There are so many big words that I don't know the meaning of!

I've been making a list of fancy words that I come across for the last five years or so. Whenever I hear, or read, a new word I try and document it. I can say this much, there's a bloody lot of adjectives in the English language... a ridiculous amount. And I'm unfamiliar with a lot! You'd be surprised at how many words you won't understand if you closely follow the dialogue of TV shows. The notepad document that I have of these words is huge at this stage.

After all my effort to make a list of big words, I still mostly find it hard to use any of these words without looking like I'm deliberately trying to show off. But yet each time I first hear these words in use, it never sounds like the person in question is trying to show off. It seems to come naturally to them. Now of course having heard such a words, I begin to notice them in use more often.

When I'd inquire about many such words, I often realise that I would be more familiar with their use in different forms. For example, 'contrite' seemed like a new word to me. But I wouldn't have realised that it came from the word 'contrition'. Also, I didn't realise that 'libidinous' came from 'libido'. But I mean who actually says 'libidinous'? I heard it on a TV show.

Having went through my list of big word, I realised that there is often many fancy words that mean the same thing. For example, 'sophistry' and 'fallacious' mean the same thing. 'Parity' means equality. So why would I ever say parity if I can just say equality? Why would I ever say 'hubris' when I can just say 'pride', unless I'm trying to show off. Now I can understand why someone would use a big word like 'subterfuge'... because it will often hit the nail on the head for what one is trying to describe, and I don't think there is another word for it. But in most cases it seems as if there is a huge amount of redundant words. Another thing I realise is that you tend to come across even weirder words when you are reading! Do journalists get a bit more cocky with their vocabulary when they put pen to paper?

After I look up a big word that I've come across, I mightn't hear it until a year or so later, and when I do it's kind of annoying because I usually end up having the thought of "what did that mean again?". Then I'll go to look it up again, and the cycle repeats. You end up associating a word as being the big scary word that you can't understand the meaning of of. So I can never really see myself hearing such words so often that I'd actually be inclined to use them myself, then maybe there's no point in trying to understand the.

It can be quite funny when you use big words to people of authority, and you get to watch them pretend that they know what it means when you know that they don't. It does make me wonder, that for people with such a wide range of vocabulary, they must be able to filter out the use of such words depending on the person they're are interacting with.

Below is a list of some words that I consider to be, or once considered to be, unusual:

syllogism reprehensible euphemism subterfuge draconian verbose undulate irreverent diatribe banal insular deference duplicitous purport stipulate dubious rescind demote virile indictment pertain gregarious gambit tenable fortuitous platitude incumbent hubris conceit curtail

Here is a list of words that you can expect to be beaten up for using!:

bloviate trepidation malefaction extol salient enigmatic lionize amity irate litigious omnipotent preterite altruistic languish harangue verboten admonish verbatim immure recalcitrant succor dilapidate