pretty much set in stone for me. I do a similar thing with "mythopoeic"(instead of myth-o-pee-ick, I do myth-o-poe-A-ick), which is actually inculcated from my reading the word in Lolita(and learning it then) and mispronouncing it, but I think it's prettier that way. You'll also note a lot of in here used by Nabokov(some incidental and some not), though I specifically avoided "nymphet"(though, I should add it now) because my list of Coolest Words(30 pages so far) has some coinages, and there are some others on Prettiest("mimsy" q.v.). Eh well, that's about it.

Promethean: boldly creative, defiantly original, deviating genius

Ashlar: a squared block of building stone and dressed for outward placement

Tableaux: pl. deliberate picture, arrangement , vivid, graphic description

Patina: natural tarnish from wear of usage and passage of time, verdigris

Enhalo: to affix with a halo

Acolyte: ranked clergy member, assistant in liturgical rites

Veneer: thin surface layer, superficial layer as an enhancement to inferior material

Jaunt: short excursion for pleasure, brief stay

Sidereal: of, related, pertaining to, or determined by the stars or constellations

Incalescent: becoming hotter or growing more ardent, boiling

Cosmology: study of the physical universe considered a mass of phenomena in spacetime

Illusion: erroneous mental representation, false image made by outside force or the mind

Dell: small, usually wooded valley, vale

Brio: joie de vivre, vivacity, alacrity, gusto, esprit

Sluice: artificial channel for conducting water, with a valve or gate to regulate the flow 

Pococurante: nonchalant, indifferent, lukewarm in opinion, insouciant

Comestibles: items suitable to be eaten, edible sundries, articles of food, victuals

Portmanteaux: pl. large suitcase, merging of two words to form a new one, often a pun

Malady: sickness, illness, ague, ictus, ailment

Sough: a soft, gentle sigh, murmuring, purling, or rustling sound

Auburn: moderate reddish-brown

Opaque: impenetrable to light, not reflecting light, difficult to explain or understand

Emissary: an agent sent on a mission to represent or advance the interests of another 

Ascertain: to understand specific facts, to ferret out information

Idyllic: Like an idyll, extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque 

Linguistics: pl. the study of human speech, languages, and writing

Epigone: inferior imitator, disciple, second-rate replica, counterfeit

Aeneous: brassy, golden-green

Permeate: to pervade, to spread or flow throughout, to diffuse through

Circlet: ring-shaped ornament or piece of jewelry, especially for the head

Echo: a repetition of sound produced by the reflection of sound

Periphery: line that forms the boundary, limited circumference of sight, perimeter

Synchronicity: theory of, coincidence of two or more curiously similar events 

Pantomime: communication through gestures and facial movements

Eleemosynary: of, relating to, or dependent on charity, contributed as an act of charity

Tenuous: long and thin, slender, flimsy, without great substance, diluted

Malaise: bodily weakness, nondescript illness, vague feeling of discomfort

Swath: width of a scythe-stroke, strips or radii made by something

Clerisy: the well-educated or learned class, intelligentsia, cognoscenti 

Satellite: celestial body that orbits a planet, a moon, object designed to orbit a planet

Mellifluous: flowing with sweetness or honey, smooth and sweet

Philosophy: discipline comprising aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology, etc.

Victuals: food to be eaten, provisions, food cache, pabulum, comestibles, nutrients

Leitmotif: musical passage associated to a specific situation, character, or idea

Emulate: to strive to equal or excel, especially through imitation