Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 11, 2018 is: recuse \rih-KYOOZ\ verb : to disqualify (oneself) as judge in a particular case; broadly : to remove (oneself) from participation to avoid a conflict of interest Examples: Because she was a frequent customer at the plaintiff's shop, the judge recused herself from the case. "If HB 1225 becomes law in its current form, any county official w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 10, 2018 is: instauration \in-staw-RAY-shun\ noun 1 : restoration after decay, lapse, or dilapidation 2 : an act of instituting or establishing something Examples: "Once, humanity dreamed of the great instauration—a rebirth of ancient wisdom that would compel us into a New Age…." — Knute Berger, Seattle Weekly, 14 Dec. 2005 "Showing that we can set qu...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 9, 2018 is: mnemonic \nih-MAH-nik\ adjective 1 : assisting or intended to assist memory; also : of or relating to a technique of improving the memory 2 : of or relating to memory Examples: James taught his students the mnemonic sentence "King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti" to help them remember the levels of biological classification (Kingdom, P...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 8, 2018 is: embargo \im-BAHR-goh\ noun 1 : an order of a government prohibiting the departure of commercial ships from its ports 2 : a legal prohibition on commerce 3 : stoppage, impediment; especially : prohibition 4 : an order by a common carrier or public regulatory agency prohibiting or restricting freight transportation Examples: "The embargo has...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 7, 2018 is: carp \KAHRP\ verb : to find fault or complain querulously Examples: "The play begins in 1619, three years after his death, when a few of his former colleagues are carping about the pirated versions of his plays now cluttering London stages and bookstalls." — Alexis Soloski, The New York Times, 25 July 2017 "Cynthia began her work day with...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 6, 2018 is: logomachy \loh-GAH-muh-kee\ noun 1 : a dispute over or about words 2 : a controversy marked by verbiage Examples: "All politics is local, and that goes double for school politics. But just what does 'local' mean? Georgians are going to have an argument about that word between now and the November referendum on the proposed Opportunity Scho...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 5, 2018 is: spavined \SPAV-ind\ adjective 1 : affected with swelling 2 : old and decrepit : over-the-hill Examples: The team is sadly spavined, and the new coaching staff will have to look to rebuild over the next couple of seasons. "Large and medium-sized canvases in varying stages of completion covered most of the wall space in the studio, a long, w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 4, 2018 is: blench \BLENCH\ verb : to draw back or turn aside from lack of courage : flinch Examples: "I blenched when my son first introduced me to the initials IRL, meaning In Real Life, as opposed to the online world where he and his generation spend so much of their time." — Allison Pearson, The Daily Telegraph (London), 26 Apr. 2017 "If you're a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 3, 2018 is: tucket \TUCK-ut\ noun : a fanfare on a trumpet Examples: "By this time the tucket was sounding cheerily in the morning, and from all sides Sir Daniel's men poured into the main street and formed before the inn." — Robert Louis Stevenson, The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses, 1888 "… Leonard Bernstein came on to lead a thunderous perfor...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 2, 2018 is: divest \dye-VEST\ verb 1 a : to deprive or dispossess especially of property, authority, or title b : to undress or strip especially of clothing, ornament, or equipment c : rid, free 2 : to take away from a person Examples: The court's ruling does not divest the family of their ability to use the property. "A news release went out from Gov...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 1, 2018 is: preternatural \pree-ter-NATCH-uh-rul\ adjective 1 : existing outside of nature 2 : exceeding what is natural or regular : extraordinary 3 : inexplicable by ordinary means; especially : psychic Examples: "[Steven] Spielberg has ridden his preternatural talent to a career that has brought in nearly $10 billion at the box office, around $3 bi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 31, 2018 is: irrupt \ih-RUPT\ verb 1 : to rush in forcibly or violently 2 : (of a natural population) to undergo a sudden upsurge in numbers especially when natural ecological balances and checks are disturbed 3 : to become active or violent especially suddenly : erupt Examples: "Montaigne was attuned to the kind of 'involuntary' memory that would one...