These Are a Few of My Favorite...Words

My notes app is in absolute shambles, but I have some gems in there too, like this list of words that I like

Awhile ago, I asked my boyfriend what his favorite word was, and I was surprised to find out that not only did he not have an answer, but he also thought it was odd that I had given this subject a lot of consideration. And when he found out that I keep a list of words I like in my phone, he acted like that was a strange thing to do??? Like okay, I guess we’ve just thrown whimsy out the window!

I am a board-certified Word Nerd™. I am simply obsessed with the English language. I love synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, heteronyms, and eponyms. I love that there are often more exceptions to the rule than there are examples that follow the rule, and I love that the words cough, rough, though, and through don’t rhyme. English is a ridiculous language!

But sometimes it gives us words that are fun to say or ones that have cool meanings, and when I find one of these words, I write it down. What I’ve accumulated (so far) is a list of 25 words that I like because of the way they sound or how fun they are to say, and 20 words that I think have fun meanings that might prompt you to say, “there’s a word for that?!”

Without further ado, here are my lists. I encourage you to read the first one out loud.

Words that are fun to say:

1. Persnickety

2. Diatribe

3. Dynasty

4. Autodidact

5. Ethereal

6. Pluviophile

7. Midwifery (this is my current favorite)

8. Apothecary

9. Superfluous

10. Malarkey

11. Obsequious

12. Trilobite

13. Camaraderie

14. Menagerie

15. Heliotrope

16. Mellifluous

17. Haberdashery

18. Nefarious

19. Misanthrope

20. Adjudicate

21. Paradox

22. Biblichor

23. Litigious

24. Proletariat

25. Clandestine

Some of these words of course also have fun meanings (ex. biblichor refers to the distinct musty smell of old books), but mostly I just like the sound of them. For the words I like the meaning of, I’ll give you a definition for each.

Words with fun meanings:

1. Melancholy - the feeling of sadness with no clear cause

2. Petrichor - the smell of the earth after it rains

3. Ephemeral - lasting for a very short time

4. Verbatim - copied, quoted, or translated using the exact words that were originally used

5. Idyllic - extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque (especially in time or place)

6. Enigma - a person or thing that is mysterious or puzzling

7. Sundry - various items (noun), of various kinds/several (verb)

8. Avian - relating to birds (also love bovine [relating to cows])

9. Debauchery - excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures

10. Sinister - giving the impression that something harmful or evil is afoot (another good word)

11. Bloviate - to speak or write verbosely

12. Insofar - to such extent or degree

13. Milquetoast - timid or meek; bland

14. Saccharine - excessively sweet

15. Lexicon - the vocabulary of a language

16. Bastion - a fortified area or position (often now used metaphorically)

17. Cryptid - a being that is claimed to exist, but never proven to (ex. Nessie, Sasquatch, etc.)

18. Penultimate - second to last

19. Titular - of, relating to, or constituting a title (ex. if someone is playing Hamlet in “Hamlet,” they are playing the titular role)

20. Thrice - three times (why do we not have words for this beyond once, twice, and thrice btw?)

Alright, so now I need to know, is it weird that I keep a list on my phone? I don’t want to forget them! I realize having a note dedicated to this subject might be a bit much, but if I’m going to find people who understand my language obsession, it will be on Substack.

Oh, and if any of you were wondering, the words he came up with after thinking really hard about it were fjord, kerfuffle, bushwhacked, and fiduciary.

Please leave your favorite words in the comments!