Seven Scary Words for Halloween to Impress Your Kids!

Disclosure / Disclaimer:  I received this info, free of charge, from MSR Commincations and Dictionary.com. for blog posting purposes. No compensation,  monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post/review. Nor was I told what to say.

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Thanks to Dictionary.com for some interesting words to amaze your kids with this Halloween season!

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Berserk:
When someone goes 'berserk,' they become crazy, deranged, overtaken by a violent destructive frenzy. 
The term originates from Old Norse, a language that evolved from ancient Viking tongues, with bjorn meaning "bear" andserkr meaning "shirt" or "armor." With this etymology in mind, when someone goes berserk, it's as though they've covered up their rational human behavior with the wild aspect of a bear.
And you thought the Viking language was dead!

Lycanthrope:
Derived from the Greek lykanthropos meaning "wolf-man," our dictionary defines lycanthrope as "a werewolf or alien spirit in the physical form of a bloodthirsty wolf." Though the word is used primarily in the occult, there is an actual psychiatric condition called lycanthropy, in which a person believes that he or she is a wolf.
 Let's hope they don't think they're a berserk lycanthrope, right?

nyctophobia pix
courtesy of Dictionary.com

Nyctophobia:
Are you afraid of the dark? If the answer is yes, you might have nyctophobia, 
the abnormal fear of night or darkness. 
Which makes sense if you have lycanthropes in your backyard!


Perdition
The scarier word for hell. 
The term is derived from the Latin perdere meaning "to lose" or "to ruin." 
And yes, you can use it to describe your workplace, if you want to! It'll make you sound erudite!

sepulcral photo
courtesy of Dictionary.com

and now for a NOLA word-
Sepulcrali:
Anything of or pertaining to burial. 
Derived from the Latin sepulcralis meaning "to bury in the earth" the term owes its root to the word 'sepulcher,' a tomb or crypt for the dead. But unlike a sepulcher itself, many things can be sepulchral: the deep and hollow tone of a bell, or even a cold draft of wind that stands your hair on end. 
Or if your LSU, being soundly beaten by Ole Miss. 
(speaking of perdition freezing over...le sigh...)

Thanatopsis:
From the Greekthantos meaning "death" and -opsis meaning "a view," a thanatopsis is a written contemplation of death, often in the form of a poem. 
The 17th century poet William Cullen Bryant first popularized the style with a poem called-you guessed it-Thanatopsis. 
Course my fav is the Raven!

zombie photo
courtesy of Dictionary.com

Trepidation:
Trepidation is an experience of fear, or alarm, that often results in trembling or quivering. 
The word is derived from two Latin stems trepidare meaning "to tremble, hurry" and trepidus meaning "alarmed" or "scared." 
Like when you see a Zombie coming at you....

or if your wondering if there are more words coming at you!

Nope, that's the list!

Now go impress your family and friends with your new knowledge!

Comments

  1. Interesting and very good post. Always learning new words and excellent. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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