This week’s obscure English word is emmarvel. It means, perhaps predictably, ‘to cause to marvel’. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2020

This week’s obscure English word is fantod. It means a state of unease or irritability. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2020

This week’s obscure English word is heugh. It’s sometimes also spelt ‘heuch’, and is of Scottish origin. It has a variety of meanings, typically a steep crag, a deep gulch or gully with overhanging sides, a specific shaft in a coal mine, or an open pit in a coal mine. Your challenge: write a sentence … More The obscure word of the week is heugh

This week’s obscure English word is immit. That’s immit, isn’t it, not innit, innit. OK, I’ll stop now. Immit means to let something in, and is the antonym of emit. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2020

This week I thought I’d share some of the sources for my obscure words. They come from several places but mostly my collection of dictionaries, which includes Webster’s Unabridged Third New International and the 11-volume First Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, which I have in its two-volume micro-print edition of 1970 – four pages … More The obscure word of the week’s sources

This week’s obscure English word is adsum. It is directly from Latin and means to indicate one’s presence, for instance during a roll call. Usually, of course, the answer is simply ‘here’. One can imagine it being used at assembly in any large English boarding school: Headmaster: Timpton Minor! Timpton: Adsum, sir. Headmaster: Ah yes. … More The obscure word of the week is adsum

This week’s obscure English word is paroicous. According to my Unabridged Websters Third International dictionary it means ‘having archegonia and anthiredia on the same branch with the antheridia’. This is correct information, but it’s about as informative as being poked in the eye with a stick. The more informative meaning is that this is a … More The obscure word of the week is paroicous

This week’s obscure English word is inodiate. It means to make something odious or hateful. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2020

This week’s obscure English word is chieve. It is from Middle English, originally derived from old French, and means to reach a successful end point, or to thrive. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2020