105 Funny Words That Sound Ridiculous but Are Totally Real
Updated: Sep. 12, 2023Do you think you have a good vocabulary? We can guarantee you've probably never heard some of these funny words before.
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Funny words you’ve never heard
Are you one of those people who still giggle when someone says “duty”? Wait until you read these far less common funny words. They are completely real and just as hilarious as these short jokes or the funniest one-liners! Of course, the way people put words together can be pretty funny too—just take the funniest quotes of all time. And to impress everyone you know with your new vocabulary, also brush up on your grammar knowledge with these acronym examples and funny malapropisms.
Taradiddle
Many weird words seem fake at first. Do you know what this one means? Here’s a hint: This funny word itself might be thought of as taradiddle! That’s because the definition is “bogus, nonsense or a lie.”
This will also give you a hint in our quiz about whether these funny words are real or made up.
Friendlily
No, it’s not misspelled. It sounds wrong, but—trust us—it’s right! It’s an adverb form of friendly, meaning in a friendly way. For example: “He friendlily questioned my use of the word friendlily.”
We know these funny words might sound made up, but they’re not—unlike these fake words that actually made it into the dictionary.
Macaronic
Looking to find this word on an Italian dinner menu topped with cheese? You won’t. Think you can guess what it means? It actually refers to when someone mixes two different languages together.
Here are some fancy words that will make you sound smarter.
Dongle
This sounds like it could be a brand that sells fancy dog toys, but it’s definitely not something you should put on the shopping list for your new puppy. Before you take a trip to PetSmart, a dongle is actually a piece of hardware that connects a computer to another device. You may use a dongle on a regular basis to connect to a digital media player to stream shows or to use Bluetooth and WiFi.
Like these funny words, palindrome examples can also give you a linguistic laugh!
Pronk
Wham! Bam! Pronk? Pronk sounds like it fits with these onomatopoeia examples, but it doesn’t. A pronk is a weak or foolish individual. It is also used as a verb when referring to antelope and similar animals, when it means to leap with an arched back and stiff legs as a form of display or a sign it is threatened.
Fubsy
Nope, it’s not a creepy Furby knockoff! Fubsy means squat or portly.
Word nerds, can you spell these tricky (nay, impossible!) words that won the National Spelling Bee?
Absquatulate
Absquatulate doesn’t mean doing squats in an attempt to improve your abs! It means to flee or abruptly leave, or more specifically (and old-fashioned-ly), to decamp.
These grammar jokes will make you laugh just like these silly words.
Abear
Not the grizzly, terrifying kind! This word has nothing to do with animals. Abear means to endure or put up with, which means you could feasibly say “I abeared this encounter with a bear!”
Here are more words that don’t mean what you think they mean.
Cabotage
Let’s make one thing clear: Cabotage does not mean to sabotage a taxi driver! So what’s the real definition? It means the transport of goods and passengers between two places in the same country, or the right to do so. Originally, it only referred to coastal travel between ports, but the definition has expanded to include travel by air, railway and road.
Wordsmiths will surely relate to these grammar memes!
Batholith
Batholith might sound like a less intimidating relative of Harry Potter’s basilisk monster, but it’s actually a geological term. It describes a large quantity of igneous rock that’s crystallized below the earth’s surface.
These are some of the most confusing grammar rules in English.
Yemeles
This may be an old, all-but-extinct word, but it is real. In Old English, “to take yeme” meant to care, so someone who was “yemeles” was totally reckless or careless.
Firkin
Nope, firkin is not a dirty word, nor is it a catlike creature that can swallow things 10 times its size, like “flerken” of Marvel Comics. It’s a British word that refers to a small tub or vessel and definitely qualifies as one of the international words that sound rude in English.
Agelast
Funny words mean funny things, and this word does not refer to the fountain of youth. It actually means someone who never laughs, and you definitely don’t want to be that person. But don’t worry, these funny songs will make even the worst agelast crack a smile.
Fartlek
Fartlek sounds like it should be on a list of funny insults. But it’s actually a type of endurance training in which a runner switches between sprinting and jogging.
Everywhen
This funny word means “all the time” or “always,” but it reads like one of these funny typos.
Megadeath
Palaver
You may not have heard of a palaver, but you’ve surely engaged in one; it usually describes an unproductive conversation or long dispute between people from different worldviews or cultures.
