Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 13, 2016 is: hors de combat • \or-duh-kohng-BAH\  • adverb or adjective : out of combat : disabled Examples: The quarterback suffered a concussion in last week's game that put him hors de combat until cleared to play by the team's doctor. "'Tis the season of software upgrades and updates. Yesterday the Windows machine took it into its head to update i...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 12, 2016 is: Methuselah • \muh-THOO-zuh-luh\  • noun 1 : an ancestor of Noah held to have lived 969 years 2 : an oversize wine bottle holding about six liters Examples: The winery has started bottling their champagne in Methuselahs. "People still write of the Krug 1928 as the best bottle of wine made in the last century. A bottle of it sold in 2009 fo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 11, 2016 is: fillip • \FIL-up\  • verb 1 a : to strike by holding the nail of a finger against the ball of the thumb and then suddenly releasing it from that position b : to make a filliping motion with 2 : to project quickly by or as if by a filliping motion : snap 3 : to urge on : stimulate Examples: As their parents finished up dinner, the two boys...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 10, 2016 is: objurgation • \ahb-jer-GAY-shun\  • noun : a harsh rebuke Examples: "I had early formed my opinion of him; and, in spite of Miss Murray's objurgations, was fully convinced that he was a man of strong sense, firm faith, and ardent piety, but thoughtful and stern." — Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey, 1847 "It always amazes me to sit at a sporting ev...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 9, 2016 is: daedal • \DEE-dul\  • adjective 1 a : skillful, artistic b : intricate 2 : adorned with many things Examples: The filmmaker makes daedal use of lighting effects and camera angles to create a noirish atmosphere. "Applying makeup on trains … is not easy. That innumerable Japanese women choose to do so while commuting should, therefore, be se...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 8, 2016 is: qui vive • \kee-VEEV\  • noun : alert, lookout — used in the phrase on the qui vive Examples: "All right. Lieutenant Howard, go see how the artillery wagons are managing, and on the way tell Major Mason that I need him again. Stay on the qui vive; you may find evidence of liquor." — William T. Vollmann, The Dying Grass: A Novel of the Nez...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 7, 2016 is: bamboozle • \bam-BOO-zul\  • verb 1 : to deceive by underhanded methods : dupe, hoodwink 2 : to confuse, frustrate, or throw off thoroughly or completely Examples: "Some consumers are so bamboozled by slick sales talk that they pay extra for amazingly bad deals. Just one example, a $49.99, four-year service plan on a DVD player that sells...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 6, 2016 is: salient • \SAIL-yunt\  • adjective 1 : moving by leaps or springs : jumping 2 : jetting upward 3 : standing out conspicuously : prominent; especially : of notable significance Examples: The speech was filled with so much twisted rhetoric that it was hard to identify any salient points. "Among the projects: … an $18 million makeover of Free...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 5, 2016 is: ziggurat • \ZIG-uh-rat\  • noun : an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower consisting of a lofty pyramidal structure built in successive stages with outside staircases and a shrine at the top; also : a structure or object of similar form Examples: "The building itself is certainly distinctive: The bronze-meshed ziggurat moves upwards toward th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 4, 2016 is: muckrake • \MUCK-rayk\  • verb : to search out and publicly expose real or apparent misconduct of a prominent individual or business Examples: Arn is an aggressive reporter, never afraid to ask difficult questions, hound evasive sources, or muckrake when things appear suspect. "From his groundbreaking days of editing the iconic liberal mag...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 3, 2016 is: vulpine • \VUL-pine\  • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a fox 2 : foxy, crafty Examples: "There is something Gatsby-esque about the whole story. [Bernie] Madoff is a clear proxy for Meyer Wolfsheim, the vulpine, self-satisfied criminal seducer." — Daniel Gross, Newsweek, 12 Jan. 2009 "Flashing a vulpine grin, he's not a typica...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 2, 2016 is: wane • \WAYN\  • verb 1 : to decrease in size, extent, or degree 2 : to fall gradually from power, prosperity, or influence Examples: "Last year, the station offered fans the chance to buy the CD online for the first time and also sold it in Target stores as usual. But unlike previous years, the limited-run compilation didn't sell out imme...