Rastrophiliopustrocity

This page is a collection of different interesting words, mostly from other languages that do not have direct English translation. Some just sound good, or weird, while others are words we’ve felt, experienced, or something we came to pass by everyday that we never been able to name, or, at least, something we never thought there’s a word for it.

*newly added words as of 06/04/2013:
areodjarekput (Inuit), botellón (Spanish), buaya darat (Indonesian), embasan (Maguindanaon language, Philippines), erlebnis (German), fungee (Pulaar), gigi rongak (Malaysian), madárlátta(Hungarian), mana (Samoan), nakama (Japanese), neidbau (German), okuri-okami (Japanese), pelinti (Buli, Ghana), pihentagyú (Hungarian), po guan po shuai (Chinese), shemomedjamo (Georgian), shlimazl, verstehen (German), xenia (Greek), yichus (Yiddish), yutta-hey (Cherokee)

[A]

abderian - incessant or idiotic laughter.
abibliophobia - fear of running out of reading materials.
abience - the strong urge to avoid someone or something.
abulia - a total inability to make decisions.
accidia (Greek) - a state of spiritual catatonia in which one feels no desire or will to act.
accismus - feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it.
acouasm - a ringing noise in your head.
adoxography - beautiful writing on a subject of little or no importance.
advesperascit - the approaching dark; the evening draws near.
aemulatio (Latin) - a Roman notion of showing respect to one’s literary predecessors by delivering an improved version of their work. The noun for such a work.
agastopia – admiration of a particular part of someone’s body.
agelast - a person who never laughs.
age-tori (Japanese) -to look worse after a haircut.
agerasia - the state of looking younger than one actually is.
ailuromancy - divination by watching cats’ movements.
ailurophile -a cat-lover.
aisling - a vision or a dream; an Irish poetic genre where Ireland appears to the poet in the form of a beautiful woman.
alaláw (Quechua) - an exclamation that people say when they feel cold (it is pretty close to “brrr!” though it’s more fun to say and more expressive); also, people say it when they hear someone describe a cold place, even if they are not cold at that moment themselves.
alexithymia - inability to express your feelings.
alphamegamia - the marriage between a young woman and older man.
amerissage (French) - the event of landing an aircraft on water.
anacampserote (Greek) - something that can bring back a lost love.
anagapesis - no longer feeling any affection for someone you once loved.
anomia - the inability to recall the names of people or things.
antephialtic - something that protects against nightmares.
aplaventrisme (French) - the tendency of someone (or a nation) to bow before authority without a fight. It is derived from “être à plat ventre”, which means “to lie on one’s belly”.
apodyopsis - the act of mentally undressing someone.
apricate - to bask in the sun; to expose to sunlight.
areodjarekput (Inuit) - to exchange wives for a few days.
arigata-meiwaku (Japanese) - an act someone does for you that you didn’t want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor, and then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required you to express gratitude.
argle-bargle - a verbal argument.
arrière-pensée (French) - a doubt that prevents you from accepting something fully.
arriviste (French) a person who uses any means available to realize his or her desires; one who attains sudden success through shady means; A person who quickly achieved success but still lacks respect.
aspectabund - having a very expressive face; letting or being able to let expressive emotion show easily through one’s face and eyes.
asterismos - “marking with stars”; a word that gives weight or draws attention to the words that follow; related to asterism, a constellation or a starlike figure of light.
atelophobia - fear of imperfection.
atermoiements (French) - distractions or hesitations leading to procrastination.
athazagoraphobia - fear of being forgotten.
attaccabottoni (Italian) - lit. “a person who attacks your buttons”; a sad person who buttonholes people and tells long, pointless stories of misfortune.
autolatry - the worship of one’s self.
avoir le mal de quelqu’un (French) - missing someone so much it literally makes you sick. “Someonesickness” on the model of “seasickness”.
ayurnamat (Inuit) - a word describing the philosophy that there is no point in worrying about events that cannot be changed.

[B]

backpfeifengesicht (German) - a person who needs to be slapped; lit. “a face that needs a fist in it”.
bakku-shan (Japanese) - a beautiful girl, as long as she’s being viewed from behind.
balter - to dance artlessly, without particular grace or skill but usually with enjoyment.
basorexia - a strong craving or hunger for kissing.
bel hevi (Tok Pisin) - lit. “belly heavy”; a tangible sinking feeling often experienced in tandem with great sadness.
bêtise (French) - a small or silly act of naughtiness by a child. These are minor annoyances that do not generally warrant punishment by themselves. Several bêtises will probably warrant disciplinarian action.
bibelot - a small decorative object without practical utility; a trinket.
bilita mpash (Bantu) - the opposite of a nightmare. Not merely a “good” dream, but a “legendary, blissful state where all is forgiven and forgotten”.
boketto (Japanese) - the act of gazing vacantly into the distance.
bol (Mayan) - stupid or irritating in-laws.
borborygmus - the rumbling sound of gas passing through the intestine.
botellón (Spanish) - lit. “big bottle”; a gathering in which youths meet in a street or a public area in order to consume alcohol. People bring their own alcohol which is bought from the stores, making it a cheap alternative to going to bars or night clubs.
brav (German) - an adjective most commonly used to commend children. It describes several positive qualities in a child: they listen to their parents, know how to behave themselves, are well brought up overall, are pleasant and easy to take care of, do not cause trouble at home or at school, and study for school by themselves without needing further encouragement.
bricoleur du dimanche (French) - a person who starts building without clear plans, adding bits on the fly. Someone who cobbles something together while madly improvising.
bromidrosis - strongly smelling perspiration.
brontide - the low rumble of distant thunder.
b’shert (באַשערט, Yiddish) - lit. “destiny”; referring to the seeking of a person who will complement you and whom you will complement perfectly.
buaya darat (Indonesian) - lit. “land crocodile”; a man who fools women into thinking he’s a very faithful lover when in fact he goes out with many different women at the same time.
bùganjìmò (甘寂寞, Japanese) - to be unwilling to be lonely or over-looked; to seek to move forward from loneliness.
bumbershoot - umbrella.

