Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 6, 2017 is: catercorner \KAT-ee-kor-ner\ adverb or adjective : in a diagonal or oblique position : kitty-corner Examples: The elaborate water fountain is catercorner to the building's entrance, so it's the first thing you see when you enter the foyer. "A few doors down (near the sushi place in the same strip mall, catercorner from the spiral-cut ham shop)...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 5, 2017 is: adumbrate \AD-um-brayt\ verb 1 : to foreshadow vaguely : intimate 2 : to suggest, disclose, or outline partially 3 : overshadow, obscure Examples: "The opening scenes not only set forth the locale, the leading characters, and the first stage of the plot, but also adumbrate everything to come." — Richard Alleva, The Commonweal, 11 Sept. 2015 "H...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 4, 2017 is: redoubt \rih-DOUT\ noun 1 a : a small usually temporary enclosed defensive work b : a defended position : protective barrier 2 : a secure retreat : stronghold Examples: From his redoubt on the ninth floor, the fugitive could see the line of police cars that had surrounded the building. "Near Moore's home were the remains of the old earth walls...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 3, 2017 is: oracular \aw-RAK-yuh-ler\ adjective 1 : resembling an oracle (as in solemnity of delivery) 2 : of, relating to, or being an oracle Examples: "Wheeler had Bohr's rounded brow and soft features, as well as his way of speaking about physics in oracular undertones." — James Gleick, Genius: The Life & Science of Richard Feynman, 1992 "The New York...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 2, 2017 is: plagiary \PLAY-jee-air-ee\ noun 1 : (archaic) one that plagiarizes 2 : plagiarism Examples: "When Amy Heckerling updated and reworked Emma into her 1995 film Clueless, she was not plagiarising Jane Austen, she was creating an imaginary conversation with a classic novel. If I'd opened this piece by writing, 'To steal or not to steal, that is th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 1, 2017 is: haywire \HAY-wyre\ adverb or adjective 1 : being out of order or having gone wrong 2 : emotionally or mentally upset or out of control : crazy Examples: The company's e-mailing system went haywire and sent out multiple copies of the advertisement to its subscribers. "While our immune system generally keeps us safe and wards off illness, someti...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 31, 2017 is: whirligig \WER-lih-gig\ noun 1 : a child's toy having a whirling motion 2 a : one that continuously whirls or changes b : a whirling or circling course (as of events) Examples: "As 2016 draws mercifully to a close, just what, exactly, are we to make of this bewildering whirligig of a year?" — Brian Chasnoff, The San Antonio News-Express, 30 De...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 30, 2017 is: abdicate \AB-dih-kayt\ verb 1 : to renounce a throne, high office, dignity, or function 2 : to relinquish (something, such as sovereign power) formally 3 : to cast off : discard Examples: "[The Duke of Windsor] abdicated the throne of the British Empire but remained king of men's style all his life. One of his great tricks was to elevate humbl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 29, 2017 is: skosh \SKOHSH\ noun : a small amount : bit, smidgen Examples: The barista sprinkled a skosh of fresh ginger onto the milky surface of the latte. "… I learned that the Turbo S is livable as an everyday car, with a ride quality a skosh firmer than a standard 911." — Tom Voelk, The New York Times, 16 Sept. 2016 See Privacy Policy at https://art19...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 28, 2017 is: unabashed \un-uh-BASHT\ adjective : not embarrassed or ashamed by something that has happened or been done or said : undisguised, unapologetic See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 27, 2017 is: concatenate \kahn-KAT-uh-nayt\ verb : to link together in a series or chain Examples: "While the stories are separate, they're concatenated in that characters recur from story to story, so while one might be a major player in one tale, he might be only alluded to in a subsequent narrative." — Kirkus Reviews, 15 Feb. 2013 "To test cockatoos' pl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 26, 2017 is: torpedo \tor-PEE-doh\ noun 1 : electric ray 2 : a weapon (such as a thin cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile) for destroying ships by rupturing their hulls below the waterline 3 : a large sandwich on a long split roll with any of a variety of fillings : submarine Examples: Among the undersea wreckage, the divers found an unexplode...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 25, 2017 is: inanition \in-uh-NISH-un\ noun 1 : the exhausted condition that results from lack of food and water 2 : the absence or loss of social, moral, or intellectual vitality or vigor Examples: "My friend had no breakfast himself, for it was one of his peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would permit himself no food, and I have known him...