Meanwhile, these words from early dictionaries no longer even exist.
Teazel
A teazel is a prickly herb plant that looks a bit like a cattail. It has flower heads with sharp leaves and was once used in the textile industry to comb wool.
Cleek
Yooper
This funny word is a nickname for a resident of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Learn about more funny pieces of regional slang.
Spim
This weird word means “spam sent over instant message.” Take the -am out of spam and replace it with -IM for “Instant Message,” and you have spim—a wonderful example of a portmanteau word.
Biblioklept
This sounds like one of these funny, hard tongue twisters, and it would totally make a good tongue twister. But it refers to a person who steals books!
Octothorpe
Depending on your age and use of technology, you might call this # symbol a pound sign or a hashtag—but its official name is octothorpe!
Check out this funny look at how confusing life would be without proper punctuation.
Spleenwort
Spleenwort is one of those weird words that doesn’t sound anything like the thing it describes. Though it might sound like the name of an intestinal disease, it actually describes a kind of evergreen fern.
Sozzled
Hoecake
A hoecake is a Southern-style cornbread. This is one of those funny words that might sound like an insult, but a hoecake describes a very basic small cake made of cornmeal. Here are a whole lot of other words and phrases only Southern people use.
Herky-jerky
Like willy-nilly, this funny word means “characterized by irregular or unpredictable movements or style.” (Why does this meaning always get the silliest words?) These are the everyday words everyone misspells.
Foolscap
A foolscap refers to a cap with a bell (the kind usually worn by jesters). If you’re really into funny words, you might want to start using these hilarious made-up words.
Foggy bottom
This term that refers to the U.S. Department of State is one of the weird words U.S. officials use to refer to parts of the government. You may also hear government officials calling three-letter agencies like the FBI the “alphabet boys.”
Flummery
Flummery describes a soft jelly or porridge made with flour or meal, but more commonly it’s used to describe an empty compliment. “I love how you’ll just wear anything!” or “You look so awake today!” are examples of flummery. Perhaps this word can come in handy to respond to backhanded compliments.
Draggle
To draggle something is to make it wet and dirty by dragging it. If you’ve ever worn too-long pants in the rain, you’ve draggled. Be warned: These words make you immediately sound old.
Cutesy-poo
This is one of those funny words that sounds like a dog name, but it actually means “embarrassingly or sickeningly cute.”
Brannigan
This actual bit of 1920s slang refers to a bout of drinking. Engage in brannigans responsibly.
Billingsgate
Nope, this isn’t some political or financial scandal—though those likely entail lots of billingsgate, because this word means “harsh language.” Whether or not your workplace has that kind of drama, you might enjoy these funny work quotes.
Makeweight
A makeweight describes something that’s thrown onto a scale to bring the weight on the scale to a certain value.
Penuche
Never heard this word before? That’s no surprise, if you’re not a baker. A penuche is a sort of fudge made from brown sugar, buttercream and nuts.
These are the words that don’t mean what you think they do.
Somnambulism
This is a fancy catch-all word for the abnormal motor functions you might perform in your sleep, such as sleep-walking, sleep-showering or sleep-blogging.
Sobersides
If you attend a memorial service, funeral or wake, you’ll encounter a lot of sobersides, or people with a serious or sad appearance. Sobersides can also be found outside such events, and they’re also commonly referred to as “deadpans.”
Here are other uncommon words we no longer use, but should.
Slumgullion
A slumgullion is a cheap meat stew. It’s one of the English language’s weird words for food that doesn’t sound appetizing at all.
Skirl
This word describes the shrill, wailing sound made by bagpipes. Next time you’re at a St. Patrick’s Day parade, this is one of the weird words you can use to impress your friends.
For more laughs, try these funny things to ask Siri.
Wamble
This word means “to feel nausea,” and we think it’s perfect—like a combination of rumble and waddle, which is exactly what happens when we feel sick. This one is a far cry from some of the most beautiful words in the English language.
Wallah
Wallah originates from South Asian dialects and typically refers to a person who does a certain job.
Unperson
Unperson originates from George Orwell’s 1984, in which people are removed from history, photographs and documents in order to erase any proof that they existed. An unperson is someone who has been “erased” because of misbehavior. Or, as users of Gen Z slang would say, “canceled.”
