Once in a while, I’ll see some really cool word and I think, “Damn! I need to work that in somewhere.” It has to be the perfect word for the context, though. It can’t look like just showing off my erudition.” Even if it is.
Most of these words are not that showoff-y. In fact, I’ve seen three of them on the Web this week, two in one article.
I’ll order these from “least necessary” (i.e. a more common word says almost the same thing) to “most necessary” (only this word will do).
Note: what’s my authority? I don’t have any. They’re words I happen to like, and if your favorite isn’t on the list, add it in the comments.
Refulgent
adjective
Shining radiantly; resplendent.
Casting a bright light; radiant; brilliant; resplendent; shining; splendid.
Etymology: c. 1500, from Old French refulgent and directly from Latin refulgentem
In a sentence
The Great Gatsby: “Anyhow, he gives large parties,” said Jordan, changing the subject with an urban distaste for the concrete. “And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”
There was the boom of a bass drum, and the voice of the orchestra leader rang out suddenly above the echolalia of the garden.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he cried. “At the request of Mr. Gatsby we are going to play for you Mr. Vladimir Tostoff’s latest work, which attracted so much attention at Carnegie Hall last May. If you read the papers, you know there was a big sensation.”
He smiled with refulgent joy. "
The Hobbit: Before them lay the main road, paved with large flat stones, which were flanked with wide turf verges. There were hedges on either side of the road, high and diversely variegated with white, yellow, and purple flowers, set in a thick array, and interspersed with stately trees whose branches cast deep shadows upon the ground. Overhead, the sky was clear and blue, and the sun shone down upon the landscape with a refulgent brilliance.
Treason's Harbour From burnished scales they beamed refulgent rays.
Conclusion
If you replaced “refulgent” with “radiant” in those sentences, what would be lost? (Except you wouldn’t say “radiant rays” in the last example.)
This is a showoff word (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
ineluctable
adjective
incapable of being evaded; inescapable:
an ineluctable destiny.
Synonyms: unpreventable, fated, sure, certain, inexorable, unstoppable, irrevocable, unavoidable, inevitable
Etymology "not to be escaped by struggling," 1620s, from French inéluctable (15c.) or directly from Latin ineluctabilis "unavoidable, inevitable," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + eluctabilis "that may be escaped from," from eluctari "to struggle out of," from ex "out, out of" (see ex-) + luctari "to struggle" (see reluctance).
In a Sentence
Ulysses: Ineluctable modality of the visible: at least that if no more, thought through my eyes. Signatures of all things I am here to read, seaspawn and seawrack, the nearing tide, that rusty boot. Snotgreen, bluesilver, rust: coloured signs. Limits of the diaphane. But he adds: in bodies. Then he was aware of them bodies before of them coloured. How? By knocking his sconce against them, sure. Go easy. Bald he was and a millionaire, maestro di color che sanno. Limit of the diaphane in. Why in? Diaphane, adiaphane. If you can put your five fingers through it it is a gate, if not a door. Shut your eyes and see. [If you search on this word as used in novels, most of the references are to this phrase]
Ever Seen' Civil War belongs more to the tradition of battle movies like The Thin Red Line or Apocalypse Now, in which war is the mysterious, ineluctable manifestation of the American will — perhaps its unconscious will.
—Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 11 Apr. 2024
Second, the history of third-party presidential candidacies is one of ineluctable failure.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
A certain ineluctable logic governs this collision of worlds: television’s foremost fantasia of Birkin bags, spa days, private-jet travel, and real-life Malibu beach houses infiltrating the most plastic realm there is.
—Vulture, 15 Dec. 2023
Conclusion
I would tend to avoid this since “inevitable” or “inescapable” are adequate substitutes, but if you like sounding as though you’ve read Ulysses, go for it.
nugatory
adjective
of no real value; trifling; worthless.
Synonyms: frivolous, insignificant, trivial
of no force or effect; ineffective; futile; vain.
Synonyms: inoperative, useless
not valid.
Etymology: "trifling, of no value; invalid, futile," c. 1600, from Latin nugatorius "worthless, trifling, futile," from nugator "jester, trifler, braggart," from nugatus, past participle of nugari "to trifle, jest, play the fool," from nugæ "jokes, jests, trifles," a word of unknown origin.
In a Sentence
With the second statement now also looking nugatory, you have to wonder if Elliott is the force behind these moves, as it appears to be, and if so, what changes might be next on its agenda.
