My Top 30 New Words in 2018 /// and it's only day 74

If you read a lot of books, like me, you end up coming across new words all the time -- no matter how much you read, there's ALWAYS more to discover.

These are words that have been there for decades, or centuries, as the case may be.... Words that have always been there in the dictionary, I just never looked them up before.

Well, here's a list of 30 fascinating, new-to-me pieces of vocabulary that I've found while reading just in the 74 days we've had of 2018.



What new words have you discovered recently?



Obsolescence
The process of becoming obsolete or outdated and no longer used.

Amanuensis
A literary or artistic assistant, in particular one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts.

Detritus
Waste or debris of any kind.
Gravel, sand, silt, or other material produced by erosion.

Synchronic
Concerned with something, especially a language, as it exists at one point in time.

Neologism
A newly coined word or expression.

Parallax
The effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions, e.g. through the viewfinder and the lens of a camera.

Spate
A large number of similar things coming in quick succession.

Jeremiad
A long, mournful complaint or lamentation; a list of woes.

Apotheosis
The highest point in the development of something; a culmination or climax.

Cynosure
A person or thing that is the centre of attention or admiration.

Uroboros
A circular symbol depicting a snake, or less commonly a dragon, swallowing its tail, as an emblem of wholeness or infinity.

Simulacrum
An image or representation of someone or something.
An unsatisfactory imitation or substitute.

Aphorism
A pithy observation which contains a general truth.

Putative
Generally considered or reputed to be.

Compunction
A feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad.

Verboten
Forbidden, especially by an authority.

Redolent
(redolent of/with) Strongly reminiscent or suggestive of.
Strongly smelling of.

Collude
Cooperate in a secret or unlawful way in order to deceive or gain an advantage over others.

Oeuvre
The body of work of a painter, composer, or author.

Circumlocution
The use of many words where fewer would do, especially in a deliberate attempt to be vague or evasive.

Risible
Provoking laughter through being ludicrous.

Enmity
A state or feeling of active opposition or hostility.

Anachronism
A thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, especially a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned.

Obviate
Remove (a need or difficulty).
Avoid or prevent (something undesirable).
 
Nimbus
A luminous cloud or a halo surrounding a supernatural being or a saint.
A large grey rain cloud.
  
Pensée
A thought or reflection put into literary form; an aphorism.

Proclivity
A tendency to choose or do something regularly; an inclination or predisposition towards a particular thing.

Sylvan
Consisting of or associated with woods; wooded.
Pleasantly rural or pastoral.
 
Perspicacity
The quality of having a ready insight into things; shrewdness.

Concatenation
A series of interconnected things.



If you have any fresh vocab, please share it with me in the comments!

*Word definitions taken from Oxford Dictionaries online.