Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 23, 2015 is: null • \NULL\  • adjective 1 : having no legal or binding force : invalid 2 : amounting to nothing : nil 3 : having no value : insignificant 4 : having no elements Examples: The court will declare the city ordinance null if it is found to be in conflict with state law. "Michigan voters in November rejected two ballot questions that would ess...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 22, 2015 is: quidnunc • \KWID-nunk\  • noun : a person who seeks to know all the latest news or gossip : busybody Examples: We were naturally curious when the moving van appeared in the Michaelsons' driveway, but the neighborhood quidnunc, Mrs. Dyer, had already heard that Mr. Michaelson was being transferred to a new job out of town. "To spend time with...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 21, 2015 is: omnipotent • \ahm-NIP-uh-tunt\  • adjective : having virtually unlimited authority or influence Examples: Small children often believe their parents to be omnipotent, capable of commanding any situation or resolving any problem they find before them. "As test scores become the omnipotent factor in what determines an effective educator, a suc...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 20, 2015 is: ailurophile • \eye-LOOR-uh-fyle\  • noun : a cat fancier : a lover of cats Examples: Ailurophiles, young and old, are sure to love the art museum's new exhibit featuring paintings and photographs of felines, ranging from tabbies to man-eaters. "Yes, it's book one of a series…. And yes, the primary villain is a cat, whereas I'm an unashamed a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 19, 2015 is: desiccate • \DESS-ih-kayt\  • verb 1 : to dry up or become dried up 2 : to preserve (a food) by drying : dehydrate 3 : to drain of emotional or intellectual vitality Examples: Weeks of blazing heat along with a prolonged lack of rain have desiccated many of the plants in our garden. "Since these insects desiccate easily, they will build tunn...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 18, 2015 is: wimple • \WIM-pul\  • verb 1 : to cover with or as if with a wimple : veil 2 : to ripple 3 : (chiefly Scottish) to follow a winding course : meander Examples: A thick fog wimpled the shoreline so that the only thing that could be seen from the distance was the light winking from the top of the lighthouse. "In retrospect, [The Sound of Music]...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 17, 2015 is: rebarbative • \rih-BAR-buh-tiv\  • adjective : repellent, irritating Examples: The cantankerous professor found the music, clothing, and slang favored by her students to be rebarbative. "For all the complaints about his abrasiveness, the shadow chancellor is simply doing his job.… He once gave me a heartfelt radio interview in which he sugge...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 16, 2015 is: hat trick • \HAT-TRICK\  • noun 1 : the retiring of three batsmen with three consecutive balls by a bowler in cricket 2 : the scoring of three goals in one game by a single player 3 : a series of three victories, successes, or related accomplishments Examples: "Scoring a celestial hat trick, the space shuttle Discovery placed its third satel...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 15, 2015 is: stentorian • \sten-TOR-ee-un\  • adjective : extremely loud Examples: The foreman barked out his orders in a stentorian tone that could be heard clearly over the din of the factory's machinery. "[Lawrence] Tanter … was the first voice to stand out among the bedlam when the Lakers came from behind to beat Boston in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals....