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 24, 2017 is: malleable \MAL-ee-uh-bul\ adjective 1 : capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer or by the pressure of rollers 2 a : capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences b : having a capacity for adaptive change Examples: "Lead is insidiously useful. It's hard but malleable, is relatively common, melts at...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 23, 2017 is: nudnik • \NOOD-nik (the "OO" is as in "good")\  • noun : a person who is a bore or nuisance Examples: James worried that he would never finish his work if the office nudnik didn't quit hanging around his cubicle. "Others may enjoy its gentle comedy, its plentiful caricatures and easy jokes, its lightweight tone. However, I found most of its ch...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 22, 2017 is: acerbic • \uh-SER-bik\  • adjective : acid in temper, mood, or tone Examples: "It was [Dave Chappelle's] first comedy special in 17 years, and even though the specials were filmed in 2015 and 2016, they confirmed that Dave still had his … acerbic wit and impeccable comedic timing…." — Michael Harriot, The Root, 29 Mar. 2017 "It's tempting to v...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 21, 2017 is: philately • \fuh-LAT-uh-lee\  • noun : the collection and study of postage and imprinted stamps : stamp collecting Examples: "With philately, it's not just the stamp that makes it valuable, but often the cancellation mark. Also, errors are considered good things." — Nancy Kennedy, The Citrus County (Florida) Chronicle, 5 June 2015 "Evidently,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 20, 2017 is: baroque • \buh-ROHK\  • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of artistic expression prevalent especially in the 17th century that is marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension 2 : character...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 19, 2017 is: rebus • \REE-bus\  • noun : a representation of syllables or words by means of pictures or symbols; also : a riddle made up of such pictures or symbols Examples: The answer to yesterday's rebus, which showed a man on an ark, a spider web, and a spoon stirring coffee, was "Noah Webster." "The books are rebuses: They combine normally written wor...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 18, 2017 is: luscious • \LUSH-us\  • adjective 1 : having a delicious sweet taste or smell 2 : sexually attractive 3 a : richly luxurious or appealing to the senses b : excessively ornate Examples: "Stockman's abstract paintings … are simple yet luscious, with thick, sensuous, curved shapes in intense, vibrating hues." — Steffie Nelson, W, February 2017 "H...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 17, 2017 is: castigate • \KASS-tuh-gayt\  • verb : to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism Examples: Before sentencing, the judge angrily castigated the two young defendants for their malicious act of vandalism. "You know, if [dandelions] weren't castigated as the No. 1 lawn weed, we all probably would love them. With their sunny little face...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 16, 2017 is: hoodlum • \HOOD-lum\  • noun 1 : thug; especially : a violent criminal 2 : a young ruffian Examples: The shaken couple tried to give the police an accurate physical description of the hoodlums who assailed them in the parking lot. "The iconic opening shot of director Danny Boyle's 1996 'Trainspotting' was of junkie hoodlum Mark Renton's feet p...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 15, 2017 is: peregrinate • \PAIR-uh-gruh-nayt\  • verb 1 : to travel especially on foot : walk 2 : to walk or travel over : traverse Examples: "All my traveling life, 40 years of peregrinating Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania, I have thought constantly of home…." — Paul Theroux, The Smithsonian Magazine, September 2009 "Hundreds of passenger trains...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 14, 2017 is: indurate • \IN-duh-rut\  • adjective : physically or morally hardened Examples: "Anne-James Chaton, his indurate mien impassive and poker-faced, stands as still and stiff as a motorway signpost…." — Robert Barry, The Quietus, 24 July 2013 "In 1940, wildcat drillers bored about 900 feet into the indurate basalt in search of natural gas; they fo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 13, 2017 is: microcosm • \MY-kruh-kah-zum\  • noun 1 : a little world; especially : the human race or human nature seen as an epitome of the world or the universe 2 : a community or other unity that is an epitome of a larger unity Examples: "The Mekong River Basin is a microcosm of the Earth's freshwater resources—it includes almost all of the natural form...