Coolest word in the dictionary

Published July 9, 2021

Try these cool words …

We might be a little biased, but we love language—and that’s why we love just paging (or clicking through) through the dictionary. There are all kinds of fabulous gems of words in there, from anthropomorphism to zingy. If you share our passion for juicy vocabulary, or are just curious about some of the oddities of English, this is for you. We have gathered up over a dozen of our favorite words in the English language to show off some of the jewels of our collection.

grandiloquence

Our first word loves to be onstage, front and center, which is why we are starting with it: grandiloquence [ gran-dil–uh-kwuhns ]. Grandiloquence is a noun meaning “speech that is lofty in tone, often to the point of being pompous or bombastic.” The words pompous and bombastic (which are also great) refer to behavior that is overly theatrical and pretentious. Often, this term is used pejoratively, but not always.

• The audience was not entirely won over by the politician’s grandiloquence, particularly the farmers who did not like his over-the-top statements.

The more positive counterpart of grandiloquence is simply eloquence, “the practice or art of using language with fluency and aptness.”

anthropomorphic

If you’ve ever watched a Saturday morning cartoon, read a comic strip, or even dressed your pet up in a cowboy hat, you’ve come across something anthropomorphic [ an-thruh-puh–mawr-fik ]. Anthropomorphic means “ascribing human form or attributes to a being or thing not human, especially to a deity.” In other words, anthropomorphic means “to apply human traits to something not human.”

• My daughter’s favorite television show features a crew of anthropomorphic dogs who do various jobs like firefighter and police officer.

hobbledehoy

Our next word, hobbledehoy, is not nearly as popular today as it was in the middle of the 19th century, but maybe we should bring it back. Hobbledehoy [ hob–uhl-dee-hoi ] is a noun meaning “an awkward, ungainly youth.” The word comes from a variant of the name Robert, hob, used to mean “hobgoblin or elf.” If you haven’t already guessed, hobbledehoy is an insult, not a compliment.

• Even though he was a nice boy, she thought he was a bit of a hobbledehoy and didn’t want to go with him to prom.

If you’re a fan of archaic insults, check out our article on some of Shakespeare’s best disses.

grimalkin

Another old-school insult that we love is grimalkin [ gri-mal-kin ]. A grimalkin is literally a cat, specifically an old female cat, but it is also a term for “an ill-tempered old woman.” The word comes from a combination of gray (as in the color) and malkin, a diminutive of the name Maud. Like hobbledehoy, this insult was mostly commonly used during the 1800s.

• On her lap, she had a small, bony grimalkin that she pet softly while she spoke.

zingy

Zingy, or zinging, is one of the the most cheerful words on our list. It is an adjective meaning “lively; zesty; exciting.” The word zing comes from an onomatopoeia for a sharp, high-pitched sound. Something that is zingy has that same kind of high-pitched excitement.

• At the end of the year, the theater students put on a zingy revue of their favorite musical numbers.

saudade

Some of our favorite words in the dictionary are those thought to be “untranslatable.” These are words from other languages that have such specific cultural meanings that they cannot be easily translated into English. Some examples of “untranslatables” are hygge, mensch, and saudade. Saudade [ soh-dah-duh ] is a word that comes to us from Portuguese folk culture, particularly fado. It means “a deep emotional state of melancholic longing for a person or thing that is absent.” Saudade has also been described as “a feeling of loss for something you once had and may never have again.” It’s a big mood.

• As I watched the ships disappear past the horizon, I felt a wave of saudade wash over me.

Need more Portuguese in your life? Here are more terms we wish existed in English.

butyraceous

Admittedly, our next word doesn’t have a lot of uses, but it is such a fun one we couldn’t resist. Butyraceous [ byoo-tuh–rey-shuhs ] means “of the nature of, resembling, or containing butter.” Essentially, butyraceous means “buttery.”

• At the Iowa State Fair every year, butter sculptors compete to create the most elaborate butyraceous artwork; last year, a statue of a cow made of butter won the blue ribbon.

haimish

Yiddish, a language that combines elements of German, Hebrew, and Slavic languages, is a great source of fabulous words in English. One of those words is haimish, a slang adjective that means “homey; cozy and unpretentious.”

• My graduation party was a haimish affair, as we had invited only close friends and family for a casual dinner.

The word haimish ultimately comes from the Old High German heimisc meaning “pertaining to the home.” It is associated with feelings of comfort and warmth.

nostrum

You may have encountered the expression “snake oil salesman” before. It describes quack doctors who sell bogus treatments. (Fun fact, a snake oil made from mineral oil, and not snakes, was one of the first bogus medicines sold in the United States.) The fancy, technical term for snake oil is nostrum, “a medicine sold with false or exaggerated claims and with no demonstrable value; quack medicine.” Nostrum is also used figuratively to describe a scheme to remedy a problem that doesn’t seem like it will work.

• Despite our warnings that it was a nostrum, Cary insisted on buying the weight loss supplement from the internet.

