Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 16, 2014 is: jink • \JINK\  • verb : to move quickly or unexpectedly with sudden turns and shifts (as in dodging) Examples: "Two fighters immediately launched missiles, and the American aircraft jinked up, then down to lose them." - Tom Clancy, Red Storm Rising, 1986 "Robben jinked and juked his way down Holland’s right wing seemingly at will, leaving h...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 15, 2014 is: rapport • \ra-POR\  • noun : relation : especially : relation marked by harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity Examples: Once our daughter had developed a rapport with her piano teacher, she began to show some real enthusiasm for learning and practicing the piano. "In general, the new superintendent will be responsible for promoting the i...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 14, 2014 is: aperçu • \ap-er-SOO\  • noun 1 : a brief survey or sketch : outline 2 : an immediate impression; especially : an intuitive insight Examples: "On every other page, there's a nice apercu: breath is 'cooked air'; perfume is 'liquid memory'; when astronauts are weightless in their spaceship, they lose their sense of smell…." - Anatole Broyard,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 13, 2014 is: Janus-faced • \JAY-nus-fayst\  • adjective : having two contrasting aspects; especially : duplicitous, two-faced Examples: The dancers wore grotesque Janus-faced masks, flashing faces of terror and pleasure as they twirled about the stage. "The helmsman decreased speed a fraction, steering the boat to mid-river. The surface was glassy and t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 12, 2014 is: abscond • \ab-SKAHND\  • verb : to depart secretly and hide oneself Examples: Before anyone could catch on to the fact that Roger was embezzling funds from the company, he had absconded to Mexico with over $100,000. "Turns out that if you get caught gatecrashing a White House state dinner with your wife, after which said wife absconds with...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 11, 2014 is: wyvern • \WYE-vern\  • noun : a mythical animal usually represented as a 2-legged winged creature resembling a dragon Examples: Symbols commonly used in heraldry include a number of mythical creatures, among them the winged wyvern. "Wyverns keep a silent watch over the people of Leicester from rooftops and steeples across the city. Their co...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 10, 2014 is: bootless • \BOOT-lus\  • adjective : useless, unprofitable Examples: We already knew that our mechanic was on vacation, so any attempt to call him at his garage would be bootless. "The international alliance that won the Cold War has been bootless in the case of Syria." -David Ignatius, Washington Post, February 12, 2014 Did you know? This...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 9, 2014 is: apophasis • \uh-PAH-fuh-sis\  • noun : the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it Examples: "I won't bring up that little incident that happened the last time you tried to cook a meal," said Laura, in a blatant display of apophasis. "The hope is that if people recognize when rhetoric is being used to deceive, they will learn to us...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 8, 2014 is: foolscap • \FOOLZ-kap\  • noun 1 : a cap or hood usually with bells worn by jesters 2 : a conical cap for slow or lazy students 3 : a size of paper formerly standard in Great Britain; broadly : a piece of writing paper Examples: The exhibit includes a number of early legal documents written on foolscap with quill and ink. "In 1894, Lincoln's...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 7, 2014 is: florescence • \flor-ESS-unss\  • noun : a state or period of being in bloom or of flourishing Examples: "Salmonberry flowers … add their showy magenta florescence to the visual banquet." -Carla Peterson, Capital City Weekly (Alaska), May 25, 2011 "Just one year later, the Solidarność movement was flourishing, animated by a new sense of natio...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 6, 2014 is: chicane • \shih-KAYN\  • verb : to use deception : to trick or cheat Examples: Claiming to be their long-lost grandson, the scammer chicaned the couple into wiring money to him. "There are two related issues here. One being the commercialization of education and the other being that education is regarded as solely a vehicle for job training....

