Unusual But Useful Words You Might Not Know (But Should)
Replace multiple words or communicate your idea with greater accuracy with one of these words. These are definitely words you’ll want to learn, remember, and use.
Word | Definition | Usefulness |
|---|---|---|
| Abet | to help, encourage, or support someone in a criminal act | 4 |
| Acumen | keen insight; shrewdness | 5 |
| Algorithm | set or rules for solving a problem in a finite number of steps | 9 |
| Anachronism | something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time | 8 |
| Anthropogenic | Caused or produced by humans. | 6 |
| Antipodal | relating to or situated on the opposite side of the earth | 6 |
| Apricity | the warmth of the sun in winter | 2 |
| Ascetic | Extreme self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons. | 8 |
| Assent | To agree, as to a proposal; concur. | 5 |
| Behoove | It is a duty or responsibility for someone to do something | 7 |
| Bravado | A bold manner or a show of boldness intended to impress or intimidate. | 7 |
| Bunk | Nonsense. | 5 |
| Byline | a line in a newspaper naming the writer of an article | 6 |
| Charlatan | A person falsely claiming to have a special knowledge or skill; a fraud. | 8 |
| Cognate | Related in origin; A word related to one in another language. | 9 |
| Commensurate | corresponding in amount or magnitude. Proportionate; Adequate | 6 |
| Convivial | (of an atmosphere or event) friendly, lively, and enjoyable. (of a person) cheerful and friendly; jovial | 4 |
| Coprolite | a piece of fossilized dung | 2 |
| Delirium | confused mental state due to fever or illness; state of wild excitement and great happiness | 6 |
| Depredation | act of attacking or plundering | 4 |
| Dossier | group of papers that contain detailed info about someone or something | 8 |
| Dundridge | A bureaucrat who heartlessly enforces the rules, regardless of how stupid or harmful they are in the circumstances. | 8 |
| Edification | Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement; enlightenment. | 6 |
| Eschatology | The part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. | 4 |
| Eschew | Delibrately avoid using | 7 |
| Feckless | lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible | 5 |
| Fulminate | express vehement protest | 6 |
| Gaiety | The state or quality of being lighthearted or cheerful | 4 |
| Grok | to understand thoroughly and intuitively; to communicate sympathetically | 5 |
| Harborage | shelter, harbor | 1 |
| Heuristic | practical method for solving problem that is not optimal or perfect but sufficient for the immediate goals | 9 |
| Historicity | Historical authenticity; fact. | 7 |
| Idempotent | (math) element of a set that is unchanged in value when multiplied or otherwise operated on by itself | 9 |
| Indelible | making marks that cannot be erased, removed, or forgotten | 8 |
| Indignation | strong displeasure at something considered unjust or offensive | 7 |
| Indolence | avoidance of activity or exertion; laziness | 5 |
| Ingratiating | charming; pleasing | 6 |
| Initialism | abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately (e.g. FBI) | 7 |
| Jaded | feel lack of interest and excitement caused by overindulgence | 9 |
| Kakistocracy | Government by the worst men | 9 |
| Kitsch | things (movies, works of art...) that are low quality but many people might find amusing or enjoyable | 9 |
| Lexicon | 1. The vocabulary of a particular language, field, social class, person, etc. 2. A wordbook or dictionary, especially of Greek, Latin, or hebrew. 3. Inventory or record: | 5 |
| Lionize | to treat someone as a celebrity; pursue celebrities | 7 |
| Malapropism | the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect | 9 |
| Meme | An element of culture or behavior (video, pic, fad, etc.) that is passed from one to another through non-genetic means. | 6 |
| Modernity | the quality of being current or of the present | 5 |
| Myopic | Nearsightedness; Lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking or planning | 9 |
| Nee | born (placed after name of a married woman to introduce her maiden name) | 5 |
| Nixie | a letter or parcel that is undeliverable by the post office because of a faulty or illegible address | 6 |
| Obfuscate | To obscure, bewilder, confuse | 9 |
| Odious | Extremely unpleasant; repulsive. | 7 |
| Ontology | The branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being. | 7 |
| Ort | scrap or morsel of food left at a meal | 5 |
| Orthography | the methodology of writing a language including rules of spelling, punctiation, etc. | 7 |
| Ostensible | outwardly appearing as such; professed; apparent or evident | 7 |
| Pan | to criticize severely, as in a review of a play | 7 |
| Pareidolia | A psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse. | 10 |
| Parsimony | Extreme unwillingness to spend money or use resources. | 3 |
| Paucity | the presence of something only in small or insufficient quantities or amounts; scarcity | 7 |
| Pedant | A person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning. | 6 |
| Pedantic | 1. ostentatious in one's learning. 2. overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching. | 7 |
| Pejorative | having a derogatory or belittling effect or force | 8 |
| Penultimate | second to last | 6 |
| perspicacious | ability to notice and understand things that are difficult or not obvious | 8 |
| Philistine | A person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts, or who has no understanding of them. | 8 |
| Pithy | Precisely meaningful; forceful and brief. | 7 |
| Platitude | dull or trite remark, especially if intended to be profound | 9 |
| Polysemy | Having or characterized by many meanings | 7 |
| Pratfall | a fall onto ones buttocks, usually humorously | 7 |
| Preempt | to acquire before someone else; prevent something by acting first | 7 |
| Pretext | something put forward to conceal a true purpose or object; misleading appearance. A reason that you give to hide your real reason for doing something | 9 |
| Prevaricate | Speak or act in an evasive way | 8 |
| Proletariat | The working class, the lower class people. | 8 |
| Pusillanimous | showing a lack of courage or determination; timid. | 4 |
| Reify | regard (something abstract) as a material or concrete thing | 8 |
| Retroactive | Taking effect from a date in the past. | 9 |
| Riposte | a quick clever reply to an insult or criticism. | 8 |
| Sanctimony | pretended or hypocritical religious devotion or righteousness | 9 |
| Sapor | the quality in a substance that affects the sense of taste; flavor | 6 |
| Sesquipedalian | Given to using long words, words with a lot of syllables. | 6 |
| Smarmy | excessively flattering, especially insincerely | 9 |
| Subterfuge | deceit used in order to achieve one's goal | 6 |
| Succor | assistance and support especially in times of hardship and distress. | 6 |
| Syncretize | To attempt to combine or unite, as different or opposing principles, parties, etc. | 6 |
| Teetotal | advocating or pledged to total abstinence from drinking (alcohol) | 4 |
| Teleology | 1. The study of design or purpose in natural phenomena. 2. The use of ultimate purpose or design as a means of explaining phenomena. | 6 |
| Troll | (Internet Slang) One who posts inflammatory or off-topic messages in an online community (a forum, chat room, blog...) with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response. | 7 |
| Unequivocal | leaving no doubt; unambiguous. | 7 |
| Unexceptionable | not open to objection | 4 |
| Untenable | incapable of being defended, vindicated, or maintained against attack. | 7 |
| Verisimilitude | quality of seeming real; appearance of truth or likelihodd | 8 |
| Visceral | Coming from strong emotions and not from logic or reason. Not intellectual. | 9 |
| Wangle | obtain (something that is desired) by persuading others to comply or by manipulating events. | 8 |
| Wherewithal | the means or supplies for the purpose; the funds required | 5 |
| Yawp | to make a raucous noise; squawk or clamor | 6 |
| Yowl | A loud wailing cry, esp. one of pain or distress. | 5 |
| Droll | curious or unusual in a way that provokes dry amusement | 7 |