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Keyword: wftd

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  • WORD FOR THE DAY(8/20/18)Orgulous

    08/19/2018 4:55:10 PM PDT · by left that other site · 18 replies
    Merriam Webster | 8/20/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(8/20/18)Orgulous adjective OR-gyuh-lus Word of the Day : May 28th, 2018 Orgulous adjective OR-gyuh-lus Definition : proud Did You Know? "In Troy, there lies the scene. From Isles of Greece / The princes orgulous, their high blood chaf'd, / Have to the port of Athens sent their ships." Thus William Shakespeare begins the Trojan War tale Troilus and Cressida, employing orgulous, a colorful word first adopted in the 13th century from Anglo-French orguillus. After the Bard's day, orgulous dropped from sight for 200 years; there is no record of its use until it was rejuvenated by...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(8/13/18)Promulgate

    08/13/2018 9:44:00 AM PDT · by left that other site · 9 replies
    Merriam Webster | 8/13/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(8/6/18)Promulgate Word of the Day : May 28th, 2018 Promulgate verb pro·mul·gate \ ˈprä-məl-ˌgāt ; prō-ˈməl- , prə-ˈməl- , ˈprō-(ˌ)məl- \ Definition of promulgate promulgated; promulgating transitive verb 1 : to make (an idea, belief, etc.) known to many people by open declaration : proclaim • … the huge meeting served primarily as the occasion on which to promulgate the official doctrine … • —Roger Shattuck • From the beginning our objective has been to develop and promulgate new models for the calculus-based introductory course. • —John S. Rigden et al. 2 a : to make...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(7/23/18)Transmogrify

    07/22/2018 6:13:54 PM PDT · by left that other site · 21 replies
    Merriam Webster | 7/23/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(7/23/18)Transmogrify Word of the Day : May 28th, 2018 Transmogrify play verb transs-MAH-gruh-fye Definition : to change or alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect Did You Know? We know that the prefix trans- means "across" or "beyond" and appears in many words that evoke change, such as transform and transpire, but we don't know the exact origins of transmogrify. The 17th-century dramatist, novelist, and poet Aphra Behn, who is regarded as England's first female professional writer, was an early adopter of the word. In her 1671 comic play The Amorous Prince, Behn wrote,...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(7/9/18)Métier

    07/09/2018 6:46:04 AM PDT · by left that other site · 13 replies
    Merriam Webster | 7/9/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(7/9/18)Métier Word of the Day : May 28th, 2018 Métier play noun MET-yay Definition 1 : vocation, trade 2 : an area of activity in which one excels : forte Did You Know? The words métier, employment, occupation, and calling all perform similar functions in English, though each word gets the job done in its own way. These hardworking synonyms can all refer to a specific sustained activity, especially an activity engaged in to earn a living, but these words also have slightly different shades of meaning. Employment implies simply that one was hired and is...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(7/2/18)Autodidact

    07/01/2018 5:25:25 PM PDT · by left that other site · 17 replies
    Merriam Webster | 7/2/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(7/2/18)Autodidact Word of the Day : May 28th, 2018 Autodidact noun au·to·di·dact \ ˌȯ-tō-ˈdī-ˌdakt , -dī-ˈ , -də-ˈ \ Definition of autodidact : a self-taught person • was an autodidact who read voraciously — autodidactic play \-dī-ˈdak-tik, -də-\ adjective Recent Examples of autodidact from the Web • Among the finalists, who range in age from 23 to 77, and span autodidact, emerging, and established, Lee happens to be particularly accomplished; her work can be found in more than 40 public collections around the world.
— amy verner, Vogue, "Dame Helen Mirren Presents Scottish Ceramist Jennifer Lee With...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(6/25/18)Jabberwocky

    06/24/2018 5:46:17 PM PDT · by left that other site · 21 replies
    WORD FOR THE DAY(6/25/18)Jabberwocky Word of the Day : May 28th, 2018 Jabberwocky noun JAB-er-wah-kee Definition : meaningless speech or writing Did You Know? In a poem titled "Jabberwocky" in the book Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1872), Lewis Carroll warned his readers about a frightful beast: Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch! This nonsensical poem caught the public's fancy, and by 1908 jabberwocky was being used as a generic term for meaningless speech or writing. The word bandersnatch has also...
  • Word of the Day: Meretricious

