unction

Other forms of unction

plural

unctions·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about unction

What does unction mean?

unction means "excessive but superficial compliments given with affected charm". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in unction?

unction has 3 syllables: unc-ti-on. The stress falls on "ti".

What is another word for unction?

Close synonyms include smarm, fulsomeness, fulsomeness, oiliness, oleaginousness. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is unction a common word?

unction is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.