Barmy

barmy \ˈbär-mē\ adjective: full of froth or ferment

Etymology: from Old English beorma yeast

Yikes. Barmy. Well, then.

Harangue

harangue \hə-ˈraŋ\ noun: 1. a speech addressed to a public assembly,
2. a ranting speech or writing,
3. lecture

Etymology: Middle French arenge, from Old Italian aringa, from aringare to speak in public, from aringo public assembly, of Germanic origin

How would lemon harangue pie taste?

Jeremiad

jeremiad \ˌjer-ə-ˈmī-əd\ noun: 1. a prolonged lamentation or complaint, 2. a cautionary or angry harangue

Etymology: French jérémiade, from Jérémie Jeremiah, from Late Latin Jeremias

Jeremiah is traditionally ascribed as the author of the Book of Lamentations.

Elision

elision \i-ˈli-zhən\ noun: 1 a. the use of a speech form that lacks a final or initial sound which a variant speech form has (as ’s instead of is in there’s), b. the omission of an unstressed vowel or syllable in a verse to achieve a uniform metrical pattern,
2. the act or an instance of omitting something; omission

elide \i-ˈlīd\ transitive verb: 1 a. to suppress or alter (as a vowel or syllable) by elision, b. to strike out (as a written word),
2 a. to leave out of consideration; omit, b. curtail; abridge

Etymology: Latin elidere to strike out, from e- + laedere to injure by striking

Elision reminds me of the name Elijah.

Desuetude

desuetude \ˈde-swi-ˌtüd\ noun: discontinuance from use or exercise; disuse

Etymology: Middle English dissuetude, from Latin desuetudo, from desuescere to become unaccustomed

What a beautiful-sounding word.

Cuspidor

cuspidor \ˈkəs-pə-ˌdor\ noun: a receptacle for spit; spitoon

Etymology: Portuguese cuspidouro place for spitting, from cuspir to spit, from Latin conspuere, from com- + spuere to spit

Don’t mistake your humidor for a cuspidor.

Asperity

asperity \a-ˈsper-ə-tē\ noun: 1. rigor, severity, 2. roughness of surface; unneveness; a tiny projection from a surface, 3. roughness of sound,
4. roughness of manner or of temper; harshness {asked with some asperity just what they were implying}

Etymology: Middle English asprete, from Anglo-French aspreté, from aspre rough, from Latin asper, from Old Latin absperos

Since Merriam brings it up, just what were they implying?

Ludic

ludic \ˈlü-dik\ adjective: of, relating to, or characterized by play; playful {ludic behavior, a ludic novel}

Etymology: French ludique, from Latin ludus game, play, sport (from ludere to play, mock, tease)

Ludic does not refer to ludes. (Or, um, does it?) Ludic is not related to lewd. (Or, um, is it?)

Viscus

viscus \ˈvis-kəs\ noun: an internal organ of the body, especially one located in the cavity of the trunk

Etymology: Latin

Viscera is the plural, and visceral describes an experience felt as if originating in the viscera.

Illiquid

illiquid \(ˌ)i(l)-ˈlik-wəd\ adjective: 1. not being cash or readily convertible into cash {illiquid holdings},
2. deficient in liquid assets {an illiquid bank}

Etymology: Latin il- not + liquid (from Latin liquēre to be fluid)

So ice is not illiquid water?

Ambisinistrous

ambisinistrous \ˌam-bi-ˈsi-nəs-trəs\ adjective: lacking facility in both hands

Etymology: Latin ambi- both + sinister on the left

I don’t need to point out that ambisinistrous (literally “having two left hands”) is antonymous with ambidextrous (“having two right hands”). Thanks to reader Vicki Peter for suggesting this entry word.

Snickersnee

snickersnee \ˈsni-kə(r)-ˌsnē\ noun: a large knife

Etymology: obsolete snick or snee to engage in cut-and-thrust fighting, alteration of earlier steake or snye, from Dutch steken of snijden to thrust or cut

What a cute word!

Facetiae

facetiae \fə-ˈsē-shē-ˌē, -ˌī\ plural noun: witty or humorous writings or sayings

Etymology: Latin, from plural of facetia jest, from facetus elegant, witty

Sometimes the only difference between facetiae and feces is the point of view of the reader.

Eldritch

eldritch \ˈel-drich\ adjective: weird, eerie

Etymology: perhaps from Middle English elfriche fairyland, from Middle English elf + riche kingdom, from Old English rīce

What a weird word for weird.

Cryptolect

cryptolect \ˈkript-ō-ˌlekt\ noun: a secretive language form used by a subculture; an arcane cant

Etymology: crypt- concealed, hidden, secret (from ancient Greek kruptos) + -lect form of speech (from ancient Greek lektos)

I dare you to find a more awesome word.

Whack

whack \ˈwak\ noun: condition; state

Etymology: unknown (at least to me)

I purposefully left out all of whack’s definitions except the one that pertains to the phrase “out of whack.” Seen in this light it makes sense that something misaligned from its natural condition or state is “out of whack.” (Whack’s more common definition “a punch or strong blow” seems unrelated to “a condition or state,” but who knows? Stranger things have turned out to be true. If you can shed some light on this mess, please post a comment.

Saccade

saccade \sa-ˈkäd\ noun: a small, rapid, jerky, voluntary movement of the eye, especially as it jumps from fixation on one point to another (as in reading)

Etymology: French, twitch, jerk, from Middle French, from saquer to pull, draw

Microsaccades resemble involuntary, miniature saccades. “Their implementation in the oculomotor system is unknown,” according to M. Rolfs, R. Kliegl & R. Engbert in “Toward a model of microsaccade generation: The case of microsaccadic inhibition,” published in Journal of Vision (2008).

Collimate

collimate \ˈkä-lə-ˌmāt\ transitive verb: to make (as light rays) parallel

Etymology: Latin collimatus, past participle of collimare, manuscript variant of collineare to make straight, from com- + linea line

Sometimes a word you’ve never heard before sounds perfectly familiar, as if you two were waiting to be friends your entire lives.

Volupté

volupté \voh-luep-tā\ noun: pleasure; sensuality

Etymology: French

Why do I get the feeling volupté is more pleasureable than pleasure, more sensual than sensuality?

Gemütlichkeit

Gemütlichkeit /gəˈmyːtlɪçkaɪ̯t/ noun: the state or fact of being gemütlich; twee cosiness

Etymology: German Gemütlichkeit cosiness

In case you can’t infer gemütlich’s definition from above, Wiktionary calls it “comfortable, middle-class, cosy, twee.”