Instead of abrogating the treaties, they aimed, by evasions and restrictions, to render nugatory many of their stipulations.
From HMS Surprise: ‘Very well. And as we go, pray consider of this, too: my rats have vanished. The squall did not take them. Their cage was undamaged, but its door was open. I turn my back for five minutes to take the air on St Paul’s Rock, and my valuable rats disappear! If this is one of your naval customs, I could wish you all crucified at your own royal-yards; and flayed alive before you are nailed up. This is not the first time I have suffered so. An asp off Fuengirola: three mice in the Gulf of Lyons. Rats I had brought up by hand, cosseted since Berry Head, crammed with best double-refined madder in spite of their growing reluctance – and now all is lost, the entire experiment rendered nugatory, utterly destroyed!’
(I actually heard someone say this unironically! It was a meeting at Oracle with some IT people about printers, and I don’t remember the context but one of them said that something was “nugatory.” I was SO impressed.)
Conclusion
A very good word and it sounds great, but “trifling,” “worthless,” or “futile” are almost as good.
festoon
noun
a string or chain of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc., suspended in a curve between two points.
a decorative representation of this, as in architectural work or on pottery.
a fabric suspended, draped, and bound at intervals to form graceful loops or scalloped folds.
Dentistry. the garlandlike area of the gums surrounding the necks of the teeth.
verb (used with object)
to adorn with or as with festoons:
to festoon a hall.
to form into festoons:
to festoon flowers and leaves.
Dentistry. to reproduce natural gum patterns around the teeth or a denture.
to connect by festoons.
Etymology: "string or chain of flowers, ribbon, or other material suspended between two points," 1620s, from French feston (16c.), from Italian festone, literally "a festive ornament," apparently from festa "celebration, feast," from Vulgar Latin *festa (see feast (n.)). The verb is attested from 1789. Related: Festooned.
In a Sentence
These form one of the many island groups that hang like a fringe or festoon on the skirt of the continent of Asia.
For decoration use autumnal grasses, wheat, oats and corn, and festoon strings of them wherever possible.
Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence: “The scene of this tale was laid in the city of New York, and the time was the early seventies. It was a period of great social ferment, when old traditions were being broken down, and new ones were being formed. In the fashionable world of the city, balls and receptions followed each other in quick succession, and the houses of the wealthy were thrown open to all who could claim acquaintance with their owners. Among the most splendid entertainments of the season was the ball given by Mrs. Beaufort, the reigning belle of the hour. Her house was one of the largest and most magnificent in the city, and no expense had been spared in making it a fitting setting for the brilliant scene. The rooms were decorated with flowers and ferns, and the walls were hung with rich tapestries and rare paintings. Chandeliers of crystal shed a soft radiance over the scene, and the air was heavy with the perfume of roses. In the ballroom, the floor was polished to a mirror-like smoothness, and festooned with garlands of roses and lilies.”
Conclusion
I was actually surprised to find that “festoon” is more common as a noun, and I’d been seeing it used not quite correctly, e.g. “The Admiral’s coat was festooned with ribbons and medals.” The ribbons and medals do not hang in festoons on his coat; they’re pinned to it.
Of course, sometimes you deliberately use a word incorrectly or humorously, because it describes an impression rather than a literal truth (you mock the Admiral’s medals as “festive”). I still like the word for its sound.
infelicitous
adjective
inapt, inappropriate, or awkward; malapropos:
an infelicitous remark.
not felicitous, happy, or fortunate; unhappy.
Etymology: "unhappy, unlucky," 1754, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + felicitous. Earlier was infelicious (1590s). Related: infelicitously; infelicitousness.
For felicity: late 14c., "happiness; that which is a source of happiness," from Old French felicite "happiness" (14c.), from Latin felicitatem (nominative felicitas) "happiness, fertility," from felix (genitive felicis) "happy, fortunate, fruitful, fertile" (from suffixed form of PIE *dhe(i)- "to suck," with derivatives meaning "to suckle, produce, yield").
A relic of Rome's origins as an agricultural community: that which brings happiness is that which produces crops. Compare pauper (see poor (adj.)) "poor, not wealthy," literally "producing little." The meaning "skillful adroitness, admirable propriety" is attested from c. 1600.
