Category: Word of the Day
Daily posts of an individual word study
Word of the Day: Temerity
Today’s word of the day is temerity, which means rash boldness or recklessness. According to etymonline.com, the word entered the language in the late fourteenth century “from Latin temeritatem (nominative […]
Word of the Day: Promulgate
Todays’ word of the day is promulgate, thanks to the New York Times. To promulgate is “to make known by public statement or announcement” or “to put a law into […]
Word of the Day: Arbitrate
Today’s word is arbitrate, courtesy of the NY Times, and it means “to settle a dispute between parties with the goal of reconciling differences.” According to etymonline.com, the word first […]
Word of the Day: Augur
Today’s word of the day, courtesy of Merriam-Webster, is augur. The verb means to “show or suggest, especially from omens, that something might happen in the future” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day). It is […]
Word of the Day: Clue
Today’s word of the day comes courtesy of The History of English Podcast by Kevin Stroud (https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/). Mr. Stroud began his podcast in June of 2012, and it has continued […]
Word of the Day: Principal
Today’s Word of the Day is principal. The word can be either an adjective or a noun. As an adjective, it means “first or highest in rank, importance, value, etc.; […]
Word of the Day: Unctuous
Today’s word of the day is unctuous. The adjective has three possible meanings: 1. characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor, especially in an affected manner; excessively smooth, suave, or […]
Word of the Day: Ham-handed
Today’s word of the day, courtesy of A.Word.A.Day at the Wordsmith.org website, is ham-handed, an adjective that means “clumsy; tactless; lacking social grace” (https://wordsmith.org/words/today.html). According to the website, the earliest […]
Word of the Day: Cassandra
Today’s word of the day comes courtesy of the Merriam-Webster dictionary website, and it is, I think, the first time that I have gone with a proper noun (a name) […]
Word of the Day: Repine
Today’s word of the day, thanks to the Merriam-Webster dictionary website, is repine, a verb meaning “to feel or express dejection or discontent” or “to long for something” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day). According […]
Word of the Day: Reciprocal
Today’s word of the day, courtesy of WordThink, is reciprocal (http://www.wordthink.com/reciprocal/), an adjective meaning “Done or performed in return.” I should give the people at WordThink some props since I […]
Word of the Day: Noodge
Today’s word of the day, thanks to the Oxford English Dictionary, is noodge. If you look up the word on www.dictionary.com, you will learn that it is just a variant […]