Schlemiel, noun
an unlucky bungler : a foolish gullible person : chump

In a sentence: Elmer Fudd can affectionately be called a schlemiel.

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Borborygmus, noun
a rumbling sound made by the movement of gas in the intestine

In a sentence: That was an extremely loud borborygmus.

Adjective: borborygmic

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Limacine, adjective
of, relating to, or resembling a slug

In a sentence: Voldemort has something of a limacine appearance.

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Philosophunculist, noun
a minor or insignificant philosopher : someone who claims philosophical expertise they do not possess

In a sentence: It’s impossible to have a serious discussion about religion without some philosophunculist butting in.

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Stultify, transitive verb
1: have a dulling/inhibiting effect on
2: cause to appear or be stupid/foolish/absurdly illogical

In a sentence: Scrolling is a useful self-soothing
mechanism, but it can stultify the brain to a frightening extent.

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Dilatory, adjective
1: tending or intending to cause delay
2: characterized by procrastination : tardy

In a sentence: He’s a dilatory sort of person.

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Abience, noun
(psychology)
tendency to withdraw from a stimulus object or situation—opposed to adience

In a sentence: I demonstrate marked abience to bright lights.

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Autodidact, noun

one who is self-taught

In a sentence: Sometimes one’s teachers are so bad that it is more profitable to become an autodidact in the subject.

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Scrofulous, adjective

1 (archaic)
a : of, relating to, or characteristic of scrofula
b : afflicted with scrofula
2
a : having a diseased appearance
b : morally contaminated

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Cunctation, noun

delay, procrastination

In a sentence: One could argue that the time I spend fact-checking my vocabulary posts is simply cunctation because I don’t want to start my actual work.

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Sedulous, adjective
1: marked by or accomplished with care and perseverance
2: diligent in application or pursuit : persevering in endeavors : steadily industrious

In a sentence: Proofreading is among the most sedulous tasks
of publishing.

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Aspectabund, adjective (obscure)

expressive in face : exhibiting one’s feelings through the eyes or face

In a sentence: Tom Hardy is one of the most aspectabund actors of the current generation.

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Kakistocracy, noun

government by the worst people

In a sentence: Regardless of political party, I think we can all agree that our country has descended to the level of kakistocracy.

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Eve, noun
1: evening
2: evening or day before a holiday, saint's day, or any important day
3: period immediately preceding some particular event

In a sentence: We stand on the eve of success!
(A happy Christmas Eve and a Merry Christmas to you!)

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Apocryphal or not, I very much agree with the sentiment. Just as we cannot always be frivolous, we cannot always be serious, nor can we always be realistic. We’re not built for it.

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Cavil, noun, verb

1 : a captious frivolous picayune objection : quibble

intransitive verb: object or criticize adversely for trivial reasons—usually used with “at,” “about,” or “with”

In a sentence: These documents exist and cannot be caviled at.

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Pervicacious, adjective

very obstinate : willful, refractory

In a sentence: He is, without doubt, the most pervicacious carbuncle ever to blight humanity!

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Ustulation, noun
1: the action of burning or searing
2: operation formerly used in chemistry of expelling one substance from another (as sulfur from an ore) by heat in a muffle

In a sentence: Many homes in California were subject to ustulation.

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Latibulate, verb

(obsolete) to retreat and lie hidden : to hide in a corner

In a sentence: I am wont to latibulate with a good book whenever there is a crowd.

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Meshuggener, noun, adjective

informal : a foolish or crazy person

In a sentence: Find me one congressman that isn’t a grade A meshuggener—just one!

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Semantic Satiation, noun
psychological phenomenon: repetition of a word causes the listener/reader to temporarily process it as nonsense.

In a sentence: If you write "their" repeatedly, it stops looking like a word; that's semantic satiation.

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A lot of editors turn off the Word suggestions completely. This is because, for every relevant suggestion, there are about ten that look like this.

Never. Just. Accept. Word. Suggestions.

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Gonzo, adjective
1: a style of journalism marked by a lack of objectivity
2 informal: very strange or unusual : bizarre, far-out

In a sentence: If Gonzo the Muppet wrote about Jim Henson, that would be gonzo journalism!

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A humorous exchange from the queries of the last book I edited (shared with the author's consent). It's also a good example of why you should check if something feels off.

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Tartle, verb
Scottish

hesitation when trying to remember someone’s name

In a sentence: I’ll bet you two beers that she’s going to tartle when she tries to introduce him!

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3/3 Now explain to me what fatuous schmendrick decided to make "taste bud" the standard and not "taste goblet"??? It's people like those people who think "body" is better than "bone-house"! Stop making English boring!

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MacGuffin, noun

object, event, or person in a narrative that, while usually not important in itself, sets and keeps the plot in motion.

Origin: coined by Alfred Hitchcock

In a sentence: Monty Python uses the Holy Grail as a blatant MacGuffin.
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Basketweaving, verb

(figurative) any useless, unproductive, or lightweight activity

In a sentence: I wish you’d stop your basketweaving and get a proper job!

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Tenebrific, adjective

1: Gloomy
2: causing gloom or darkness

Origin: borrowed from Medieval Latin

In a sentence: The moon was overshadowed, and the streetlights blinked out, one by one, in a tenebrific advance.

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Gorgonize, verb
transitive verb

to have a paralyzing or mesmerizing effect on : Stupefy, Petrify

In a sentence: Such was the sway he held over his audience that he seemed almost to gorgonize them.

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