7 Useful and Cool English Words You Probably Don’t Know

Rambunctious—adjective

Synonyms: Noisy, unruly, disorderly, energetic, unrestrained

Imagine: Kids who have just eaten a lot of sugar. They have too much energy, they are running around, shouting, and acting crazy.

Examples:

She was tired after spending all afternoon with a classroom of rambunctious preschoolers.

Once the puppies reached about 6 months old, they became more rambunctious than we could have imagined.

You can have your friends over, but there will be no rambunctious behavior. You will be calm and quiet or they will leave.

Obnoxious—adjective

Synonyms: offensive, distasteful, disagreeable, rude, annoying

Imagine: People who listen to music on their phones in public spaces without headphones. Couples who fight in public. Badly behaved dogs.

Examples:

I tried to like the family I stayed with, but they were so obnoxious I couldn’t. They talked loudly late into the night and never cleaned up after themselves.

He’s nice enough when he is sober, but when he gets too drunk he becomes aggressive and obnoxious.

I find small dogs to be quite obnoxious, with their constant, shrill barking at nothing and jealous, needy behavior.

Scamper—verb

Synonyms: run, race, hurry, scurry, rush, dash, dart

Imagine: A squirrel running away when it sees you; kids running off to go play. Often used with kids and animals.

Examples:

As soon as we arrived at the park, the kids scampered off to go play.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small, dark figure scamper under the bed.

Our cat is very skittish; as soon as she sees someone new, she scampers out of the room to go hide somewhere safe.

Glib—adjective

Synonyms: fluent but insincere, slick-talking but shallow, smooth but fake (can be about people or speech), nonchalant

Imagine: People selling used cars, life insurance, their political party, or religion :)

Examples:

I want to approach the process of creating videos with a sense of balance: I don’t want to be glib, but I also don’t want to be paralyzed by the fear of saying something wrong.

The governor talked a lot, but never really said anything. He struck me as glib and arrogant and it turned me off.

It was striking that, during the debate, the audience applauded his glib and superficial responses, and conversely didn’t seem to appreciate the deeply thoughtful responses of his opponent.

Xenophile—noun ❤️

Meaning: Someone attracted to foreign things; someone who loves other cultures. Doesn’t really have synonyms.

Imagine: An open and curious person, traveling the world, participating in local culture, and appreciating local customs

Examples:

When she was still in middle school, she started searching for music from other countries and studying various religious traditions; she has always been a xenophile.

We are xenophiles who love exploring other cultures.

Extremists warn that xenophiles are problematic because xenophilia could lead to cultural appropriation.

Amalgamate—verb

Synonyms: Merge, combine, integrate, blend, consolidate, mix

Imagine: Combining mercury and another metal, gold for example. This chemical process is where the word comes from.

Examples:

The Ottoman Empire amalgamated institutions of the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world.

Cultural amalgamation occurs when two cultures come together to produce a new and different culture.

Mercury is used in gold mining because gold particles amalgamate with mercury, so the gold can be extracted from other minerals.

Opaque—adjective

Synonyms: cloudy, blurry, misty, frosty, hazy, obscure, unclear

Imagine: Windows that you can’t see through, for example, the frosted or etched glass used in bathrooms.

Examples:

In winter, we have to warm up the car for 15 minutes because the windows are completely opaque from frost and ice.

If you really know the subject material, you won’t use confusing or opaque language; you can use simple words to explain it clearly.

White, opaque gemstones include moonstones, opals, and pearls.