[C]

cachinnate - to laugh loudly or immoderately.
cacophobia - fear of ugliness.
cafuné (Brazilian Portuguese) - the act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair.
cagamosis - an unhappy marriage.
callipygean - having well-shaped buttocks.
caraphernelia - a broken-heart disease whenever someone abandons you but leaves all their things behind, inducing painful memories.
cataglottism - kissing using the tongue; French kissing.
cavoli riscaldati (Italian) - lit. “reheated cabbage”; the attempt to revive a long-finished love affair.
chantepleurer (French) - singing and crying at the same time.
charientism - an artfully veiled insult.
chatoyant - like a cat’s eye.
cheiloproclitic - being attracted to a person’s lips or mouth.
cherophobia - fear of being happy. Cherophobics think that whenever they get too happy, something bad happens.
chutzpah (Yiddish) - the quality of audacity, for good or for bad.
circumlocution - the use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language or evasive in speech and writing.
clinomania - the excessive desire to stay in bed.
cockaigne - an imaginary land of luxury and idleness.
codology - the mastery or act of bluffing/deception; lying taken to the form of a pseudo-science.
collywobbles - butterflies in your stomach.
colposinquanonia - estimating a woman’s beauty based on her chest.
commuovere (Italian) - “heartwarming”, in the sense that it directly relates to a story that has moved you to affectionate tears.
croodle - to cuddle or nestle together, as from fear or cold.
cualacino (Italian) - the mark left on a table by a cold glass.
cwtch (Welsh) - a hug or a cuddle; a safe place; the space or the cupboard under the stairs.

[D]

dai lu maori (Chinese) - lit. “the man who wears a green hat”; a cuckold—his wife is sleeping with someone else.
defecaloesiphobia - fear of painful bowel movements.
deipnosophist - a person with excellent dinner table conversation skills.
dépaysement (French) - the feeling that comes from not being in one’s home country. Disorientation due to experience of unfamiliar surroundings, a sense in which one is “a fish out of water”.
desenrascanço (Portuguese) - the improvisation of haphazard but completely sound solutions or plans at the last minute; slapping together a solution to a problem at the last minute, with no advanced planning, and no resources.
dhvani (Sanskrit) - lit. “sound” or “echo”; it is a technical term in Sanskrit literary criticism, with a very beautiful, meaning: It refers to ‘allusion’ or ‘implied meaning’, best defined as the feature of a poem/line of having a hidden meaning that strikes you in the second or further readings, but not the first. (example: Herge’s Tintin comics have ample Dhvani in them – when I read them as a kid, they were just lovely stories; when I read them now, I also see a trenchant commentary on 20th century history)
didaskaleinophobia - fear of going to school.
dippoldism - the act of beating or whipping school children.
discombobulated - emotionally confused or uncertain.
donaldkacsázás (Hungarian) - lit. “Donald Duck-ing”; Wearing a shirt but no pants nor underpants at home.
dormiveglia - the space that stretches between sleeping and waking.
dozakh - a place of torment one believes they are in when separated from their lover; hell.
drachenfutter (German) - lit. “dragon’s food”; it is a gift that a husband brings to his wife after pissing her off.
drapetomania - an overwhelming urge to run away.
duende (Spanish) - while originally used to describe a mythical, sprite-like entity that possesses humans and creates the feeling of awe of one’s surroundings in nature, its meaning has transitioned into referring to “the mysterious power that a work of art has to deeply move a person.”
dwizzen - a way to describe someone who looks like withered fruit.
dysania - the state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning.

[E]

eccedentesiast - someone who fakes a smile.
eesome - pleasing to the eyes.
effluvium - unpleasant smell.
eigengrau (German)- this is the shade of dark grey seen by the eye in perfect darkness. What we see in the dark is not black, but the color eigengrau.
eislaufmutter (German) - lit. “the mother of an ice skater”; a mother who is overambitious for her children and pushes them to their absolute limits.
eleutheromania - an intense and irresistible desire for freedom.
elysian - beautiful or creative; divinely inspired; peaceful and perfect.
embasan (Maguindanaon language, Philippines) -to wear clothes while taking a bath.
empalagarse (Spanish) - the sensation your tongue has after eating too many sweets. It the feeling you get when you need some milk to go with that chocolate cake.
ennui - listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement; boredom.
epanorthosis - taking back or correcting one’s words even while saying them; thinking better of saying something.
épater les bourgeois (French) - lit. “to amaze the middle class”; to deliberately shock people who have conventional values.
equanimity - mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.
eremophobia - fear of being alone.
erlebnis (German) - an experience one feels deeply, and, in a sense, ‘lives through’.
escapism - a way of refocusing one’s attention on pleasant or enjoyable things, as opposed to the hard realities of the everyday world.
estivate - to be inactive or asleep through the summer’s heat and then come awake and alive in the winter; to stay in one place during the summer.
euneirophrenia - the peace of mind that comes from having pleasant dreams.
eutony - the pleasantness of a word’s sound.
exsufflation - blowing out; forced breathing.

[F]

