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It’s not clear how many words there are in the English language. Some sources report a rough number of 470,000 words, while others estimate our vocabulary includes about 1 million words. But some linguists have shared that they wouldn’t be surprised if the number was off the mark by a quarter-million.
Words are the building blocks of a language, and with so many terms, it’s no surprise that some of them can get a little… creative, if not utterly weird. When it comes to strange words, our dear English language is a whole treasure chest of oddities.
If weirdness is your cup of tea, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most unusual, creative, and downright funniest words in English, each with its own meaning explained. Whether you’re looking for some lesser-known words to spice up a conversation or just want to be able to say, “Wait, I know what that means”, these are the words for you!
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#1
Collywobbles
Meaning: icky feeling due to illness or anxiety.
#2
Gobbledygook
Meaning: a language that is incomprehensible or is made unintelligible by excessive use of technical terms.
#3
Snollygoster
Meaning: a shrewd, unprincipled person, especially a politician.
#4
Brouhaha
Meaning: a noisy and overexcited reaction or response to something.
#7
Everywhen
Meaning: an unusual way to say “always” or “all the time."
#8
Rigamarole
Meaning: a long and complicated and confusing procedure.
#9
Lackadaisical
Meaning: a person who is lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy.
over it already 2 years ago
Pretty sure lackadaisical is an adjective, not a noun. Remove the 'a person who is' from the definition and it's fine.
#10
Whippersnapper
Meaning: a young and inexperienced person considered to be presumptuous or overconfident.
Onion Cutting Ninja 2 years ago (edited)
ATLA, The king of Omashu, Aang says, "Get over here you young whippersnappers!" also in Tintin and the Crab with the Golden Claws I think it could be a different one when tintin and haddock are on the boat and haddock starts a fire he calls tintin a whippersnapper.
Hugh Cookson 2 years ago
The term whippersnapper is derived from the terms snipper-snapper and whip-snapper. A whip-snapper was a seventeenth-century term for a young man with nothing better to do than to hang about idly snapping a whip. Whippersnapper is one of those rare terms that has a somewhat literal origin.
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Your Local Ravenclaw 2 years ago
This gives me flashbacks to Tortimer saying “Hey hey, whippersnappers!” before those challenge thingies started (AC:NL reference)
Let’s All Just Try And Be Decent 2 years ago
This is also a cute thing grandparents used to say to little kids like "alright my little whipper-snapper"
Sarah Kathrin Matsoukis 2 years ago
Only time I ever heard that one was from Sean McGuire in RDR2
#11
Dragooned
Meaning: coerce (someone) into doing something.
Robert Trebor 2 years ago
Dragoons - mounted soldiers at times used for law enforcement before police forces were formed. Horses can be quite effective at crowd control.
#12
Lollygag
Meaning: This word describes a person that is messing around and doing something that isn’t useful.
#13
Shenanigans
Meaning: high-spirited or mischievous activity.
#14
Canoodle
Meaning: kiss and cuddle amorously.
#15
Bamboozle
Meaning: to confuse, frustrate, or throw off thoroughly or completely.
#16
Malarkey
Meaning: insincere or foolish talk.
#17
Cantankerous
Meaning: difficult or irritating to deal with.
#19
Wassail
Meaning: spiced ale or warmed wine drunk during celebrations for Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve.
#20
Quomodocunquizing
Meaning: making money in any way you can.
#21
Bloviate
Meaning: talk at length, especially in an inflated or empty way.
#23
Lickety-split
Meaning: at great speed.
Let’s All Just Try And Be Decent 2 years ago
As in, "let's get going lickety-split" to hurry people up, rather than, "well he's going lickety-split" which I've never heard used. Just my experience
#24
Argle-bargle
Meaning: Meaningless gibberish — whether done by talking or writing.
#25
Bumbershoot
Meaning: an umbrella.
#27
Spondulicks
Meaning: money, cash.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
There was an episode of Daria where Jane and Daria kept making bets, with the 'currency' differing each time, spondulicks being one of them. Think they included Simoleans.
#28
Hullaballoo
Meaning: a commotion or uproar that's on the unpleasant side.
Let’s All Just Try And Be Decent 2 years ago
Not always unpleasant, if used in a jokey way or for example, referring to a noisy fun party that got a bit mental but not dangerous
#30
Nudiustertian
Meaning: relating to the day before yesterday or very recent.