Nostrum should not be confused with the Latin expression mare nostrum, which means “our sea, especially the Mediterranean to the ancient Romans.

ratiocinate

If you have spent any time on social media, you may have gotten ratioed (check out entry on ratio for more about this expression.) But you have likely not seen many people ratiocinate on social media. Ratiocinate [ rash-ee-os–uh-neyt ] is a verb meaning “to reason; carry on a process of reasoning.” It comes from the Latin ratiō meaning “reason.”

• The philosopher argued that it was important to ratiocinate using strict logic, otherwise you will get the wrong answer.

nutation

This next word is a tricky one. Nutation literally means “an act or instance of nodding one’s head, especially involuntarily or spasmodically.” But, it has specific technical meanings in the fields of botany, astronomy, and mechanics. We aren’t going to go over all of these meanings here, but they all relate to repeated movements.

• During his big presentation, he was relieved to spot his boss’s series of nutations, which he could only interpret as agreeing with everything he was saying.

osculation

Like nutation, osculation is a word that has both an everyday meaning and a scientific one. Osculation is the technical term for “the act of kissing.” (Romantic, right?) It also has a technical meaning in geometry.

• She swore to herself that she would never let herself get swept off her feet by mere osculation.

langsyne

You may be familiar with the tradition of singing the song “Auld Lang Syne” to ring in the New Year. But you probably don’t know what langsyne [ lang-zahyn ] means, because it isn’t an expression much in use anymore. Langsyne comes from the Scots terms lang (meaning “long”) and syne (meaning “since”). It means “long since” or “time long past.” So, “Auld Lang Syne” literally means “old long since,” or “a long time ago.”

• My great-grandmother, langsyne, made all of her own clothes by hand.

thaumaturgy

Our next term is, quite literally, magical. Thaumaturgy [ thaw-muh-tur-jee ] means “the working of wonders or miracles; magic.” The word is related to the combining form thaumato-, which means “wonder.”

• The prophet went from town to town, claiming he could help cure the sick and perform other acts of thaumaturgy.

yegg

The word yegg is a bit of a mystery. No one seems to know where it came from, but we find it delightful. Yegg, or yeggman, is an old slang term meaning “a safecracker” or “an itinerant burglar.” In other words, a yegg is a crim (a criminal).

• He was the best yegg in town; he could break into nearly any safe in 10 seconds flat.

Take the quiz!

Do you think you have a handle on all of these gems? Want to review any of these jewels before you describe your brand-new butter sculpture? You can peruse our list of cool words here. You can also test your new knowledge of these words with our short quiz. 

Take the quiz here!

60+ of the Coolest, Most Epic Words in the English Language

#1–15	#16–30	#31–45
1. Apocalyptic	16. Equilibrium	31. Mitigate
2. Bamboozled	17. Exquisite	32. Nefarious
3. Bizarre	18. Flippant	33. Onomatopoeia
4. Blasphemy	19. Gerrymandering	34. Persnickety

• Nov 30, 2019

Simply so What are cool dark words? Searching for unique dark words can be a challenge.
…
Words to Describe Darkness.

beclouded	black	black as night
darksome	deep purple	dim
dimmed	dingy	drab
dreariness	dreary	dull
dusky	filmy	foggy

What are 5 interesting words? Let’s see which of these craziest words you already know and which ones are new to you:

• Bumfuzzle. This is a simple term that refers to being confused, perplexed, or flustered or to cause confusion. …
• Cattywampus. …
• Gardyloo. …
• Taradiddle. …
• Snickersnee. …
• Widdershins. …
• Collywobbles. …
• Gubbins.

also What are some trendy words? General

• Dope – Cool or awesome.
• GOAT – “Greatest of All Time”
• Gucci – Good, cool, or going well.
• Lit – Amazing, cool, or exciting.
• OMG – An abbreviation for “Oh my gosh” or “Oh my God”
• Salty – Bitter, angry, agitated.
• Sic/Sick – Cool or sweet.
• Snatched – Looks good, perfect, or fashionable; the new “on fleek”

What are the five new words?

New Words Added to English Dictionaries

• automagically adv. Automatically in a way that seems magical.
• bargainous adj. Costing less than expected.
• big media n. Primary mass communication sources, e.g., TV and the press.
• bromance n. …
• buzzkill n. …
• carbon credit n. …
• carbon offsetting n. …
• catastrophize v.

What Stygian means? Definition of stygian

1 : of or relating to the river Styx. 2 : extremely dark, gloomy, or forbidding the stygian blackness of the cave.

What are some aesthetic words?

• elegant,
• exquisite,
• glorious,
• Junoesque,
• magnificent,
• resplendent,
• splendid,
• statuesque,

What are some creepy words? creepy

• awful.
• disgusting.
• disturbing.
• eerie.
• frightening.
• ghoulish.
• macabre.
• menacing.

What is a unique word?

• incomparable,
• inimitable,
• matchless,
• peerless,
• unequaled.
• (or unequalled),
• unmatched,
• unparalleled,

What is a beautiful word? alluring, appealing, charming, cute, dazzling, delicate, delightful, elegant, exquisite, fascinating, fine, good-looking, gorgeous, graceful, grand, handsome, lovely, magnificent, marvelous, pleasing.

