AGASTOPIA
n. – admiration of a particular part of someone’s body
BIBBLE
v. – to drink often; to eat and/or drink noisily
CABOTAGE
n. – coastal navigation; the exclusive right of a country to control the air traffic within its borders
NOT: v. – to sabotage with cabbage and/or Vermont Cabot Cheese
DOODLE SACK
n. – old English word for bagpipe
ERINACEOUS
adj. – of, pertaining to, or resembling a hedgehog
Although she won’t know what it means, never, ever tell your date Erin that she is “looking quite erinaceous this evening.”
FIRMAN
n. – in Turkey and some other Oriental countries, a decree or mandate issued by the sovereign
GABELLE
n. – a tax on salt
HALFPACE
n. – a platform of a staircase where the stair turns back in exactly the reverse direction of the lower flight
IMPIGNORATE
v. – to pawn or mortgage something
NOT: v. – to impregnate a pig
JENTACULAR
adj. – pertaining to breakfast
KAKORRHAPHIOPHOBIA
n. – fear of failure
This is the last word that someone with kakorrhaphiophobia would want to encounter in a spelling bee.
LAMPROPHONY
n. – loudness and clarity of enunciation
MACROSMATIC
adj. – having a good sense of smell
NUDIUSTERTIAN
n. – the day before yesterday
NOT: n. – a martian nudist
OXTER
n. – outdated word meaning “armpit”
NOT: n. – a creature that is half ox, half otter
PAUCILOQUENT
adj. – uttering few words; brief in speech
If you had to figure out how to use this word in context, you probably wouldn’t say much either.
QUIRE
n. – two dozen sheets of paper
RATOON
n. – small shoot growing from the root of a plant
NOT: n. – the offspring of interbreeding rats and raccoons
SALOPETTES
n. – high-waisted skiing pants with shoulder straps
TITTYNOPE
n. – a small quantity of something left over
Undoubtedly the biggest eyebrow-raiser on this list!
ULOTRICHOUS
adj. – having wooly or crispy hair
First time you’ve heard this word? It’s probably a good indication that you don’t have wooly or crispy hair. Or that you do, and nobody uses this word anymore.
VALETUDINARIAN
n. – a sickly or weak person, especially one who is constantly and morbidly concerned with his or her health
Think – “the valedictorian of hypochondriacs”
WINKLEPICKER
n. – style of shoe or boot in the 1950s with a sharp and long pointed toe
A close second to “tittynope” in the eyebrow-raiser category
XERTZ
v. – to gulp down quickly and greedily
YARBOROUGH
n. – hand of cards containing no card above a nine
ZOANTHROPY
n. – delusion of a person who believes himself changed into an animal.