    06/22/2018 6:17:53 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 10 replies
    www.dictionary.com ^ | 06/22/2018 | Red Badger
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________ In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". _____________________________________________________________________________________________ mer·e·tri·cious ˌmerəˈtriSHəs/ adjective adjective: meretricious 1.apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity. "meretricious souvenirs for the tourist trade" synonyms: worthless, valueless, cheap, tawdry, trashy, Brummagem, tasteless, kitsch, kitschy; More false, artificial, fake, imitation; informaltacky, chintzy "the meretricious glitter of the whole charade" 2. archaic relating to or characteristic of a prostitute. Origin early 17th century: from Latin meretricius (adjective from meretrix, meretric- ‘prostitute,’ from mereri ‘be hired’) + -ous....
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(6/18/18)Roseate

    06/18/2018 5:14:57 PM PDT · by left that other site · 14 replies
    Merriam Webster | 6/18/18 | left that other site
    WORD FOR THE DAY(6/18/18)Roseate Word of the Day : May 28th, 2018 Roseate adjective ROH-zee-ut Definition 1 : resembling a rose especially in color  2 : overly optimistic : viewed favorably Did You Know? "Everything's coming up roses." "He views the world through rose-tinted glasses." "She has a rosy outlook on life." In English, we tend to associate roses and rose color with optimism, and roseate is no exception. Roseate comes from the Latin adjective roseus, and ultimately from the noun rosa, meaning "rose." Figurative use of roseate (with the meaning "happy" or "smiling") began in the 18th century,...
  • Word of the Day: Demimonde

    06/15/2018 6:38:33 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 30 replies
    www.dictionary.com ^ | 06/15/2018 | Red Badger
    ________________________________________________________________________________________ In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". demimonde [dem-ee-mond; French duh-mee-mawnd] noun 1. (especially during the last half of the 19th century) a class of women who have lost their standing in respectable society because of indiscreet behavior or sexual promiscuity. 2. a demimondaine. 3. prostitutes or courtesans in general. 4. a group whose activities are ethically or legally questionable: a demimonde of investigative journalists writing for the sensationalist tabloids. 5. a group characterized by lack of success or status:...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(6/11/18)Muliebrity

    06/10/2018 4:05:02 PM PDT · by left that other site · 23 replies
    Merriam Webster | 6/11/18 | left that other site
    WORD FOR THE DAY(6/11/18)Muliebrity Word of the Day : May 28th, 2018 Muliebrity noun myoo-lee-EB-ruh-tee • • • Definition : the quality of being a woman : femininity Did You Know? Muliebrity has been used in English to suggest the distinguishing character or qualities of a woman or of womankind since the 16th century. (Its masculine counterpart, virility, entered the language at about the same time.) Muliebrity comes from Latin mulier, meaning "woman," and probably is a cognate of Latin mollis, meaning "soft." Mollis is also the source of the English verb mollify—a word that implies a "softening" of...
  • Word for the Day: Aeolist

    06/08/2018 7:51:56 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 36 replies
    www.yourdictionary.com ^ | 06/08/2018 | Red Badger
    aeolist Noun (plural aeolists) (rare) A pompous person, pretending to have inspiration or spiritual insight. _________________________________________________________________________________ Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day.
  • Word For The Day - JOLLIFICATION

    06/01/2018 6:26:22 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 13 replies
    www.dictionary.com ^ | 06/01/2018 | Red Badger
    In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". jollification [jol-uh-fi-key-shuh n] noun jolly merrymaking; jolly festivity. Origin of jollification First recorded in 1800–10; jolly + -fication Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018 Examples from the Web for jollification Historical Examples Also, there was nothing in their demeanour that savoured of any spirit of jollification. Prairie Flowers James B. Hendryx By jingo, I think he might say ‘splice the main brace’ now, after all this jollification!...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(5/21/18)Nascent

    05/20/2018 5:30:44 PM PDT · by left that other site · 9 replies
    Merriam Webster | 5/21/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(5/21/18)Nascent Word of the Day : May 7th, 2018 Nascent Definition : coming or having recently come into existence Did You Know? Nascent comes from nascens, the present participle of the Latin verb nasci, which means "to be born." It is a relative newcomer to the collection of English words that derive from that Latin verb. In fact, when the word nascent was itself a newborn, in the first quarter of the 17th century, other nasci offspring were already respectably mature. Nation, native, and nature had been around since the 1300s; innate and natal, since the...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(5/14/18)flocculate

    05/13/2018 4:26:53 PM PDT · by left that other site · 30 replies
    Merriam Webster
    WORD FOR THE DAY(5/14/18)flocculate Word of the Day : May 7th, 2018 flocculate verb FLAH-kyuh-layt Definition : to aggregate or coalesce into small lumps or loose clusters Did You Know? In the late 16th century, scientists noticed that the loose masses separated from a solution or suspension through precipitation often resembled tufts of wool, and they began to refer to them as flocks, using a word for "tufts" that comes ultimately from the synonymous Latin word floccus. (This flock is not related to the flock that refers to a group of animals, which comes from Old English flocc, meaning...
  • Word For The Day - abstruse