What word takes 3 hours to say?

The chemical name of titin was first kept in the English dictionary, but it was later removed from the dictionary when the name caused trouble. It is now known only as Titin. Titin protein was discovered in 1954 by Reiji Natori.

What is slang in English? Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-groups in order to establish group identity, exclude outsiders, or both.

What is World in slang?

An exclamation used to emphasize surprise, shock, anger, disgust, etc. Just what in the world is going on here? Aw, what in the world!

What is the latest slang?

Okay, Boomer, now try not to feel too old as you make your way through our guide for the top 2021 teen slang words and phrases.

• Extra. This is another way of saying that someone or something is too much or over the top. …
• Salty. …
• Snatched. …
• Yeet. …
• Big yikes. …
• Finsta. …
• Periodt. …
• Flex.

Is YEET a word? Yeet, defined as an “indication of surprise or excitement,” was voted the American Dialect Society’s 2018 Slang/Informal Word of the Year.

What is the oldest word? Mother, bark and spit are some of the oldest known words, say researchers. Continue reading → Mother, bark and spit are just three of 23 words that researchers believe date back 15,000 years, making them the oldest known words.

What are the 300 new words?

The Official Scrabble Dictionary Just Added 300 New Words, Including Sriracha, Bitcoin, and Twerk

• Frowny.
• Bestie.
• Bizjet.
• Qapik.
• Ew.
• Twerk.
• Arancini.
• Beatdown.

What is Styx? Styx, in Greek mythology, one of the rivers of the underworld. The word styx literally means “shuddering” and expresses loathing of death. In Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the gods swear by the water of the Styx as their most binding oath.

What is Dore?

adjective. coated with gold or a gold color; gilded.

Is pitch black a word? Pitch is made by distilling wood tar, and it is, indeed, black or at least dark brown. The phrase “pitch black” simply describes a type of blackness, just as “butter yellow” and “sky blue” describe other colors. … Pitch is indeed a black—or very dark brown substance.

What’s a fancy word for life?

What is another word for life?

existence	survival
sentience	continuance
essence	aliveness
animateness	animation
continued existence	personage

What are some elegant words? elegant

• classy,
• courtly,
• fine,
• graceful,
• handsome,
• majestic,
• refined,
• stately,

What is a pretty word?

• elegant,
• exquisite,
• glorious,
• Junoesque,
• magnificent,
• resplendent,
• splendid,
• statuesque,

Cool Words
from AA to ZZZ

Do you scour the dictionary for cool words?
Well, I think you’ll like it here!

Why? Because this page is just one giant cool words list dedicated to lovers of word games and puzzles.

For the keen Scrabblers, I’ve pinched quite a few unusual words from The Official Scrabble Dictionary, which is the ‘secret’ adjudicator used in many online and electronic word games.

If you’re a cruciverbalist (a crossword lover, that is), you’ll find plenty of tasty crosswordese here too!

If spelling and vocabulary are more your thing, some of the coolest words here come from word lists I’ve taken from all the major vocabulary exams and spelling bees.

But enough chatter. Let’s get to why you popped by. Here is Word Buff‘s favorite list of cool words from AA to ZZZ…

AA

n. A type of volcanic rock having a rough and jagged surface. The name is Hawaiian in origin and pronounced ah-ah.

AA is one of three types of solidified flow lava, a fact which I mention only as an excuse to throw in my favorite type, which is called PAHOEHOE. The third type has the rather mundane name of PILLOW LAVA, which I include here only for completeness.

Of course, the serious Scrabbler will be more likely to recognize AA as an indispensable vowel-dump, and the very first word in the
Official Scrabble Dictionary.

It is also the least interesting palindrome I know.

BANNS

npl. A formal proclamation announcing intent to marry.

This word jumped out at me when I was watching the very word-buff-esque documentary Spellbound. While participants in the final rounds are usually challenged with much longer words, this harmless looking five-letter critter knocked out a favorite (indeed MY favorite!) contender for the prize.

Despite being such a short word, it is very difficult to guess its spelling from its pronunciation (it is pronounced banz), since there is no vocal indication of the second N.

This word has also been known to trip up the odd Scrabbler. For an entirely different reason though. When a Scrabble player learns a word like BANNS, it is easy to assume it to be the plural of the non-existent BANN*. Uh oh! There’s an asterisk!

CACAFOGO

n. A hot-tempered person. Also spelled CACAFUEGO.

Today’s word began its life as CAGAFUEGO*, which was a nickname used by 16th century sailors for their Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. The choice of name came from a combination of the Spanish words Cagare, meaning to excrete, and Fuego, meaning fire. Hence Cagafuego, if taken literally, meant excrete fire, which I assume means that the ship went really fast.

However, the G was eventually corrupted to a C, resulting in the word CACAFUEGO (no asterisk!). And from there a further corruption resulted in today’s word.

