I came across a list of unusual words… here are some of my favourites!
- aa a kind of volcanic lava that forms jagged masses with a light frothy texture; in an unrelated sense (‘a stream’) aa is the first entry in the Oxford English Dictionary
- argute shrewd
- bleeding edge the very forefront of technological development
- cacoethes an urge to do something inadvisable
- canorous melodious or resonant
- cantillate to chant or intone a passage of religious text
- couthy Scottish (of a person) warm and friendly; (of a place) cosy and comfortable
- crottle a lichen used in Scotland to make a brownish dye for wool
- deedy industrious or effective
- dight clothed or equipped; also, to make something ready for use
- dwaal S. African a dreamy, dazed, or absent-minded state
- edacious having to do with eating or fond of eating
- erubescent reddening or blushing
- exequies funeral rites
- glabrous (of skin) hairless or (of a leaf) having no down
I think I’m going to challenge myself to use them… not all in one piece of writing of course!!
Lois Elsden 