In a Sentence
But viral advertising based on an infelicitous turn of phrase is not something Filexec is interested in, Chavez said.
Perhaps these circumstances gave the locality its infelicitous reputation.
It is by no means an uncommon one, not to say that I have a singularly infelicitous memory for people's names.
Conclusion
Style points for this one. It usually doesn’t add much to “unfortunate” or “unhappy.”
Inure
verb (used with object)
, in·ured, in·ur·ing.
to accustom to hardship, difficulty, pain, etc.; toughen or harden; habituate (usually followed by to ):
inured to cold.
verb (used without object)
, in·ured, in·ur·ing.
to come into use; take or have effect.
to become beneficial or advantageous.
Etymology formerly also enure, mid-15c., "accustom, adapt, establish by use," contracted from phrase (put) in ure "(put) in practice" (attested by early 15c.), from obsolete noun ure "work, practice, exercise, use," which is probably from Old French uevre, oeuvre "work," from Latin opera "work" (from PIE root *op- "to work, produce in abundance"). The meaning "toughen or harden by experience" is attested from late 15c. Related: Inured; inuring.
In a Sentence
Blood Meridian: He said that in this was the sign of the elect and he told them to kill everything that lived there. And so they came down the mountain and took their way across the plains to the eastward, inured to hardship and deprivation and death and the peregrination of a human soul upon this earth.
There is also the real danger of inuring the reader to violence, by repetition or escalation desensitizing the reader – the actual opposite of what I intended.
Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2024, Holman Jenkins [paywall, but check archive.ph for the story. It’s not there yet, as of this writing]: In truth, Americans by now should be inured. The widely touted intelligence finding that Russia sought to elect Mr. Trump in 2016? It was the product of a handpicked interagency team led by Obama CIA Director John Brennan. Handpicking is what you do to assure a predetermined conclusion. If new reporting is correct, the prevailing agency view at the time was actually that Mr. Putin preferred Hillary Clinton as the predictable partner.
Conclusion
Great-sounding word, but Google gives a list of synonyms almost as good: Strongest match. addicted. Strong matches. acclimatized acquainted adapted confirmed disciplined familiarized grooved habituated seasoned trained.
Numinous
adjective
Of or relating to a numen; supernatural.
Filled with or characterized by a sense of a supernatural presence.
"a numinous place."
Etymology: "divine, spiritual, of or pertaining to a numen," 1640s, from Latin numen (genitive numinis) "divine will," properly "divine approval expressed by nodding the head," from nuere "to nod," from PIE *neue- "to nod" (source also of Greek neuein "to nod;" Old Irish asnoi "to promise," adnoi "to entrust")
In a Sentence
My friend Brenda describes it as “numinous,” and that alone is reason to keep it even if it doesn’t fit this body.
They have had a spiritual or numinous or paranormal experience at some point in their own lives.
The Nutmeg of Consolation: ‘Perhaps they are assembled in the grove for some religious ceremony,’ said Martin. ‘Nothing more numinous than a grove, as the ancient Hebrews knew.’
And my favorite, from Hitch-22:
Lovers often invest their first meetings with retrospective significance, as if to try and conjure the elements of the numinous out of the stubborn witness of the everyday.
Conclusion
This is a great word. Not replaceable by “spiritual” or “divine.”
froward
adjective
willfully contrary; not easily managed:
to be worried about one's froward, intractable child.
Synonyms: unmanageable, difficult, wayward, fractious, disobedient, willful, obstinate
Etymology: 12c., froward, fraward "turned against, perverse, disobedient; peevish, petulant; adverse, difficult," as a preposition, "away from," the Northern form of Old English fromweard (see fromward), with Old Norse fra (see fro) in place of English from. Opposite of toward, it renders Latin pervertus in early translations of the Psalms, and also meant "about to depart, departing," and "doomed to die." Related: Frowardly; frowardness.
But How Do I Pronounce It?
Like this.
In a Sentence
A froward heart shall depart from me; I will not know a wicked person.
He was no conceited or froward caviller at authority, nor born rebel against established teachers and governors.
from The Ionian Mission: ‘I have certainly found it so, in many cases. Aft the more honour, forward the better man, as Lord Nelson put it’ said Stephen. ‘Aft being the officers and young gentlemen, forward the hands - the container for the contents, you understand. Yet I think that by forward we are to take him to mean real sailors; for you are to observe that in a crew such as this a great many scrovies are necessarily swept in, froward dirty disreputable rough good-for-nothing disorderly ragabashes and raparees to begin with, and sometimes for ever.’ [Patrick O’Brian. What I love about this passage is that it mixes “forward” and “froward” so you know it’s not a mistake.]
