chagrin: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 31 is:

chagrin \shuh-GRIN\ noun
: disquietude or distress of mind caused by humiliation, disappointment, or failure

Example sentence:
It was with a great deal of chagrin that Lynette heard the news that her sister wasn't coming to her wedding.

Did you know?
"Chagrin" comes from French, in which it means "grief," "sorrow," or essentially the same thing as our "chagrin," and in which it is also an adjective meaning "sad." Some etymologists have linked this "chagrin" with another French "chagrin," meaning "rough leather" or "rough skin." Supposedly, the rough leather used to rub, polish, or file became a metaphor in French for agitating situations. English-speakers have also adopted the leathery "chagrin" into our language but have altered the spelling to "shagreen."

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slapstick: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 30 is:

slapstick \SLAP-stick\ noun
1 : a device made of two flat pieces of wood fastened at one end so as to make a loud noise when used by an actor to strike a person
*2 : comedy stressing farce and horseplay; also : activity resembling slapstick

Example sentence:
Joe's sense of humor was such that the slapstick of the Three Stooges would have him rolling on the floor.

Did you know?
The idea that knocking people about made for good comedy dates as far back as the Greco-Roman theater, where clowns rambunctiously "attacked" one another onstage. The object from which the word "slapstick" derives, however, was invented in Italy in the 16th century. Renaissance comedy typically featured stock characters placed in ridiculous situations, and one such ubiquitous character was Harlequin, whose brilliant costuming made him easily recognizable. Harlequin was given to wielding a paddle which was designed to make a terrible noise when he hit someone, usually to the delight of the audience. This paddle was eventually known in English as a "slapstick," and it became a symbol of that type of highly physical comedy. The word "slapstick" then came to refer to the comedy itself.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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pell-mell: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 29 is:

pell-mell \pell-MELL\ adverb
1 : in mingled confusion or disorder
*2 : in confused haste

Example sentence:
Autograph seekers rushed pell-mell into the hotel lobby in an effort to meet the famous actress.

Did you know?
The word "pell-mell" was formed through a process called "reduplication." The process -- which involves the repetition of a word or part of a word, often including a slight change in its pronunciation -- also generated such terms as "bowwow," "helter-skelter," "flip-flop," and "walkie-talkie." Yet another product of reduplication is "shilly-shally," which started out as a single-word compression of the question "Shall I?" "Pell-mell" traces to the Middle French "pelemele," which has the same meaning as the English "pell-mell."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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inculcate: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 28 is:

inculcate \in-KUL-kayt\ verb
: to teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions

Example sentence:
More than anything, Don and Gloria try to inculcate in their children the importance of treating others the way they wish to be treated themselves.

Did you know?
"Inculcate" derives from the past participle of the Latin verb "inculcare," meaning "to tread on." In Latin, "inculcare" possesses both literal and figurative meanings, referring to either the act of walking over something or to that of impressing something upon the mind, often by way of steady repetition. It is the figurative sense that survives with "inculcate," which was first used in English in the 16th century. "Inculcare" was formed in Latin by combining the prefix "in-" with "calcare," meaning "to trample," and ultimately derives from the noun "calx," meaning "heel." In normal usage "inculcate" is typically followed by the prepositions "in" or "into," with the object of the preposition being the person or thing receiving the instruction.

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vertiginous: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 27 is:

vertiginous \ver-TIJ-uh-nus\ adjective
1 a : characterized by or suffering from vertigo or dizziness b : inclined to frequent and often pointless change : inconstant
*2 : causing or tending to cause dizziness
3 : marked by turning : rotary

Example sentence:
In Moscow, we saw "Swan Lake" from the vertiginous perspective of the Bolshoi Theatre's uppermost balcony.

