Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 19, 2014 is: orthography • \or-THAH-gruh-fee\  • noun 1 a : the art of writing words with the proper letters according to standard usage b : the representation of the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols 2 : a part of language study that deals with letters and spelling Examples: English orthography was not yet regularized in Shakespeare's t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 18, 2014 is: verboten • \ver-BOH-tun\  • adjective : forbidden; especially : prohibited by dictate Examples: The teacher made clear on the first day of class that the use of electronic devices would be verboten. "This was not, perhaps, all that surprising since marijuana remains verboten under federal law to this day…." - From a column by James Gill in T...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 17, 2014 is: hegira • \hih-JYE-ruh\  • noun : a journey especially when undertaken to escape from a dangerous or undesirable situation : exodus Examples: "Shimmering in the sun-flashed dust of ten thousand hoofs, she saw pass, from East to West, across a continent, the great hegira of the land-hungry Anglo-Saxon. " - From Jack London's 1913 novel The Val...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 16, 2014 is: laissez-faire • \less-ay-FAIR\  • noun 1 : a doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights 2 : a philosophy or practice characterized by a usually deliberate abstention from direction or interference especially with individual freedom of choice an...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 15, 2014 is: inroad • \IN-rohd\  • noun 1 : a sudden hostile incursion : raid 2 : an advance or penetration often at the expense of someone or something - usually used in plural Examples: "We began to find the country thinly inhabited, and the people rather confined to live in fortified towns, as being subject to the inroads and depredations of the Tarta...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 14, 2014 is: exhort • \ig-ZORT\  • verb : to incite by argument or advice : urge strongly Examples: The celebrity speaker exhorted all citizens to get out and vote on Election Day. "What I will do is exhort him to come clean about the difference between Windows 8 and Windows RT that directly impacts customers." - From a blog by James Kendrick on ZDNet, F...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 13, 2014 is: fantod • \FAN-tahd\  • noun 1 a : a state of irritability and tension b : fidgets 2 : an emotional outburst : fit Examples: "The idea of such a sum-$140,000!-dropping into the lap of a 19-year-old gave me the fantods." - From an article by Lucy Ferriss in The New York Times, June 28, 2009 "When you listen to the podcast, you'll also hear … t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 12, 2014 is: artless • \AHRT-lus\  • adjective 1 : lacking art, knowledge, or skill : uncultured 2 a : made without skill : crude b : free from artificiality : natural 3 : free from guile or craft : sincerely simple Examples: The senator's folksy demeanor and seemingly artless candor belie the man's shrewd and calculating political sensibilities. "'Pat a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 11, 2014 is: jingoism • \JING-goh-iz-im\  • noun : extreme chauvinism or nationalism marked especially by a belligerent foreign policy Examples: When the war began many people were caught up in a wave of jingoism. "Putting First World War icon Lord Kitchener on the £2 coin was attacked as 'jingoism' by Labour last night. The famous soldier and former Sec...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 10, 2014 is: gritty • \GRIT-ee\  • adjective 1 : containing or resembling grit 2 : courageously persistent : plucky 3 : having strong qualities of tough uncompromising realism Examples: I admire her gritty determination to succeed. "The first child of Johnny, Rosanne may not have her father's gritty charisma but she shares his sense of truth in music, wi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 9, 2014 is: billingsgate • \BIL-ingz-gayt\  • noun : coarsely abusive language Examples: A steady stream of billingsgate could be heard coming from the basement after my father hit his thumb with his hammer. "Today, billingsgate rules the waves; the airwaves, that is, thanks to George Carlin and the other First Amendment activists who have followed him o...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 8, 2014 is: cleave • \KLEEV\  • verb 1 : to divide by or as if by a cutting blow : split 2 : to separate into distinct parts and especially into groups having divergent views 3 : to penetrate or pass through something by or as if by cutting Examples: The ship's bow cleaved through the water. "Of course, single-item restaurants are nothing new. .... But t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 7, 2014 is: froward • \FROH-erd\  • adjective : habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition Examples: The nanny informed the parents that she would seek employment elsewhere if the froward child could not be compelled to be more obedient. "I first saw [the great-tailed grackles] during that amazing week in Texas three years ago and looked forward...