Sunday, 18 May 2014

The Best Words In The World

This list is composed of words that are, quite simply, the best in the universe. Some words have cool meanings, some are delightful to utter... and some are a combination of the two factors.

  • Petrichor: a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a period of long, dry weather. Well... it's actually hands-down the best smell in the world.
  • Sycophant: a person who acts obsequiously towards someone important to gain advantage. I know a person who fits this quite well, and the advantage I want them to get comes in the form of a guillotine.
  • Ameliorate: make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better
  • Magnanimous: generous or forgiving, especially towards a rival/less powerful person.
  • Vexation: the state of being annoyed, frustrated or worried.
  • Innuendo: an allusive or oblique remark/hint, typically a suggestive (sexually) or disparaging one. 
  • Obsequious: obedient/attentive to an excessive/servile degree. It's also one of the most infuriating qualities in a human being...  
  • Fallacy: a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound arguments.
  • Heretic: (1) a person believing in, or practicing, religious heresy. (2) A person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted. Not to be confused with 'heathen': (1) a follower of a polytheistic religion (a "pagan") (2) a person who does not belong to a widely held religion (especially one who is not Christian, Jewish or Islamic) as regarded by those who do.
  • Gargantuan: enormous
  • Herpetology: the branch of zoology concerned with reptiles and amphibians.
  • Perplex: make (someone) feel completely baffled.
  • Psychosis: a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality.
  • Palindrome: a word/phrase/sequence that reads the same backwards as it does forwards. Interestingly, a semordnilap ('palindromes' spelt backwards) is a word that spells a different word when spelt backwards. 
  • Vendetta: a blood feud in which the family of a murdered person seeks revenge on the murderer or their family.
  • Pneumonia: a lung inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infection, in which the air sacs fill with pus and may become solid. Wish this one upon your enemies.
  • Tuberculosis: an infectious bacterial disease characterised by the growth of nodules (tubercles) in the tissues; especially the lungs.
  • Majestic: having or showing impressive beauty or scale.
  • Complacent: showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements.
  • Irrefutable: impossible to deny or disprove. 
  • Unorthodox: contrary to what is usual, traditional or accepted (not orthodox). 
  • Decomposition: the state or process of rotting/decay
  • Cadaver: a corpse.
  • Fascism: an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organisation. 
  • Annihilation: complete destruction or obliteration.
  • Desecration: the action of desecrating something (Justin Bieber's contributions to the music industry are a key example).
  • Twonk: (British informal) a stupid or foolish person.
  • Deranged: mad/insane. One of the most appropriate words used to describe me.
  • Pestilence: a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague.
  • Cumbersome: large or heavy, and therefore difficult to use.
  • Mortuary: a room/building in which dead bodies are kept, for hygienic storage or for examination, until burial or cremation.
  • Crux: the decisive or most important point at issue.
You'll have to forgive the excessive use of medical/disease/morbid words; medical dictionaries and history books are full of alluring words. 
  • Alluring: powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating; seductive.

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