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 5, 2014 is: viridity • \vuh-RID-uh-tee\  • noun 1 a : the quality or state of being green b : the color of grass or foliage 2 : naïve innocence Examples: "Those who can barely remember that the 't' is silent in 'merlot' may be tempted to stay away, fearing wine snobs will chortle at their viridity." - Christopher Muther, Boston Globe, January 27, 2005 "...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 4, 2014 is: Noachian • \noh-AY-kee-un\  • adjective : of or relating to the patriarch Noah or his time Examples: "He eventually concluded that all the many floods he now recognized had antedated the Noachian deluge." - Stephen Jay Gould, The Flamingo's Smile, 1985 "The Noachian covenant indicates to her that God had evolved from an omnipotent, omniscien...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 3, 2014 is: balkanize • \BAWL-kuh-nyze\  • verb 1 : to break up (as a region or group) into smaller and often hostile units 2 : divide, compartmentalize Examples: "Even if Richards wanted to balkanize his life into personal and professional spheres, he would have had difficulty, for his private life resounds with his public concerns, often in disturbing...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 2, 2014 is: jardiniere • \jahr-duh-NEER\  • noun 1 a : an ornamental stand for plants or flowers b : a large usually ceramic flowerpot holder 2 : a garnish for meat consisting of several cooked vegetables cut into pieces Examples: For dinner we ate slow-braised beef short ribs served with a jardiniere of garden-fresh vegetables. "The show's most spectac...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 1, 2014 is: southpaw • \SOUTH-paw\  • noun : left-hander; especially : a left-handed baseball pitcher Examples: "MLB's best team against righties has been one of its worst against southpaws…." - Brian Lewis, New York Post, July 7, 2012 "The Marlins added left-handed pitcher Michael Mader with the 105th overall pick of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft on...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 31, 2014 is: kludge • \KLOOJ\  • noun : a system and especially a computer system made up of poorly matched components Examples: Ralph was extremely pleased when his employer purchased a new computer system to replace the kludge that had continually crashed at critical moments. "Many biologists, from Darwin to Crick, have pointed out that evolution is fre...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 30, 2014 is: selfie • \SEL-fee\  • noun : an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks Examples: Before the game started, David had a chance to take several selfies of himself posing with his favorite players. "Still, results of a survey by the Pew Research Center released in March show that 55 perc...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 29, 2014 is: tweep • \TWEEP\  • noun : a person who uses the Twitter online message service to send and receive tweets Examples: "Rapper Snoop Dogg changed his name to Snoop Lion. Know how I found out? My tweeps told me." - Marc Munroe Dion, The Messenger (Madisonville, Kentucky), August 12, 2012 "More than two million people tweeted their elation and fru...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 28, 2014 is: numismatic • \noo-muz-MAT-ik\  • adjective 1 : of or relating to the study or collection of coins, tokens, and money 2 : of or relating to currency : monetary Examples: Jasmine was disappointed to learn that the 1936 buffalo nickel she owned had virtually no numismatic value. "Steve is well-known in the numismatic community as a specialist in...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 27, 2014 is: execrate • \EK-suh-krayt\  • verb 1 : to declare to be evil or detestable : denounce 2 : to detest utterly Examples: The school principal execrated the individuals who had stolen the cashbox from the raffle table. "Long execrated by Republicans as a 'death tax,' the posthumous federal levy on accumulated wealth has Democratic detractors as we...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 26, 2014 is: celerity • \suh-LAIR-uh-tee\  • noun : rapidity of motion or action : swiftness Examples: Monica was impressed by the ease and celerity with which the new waiter she had hired could wipe down and set up a table. "The Common Core entered public discourse suddenly this year, due in large part to the celerity with which the Bill and Melinda Gate...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 25, 2014 is: requisite • \REK-wuh-zut\  • adjective : essential, necessary Examples: The application will not be considered until all of the requisite forms have been submitted. "This smaller, slightly more upscale pizza shop … has all the requisite Wicker Park trappings: chalkboard menu, exposed brick, communal seating." - Kate Bernot, Chicago Tribune, J...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 24, 2014 is: silhouette • \sil-uh-WET\  • noun 1 a : a picture (as a drawing or cutout) of the outline of an object filled in with a solid usually black color b : a profile portrait done in silhouette 2 : the shape or outline of something; especially : the outline of an object seen or as if seen against the light Examples: "The tree-tops rose against the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 23, 2014 is: interpolate • \in-TER-puh-layt\  • verb 1 a : to change (as a text) by inserting new or foreign matter b : to insert (words) into a text or into a conversation 2 : to insert (something) between other things or parts : to make insertions 3 : to estimate values of (data or a function) between two known values Examples: "Ellis nicely interpolate...