Word of the Day: unusual words you may not have heard of

[Parson]

Ensiform: Having sharp edges and tapering to a point; that is, Sword-Shaped.

Why do I think that at first they were going to put a P in front of that word?

 

[CrazyKB]

Why do I think that at first they were going to put a P in front of that word?

Do you have something on your mind? LOL!!

 

[THX1138]

Galactophagist: Milk drinker.

 

[Ursa major]

The word that no one has heard of

My parents used the word "mast" for when tea had been properly brewed.

Unless it has a different spelling -- for a rather obvious reason, it was never written down -- it seems not to exist online with that meaning.

 

[Alex The G and T]

Galactophagist: Milk drinker.

Eater of Galaxies? Now I'm worried.

 

[Alex The G and T]

It's a rare thing for a crossword to Stump Alex, The Great and Terrible Master of Vocabulary.

Today's conundrum is clued "Unguis." And I had high confidence in three out of four letters: "N A I _" And no help from the last crossing.

Anyone's guess, then, whether we're talking about a Greenhorn, a carpentry fastener or an American brand name of depilatory.

I had to look it up. Oh, that kind of nail:

unguis​

[ uhng-gwis ]SHOW IPA

See synonyms for unguis on Thesaurus.com

---

noun,plural un·gues [uhng-gweez].

1. a nail, claw, or hoof.
2. Botany. the clawlike base of certain petals.

 

[cyprus7]

It's a rare thing for a crossword to Stump Alex, The Great and Terrible Master of Vocabulary.

Today's conundrum is clued "Unguis." And I had high confidence in three out of four letters: "N A I _" And no help from the last crossing.

Anyone's guess, then, whether we're talking about a Greenhorn, a carpentry fastener or an American brand name of depilatory.

I had to look it up. Oh, that kind of nail:

unguis​

[ uhng-gwis ]SHOW IPA

See synonyms for unguis on Thesaurus.com

---

noun,plural un·gues [uhng-gweez].

1. a nail, claw, or hoof.
2. Botany. the clawlike base of certain petals.

In snug the unguis, lord of nails.
(just clipping the letters into shape haha.)

 

[Rufus Coppertop]

In snug the unguis, lord of nails.
(just clipping the letters into shape haha.)

That could be the first line of a poem.

 

[THX1138]

Infantilization: To treat (someone) as a child or in a way which denies their maturity in age or experience:
"seeing yourself as a victim infantilizes you"

 

[Renè Williams]

superciliousness

the quality of thinking that you are better than other people, and that their opinions, beliefs, or ideas are not important

 

[JunkMonkey]

Galactophagist: Milk drinker.

It amuses me that the Fantastic Four's most fearsome enemy was 'The Milky One' (Galacticus).

 

[Renè Williams]

It amuses me that the Fantastic Four's most fearsome enemy was 'The Milky One' (Galacticus).

Since he's a human from the Milky Way, this is actually appropriate naming, even if funny now that i know it

 

[Ambrose]

Re tea. Masking the tea means brewing or making it here in my part of Scotland.

 

[THX1138]

Apricate - To bask in the sunshine.

 

[Alex The G and T]

Another weird one from a crossword clue:

Omphaloskeptic. One who contemplates their navel.

I think I'll have trouble working that into a conversation.

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[THX1138]

@Alex The G and T
My thoughts became omphaloskepsis in nature after I gazed at the hole in my doughnut. What can I learn from my own knotted hole?

 

[Parson]

Another weird one from a crossword clue:

Omphaloskeptic. One who contemplates their navel.

I think I'll have trouble working that into a conversation.

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In what might be a surprise, I talk about naval gazing quite often in sermons. It's a shorthand way of saying that we are putting too much emphasis on our needs and too little on the needs of others. So.... I could use it. But any word you have to define in a sermon is probably not going to communicate as well as it could.

 

[Extollager]

It amuses me that the Fantastic Four's most fearsome enemy was 'The Milky One' (Galacticus).

Well, Galactus, but yeah.

 

[THX1138]

So, does The Milkyway Galaxy mean Dubble Cream?

Next word:

Gadzookery - The use of archaisms in literature.

 

[THX1138]

Labiomancy - Lip reading