faamiti (Samoan) - to make a squeaking sound by sucking air past the lips in order to gain the attention of a dog or child.
faire du lèche-vitrine (French) - lit. “to lick the window”; window shopping.
fengyun (风韵, Chinese) – lit. “wind sound”; (a woman’s) charm.
fensterln (German) - climbing through a window to avoid someone’s parents in order to have sex with the someone without the parents knowing.
fernweh (German) - a crave for travel; being homesick for a place you’ve never been; wanderlust.
ferrule - the metal ring connecting the eraser to the pencil.
feuillemort - the color of a dying leaf.
filipendulous - hanging by a thread.
finifugal - hating endings; of someone who tries to avoid or prolong the final moments of a story, relationship, or some other journey; appropriate for children avoiding bedtime and for those who ‘just don’t want the book to end.’
firgun (Hebrew) - an act of saying nice things or doing nice things to another person without any other purpose, but to make the other feel good about what he is or what he does.
flapdoodle - nonsense.
flink (Norwegian) - talented, but also industrious and clever.
floccinaucinihilipilification - the act of estimating or considering something to be worthless, valueless or useless. It is one of the largest usable words in the english dictionary.
fond de l’air (French) - “Fond de l’air” is used only in the sentence “Le fond de l’air est frais.” Literally “the bottom of the air” (not as in butt, like the bottom of a glass). The expression means it is sunny and you could be tricked into thinking it is summertime, but in fact the air is quite cool (and not in a refreshing and welcome way). It suggests that the weather is waiting for you to drop your guard so it can give you a nasty cold.
forelsket (Norwegian) - the euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.
forrigårs (Norwegian) - the day before yesterday.
fremdschämen (German) - embarrassment felt on behalf of someone else (often someone so ignorant to what they have done that they don’t know that they should be embarrassed for themselves); the kindler, gentler kind of Schadenfreude, it means something akin to “vicarious embarrassment.” (see schadenfreude)
friolero / friolera (Spanish) - a person who is especially sensitive to cold weather and temperatures.
fungee (Pulaar) - this is said at a meal when someone is so hungry that they are too distracted to notice who is seated at the communal bowl to eat, and only after taking a few bites do they ask, where’s so and so… Everyone at the bowl then laughs and says “a fungee” to the hungry person.
fylleangst (Norwegian) - lit. “drunken angst”; the feeling when you wake up very hungover and fear what you did the night before, because you don’t quite remember.

[G]

gâchis (French) - a good opportunity wasted by staggering levels of incompetence (from multiple sources) evidenced in its implementation.
galeanthropy - the belief that you are a cat.
galère (French) -a group of undesirable people.
galligaskins - big breeches or loose-fitting trousers.
gallimaufry - a confused jumble or medley of things.
gardyloo! - phrase used when throwing water out a window,
geborgenheit (German) - to feel completely safe; like nothing could ever harm you. Usually connected to a particular place or person.
gerascophobia - fear of getting old or aging.
gesamtkunstwerk (German) - complete work, an entire body of work.
gibigianna (Italian)- the play of light reflected from water or a mirror; figuratively, a woman who flaunts her charm or who wishes to dazzle you with her elegance.
gigil (Filipino) - the urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.
gigi rongak (Malaysian) - the space between the teeth.
glabrous - smooth, lacking hairs or bristle, bald.
glas wen (Welsh) -lit. “blue smile”; a smile that is insincere or mocking.
gobemouche - a highly gullible person.
gökotta (Swedish) - lit. “dawn picnic to hear the first birdsong”; the act of rising early in the morning to watch the birds or to go outside to appreciate nature
goombah - an older, protective friend.
gotong-royong (Indonesian) - the joint sharing of burdens; the bearing of the weight of the world together with trusted friends.
grapholagnia - the urge to stare at obscene pictures.
grawlix - typographical symbols used to represent letters of swear words.
greng-jai (Thai) - that feeling you get when you don’t want someone to do something for you because it would be a pain for them.
groak - to stare longingly at someone who is eating in the hope that they will ask you to join them.
gumusservi (Turkish) - moonlight shining on water.
gunnen (Dutch) - to allow someone to have a positive experience, especially if that means you won’t have it (always with an element of sympathy)
gurfa (Arabic) - the amount of water that can be scooped up in one hand.
gymnophoria - the sensation that someone is mentally undressing you.
gynecomastia - man boobs.

[H]

habromania - delusions of happiness.
habseligkeiten (German) - things that an adult might find worthless, but that a child regards as treasures.
hadeharia - the practice of constantly using the word “hell” in speaking.
han (Korean) - loneliness, solitude, deep regret, pride, verticality, dignity, loyalty, pride, passion, revolt, despair, powerlessness, unfulfilled broken dreams, resentment, waiting or in one word, a “torch” in the deep night of the soul.
handschuhschneebalwerfer (German) - lit. “someone who wears gloves to throw a snowball”; a coward.
heliophilia - desire to stay in the sun.
hikikomori (Japanese) - a teenager or 20-something who has withdrawn from social life, often obsessed with TV and video games.
hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia – fear of long words.
hiraeth (Welsh) -a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.
hobbledehoy - an awkward, gawky youth.
holophrasis - the expression of complex ideas in a single word or phrase.
honne (本音, Japanese) - what a person truly believes / thinks; the behavior and opinions which are often kept hidden and only displayed with one’s closest confidants. (see ‘tatemae’建前)
hygge (Danish) - a complete absence of anything annoying or emotionally overwhelmed; taking pleasure from the presence of gentle, soothing things.
hyggelig (Danish) - its “literal” translation into English gives connotations of a warm, friendly, cozy demeanor, but it’s unlikely that these words truly capture the essence of a hyggelig; it’s likely something that must be experienced to be known. I think of good friends, cold beer, and a warm fire.
hypengyophobia - fear of responsibility.
hypergelast - someone who laughs excessively.
hypophrenia - a vague feeling of sadness, seemingly without cause.

[I]

ikibari (Japanese) - lit. “lively needle”. Used to describe a man who is willing but under-endowed.
ikigai (Japanese) lit. ”reason for being”. On the island of Okinawa, it is thought of as “a reason to get up in the morning,” a philosophy which has been linked to the longevity of the people there.
iktsuarpok (Inuit) - the feeling of anticipation when you’re waiting for someone to show up at your house and you keep going outside to see if they’re there yet.
ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo) - a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.
inat (Serbian) - an attitude of proud defiance, stubbornness and self-preservation to the detriment of everyone else.
induratize - to make one’s own heart hardened or resistant to someone’s pleas or advances, or to the idea of love.
ineffable - incapable of being expressed / described in words.
inglenook - a corner by a fireplace.
iridescent - Showing luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles; displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow.