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 1, 2016 is: thaumaturgy • \THAW-muh-ter-jee\  • noun : the performance of miracles; specifically : magic Examples: "The place is still a favourite pilgrimage, but there seems to be some doubt as to which Saint John has chosen it as the scene of his posthumous thaumaturgy; for, according to a local guide-book, it is equally frequented on the feasts of...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 30, 2016 is: soporific • \sah-puh-RIFF-ik\  • adjective 1 a : causing or tending to cause sleep b : tending to dull awareness or alertness 2 : of, relating to, or marked by sleepiness or lethargy Examples: The soporific effects of the stuffy classroom and the lecturer's droning voice left more than one student fighting to stay awake. "The prose sparkl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 29, 2016 is: cabbage • \KAB-ij\  • verb : steal, filch Examples: "When these ruffians were in a relatively mild mood they were content to chase us off the diamond, but when their glands were flowing freely they also cabbaged our bats, balls and gloves." — H. L. Mencken, Happy Days, 1940 "More and more people are trying to get their 'news' free from on...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 28, 2016 is: vicissitude • \vuh-SISS-uh-tood\  • noun 1 : the quality or state of being changeable : mutability 2 a : a favorable or unfavorable event or situation that occurs by chance : a fluctuation of state or condition b : a difficulty or hardship usually beyond one's control Examples: "The vicissitudes of life strike us all. But when life gets d...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 27, 2016 is: dynasty • \DYE-nuh-stee\  • noun 1 : a succession of rulers of the same line of descent 2 : a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time Examples: "A scion of the Patterson-Medill publishing dynasty (her great-grandfather and her father founded the Chicago Tribune and the New York Daily News, respectively...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 26, 2016 is: wistful • \WIST-ful\  • adjective 1 : full of yearning or desire tinged with melancholy; also : inspiring such yearning 2 : musingly sad : pensive Examples: As the car pulled away, Lea cast one last wistful glance at the house where she'd spent so many happy years. "The book left me in wistful reverie, envisioning that shimmering pond and...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 25, 2016 is: genteel • \jen-TEEL\  • adjective 1 a : of or relating to the gentry or upper class b : elegant or graceful in manner, appearance, or shape c : free from vulgarity or rudeness : polite 2 : marked by false delicacy, prudery, or affectation Examples: "The Hamptons, once so genteel, with their sepulchral light and estates hidden behind neatl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 24, 2016 is: riddle • \RID-ul\  • noun 1 : a mystifying, misleading, or puzzling question posed as a problem to be solved or guessed : conundrum, enigma 2 : something or someone difficult to understand Examples: Despite Nick's outgoing nature, he doesn't share many details about his background and personal life, so he remains something of a riddle. "S...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 23, 2016 is: impute • \im-PYOOT\  • verb 1 : to lay the responsibility or blame for often falsely or unjustly 2 : to credit to a person or a cause Examples: "Now, one comment in reaction to my essay said that by talking about the city's problems and not its promise, I was in the business of tearing down Syracuse. At LeMoyne, I was taught that the most...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 22, 2016 is: protocol • \PROH-tuh-kawl\  • noun 1 : an original draft or record of a document or transaction 2 : a preliminary memorandum of diplomatic negotiation 3 : a code prescribing strict adherence to correct etiquette and precedence 4 : a set of conventions for formatting data in an electronic communications system 5 : a detailed plan of a scie...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 21, 2016 is: Kafkaesque • \kahf-kuh-ESK\  • adjective : of, relating to, or suggestive of Franz Kafka or his writings; especially : having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality Examples: "Dealing with the Kafkaesque health system, for example, would be enough to make anyone 'agitated, aggressive, irritable or temperamental.'" — Logan...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 20, 2016 is: nictitate • \NIK-tuh-tayt\  • verb 1 : to close and open quickly : to shut one eye briefly : wink 2 : to close and open the eyelids Examples: "Dermaq's third eyelids nictitated over his corneas as though to wash away the image, and momentarily he looked away, then back at his superior." — Charles L. Harness, Firebird, 1981 "The hump shift...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 19, 2016 is: meshuggener • \muh-SHUG-uh-ner\  • noun : a foolish or crazy person Examples: "What kind of meshuggener would apply the small plates concept to Jewish comfort food, which is all about abundance and appetite?" — Tracey Macleod, The Independent (United Kingdom), 16 Dec. 2011 "Whoever decided to remake The Producers in 2005 was a meshuggener...