Five Obsolete Words To Describe A Person

by Marie Vonow (follow)

Change (147)      Communication (122)      People (32)      Personality (27)      Language (11)      History (7)      Character (4)      Obsolete Words (1)     

While looking for something quite unrelated on the internet, I came across words we never hear now. Just as the English language has acquired numerous new words in the past century it has also 'lost' many over time. Sometimes a word stops being used when it becomes irrelevant due to new machines or technology or social changes. Other times a word is still relevant so I wonder why it stops being used?

TIL (Today I Learned) the following words -


Gobermouch is an old Irish term for someone who is always meddling in other people's business or affairs. We have those people today and might call such a person a busybody or a stickybeak. I knew people who referred to someone like that as 'Esme Watson'. (For those who don't know, Esme was the nosy town gossip in the Australian television series 'A Country Practice'.)


I found the word scaramouch on a different site so don't know if it is also an old Irish term. I am guessing it is because gobermouch and scaramouch both end with the same letters. This may not be the case as I have read Scaramouche was a clown character in Italian literature.

So what sort of person is a scaramouch? He/she is a boastful but cowardly person or a cowardly buffoon. A buffoon is a person who behaves in a stupid or annoying way. That's another word I don't hear often.


Gnashnab is a word commonly used in northern England in the 18th century to describe a person who complains constantly. That sounds like a whinger to me.


A snoutband is that know- it- all who interrupts every conversation to correct or contradict the speaker.


Scobblelotcher describes a person who avoids hard work. It is believed to have come from an old English dialect word, 'scopperloit' which meant a holiday or break from work. Perhaps today we would refer to the person as a bludger.

I find words fascinating and it is interesting to learn about words we no longer use as well as the new ones.

Related Articles -
Is That Internet/Text Acronym Obsolete


# Change
# Character
# Communication
# History
# Language
# Obsolete Words
# People
# Personality

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