angekok means an Eskimo/Inuit sorcerer or shaman. It carries an Arena rating of 1352, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, angekok ranks #1,195 of 12,371 for Most Sublime Words, #5,134 of 12,598 for Scariest Words, #5,776 of 12,588 for Most Satisfying to Say, #8,255 of 12,607 for Funniest Words.
Why “angekok” is a great word
A traditional Inuit spiritual mediator, sorcerer, and healer who navigates the human and spirit worlds. The word comes via Danish *angekok*, from the Greenlandic Inuit *angákok*. Unlike the general term "shaman," which spans continents, or "medicine man," which often implies herbal cures, the angekok's authority is born from the specific, stark negotiation required for survival on the ice. He is the figure chanting in the trembling half-light of a sealskin tent, interpreting the cracks in a heated scapula, and journeying beneath the winter ice to plead with the spirits of the sea—a solitary human will standing between the people and the vast, animate indifference of the frozen world.
Etymology
Variant of angakok, from Greenlandic.
noun
- An Eskimo/Inuit sorcerer or shaman.