Improving your writing skills, winning a game of Scrabble, or finally completing that crossword puzzle is a lot easier with a substantial vocabulary. Here, we’ll go over nine-letter words, from A to Z, to keep in your back pocket.
A
Abhorrent: causing disgust; detestable
Absconder: a fugitive who avoids arrest or prosecution by running and hiding
Aesthetes: people who are concerned with subjects related to art and beauty
B
Baboonery: behaviors or actions that are demeaning or grotesquely comedic
Bamboozle: to fool someone
Bewitched: a spooky word meaning controlled or influenced by, as though under the effect of magic
C
Cacophony: a mix of sounds that are unharmonious and jarring
Catchpole: a sheriff’s deputy in charge of arresting debt evaders
Cauterize: to sear the skin with a hot tool or caustic substance
D
Dalliance: a casual relationship
Deviceful: inventive; ingenious
Dysphoria: experiencing feelings of extreme dissatisfaction
E
Essential: vital; important
Evergreen: a nature word referring to vegetation that stays green through more than one growing season
Exquisite: marked by perfection
F
Finagling: procuring something through deceitful measures
Flummoxed: bewildered; extremely confused
Fusillade: an attack involving shots that are rapidly fired simultaneously or in quick succession
G
Gallivant: to roam about for pleasure purposes
Geologize: to make geological analyses
Gunnysack: a sack made of thick, granular fabric
H
Halfpenny: a historical British coin equaling one half of a penny
Heterodox: holding unconventional beliefs
Humectant: a substance that helps hold in moisture
I
Iceblinks: beams of light in the sky over an ice field
Ignoramus: an extremely ignorant person
Imbricate: overlapping, in a style similar to roof tiles
J
Jabberers: people speaking rapidly or vaguely
Joyriding: a ride for the pleasure of it
Juxtapose: to compare or contrast different things
K
Keepsakes: objects kept or given as souvenirs
Kerfuffle: commotion usually caused by conflict
Kompromat: data used for political gain or discreditation
L
Launderer: someone who conceals the true source of illegally acquired money through an external entity
Lineolate: created with delicate, fine lines
Liquidity: readily available to convert into cash
M
Maelstrom: a powerful whirlpool; a state of turmoil
Mannerism: an unconscious distinctive action or characteristic
Metalloid: an element whose properties are between metals and nonmetals
N
Nonpareil: unrivaled
Nostalgia: an emotional longing for the past
Notorious: well-known, usually for a negative reason
O
Ophiology: the study of snakes
Opportune: favorable
Ostracize: to exclude someone from the collective
P
Panzootic: a pandemic, but for animals
Parabolas: a U-shaped curve used in mathematics
Pomposity: the quality of asserting self-importance
Q
Quadruped: an animal that has four feet
Quaffable: easy and pleasant to drink
Quixotism: idealism lacking practicality, especially in pursuit of romance
R
Radiogram: an image produced by radiation
Randomize: to select or arrange in an unpredictable manner
Ruggedize: to strengthen something for better resistance to external factors
S
Scoundrel: a dishonest person
Spellings: multiple arrangements of letters to form words
Splendent: shiny
T
Technique: an approach to achieving a desired result
Toxigenic: producing poisons
Tutorship: a tutor’s work or workplace
U
Ultimatum: a final demand, which, if not met, could result in consequences or break in relations
Unkemptly: a state of being in disarray
Upcycling: making something that would have otherwise been thrown away or recycled into something new
V
Vaccinate: to administer an inoculation
Vandalize: to inflict damage upon
Veronique: garnished or prepared with grapes
W
Wearisome: bored; fatigued
Whaleback: something shaped like the back of a whale
Whizzbang: a big success
X
Xenograft: tissue or organs taken from a donor of one species and grafted to one of a different species
Xerophyte: a plant that has evolved to need minimal water
Xylophone: a percussion instrument
Y
Yammering: to talk incessantly
Yesterday: the day before today
Youngster: a young person
Z
Zealously: enthusiastically pursuing something or someone
Zeitgeber: a cue that sets or resets an organism’s biological clock
Zirconium: a metallic element with desirable properties
