Here is our top list of dictionary words that you can add to your writing. Read our guide.
Although the exact number of words in the English language is still uncertain, we use more than 170,000 common and unusual words today. Unusual English words can make your writing and speaking more interesting. Check out our list of the most extraordinary words to expand your vocabulary and upgrade your writing skills.
Contents
What Are Unusual Words?
These are the words recorded in different dictionary versions that are not usually used in conversation or writing. However, some writers employ unusual words because they are fun, unique, and sometimes the only way to get their message across or to immerse readers in a specific historical era or fantasy setting.
| Aboideau | Hospitium | Quell |
| Abord | Hypnosis | Quincunx |
| Adhibit | Idyllic | Quintessence |
| Agastopia | Impignorate | Quire |
| Ambiguous | Immure | Quixotic |
| Aurora | Incendiary | Rambunctious |
| Barmcloths | Jejune | Renaissance |
| Bastinade | Jentacular | Sanguine |
| Bungalow | Kakorrhaphiophobia | Scrumptious |
| Bypass | Levant | Serene |
| Cachinnate | Limerence | Serendipity |
| Caffoy | Lithest | Snood |
| Calvary | Loquacious | Tenacious |
| Capricious | Lucid | Tintinnabulation |
| Chads | Mabble | Tittynopes |
| Cherish | Melancholy | Triskaidekaphobia |
| Cynical | Mellifluous | Ulotrichous |
| Dap | Misanthrope | Uncanny |
| Deliquescent | Narrative | Uranism |
| Decalcomania | Nebulize | Vamp |
| Demure | Nemesis | Velleity |
| Dragoman | Nostalgic | Wanderlust |
| Eclaircise | Nudiustertian | Wanton |
| Eftsoons | Obdurate | Wherewithal |
| Elixir | Omnishambles | Winklepicker |
| Esoteric | Opulence | Xenophobia |
| Euphoria | Paradox | Xertzes |
| Flabbergast | Pejorate | Yarborough |
| Flimflam | Persiflage | Yawner |
| Floccinaucinihilipilification | Perspicacious | Yearn |
| Gallizes | Pique | Zealot |
| Guise | Plethora | Zenith |
| Halfpace | Pristine | |
| Hent | Quackles |
Unusual Nouns
The English dictionary has thousands of fancy and uncommon words you can see in some writings but won’t be able to hear in conversations. Like other nouns, people use these words to name living and non-living things.
- Agastopia
Her previous penchant for touching her neck has turned into an agastopia.
- Chads
Niki has a talent for creating art using chads of different paper types.
- Flimflam
His explanation for cheating on his wife is a complete flimflam.
- Floccinaucinihilipilification
Floccinaucinihilipilification is a 29-character word among the longest words in the English dictionary.
- Halfpace
The client requests a larger halfpace with bigger storage space under the stairs.
- Kakorrhaphiophobia
Juliet needs professional help as her Kakorrhaphiophobia now interferes with her daily life.
- Limerence
Jay doesn’t know if what he feels towards his friend is love or pure limerence.
- Omnishambles
Derren’s birthday party is disorganized, resulting in omnishambles and more expenses.
- Persiflage
The brothers’ persiflage demonstrates their fondness for each other.
- Quincunx
Our dance teacher loves using the quincunx formation in our performances.
- Quire
To complete our medieval era theme, we must create quire manuscripts.
- Serendipity
My best serendipity was when mom made me clean out the attic, and I found vintage and branded clothes.
- Snood
The wife knits a snood to keep her husband’s neck warm in the coming winter.
- Tintinnabulation
Jake rushes to his window at the sound of familiar tintinnabulation from the streets below.
- Tittynopes
Mom asked the waiter to pack our tittynopes so she could give them to our animals at home.
- Triskaidekaphobia
If you notice that most high buildings don’t have a 13th floor, it’s because the owners and contractors have triskaidekaphobia.
- Velleity
World peace lately seems like a velleity.
