A collection of unusual words defined and used in context from the works of myriad authors What do wierd and wonderful words such as oology and photic (used by the likes of Nabokov and Beckett, Anthony Burgess and John Fowles) actually mean? In the past you had to look in the bulkiest, most expensive dictionaries to find out. Now, in this informative and hugely entertaining book, more than 1,300 fascinating words--erotic, poetic and abusive, from abaxial to zoophiliac--are clearly defined (with examples from major writers). If you're in pursuit of fulgent logodaedaly (dazzling skill with words), you can enrich your incondite (unpolished) prose. Better still, you'll be able to impress your friends with your brilliant vocabulary without making a complete balatron of yourself!