Conclusion
A fantastic word. I didn’t make the connection before researching this that “fro-ward” is the opposite of “to-ward.” Of course, many readers will think you misspelled “forward” but maybe that’s the fun of using it.
anodyne
noun
a medicine that relieves or allays pain.
anything that relieves distress or pain:
The music was an anodyne to his grief.
adjective
relieving pain:
a book detailing the anodyne properties of certain plants.
soothing to the mind or feelings:
the anodyne effects of a month's vacation.
weakened and made bland, as to avoid harm or controversy:
anodyne explanations that shelter children from the brutal truth.
Etymology: "having power to relieve pain," 1540s, from Medieval Latin anodynus "pain-removing, allaying pain," from Latin anodynus "painless," from Greek anodynos "free from pain," from an- "without" (see an- (1)) + odynē "pain, torment" (of the body or mind), a word of uncertain origin, evidently Indo-European, but none of the proposed etymologies satisfies Beekes. Some suggest it is a suffixed form of PIE root *ed- "to eat" (compare Lithuanian ėdžioti "to devour, bite," ėdžiotis "to suffer pain").
As a noun, "substance which alleviates pain," 1540s; in old slang, frequently a euphemism for "death" (as the final relief from the mental pain or distress of life) as in anodyne necklace "hangman's noose." Related: Anodynous.
In a Sentence
Last week’s revelation that Jason Hughes had in fact been paid nearly $10 million through the city’s acquisition of two downtown high rises has made a lot of previously anodyne quotes retroactively hysterical.
The LAFCO Twitter account retweeted a link to the article, alongside a seemingly anodyne comment in which it promoted an online video of a discussion of the issue the op-ed was about.
Conclusion
A great word. I’ve actually seen it used on the Web in the last few days. “Analgesic” is much more common and comes from the same root.
lagniappe
noun
a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase
broadly : something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure
Etymology: also lagnappe, "dividend, something extra, present or extra item given by a dealer to a customer to encourage patronage," 1849, from New Orleans creole, of unknown origin though much speculated upon. Originally a bit of something given by New Orleans shopkeepers to customers. Said to be from American Spanish la ñapa "the gift." Klein says this is in turn from Quechua yapa "something added, gift."
In a Sentence
Certainly pet-store pricing isn’t always top of mind: Some parrot burglars seem to burgle parrots as an afterthought, or lagniappe.—Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2022
In 2017 the Oscars served up an unscripted lagniappe with the flubbed Best Picture announcement.—Brenda Cronin, WSJ, 22 Mar. 2022
Anything beyond the quarterfinals would be straight-up lagniappe.
But How Would I Pronounce It?
like this
Conclusion
Another great word. Mark Twain
liked it:
"We picked up one excellent word," wrote Mark Twain in Life on the Mississippi (1883), "a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get; a nice limber, expressive, handy word—'lagniappe'.... It is Spanish—so they said." Twain encapsulates the history of lagniappe quite nicely. English speakers learned the word from French-speaking Louisianians, but they in turn had adapted it from the American Spanish word la ñapa. (What Twain didn't know is that the Spanish word is from Quechua, from the word yapa, meaning "something added.") Twain went on to describe how New Orleanians completed shop transactions by saying "Give me something for lagniappe," to which the shopkeeper would respond with "a bit of liquorice-root, … a cheap cigar or a spool of thread." It took a while for lagniappe to catch on throughout the country, but in time, New Yorkers and New Orleanians alike were familiar with this "excellent word."
Jejune
adjective
without interest or significance; dull; insipid:
a jejune novel.
juvenile; immature; childish:
jejune behavior.
lacking knowledge or experience; uninformed:
jejune attempts to design a house.
deficient or lacking in nutritive value:
a jejune diet.
Etymology: 1610s, "dull in the mind, flat, insipid, wanting in interest," from Latin ieiunus "empty, dry, barren," literally "fasting, hungry," a word of obscure origin. De Vaan finds it to be from a PIE root meaning "to worship, reverence," hence "to sacrifice" (with cognates including Sanskrit yajati "to honor, worship, sacrifice," Avestan yaza- "to worship," Greek agios, agnos "holy;" see hagio-), and writes that the Latin word and its relatives "would be based on the habit to perform the first sacrifice of the day on an empty stomach." Related: jejunal; jejunally.
