Bertrand Russell’s 20 favorite words, given in response to a reader’s inquiry in 1958:
- wind
- heath
- golden
- begrime
- pilgrim
- quagmire
- diapason
- alabaster
- chrysoprase
- astrolabe
- apocalyptic
- ineluctable
- terraqueous
- inspissated
- incarnadine
- sublunary
- chorasmean
- alembic
- fulminate
- ecstacy
These are notable, I think, because it appears he wasn’t influenced by meaning.