The Dictionary of Difficult Words: With more than 400 perplexing words to test your wits! (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
Sternutation (when someone sneezes). Borborygmus (the rumbling in one’s stomach). Ultracrepidarian (having big opinions about things you know nothing about). These are just a few of the delightfully difficult words included in this gorgeously designed book. Full of diverse illustrations and the idea that language is adaptable, this is a wonderful and unique present for word-lovers and bibliophiles young and old.
— Bethany Strout, Director of BuyingDescription
Test your knowledge with more than 400 words to amaze, confuse, and inspire budding wordsmiths (and adults). All of the words featured in this book are difficult to spell, hard to say, and their meanings are obscure to most children (and most adults)! You can master them with the simple, easy-to-understand definitions and pronunciations written by lexicographer (yes, that's in there too!) Jane Solomon. Fun, colorful illustrations add whimsy to the pages.
Some jobbernowls say dictionaries are anachronistic, or even obsolete, but it's kenspeckle to real bibliophiles that those vociferous ninnyhammers are just metagrobolised by the plethora of portmanteaus, neologisms, and jargon they offer. Next time you find yourself wrangling with one of these ultracrepidarians, no need to imagineer a sockdolager: just show them this book.
This captivating dictionary celebrates the beauty of the English language for family trivia time spent around the printed page.
About the Author
Jane Solomon is a lexicographer based in Oakland, California. She spends her days writing definitions and working on various projects for Dictionary.com. She's a member of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, the group that decides what new emoji pop up on our devices. Jane has a twin sister who is also a lexicographer.
Louise Lockhart is an illustrator living in an old mill in a small town in England. She spends her days creating designs from little paper cut outs and line drawings. Her books include, The Dictionary of DifficultWords (published in 2019 by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) and her clients include: Heal's, Mini Boden, Flow Magazine, Anthropologie, The Independent, Anorak Magazine, Mollie Makes Magazine, Donna Wilson, Graniph, Little Otsu, and Liberty.