Circumfloribus
adj. Flowery and long-winded. Much circumfloribus stuff was talked of on the Court side. Autobiography, Mary Granville (1739) The OED lists this word in particular as a “humorous nonce-word.” The … Continue Reading ⇒
Nonce-Word
Arithmocracy
noun. A form of government in which the power is vested in the simply numerical majority. A ‘democracy’ of mere numbers is no democracy, but a mere brute ‘arithmocracy.’ Alton … Continue Reading ⇒
Ovoblastic
adj. Of or relating to an egg cell. Mr Dixon,..took on to ask of Mr Mulligan himself whether his incipient ventripotence,..betokened an ovoblastic gestation in the prostatic utricle. Ulysses, James … Continue Reading ⇒
Storyful
adj. Rich in story. This is..Some lone land of genii days, Storyful and golden! Poems, The Lovely Land, James Clarence Mangan (1846) I’m flabbergasted that this word hasn’t had more of … Continue Reading ⇒
Thanatorium
noun. A place where people are held before being killed. The violent jerks from excess to excess of the patients at Dr Sacks’s pseudonymous New York hospital — ‘not a sanatorium but … Continue Reading ⇒
Quizzacious
adj. Mockingful, satiricalish. I made a little quizzacious attack upon the bishop. Works a 1832, Jeremy Bentham (1843) I made the definition more betterful by adding coolish suffixesises. Doesn’t it … Continue Reading ⇒
Pugnastics
noun. Boxing or fighting. (OED says “Pugilistic Performances.” They they go trying to sound all smart-like.) I soon found my sisters, who were taken into a house during my pugnastics. … Continue Reading ⇒
Pettifogulizer
noun. A quibbler, One who makes trivial criticisms. He is indeed..the prince of Pettifogulisers. The Common Reader: 2nd Series, Virginia Woolf (1932) I like the sound of this word. I … Continue Reading ⇒
Loaflet
noun. A small loaf. Crisp home-made loaflets. Beauchamp’s career, George Meredith (1876) The best thing since sliced bread: smaller sliced bread! It’s like regular bread, but cuter. Just saying a “loaf” … Continue Reading ⇒
Illogician
noun. An illogical reasoner. Opposite of a logician. The baffled illogician, persecuted in one position, flees into another. Obiter dicta, Augustine Birrell (1884) Also known as: a politician. The fanciful … Continue Reading ⇒