ostrobogulous

English

WOTD – 27 June 2007

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɒs.tɹəʊˈbɒɡ.jʊ.ləs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɑs.tɹəˈbɑɡ.jə.ləs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: os‧tro‧bog‧u‧lous

Adjective

ostrobogulous (comparative more ostrobogulous, superlative most ostrobogulous)

1. (humorous) Slightly risqué or indecent; bizarre, interesting, or unusual.
   • 1951, Arthur Calder-Marshall, The magic of my youth‎^[1], R. Hart-Davis, 1951, →ISBN, page 31:

     "The Beast and the Devil tried to hold a serious business conversation, but Vickybird kept chipping in with questions of a purely 'ostrobogulous'* nature until Crowley became so enraged that he turned Vickybird into a zebra, rode him into a zoo, where he remained for two years before regaining human shape."

   • 1982, Charles Richard Johnson, Oxherding:

     A tissue of ostrobogulous lies, he calls them.

   • 1990, Jean Overton Fuller, The Magical Dilemma of Victor Neuberg: a biography:

     He would speak of an ostrobogulous tale or a passage in the classics.

Related terms

• ostrobogulation

References

• OED (online) 2004