It comes as no surprise that we here at BTSB are smitten with the plethora of weirdly wonderful words that the English language gives us to play with. What better gift can an online publication give to its readers than a list of delicious words? Here’s a selection of some of our favorites, accompanied by Yule-related examples. Enjoy!

 

1. Acquiesce

(verb) [no obj.]

accept something reluctantly but without protest:

Despite the fact that she hated ugly Christmas sweater parties, she acquiesced in his decision to attend one.

origin early 17th cent.: from Latin acquiescere, from ad- ‘to, at’ + quiescere ‘to rest’.

 

2. Crestfallen

(Adjective)

sad and disappointed:

After finishing all the Christmas shopping and checking my back account, I was crestfallen.

origin late 16th cent.: originally with reference to a mammal or bird having a fallen or drooping crest.

 

3. Defenestration

noun [mass noun] Formal or humorous

the action of throwing someone out of a window:

The highlight of our Christmas was the traditional defenestration of the Christmas tree

origin early 17th cent.: from modern Latin defenestratio(n-), from de- ‘down from’ + Latin fenestra ‘window’.

 

4. Flibbertigibbet

(Noun)

a frivolous, flighty, or excessively talkative person:

All that mulled wine makes grandma an unbearable flibbertigibbet!

origin late Middle English: probably imitative of idle chatter.

 

5. Impecunious

(Adjective)

having little or no money:

There really should be a law stating that impecunious students are exempt from buying presents.

origin late 16th cent.: from in-¹ ‘not’ + obsolete pecunious ‘having money, wealthy’ (from Latin pecuniosus, from pecunia ‘money’).

 

6. Kerfuffle

(Noun) [in sing.] Brit. informal

a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views:

Our family Christmas dinner usually ends in some kerfuffle or another.

origin early 19th cent.: perhaps from Scots curfuffle (probably from Scottish Gaelic car ‘twist, bend’ + imitative Scots fuffle ‘to disorder’), or related to Irish cior thual ‘confusion, disorder’.

 

7. Mellifluous

(adjective)

(of a sound) pleasingly smooth and musical to hear:

The happy jingling of sleigh bells and Santa’s mellifluous laughter filled the starry sky.

origin late 15th cent.: from late Latin mellifluus (from mel ‘honey’ + fluere ‘to flow’) + -ous.

 

8. Perambulate

(Verb) [no obj.] formal or humorous

walk or travel through or round a place:

Drunk Santa perambulated the room in search of his fake beard.

origin late Middle English: from Latin perambulat- ‘walked about’, from the verb perambulare, from per- ‘all over’ + ambulare ‘to walk’.

 

9. Refulgent

(Adjective) literary

shining very brightly:

It appeared as if the stars, too, were celebrating in refulgent glory.

origin late 15th cent.: from Latin refulgent- ‘shining out’, from the verb refulgere, from re- (expressing intensive force) + fulgere ‘to shine’.

 

10. Serendipity

(noun) [mass noun]

the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way:

We met, serendipitously under the mistletoe and the rest was history.

origin 1754: coined by Horace Walpole, suggested by The Three Princes of Serendip, the title of a fairy tale in which the heroes ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’