Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 7, 2015 is: diapason • \dye-uh-PAY-zun\  • noun 1 a : the principal foundation stop in the organ extending through the complete range of the instrument b : the entire range of musical tones 2 a : tuning fork b : a standard of pitch Examples: We knew the audience enjoyed Heather's stand-up comedy from the diapasons of laughter that erupted throughout h...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 6, 2015 is: inimical • \in-NIM-ih-kul\  • adjective 1 : being adverse often by reason of hostility or malevolence 2 a : having the disposition of an enemy : hostile b : reflecting or indicating hostility : unfriendly Examples: The mayor's proposal received an inimical response from members of the town council. "Profiling and other means of applying st...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 5, 2015 is: moxie • \MAHK-see\  • noun 1 : energy, pep 2 : courage, determination 3 : know-how Examples: Accustomed to being a wallflower, Morris admired his friend for having the moxie to walk up to a girl he didn't know and ask her to dance. "No, Elvin didn't win last weekend's prestigious Beast of the East Tournament, but he did have a good run to...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 4, 2015 is: quotidian • \kwoh-TID-ee-un\  • adjective 1 : occurring every day 2 : belonging to each day : everyday 3 : commonplace, ordinary Examples: After weeks on the road, it felt good to be back to our quotidian routines. "Some of Bach's music is a prime example of how even works of genius can be destroyed in the wrong hands. The Cello Suites wer...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 3, 2015 is: ex parte • \eks-PAR-tee\  • adverb or adjective 1 : on or from one side or party only - used of legal proceedings 2 : from a one-sided or partisan point of view Examples: "The record of the case was of vast length and full of technicalities, it was discussed ex parte by vehement propagandists on both sides…." - Frederick Lewis Allen, Only...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 2, 2015 is: compunction • \kum-PUNK-shun\  • noun 1 : anxiety arising from awareness of guilt 2 : distress of mind over an anticipated action or result 3 : a twinge of misgiving : scruple Examples: A diligent editor, Michelle feels no compunction about deleting words and phrases from even the most beautifully written paragraph for the sake of space or...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 1, 2015 is: ambient • \AM-bee-unt\  • adjective : existing or present on all sides : encompassing 2 of electronic music : quiet and relaxing with melodies that repeat many times Examples: The chemicals must be kept at an ambient temperature of 70 degrees. "Liz Harris summons a wounded sound that suggests that ambient music, despite its intangibility,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 31, 2015 is: succumb • \suh-KUM\  • verb 1 : to yield to superior strength or force or overpowering appeal or desire 2 : to be brought to an end (such as death) by the effect of destructive or disruptive forces Examples: Rescuers feared that the missing mountain climbers would succumb to hypothermia. "When I look back on my life . . . I see moments whe...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 30, 2015 is: urticaria • \er-tuh-KAIR-ee-uh\  • noun : hives Examples: The first sign of the patient's allergic reaction to the medication was an outbreak of urticaria. "Chronic urticaria is common and can appear on any part of the body. Sunlight and heat can be triggers for some people, whereas cold is a trigger for others." - Keith Roach, Sun-Sentine...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 29, 2015 is: disingenuous • \dis-in-JEN-yuh-wuss\  • adjective : lacking in candor; also : giving a false appearance of simple frankness : calculating Examples: Be aware that their expressions of concern may in truth be disingenuous and self-serving. "He said the group's claims were wildly disingenuous and its objections politically and financially mot...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2015 is: retronym • \REH-troh-nim\  • noun : a term (such as analog watch or snail mail) that is newly created and adopted to distinguish the original or older version, form, or example of something from other, more recent versions, forms, or examples Examples: "… first came paperback book, differentiated from a book with a cloth or leather binding...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 27, 2015 is: incontrovertible • \in-kahn-truh-VER-tuh-bul\  • adjective : not open to question : indisputable Examples: The manager presented the clerk's time card as incontrovertible evidence that the employee had been late for work all five days the previous week. "No matter where you are on the political spectrum, the midterm elections produced one...