[J]

jabberwocky - meaningless speech or writing.
jayus (Indonesian) - a joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh.
jeong (정, Korean) - a connection feeling of friendliness or connection with everything that interacts with us; is a feeling of deep association with somebody or something to the point that it is a part of you and it is inseparable.
jugaad (Hindi) - a way of managing things by minimal resources; a way making things happen “by hook or crook” (example: Consider your driver who has to pick your son from his school and at the same time has to drop your wife to beauty parlor. He would say, “Don’t worry Sir, Jugaad would be done” )
jū yaku (Japanese) - a translation of a translation.

[K]

kaelling (Danish) - that woman who stands on her doorstep (or in line at the supermarket, or at the park, or in a restaurant) cursing at her children.
kakorraphiophobia - fear of failure.
kalon (Greek) - beauty that is more than skin-deep.
kalopsia (Greek)-the delusion of things being more beautiful than they really are.
kamaki (Greek) - lit. “harpoon”; Greek men who frequently go to touristy areas looking for female tourists to court; the art of greek pick-up.
katzenjammer (German) - lit. “cat’s wail”; discordant sound; sometimes used to indicate a general state of depression or bewilderment; a hangover.
karoshi (過労死, Japanese) - death from being overworked.
κάτι τρέχει στα γύφτικα (Greek) - it communicates the meaning ‘who cares?’, but the literal translation of the phrase is ‘there is trouble in the gypsy village’.
kawaakari (川明かり, Japanese) - the gleam of last light on a river’s surface at dusk; the glow of a river in the darkness.
kefi (Greek) - the spirit of joy, passion, enthusiasm, high spirits, or frenzy. The custom of smashing plates is considered an expression of kefi, when the soul and body are overwhelmed with an exuberance that must find an outlet.
kilig (Filipino) - that feeling you get from having interacted with a person you love or find attractive – butterflies in your stomach, blushing, giggling/smiling uncontrollably.
killcrop - an insatiable child who never ceases to be hungry and is never fatter, particularly thought to be a fairy changeling substituted for a real child.
kintsukuroi - “to repair with gold”; the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.
kissing crust - the part where loaves of bread have touched while baking.
koev halev (Hebrew) - identifying with the suffering of another so closely that one hurts oneself, that one’s heart aches.
koi no yokan (恋の予感, Japanese) - lit. “Premonition of Love”; the sense can have upon first meeting another person that the two of them are going to fall in love. This differs from the idea “love at first sight” in that it does not imply that the feeling of love exists, rather it refers to the knowledge that a future love is inevitable.
komorebi (木漏れ日, Japanese) - sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees.
kontal-kontil (Malaysian) - the swinging of long earrings or the swishing of a dress as one walks.
korinthenkacker (German) - lit. ”raisin pooper”; someone so taken up with life’s trivial detail that they spend all day crapping raisins.
koyaanisqatsi - nature out of balance; a way of life so unbalanced that you need a new way.
krevatomourmoura (Greek) - compound word κρεβάτι (bed) + μουρμούρα (murmur); when one (especially woman) keeps complaining about something or everything late at night in bed while the other (usually husband) is trying to sleep.
krukolibidinous - the act of staring at someone’s crotch.
kummerspeck (German) - lit. “grief bacon”; excess weight gained from emotional overeating.
kupu-kupu malam (Indonesian) - lit. “night butterfly”; a prostitute.
kyoikumama (Japanese) - lit. “education mother”. A mother who relentlessly pushes her children toward academic achievement.
kyphorrhinos - having a nose with a bump in it.

[L]

la douleur exquise (French) -the heart-wrenching pain of wanting the affection of someone unattainable.
lagom (Swedish) - not too much, and not too little, but just right.
lalochezia - the use of foul or abusive language to relieve stress or ease pain.
lǎo tóng (老同, Chinese) - lit. “old-same”; a form of eternal friendship between “heart sisters” – two women who were closer than husband and wife.
l’appel du vide (French) - lit. “the call of the void”; used to describe the instinctive urge to jump from high places.
la petit mort (French) - lit. “the little death”; a metaphor for orgasm. More widely, it can refer to the spiritual release that comes with orgasm, or a short period of melancholy or transcendence, as a result of the expenditure of the “life force” - the feeling which is caused by the release of oxytocin in the brain after the occurrence of orgasm; La petit mort does not always apply to sexual experiences. It can also be used when some undesired thing has happened to a person and has affected them so much that “a part of them dies inside”.
l’esprit d’escalier / l’esprit de l’escalier (French) - lit. “the spirit of the staircase” / “the staircase wit”; the feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said.
lethologica - when you can’t think of the precise word for something.
lieko (Finnish) - a trunk of tree that has submerged to the bottom of a lake / pond or a bog after absorbing water for some time until it can’t float anymore.
limerence - technical term for having a crush on a person; a very intense feelings of affection towards somebody else that last at a much longer time span - months, years, or even a lifetime - than a normal crush.
lisztomania - a need to listen to music all the time.
lítost (Czech) - a state of agony and torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery. - described by Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
logolepsy - an obsession with words.
lucu (Bahasa Indonesia) lit. “funny and cute”. It is customarily used to describe something like a clumsy puppy, falling over and making a fool of itself — it’s simultaneously cute and funny!
lygerastia - the condition of one who is only amorous when the lights are out.

[M]

