Marijn van Hoorn has an ongoing list of really cool words, ranging from semi-common words like ‘zenith’ and ‘iridescent’ to obsolete terms like ‘zenzizenzizenzic’ and ‘psychopomp’.
Some of my favourites:
- cephalophore (n) – A Christian saint depicted in artworks as carrying their own severed head.
- eggcorn (n) – A reanalysis of a word or phrase for another that sounds similar and could be taken to have a similar meaning.
- kakistocracy (n) – Rule by the worst and least qualified people.
- nychthemeron (n) – A period of 24 hours, a day and a night.