This week’s obscure English word is ucalegon. It means a neighbour whose house has burned down or is on fire. The word is an eponym from ancient Greek, and refers to Ucalegon, an inhabitant of Troy whose house suffered this fate. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright … More The obscure word of the week is ucalegon

This week’s obscure English word is obnixley. It means to do something strenuously or energetically. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2022

This week’s obscure English word is obrotund. It essentially means something that is oblate, ie: something round but flattened at top and bottom. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2022

This week’s obscure English word is eugonic. It means something that grows readily in an artificial medium, such as bacteria. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2022

This week’s obscure English word is pomace. It means the residue left after apples have been crushed to extract their juice, derived from French ‘pommade’ around the sixteenth century, itself a derivation of the Latin word ‘pomum’ (apple). I have to wonder about potatoes now. After all, the French call a the humble spud a … More The obscure word of the week is pomace

This week’s obscure English word is gallinipper. It means a biting insect, often a large mosquito. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2022

This week’s obscure English word is mabble. I believe a word with this spelling is currently used as the brand name of a version of Scrabble involving numbers instead of letters, which I presume makes the game title a coined portmanteau term. However, mabble is also a genuine and much older English word of its … More The obscure word of the week is mabble

This week’s obscure English word is finifugal. It refers to somebody who is afraid of finishing anything. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2022

This week’s obscure English word is xertz. It means to gobble down food very quickly. I suppose it could be used in a phrase such as ‘Xerxes xertzed a xigua’. Or – er – maybe not. (A xigua, since you ask, is a type of West African melon). Your challenge: write a sentence or two … More The obscure word of the week is xertz

This week’s obscure English word is augend. It’s the first number in an arithmetic addition. For instance, in the equation 10 + 4 = 14, the augend is 10. As for the 4? It’s the addend, since you ask… Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew … More The obscure word of the week is augend