What are your favorite words in the English language because of their meaning?

I like to say Indubitably – Undoubtedly; unquestionably.

The best words are ones that describe a specific concept that is harder to explain in simpler terms.

tautological—needless repetition of an idea, esp. in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in “widow woman.”

Doppelganger – A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its fleshly counterpart.

Onomatopoeia – The formation or use of words such as buzz or murmur that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

Legerdemain – sleight of hand, trickery, deception.

Mellifluous – sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding.

Phantasmagorical – a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination.

Juggernaut – any large, overpowering, destructive force or object, as war, a giant battleship, or a powerful football team.

Nihilistic – total rejection of established laws and institutions.

Libidinous – Lewd; lustful; lascivious; unchaste; impure; sensual; licentious; lecherous; salacious.

Jabberwocky – a playful imitation of language consisting of invented, meaningless words; nonsense; gibberish.

Necromancy – a method of divination through alleged communication with the dead; black art.

Infatuated – struck instantly with interest, love, or lust. I like it because it describes one of my favorite feelings. It’s what makes the world go round.

Vasectomy. It means birth control is a done deal. It’s also the best way to say “I love you”.

Susurrus – a soft murmuring or rustling sound; a whisper.

Fuck – is an extremely versatile word being used as a Verb (transitive, intransitive, or in compounds), noun, or even an interjection. This vulgar yet fun word gets thrown around more than it should sometimes, but when needed it can be one of the most powerful words available.

Some movies (like one of my favourites, The Big Lebowski) would not be the same without this precious word.

LBJ used it nicely in 1965 when he said to the Greek ambassador Alexandros Matsas when he objected to American plans in Cyprus, ”Fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fellows continue itching the elephant they may just get whacked by the elephant’s trunk, whacked good.”

I like “azure” reminds me of white sandy beaches and clear clean water and sky.

inconceivable!

Grace: the quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful.
Priorities: something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives
Perspective:a specific point of view in understanding or judging things or events, esp. one that shows them in their true relations to one another

Succinct and somewhat self-explanatory!

serendipity

This.

I’ll admit that this seems like a boring choice, but this unobtrusive little word has a very peculiar semantic quality. Look carefully at what your mind does with it, or rather what it does with your mind.

First, it anchors the mind to the present; whatever “this” is, it’s here and it’s now.

Second, taken alone, without some noun to modify, “this” challenges all of our conceptual barriers. Where does “this” end? “This” refuses to be contained, and it takes our mind with it as it baloons outward.

Love

One of my favorite words is a word that doesn’t exist, yet. Posticulate. It means “to put forth a thought or theory”. I’m sure it’s a fusion of other words I’ve encountered. It saddens me when I type it and then realize that it’s not a real word :)

@dynamicduo: It sounds like a combination of “postulate” and “articulate”. You know, you say your theory now and in the future hope to be able to accept it as given.

I like petrichor. It is the earthy, ozone-y smell right after it rains when it hasn’t rained in a while.

@EmpressPixie – yes! Perfect fusion of words and a perfect description of posticulate Ugh, the red line in Firefox telling me it’s not a word… sad.

Synergy, Synergistic

When the whole as greater than the sum of its parts.

Thanks – Also the most underused.

I will also throw in my least favorite: obvious

@steelmarket: I only hate “obvious” during presentations. If it is obvious, why are you still telling us about it??? (My classmates in college were very bad about using it.)

How have you all come up with these favorite words? If I had to think of one because I’d be executed if I didn’t, I’d just throw out a random multisyllabic word.

Saying “it’s obvious” is just about equal to saying “You just don’t get it, do you?”, which I try to avoid in polite conversation.

“Quitting time” – meaning and why I like it are self-explanatory.

(Closely followed by “Suppertime” – I always feel like Snoopy doing a little dance with his food bowl.)

perseverate – to go beyond simple “persevering” into a zone where you persevere crazily, going over and over the same thing when it’s not necessary

perspicacious – wise and astute – like “perceptive” only deeper

creamy – heh heh

Ass I like words that have more than one meaning. A donkey or a stupid person. It’s just a fun word to use.

@daloon In no way am I poking a finger at your avatar;)

@btko “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”
Lurve for the Princess Bride reference

@jonsblond (too delicious to resist): Who knows? Maybe I’d want you to poke that finger! Hmmm. On second thought, that’s not really my cup of tea. Oh well. ;-)

@daloon lol :p

Defenestrate
Concatenate
Peregrinate
Decapitate
Perambulate
Postulate
Metempsychosis
Transmogrify
Omphalos

congregate
copulate
menstruate
masturbate
lacerate
fishing bait
heaven’s gate
conglomerate
precipitate
supernate
substrate
alleviate
palmate
calibrate
chlorinate
it’s not too late
to terminate
some words we hate

Cacophony.
Thanks to Daloon for the reminder!

dithyrambic – Fired with intense feeling.

I like the word run. It has many many meanings and was always a fun one to look up. How many definitions are in your dictionary for run?

sesquipedalian – a word having many syllables
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – the fear of really long words

I like these because they are so ironic if not downright funny.

Now if you give me any sesquipedalian tergiversation, I’ma gonna hafta smack you!

I’ve always liked egregious and because of the original meaning of the word, which is ‘outside the herd’. Too bad it has come to mean flagrantly bad, because being outside the herd seems such a nice place to be. Thanks to Shel Silverstein for informing me of that fact.

Though not English, this Dutch one is interesting nonetheless (I’d say every Dutch person knows it by now): Swaffelen. According to the Dutch wikipedia, swaffelen is “swinging the penis, often with repetative movements, against another person’s body or an object.” It’s a typical word whose sound is so appropriate for what it means :P

@Vincentt Oh, how I love that word! English needs a word like that.

Swaffelen That’s what my husband has been doing to me for all these years. Now I have a word for it!

did I say that out loud?

We just call that “dutching” around here

. o O ( Is that anything like Dutch Treat? )

Then there’s “double dutch”

Brevity
Clarity
Originality
Unpredictability

Mitigate. To make less sever or harsh. I love this idea in the law. You have to mitigate your damages.

Happenstance – a circumstance especially that is due to chance

egads
hootenanny
navel-gazing
milquetoast
doe-eyed
tenderfoot
bifurcated
sanguine
tomfoolery
copacetic

Not for the meaning really—I just like how they sound. Sometimes I’ll go several days just waiting for the opportunity to use a particular word.

I also like pickaninny, but apparently that ones considered a slur :(. It’s a shame it’s such a fun collection of syllables, like picayune or succotash.

apropos ~ opportune and to the point; with regard to I simply like saying this word, can’t explain why…

urbane ~ suave; polite; sophisticated I’m not sure why but the word urbane always sounds to me as though it should mean the exact opposite, possibly this is because it sounds like mundane

INCONCEIVABLE!

As Inigo Montoya said, “I do not think that word means what you think it means.” Actual definition: unimaginable; unthinkable, unbelievable.

I think Vizzini was using it correctly!

Defenestrate. Means to throw out the window. It’s our favorite word.

I’m also becoming fond of Oxter. It means armpit.

Breasts: because they represent boobs. And boobs are good.

I love “Idiosyncrasy” for the sound and definition- a mode of behavior or thought peculiar to that individual. I also fid it funny that the word defines something unique to one person or place, but that it’s ubiquitous- everyone has idiosyncrasies!

I adding “pettifog” to my vocabulary recently and I am proud to say I am a pettifogging pedant.

pettifog – to quibble about petty points

Eek, what’s wrong with my tenses? Proofread fundevogel, proofread!