- Winklepicker
My dad has winklepicker boots because they remind him of his favorite British rock band, Teddy Boys.
- Yarborough
Gray accepts his loss as he looks at the yarborough in his hand.
- Zenith
No one knows when he will reach the zenith of his popularity.
Unusual Adjectives
Adjectives describe the characteristics and features of a person, thing, animal, place, and others. Unusual adjectives are essential because profound and unusual words make the description more beautiful and compelling.
- Ambiguous
The new president has ambiguous dreams for the country.
- Capricious
His lab results for the past three months have been very capricious.
- Cynical
Having Alexa as a group leader is terrible because she has a cynical view of everything.
- Deliquescent
Our chemistry teacher asked us to bring a deliquescent substance for our experiment tomorrow.
- Esoteric
Sunshine presents esoteric ideas to her managers that they do not clearly understand.
- Jentacular
Johnny likes to upload videos of his post-jentacular exercise on his social media accounts.
- Loquacious
Hani is a loquacious member and deserves to represent the team during the discussions.
- Lucid
Her lucid dreams make her believe she’s a modern prophet.
- Narrative
Our English professor mentions a 5,000-word narrative essay about life goals as our final project.
- Nostalgic
Folding my late grandfather’s clothes gives me a nostalgic feeling.
- Nudiustertian
You should have told me you couldn’t do that nudiustertian afternoon when we were together.
- Obdurate
Kevin has a very obdurate attitude that always causes friction in their relationship.
- Perspicacious
A good leader must have great perspicacious thinking.
- Quixotic
In most cases, children create quixotic goals and change them as they grow.
- Scrumptious
Just thinking about my mother-in-law’s scrumptious dish makes my mouth water.
- Serene
I recommend going to a serene place away from the city and technology for total relaxation.
- Tenacious
His tenacious studying keeps him on top of the students’ ranking.
- Ulotrichous
Mikaela has always had ulotrichous hair and wants to see if straight hair suits her.
- Uncanny
The cook has an uncanny way of cooking and serving seafood to customers.
- Wanton
The people accuse the witch of all the wanton killings that recently happened in their town.
Unusual Verbs
Unusual action words are primarily for formal pieces and in novels, stories, and other narrative writings.
- Abord
I want to abord the transfer student, but she doesn’t want to talk to anyone.
- Adhibit
As your life coach, I hope you will adhibit what you learned from this retreat.
- Bastinade
The police chief had no choice but to allow the police to bastinade the protesters as they began to attack other officers.
- Bypass
According to the map, we must bypass the late president’s old mansion and turn right to reach the destination.
- Cachinnate
Introverts Aran and Honey cachinnate after hearing the teacher’s dad jokes, surprising everyone in the room.
- Dap
To ensure catching the fish, gently dap the bait in the water.
- Eclaircise
Miss Andrews, please eclaircise your statement.
- Flabbergast
Their performance at tomorrow’s event will surely flabbergast the audience.
- Gallizes
My mother gallizes the unfermented grape juice to ensure that there is enough for everyone.
- Hent
Violet is the type of person who will hent every opportunity presented to her.
- Impignorate
We must impignorate our valuable things to support grandad’s hospital bills.
- Levant
Be careful about lending money to James because he can levant as he did with Carla.
- Mabble
Mabble your paper with a summary of all your research findings.
- Nebulize
It’s sad to see children having to nebulize a solution to breathe easier.
- Pejorate
To pejorate the situation, the King’s stubborn brother kidnaps the Queen to force her into marriage.
- Quackles
Driven by rage, the King quackles his brother to death.
- Quell
To quell today’s meeting, here are the names of those who will be promoted at the end of the year.
- Vamp
They plan to vamp their way into the club.
- Xertzes
You can see the old man’s thirst as he xertzes everything in the bottle to the last drop.
- Yearn
My mother will always yearn for the return of my father, who disappeared three years ago.