madárlátta (Hungarian) - lit. “bird-seen”; it refers to some packed food you took along to a hike, an outing, a picnic, or some other trip, but then you took it home intact without eating it. The birds may have seen it in your backpack.
mágoa (Portuguese) - a heartbreaking feeling that leaves long-lasting traces, visible in gestures and facial expressions.
mamihlapinatapei (Yagan, indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego) - the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start.
mana (Samoan) - In Polynesian culture (the word “mana” is a cognate in many Oceanic languages), mana is a spiritual quality of supernatural origin—a sacred impersonal force existing in the universe. To have mana is to have influence, authority, and power to perform in a given situation. Mana is not limited to human application: governments, places and inanimate objects can also possess mana. People and objects that have mana are accorded respect because their mana gives them authority, power, and prestige.
manja (Malay) - “to pamper”, it describes gooey, childlike and coquettish behavior by women designed to elicit sympathy or pampering by men.
manqué - having failed to become what one might have been; someone with potential who never managed to reach expectations (ex. ‘an actor manqué’)
maradadi (Swahili) - very beautiful, ornate or fancy; an emotional state of total peace and harmony.
marcescent - withering but not falling off.
matutolypea - sadness or irritation felt by some people when getting up in the morning; getting up on the wrong side of the bed.
maya (Sanskrit) - the belief, often unfortunate, that the symbol of a thing is the same as the thing itself.
mbuki-mvuki (Bantu phrase) -to shuck off one’s clothes in order to dance naked in joy.
mélancolie (French) - a state of sadness or unhappiness.
meliorism - the belief that the world gets better; the belief that humans can improve the world.
mencolek (Indonesian) - the old trick where you tap someone lightly on the opposite shoulder from behind to fool them.
mencomot (Indonesian) - people who steal objects of little value purely for pleasure.
meinichi (めいにち, Japanese) lit. “Day of Honor”; word used to describe the anniversary of someone’s death.
meraki (Greek) - doing something with soul, creativity, or love.
métro-boulot-dodo (French) - lit. “subway, work, sleep”; a dreary, mechanical existence.
me yia (Greek) - lit. “with joy”. It is said to someone when they buy something new, usually applied to large purchases such as jewelry or a car or new home. You are essentially wishing that their new purchase brings them joy and that they enjoy it.
micawber - an eternal optimist.
misanthropy - a generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt, or hatred of the human species, human nature, or society.
mise en abyme - the process of making an image that contains itself with infinite recursion (for example, as observed while standing between two mirrors). It can be used metaphorically to describe infinite nesting (a dream within a dream, a story within a story) or self-referential discourse (a book or a movie whose content refers to itself).
misodoctakleidist -someone who hates practicing the piano.
misoneism - a fear, hatred, or intolerance of change or innovation.
mistimanchachi (Quechua) - lit. “something that frightens Spanish-speaking urban people”; a light drizzle. (The people who speak Quechua are indigenous to the mountains of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, and are mostly rural. When a light drizzle starts, they just keep planting potatoes or herding sheep or walking wherever they are going, but the townspeople– the mestizos –run for shelter.)
mokita (Kiriwina) -an unspoken truth known by everyone but never discussed openly.
mondegreen - misheard song lyrics.
mono no aware (物の哀れ, Japanese) - enjoying the sadness of the inevitable cycle of life.
mooreeffoc - the queerness of things that have become trite or boring when they are seen suddenly from a new angle.
morosis - the stupidest of stupidities.
mudita (Pali) - experiencing joy for someone else, without personal involvement or gains; the opposite of schadenfreude. (see ‘schadenfreude’)
murr-ma (Wagiman) -to walk along in the water searching for something with your feet.
Myötähäpeä (Finnish) - the kindler, gentler kind of Schadenfreude, it means something akin to “vicarious embarrassment.” (see ‘schadenfreude’)

[N]

naches / nakhes (Yiddish) -the satisfaction gained from life’s gifts; the act of being proud of someone’s achievements.
nakakapanghinayang - A feeling of regret for not having used something or not having take advantage of a situation. Can be translated as “what a waste,” but it addressed more directly the feeling of encountering something you ought to preserve or keep but are afraid to take the risk of doing so, in fear of the regret you may experience later.
nakama (Japanese) - refer to a friend who one considers family. He’s not just your friend, but he’ll stand by you no matter what. He’s not your ally, but he’ll fight by your side. He’s not your boyfriend, but he loves you dearly. His is a pure and platonic love, untainted by sexual feeling.
nakkele (Tulu) - a man who licks whatever the food has been served on.
nam tzi (น้ำใจ, Thai) - sincere kindness; true willingness to help others, even before they ask, without expecting anything in return.
natsukashii (Japanese) - suddenly, euphorically nostalgic, triggered by experiencing something for the first time in years.
naz (Urdu) - the pride that comes from knowing that you are loved no matter what you do.
neidbau (German) – a building constructed with the sole purpose of inconveniencing a neighbor in some way.
nefelibata (Spanish) - lit. “cloud-water”; one who lives in the clouds of their own imagination or dreams, or one who does not obey the conventions of society, literature, or art.
nelipot - one who walks barefoot.
nemophilist - one who loves the forest and its beauty and solitude; a haunter of the woods.
nepenthe - something that can make you forget grief or suffering.
nezabarom (Ukrainian) - communicates the meaning “not a very long time ago,” but means literally, “not far away from the pub”.
nito-onna (Japanese) - a woman so dedicated to her career that she has no time to iron blouses and so dresses only in knitted tops.
noceur (French) - one who sleeps late or not at all; or, one who stays out late to revel or party.
noosphere - the sum of human thought, knowledge and culture.
nostalgia - a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.
nudiustertian -the day before yesterday.
nudnik (Yiddish) - someone who is annoying, obtuse, and dull.
nunchi - the subtle art of listening and gauging others’ moods; the ability to know what not to say in a certain social situation; the ability to ‘pick up’ things without people having to show or say to you directly.

[O]

obambulate - to wander around.
objet trouvé (French) -a natural or discarded object, found by chance, that has a certain beauty.
oculoplania - letting one’s eyes wander while assessing someones charms.
offing - the more distant part of the sea seen from the shore; in the near or immediate future; soon to come
oka-shete (Ndonga, Nigeria) - urination difficulties caused by eating frogs before the rain has duly fallen.
okuri-okami (Japanese) - lit. “see-you-home wolf”; a man who feigns thoughtfulness by offering to see a girl home only to try to molest her once he gets in the door.
ondinnonk (Iroquoian) - a word from the Iroquois tribes of North America referring to the soul’s innermost desires and its angelic nature. To follow one’s ondinnonk is thought to often lead to positive and kindly acts; the secret desire of the soul expressed by a dream.
oneirataxia - the inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
oniochalasia - the purchasing of objects or shopping as a form of mental relaxation.
onychophagy -the habit of biting one’s fingernails.
oppholdsvær (Norwegian) – weather just after the rain has stopped.
orenda (Huron) - the power of human will to change the world. Set up as an opposing force to fate or destiny. If powerful forces beyond your control are trying to force a particular outcomes, orenda is a kind of vocalised summoning of personal strength to change this.
ordacleaphobia - fear of imperfection.
ostranenie (Russian) - the experience of having the familiar and commonplace made strange or alien; defamiliarization
oubliette - a dungeon with a door only in the ceiling; a place you put people to forget about them.
ozostomia - foul-smelling breath.

