How do you choose the words you use?

I love words. The problem is, I love fun, mouthy words…ones that make you pause, and re-read them. Words you rarely hear in common discourse but love to say. The problem is, in writing, these are words you should avoid as according to Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability one should write for about the 8th grade reading level, unless you are writing technical documents. This past weekend, I was playing scrabble with my hubby and parents…I played the word zeal, and it started a conversation about how people speak, write and the words the choose. For example, I adore words like facetious, acerbic, zealous, whom, cantankerous, dilapidated, etc…words that sound pompous (oh, another good one) but are just so fun to say/read. But, I rarely use these words because when I do, I get called pretentious (and…another good word!).

But, I still think these words deserve their spot in the sun, so, I’ve decided to have some fun: a-z, these are my favorite overly complex, absolutely verbose, but completely fun to use words:

Acerbic
Boisterous
Cantankerous
Dilapidated
Engorged
Facetious
Gregarious
Hoary
Ignoramus
Jovial
Kaleidoscope
Ludicrous
Malicious
Nuance
Obstinate
Pathology
Quixotic
Resplendent
Scourge
Trepidation
Undulating
Verbose
Whom
X (okay, so there is no word I really like that starts with x…)
Yammered
Zealous

What are some of your favorite words? Do you avoid overly verbose words in your writing?

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