Did you know?
"It is generally necessary to avoid crowded rooms and the vertiginous influence of the dance," one 19th-century medical work advised. We're not sure what condition this advice was aimed at, but it may well have been "vertigo," a disordered state characterized by whirling dizziness. "Vertiginous," from the Latin "vertiginosus," is the adjective form of "vertigo," which in Latin means "a turning or whirling action." Both words descend from the Latin verb "vertere," meaning "to turn." ("Vertiginous" and "vertigo" are just two of an almost dizzying array of "vertere" offspring, from "adverse" to "vortex.") The "dizzying" sense of "vertiginous" is often used figuratively, as in "vertiginous medical discoveries may drastically change life in the 21st century."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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ex cathedra: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 26 is:

ex cathedra \eks-kuh-THEE-druh ("th" is as in "think")\ adjective
: by virtue of or in the exercise of one's office or position

Example sentence:
Andrew seems to think that his new position as supervisor gives him the ex cathedra privilege of taking excessively long lunch breaks.

Did you know?
"Ex cathedra" is a Latin phrase, meaning not "from the cathedral," but "from the chair." The phrase does have religious origins though: it was originally applied to decisions made by Popes from their thrones. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, a Pope speaking ex cathedra on issues of faith or morals is infallible. In general use, the phrase has come to be used with regard to statements made by people in positions of authority, and it is often used ironically to describe someone speaking with overbearing or unwarranted self-certainty.

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belated: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 25 is:

belated \bih-LAY-tud\ adjective
1 : delayed beyond the usual time
*2 : existing or appearing past the normal or proper time

Example sentence:
Susan called Jim on Christmas and told him he'd be receiving a belated gift from her.

Did you know?
Long ago, there was a verb "belate," which meant "to make late." From the beginning, "belate" tended to mostly turn up in the form of its past participle "belated." Eventually, "belate" itself fell out of use, leaving behind "belated" as an adjective that preserved the original notion of delay. As you may have guessed, "belate" and its descendant "belated" derive from the adjective "late"; "belate" was formed by simply combining the prefix "be-" ("to cause to be") with "late."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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rue: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 24 is:

rue \ROO\ verb
*transitive sense: to feel penitence, remorse, or regret for
intransitive sense : to feel sorrow, remorse, or regret

Example sentence:
As Robert watched Deborah's train pull out of the station, he knew that he would forever rue the day he let the one woman he truly loved get away.

Did you know?
If you remember your high school French, or if you've ever strolled down the Rue de Rivoli in Paris, you may have the notion that the English word "rue" is somehow connected to the French word for "street." In actuality, the French and English words are not related at all. The English "rue" is originally from the Old English word "hreow," meaning "sorrow." Used as both a noun and, more frequently, a verb, "rue" is very old, dating back to before the 12th century.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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adamantine: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 23 is:

adamantine \ad-uh-MAN-teen\ adjective
1 : made of or having the quality of adamant
*2 : rigidly firm : unyielding
3 : resembling the diamond in hardness or luster

Example sentence:
Jay was adamantine in his refusal to help with the party, insisting he had to be somewhere else that night

Did you know?
The Greek and Latin word for the hardest imaginable substance, whether applied to a legendary stone or an actual substance, such as diamond, was "adamas." Latin poets used the term figuratively for things lasting, firm, or unbending, and the adjective "adamantinus" was used in similar contexts. The English noun "adamant" (meaning "an unbreakable or extremely hard substance"), as well as the adjective "adamant" (meaning "inflexible" or "unyielding"), came from "adamas." "Adamantine," which has such figurative uses as "rigid," "firm," and "unyielding," came from "adamantinus." "Adamas" is actually the source of "diamond" as well. "Diamas," the Latin term for diamond, was an alteration of "adamas."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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gregarious: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 22 is:

gregarious \grih-GAIR-ee-us\ adjective
1 a : tending to associate with others of one's kind : social *b : marked by or indicating a liking for companionship: sociable c : of or relating to a social group
2 a of a plant : growing in a cluster or a colony b : living in contiguous nests but not forming a true colony -- used especially of wasps and bees

Example sentence:
Michael's gregarious nature made him popular with students of all different stripes at school.

