Tip of Your Tongue

I had a brainstorm a few years ago. Noticing that the same words tended to repeatedly be on the tip of my tongue, I decided to keep a list. Each time I'd think of a word I'd fished for, I'd note it down. It seemed like a useful writer's exercise, and the results were surprising in two ways. First, there were many more such words than I'd expected, and the list grew larger than I'd expected. Second, it's quite an odd list. 

I'll let you see the list in a moment, but first let me direct you to an interesting NPR report on the psychological issues of tip-of-tongue words.

Without further ado, here are fifteen years worth of my fished-for words:

accolade anachronism anethamatic anointed apotheosis apropos ascertain astringent attributes baroque barrier befuddled behemoth bête noire bustle camaraderie canard catalyst chagrin chagrined cognoscenti comeuppance compatriot concoction conducive confer connoisseurs consumate consummately corroborative cosmopolitan curmudgeon cushy dally decadent degenerate deliberately denouement deploy depraved desultory detritus diligent disheartening disinclination disquieting drab dross

effectuate egregious enclave endorse entitlement ephemeral epiphany errant estimable ethereal euphemism evocative execute explicit facilitate factor fare fastidious fatuous fertile fey fiery fledgling flinch foreshadowing formidable gantlet gobble gratuitous gregarious grievous grim heedful heirloom hindrance imperious implacable imprecise inclined incongruous incrementally indistinct inexplicable introverted intrusive irreconcilable je ne sais quoi

juxtaposition kludge kreplach lascivious latent lebensraum lewd licentious lumbering mainstay mammothly mandate manifest maverick medieval meticulous milieu morbidly negate nonchalant obligatory obliging oblivious ossify otherworldly parable paradisal paradisiac patronize pedigree penchant perpetrate pertained pied-à-terre placeholder predilection preeminent prehensile prerogative prestige presumptuous prevalent profusion proliferation promiscuous prone propulsive

pungent quell quintessential quirky raison d'être reciprocate refinements regimen relevant reminiscent rendition retrenching revelrous rivetting sabotage scintilla shoestring shudder slake slouch solicitous specimen sporadic stigma subvert supernal surmount susceptible synesthesia tactic telegraphs torpid transgress unearthly unflappable unflinching vapid vaunted vendetta vestigial vicarious visceral vivid watershed welds yardstick