Dictionary of Rare and Pretty Words

C-E

Cabal, a secret faction

Cachinnate, (Rare) loudly laugh

Cacoethes, (Rare) an overpowering desire to do something bad

Cacophony, unharmonious sounds

Cadence, the way someone speaks

Cadent, (Archaic) falling

Caitiff, (Archaic) a coward

Caliginous, gloomy/stormy/dark

Calumniate, defame

Cambric, a thin, fine fabric

Cantankerous, ill tempered

Capitulate, surrender

Carouse, to noisily drink lots of alcohol

Catarrh, mucus in the throat/nose

Cathartic, relieving by the expression of emotions

Cavalcade, a type of procession where people walk or ride in/on vehicles/horseback

Cavalier, insouciant about something serious

Cecity, blindness

Celerity, (Archaic) quickness

Cenotaph, a memorial

Cerulean, sky blue

Chalcedony, a type of gemstone

Chamois, a type of goat-antelope that roams mountainous areas

Chary, cautious

Chatelaine, a set of chains historically attached to a woman's belt

Chauvinistic, excessively patriotic

Cherubic, sweet/childlike/innocent

Chrysolite, a type of green gemstone

Chutzpah, gall

Cicatrix, a scar, typically in tree bark

Cistern, a water reservoir

Clancular, secret

Clinquant, glittering/decorated with/like gold and silver

Cloven foot, a divided hoof, sometimes symbolizing Satan

Cloying, sickeningly sentimental

Coeval, contemporary

Cognizable, something you can identify or have knowledge of

Collude, conspire

Comme il faut, adhering to correctness and propriety in behavior

Commination, threatening to curse/punish through divine means

Concinnity, the harmonious arrangement of something

Confrere, a colleague

Conjecture, speculation based on incomplete evidence

Connubial, conjugal

Consanguinity, familial relation, being descended from the same ancestor

Contrite, remorseful, guilty

Contumacious, (Archaic) stubborn, rebellious

Contumelious, (Archaic) impertinent