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Thursday, April 28, 2016

X - Unusual Words - A to Z Challenge




Chrys’s Theme: Unusual Words

I love to fit unusual words into my writing if I can. I also love to discover new-to-me words. They are so much fun. I enjoy looking at them, saying them, and writing them. Yes, I have a real love for words. I bet many of you do too. So I am sharing odd words for each of my letters.

Today is X!

Xanthic – yellowish
Xanthine – a crystalline compound found in blood, urine, muscle tissue and some plants
Xanthus – having yellowish, brown or red hair
Xenia – the appearance in seed, fruit or maternal tissues of  characteristics belonging to the fertilizing plant
Xenial – concerning hospitality toward guests
Xenon -  an inert gaseous element
Xenophobia – fear or dislike of strangers or foreigners
Xeric – dry
Xingu- a river in Brazil
Xiphoid – sword-shaped
Xylograph – a wood engraving
Xylography – the art of engraving in wood
Xylophone – a percussion instrument
Xylotomus – able to bore into or cut wood
Xyster – surgeon’s instrument for scraping bones

SEE ALSO:
Unusual Words - P
Unusual Words - H





Author of Hurricane Crimes, 30 Seconds, Ghost of Death, and Witch of Death. Blogger. Reader. Auntie. Vegetarian. Cat Lover.

10 comments:

Bish Denham said...

Some good ones here. Xyster is interesting and xylotomus, xiphoid, and xenia.

Liz A. said...

Looking at the X part of the dictionary makes my eyes cross. Thanks for boiling it down. Some of those might be good words for future X posts.

Sarah Foster said...

I think most words that start with x are unusual :)

Anonymous said...

That last X word made me cringe. Blah!

~Ninja Minion Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

Unknown said...

So much xenophobia everywhere these days and it is so sad.

@Kathleen01930
Meet My Imaginary Friends
#AtoZchallenge

Carrie-Anne said...

X is one of my favoritest letters! I think my favorite X word is xanthochroid, my favorite synonym for blonde. I also like the word xenomenia (menstruation from abnormal orifices), though I'd hate to see that in action!

Donna McDine said...

Terrific unusual words. Love learning something new every day!

Arti said...

Thank you for your lists--as Liz said, good fodder for future challenges.

Nicola said...

Some great words there, Donna. Thanks for sharing. When I got my Oxford dictionary out to check out the X words, they only took up a page! Hmmm - I think you've written about most of them and with more zest than I could muster up - hence my X Factor post :)

Chrys Fey said...

@Bish, I like xyster and xenia too.

@Liz, that's what happened to me when I was looking for X words. Haha

@Sarah, you're right about that. Only x-ray isn't too strange.

@Patricia, me too.

@Kathleen, you're right about that.

@Carrie-Anne, those are great X word additions.

@Donna and @Arti, you're welcome!

@Nicola, I looked in the dictionary, two encyclopedias, a thesaurus and online!