What is your favorite 10 dollar word?

[StrongBad]

I know that everybody here on DU is incredibly smart and eloquent. So, I'm curious as to what are everyone's favorite "big" words that you like to use to impress people. Include a brief definition of the word too so we can all improve our vocabulary.

Mine:

Nebulous- Unclear, vague, lacking proper definition.

[WhataBildeberger]

1. 10 dollar word?

"Sucky-sucky?" Love you long time? WTF is a "ten dollar word?"

[Moosenose]

2. "infringed"...

means not messed with or restricted in any way...

[UrbScotty]

3. Don't know what it means, but...

Supercallifragilisticexpealidocius.

Did I even spell it right?

[Maddy McCall]

4. Epiphany

it's just a pretty word!

[Rowdyboy]

28. Good choice! My favorite is....

denouement...French sound tres sophistique!

Meaning: the outcome, solution, or unraveling of a plot; any final revelation.

[kimchi]

5. I like big words and I cannot lie...

my favorites start with "O" and most are adjectives
obsequious~fawning
obstreperous~loud and obnoxious (ooo, another O)
ostentatious~showy, gaudy
obtuse~stupid

[ZenLefty]

20. Obloquy

It's a noun, but it does start with an O. And about 1 out of 30 people knows what it means when you use it in a sentence.

[dad]

67. z

Date: 15th century
1 : a strongly condemnatory utterance : abusive language
2 : the condition of one that is discredited : bad repute

[Bossy Monkey]

48. You must make this record

Sir Readsalot?

PS: You probably want to correct your spelling of Gandhi's name...

[Capn Sunshine]

6. NANODIDACTIC

I coin words often; I just made this one up:)
Now, if you use one of the constructed made up words on someone who is insecure about their vocabulary in a very vague reference, usually pejorative (wow!there's another) you can ascertain by their reaction what their level is ........someone who is freeperesque intheir orientation, meaning , visually driven, sound bites ,no deep thinking, would just pass right over it. Someone who is on DU a lot would say " WHAT?? WTF is nanodidactic"

BTW if you're into wordplay , my definition would be "offering a tiny fraction of an instructional lesson--subtext being that's all you are capable of handling " ---good definition of those freeper glurges you see in emails.

BOOYAH!
:nuke:

[Throckmorton]

9. Busneomediast

My made up word for Neil Cavuito.

[Capn Sunshine]

12. LOL! Cavuto is such a good fit at Faux

I'll never forget his cheerleading "we're in full recovery mode" editorial implying we should get off *'s ass about three quarters ago.

[AnnabelLee]

7. Apocryphal

I don't know if it impresses anyone, but some people get very confused, thinking it has something to do with "apocalypse".

Apocryphal is a made-for-bushco word.:evilgrin:

[dad]

68. z

1 : of doubtful authenticity : SPURIOUS
2 often capitalized : of or resembling the Apocrypha

[demnan]

8. Serendipity

an unexpected pleasant experience.

[SPICYHOT]

85. Damn!

you took mine!:*

[MiddleRiverRefugee]

10. Intransigent

n/t

[Allah Akbar]

11. Discombobulated

[FuriousMNDem]

13. Chi-n-chi-ku-ri-n

Japanese for "a very tall person"

[SPICYHOT]

86. benri

also in japanese its mean usefull

[catpower2000]

14. Ubiquitous...

meaning seen everywhere (like flags, for example.)

Cat

[ForrestGump]

58. I see that word everywhere

How ubiquitous it is in its ubiquity.

Although 'ubiquitous' is a great word, one that I like saying a lot - 'ubiquitous' 'ubiquitous' 'ubiquitous' - I'm working on ubiquitizing a few other words that are almost as cool. Then they, too, will be truly ubiquitous.

[catpower2000]

75. Ow!

You're hurting my brain! ;-)

Cat

[devilgrrl]

15. Heinous...

:shrug:

[On the Road]

16. Eleemosynary

"1. Of, relating to, or dependent on charity.
2. Contributed as an act of charity; gratuitous.
See Synonyms at benevolent."

For intellectually trendy words, I like "agon" (struggle).

I also like the sound of: "unfathomable."

[roughsatori]

21. "agon" is so loved by literary critics

and it is one of my favorite Balanchine ballets and Stravinsky's music for it is GREAT.

[mac56]

17. Callipygian.

;-)

[StClone]

22. I know what you mean

MatCom's stair climber... not!

