Make Your Point: ELDRITCH

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pronounce ELDRITCH:

ELL dritch

connect this word to others:

A high five to Regina, who found the word eldritch and shared it with me, along with the example we'll see below from the Cosby novel!

And ooooh, eldritch is such a good word!

It means "scary and unnatural." Synonyms include strange; spooky; eerie; ghostly; uncanny; a_err___ ("odd, unusual, defying expected patterns"); and chth___c ("deep, dark, hidden, hellish, and/or monstrous"). Could you recall those last two synonyms?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

The word "eldritch" has been around in English since the year 1508 or so. We took it from Scottish, and it might be related to the word "elf." But beyond that, no one knows for sure where it came from.

Eldritch things are weird and terrifying.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "an eldritch swamp," "their eldritch screams."

Other forms:

None.

how to use it:

When you want to strike a dramatic, literary tone as you startle your reader with a rare, spooky-sounding word, pick "eldritch."

You might write about eldritch cults, chants, or rituals; eldritch terrors, horrors, or mysteries; eldritch swamps, forests, or caves; eldritch screams, whimpers, creatures, monsters, etc.

examples:

"Good God! What eldritch dream-world was this into which he had blundered?"
— H. P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space", 1927

"These leaves fell toward the ground like strands of hair that were the crown of glory for some eldritch elder god. The wind moved the leaves like the god was shaking its head."
— S.A. Cosby, All the Sinners Bleed, 2023

has this page helped you understand "eldritch"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "eldritch" without saying "bizarre" or "Poeish."

try it out:

Let's use "eldritch" for exaggeration!

Fill in the blanks: "Despite the eldritch horrors of (something slightly creepy or unsettling), (someone managed to do something, or something else was even worse)."

Example 1: "Despite the eldritch horrors of black mold and bath bomb residue, we managed to clean the tub."

Example 2: "Despite the eldritch horrors of Toni's princess cake, her competitors' renditions were, somehow, even more atrocious."
— Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 1 June 2018

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "Oh Hey, That's the Title!"

I'll give you a short excerpt from a novel, a play, or a short story. In this excerpt, a character or a narrator actually says the story's title. (If not verbatim, then almost.) And you give me the story's title.

Highlight the hints if you need them, and see the answer by scrolling all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today:

"I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around--nobody big, I mean--except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff--I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ and all."

To reveal the hints below, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: This story was published in the year... 1951.
Hint 2: This story was written by... J. D. Salinger.
Hint 3: The first letter of each word in this title is... "T____ C____ i____ t____ R____"

review this word:

1. Opposites of ELDRITCH could be

A. BOXY and ANGULAR.
B. FRESH and INNOVATIVE.
C. FAMILIAR and COMFORTING.

2. You're most likely to stumble on the word "eldritch" in a story about _____.

A. beauty pageants
B. poverty, injustice, and systemic racism
C. death, darkness, madness, mysterious whispers, and vague dread

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ELDRITCH

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