Unusual Beautiful English Words
English will always be laden with words depicting beauty in all shapes and forms. These terms often engross readers and listeners with a story’s whimsical elements. They are also for positive or motivational messages.
- Aurora
You’re like a beautiful aurora that lightens up my dark life.
- Bungalow
If I buy a new place to stay, it will be a bungalow house.
- Cherish
I promise to cherish all our memories together.
- Demure
Many people like Lilly because of her demure personality.
- Elixir
The healer made the King drink an elixir that cured his illness.
- Euphoria
He has always been by my side and loves me for me. He’s my ultimate euphoria.
- Idyllic
I want to have an idyllic love story, but real life isn’t a fairytale.
- Incendiary
Clyde’s parents are concerned about his obsession with incendiary objects.
- Lithest
Of all the dance club members, Jimmy has the lithest moves.
- Mellifluous
The singer’s mellifluous voice makes for a great jazz album.
- Nemesis
He’s my nemesis but also my greatest friend.
- Opulence
He is a billionaire with a good heart who shows off his opulence by regularly donating to various organizations.
- Paradox
He is a true example of paradox – what he says contradicts his actions.
- Plethora
It’s funny that we only get a plethora of messages on our birthdays and never when we actually need someone to talk to.
- Pristine
My husband is obsessed with keeping our kitchen as pristine as it was when we first moved in.
- Quintessence
Many believe that the late president Franklin D. Roosevelt is the quintessence of a good and effective leader.
- Renaissance
Let’s watch “The Serpent Queen” I heard it’s set during the renaissance period.
- Sanguine
Our manager remains sanguine that we will hit the quota tomorrow.
- Wanderlust
He’s about to fulfill his wanderlust as he is now a cabin crew member of the Royal Caribbean.
- Wherewithal
Mae can’t get her school records because she doesn’t have the wherewithal to pay her balances.
More Unusual Words in the English Dictionary
Knowing more unusual words broadens knowledge and deepens your appreciation of the language. Expand your vocabulary with these words that you can use in different writings and situations.
- Aboideau
Mayor Rodriguez is asking for an order to open the aboideau to prevent the dam from breaking to avoid a bigger disaster.
- Barmcloths
The restaurant owner smiles when he sees all his kitchen staff wearing barmcloths.
- Caffoy
I’m looking for a caffoy suit to wear to the school prom on Saturday.
- Calvary
Until now, she’s still experiencing calvary on the passing of her grandmother.
- Decalcomania
Ryan uses the decalcomania technique in producing his beautiful glass art.
- Dragoman
My sister has been a dragoman in Saudi Arabia for a decade.
- Eftsoons
They were lost but found the right way back to their camp in eftsoons.
- Genophobia
Richard is the only one who stays with Sophia even when she admits she has genophobia.
- Hospitium
Mark doesn’t have a choice but to send her mother to a hospitium to earn money to support both of them.
- Hypnosis
Some of our patients are put under hypnosis to relax their minds before a medical procedure.
- Immure
Everyone is helping the victim to immure her abuser.
- Jejune
Since he’s the youngest, he still has a very jejune understanding of his surroundings.
- Melancholy
He didn’t understand why he suddenly felt melancholy after finishing the movie.
- Misanthrope
Old Henry admits he’s a misanthrope, so he chooses to live in the forest for good.
- Pique
Out of pique, he gave up his position as the group leader.
- Rambunctious
The outdoor event becomes rambunctious the moment more people arrive at the venue.
- Uranism
Did you know that the ancient Greeks practiced uranism to foster strong bonds between masters and apprentices?
- Xenophobia
It’s good to know politicians are doing their best to stop xenophobia in the country.
- Yawner
I’m sorry, but your speech a while ago is a yawner.
- Zealot
Adelle is a zealot of Korean pop and has a massive collection in her room.
Do you want to learn more? See our list of fry words to develop your English.
When editing for grammar, we also recommend taking the time to improve the readability score of a piece of writing before publishing or submitting
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