10 lost words you need to know

Welcome to part four of our collection of lost words you probably didn’t need to know but could come in handy on the obscure chance it’s the answer to a trivia night question and you really need a quick win to impress your date. (It’s long, we know, it’s a work in progress.)

As always, let us know your favorite obscure or lost words in the the comments!

1. Alabandical

adjective.

1. barbarous; stupefied from drink

Example: George was completely alabandical after the party last night on the beach.

This is a word that phased out of use around 1775 and I’m so bummed that it did. I mean, there are so many words to describe someone whose drunk, but here’s the thing: none of them would be nearly as much fun to hear a drunk person try to pronounce when they are, in fact, sloshed.

2. Sceptriferous

adjective.

1. bearing a scepter

Example: Megan’s paladin rode into battle sceptriferous against the orcish horde.

This is one of those words that made me wonder, why? As in: why did we need this word? It stopped being regularly used in the mid-1600s, probably because scepter bearers most likely stopped being popular around that time (if they were every really popular to begin with). So, while this word may not hold any significant modern use, unless you find yourself in a royal coronation some day, it can still be used to wow your Dungeons & Dragons fellowship and maybe provide a bump in that persuasion skill.

3. Ficulnean

adjective.

1. of fig-tree wood; worthless

Example: As I listened to him go on-and-on with his story, it didn’t take long to realize everything he said was ficulnean.

The fact this word has become lost to our language – with its popularity waning in the early 1700s – is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I think its roots can still hold relevance today, but the fact it can be used as a sneaky insult and the recipient will most likely be non-the wiser, makes for pure entertainment.

4. Obacerate

verb.

1. to stop one’s mouth

Example: As soon as I realized how my words were affecting her, I obacerated.

The next time someone is talking pure nonsense, I just want to yell “will you please obacerate” at the top of my lungs. Will it get them to stop? Probably long enough to try and understand what I’m saying, but then that may lead into a heated argument of “what did you say to me?” In all seriousness though, I think this could be a good verb to toss in the bag of tricks for when I find myself overusing others.

5. Aquabib

noun.

1. water-drinker

Example: What do you think I am, an aquabib? Give me the hard stuff!

When I first saw this word, I wanted to take a quote from Jethro Tull and scream “hey aqualung” because, let’s be honest, both these words give off the same vibe. I feel like this is a great word to call someone if you want them to be mad at you for no good reason.

6. Sinapistic

adjective.

1. consisting of mustard

Example: My son puts so much mustard on his hotdog, I fear he may be sinapistic.

Another great example of why do we need this word and proof that despite its downfalls, human language is evolving in a somewhat upward trajectory. I mean, other than mustard itself, what other use do we have for this word? If you can think of something, let me know in the comments.

7. Jussulent

adjective.

1. full of broth or soup

Example: The child quickly learned the boiling pot on the stove was jussulent when she accidently knocked it over.

In an inadvertent continuation of the food-related words, I give you a new adjective for soup. Kudos to anyone who can use these past two words in a sentence together.

8. Perantique

adjective

1. very antique or ancient

Example: The archeologist discovered a perantique parchment from a previously unknown civilization.

This word fits its definition as it sounds very antique. I think it’s a great word to fit in our lexicons, especially for writers who may write fantasy or historical fiction.

9. Excutient

adjective

1. shaking off

Example: Taylor Swift was quite excutient when she sang her hit song, Shake it Off.

I can’t think of many examples where I’d use this in my writing, but it’s definitely a great word to tuck in your back pocket for that random vocabulary question during trivia night.

10. Squiriferous

Adjective

1. having the character or qualities of a squire

Example: The boy showed squiriferous traits as he conducted his internship at the car dealership.

Squires held important roles in medieval times, so it’s not hard to believe there would be a word to describe someone who showed these qualities. I can definitely see this being a great word to use in a fantasy novel.

What did you think of this week’s list? How many of these did you know? Do you have any words we should add to our next list? Let us know in the comments!

Want to see our other lists of obscure words? Check these out: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3