What do you think ?
Caroline Sinclair 2 years ago
Half of these are still in use in Britain, and occur frequently in the sort of books that I read (few of which were written in the current century). Most of the rest are just weird.
IamMe 2 years ago
A lot of them are used in the US, too. At least, in the northeast they are.
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Will Cable 2 years ago
Wazzock - a foolish or annoying person.... eg "You utter pea brained wazzock"
Alecto76 2 years ago
Armed with this list I shall be a wazzock to all my family and friends!
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Craig Silberman 2 years ago
yikes! what does it say about my age or background that I know most of these words, and even use many of them?
Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
You are Stephen Fry and I claim my five pounds.
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Amused panda 2 years ago (edited)
One of my favourites: Gongoozler - an idle spectator, originally used to refer to a person idly watching activity on a canal
Autistic apricot 2 years ago
A few I use in conversation, some I knew but could never find a place to say.Most of them however, I have never heard of before
Lesley Relph 2 years ago
At the age of 63, I knew around half of these words, most of which were very familiar.
Dean Meixner 2 years ago
One of my faves is "Finagle" (to obtain by deceptive means), and goes well with "Payola" (under the table payment/the practice of bribing someone in return for the unofficial promotion of a product in the media) ... they work hand in hand.
Rednose 6 days ago
How about "kerfuffle?" I can't believe that was left out. (A commotion or fuss, especially one cause by conflicting views.)
Keley Babs 2 years ago
Would be cooler if they explain the origin of all these words, what language they originate from and what's the breakdown of their meaning
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
My favourite is "Scurryfunge", which seems to be something that only women are taught to do. It's really quite silly.
Pieter LeGrande 2 years ago
Discombobulated - the disconcerting feeling that your brain has shredded itself. Spondonicles - tools of uncertain usage invented by backyard mechanics to solve some esoteric problem that would otherwise require the simultaneous use of four separate tools.
cogadh 2 years ago
diph·thong /ˈdifˌTHäNG,ˈdipˌTHäNG/ noun a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves toward another (as in coin, loud, and side ). a digraph representing the sound of a diphthong or single vowel (as in feat ). a compound vowel character; a ligature (such as æ ).
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Caroline Sinclair 2 years ago
Half of these are still in use in Britain, and occur frequently in the sort of books that I read (few of which were written in the current century). Most of the rest are just weird.
IamMe 2 years ago
A lot of them are used in the US, too. At least, in the northeast they are.
Load More Replies... Will Cable 2 years ago
Wazzock - a foolish or annoying person.... eg "You utter pea brained wazzock"
Alecto76 2 years ago
Armed with this list I shall be a wazzock to all my family and friends!
Load More Replies... Craig Silberman 2 years ago
yikes! what does it say about my age or background that I know most of these words, and even use many of them?
Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
You are Stephen Fry and I claim my five pounds.
Load More Replies... Amused panda 2 years ago (edited)
One of my favourites: Gongoozler - an idle spectator, originally used to refer to a person idly watching activity on a canal
Autistic apricot 2 years ago
A few I use in conversation, some I knew but could never find a place to say.Most of them however, I have never heard of before
Lesley Relph 2 years ago
At the age of 63, I knew around half of these words, most of which were very familiar.
Dean Meixner 2 years ago
One of my faves is "Finagle" (to obtain by deceptive means), and goes well with "Payola" (under the table payment/the practice of bribing someone in return for the unofficial promotion of a product in the media) ... they work hand in hand.
Rednose 6 days ago
How about "kerfuffle?" I can't believe that was left out. (A commotion or fuss, especially one cause by conflicting views.)
Keley Babs 2 years ago
Would be cooler if they explain the origin of all these words, what language they originate from and what's the breakdown of their meaning
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
My favourite is "Scurryfunge", which seems to be something that only women are taught to do. It's really quite silly.
Pieter LeGrande 2 years ago
Discombobulated - the disconcerting feeling that your brain has shredded itself. Spondonicles - tools of uncertain usage invented by backyard mechanics to solve some esoteric problem that would otherwise require the simultaneous use of four separate tools.
cogadh 2 years ago
diph·thong /ˈdifˌTHäNG,ˈdipˌTHäNG/ noun a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves toward another (as in coin, loud, and side ). a digraph representing the sound of a diphthong or single vowel (as in feat ). a compound vowel character; a ligature (such as æ ).
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