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 6, 2014 is: soothsayer • \SOOTH-say-er\  • noun : a person who predicts the future by magical, intuitive, or more rational means : prognosticator Examples: The host of the radio show jokingly introduced the pundit as "a soothsayer of the old-fashioned sort, possessed of a mystical ability to predict the winner of any election." "New York Fashion Week kic...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 5, 2014 is: disinterested • \diss-IN-truss-tud\  • adjective 1 a : not having the mind or feelings engaged : not interested b : no longer interested 2 : free from selfish motive or interest : unbiased Examples: To avoid any conflicts of interest, the company hired disinterested consultants to determine how to reorganize the company most efficiently. "It...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 4, 2014 is: magnum opus • \MAG-num-OH-pus\  • noun : a great work; especially : the greatest achievement of an artist or writer Examples: Moby-Dick is widely regarded as Herman Melville's magnum opus. "The 'visual album' came to us intimately, a surprise delivered in the night without PR apparatuses or label hype machines, with a magical, delectable set...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 3, 2014 is: decoct • \dih-KAHKT\  • verb 1 : to extract the flavor of by boiling 2 : boil down, concentrate Examples: The author has tried to decoct the positions the players in this complex situation have taken into two camps: those who are for the changes and those who are against them. "Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is far better known as a bottl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 2, 2014 is: cerebral • \suh-REE-brul\  • adjective 1 a : of or relating to the brain or the intellect b : of, relating to, affecting, or being the cerebrum 2 a : appealing to intellectual appreciation b : primarily intellectual in nature Examples: The movie is a cerebral thriller that rewards the viewer's careful attention with intricate plot turns. "Whe...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 1, 2014 is: plaintiff • \PLAYN-tif\  • noun : a person who brings a legal action Examples: In the end, the jury found for the plaintiff, and ordered the company to pay a significant amount in damages. "Together, Prince's lawyers allege, these websites 'constitute an interconnected network of bootleg distribution which is able to broadly disseminate unaut...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 28, 2014 is: cheeseparing • \CHEEZ-pair-ing\  • noun 1 : something worthless or insignificant 2 : miserly economizing Examples: "My wants were few, and I had no more desire for personal spending than had Ambrose, in his time, but this cheeseparing on the part of my godfather induced in me a sort of fury that made me determined to have my way and use t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 27, 2014 is: zeitgeber • \TSYTE-gay-ber\  • noun : an environmental agent or event that provides the stimulus setting or resetting a biological clock of an organism Examples: "Food availability seems to be a weaker zeitgeber than light. Although food is more essential than light for an animal's survival, light exerts a finer control than food availabi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 26, 2014 is: picayune • \pik-ee-YOON\  • adjective : of little value : paltry; also : petty, small-minded Examples: Jeanne only had picayune criticisms in regard to the new ad campaign, but that didn't stop her from voicing them at the meeting. "Currently, in our gridlocked federal government, we've read numerous accounts about legislators who won't w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 25, 2014 is: solatium • \soh-LAY-shee-um\  • noun : a compensation (as money) given as solace for suffering, loss, or injured feelings Examples: The judge ordered the company to pay a solatium to each of the unjustly fired workers. "The amount of cash a politician was required by tradition to dispense regularly in the form of wedding gifts and funeral...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 24, 2014 is: sashay • \sa-SHAY\  • verb 1 : to make a chassé 2 a : walk, glide, go b : to strut or move about in an ostentatious or conspicuous manner c : to proceed or move in a diagonal or sideways manner Examples: A parade of fashion models sashayed down the catwalk in the designer's latest creations. "Marching bands, such as the Baltimore City Ent...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 23, 2014 is: tangerine • \TAN-juh-reen\  • noun 1 a : any of various mandarin oranges that have usually deep orange skin and pulp; broadly : the fruit of a mandarin b : a tree producing tangerines 2 : a moderate to strong reddish orange Examples: The room was painted a cool gray color and the floor was a darker gray, but in the corner were two chairs...