[P]

packesel (German) - it is the person who’s stuck carrying everyone else’s bags on a trip. Literally, a burro.
pålegg (Norwegian) - anything – ham, cheese, jam, Nutella, mustard, herring, pickles, Doritos, you name it – that might be considered putting into a sandwich.
palinoia - the compulsive repetition of an act until it is perfect.
pana po’o (Hawaiian) - to scratch your head in order to help you remember something you’ve forgotten.
pandiculation - stretching and yawning before going to bed or after waking up.
panurgic -someone skilled in all forms of work
paracosm - a detailed, prolonged imaginary world created by a child that includes human, animal, or alien creations.
paramour - a lover, especially one in an adulterous relationship; an illicit lover.
parea (Greek) - a group of friends that gather together purely for the enjoyment of each other’s company. The time between visits does not matter, the spirit between them is the same.
peccadillo - a small sin or a trifling fault.
pelinti (Buli, Ghana) - to move very hot food around inside one’s mouth.
pena ajena (Mexican Spanish) - the embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation.
petrichor - the smell of earth after rain; the smell of rain on dry ground.
pihentagyú (Hungarian) - lit. “ of/with a relaxed brain”; used to describe people who like to come up with very sophisticated jokes, too tiring and complicated for most other people (and which presumably require a rather too relaxed brain).
pistanthrophobia - the fear of trusting people due to past experiences with relationships gone bad (a phobia that causes most individuals to remain single.)
phantasmagoric - characterized by incredible, intricate, impossibly imaginative imagery.
philosophunculist - one who pretends to know more than they do to impress others.
philtrum - the groove located in the middle of your upper lip.
phosphenes - the colors or “stars” you see when you rub your eyes.
pleonexia (Greek) - the insatiable desire to have what rightfully belongs to others. A ruthless self-seeking and an arrogant assumption that others and things exist for one’s own benefit.
plimpplampplettere (Dutch) - the activity of skimming stones across the water.
plutocrat - a person who is powerful because they are rich.
pochemuchka (Russian) - a person who asks a lot of questions.
po guan po shuai (Chinese) - lit. “smash a jar which already cracked”. It describes an attitude toward minor failure. When you “Po guan po shuai”, you allow something to become worse. or even make it worse yourself, as a fatalistic reaction towards the failure.
pole (Swahili) - it means ‘I am sorry for your misfortune.’ It is pronounced ‘po-lay.’ It can be used for small or big things, and ‘pole sana’ also exists, where ‘sana’ is an intensifier.
poptjie patu (Sranan Tongo,Surinames Creole language) - the imaginary cooking while playing house.
pretoogjes (Dutch) - lit. ‘fun-eyes’. The eyes of a chuckling person who is up to benign mischief.
přizabít se (Czech) - lit. “to nearly kill oneself”; refer to a situation in which someone was very close to getting seriously hurt, but surprisingly managed to survive without any severe harm.
prozvonit (Czech) - to call a mobile phone and let it ring once so that the other person will call back, saving the first caller money. In Spanish, the phrase for this is “Dar un toque,” or, “To give a touch.”
psithurism - the sound of wind in trees or rustling leaves.
psychopomp - a conductor of souls to the afterworld
pulchritudinous - used to describe great physical beauty.
purlicue - area between your index finger and thumb.
putzfimmel (German) - a mania for cleaning.
puszipajtás (Hungarian) - someone you know well enough to kiss in the street.
pyknic - short and fat.

[Q]

qaamch’ip’q’i - (Ubykh) - lit. ‘a filigree metal ornament on the handle of a whip’. An idiomatic term for someone whose good or kind outward appearance is deceptive.
quaintrelle (Middle English) - a woman who emphasizes a life of passion expressed through personal style.
qualtagh - the first person you see after leaving your house.
qualunquismo (Italian) - a person who really doesn’t care about politics and societal issues. The term comes from an Italian political party that promoted anti-political feelings and mistrust of public organizations.
queesting (Dutch) - to allow a lover access to one’s bed for chitchat.
quicquidlibet - one who does whatever one pleases.
quidnunc - one who always wants to know what is going on.

[R]

rashk (Urdu) - Rashk is a versatile word. In principle, ‘envy’ is a broad term for the pain caused by non-possession: the fact that someone else has something that you don’t have but want to have. And ‘jealousy’ is a kind of pain caused by possession: the fear of losing someone or something that you have, to someone else. The word rashk can not only cover both, but can include more general possibilities of ‘grudge, spite, malice’ as well.
rastrophiliopustrocity - a barrage of creative random thoughts, images, and ideas that spontaneously overwhelms the right brain, which then becomes immediately exercised when paired with discernment through the left brain under spacious awareness from an empty point; a spontaneous combustion of creative spark that is followed by action in order to manifest and bring into existence
razbliuto - the sentimental feeling you have about someone you once loved but no longer do.
razliubit (Russian) - the melancholic pang of falling out of love (see ‘razbliuto’)
redamancy - the act of loving in return.
resfeber (Swedish) - to be jittery before undertaking a journey.
retrouvaille - the joy of meeting or finding someone again after a long separation.
rire dans sa barbe (French) - lit. “to laugh in your beard”; to laugh to oneself quietly while thinking about something that happened in the past.
rhwe (Tsonga, South Africa) - to sleep on the floor without a mat, while drunk and naked.