    05/11/2018 7:43:16 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 14 replies
    www.dictionary.com ^ | 05/11/2018 | Red Badger
    ============================================================================== In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". ab·struse abˈstro͞os,əbˈstro͞os/ adjective: abstruse difficult to understand; obscure. "an abstruse philosophical inquiry" synonyms: obscure, arcane, esoteric, little known, recherché, rarefied, recondite, difficult, hard, puzzling, perplexing, cryptic, enigmatic, Delphic, complex, complicated, involved, over/above one's head, incomprehensible, unfathomable, impenetrable, mysterious "her abstruse arguments were hard to follow" Origin: late 16th century: from Latin abstrusus ‘put away, hidden,’ from abstrudere ‘conceal,’ from ab- ‘from’ + trudere ‘to push.’
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(5/7/18)Anathema

    05/07/2018 7:18:05 AM PDT · by left that other site · 13 replies
    Merriam Webster | 5/7/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(5/7/18)Anathema Word of the Day : May 7th, 2018 anathema noun uh-NATH-uh-muh • • Definition 1 a : one that is cursed by ecclesiastical authority b : someone or something intensely disliked or loathed — usually used as a predicate nominative 2 a : a ban or curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by excommunication b : the denunciation of something as accursed c : a vigorous denunciation : curse Did You Know? From a historical perspective, anathema can be considered a one-word oxymoron. When it first appeared in English in the 1500s, it...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(4/23/18)Vulnerable

    04/23/2018 6:03:03 AM PDT · by left that other site · 11 replies
    WORD FOR THE DAY(4/23/18) Word of the Day : April 23, 2018 vulnerable • • • Definition 1 : capable of being physically or emotionally wounded 2 : open to attack or damage : assailable Did You Know? Vulnerable is ultimately derived from the Latin noun vulnus ("wound"). Vulnus led to the Latin verb vulnerare, meaning "to wound," and then to the Late Latin adjective vulnerabilis, which became vulnerable in English in the early 1600s. Vulnerable originally meant "capable of being physically wounded" or "having the power to wound" (the latter is now obsolete), but since the late 1600s,...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(4/16/18)loquacious

    04/16/2018 11:58:00 AM PDT · by left that other site · 13 replies
    Merriam Webster | 4/16/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(4/16/18) loquacious adjective lo·qua·cious \ lō-ˈkwā-shəs \ Definition of loquacious 1 : full of excessive talk : wordy 2 : given to fluent or excessive talk : garrulous — loquaciously adverb — loquaciousness noun Examples of loquacious in a Sentence 1. … long-cultivated dislikes and resentments, combined with a general expectation of coming apocalypse. He talked about these topics in a manner that managed to be tight-lipped and loquacious at the same time. —Ian Frazier,  New Yorker,  22 & 29 Dec. 2003 2. … the flaw of the genre is not in betraying the loquacious John...
  • WORD FOR THE DAY(4/9/18)querulous

    04/09/2018 8:06:45 AM PDT · by left that other site · 16 replies
    Merriam Webster | 4/9/18
    WORD FOR THE DAY(4/9/18) querulous adjective quer·u·lous \ ˈkwer-yə-ləs , -ə-ləs also ˈkwir- \ •   •   •   •   •   •   Definition of querulous 1 : habitually complaining 2 : fretful, whining • a querulous voice — querulously adverb — querulousness noun Examples of querulous in a Sentence 1. car trips that were frequently spoiled by a couple of querulous passengers in the back Recent Examples of querulous from the Web • Kate Kearney-Patch's Marína, the old nurse who knows how to soothe the querulous personalities around, doesn't want the spotlight, but her presence...
  • Word For The Day - vicissitude

    04/06/2018 7:12:51 AM PDT · by Red Badger · 19 replies
    www.dictionary.com ^ | 04-06-2018 | Red Badger
    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ vicissitude noun 1. a change or variation occurring in the course of something. 2. interchange or alternation, as of states or things. 3. vicissitudes, successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune; ups and downs: They remained friends through the vicissitudes of 40 years. 4. regular change or succession of one state or thing to another. 5. change; mutation; mutability. vi·cis·si·tude vəˈsisəˌt(y)o͞od/ noun plural noun: vicissitudes a change...