buttonholer

Etymology

From buttonhole + -er.

buttonholer means One who detains somebody in conversation against their will. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 78 out of 100.

Why this word is great

BUTTONHOLER — [Noun] One who detains another in conversation against their will, or an attachment for a sewing machine that automates the sewing of buttonholes. From buttonhole (originally 'buttonhold', a loop to hold a button, later meaning 'to detain in conversation') + -er (agent noun suffix). Unlike an interlocutor—a neutral or willing participant—or a bore, whose offense is mere tedium, not active detainment, the buttonholer implies a strategic, almost physical imposition of discourse. It is the clammy hand on your sleeve in a crowded room, the relentless whir and stab of the sewing machine attachment punching identical slits in cloth, and the enveloping fug of another’s breath as your polite escape routes are systematically stitched shut—a testament to the small violences of enforced attention.

noun

One who detains somebody in conversation against their will.
An attachment for a sewing machine which automates the side-to-side and forward-and-backward motions involved in sewing a buttonhole.