What is your delightful obscure word of the day ?

[steve2470]

Mine is:

defenestration

Definition of DEFENESTRATION

1
: a throwing of a person or thing out of a W_I_N_D_O_W

2
: a usually swift dismissal or expulsion (as from a political party or office)
— de·fen·es·trate transitive verb
Origin of DEFENESTRATION

de- + Latin fenestra window
First Known Use: 1620


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defenestration

[steve2470]

1. out of a window...wow....cannot format that post correctly

can someone diagnose the formatting ? It won't show the word W_I_N_D_O_W

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. "Esurient"

As in "I find myself esurient, so I shall repair from my reading of "Rogue Herries" by Walpole, sally forth and enter a local establishment in order to negotiate the vending of some appropriate and delectable comestibles.

[steve2470]

4. great word ! nt

[PoliticAverse]

3. Microsoft Fenestra 8.1. That's a winner. n/t

[cyberswede]

5. "apotheosis"

As in "The Apotheosis of George Washington" in the capital rotunda. (Constantino Brumidi, 1865)

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. I've always loved this chiefly British word - don't know if it's that obscure

a "bounder" (a morally reprehensible person). It could apply to so many politicians, especially Republicans.

[chknltl]

7. Ouagadougou

This is how I was taught how to say it and what it meant, a strange but true story.

Teacher, while climbing up onto his desk, speaking to his 8th grade students, opening minutes of the very first day of class: "Can I hear an ewww?"
Class: "ewwwww"
Teacher: "Can I hear a waaaaa...?" (like in 'wa'ter)
Class: "waaaa"
Teacher: "Now I want to hear a gaaaa!" (like in water but with a 'g')
Class; "gaaaa"
Teacher: "Good, now I want to hear dewwww..."
Class: "dewwww."
Teacher: lastly let me hear a goo!..." (like in goo)
Class: '"goo!"
Teacher: "Now lets put these sounds together: ewwww-waaa-gaaa-deww-goo!"
Class, (it took a few tries but eventually we got it), "ewww-waaa-gaaa-deww-goo!"
Teacher: "Everyone stand up and say it again"
Class, now standing "ewww-waaa-gaaa-deww-goo!'"
Teacher: "Again faster, louder, ew-wa-ga-dew-goo!"
Class: "ew-wa-ga-dew-goo!"
Teacher, literally jumping up and down on his desk, holding his pointer stick like a spear and acting like a bad parody of someone out of a Johnnie Weismuller movie: "ewwagadewgoo!, ewwagadewgoo!, ewwagadewgoo!"
Despite being utterly gobsmacked by what we were witnessing we too were all loudly repeating "ewwagadewgoo, ewwagadewgoo" right along with this REALLY STRANGE teacher.
After a couple of minutes of this the teacher held up his hands and indicated to us that he wanted us to stop and be seated.
Teacher: "Welcome to my Geography Class. If you learn nothing else from my class, the one thing you will for the rest of your lives remember is that the the Capital of Upper Volta, (now known as Burkina Faso), a small country on the continent of Africa is named Ouagadougou.

That class was in 1971 and that teacher was right.

(for more on Ouagadougou: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouagadougou )

No, not a word as was asked for by the OP, but the name of a place. I posted this not because Ouagadougou is a delight to say, (it is, try it), nor because of it's obscurity, (yeah right-sure ya did), no, I posted this as a tribute to this teacher. If you are a teacher, you deserve way more honor than you get, my hat is off to you.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

8. Sphygmomanometer...

helped my dad use one today. And when I told him what the device was called, it blew his mind.... and led to about 1/2 hour of him trying to pronounce it. I'm such a bastard. lol

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Verisimilitude

I learned this word while I was learning Portuguese:

ver·i·si·mil·i·tude /ˌverəsəˈmiliˌt(y)o͞od/

noun

noun: verisimilitude
1. the appearance of being true or real.
"the detail gives the novel some verisimilitude"


synonyms: realism, believability, plausibility, authenticity, credibility, lifelikeness More
"the verisimilitude of her performance is gripping"

I learned "defenestrate" reading "Calvin and Hobbes."

[Ron Obvious]

10. Uxorious...

I like dropping that in a sentence. I don't know why particularly.

ux·o·ri·ous (uhk-sawr-ee-uhs, -sohr-, uhg-zawr-, -zohr-)

adjective
doting upon, foolishly fond of, or affectionately submissive toward one's wife.
Origin:
1590–1600; < Latin ūxōrius, equivalent to ūxor wife + -ius -ious

[LiberalEsto]

11. ineffable

ineffable
 
in·ef·fa·ble
[in-ef-uh-buhl]
adjective
1. incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible: ineffable joy.
2. not to be spoken because of its sacredness; unutterable: the ineffable name of the deity.
Origin: 1400–50; late Middle English < Latin ineffābilis.

[antiquie]

12. atrabilious

at·ra·bil·ious adjective \ˌa-trə-ˈbil-yəs\
1: given to or marked by melancholy : gloomy
2: ill-natured, peevish

[steve2470]

13. never have seen that one nt

[Rowdyboy]

14. Hobgoblin.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court. The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Hobgoblins seem to be small, hairy little men who—like their close relative, brownies—are often found within human dwellings, doing odd jobs around the house while the family is lost in sleep. Such chores are typically small deeds, like dusting and ironing. Often, the only compensation necessary in return for these was food. Attempts to give them clothing would often banish them forever, though whether they take offense to such gifts or are simply too proud to work in new clothes differs from teller to teller. It is possible that the "hob" in their name comes from the hob, a part of the hearth meant for holding food or utensils.

[Glorfindel]

17. Hey, Rowdyboy! "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

[Throd]

15. mudbubble

[Glorfindel]

16. Fard - to apply cosmetics

As in, "Please excuse me. I must go to the ladies' room and fard."

[Marie Marie]

18. Solipsistic

sol·ip·sis·tic [sol-ip-sis-tik]


adjective
of or characterized by solipsism, or the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist: Her treatment philosophy dealt with madness as a complete, self-contained, solipsistic world that sane people are not able to enter.

[GReedDiamond]

19. "Mezzotint"

Mezzotint is a printmaking process of the intaglio family, technically a drypoint method. It was the first tonal method to be used, enabling half-tones to be produced without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. (From Wikipedia, more at link.)

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

21. The title of one of the greatest horror stories ever written

One of the best stories by British Victorian era master of horror M.R. James. He's one of my favorite writers.

http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/mezztint.htm

[femmocrat]

20. Natterjack.

It's a kind of toad! LOL

[Sognefjord]

22. inspissisated

Rainy.

[frogmarch]

23. plucky

I've heard it only a few times in my life, so it's obscure to me.

The word "plucky" used in a sentence: I want to be a super hero's plucky sidekick.

[IDemo]

24. Ethics

noun: moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior.