Sort of late edition. Thinking about cutting this down and making it weekly instead (I would also have, like, twenty words, alphabetized and categorized for your convenience. Tell me what you think).
Let's just get right to it, then.
Antepenultimate -
/AN - tee - pen - UHL - teh - met/Derived from the Latin ante meaning "before", pen meaning "almost". "Ultimate" is derived from the Latin ultima, meaning "last"."Penultimate" is a word that so many people misuse. No, it's not a more extreme form of "ultimate". Of course, whereas "ultimate" means "last" (as in, the
last in a long series of things), "penultimate" means "
second last". So, you can probably take a guess what what
antepenultimate means. It's the
third last in a series. For example: This term is, indeed, the
antepenultimate word on this list!
Aren't I fucking clever?
Vituperative -
/vy - TOO - per - (uh) - tiv/[vituperate] [vituperating] [vituperates] [vituperated] [vituperatively]
From the Latin vituperātiō, meaning "to censure".Another favorite of mine. I have a thing for v-words. Anyway, it means to be like me--verbally abusive. And, that's about it. Simple definition, beautiful word.
Vituperatively, I upbraided my sister for her misbehavior. Don't forget that it can be used as a verb, though: If you
vituperate your authorities, you're going to get yourself in trouble.
Gaucherie -
/GOH - sher - ee/[gaucheries] [guache]
Derived from the French gauche, meaning "left".Here's a French word that ties together nicely with the German
fremdschämen. When you exhibit
gauche behavior, you're awkward. You're high-fiving when they wanted a handshake.
Gaucherie is essentially the noun form of that. When you drop your groceries, you're committing a
gaucherie. Or, better yet, when you hug someone for just a
little bit too long. Or when you laugh a
little bit too hard at someone's bad pun, and now you look passive-aggressive. We all know what these are like. They're gaucheries. Another nice addition to anyone's vocabulary.
Bonus words:
The word for
fourth last? Preantepenultimate.
Fifth? Propreantepenultimate.
...
I don't know any more beyond that. Scram.