Norman Darlo
This is the latest in our occasional series of quizzes about strange but elegant English words. Sometimes I’ll give you a definition, and let you choose the right word; and sometimes I’ll give you a word and let you choose the definition. Let us know how you get on!
Earlier quizzes in this series: Strange but Elegant Words A–C, D–E, F–K, L–M.
If you like this quiz, be sure to check out my 160 Fun & Challenging Quizzes! – “Guaranteed to make you smarter!”
Data correct per Oxford Dictionaries. Cover image: Public domain.
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Question of
What is an oxter?
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A cowherd
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An ox’s tail
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A human armpit
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Question of
Which word means a triviality or frivolity?
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Nugacity
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Nainsook
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Nympholepsy
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Question of
What is an opsimath?
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A slide rule
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Someone who begins to study late in life
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A group of eight penguins or government ministers
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Question of
Which word means having to do with desire or appetite?
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Orectic
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Obnubilate
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Onolatrous
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Question of
What does otalgia mean?
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Longing for a time or place which never existed
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Love of one’s grandparents
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Earache
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Question of
Which word means a cross between an orange and a tangerine?
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Ogdoad
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Ortanique
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O-o
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Question of
What does noyade mean?
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A swim
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Nut butter
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Execution by drowning
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Question of
Which word describes the eating of raw meat?
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Omophagy
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Nympholepsy
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Orrery
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Question of
What is an orrery?
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An ornamental birdcage
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A clockwork model of the solar system
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A traditional perfume factory
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Question of
Which word means a bright orange-red colour?
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Omphalos
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Nacarat
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Operose
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Question of
What is a noctambulist?
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Someone who loves gazing at clouds
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A circus performer
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A sleepwalker
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Three out of 11 on this fun quiz.
Glad you found it fun,Deep! Very few people got a high score 🙂
Even the PBS Kids hero Wordgirl would have a tough time tackling these quizzes. Okay so her audience was preteens.
informative and interesting quiz. thanks
Glad you found it enjoyable, Mavic!
9/11, there were a lot of guesses. Very cognitive quiz!!!
You did very well, Anastasia! I am very impressed 🙂
Interesting Quiz. I have 7 correct answers.
That’s quite impressive, Vida!
Great quiz. I know I have a lot of learning to do. Got 4.
It was a hard one, Sharon! Thanks very much for taking the quiz 🙂
4/11 on this one. A lot of these words I’ve never heard of before, so basically this quiz was a guessing game for me.
It can be really hard to figure out meanings of unknown words, but sometimes our knowledge of other words, or other languages, can help a little 🙂 You did no worse than many others, Lena – thanks for taking the quiz!
I got 5 and this one was fun, but really tough.
Really tough, that’s a fair description 🙂 I promise to make my next quiz (slightly) less challenging!
you keep saying that and I keep bombing them!
I keep forgetting 😮
well, that I can completely understand.
As always a very interesting quiz Norman …. more fortunate than I knew I had 6 regular ones
Well done with 6, Lado! You did better than most 🙂
Wow, if someone wrote Victorian English, I would be dead. Got 4. I had to think a lot.
I think we all would, Intro! Thanks very much for giving this a go 🙂
Great quiz as always
Thanks, LaJenna! 😀
Lost of fun to play along. I never get them all.
I had no idea about these interesting words so I just guessed 3. This quiz certainly gets one thinking,
You did no worse than most, Rasma! These are very unusual words 🙂
You got 4 out of 11 right!
Could be better
Oops …
Not really very oops, Ali! These are words almost nobody would know 🙂
Got 4 out of 11, uh oh. ?
Uh oh – well not really! These are nearly all words that most native speakers do not know, so no shame on you 🙂
Missed #1 & #3. Great quiz and good to see you! 🙂
And it’s always great to see you too, Carol 🙂 If those are the only ones you missed, you did extremely well! #1 (oxter) is actually quite commonly used in these islands.