Where can you get a list of English words that are no longer used?

By Forinfos - 26/12/2025 - 0 comments

Lists of obsolete or archaic words are available at the Oxford Dictionaries and Listverse websites. The list at the Oxford Dictionaries website also includes words that, while still in use, have an entirely changed meaning.

Examples of such words include:

  • Abroad, which once meant outdoors
  • Cadet, once meaning a younger child
  • Clout, once meaning a piece of cloth
  • Dark, once meaning ignorant
  • Job, once referring to the exploitation of trust for personal gain
  • Leech, once meaning a medical worker

Some words that have left common usage entirely include:

  • Izzard, once the name for the letter Z
  • Otherwhere, meaning elsewhere
  • Piepowder, a travelling merchant
  • Doxy, a female lover
  • Quidnunc, a gossip
  • Cicisbeo, a male lover of a married woman

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