[S]

sankofa (Akan) - “go back and fetch it”; we must look back to the past so that we may understand how we became what we are, and move forward to a better future.
sapiosexual - one who finds intelligence the most sexually attractive feature.
saudade (Portuguese) - one of the most beautiful of all words, translatable or not, this word “refers to the feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost.”
sciamachy - a battle against imaginary enemies; fighting your shadow.
schadenfreude - the feeling of joy and slight satisfaction you sometimes get from the misfortune of others.
schilderwald (German) - said when a place or street is crowded with so many unnecessary road signs that you don’t know how to behave, or simply become lost.
schlimazel (Yiddish) - someone prone to bad luck.
schwellenangst (German) - fear of embarking on something new.
scripturient - having a consuming passion to write.
sehnsucht (German) - “the inconsolable longing in the human heart for we know not what”; a yearning for a far, familiar, non-earthly land one can identify as one’s home. ”longing”, “yearning”, or “craving”, or in a wider sense a type of “intensely missing”. (see ‘saudade’)
seigneur-terraces (French) - café customers who spend a long time at a table but spend little money.
selcouth - unfamiliar, rare, strange, and yet marvelous.
serendipity - finding something nice without looking for it / while looking for something else.
sgiomlaireachd (Gaelic)- when people interrupt you when you are eating.
sgriob (Gaelic) - the itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whisky.
shampoo effect - the experience of using too much shampoo when you first wash your hair after getting a haircut; the phenomenon when you drank alcohol a lot the night before and then have a drink the next day that makes you feel more drunk than you should.
shemomedjamo (Georgian) - to continue eating food even though you’re already full, just because you like the taste of the food so much.
shibusa (渋さ, Japanese) - subtle and unobtrusive beauty.
shitta (Farsi) - leftover dinner eaten for breakfast.
shlimazl - someone who is always unlucky.
shvitzer (Yiddish) - someone who sweats a lot, especially a nervous seducer.
sialoquent - spraying saliva while talking.
sigurista (Filipino) - a person who is particularly concerned that everything goes as planned; the kind of person who will not initiate a particular action unless he feels 100% sure that the desired result would be obtained.
sirimiri (Spanish) - a light rain; a fine drizzle.
sitooterie (Scottish) - a secluded corner to take your partner during a dance.
sitzfleisch (German) - lit. “sitting flesh” or posterior; the ability to sit through, tolerate or persist in something difficult or severely boring.
slangwhanger - a loud, abusive speaker.
s legkim parom (с легким паром, Russian) - lit. “with a light steam”; a friendly remark made to someone who’s just come from the bath.
smultronstället (Swedish) - lit. “place of wild strawberries”; a special place discovered, treasured, returned to for solace and relaxation; a personal idyll free from stress or sadness.
snorker (Early English) - a person who gets into others’ business.
sobremesa (Spanish) - the time spent after lunch or dinner talking to the people you shared the meal with.
solivagant (Latin) - wandering alone.
solecism - a grammatical mistake, a minor blunder in speech; a breach of etiquette or decorum.
somnambulist - someone who sleep walks.
spesenritter (German) - lit. “an expense knight”; someone who shows off by paying the bill on the company’s expense account.
sphallolalia - flirtatious talk that leads nowhere.
spondulicks - slang term for cash.
sprezzatura (Italian) - the ability to make one’s actions seem effortless or to disguise one’s true desire, feeling or meaning.
stammtisch (German) - a social gathering of friends, specifically at a bar, to talk about life.
startijenn (Breton) - a kick of energy, like putting fuel in your engine; strength in the face of adversity.
stress cardiomyopathy - also referred to as the “broken heart syndrome”, it is a condition in which intense emotional or physical stress can cause rapid and severe heart muscle weakness (cardiomyopathy). This condition can occur following a variety of emotional stressors such as grief (e.g. death of a loved one), fear, extreme anger, and surprise. Thus, it is possible to die from a broken heart.
strikhedonia - the pleasure of being able to say ‘to hell with it.’
sturmfrei - lit. “stormfree”; the freedom of not being watched by a parent or superior; being alone at a place and have the ability to do what you want.
susurrus - a low soft sound, as of whispering or muttering or a quiet wind.
swadge (Orcadian) - the rest in between courses or during a meal to let your food digest and create space to continue eating.
sweven - a vision seen in the sleep.
syshnyak (Russian) - being thirsty because you’ve been drinking alcohol.

[T]

taarradhin (Arabic) - implies a happy solution for everyone, or “I win. You win.” It’s a way of reconciling without anyone losing face. Arabic has no word for “compromise,” in the sense of reaching an arrangement via struggle and disagreement.
tacenda (Latin) - things better left unsaid; matters to be passed over in silence.
tarantism - an urge to overcome melancholy by dancing; a nervous disease believed to be curable by dancing or showing a desire to dance to alleviate sadness.
tartle (Scottish) – the act of hesitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name.
tatemae (建前, Japanese) - what a person pretends to believe / think; the behavior and opinions one must display to satisfy society’s demands. (see ’honne’ 本音)
tausendsassa - jack-of-all-trades; a multi-talented person.
thingummyjig - any object whose name one does not know or cannot remember; a word used in place of one that has been temporarily forgotten.
tingo (Pascuense) – the act of taking objects one desires from the house of a friend by gradually borrowing all of them.
titivil - a name for a devil said to collect words mumbled, dropped, or omitted in the recitation of divine service, and to carry them to hell where they would be held against the offender.
tittle - the dot above a ‘j’ and an ‘i’.
tittynopes - a small amount of food leftover, whether a few beans on a dinner plate or the dregs at the bottom of a cup.
tocayo (Spanish) - a Spanish word meaning a person who has the same name as you.
tokka (Finnish) - a grazing, large herd of reindeer.
torschlusspanik (German) – lit. “gate-closing panic”; the fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages.
toska (Russian) - at its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause; At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom. - described by Vladmir Nabokov
trennungsagentur (German) - someone hired by a woman to tell her boyfriend he has been dumped.
treppenwitz (German) - a clever remark that comes to mind when it’s too late to use it. (see l’esprit de l’escalier)
tristful - deeply yet romantically melancholy.
trouvaille (French) - something lovely discovered by chance.
tsundoku (積ん読, Japanese) - the act of leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piling it up together with other such unread books.
tuko pamoja (Swahili) - “We are together.” Denotes a shared sense of purpose and motivation in a group. It transcends mere agreement, and implies empathetic understanding among the members of the group.
twitterpated - love-struck

[U]

übermorgen (German) - the day after tomorrow.
uitbuiken - lit. “to expand the stomach”; taking your time during a meal, relaxing in between courses.
uitwaaien (Dutch) – lit. “to walk in the wind”; to take a brief break outside to clear one’s head.
ulotrichous - having wooly or crispy hair.
ultracrepidarian - one who speaks or offers opinions on matters beyond their knowledge.
ulykkesbilen (Danish) - an “ill-fated car.”
ustulation - a burning lust.
utopia - a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions.
uxorious - excessively attached to or dependent on one’s wife.