Interestingly, Collins gives the definition of CACAFOGO as spitfire, which Chambers in turn defines as a ‘hot-tempered person’. So, did the term spitfire arise as a euphemism for shitfire which would be the literal translation of today’s word? This worse-than-amateur lexicographer doesn’t know the answer right now, but I’ll certainly let you know if I find out.

And for Scrabble-buffs… This word came up during my interview with Andrew Fisher, a champion Scrabble player, as his answer to the question ‘What is the most unlikely word you’ve ever played?’.

Well, I checked it out, and it certainly would be hard to beat. There are 40,161 eight-letter words allowed in Scrabble. If you were to list all these words from highest probability to lowest, Andrew’s play of CACAFOGO would come in at position 37,934!

And if that isn’t unlikely enough for you, the probability of this word appearing in a New York Times crossword puzzle, if the last few decades are anything to go by, is precisely zero.

SUBSCRIBE TO WORD BUFF

DREIDEL

n. A wooden, spinning top used in a gambling game, usually played by children during an eight-day Jewish festival called Hanukkah (or Festival of Lights).

Pronounced dray’dl, this word is bound to eliminate a few spellers from the stage.

I stumbled across this word while I was researching a page on
The Hebrew Alphabet.
The reason this word turned up during that research is that each of the four faces of a DREIDEL displays a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The four letters traditionally used are NUN, GIMEL, HEH, and SIN, although in Israel SIN is usually replaced by PEH. In the image above, the front-facing green letter is GIMEL, and the partly visible red letter is HEH.

This research helped explain a delightful clue I encountered for this word in a New York Times crossword puzzle. Namely…

Place to see a nun

Cute heh?

For the Scrabble player, who is also allowed to use the alternative spelling of DREIDL, today’s word generates three possible bonus plays: DREIDEL, DREIDELS, and DREIDLS. Of these, only DREIDLS has any anagrams (namely, RIDDLES and SLIDDER).

And speaking of Scrabble, you’ll find loads more crazy words like the ones on this page in my free mini-Scrabble dictionary. Nearly 40 pages worth to be precise!

Just click the image below to download it right now…

ERUV

n. A demarcated area within which Jewish religious restrictions are relaxed. The plural is variously written as ERUVIM, ERUVIN, or the more clunky and chauvinistic ERUVS.

I came across this word in From Square One, a charming story about crosswords by Dean Olsher…

Some Orthodox Jews extend the idea of the house-hold by stretching a string, called an eruv, around their neighborhood, so that any activity allowed only in the home on the Sabbath is therefore extended to the space defined by the eruv. I think of the crossword as a mental eruv.

HADEDAH

n. A bird of the ibis family, found in large numbers throughout South Africa.

The technical name is actually Bostrychia hagedash, but the logophile will much prefer the palindrome.

It is a large, heavy-set, dull-coloured bird, which gets its common name from the raucous call it makes when flying… ‘haa-haa-haa-hadedah’.

In fact, quite a few birds have common names that are imitations of their calls. Other onomatopoeic birds I’ve stumbled across include…

BOBWHITE
CUCKOO
CURLEW
DICKCISSEL
KIWI
MOPOKE or MOREPORK
MOTMOT
SISKIN
TOWHEE
WHIPPOORWILL
WILLET

KATIPO

n. A very poisonous spider found in New Zealand.

Many people who first play to the International Scrabble Dictionary are understandably skeptical of the crazy words they see sprinkled across the Scrabble board. When playing such people, it’s important to have some convincing evidence at hand…

A Canadian tourist in New Zealand has suffered heart inflammation after apparently being bitten on the penis by a spider. The tourist fell asleep naked on a beach in Northland, on the far tip of the north island, after going skinny dipping, the NZ Herald reported.

After the bite from the highly poisonous katipo spider, the 22-year-old began to suffer high blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and a severely swollen penis.
— ninemsn.com.au, 14 March, 2010

LAODICEAN

adj. Indifferent to religious or, sometimes, political matters.

Aside from being a rather handy word to describe myself, this word caught my eye as another handy spelling bee torpedo. In particular, it was the last correctly spelled word in the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee, leaving 13 year old Kavya Shivashankar as the new champion. (In the previous year, Kavya was eliminated in Round 11 after incorrectly spelling ECRASE.)

This word derives from the name of an ancient biblical city called Laodicea. In the Book of Revelations, the inhabitants of this city are ridiculed for being ‘neither hot nor cold’ in their faith.

Unfortunately for North American Scrabble players, Laodicean is deemed by Webster’s to be capitalized, so you can’t play it in Scrabble. For those playing to the International Scrabble Dictionary, the story is different, since Chambers appends the Scrabbler’s much-loved clause ‘also without cap‘.

As I’ve said before, Chambers is my friend

NUMNAH

n. The padding placed between a saddle and a horse to reduce rubbing.

Here’s a short video to show you how it became one of my cool words…

OTARY

n. A type of seal, including fur seals and sea lions, with well-developed external ears.

