Words that don't sound like what they are

15 years ago

On the "Words we had to look up" thread, I mentioned refulgent and effulgent, both of which mean bright, shining. I said at the time that I didn't think either of them sounded particularly nice and shiny.

But it set me to wondering if there were any more words that don't sound like they are.

So, how about these?

enervate - it means to depress, to deprive of vitality. To me, it sounds like the complete opposite. I do think a nice glass of champagne is so enervating!

mendacious - means lying. Again, to me, it sounds like a compliment. George is such a nice man - so mendacious!

pulchritude - it means beauty. What an ugly word for beauty. It ought to mean something disgusting, The fridge had broken,and the food had become pulchritudinous.

Any more?

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Comments (12)

J C
15 years ago
Meretricious - adjective
1. alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions; tawdry.
2. based on pretense, deception, or insincerity.
3. pertaining to or characteristic of a prostitute.

I remember being very surprised at the meaning of this word. Doesn't it sound nice? The beginning, pronounced 'merit' which is a very good thing. Like a Boy Scout! Alas, this word has nothing to do with Boy Scouts.
annpan
15 years ago
Peccadilloes, makes me think of fruit.
"She carried a basket of ripe red peccadilloes" Yum!!
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lydia_katznflowers
15 years ago
Fungible
I thought for the longest time it had something to do with fungi, e.g. mushrooms. Imagine my confusion when I read that some guy considered his wife fungible.
J C
15 years ago
Fecund has always sounded to me as though it should mean the opposite: "Poor woman, she is fecund." Instead it is "My word, that woman is quite fecund!"
rosefolly
15 years ago
I agree with these all! Particularly pulchritude. The first time I heard that word it was in a context where I new it meant good looking. But it was such an unpleasant word I thought it must mean good looking in a tawdry, trampy kind of way.
rosefolly
15 years ago
Sorry, that is knew, not new. I do know the difference!
martin_z
Original Author
15 years ago
Lydia - have I got this right?

Fungible = interchangeable (esp. in finance)...

So the guy felt his wife was interchangeable, presumably with any other of a similar value? Hmmm...one wonders if the wife decided that he was expendable, on hearing that!
annpan
15 years ago
Sanguine, sounds more like 'bloody' than hopeful.

Like 'who put that sanguine spam on our RP forum which I am doing my best to bury!'
froniga
15 years ago

"Raconteur"-- a skillful narrator of anecdotes.

I thought it sounded more like a gangster.
veer
15 years ago
This isn't quite what Martin had in mind when he started this thread, but it is, to me, an interesting difference in 'English' and US 'English'.
The word is homely which over here means 'suited to the ordinary house' or, of a person, 'warm and domesticated in a manner or appearance'. In the US it apparently means 'plain or ugly'.
I read, on a US book thread someone describe the good-looking children of a family saying "not one of them was homely"
It brought to mind a social faux pas my grandmother made when, as a young bride, she travelled to the US to meet her new family. After being introduced to her M-in-L, she remarked to her 6 S-in-Laws how happy she was to meet their Mother and how homely and welcoming she had been. Six mouths turned down at the corners, twelve eyes widened in horror and a genteel gasp fell from their Southern lips. Grandmother had boo-booed big time and never quite lived it down.
Rudebekia
15 years ago
I find "reactionary" an odd word. To me, it sounds like one who "reacts" to changing conditions with a forward movement; ie. a progressive. Of course it means the opposite.
yoyobon_gw
15 years ago
I mentioned this in another thread....

The word RAZE always sounds like putting something up, not tearing it down. It's one of those words that you'd better see in print before you act.

Words that don't sound like what they are

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J C

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Words that don't sound like what they are

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