10 words for booklovers, bookworms and bibliophiles

1. Bibliosmia: The smell and aroma of a good book.

2. Abibliophobia: The fear of running out of reading material.

3. Tsundoku: Japanese word for the condition of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one’s home without reading them.

4. Shelf-righteous: The feeling of superiority about one’s bookshelf.

5. Librocubicularist: A person who reads in bed.

6. Book-bosomed: An individual who carries a book with them at all times.

7. Ballycumber: Coined by Douglas Adams, this term refers to one of the six half-read books lying somewhere in your bed.

8. Readultery: The act of being unfaithful to one book by reading another at the same time.

9. Angsticipation: The feeling when you finish the latest book in a series and there isn’t a publication date for the next book in the series yet.

10. Bibliolatry: The worship of a particular book or the description of a deity found within a particular book.

Ed. note: The veracity of these words cannot be confirmed.

Cover image for The Word Detective: A Life in Words: From Serendipity to Selfie

The Word Detective: A Life in Words: From Serendipity to Selfie

John Simpson

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