Now seals are all very interesting, but…

the Scrabble player is more likely to get excited by the following very cool properties of this word…

Firstly, it has three handy front hooks: NOTARY, ROTARY, and VOTARY.

Secondly, its plural is the high-probability bingo OTARIES, which also takes these front hooks, and has the equally useful anagram OARIEST.

Thirdly, consider this question…

If I draw seven tiles from a full tile bag, what is the most likely bingo to be drawn?

Now, since we know the exact distribution of the tiles in a standard Scrabble set, we can work out, for each valid seven-letter word, how many combinations of tiles allow that word to be formed. The winner is the word that can be formed from the largest number of combinations. Although the blanks spice things up a bit, this is a trivial problem by a mathematician’s standards.

And the answer? Well, it turns out to be OTARINE, the adjectival form of OTARY!

If you take the time to learn this word, and you practice recognising it from a scrambled rack, you will almost certainly get to play it. If not, you will at least get to witness it being played by somebody else.

And that’s why Scrabble players are so strangely familiar with the taxonomy of seals.

QI

n. Pronounced chee, and more commonly spelt CHI, a term used in Chinese medicine to describe the life-force supposed to flow through a body. Bad health is often attributed to an obstruction to a person’s qi.

No single word has had a greater impact on Scrabble than this simple two-letter word. When it was first introduced into the Scrabbler’s lexicon in the 1990s, Q-stick endgames virtually became a thing of the past. In almost all games now, a player can unload the Q onto a floating I, if they don’t have one themself, to avoid the dreaded 20 point endgame catastrophe.

To show how important this single word is amongst a fellowship of nearly one quarter of a million Scrabble words, a computer simulation of one million games, performed some years ago, confirmed that QI was played in more games than any other word.

It seems that QI is to Scrabble as ERA is to crosswords.

SARDOODLEDOM*

n. Used in a derogatory way to describe a dramatization that is contrived and unconvincing (as in ‘so much Sardoodledom’).

THIONINE

n. A dark crystalline powder yielding a violet dyestuff (hence its other name, Phenylene Violet) used in microscopy as a stainer. Also spelled THIONIN.

The combining form THIO-, meaning sulphur, usually signifies a chemical compound which has been formed by replacing certain oxygen atoms by sulphur atoms. The long list of Scrabbly chemicals produced in this way includes: THIOFURAN, THIOL, THIONATE, THIONYL, THIOPHEN (also, THIOPHENE), THIOTEPA, and the frequently spotted five-vowel-eight THIOUREA.

The reason I singled out THIONINE from this impressive list comes from yet another delicious Scrabble anecdote from the delightful book Word Freak, by Stefan Fatsis…

In a 1999 World Scrabble Championship match between two of the world’s best players, Nigel Richards and Adam Logan, an early play of THIONINE was extended first to ETHIONINE, and then again later in the game to the ten-letter gem METHIONINE!

Remarkably, both players knew this grand hooking sequence — the kind of once-in-a-lifetime play that Scrabble players live for.

UNUNUNIUM

n. A temporary scientific name assigned to the chemical element with atomic number 111 until the existence of this element has been formally ratified.

Want to know more about this one? Here is
an article I wrote about Unununium
one day at work when I was really bored. You’ll find lots of other cool words in this article too!

WATERZOOI

n. A type of broth based on fish or chicken, with vegetables, cooked in a thick stock.

This word would make perfect grist for the Balderdash mill. After all, surely it will be easy to convince your opponents that waterzooi are ‘small, hirsute, water-borne creatures’.

Be that as it may, this is not the reason for including this one on my list of cool words…

In 1995, Jim Geary, a professional Poker player cum Scrabble expert, reported on a brilliant endgame. In the dying moments of the game Geary was 90 points behind and held the rack B-E-E-I-O-R-W. He played off the letters B-E calculating a 1/68 chance of replacing these letters with A-T. It worked, allowing him to play … you guessed it …

ZYzzYVA

n. A type of weevil often referred to as a snouted beetle.

Famous among word play enthusiasts for being the last word in the English dictionary, it is sometimes even used to mean the last word on a subject.

I like the following clue provided in the New York Times crossword of Saturday, December 11, 1999…

Insect that’s the last word in the Scrabble Players Dictionary

Here’s an example sentence…

Despite popular belief, ZYZZYVA is not, in fact, the ZYZZYVA of Scrabble.

And speaking of Scrabble, if you’re wondering about the lower case zz in the title, you probably don’t play it enough.

ZZZ

n. An informal term for sleep.

But if you think at last you have found the ZYZZYVA of Scrabble… well… not quite. The plural is good too!

Aside from being the most frequently appearing word in mosquito spelling bees, ZZZ is one of only two words allowed in Scrabble containing a sequence of three repeated letters. The other is BRRR, an expression usually accompanied by a shiver. If you’re a canine, you might write a grumpy letter of complaint to the Scrabble authorities, signing off with a sarcastic GRRR*.

Well, that’s about it from me for now, but there’s no reason the fun should stop there…

Can’t Get Enough?

