A word that is an example of itself
One of my favorite words is obsfuscation. I don’t use it very often but that doesn’t matter, I still like it a lot. It is one of the only words that is an example of itself. It is especially fun when I am trying to be really clear about something but I still end up with obsfuscation. It is pesky yet lovable, like a naughty pet.
May 2nd, 2005 at 4:11 pm
One of my high school teachers had a sign on his wall with the phrase “Eschew Obfuscation.”
I always liked that one, because everyone who saw it had to ask what it meant. It got the point across very nicely!
May 2nd, 2005 at 5:06 pm
Yes, I’ve seen that too. Most excellent. Not only is this hard to parse the first time, the words are difficult to say out loud too. ;-)
May 2nd, 2005 at 7:48 pm
My favorite word is grandiloquent. It means to be given to using unnecessarily big words. You cannot accuse someone of being grandiloquent without being guilty of it yourself.
May 2nd, 2005 at 8:28 pm
Sweet! Haven’t heard that one before. I’ll be putting that one in my back pocket, that’s for sure.
Any other words out there that define themselves through use? Furthermore, do these types of words have a name? Throw us a clue if you know!
May 25th, 2005 at 1:46 am
Its not made up. its real.
February 21st, 2006 at 4:14 pm
autological. just found it on wikipedia after googling “a word that describes itself” rather than “a word that is an example of itself”…
April 20th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
Along with “grandiloquent” is “sesquipedalian” which means essentially the same thing: given to using long words. I also feel that one cannot use the word pretentious without sounding somewhat so him or herself.
January 24th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Haha, hey Fred, I did the same thing! Just googled the same phrase, and found this website, which obviously gave me the definition. Cool.
April 23rd, 2007 at 5:08 pm
We used to joke about all the “TLA”s used for example by IBM or the U.S. military. “TLA” is of course, a “Three Letter Acronym”.
July 26th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
how about “pentasyllabic” - the adjective meaning “having 5 syllables”
question is “autological” autological?
October 1st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
What if you teach a parrot to say onomatopoeia?