Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Words

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

The topic for this week is: Top Ten Tuesday REWIND! (Pick from previous topics that you want to do again or may have missed)

I’ve decided to pick a topic that I have never done before and share with you ten of my favourite words.

There are certain things that make me like a word. I love words with Q’s, X’s and Z’s. Words which are fun to say is also something that could put a word on my favourite list. And also – when the meaning seems to fit the word even if you didn’t know the definition.

All of the definitions for my list this week came from dictionary.com

scha·den·freu·de

[shahd-n-froi-duh]

noun

satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune.

Origin: 
1890–95;  < German,  equivalent to Schaden  harm + Freude  joy

u·biq·ui·tous

[yoo-bik-wi-tuhs]

adjective

existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time; omnipresent: ubiquitous fog; ubiquitous little ants.

Also, u·biq·ui·tar·y  [yoo-bik-wi-ter-ee]

Origin
1830–40; ubiquit(y) + -ous

 ty·ran·ni·cal

[ti-ran-i-kuhl, tahy-]

adjective

1. of or characteristic of a tyrant.

2. unjustly cruel, harsh, or severe; arbitrary or oppressive; despotic: a tyrannical ruler.

Also, ty·ran·nic.

Origin
1530–40;  < Latin tyrannic ( us ) (< Greek tyrannikós,  equivalent to týrann ( os ) tyrant + -ikos -ic) + -al1

flum·mox

[fluhm-uhks]

verb (used with object) Informal.

to bewilder; confound; confuse.

Origin
1830–40;  origin uncertain

non·sen·si·cal

[non-sen-si-kuhl]

adjective

1. (of words or language) having little or no meaning;making little or no sense: A baby’s babbling isappealingly nonsensical.

2. (of behavior, conduct, actions, etc.) foolish, senseless, fatuous, or absurd: His nonsensical behaviorwas unusual for such a serious person.

3. objectionable, impudent, insubordinate: I refuse to listen to that nonsensical gossip.

4. of trifling importance or of little or no use: I’ve had more than enough of your nonsensical advice!

Origin
nonsense + -ical

ser·en·dip·i·ty

[ser-uhn-dip-i-tee]

noun

1. an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

2. good fortune; luck: the serendipity of getting the first job she applied for.

Origin
1754; Serendip + -ity; Horace Walpole so named a faculty possessed by the heroes of a fairy tale calledThe Three Princes of Serendip

be·spoke

[bih-spohk]

verb

1. a simple past tense and past participle of bespeak.

adjective

2. British .

a. (of clothes) made to individual order; custom-made: a bespoke jacket.

b. making or selling such clothes: a bespoke tailor.

3. Older Use. engaged to be married; spoken for.

Origin
1745–55 for def 2

moist

[moist]

adjective, moist·er, moist·est.

1. moderately or slightly wet; damp.

2. (of the eyes) tearful.

3. accompanied by or connected with liquid or moisture.

4. (of the air) having high humidity.

Origin
1325–75; Middle English moiste  < Middle French;  connected with Latin mūcidus mucid

she·nan·i·gan

[shuh-nan-i-guhn]

noun Informal.

1. Usually, shenanigans.

a. mischief; prankishness: Halloween shenanigans.

b. deceit; trickery.

2. a mischievous or deceitful trick, practice, etc.

Origin
1850–55,  Americanism; of obscure origin

quix·ot·ic

[kwik-sot-ik]

adjective

1. ( sometimes initial capital letter ) resembling or befitting Don Quixote.

2. extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.

3. impulsive and often rashly unpredictable.

Also, quix·ot·i·cal.

Origin
1805–15;  ( DonQuixote + -ic

So there you go 🙂
Here are ten of my favourite words – I think Quixotic is my favourite of the lot as it uses two of my favourite letters, it’s fairly uncommon and I like the idea of something being extravagantly impractical.

I hope you’ve all had a great list. Please leave me a comment linking back to your TTT – I love checking out what people have and I’m interested to see what topics everyone chose for this week!

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12 Comments

  1. I’m also big into Q and X words, since getting a chance to use a name or word with those letters is like finding a needle in a haystack. Some of my favourite words are transmogrify, ameliorate, hydrophosphates, horsefeathers, xenial, xanthochroid (long a favourite fancy word for blonde), and quintessential.

    My TTT

  2. I love “nonsensical”! I first heard it while watching Pride and Prejudice and fell in love with it… or maybe it was Kiera Knightley’s voice… 😉 “Entice” is also another favorite of mine.

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