When Taylor Swift was just 14 and on the cusp of stardom, she shared in a Good Morning America interview that she keeps a daily journal and declared, “Writing is everything to me.”
Today, Swift is arguably the most successful singer-songwriter of this era and has built a reputation not only for her catchy melodies, but also her expert writing skills. Across her discography, the pop star consistently weaves in vivid, unexpected word choices that elevate her lyrics beyond convenient rhymes.
View this post on Instagram
On her 2020 sister albums Folklore and Evermore, Swift uses words that feel like they’re almost plucked from 19th-century novels. With fitting word choice to match the songs’ moods, gauche offers a biting social critique of a wedding in “The Last Great American Dynasty,” while mercurial captures the unpredictable nature of a secret romance in “Illicit Affairs.”
Swift’s 2022 album Midnights continues the trend of unexpected words with “Lavender Haze,” where she opts for melancholia over simpler terms for “sadness.” On her 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department, Swift uses beguiling rather than “intriguing” in the song titled “Peter.” In “How Did It End?” she uses both bereft and feverishly to emphasize devastation with elevated precision.
Across albums, Swift’s word choices — whether academic, archaic, or literary — reveal a songwriter who’s not afraid to expand the vocabulary of pop music, pulling fans into a rich, lyrical world. And Taylor’s 2025 release, The Life of a Showgirl, is no exception. Check out some of the most interesting vocabulary you’ll encounter when you listen to this album.
onyx
In the song “Opalite” and throughout The Life of a Showgirl album, Swift leans into interesting descriptions for color. Rather than depicting the sky as “dark” or “black,” the singer picks the more literary synonym onyx — which refers in particular to jet black.
onyx
adjective: black, especially jet black
opalite
Speaking of “Opalite,” Swift opts to describe a lesser-known variant of opal in this track. In mineralogy, “opalite” refers to artificial opal, the milky-white birthstone for October. (It’s no coincidence that fiancé Travis Kelce’s birthday falls during this month.)
opalite
noun: an artificial gem resembling an opal
pyro
Fire, earth, water, and air — lead single “The Fate of Ophelia” has vibrant imagery for all four. Right out of the gate, she calls someone a pyro, a shortened form of pyromaniac, meaning a person who likes setting things on fire.
pyro
noun: short for pyromaniac, meaning someone with a compulsion to set things on fire
honing
Another word from “The Fate of Ophelia,” honing describes the process of improving a skill. In the case of this song, someone is honing their powers. It comes from the verb “hone,” which traces back to an Old Norse term that refers to sharpening a whetstone.
honing
noun: the act or process of improving or perfecting a skill, program, idea, etc.
high and dry
The expression high and dry, which appears in the tune “Elizabeth Taylor,” is an idiomatic take on the feeling of being stranded or abandoned. It originally referred to a ship that had run aground or was in a dry dock.
high and dry
idiom, often used as adjective: stranded, abandoned, helpless
chateau
“Father Figure,” a nod to George Michael’s 1987 hit of the same name, begins with the mention of a château. This word, which is French for “castle,” evokes the sense of wealth and royalty. And everything sounds a little classier in French, right?
château
noun: a stately residence imitating a distinctively French castle
protege
Continuing the French theme in “Father Figure,” Swift refers to the state of being a protégé — in this case, not entirely willingly. This word, which comes from a French term meaning “protected,” generally refers to a student or someone being mentored.
protégé
noun: a person under the patronage, protection, or care of someone interested in their career or welfare
wayward
In another gem from “Father Figure,” Swift opts for describing someone as young and wayward rather than simply being lost. This old-fashioned word is a shortened version of a Middle English term that means “turned away.”
wayward
adjective: swayed or prompted by impulse
exoneration
Swift’s song “Cancelled!” explores the idea of standing by someone you believe is innocent, referencing exoneration. It’s a Latin-derived word meaning “unburdening” and conveys the clearing of blame or accusation.
exoneration
noun: the act of clearing someone of blame or of an accusation or criminal charge
kismet
In the title track, Swift sings that it was kismet, a fun way to describe fate or destiny. English borrowed this word from Turkish, but it ultimately traces back to an Arabic word meaning “lot or fate.”
kismet
noun: fate, destiny
Think you know The Life of a Showgirl? Test your Swiftie smarts with this quiz by choosing which sentence correctly uses each vocabulary word from the album!