Did you know?
When you're one of the herd, it's tough to avoid being social. The etymology of "gregarious" reflects the social nature of the flock; in fact, the word grew out of the Latin noun "grex," meaning "herd" or "flock." When it first began appearing in English texts in the 17th century, "gregarious" was applied mainly to animals, but by the 18th century it was being used for social human beings as well. By the way, "grex" gave English a whole flock of other words too, including "egregious," "aggregate," "congregate," and "segregate."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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peradventure: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 20 is:

peradventure \PER-ud-ven-cher\ noun
*1 : doubt
2 : chance

Example sentence:
The evidence establishes beyond peradventure that the Grinch masterminded a highly organized and intricate plot to steal Christmas.

Did you know?
When Middle English speakers borrowed "par aventure" from Anglo-French (in which language it means, literally, "by chance"), it was as an adverb meaning "perhaps" or "possibly." Before long, the word was anglicized to "peradventure," and turned into a noun as well. The adverb is now archaic, though Washington Irving and other writers were still using it in the 19th century ("If peradventure some straggling merchant... should stop at his door with his cart load of tin ware...." -- "A History of New York"). The noun senses we use today tend to show up in the phrase "beyond peradventure" in contexts relating to proving or demonstrating something. The "chance" sense is usually used in the phrase "beyond peradventure of doubt."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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unabashed: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 19 is:

unabashed \un-uh-BASHT\ adjective
: not disconcerted : undisguised, unapologetic

Example sentence:
Mary marveled at Sean's unabashed rudeness, astonished that he could be so obnoxious without a trace of remorse.

Did you know?
When you are "unabashed," you make no apologies for your behavior, but when you are "abashed," your confidence has been shaken and you may feel rather inferior or ashamed of yourself. English speakers have been using "abashed" to describe feelings of embarrassment since the 14th century, but they have only used "unabashed" (brazenly or otherwise) since the late 1500s. Both words can be traced back to the Anglo-French word "abair," meaning "to astonish."

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bailiwick: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 18 is:

bailiwick \BAY-lih-wik\ noun
1 : the office or jurisdiction of a bailiff
*2 : a special domain

Example sentence:
Since the organization of the annual holiday party is Rhonda's bailiwick, you'll have to let her know if you plan to bring something to the festivities this year.

Did you know?
The first half of the word "bailiwick" comes from the Middle English word for "bailiff," in this case a term referring to a sheriff or chief officer of a town in medieval England, not the officer who assists today in U.S. courtrooms. "Bailiff" derives via Anglo-French from the Latin "bajulare," meaning "to carry a burden." The second half of "bailiwick" comes from "wik," a Middle English word for "dwelling place" or "village," which ultimately derived from the Latin "vicus," meaning "village." (This root also gave us "-wich" and "-wick," suffixes used in place names like Norwich and Warwick.) Although "bailiwick" dates from the 15th century, the "special domain" sense did not begin to appear in English until the middle of the 19th century.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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capitulate: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 17 is:

capitulate \kuh-PIH-chuh-layt\ verb
*1 : to surrender often after negotiation of terms
2 : to cease resisting : acquiesce

Example sentence:
During negotiations for her comic strip, Sally let it be known that she was willing to forgo the large advance, but creative control was one area where she refused to capitulate.

Did you know?
"Capitulate" and its synonyms "yield," "submit," and "succumb" all mean to give way to someone or something, with a few slight differences in emphasis. "Yield" may apply to any sort or degree of bowing to force, debate, or pleading ("yields too easily in any argument"). "Submit" suggests surrender, after resistance, to the will or control of another ("a sinner submitting to the will of God"). "Succumb" imputes weakness and helplessness to the person giving in, or an overwhelming power to the opposition ("succumbing to temptation"). "Capitulate" stresses the termination of all resistance and may imply either a coming to terms, as with an adversary, or hopelessness before an irresistible opposing force ("officials capitulated to the demands").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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cajole: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 16 is:

cajole \kuh-JOHL\ verb
1 *a : to persuade with flattery or gentle urging especially in the face of reluctance : coax b : to obtain from someone by gentle persuasion
2 : to deceive with soothing words or false promises

Example sentence:
Peter's friends cajoled him into coming to the party even though he wasn't in the mood to go.

