WordPrevalence

Word familiarity list

Words known by under 25 percent

Very obscure words, usually limited to specialist contexts.

Words in list22
Known range8.3%-24%
Average known16.8%
Dominant labelVery rare
tergiversationVery rare
Known by
8.3%

falsification by means of vague or ambiguous language

succedaneumVery rare
Known by
8.6%

(medicine) something that can be used as a substitute (especially any medicine that may be taken in place of another)

birefringenceVery rare
Known by
8.8%

splitting a ray into two parallel rays polarized perpendicularly

chrestomathyVery rare
Known by
10.2%

a selection of passages from different authors that is compiled as an aid in learning a language

argillaceousVery rare
Known by
10.5%

resembling or containing clay

dehiscenceVery rare
Known by
11.2%

(biology) release of material by splitting open of an organ or tissue; the natural bursting open at maturity of a fruit or other reproductive body to release seeds or spores or the bursting open of a surgically closed wound

foraminiferaVery rare
Known by
11.7%

foraminifers

atrabiliousVery rare
Known by
11.8%

irritable as if suffering from indigestion

schottischeVery rare
Known by
12.3%

music performed for dancing the schottische

praseodymiumVery rare
Known by
13.8%

a soft yellowish-white trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; can be recovered from bastnasite or monazite by an ion-exchange process

abreactionVery rare
Known by
19.9%

(psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions

valetudinarianVery rare
Known by
20.2%

weak or sickly person especially one morbidly concerned with his or her health

coriaceousVery rare
Known by
20.8%

resembling or made to resemble leather; tough but pliable

edematousVery rare
Known by
21.1%

swollen with an excessive accumulation of fluid

troublousVery rare
Known by
21.4%

full of trouble

spoliationVery rare
Known by
21.5%

(law) the intentional destruction of a document or an alteration of it that destroys its value as evidence

dimityVery rare
Known by
21.7%

a strong cotton fabric with a raised pattern; used for bedcovers and curtains

auscultationVery rare
Known by
22.5%

listening to sounds within the body (usually with a stethoscope)

ratiocinationVery rare
Known by
22.8%

the proposition arrived at by logical reasoning (such as the proposition that must follow from the major and minor premises of a syllogism)

trinitrotolueneVery rare
Known by
23.4%

explosive consisting of a yellow crystalline compound that is a flammable toxic derivative of toluene

trephinationVery rare
Known by
23.6%

an operation that removes a circular section of bone from the skull

vacuolizationVery rare
Known by
24%

the state of having become filled with vacuoles