luctation · noun — effort to overcome in contest; struggle; endeavour. It carries an Arena rating of 1607, earned across 45 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, luctation ranks #2,074 of 17,180 for Most Ingenious Words, #3,247 of 17,165 for Most Satisfying to Say, #3,799 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #4,662 of 17,146 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound.
luctation is pronounced /lʌkˈteɪʃən/.
Why “luctation” is a great word
LUCTATION — [Noun] A strenuous effort to overcome resistance in a contest; a struggle or endeavor. From the Latin luctātiō ("a wrestling, struggling"), from luctor ("to wrestle, strive"). Unlike "wrestling," which denotes a specific physical sport, or "contest," a general term for rivalry, luctation names the archaic, literary essence of the straining effort itself. It is the scent of damp earth under locked bodies, the silent grapple with a recalcitrant text, and the weary shove against a door that may well be a wall—the ghost of the wrestling ring, now haunting every arena where the spirit strains against an immovable force.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Latin luctātiō (whence -ation), from luctor (“to wrestle, strive”).
noun
- Effort to overcome in contest; struggle; endeavour.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
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