Did you know?
"Cajole" comes from a French verb, "cajoler," which is all about cajoling, coaxing, and chattering. You might not think to associate "cajole" with "cage," but some etymologists theorize that "cajoler" is connected to not one but two words for "cage." One of them is the Anglo-French "cage," from which we borrowed our own word "cage." It comes from Latin "cavea," meaning "cage." The other is the Anglo-French word for ?birdcage,? which is "gaiole." It's an ancestor of our word "jail," and it derives from Late Latin "caveola," which means "little cage." Anglo-French speakers had a related verb, "gaioler," which meant "to chatter like a jay in a cage." It's possible that "cajoler" is a combination of "gaioler" and "cage."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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heterodox: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 15 is:

heterodox \HET-uh-ruh-dahks\ adjective
*1 : contrary to or different from an acknowledged standard, a traditional form, or an established religion : unorthodox, unconventional
2 : holding unorthodox opinions or doctrines

Example sentence:
In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus presented the then-heterodox theory that the sun is the center of our solar system.

Did you know?
"Orthodoxy... is my doxy -- heterodoxy is another man's doxy," quipped 18th-century bishop William Warburton. He was only punning, but it is true that individuals often see other people's ideas as unconventional while regarding their own as beyond reproach. The antonyms "orthodox" and "heterodox" developed from the same root, the Greek "doxa," which means "opinion." "Heterodox" derives from "doxa" plus "heter-," a combining form meaning "other" or "different"; "orthodoxy" pairs "doxa" with "orth-," meaning "correct" or "straight."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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aerie: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 12 is:

aerie \AIR-ee\ noun
1 : the nest of a bird on a cliff or a mountaintop
*2 : an elevated often secluded dwelling, structure, or position

Example sentence:
Joe lives in a sleek, 20th-floor aerie with a spectacular view of the city.

Did you know?
English poet John Milton put a variant of "aerie" to good use in _Paradise Lost_ (1667), writing "...there the eagle and the stork / On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build." But Milton wasn't the first to use the term, which comes to us via Medieval Latin and Old French and probably traces to an earlier Latin word for "nest" or "lair." English speakers had been employing "aerie" as a word for "bird's nest" for more than a century when Milton penned those words. Eventually, "aerie" was applied to human dwellings as well as birds' nests. At first, this sense referred to dwellings nestled high up in mountains or hills. These days, you're also likely to hear high-rise city apartments or offices referred to as "aeries."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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euphoria: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 13 is:

euphoria \yoo-FOR-ee-uh\ noun
: a feeling of well-being or elation

Example sentence:
The whole college was swept up in the euphoria of winning the national basketball title, and dozens of spontaneous celebrations erupted across the campus and spilled out into the town.

Did you know?
Health and happiness are often linked, sometimes even in etymologies. Nowadays "euphoria" generally refers to happiness, but it derives from "euphoros," a Greek word that means "healthy." Given that root, it's not surprising that in its original English uses, it was a medical term. A 1706 quotation shows how doctors used it then: "'Euphoria,' the well bearing of the Operation of a Medicine, i.e. when the Patient finds himself eas'd or reliev'd by it." Modern physicians still use the term, but they aren't likely to prescribe something that will cause it. In contemporary medicine, "euphoria" describes abnormal or inappropriate feelings such as those caused by an illegal drug or an illness.