I’ve put together a free tutorial for people who really want to step their vocabulary up a notch or two. I’ve designed it for people who want more than just a few cool words, but want to become legends at Scrabble, crosswords, and other word games…

More Cool Words You Might Like…

Scrabble Words
Vocabulary Words
Spelling Bee Words

Return to Word Lists from Cool Words
Return to Word Games Home from Cool Words

There are so many words in the English language, but you often use the same ones over and over again. If you have an intention of brushing up your vocabulary a bit, try including some new and cool words. The use of such cool and funny words will surely help you to impress others. The article provides you with various examples of cool words.

• Funny Cool Words
• Short Cool Words
• Unique Cool Words
• Cool Words with Cool Meanings
• What are the benefits of using cool words?
• Give some examples of unique cool words?
• What are 10 interesting words?

Funny Cool Words

Have a look at some of the funniest as well as cool words in the English language. Even though these words may appear funny, the use of such words can improve your vocabulary.

• accoutrements
• adagio
• aficionado
• agita
• agog
• akimbo
• alfresco
• aloof
• quiddle
• quinzee
• quirky
• quixotic
• quizzity
• rabble-rouser
• raconteur
• rainmaker
• ragamuffin
• ragtag
• ramshackle
• ransack
• rapscallion
• razzle-dazzle
• razzmatazz
• rejigger
• rendezvous
• resplendent
• rickrack
• ricochet
• riffraff
• rigmarole
• riposte
• roundabout
• roustabout
• rubberneck
• ruckus
• ruffian
• rugrat
• rumpus
• sabayon
• sashay
• sassafras
• scalawag (also scallywag)
• scatterbrain
• ambrosial
• amok
• ampersand
• anemone
• anthropomorphic
• antimacassar
• aplomb
• apogee
• apoplectic
• wonky
• woozy
• wordplay
• wordsmith
• wunderkind
• wuthering
• xylophone
• yahoo
• yokel
• yo-yo
• zaftig
• zeitgeist
• appaloosa
• apparatus
• archipelago
• atingle
• avuncular
• azure
• babushka
• bailiwick
• bafflegab
• balderdash
• ballistic
• bamboozle
• bandwagon
• barnstorming
• beanpole
• bedlam

Short Cool Words

There are several cool words in the world that can be used to describe your life in detail. If you are in search of such words, the wait is over. Here are some short cool words to enhance your vocabulary:

• Ragtag
• Reptilian
• Ransack
• Rickrack
• Riffraff
• Rambunctious
• Riposte
• Earwig
• Exquisite
• Effervescent
• Eavesdrop
• Egads
• Equilibrium
• Elixir
• Egghead
• Gadfly
• Gazebo
• Gewgaw
• Gimcrack
• Gerrymandering
• Gizmo
• Glitch
• Guffaw
• Guru
• Gumshoe
• Igloo
• Ideas
• Insidious
• Indigo
• Izzard
• Ironclad

See More:

• Tone Words
• Opposite Words
• Negative Words

Unique Cool Words

Given below is a list of some of the unique and unusual words that are interesting to learn:

• Flummox
• Dowdy
• Howdy
• Nincompoop
• Muesli
• Phlegm
• Baloney
• Zeal
• Flimflam
• Noxious

Cool Words with Cool Meanings

Given below is a list of words that sound cool and carry cool meanings:

• Sabayon — French term for zabaglione
• Sarmie — Refers to a type of sandwich
• Scofflaw — a person who does not follow the law
• Sassafras — Is a tree seen in America
• Jabberwocky- refers to a playful imitation of the language
• Jalopy — refers to an old automobile
• Jitney — a small bus or car that has a regular route and that which picks up and discharges passengers
• Kaput — ruined
• Kerfuffle — a commotion
• Kismet – means destiny
• Lackadaisical — without interest
• Lampoon- a sharp satire or criticism against someone

A wide variety of English Grammar Notes and rules along with enough examples is available for students right from beginner to advanced level and can be downloaded for free.

FAQs on Cool Words

1. What are the benefits of using cool words? 

The use of cool words has several benefits. Such cool words will improve your vocabulary. The use of cool and funny words will also help you sound smarter and more confident.

2. Give some examples of unique cool words?

Examples of unique cool words include

• Howdy
• Nincompoop
• Muesli
• Phlegm
• Baloney

3. What are 10 interesting words?

The 10 interesting words are as follows

• Howdy
• Baloney
• Zeal
• Phlegm
• Nincompoop
• Muesli
• Noxious
• Flimflam
• Gizmo
• Glitch
• Guffaw

Conclusion

The use of cool words can help you sound smarter, feel smarter and more confident, or maybe just help you hate English a little less. Some words sound cool, while others are considered to be cool since such words have a unique meaning. Irrespective of what makes words cool, the use of such cool words will improve your vocabulary and make sure that you enjoy speaking and writing in the English language.