[dad]

69. b

Main Entry: cal·li·pyg·ian
Pronunciation: "ka-l&-'pi-j(E-)&n
Variant(s): or cal·li·py·gous /-'pI-g&s/
Function: adjective
Etymology: Greek kallipygos, from kalli- + pygE buttocks
Date: circa 1800
: having shapely buttocks

[ZenLefty]

Circumlocution

It means, loosely, "too many ten dollar words". :)

[roughsatori]

18. schadenfreude

Finding joy in the suffering of others. You know, like when your co-worker does not get the promotion--and you say "serves him right." You are experiencing schadenfrude. Or when Shrub cuts programs to help poor people--he feels the more malignant version of schadenfreude.

[Rowdyboy]

29. Exceptional word!

nt

[TXlib]

33. Leave it to our Teutonic friends

to come up with a complex language to describe pain.

heh heh... I can't take credit for that quote though; Dennis Miller made a similar comment on one of his Rants.

[ForrestGump]

60. And all this time I thought it was an Austrian pastry....

[Character Assassin]

83. The word for speed limit is Geschwindigkeitbegrenzung

Nothing like German for brevity.

[primavera]

19. Lubricity

For obvious reasons... :evilgrin:

[NightTrain]

23. "Antediluvian"

Which means ancient or out-of-date. A perfect word to apply to the freepers!

[Moosenose]

40. doesn't that really mean...

"before the flood" as in Noah?

[NightTrain]

43. Here's what Merriam-Webster's website had to say....

Looks like we're both right! :-)

Main Entry: an·te·di·lu·vi·an
Pronunciation: "an-ti-d&-'lü-vE-&n, -(")dI-
Function: adjective
Etymology: ante- + Latin diluvium flood -- more at DELUGE
Date: 1646
1 : of or relating to the period before the flood described in the Bible
2 : made, evolved, or developed a long time ago <an antediluvian automobile>
- antediluvian noun

[dad]

70. c

x

[leftist_rebel1569]

24. Pornorails

Don't Ask...

[JVS]

25. Salubrious

--benefitting Health. Healthy

[StrongBad]

26. There are some great words here

Thanks everyone for your contribution!

[nuxvomica]

27. "gestalt"

from www.hyperdictionary.com:
"a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts"

[trof]

30. I like "corpulent".

FATSO!
Recently it's becoming a more apt self-description.
My motto is "never use a one syllable word when an obscure four syllable word will do".

[Ramsey]

62. I used to call people that in high school

And then I started telling girls they were filled with "pulchritude", which means "beautiful", but once you use one derogatory big word, people don't trust you anymore :evilgrin:

[The Blue Flower]

31. all-time favorite word

Defenestrate: to throw out of a window. I've never understood why someone felt the need to make up such a word.

[KamaAina]

32. Floccipaucinihilipilification

the longest word in the O.E.D.: "the act of estimating as worthless"

Okay, kids, now let's use it in a sentence:

"Bush*'s mush-mouthed speaking style and general buffoonery make him an easy target for floccipaucinihilipilification."

Whatever happened to The Floccipaucinihilipilificator (old DUer), anyway?

[TXlib]

34. You stole my favorite...

so I'll give my second favorite:

borborygmite - a dirty mouth, or practitioner of spurcitious--foul and obscene--language

Comes from a greek root that means a rumbling of gas in the intestines.

Check out:

Luciferous Logolepsy

[cosmicdot]

35. wouldn't say it's a $10 word - "confluence"

I'm not the pedantic sort, but ...

I've always loved the word. I first learned it in geography - i.e., Pittsburgh is located at the confluence of 2 rivers, the Allegheny and the Monongahela which form the Ohio; ergo, 3 Rivers Stadium



"merging into one"

are there confluences occurring in our political world?

[monkeyboy]

36. Histrionic

And you can use it to describe SO MANY people.

[dpbrown]

37. Kakistocracy - government by the worst

My current favorite.

[Liberal Veteran]

38. The long form of tryptophan synthetase A protein

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And yes it's an actual word.

[ForrestGump]

61. They're right....if you say it loud enough it sounds quite atrocious

Maybe this is Coke's 'Ingredient X' - they just couldn't fit it on the labels.

[R Hickey]

65. I won a spelling bee with that word once.

Words like that are also handy to know when playing scrabble.

[MrMonk]

39. Decabucks!

[Spirochete]

41. sawbuck

[dad]

71. Main Entry: saw·buck

Function: noun
Date: 1850
1 slang : a 10-dollar bill
2 : SAWHORSE; especially : one with X-shaped ends

[Moosenose]

42. Obfuscatory....

the act or tendency to deliberately obscure the meaning of something through the use of jargon or overly pompous language.

