The Dictionary of Difficult Words

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)! Written with simple, easy-to-understand definitions by lexicographer Jane Solomon, this dictionary celebrates the beauty of the English language for family trivia time spent around the printed page.

“'a fantastically fun family book'”

  Let Them Be Small
'fantastic for dipping into or reading right through ... some wonderful notes at the beginning about the parts of speech, and how to work out what a word means and how to pronounce it, as well as some simple notes at the end about usage, and all written in a bouncy light tone, which feels friendly and yet still authoritative. Quite a frabjous book.' Minerva Reads
'will amaze even the most eloquent wordsmith (adult or child!)' Angels and Urchins
‘A fun, playful and clever book brimming with perplexing words … You could have a lot of fun just pronouncing the words, as well as trying to get them into everyday language. A wonderfully whimsical celebration of words.’  Just Imagine
'A brilliant way to encourage children to appreciate the beauties of our language and to extend their vocabulary and improve their writing skills. Wonderful!’  Parents in Touch
'EXCEPTIONAL. My mam and I just sat for a good half an hour finding new words.' -- Steph alittlebutalot, Twitter
'GORGEOUS book. We started out with me quizzing 11-year-old, but she found it more fun to quiz me.' -- Lynne Murphy, Professor at Sussex University Twitter
'Highly recommended' Gretchen McCulloch, Twitter

Jane Solomon is a lexicographer based in Oakland, California. She spends her days writing definitions and working on various projects for Dictionary.com. She's a member of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, the group that decides what new emoji pop up on our devices. Jane has a twin sister who is also a lexicographer.
Louise Lockhart is an illustrator living in an old mill in a small town in England. She spends her days creating designs from little paper cut outs and line drawings, dreaming up worlds where men still wear suits and hats. As well as working as a freelance illustrator, Louise also applies her illustrations to products for the home, which she sells in her online shop The Printed Peanut.

What is a moonbow? What does it mean when someone absquatulates? Over 400 words to amaze, confuse and inspiring budding wordsmiths (and adults!). 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)! Written with simple, easy-to-understand definitions by lexicographer Jane Solomon, this dictionary celebrates the beauty of the English language for family trivia time spent around the printed page.

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