But How Do I Pronounce It?
Like this.
In a Sentence
Ulysses: Buck Mulligan's gay voice went on.
— My name is absurd too: Malachi Mulligan, two dactyls. But it has a Hellenic ring, hasn't it? Tripping and sunny like the buck himself. We must go to Athens. Will you come if I can get the aunt to fork out twenty quid?
He laid the brush aside and, laughing with delight, cried:
Will he come? The jejune jesuit!
The Corrections: "The town was visibly expanding. It struck him that the word ‘visibly’ was jejune. He couldn’t think of any other adjective. He wasn’t sure what ‘jejune’ meant, exactly, but he felt it was the right word."
In the movie “Love and Death”:
Sonja : That is so jejune!Boris : Jejune? You have the temerity to accuse me of quoting to you out of jejunosity? I'm the most june person there is!
Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2024, Holman Jenkins (yes, he used “inure” and “jejune” in the same article!] The idea of Mr. Trump, especially, engaging in complicated coordinated action, when he can change the media diet of the whole planet just by issuing a tweet, is impossibly jejune.
Conclusion
Another great word. I always thought it was French. (Although, actually, it is and I think Sonja in Love and Death pronounces it in the French way.)
And the winner is:
Louche
adjective
Of questionable morality or repute.
Of questionable taste, decency, or morality; not reputable.
"a louche nightclub; a louche painting"
Etymology: "dubious, disreputable," 1819, from French louche "squinting," from Old French lousche, lois (12c.) "cross-eyed, squint-eyed, lop-sided," from Latin lusca, fem. of luscus "blind in one eye, one-eyed," from Proto-Italic *luk-sko- "with partial sight, visually handicapped," from PIE *luk- "to see" or *leuk- "light" [de Vaan].
In a Sentence
From this louche improbable source pours music of sublime beauty without one false note.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: "Youth! There is nothing like it. It's absurd to talk of the ignorance of youth. The only people to whose opinions I listen now with any respect are people much younger than myself. They seem in front of me. Life has revealed to them her latest wonder. As for the aged, I always contradict the aged. I do it on principle. If you ask them their opinion on something that is interesting to them and to me, I always contradict them. If they say, for instance, that I am stupid, I say, 'I am a genius.' If they say that I am a fool, I say, 'I am a poet.' It is easy to be different. If you ask me to define what it is to be a louche, I answer, 'It is to be different from other people.' But you would not appreciate it.
Akkari and Laban had long been disaffected with life in Denmark, a country they saw as louche and irreligious.
Conclusion
This is a fantastic word. Nothing else even comes close.
ChatGPT Strikes Out
It’s almost obligatory to try AI for a question like this. Unfortunately, its answer sucks.
Sure, here are some lesser-known yet fascinating words you might enjoy:
Obstreperous: Noisy and difficult to control.
Sempiternal: Eternal and unchanging; everlasting.
Quixotic: Exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.
Ephemeral: Lasting for a very short time; fleeting.
Surreptitious: Kept secret, especially because it would not be approved of.
Ebullient: Cheerful and full of energy.
Pernicious: Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
Mellifluous: Sweet or musical; pleasant to hear.
Ineffable: Too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.
Serendipity: The occurrence of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
Halcyon: Denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.
Vestige: A trace or remnant of something that is disappearing or no longer exists.
Mellifluous: Smooth or musical in sound; pleasant to hear.
Nebulous: In the form of a cloud or haze; hazy.
Desultory: Lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm; random.
Sagacious: Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment; wise.
Ineffable: Too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.
Ebullient: Cheerful and full of energy.
Serendipity: The occurrence of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
Pernicious: Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
Sorry, AI, all of those are words one can see in use almost every day, even in spoken language. Pernicious?? Serendipity?? Please.
I love the word: jejune and the way it rolls off the tongue. I'd used it as my last Twitter bio, "dreams of a jejune girl."
hi all. I just had this idea, "some of these must be great crossword puzzle words! After all, 'inure' is only 5 letters, all common."
So I searched for "most common crossword puzzle words" and variations on that query. Rats. All the answers are trying to get $$$ out of crossword fans, not inform you."