"In Praise and Defense of Grandiose, Flowery, Sesquipedalian Words"

Inspired by Atlantic writer Mark Bowden's "In Praise of Fancy Words," Southern California Public Radio talk show host Larry Mantle invited listeners to call in or post their favorite words on his show. The result is "In praise and defense of grandiose, flowery, sesquipedalian words," a pretty fantastic list of words people say they love to know. We're featuring it as List of the Week!

Use it to test yourself on stumpers like termagant and bloviate, or scan it for zingers you'd like to add to your learning.

Teachers: Looking for literature-based Vocabulary Lists? Find them here and check back often. Our curriculum development team adds new lists every week. Or get started on making your own lists with a short video "Vocabulary Lists Made Quick and Easy" and blog post "Six Steps to Better List Making."