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centenarian: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 11 is:

centenarian \sen-tuh-NAIR-ee-un\ noun
: one that is 100 years old or older

Example sentence:
"A government census reported 20,561 Japanese over the age of 100, a doubling of the ranks of centenarians in just five years." (_Maclean's_, June 2004)

Did you know?
We can't say there are exactly 100 English words based on the Latin root "centum," meaning "hundred," but there are certainly dozens. "Centenarian" isn't the oldest one; it only dates from the late 1700s. Far older is "centurion" (an ancient Roman military officer), which has been around since the 13th century. A younger "centum" offspring is "centisecond," a rare term for 1/100 of a second that dates from the 1950s. From colorful words such as "centicipitous" (which means "100-headed") to practical ones like "centgener" ("a device for planting 100 seeds"), "centum" descendants have enlivened our language for centuries.

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Pecksniffian: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 10 is:

Pecksniffian \pek-SNIFF-ee-un\ adjective
: unctuously hypocritical : sanctimonious

Example sentence:
"His book suffers from excessively long harangues against Pecksniffian prigs and temperance types who, he claims, are still trying to ruin our fun." (Mark D. Fefer, _Seattle Weekly_, January 22, 2003)

Did you know?
Seth Pecksniff, a character with a holier-than-thou attitude in Charles Dickens's 1844 novel _Martin Chuzzlewit_, was no angel, though he certainly tried to pass himself off as one. Pecksniff liked to preach morality and brag about his own virtue, but in reality he was a deceptive rascal who would use any means to advance his own selfish interests. It didn't take long for Pecksniff's reputation for canting sanctimoniousness to leave its mark on English; "Pecksniffian" has been used as a synonym of "hypocritical" since 1849.

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nonpareil: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 9 is:

nonpareil \nahn-puh-RELL\ adjective
: having no equal

Example sentence:
Matilda is known as an all-around excellent cook, but her blueberry pie, in particular, is nonpareil.

Did you know?
Trace "nonpareil" back to its Middle French origins and you'll find that it comes from a term meaning "not equal." "Pareil" itself comes from a Vulgar Latin form of "par," which means "equal." "Nonpareil" has served as an English adjective since the 15th century, and since the late 16th century it has also functioned as a noun describing an individual of unequaled excellence. In 1612, Captain John Smith used the term in that noun sense (but with a now-archaic spelling): "Pocahontas, Powhatan's daughter... was the very Nomparell of his kingdome, and at most not past 13 or 14 years of age." And as you may know, "nonpareil" is also the name of a chocolate candy covered with white sugar pellets.

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parse: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 7 is:

parse \PARSS\ verb
1 : to analyze a sentence by naming its parts and their functions
*2 : to examine in a minute way : analyze critically

Example sentence:
Prosecutors parsed every word of the defendant's testimony, looking for a slip that might reveal the truth.

Did you know?
If "parse" brings up images of elementary school and learning the parts of speech, you've done your homework regarding this word. "Parse" comes from the first element of the Latin term for "part of speech" -- "pars orationis." It's an old word that has been used in the schoolroom since the 16th century, but it did not graduate to its extended, non-grammar-related sense until the late 18th century. Remember this extended sense, and you're really at the head of the class.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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cybrarian: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 6 is:

cybrarian \sye-BRAIR-ee-un\ noun
: a person whose job is to find, collect, and manage information that is available on the World Wide Web

Example sentence:
The library provided an e-mail address to submit inquiries to the cybrarian.

Did you know?
We've been using "librarian" for the people who manage libraries since at least the beginning of the 18th century, and the word was used for scribes and copyists even earlier than that. "Cybrarian," on the other hand, is much newer; its earliest documented use is from 1992. "Librarian" combines "library" (itself from "liber," the Latin word for book) and the noun suffix "-an," meaning "one specializing in." When people wanted a word for a person who performed duties similar to those of a librarian by using information from the Internet, they went a step further and combined "cyber-," meaning "of, relating to, or involving computers or a computer network," with "librarian" to produce the new "cybrarian."

