Who are wordsmiths, and what do they do?

Wordsmiths are the inventors of neologisms (from the Greek néos, “new”, and lógos, “word” or “expression”). But why do we feel the need to create new words in the first place?

To answer that question, we need to go back to the 20th century, when linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf shook the world of linguistics with the idea that language shapes the way we perceive reality. If you embrace that theory, then creating new words becomes more than a linguistic exercise: it becomes a way to imagine new possibilities and new ways of understanding the world.

That is precisely why we decided to explore some of the most influential inventors of words in history. Obviously, it would be impossible to include every creator of neologisms in a single article, so we’ll focus on a few of the most original and impactful figures.

How many words are there in the world’s most widely spoken languages?

According to several estimates, English has one of the largest vocabularies in the world, with around 500,000 words in common usage and hundreds of thousands more technical terms. Yet languages are constantly evolving, which makes it nearly impossible to determine exactly how many words they contain.

The situation is similar for many other languages. Dictionaries can only capture a snapshot of a living system that keeps changing over time. New technologies, cultural shifts, social trends, and even memes generate fresh vocabulary every year.

But how many words do people actually use in everyday life?

Research suggests that educated native speakers of English actively use somewhere between 20,000 and 35,000 words, while understanding many more passively. At the same time, a relatively small “core vocabulary” covers the overwhelming majority of everyday communication.

There is also an important distinction between lexical neologisms — entirely new words — and syntactic neologisms, where existing words combine into stable new expressions. For example, podcast began as a lexical neologism, while expressions like remote work became established syntactic neologisms. In this article, we will focus mainly on lexical neologisms.

William Shakespeare

No discussion of invented words would be complete without William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s immortality does not rest solely on his plays, but also on the thousands of words and expressions he either coined or popularized, many of which are still listed in the Oxford English Dictionary today. Words such as bedroom, lonely, fashionable, critic, and manager are often attributed to him.

One of Shakespeare’s favourite techniques was transforming existing words by adding prefixes or suffixes. That is how English gained adjectives such as gloomy and bloody in their modern literary sense.

Many expressions we still use daily also come directly from his works:

• “What’s done is done” (Macbeth, 1611)
• “All’s well that ends well”
• “Break the ice”
• “Wild-goose chase”

Shakespeare didn’t just enrich English vocabulary — he reshaped the way English speakers express emotions, irony, ambition, and tragedy.

Charles Dickens

Like Shakespeare, Charles Dickens had a remarkable talent for linguistic invention. His novels introduced or popularized words and expressions that became deeply embedded in everyday English.

Dickens loved playful exaggeration, unusual names, and inventive descriptions. Terms such as boredom are often associated with his work, while countless character names evolved into cultural shorthand. Calling someone a Scrooge, for example, immediately evokes miserliness thanks to A Christmas Carol.

His writing demonstrates how literature can permanently influence common speech, especially when authors create words that perfectly capture recognizable human behaviours.

Lewis Carroll

When it comes to pure linguistic creativity, few writers rival Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

Carroll delighted in inventing nonsense words that somehow felt meaningful. His poem Jabberwocky alone introduced terms such as:

• Chortle (a blend of chuckle and snort)
• Galumph
• Mimsy

Many of these playful creations entered mainstream English and are still used today.

Carroll’s work shows that language does not always need rigid logic to communicate meaning. Sound, rhythm, and emotional association can be just as powerful.

George Orwell

Some writers invent words not for playfulness, but for political and social critique. George Orwell is one of the clearest examples.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell introduced terms such as:

• Big Brother
• Thoughtcrime
• Newspeak
• Doublethink

These words became part of global political vocabulary because they describe concepts that previously lacked concise labels. Orwell understood that controlling language can influence thought — a modern echo of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Today, many of Orwell’s inventions are used far beyond literary discussions, particularly in debates about surveillance, propaganda, and media manipulation.

James Joyce

The author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake pushed linguistic experimentation to extraordinary levels.

James Joyce constantly bent and reinvented English to express sensations and associations that conventional vocabulary could not capture. His writing is filled with hybrid words, multilingual puns, and invented sounds.

One famous example is quark, a word later borrowed by physicist Murray Gell-Mann to name subatomic particles.

Joyce also created elaborate onomatopoeias and playful compounds that blur the line between meaning and sound. His language often feels dreamlike — difficult, chaotic, but uniquely expressive.

Anthony Burgess and Nadsat

In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess created an entire fictional slang called Nadsat.

The language combines English with Russian influences and invented expressions, forcing readers to gradually learn its vocabulary through context. Terms such as droog (friend) and moloko (milk) became iconic elements of the novel’s dystopian atmosphere.

Burgess demonstrated that invented language can shape not only characters, but the reader’s entire perception of a fictional world.

Dr. Seuss

Few authors have influenced children’s language as much as Dr. Seuss.

His books are filled with playful invented creatures, objects, and expressions that encourage readers to enjoy the sound and rhythm of language. Words like nerd — now entirely mainstream — are often linked to his writing.

Dr. Seuss proved that neologisms can make language more memorable, accessible, and emotionally engaging, especially for young audiences.

Internet culture and modern neologisms

Today, the internet has dramatically accelerated the creation of new words.

Social media, gaming communities, memes, and online subcultures constantly generate fresh vocabulary:

• Selfie
• Unfriend
• Doomscrolling
• Ghosting
• Memeification

Some disappear within months; others become permanent additions to dictionaries. Digital communication has effectively transformed millions of people into everyday wordsmiths.

At the same time, AI and global communication are speeding up the international spread of new terminology. English-language neologisms now travel across borders almost instantly, influencing dozens of other languages.

Why new words matter

As we’ve seen, the need to create new words can arise from many different motivations:

• describing new technologies or realities;
• experimenting creatively with language;
• expressing emotions more precisely;
• challenging cultural or political norms;
• building fictional worlds;
• strengthening identity within communities.

Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: language belongs to its speakers. It is alive, unpredictable, and constantly evolving.

And that’s probably a good thing.

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