| uffish | adj. | “a state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish” [Lewis Carroll] | ||
| ugglesome | adj. | gruesome, horrible | ||
| ultracrepidarian | adj. | opinionated about things outside one’s expertise | ||
| ululate | v. | to howl or wail, esp. by alternating loud high-pitched sounds | ||
| umbel | n. | inflorescence of short flower stalks radiating from a common center | botany | |
| umbelliferous | adj. | belonging to the parsley family; having umbels | ||
| umbra | n. | shadow; fully dark shadow cast by object intervening between the surface and the light source; dark center of sunspot | ||
| umbrage | n. | offense, annoyance; slightest feeling, as of suspicion or dislike; shade or shadow | ||
| umbrageous | adj. | shady, providing shade | ||
| unchancy | adj. | unlucky; dangerous | Scots | |
| unctuous | adj. | excessively polite or flattering, smarmy; oily, greasy | ||
| undercroft | n. | underground chamber or vault, crypt | ||
| understrapper | n. | underling, junior official | informal | |
| underwood | n. | small trees or shrubs grown beneath timber | ||
| undine | n. | water nymph or spirit | ||
| undulate | v. | to move in a wavelike manner; to look like a wave | ||
| unhouseled | adj. | in the condition of not having received the Eucharist | obsolete | |
| Uniate | n. | member of one of the Christian churches in eastern Europe or the Middle East which acknowledges papal supremacy but retains its own liturgy | ||
| union | n. | enormous pearl | archaic | |
| university | n. | totality, entirety; the universe | obsolete | |
| univocal | adj. | having only a single meaning, unambiguous | ||
| unlax | v. | to relax | slang | |
| unsavory | adj. | without taste, insipid; distasteful; morally or socially disagreeable | ||
| unweeting | adj. | unwitting | obsolete | |
| unwonted | adj. | unusual, not customary; unaccustomed | ||
| upas-tree | n. | Javanese tree of myth so toxic that it killed all surrounding life at a large distance; tree of Java producing poisonous milky sap, used to empoison arrows | ||
| urinator | n. | diver | obsolete | |
| Urschleim | n. | primordial soup | ||
| urticant | adj. | producing stinging or itching sensations | ||
| urticaria | n. | hives | ||
| usufruct | n. | right to benefit and profit from a property without actual ownership nor the right to destroy, diminish, or alienate said property | ||
| uxorious | adj. | doting upon or excessively submissive to one’s wife | ||
| vacuously | adv. | emptily | ||
| vade mecum | n. | handbook or manual for constant reference; EDC item | Latin | |
| vair | n. | regular tesselated cup-shaped design in alternating colors, usu. blue and white (‘argent’); fur of a white-bellied squirrel used often in medieval times for trimmings of coats, etc. | heraldry | |
| valedictory | adj. | of or related to farewells or to saying goodbye | ||
| valetudinarian | n. | person obsessively concerned with his or her poor health | ||
| valiance | n. | bravery; deed of valor | ||
| valuta | n. | currency, money | ||
| vaporing | n. | bragging, boastful talk | ||
| varix | n. | varicose vein | ||
| vatic | adj. | prophetical | ||
| vaticide | n. | murderer of a prophet; act of killing a prophet | ||
| vaticinate | n. | to prophesy, to predict the future | ||
| vaunt | n. | boast | ||
| vavasor | n. | feudal vassal ranking just below baron | ||
| vaward | n. | forefront; vanguard | archaic | |
| vedette | n. | mounted sentry patrolling beyond an army’s outposts | ||
| velarium | n. | ancient awning over Roman amphitheaters | ||
| velleity | n. | the merest wish, without any attempt to gain it |
