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VOCABULARY LISTS > USER LISTS

Eclectic Words 93 words

September 28, 2009 By Keith (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Words collected over the years that meet one or more of the following criteria: (1) words that we have read or heard, but may not be able to clearly define if called upon, (2) words that are extremely descriptive of a specific, abstract concept, (3) words that some people occasionally define or pronounce incorrectly (often opposite of the true meaning), and (4) words that simply sound pleasant or have a crisp, descriptive tone.

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Definitions Notes & Examples Words Only
  1. acolyte
    someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches
  2. alacrity
    liveliness and eagerness
  3. anachronism
    something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
  4. anathema
    a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication
  5. angst
    an acute but unspecific feeling of anxiety; usually reserved for philosophical anxiety about the world or about personal freedom
  6. antithetical
    sharply contrasted in character or purpose
  7. argot
    a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)
  8. bohemian
    a nonconformist writer or artist who lives an unconventional life
  9. bruit
    tell or spread rumors
  10. cachet
    an indication of approved or superior status
  11. caesura
    a break or pause (usually for sense) in the middle of a verse line
  12. callow
    young and inexperienced
  13. canard
    a deliberately misleading fabrication
  14. capricious
    determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
  15. carapace
    hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
  16. catharsis
    purging the body by the use of a cathartic to stimulate evacuation of the bowels
  17. cathexis
    (psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea or person or object
  18. catholic
    free from provincial prejudices or attachments
  19. cavil
    raise trivial objections
  20. chary
    characterized by great caution and wariness
  21. contagion
    an incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted
  22. cudgel
    a club that is used as a weapon
  23. denouement
    the outcome of a complex sequence of events
  24. didactic
    instructive (especially excessively)
  25. droll
    comical in an odd or whimsical manner
  26. eclat
    brilliant or conspicuous success or effect
  27. ephemeral
    anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
  28. epiphany
    a divine manifestation
  29. exiguous
    extremely scanty
  30. facile
    arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth
  31. fatuous
    devoid of intelligence
  32. fecund
    capable of producing offspring or vegetation
  33. frippery
    something of little value or significance
  34. fugleman
    a leader and organizer and spokesman (especially a political leader)
  35. gamut
    a complete extent or range: "a face that expressed a gamut of emotions"
  36. gossamer
    a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture
  37. halcyon
    a mythical bird said to breed at the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea and to have the power of calming the winds and waves
  38. hamartia
    the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall
  39. herald
    (formal) a person who announces important news
  40. heuristic
    a commonsense rule (or set of rules) intended to increase the probability of solving some problem
  41. hubris
    overbearing pride or presumption
  42. impervious
    not admitting of passage or capable of being affected
  43. implacable
    incapable of being placated
  44. impunity
    exemption from punishment or loss
  45. incommodious
    uncomfortably or inconveniently small
  46. inexorably
    in an inexorable manner
  47. inimical
    not friendly
  48. inscrutable
    of an obscure nature
  49. insipid
    lacking interest or significance or impact
  50. ipso facto
    by the fact itself
  51. irascible
    quickly aroused to anger
  52. juxtapose
    place side by side
  53. ken
    range of what one can know or understand
  54. kismet
    (Islam) the will of Allah
  55. kvetch
    express complaints, discontent, displeasure, or unhappiness
  56. laconic
    brief and to the point; effectively cut short
  57. languish
    become feeble
  58. luminary
    a celebrity who is an inspiration to others
  59. maw
    informal terms for the mouth
  60. mortmain
    real property held inalienably (as by an ecclesiastical corporation)
  61. nadir
    an extreme state of adversity; the lowest point of anything
  62. nexus
    the means of connection between things linked in series
  63. obverse
    the more conspicuous of two alternatives or cases or sides
  64. oracle
    a shrine where an oracular god is consulted
  65. palaver
    loud and confused and empty talk
  66. palliative
    moderating pain or sorrow by making it easier to bear
  67. panoply
    a complete and impressive array
  68. paradigm
    a standard or typical example
  69. patina
    a fine coating of oxide on the surface of a metal
  70. paucity
    an insufficient quantity or number
  71. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
  72. petulant
    easily irritated or annoyed
  73. plaintive
    expressing sorrow
  74. plethora
    extreme excess
  75. profligate
    unrestrained by convention or morality
  76. quintessential
    representing the perfect example of a class or quality
  77. rogue
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
  78. rubric
    category name
  79. sanguine
    inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life
  80. sardonic
    disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking
  81. sclerotic
    relating to or having sclerosis; hardened
  82. shibboleth
    a manner of speaking that is distinctive of a particular group of people
  83. sibilant
    of speech sounds produced by forcing air through a constricted passage (as `f', `s', `z', or `th' in both `thin' and `then')
  84. sobriquet
    a familiar name for a person (often a shortened version of a person's given name)
  85. sophistry
    a deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone
  86. sublime
    of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style
  87. tabula rasa
    a young mind not yet affected by experience (according to John Locke)
  88. taciturn
    habitually reserved and uncommunicative
  89. tawdry
    tastelessly showy
  90. trenchant
    having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought, expression, or intellect
  91. truculent
    defiantly aggressive
  92. virulent
    extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom
  93. obdurate
    stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing