I’m currently reading The Duke and I and the author is constantly using the word “acerbic”. I had never heard of the word before now and had to google the definition. The word has shown up so much that I’m tempted to go through the book and count its appearances lol.
Have you noticed any authors having favorite words that they use page after page?
Dan Simmons used to be very fond of the word “lapis” – ala lapis lazuli – to describe an intense shade of blue. I don’t know if he got over it, but he used it at least twice in every damned book of his I read.