Reading and writing are two  lifelong passions. I’ve long been in the habit of looking up the meaning of interesting looking words that I’ve never encountered or have seen but don’t feel confident in using. I had a dull English teacher at school who was scornful of anyone using words that needed to be looked up. Good writing to him meant never stepping out of the comfort zone of some vocabulary you decided was good enough at some time your life.

Some months ago the trolling author of a parody account on Twitter (see screenshot above) spent time going through my Twitter feed and finding the selection of “big words” which obviously marked me as a deplorable wanker who chose words to “cower readers in the shadow of my towering intellect”.

Apart from ‘agnotology’ which I only discovered this year (the study of deliberate, culturally induced ignorance or doubt, typically to sell a product, influence opinion, or win favour, particularly through the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data (disinformation), all the others are in widespread use. So no guessing about the literacy of the troll. Vignette, imbibing, relegated, denigration? Orwellian? Really? Needs to get out a bit more.

As above, I posted the troll’s tweet on my Facebook page and in the last six months got into the habit of adding to it any seen-but-don’t-know words I encountered when reading. The Facebook post has been popular with people chiming in with “neither did I know!”, thanks and suggestions I might add. That seldom worked, as clearly we all know many words that others might not. So this is a personal list. Feel free to add yours in the comments. I’ll update the alphabetical list regularly, adding new words including any from readers that I didn’t know either.

Here we go …
alacrity: brisk and cheerful readiness

doughty: determined, brave and unwilling to ever stop trying to achieve something. We can all think of people like that, and with those it fits for me, it’s always something very admirable that they are prosecuting. I can think of despicable people like that too, who are trying to achieve stupid or horrible things. But somehow, I think it’s meant to be more of a compliment. Dogged and doggedly, similarly.

effulgence– a radiance or a brilliant light shining forth (seen in an obit by Zane Banks) – NOT to be confused with effluence. Now how many people do you know where that word fits perfectly? I live with one! Here she is ..

Eyorish: pessimistic & gloomy, after Eyore the donkey in A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. I have also heard someone use it about a mutual acquaintance who had a long nose & big ears who was a bit taciturn.

fealty : a feudal tenant’s or vassal’s sworn loyalty to a lord. “they owed fealty to the Earl rather than the Kin. As in a piece I just read about Australia’s attorney general flying to meet with the indicted war criminal Netanyahu 

hock (when referring to wine): a British term for German white wine. It sometimes refers to white wine from the Rhine region (specifically Riesling) and sometimes to all German white wine. The word hock is short for the obsolete word hockamore, an alteration of “Hochheimer”, derived from the name of the town of Hochheim am Main in Germany.

insuperable: (of a difficulty or obstacle) impossible to overcome. “insuperable financial problems”

irascible: easy to anger. Now, I knew that word but don’t believe I have ever used it Great word

kakistocracy: a state run by its least competent and least qualified citizens. Ring any bells?

manichean: to be manichean is to follow the philosophy of Manichaeism, which is an old religion that breaks everything down into good or evil. It also means “duality,” so if your thinking is manichean, you see things in black and white. I’ve know this one for a while, but underuse it — so many occasions where it’s perfect.

martinet: a person who demands strict obedience and discipline. But in looking for its synonyms I found a slew of older abusive names for women who are pushy, angry and uppity: termagent, harridan, virago, strumpet, shrew, scold, crone and harpy. I’ve heard all of those, but their usage brands their users as neanderthals so we seldom hear them. But wouldn’t it be great if lots of women proudly embraced these words, used almost exclusively by men to denigrate them, in the way the LBGTQI community often proudly embrace queer, poof, lezzo etc today?

panglossian: naively or unreasonably optimistic. Though he took a Panglossian view of the world in his youth, he became jaded as he grew older. (derogatory) Of or relating to the view that this is the best of all possible worlds.

picayune: A Canadian friend just used this is a message to me. I’ve seen it often enough in writing but never heard it in speech. It seems it’s a north American thing. It means petty, of little significance. Here’s how you say it 

pinguid: of the nature of or resembling fat; oily or greasy.

prosaic: I always assumed it meant something that was nicely, or neatly, parsimoniously expressed. But looking it up, not at all! It means commonplace or dull; matter-of-fact or unimaginative: a prosaic mind. Synonyms: uninteresting, tiresome, tedious, humdrum, vapid, everyday, ordinary or having the character or form of prose, the ordinary form of spoken or written language, rather than of poetry.

pulsillanimous: showing a lack of courage or determination; timid

quotidian: of or occurring every day; daily. as in “the car sped noisily off through the quotidian traffic”

rebarbative: unattractive and objectionable, as in an ugly public building Never seen it before.

recumbent: lying down (aware of this one, but don’t recall ever using it. 

risible: provoking laughter by being ridiculous. eg: Simon’s been making risible attempts to learn the saxophone. Another one that of course I’ve heard lots, but never used

simony: buying or selling church offices, sacred items or favours for money (heard in the movie Conclave. 

stochastic: having a random probability distribution or pattern that may be analysed statistically but may not be predicted precisely. Seen this word many times, but never used it or looked it up

sybarite: a person who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury

uxorious: Just came across this is a Le Carre novel I’m reading: “having or showing an excessive or submissive fondness for one’s wife.” Have seen it many times, but never bothered to look it up. Great word. And I’ll proudly put my hand up for that descriptor. I’ve got a good one (only submissive when that is required though)

vertiginous: very high or steep. Can be used literally or metaphorically

vulpine: pertaining to foxes or fox-like characteristics

Updated: 18 Jul, 2025; 25 Nov, 2025