protuberance
/pɹəˈtjuː.bə.ɹəns/
protuberance means A bulge, knob, swelling, spine, or anything that protrudes. It carries an Arena rating of 1500, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, protuberance ranks #1,821 of 14,340 for Most Vivid Words, #2,350 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words, #2,517 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say, #2,580 of 14,456 for The Improbable.
protuberance is pronounced /pɹəˈtjuː.bə.ɹəns/.
Why “protuberance” is a great word
A thing that projects or bulges out from a surface. From the French protubérance, from the Latin prōtubērantia ("bulge; protuberance"), from prō- ("forth") + tūber ("swelling; bump") + -antia ("-ance"). First attested in English c. 1635. Unlike "projection" (which suggests a deliberate, angular extension, like a shelf or cornice) or "bulge" (which implies a yielding, temporary swell, as of fabric stretched by pressure), protuberance is the quiet insistence of form upon smoothness: the bony prominence of an elbow, the knarl on an ancient tree trunk, or the volcanic dome rising from a barren plain—each a stubborn declaration of matter refusing the flat indifference of the plane against which it strains.
Etymology
From French protubérance, from Latin prōtubērantia (“bulge; protuberance”), from prō + tūber (“swelling; protuberance”) + -antia (“-ance”).
noun
- A bulge, knob, swelling, spine, or anything that protrudes.“For the most part they were small standard gauge 0-6-0 side tanks of the type illustrated, with long tapered chimneys and an unusual feature for the Continent in the shape of domeless boilers, the protuberance just behind the chimney being a sandbox.”
Words closest in meaning
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