I've been rather letting my vocabulary run away with me over the past few months, but today I managed to take it in a much more amusing direction. Without thinking, I started using the word laving in a sentence, and microsoft word poked at me, saying I might want to choose another word. I quickly switched to google and verified the meaning. It was correct (or at least extremely close, so I'll go with it). The word Laving means washing or flushing with water. In this case, I had the character washing away an injury with healing magic, and described it as though it were cool water. But it was fun. And I know that it will catch a few people by surprise, but 'washing' or 'flushing' just wouldn't have had quite the same effect.
On a related note, I've also caught myself using another kind of obscure word a few times lately: onerous. I don't know why, but it seems to work really well with what I'm saying. (However, I tend to use it in the negative, such as something not being too onerous). Anyone else finding really fun words that they're coming up with?