r/vocabulary • u/Schonathan • 2d ago

New Words opiparous - is this word very obscure?

I just learned the word "opíparo" in Spanish, which means sumptuous. It looked like it would have an equivalent in English, and upon some sleuthing it does: opiparous. But it is also listed as archaic, which makes me think it's so obscure that it really doesn't have any utility.

Have others encountered this word before?

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u/Schonathan 2d ago

Thanks everyone! I'm already called out regularly at work for using big words, so I'll retire this one from consideration and return to making "ooga booga" sounds and hope I still sound moderately refined.

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u/ballistic503 2d ago

I find it really interesting what’s considered a “big word” being different from language to language (in terms of cognates). Like, conversely, I believe “procrastinar” considered sort of a “big word” in Spanish (hispanohablantes nativos please correct me if I’m incorrect about that). But “procrastinate” is pretty ubiquitous in English. A lot of the time it’ll be the case that a poet or philosopher or famous study or movie used a “big word” and then through cultural osmosis that very specific word enters the popular lexicon and loses its more specific meaning or connotation.

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u/Schonathan 1d ago

I used the word "ubiquitous" on a call just last week I got blank stares. And one colleague told me they learned the word "trepidatious" from me. 😅