[V]

vāde mēcum (Latin)-lit. “go with me”; favorite book carried everywhere; a handbook of useful information kept at one’s side.
velleitie - a wish or powerful desire for something that nonetheless is not or cannot be followed by actions meant to pursue it.
verklempt - completely overcome with emotion.
vernorexia - a romantic mood inspired by spring.
verschlimmbesserung (German) - a supposed improvement that makes things worse.
verstehen (German) - it roughly translates to “Meaningful Understanding” or putting yourself in the shoes of others in order to see things from their perspective.
vigesimation - the act of killing every twentieth person.
viitsima (Estonian) - a mild feeling of laziness and disinclination towards being “bothered” by anything. One doesn’t want to work, go anywhere, or do anything specific.
viraginity - masculine qualities in a woman.
virago (Old English) - a relentlessly scolding woman with a loud voice. A fearless, aggressive woman.
volta (βόλτα, Greek) - a leisurely stroll along the main street or the seashore as the sun is setting, to meet and talk with friends and neighbors.
vorfreude (German) - the joyful, intense anticipation that comes from imagining future pleasures.
vorgestern (German) the day before yesterday.
vovohe tahtensaotse (Cheyenne) - to prepare the mouth before speaking by moving or licking one’s lips.
vybafnout (Czech) - to jump out and say boo; this word is tailor-made for annoying older brothers.

[W]

wa’ada (Classical Arabic) - “to bury his living daughter”. It is said to have been a common practice in Pre-Islamic Arab culture, since forbidden by Islam.
wabi-sabi (侘寂, Japanese) - a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay; Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.
waldeinsamkeit (German) - the feeling of being alone in the woods.wa
wanderjahr (German) - a year or period of travel, especially following one’s schooling.
wanderlust - a strong desire to travel.
wanweird - an unhappy fate.
wei-wu-wei (Chinese) - the deliberate and principled decision to do nothing, for a particular reason.
weltschmerz (German) lit. “world-pain”; the depression you feel when the world as it is doesn’t reflect what you think it should be; sorrow that one feels and accepts as one’s necessary portion in life; sentimental pessimism.
witzelsucht (German) - a feeble attempt at humour.

[X]

xenia (Greek) - it is the Greek concept of hospitality shown to those who are far from home. A little more complicated than the ordinary idea of hospitality, it also places some obligations on the guest. (Xenia consists of three essential features: 1. Respect from host to guest: The host must be hospitable to the guest and provide them with food and drink and a bath, if required. It is not polite to ask questions until the guest has stated his/her needs; 2. Respect from guest to host: The guest must be courteous to their host and not be a burden; 3. The parting gift given by host to guest: The parting gift is to show the host’s honor at receiving the guest.)
xibipíío (Pirahã, indigenous language of an Amazonian tribe) - refers to experiential liminality. It is the excitement of “going in and out of experience.” The closest translation we have in English is the children’s game, peek-a-boo.
xinku (Mandarin) - an expression of appreciation for and recognition of somebody’s hard work.
xingfu (Chinese) - a sort of happiness or contentedness felt through having everything you want in life and/or not having any looming worries. It describes a long-term feeling about one’s life situation rather than a happiness achieved through a singular outcome or situation.
ximelolagnia - the urge to stare at women who are sitting with crossed legs.

[Y]

ya’aburnee (Arabic) – both morbid and beautiful at once, this incantatory word means “You bury me,” a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person because of how difficult it would be to live without them.
yepsen - the amount that can be held in two hands cupped together.
yichus (Yiddish) - it means “good blood,” or “well born”; implies that the individual has lived up to the promise of his family’s stature.
yoisho (Japanese) - yoisho is a Japanese word that has no real meaning at all – it’s what Japanese people say when they flop into a chair after a hard day at work, where others might just exhale or grunt loudly.
yoko meshi (Japanese) - lit. “a meal eaten sideways”. the peculiar stress of speaking a foreign language.
yuanfen ( 緣分, Japanese) - a relationship by fate or destiny; the binding force between two people.
yūgen (幽玄, Japanese) -an awareness of the universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and mysterious for words; Yugen is at the core of the appreciation of beauty and art in Japan. It shows that real beauty exists when, through its suggestiveness, only a few words, or few brush strokes, can suggest what has not been said or shown, and hence awaken many inner thoughts and feelings.
yuputka (Misumalpan) - the phantom sensation of something crawling on your skin.
yutta-hey (Cherokee) - lit. “it is a good day to die.” The Cherokee Indians would shout this just before charging into battle. It is not a wish to die, but rather a complete content feeling of life at the moment.

[Z]

zalatwic (Polish) - the use of bribes, charm, or connections to get something.
zechpreller (German) - person who leaves a restaurant or bar without paying the bill.
zemblanity - the inevitable discovery of what we would rather not know; the opposite of serendipity.
zeg (Georgian) - the day after tomorrow.
zhaghzhagh (Persian) - the chattering of teeth from either cold or rage.
zoanthropy - delusion of a person who believes himself changed into an animal.
zoilist - someone who takes joy in finding fault.
zoopery - the performing of experiments on animals with emphasis on ‘lower animals’.

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Thank you and I hope you had a wonderful time reading this dictionary shared to you by Mark.