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 30, 2018 is: tincture \TINK-cher\ noun 1 : a solution of a medicinal substance in an alcoholic solvent 2 a : a characteristic quality : cast b : a slight admixture : trace 3 : color, tint 4 : a heraldic metal, color, or fur Examples: "You can find turmeric in powder culinary spice form and in its whole root form, as well as in tincture, tablets, and ca...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 29, 2018 is: anthropomorphic \an-thruh-puh-MOR-fik\ adjective 1 : described or thought of as having a human form or human attributes 2 : ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things Examples: "This animated … comedy, about a depressed horse living among other anthropomorphic animals in a version of Hollywood, somehow explores the depth of human e...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2018 is: popinjay \PAH-pin-jay\ noun : a strutting supercilious person Examples: "Who does that guy think he is?" Amanda asked in regard to the popinjay who strolled into the restaurant demanding to be seated instantly. "[Ryan] Gosling plays the motormouthed popinjay, a tough talker who's actually quite skittish about his bloody job." — Sean P. Mea...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 27, 2018 is: nebulous \NEB-yuh-lus\ adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a nebula 2 : indistinct, vague Examples: "There's nothing quite like a literary trilogy. As a reader, there's something wonderful about seeing a story unfold over the course of three books; you get more detailed narrative than in a single book without having to deal with t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 26, 2018 is: retrodict \ret-ruh-DIKT\ verb : to utilize present information or ideas to infer or explain (a past event or state of affairs) Examples: Geologists have retrodicted the positions of the continents millions of years ago. "PhD students in my lab are developing new ways to retrodict maize production through time, drawing on tree-ring data for...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 25, 2018 is: mansuetude \MAN-swih-tood\ noun : the quality or state of being gentle : meekness, tameness Examples: "… he espied over the plateau … the old brown villa itself, rich in memories of one after another of the family of the Antonines. As he approached it, such reminiscences crowded upon him, above all of the life there of the aged Antoninus P...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 24, 2018 is: contrite \KAHN-tryte\ adjective : feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming Examples: "… York did in fact say he was sorry and was contrite about making that mistake." — Mark Purdy, The San Jose Mercury News, 1 Jan. 2017 "… several lawmakers called for stronger rules that compel companies to meet minimum cybersecurity...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 23, 2018 is: synchronicity \sing-kruh-NISS-uh-tee\ noun 1 : the quality or fact of being synchronous 2 : the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of ca...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 22, 2018 is: leonine \LEE-uh-nyne\ adjective : of, relating to, suggestive of, or resembling a lion Examples: "Jamie has a leonine aspect, with a high clear brow and soft curls eddying over his ears and along his collar." — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, Harper's, March 2009 "You're a kid; you want to escape. Maybe to Edwardian England, maybe to an island of danc...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 21, 2018 is: extenuate \ik-STEN-yuh-wayt\ verb 1 : to lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of by making partial excuses : mitigate 2 : to lessen the strength or effect of Examples: Ryan's tardiness to work that morning was extenuated by the fact that his first meeting of the day was cancelled. "If I did any wrong, as I may have done muc...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 20, 2018 is: bespoke \bih-SPOHK\ adjective 1 : custom-made 2 : dealing in or producing custom-made articles Examples: "Matt, a lifelong collector of vintage and bespoke men's suiting, takes dressing for an occasion very seriously: black tie the first evening; blue jackets the second." — Pilar Guzman, Traveler, December 2017 "Customers stepped up for bo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 19, 2018 is: trammel \TRAM-ul\ noun 1 : something impeding activity, progress, or freedom : restraint — usually used in plural 2 : a net for catching birds or fish; especially : trammel net Examples: In her memoir, the singer asserts that her musicianship was ultimately hampered by the trammels of fame. "We learn a good deal about [Doc] Holliday: his g...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 18, 2018 is: homiletic \hah-muh-LET-ik\ adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a homily 2 : of or relating to the art of preaching; also : preachy Examples: "The first part is full of homiletic insight, the second replete with postmodern angst, the third quite beautiful in its claim to faith—even the somewhat attenuated faith of our present age."...