[SOteric]

44. tumefacient:

Producing or tending to produce swelling or tumefaction


senectitude: Old age; elderliness


titubation: The staggering or stumbling gait characteristic of certain nervous disorders


sedulous: Persevering and constant in effort or application; assiduous


& disembogue: To discharge or pour forth (water, for example)


Juls, the Glossology Tart

[BritishHuman]

77. How sesquipedalian they all are!

My personal favourite - it means an unnecessarily long word.

Literally "one and a half feet long" which I think is just gelastic and risible.

[SOteric]

81. I haven't noticed that you particularly mind

tumefacient, either. :evilgrin:

[Best_man23]

45. Egregious

Means conspicuously bad.

Used in a sentence - The egregious policies of George W. Bush have forced the US economy into a tailspin.

[Kat45]

46. Plethora

I don't know why, but I love that word.

[HEyHEY]

47. Nibelung

nibelung- a scandanacian race of dwarfs

[Bossy Monkey]

49. What else? Sesquipedalian

referring to a word that's a foot and a half long.

[whirlygigspin]

52. Nympholepsy

--A frenzy of emotion as for something unattainable.

--A frustrated idealist.

As in the sentence: "Biden, in a state of nypholpsy, annouced today..."

[Shanty Oilish]

57. Tintinnabulation

(that so musically wells...) :)

[MaineDem]

79. You beat me to it!

:-)

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

50. Entrepreneur

Yeah, I'd sure like to see the French come up with just one word that means the same thing!

(Mocking the deserter, in case ya don't get it....)

[SOteric]

51. And it's

big, corporate Republican cousin 'Entrepmanure,' too.

[thx1138A]

53. Panglossian

...e.g. Donald Rumsfeld's assessment of our progress in Iraqinam... or Treasury Secty's Snow's view of our economic prospects...

[iluvchicago86]

54. supercalafragalisticexpialidocious

Excuse the spelling but that word is quite pimp!;-)

[UrbScotty]

55. I mentioned that in post 3, above.

But hey, it's worth repeating, huh?

[are_we_united_yet]

56. substantive

what the administration's case against Iraq was not

[Ramsey]

59. Disestablishmentarianism

An opponent of an established order, especially one who opposes state support of an established church.

And here is a site that opposes disestablishmentarianism, with contraantidisestablishmentarianism!

http://dan.tobias.name/frivolity/contraantidisestablishmentarianism.html

[Bozita]

63. "Misunderestimate" --- Wish I could take credit for it.

As in, "Bush misunderestimated his own potential."

[Davis_X_Machina]

64. nugatory

1. Of little or no importance; trifling.
2. Having no force; invalid.

From Latin nugatorius, from nugator, trifler, from nugare, to trifle, from nugae, jokes, cognate with nux, nucis, nut. (The Romans used nutshells for markers in games, like poker chips or matchsticks, that have little intrisic worth.)

[R Hickey]

66. Quagdad

Used in a sentence-- "Bush has put American soldiers into a 'quagdad' in Baghmire."

OK, I had a real word, but somebody already took it.

[Dirty Hippie]

72. Fig Newton

As in "It was a just a fig newton of my imagination"

[OurMorale]

73. 2 actually, both of foreign derivations

the first is Schadenfreude--the joy one gets at another's comeuppance.

The other is a phrase, but it's considered a "word" in a vocab book. "esprit de l'escalier." Literally, "spirit of the staircase", which is the French way of expressing that common but unenviable moment when, after the opportunity has past to come up with a zingy retort to something someone else says, the person later figures out what she should have said back at that other time. Leave it to the French to come up with a word for that, eh?

[Moosenose]

74. Upgefucked.

It's "GI German" from after WWII, and is pronounced "up-ge-FUCHED"... The meaning should be obvious.

[MaineDem]

76. Sesquipedalian

Means to use a larger word when a smaller one will do.

It - and ubiquitous (not sure of the spelling right now - are my favorite sesquipedalian words.

[BritishHuman]

80. You, me and UndisclosedLocation

Looks like sesquipedalian wins!
:bounce:

[GOPisEvil]

78. Perspicacious

Of acute mental vision or discernment - shrewd.

W* is severely lacking in perspicacity, although Karl Rove is not.

[VelmaD]

82. Exsanguinate...

to drain all the blood out of a body.

Also a fan of defenestrate - to toss someone out a window.

Darth Velma

[Missy Vixen]

84. Duplicitous

Basically, you've just called someone a liar.

Works well when one must write to someone else who's been less than honest...

Julie

[UrbScotty]

87. Antidisestablishmentarianism

[Shanty Oilish]

88. Diaeresis is good

The way they used to spell cooperate, for instance, as "co-operate" with two little dots over the second o. They're diaeresis.

[mvd]

89. facetious

It means to be humorous/funny, often inappropriately.

[Terwilliger]

90. perfidy

although that's only $6.50