One of the coolest aspects of language, any language, is the creativity and productivity of its speakers. Language allows you to express the abundance and infinity of your thoughts with any combination of sounds you want. And if there is no word for something you want to say, you simply create that word on the spot and start using it to mean what you want it o mean. And that’s pretty much the story of every word in the dictionary. People create all sorts of words for different reasons but a tiny few make it to a dictionary. They say that a word gets added to a dictionary every two hours. But I have no idea why these haven’t made it to any dictionary despite being the coolest words I have ever seen. They are perfect examples of what is called portmanteaus; mashing both the sounds and meanings of two words together to get a new one. So, here are 30 words that should actually be added to a dictionary because they are just cool. 

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1. Askhole

2. Bedgasm

3. Textpectation

4. Chairdrobe

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5. Masturdating

6. Cellfish

7. Nonversation

8. Destinesia

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9. Errorist

10. Carcolepsy

11. Ambitchous 

12. Hiberdating

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13. Youniverse

14. Internest

15. Columbusing

16. Unkeyboardinated

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17. Afterclap

18. Beerboarding 

19. Dudevorce

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20. Epiphanot

21. Unlightening

22. Nerdjacking

23. Nomonym

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24. Doppelbanger

25. Irrightional

26. Cupidity

27. Asstag

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28. Juggersnot

29. Eglaf

30. Chiptease

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There are thousands of cool words in the English language, and they’re not all complicated, long words that you’ll have trouble remembering. Some of the most beautiful words are short and sweet. If you’re interested in learning more English words to add to your vocabulary, here are some of the most awesome words that you might not have heard before:

Acceptance

(n) The action of consenting to receive or undertake something offered

Acquiesce

(v) To accept something reluctantly but without protest

Amenable

(adj.) Open and responsive to suggestion

Amicable

(adj.) Friendly

Abomasum

(n) the fourth stomach of a cow or sheep

Apprehensive

(adj.) Anxious or fearful that something bad / unpleasant will happen

Authentic

(adj.) Genuine

Autonomy

(n) The right or condition of self-government

Alcazar

(n) a Spanish palace or fortress

Benevolent

(n) Well meaning and kindly

Bombast

(n) High-sounding language with little meaning

Cool Words (C-D)

Cacophony

(n) A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds

Candor

(n) The quality of being open and honest in expression

Cathedral

(n) The principal church of diocese, with which a bishop is officially associated

Chivalrous

(adj.) Courteous and gallant, especially toward females.

Collusion

(n) Secret or even illegal cooperation or conspiracy

Consent

(n) Permission for something to happen

Contemplate

(v) To think about, or look thoughtfully for awhile

Contumacious

(adj.) Stubbornly of willfully disobedient towards authority figures

Cogent

(adj.) Clear, logical, and convincing

Copulate

(v) To have sexual intercourse

Cornucopia

(n) A symbol of plenty consisting made up of a goat’s horn overflowing with flowers, fruit, and corn.

Corpulent

(adj.) Fat

Correct

(adj.) In accordance with truth

Curmudgeon

(n) A surly person

Deliberate

(adj.) Done with intent

Discombobulated

(adj.) Confused

Dismember

(v) Partitioned

Distinguished

(adj.) Authoritative and commanding respect

Dingus

() worthy, has a Latin origin

Dogged

(adj.) Tenacious or persistent

Draconic

(adj.) Excessively severed

Effervescence

(n) Bubbles in a liquid, or enthusiasm

Cool Words (E-G)

Elegant

(adj.) Graceful / stylish in appearance and / or manner

Elicit

(v) To draw out in response to one’s own actions or questions

Eloquent

(adj.) Fluent or persuasive in speech or written word

Elusive

(adj.) Difficult to catch or pin down

Ephemeral

(adj.) Lasting for only a short time

Epic

(adj.) Characteristic of an epic (a long work portraying heroic deeds and adventures)

Epiphany

(n) A moment of sudden revelation or great insight

Epitome

(n) A person / thing that perfectly exemplifies a particular quality or type

Esteemed

(adj.) Respected or admired

Ethereal

(adj.) Delicate in a way that seems too perfect for this world

Euphemism

(n) A gentle word or expression used in place of one considered to be overly harsh or blunt

Euphoric

(adj.) Characterized by intense excitement

Evade

(v) To escape or avoid

Exceptional

(adj.) Unusual, outstanding

Excommunicate

(v) To officially exclude

Exonerate

(v) To free from blame

Facetious

(adj.) Flippant

Flabbergasted

(adj.) Astonished

Frivolous

(adj.) Without serious purpose or value

Gargantuan

(adj.) Enormous

Gregarious

(adj.) Particularly sociable

Cool Words (H-L)

Hyperbolic

(adj.) Exaggerated

Incendiary

(adj.) Intended to stir things up

Ineffable

(adj.) Too extreme to be expressed in words

Inevitable

(adj.) Unavoidable

Inextricable

(adj.) Impossible to disentangle or escape from

Intricate

(adj.) Incredibly detailed

Intrinsic

(adj.) Belonging by nature, essential

Introspective

(adj.) Characterized by or given to deep thought

Irrevocably

(adj.) In a way that can’t be changed or reversed.