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 26, 2015 is: legerdemain • \lej-er-duh-MAYN\  • noun 1 : sleight of hand 2 : a display of skill and adroitness Examples: The company's accountants used financial legerdemain to conceal its true revenues and avoided paying $2 million in taxes as a result. "U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is trying for a bit of late-session congressional magic to finally get some mo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 25, 2015 is: constellate • \KAHN-stuh-layt\  • verb 1 : to unite in a cluster 2 : to set or adorn with or as if with constellations Examples: "The members of the family seemed destined to constellate around a table, held by the gravity of our affection for each other." - Elsa M. Bowman, Christian Science Monitor, July 11, 1996 "The band is currently a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 24, 2015 is: evitable • \EV-uh-tuh-bul\  • adjective : capable of being avoided Examples: The investigator determined that the accident was certainly evitable and would not have happened if the driver hadn't been negligent. "Books, journals, conventions, and electronic networks have made provincial isolation easily evitable…." - James Sledd, English Jo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 23, 2015 is: anabasis • \uh-NAB-uh-sis\  • noun 1 : a going or marching up : advance; especially : a military advance 2 : a difficult and dangerous military retreat Examples: Reluctantly, the general ordered a hasty anabasis in the face of overwhelming opposing forces. "This German and Austro-Hungarian withdrawal from the Balkan Peninsula in the autumn...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 22, 2015 is: morganatic • \mor-guh-NAT-ik\  • adjective : of, relating to, or being a marriage between a member of a royal or noble family and a person of inferior rank in which the rank of the inferior partner remains unchanged and the children of the marriage do not succeed to the titles, fiefs, or entailed property of the parent of higher rank Examp...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 21, 2015 is: pandiculation • \pan-dik-yuh-LAY-shun\  • noun : a stretching and stiffening especially of the trunk and extremities (as when fatigued and drowsy or after waking from sleep) Examples: "He was coming on to yawn. His breath sucked in the draught from the window. His shoulders hunched, his legs stretched to their toes, he made claws of his fi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 20, 2015 is: septentrional • \sep-TEN-tree-uh-nul\  • adjective : northern Examples: When he tired of the long, septentrional winters of New England, Grandfather retired to Florida. "Once the tourists have filtered back to their septentrional homes in Europe, the men of Spetsai resume their norm of shooting birds…." - C. L. Sulzberger, The New York Tim...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 19, 2015 is: tintinnabulation • \tin-tuh-nab-yuh-LAY-shun\  • noun 1 : the ringing or sounding of bells 2 : a jingling or tinkling sound as if of bells Examples: The tintinnabulation that could be heard throughout the village was from the church on the common announcing morning services. "The song opens with the far-away electric tintinnabulation of an...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 18, 2015 is: gratuitous • \gruh-TOO-uh-tuss\  • adjective 1 : done or provided without recompense : free 2 : not called for by the circumstances : unwarranted Examples: John seems incapable of talking about anything he owns without a gratuitous reference to the amount of money he spent on it. "Each gratuitous 'Mr.,' 'Mrs.,' 'Miss,' or 'Ms.' appeared no...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 17, 2015 is: distemper • \dis-TEM-per\  • verb : to throw out of order Examples: Martha worried that employee morale at the company would be distempered if the rumored merger were to happen. "The night was rightfully dedicated to much of the new album, 'Come On a Get It' opening the set while the Schoolhouse Rock-influenced 'Stand' and bolder still 'Ro...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 16, 2015 is: warp speed • \WORP-SPEED\  • noun : the highest possible speed Examples: When Mario saw Helen enter the elevator, he grabbed his laptop and vaulted down the stairs at warp speed to get to the meeting room ahead of her. "You may have noticed that time, which is fleeting in the best of circumstances, has a way of moving at warp speed when yo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 15, 2015 is: Brobdingnagian • \brob-ding-NAG-ee-un\  • adjective : marked by tremendous size Examples: Our little dog was frightened by the Brobdingnagian proportions of the statues in the park. "In a clever new show at the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Amy Toscani has mined thrift-store trinkets for inspira...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 14, 2015 is: zillionaire • \zil-yuh-NAIR\  • noun : an immeasurably wealthy person Examples: "Unless you're a zillionaire, it's practically impossible to find an affordable and spacious place to live in the city," said Beth. "I tell the interns who come to work at OppenheimerFunds each summer, 'If you come to Wall St. to become a zillionaire, you proba...