Waesucks
Collywobbles
Like wamble, this word is used to describe nausea and bellyaches. Next time you want to show off your repertoire of weird words, tell your boss you’ve got a case of the collywobbles and can’t come in tomorrow.
Stumblebum
Any idea what stumblebum means? It’s one of our favorite funny words! If you are a klutz, halfwit or nincompoop, add another descriptor to your resume. A stumblebum is a clumsy or inept person. Because it sounds so silly, we think it would be a great addition to these funny poems.
Grommet
A grommet is a sort of fabric fastener that materials can be laced through. If you look at the top of your shower curtain, those little metal circles your shower hooks lace through are called grommets.
Here are more words for things you didn’t know had names.
Potvalor
Potvalor is another term for liquid courage—this word describes the confidence that results from an alcoholic drink.
Smicker
Smicker is like if ogle had an affectionate and innocent counterpart. To smicker means you are admiring a person, and it’s visible from your expression.
Callipygian
Callipygian means “having shapely buttocks,” and it was first used in 1831. It was truly ahead of its time! Today, “Hey girl, you’re quite callipygian” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue (nor should it).
Don’t miss these hilarious vintage slang words that’ll make you sound awesome.
Clapperclaw
Clapperclaw means “to claw with the nails.” Now you have a word to describe one of the weird things your cat does!
Syzygy
It’s hard to figure out if any of the letters in this word are silent letters. It’s pronounced “sih-zih-jee,” and it describes a celestial phenomenon in which three celestial bodies are lined up in an almost perfectly straight line. An example of this event would be a solar eclipse.
Rigamarole
“Ah, you know. The whole rigamarole.” You’ve probably heard this word before but haven’t considered what it actually means. A rigamarole is a confused or meaningless conversation or a complex procedure.
These secret code words will also make you second-guess the conversations you’ve been overhearing.
Barnburner
A barnburner is an event that’s extremely interesting or exciting. But if you’re someone who actually owns a barn, this might not sound too appealing.
For more ironic fun, read these funny last words.
Inkle
An inkle is a colored linen tape or braid woven through a narrow loom. At first glance, you might think it describes an idea that’s smaller than an inkling.
Next, don’t miss these funny things to ask Alexa.
Blunderbuss
A blunderbuss is a sort of firearm with a short barrel. This weapon was an early version of the shotgun.
Ragamuffin
A ragamuffin is a ragged and often disreputable person. A ragamuffin is also one of the cutest cat breeds.
Dottle
A dottle is the remaining tobacco in the bowl of a pipe after it’s been used for smoking.
Ever wonder where the saying “close, but no cigar” comes from?
Dragooned
If this makes you think of Game of Thrones, you’re not far off. Dragooned means “forced,” especially by violent measures.
Mercurial
While this word can also refer to the planet, nothing here is in retrograde. Mercurial means “subject to change.”
Lothario
No, this isn’t the name of a Shakespeare character you’ve forgotten from high school. Like a womanizer, a lothario is a man whose chief interest is seducing women.
Waggish
Your dog might be waggish, but not because Fido keeps wiggling his tail. Like impish, this word refers to a playful, humorous quality. Add this to your list of funny pet slang words.
Pettifogger
This one has a better-known, equally silly-sounding synonym: nitpicker. Pettifoggers are known to “quibble over trifles” and may make for shrewd lawyers.
Bailiwick
After making it through this list, vocabulary might just be your bailiwick: “the sphere in which one has superior knowledge or authority.”
Boondoggle
A boondoggle is a wasteful or impractical project.
Now learn the words and phrases you’re probably using wrong.
Meldrop
It’s not a cough drop, but that’s on the right track. It’s a drop of mucus hanging from someone’s nose—ewww!
Bumbershoot
It sounds like a Dr. Seuss creation, but it’s actually a funny slang word for an umbrella.
Accubation
This word describes the state of reclining while you eat. If you want to practice your accubation, you can try watching these great movies while you have dinner.
Abecedarian
Abecedarian means someone learning the alphabet. If you love to spend time with little kids, you probably know a lot of abecedarians!
Cattywampus
No, this isn’t a breed of cat. It means something is off-kilter or askew.
Next, these are the mistakes spell check won’t catch.
Additional reporting by Dani Walpole.