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 14, 2015 is: bilk • \BILK\  • verb 1 : to block the free development of : frustrate 2 a : to cheat out of something valuable : defraud b : to evade payment of or to 3 : to slip away from Examples: The investigation revealed that the garage had been bilking motorists for repairs that had never been made. "Two women were convicted Thursday of taking part i...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 13, 2015 is: febrile • \FEB-ryle\  • adjective : marked or caused by fever : feverish Examples: The patient exhibited a rash and febrile symptoms that were consistent with a certain rare tropical infection. "Febrile seizures typically occur between the ages of 6 months and 6 years old. They happen when a fever spikes very quickly...." - Vikki Ortiz Healy...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 12, 2015 is: lotusland • \LOH-tus-land\  • noun 1 : a place inducing contentment especially through offering an idyllic living situation 2 : a state or an ideal marked by contentment often achieved through self-indulgence Examples: The tropical resort was stunning, but after two weeks of recreation and relaxation, I was ready to leave lotusland and retur...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 11, 2015 is: verdant • \VER-dunt\  • adjective 1 a : green in tint or color b : green with growing plants 2 : unripe in experience or judgment : green Examples: The golf course was noted for its tricky hazards and lush, verdant borders along its fairways. "Her favorite part of the room was the expansive window looking out over a verdant landscape of hill...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 10, 2015 is: juncture • \JUNK-cher\  • noun 1 : joint, connection 2 : a point of time; especially : one made critical by a concurrence of circumstances Examples: "At this juncture in the editing process," said Philip, "it is important that all facts have been double-checked and sources verified." "Obasohan's absence came at a critical juncture when the g...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 9, 2015 is: bicoastal • \bye-KOAST-ul\  • adjective : of or relating to or living or working on both the east and west coasts of the United States Examples: Richard and Laura had become a bicoastal couple, often shuttling between their primary home in New York and their vacation ranch in San Diego. "Mish grew up in Southern California and now lives near...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 8, 2015 is: travail • \truh-VAIL\  • noun 1 a : work especially of a painful or laborious nature : toil b : a physical or mental exertion or piece of work : task, effort c : agony, torment 2 : childbirth, labor Examples: "Japan's electronics industry has been able to hold on to its status as a powerhouse exporter in spite of numerous travails, such as th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 7, 2015 is: anfractuous • \an-FRAK-chuh-wus\  • adjective : full of windings and intricate turnings : tortuous Examples: "Dr. X almost never left the boundaries of Old Shanghai, which was part of a separate district; more to the point, he stuck to a small but anfractuous subregion…." - Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age, 1995 "The anfractuous remainder of...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 6, 2015 is: purport • \per-PORT\  • verb 1 : to have the often specious appearance of being, intending, or claiming (something implied or inferred); also : claim 2 : intend, purpose Examples: The authors purport to offer irrefutable proof of a conspiracy, but in reality their book gives us nothing but unproven conjecture. "A disclosure requirement does n...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 5, 2015 is: enjoin • \in-JOIN\  • verb 1 : to direct or impose by authoritative order or with urgent admonition 2 a : forbid, prohibit b : to prohibit by a judicial order : put an injunction on Examples: "And yet, to satisfy this good old man, / I would bend under any heavy weight / That he'll enjoin me to." - William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 4, 2015 is: incisive • \in-SYE-siv\  • adjective : impressively direct and decisive (as in manner or presentation) Examples: "Albee, 84 and frail from recent heart surgery, smiled broadly as he came on stage to take a bow Saturday. He knows that 'Virginia Woolf' is the play that will forever be synonymous with his name, and he could not have hoped for a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 3, 2015 is: sounding board • \SOUND-ing-BORD\  • noun : a person or group on whom one tries out an idea or opinion as a means of evaluating it Examples: Mika and Meg have used one another as sounding boards for the 15 years they've shared an office. "Slade had met with Roelandt in the past to discuss some of the inventor's ideas. He served as a sounding...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 2, 2015 is: capricious • \kuh-PRISH-us\  • adjective : governed or characterized by caprice : impulsive, unpredictable Examples: The court ruled that the punishment was arbitrary and capricious. "Some of her songs are humorous, even capricious, though many reflect on the more hidden of life's injustices." - St. Augustine (Florida) Record, February 27, 20...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 1, 2015 is: diapause • \DYE-uh-pawz\  • noun : a period of physiologically enforced dormancy between periods of activity Examples: Although insects most often enter diapause when they are pupae, diapause can occur during any life stage. "Last week I discovered dozens of Monarch butterfly eggs at the ranch when a cold front pushed … migrants down to the T...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 31, 2015 is: refluent • \REH-floo-unt\  • adjective : flowing back Examples: "And in haste the refluent ocean / Fled away from the shore and left the line of the sand-beach / Covered with waifs of the tide…." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, 1847 "… and I could imagine that the clean water broke away from her sides in refluent wavelets as though...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 30, 2015 is: amphibology • \am-fuh-BAH-luh-jee\  • noun : a sentence or phrase that can be interpreted in more than one way Examples: Still feeling some of the effects of her recent cold, Tara was bemused by the amphibology on the café's menu: "Try our soup-you won't get better." "I have started an amphibology collection: my favourite to date is the gara...