Lament

(v) A passionate expression of sorrow

Latitude

(n) Room for freedom of action or thought

Limerence

(n) The state of being infatuated with someone

Luminescence

(n) The emission of light by a substance that has not been heated

Cool Words (M-O)

Magnanimous

(adj.) Incredibly generous or forgiving, often towards a rival or a less powerful person

Magenta

(adj.) A light purplish red color

Magnetic

(adj.) Demonstrating the properties of a magnet

Malleable

(adj.) Pliable

Melancholy

(n) Pensive sadness

Merciful

(adj.) Exhibiting mercy

Mindfulness

(n) The quality or state of being aware of something

Moist

(adj.) Somewhat wet

Nagware

(n) computer software that is free for a trial period where the user is reminded to register and pay

Naiveté

(n) Lack of experience, wisdom or sophistication

Nefarious

(adj.) Wicked

Nougat

(n) A candy made from sugar or honey, nuts, and egg white.

Notorious

(adj.) Famous or well-known, typically for a bad reason

Nuanced

(adj.) Characterized by subtle shades of meaning

Noyade

(n) an execution carried out by drowning

Oeuvre

(n) The entire body of works of an artists, musician or writer

Oscillate

(v) To move or swing back and forth

Cool Words (P-R)

Pensive

(adj.) Engaged in serious thought

Perfidious

(adj.) Deceitful or unworthy of trust

Periwinkle

(adj.) A purple-blue color

Perspective

(n) A point of view or attitude towards something

Perplexed

(adj.) Utterly baffled

Peruse

(v) To examine carefully and at length

Petrichor

(n) The pleasant scent that accompanies the first rain after a dry spell

Pilgarlic

(noun) A person regarded with mild of pretended contempt or pity

Poetic

(adj.) Having an imaginative or sensitively emotional style of expression

Prophetic

(adj.) Accurately predictive of future events

Quixotic

(adj.) Exceedingly idealistic or impractical

Quintessentially

(adv.) Used to emphasize the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class

Relentless

(adj.) Oppressively constant

Remarkable

(adj.) Worthy of attention

Resolute

(adj.) Admirably purposeful

Resplendent

(adj.) Attractive and impressive through being especially colorful or sumptuous

Revere

(v) To feel deep honor, respect, or admiration for something

Ricochet

(v) To rebound off of a surface

Rigorous

(adj.) Thorough, exhaustive, or accurate

Riveting

(adj.) Utterly engrossing or compelling

Rotund

(adj.) Plump

Rogue

(n) an unprincipled person who goes against the norm

Ruminate

(v) To think deeply about something

Cool Words (S-U)

Saudade

(n) A deep emotional state or melancholic longing

Salvation

(n) Preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss

Sanguine

(adj.) Given to optimism, especially in the midst of a trying situation

Scope

(n) The extent of the area or subject matter something deals with

Scrutinize

(v) To examine or inspect closely

Scurrilous

(adj.) Humorously insulting

Serendipitous

(adj.) Making desirable discoveries by accident

Slippery

(adj.) Difficult to grasp, evasive

Skedaddle

(v) To depart quickly or hurriedly

Splendiferous

(adj.) Magnificent

Sprightly

(adj.) Lively

Spaghettification

(n) the theoretical stretching of an object as it encounters extreme differences in gravitational forces, especially those associated with a black hole

Stellar

(adj.) Outstanding

Superfluous

(adj.) Unnecessary

Surreptitious

(adj.) Kept secret, especially because of potential disapproval

Sustainable

(adj.) Able to be maintained at a certain rate or level

Swimmingly

(adv.) Smoothly and satisfactorily

Tact

(n) Sensitivity in dealing with others

Tenacious

(adj.) Unwillingness to relinquish a certain position, principle, or course of action

Toxic

(adj.) Poisonous

Transcendent

(adj.) Beyond the scope of normal human experience

Trepidation

(n) A fear or anxiety about something that might happen

Twisted

(adj.) Crumpled, sprained, or unpleasantly abnormal

Unshakable

(adj.) Unable to be questioned or disputed

Uniped

(n) a person or animal with only one foot or leg

Cool Word (V-Z)

Vacillate

(v) To waver between different opinions or actions; indecision

Vehement

(adj.) Passionate, intense

Verjuice

(n) an acid liquor made from the sour juice of crab apples, unripe grapes

Vicarious

(adj.) Experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person

Vindictive

(adj.) Demonstrating a strong or unreasonable desire of revenge

Vivacious

(adj.) Animated, attractively lively

Voluptuous

(adj.) Characterized by sensual pleasure or luxury

Vortex

(n) A mass of whirling fluid or air

Wayzgoose

(n) a works outing made annually by a printing house

Woo

(v) To try to gain someone’s love or affection

Wittol

(n) a man who knows and tolerates his wife’s infidelity

Xenophobia

(adj.) Intense dislike or fear of people from other countries

Zealous

(adj.) Demonstrating great energy or enthusiasm