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symposium: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 5 is:

symposium \sim-POH-zee-um\ noun
*1 : a social gathering at which there is free interchange of ideas
2 a : a formal meeting at which several specialists deliver short addresses on a topic or on related topics b : a collection of opinions on a subject; especially : one published by a periodical
3 : discussion

Example sentence:
The symposium gave Eduardo and other writers the chance to listen to and share new ideas about literature.

Did you know?
It was drinking more than thinking that drew people to the original symposia and that gave us the word "symposium." The ancient Greeks would often follow a banquet with a drinking party they called a "symposion." That name came from "sympinein," a verb that combines "pinein," meaning "to drink," with the prefix "syn-," meaning "together." Originally, English speakers only used "symposium" to refer to such an ancient Greek party, but in the 18th century British gentlemen?s clubs started using the word for gatherings in which intellectual conversation was fueled by drinking. By the 19th century, "symposium" had gained the more sober sense we know today, describing meetings in which the focus is more on the exchange of ideas and less on imbibing.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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gourmand: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 3 is:

gourmand \GOOR-mahnd\ noun
1 : one who is excessively fond of eating and drinking
*2 : one who is heartily interested in good food and drink

Example sentence:
Jason trusted the discriminating palate of his Uncle Gerald, a gourmand who is well acquainted with the area's best restaurants.

Did you know?
"What God has plagu'd us with this gourmaund guest?" As this exasperated question from Alexander Pope's 18th-century translation of Homer's Odyssey suggests, being a gourmand is not necessarily a good thing. When "gourmand" began appearing in English texts in the 15th century, it was a decidedly bad thing, a synonym of "glutton" that was reserved for a greedy eater who consumed well past satiation. That negative connotation remained until English speakers borrowed the similar-sounding (and much more positive) "gourmet" from French in the 19th century. Since then, the meaning of "gourmand" has softened, so that although it still isn't wholly flattering, it now suggests someone who likes good food in large quantities rather than a slobbering glutton.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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abyssal: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 2 is:

abyssal \uh-BISS-ul\ adjective
1 : impossible to comprehend : unfathomable
*2 : of or relating to the bottom waters of the ocean depths

Example sentence:
Scientists have discovered remarkable creatures living in the abyssal depths of the sea.

Did you know?
"Abyssal" is a relatively infrequently used word, though it?s derived from the more prevalent noun, "abyss." In contrast, the adjective "abysmal" is more common than its corresponding noun "abysm." All four terms descend from the Late Latin word "abyssus," which is in turn derived from the Greek "abyssos" ("bottomless"). "Abyss" and "abysm" are synonymous (both can refer to the mythical bottomless pit in old accounts of the universe or can be used more broadly in reference to any immeasurably deep gulf), but the adjectives "abyssal" and "abysmal" are not used identically. "Abyssal" can mean "incomprehensible," but it?s most often found in contexts referring to the bottom of the sea. "Abysmal" shares the oceanographic sense with "abyssal," but it more frequently means "immeasurably deep" or "absolutely wretched."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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clerihew: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for December 1 is:

clerihew \KLAIR-ih-hyoo\ noun
: a light verse quatrain rhyming aabb and usually dealing with a person named in the initial rhyme

Example sentence:
My favorite of Edmund C. Bentley?s clerihews is the following: ?What I like about Clive / Is that he is no longer alive. / There is a great deal to be said / For being dead.?

Did you know?
Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956) was an English writer whose book _Biography for Beginners_ was published in 1906 under the name E. Clerihew. It was a collection of simple, humorous four-line verses about famous people. Bentley had begun writing them as a bored high school student. He didn?t call them clerihews himself, but his readers began to do so after the book appeared. How soon after, we can?t be sure, because so far we?ve unearthed nothing earlier than a 1928 description of clerihews as ?nice slack metres and sly points.? In any case, people have been having fun writing their own clerihews ever since Bentley shared his.

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