Kangaroo Words: What Are They?

I had never heard of kangaroo words until recently, when a friend posted about them on social media. And they have nothing to do with Australia!

A kangaroo word carries within its spelling its own synonym, with the letters in the correct order, although not necessarily right in a row. For example: regulate  and rule or encourage and urge. They are difficult to think of, but more common than you might think.

They are called kangaroo words because they carry their smaller selves with them, as a kangaroo carries its joey, or baby, in its pouch. They are also called marsupial, swallow, or joey words. The term was popularized as a word game by Ben O’Dell in an article in The American Magazine in the 1950s, later reprinted in the Reader’s Digest.

Here are some more kangaroo words:

• indolent – idle
• rambunctious – raucous
• splotch – spot
• acrid – arid
• blossom – bloom
• chicken – hen
• observe – see
• action – act
• masculine – male

And there are also twin kangaroo words. These words have two synonyms within them:

• container – tin and can
• deteriorate – rot, die (and perhaps riot)
• diminutive – minute and mini
• feasted – ate and fed

And then there are grand kangaroo words. These carry two joeys, one inside the other

• inflammable – flammable and flame
• accustomed – used and use
• alone – lone and one
• chariot – cart and car

Yes, there are also anti-kangaroo words, which carry antonyms within them:

• covert – overt
• animosity – amity
• courteous – curt
• fabrication – fact
• feast – fast
• she – he
• there – here
• exacerbate – abate

You learn something new every day . . .