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Dictionary of Difficult Words

Book Synopsis

What is a bumbershoot? Or a moonbow? And what does it mean when someone absquatulates…? Find out all this and more in The Dictionary of Difficult Words .

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, colourful 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.

Our Review Panel says...

Tricky words can be a brilliant challenge for any child with an interest in languages. They might just enjoy the funny way the sounds mix together (my favourite word in English has to be mosaic for the way the vowels flow together in the final syllable), or the buzz of knowing facts that your friends or parents don’t. This book is full of tough words from the English language. I learned a few new ones myself, including leafdom, meaning an area so overgrown with foliage that it seems like another world.

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Dictionary of Difficult Words

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