Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 14, 2013 is: gormless • \GORM-lus\  • adjective : lacking intelligence : stupid Examples: Her new assistant quickly proved himself to be completely gormless, forgetting to do half of the tasks she assigned to him and making a mess of the others. "And how many times have I stood up, precariously, trying to keep hold of my programme, glasses and coat, a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 13, 2013 is: shard • \SHAHRD\  • noun 1 a : a piece or fragment of a brittle substance; broadly : a small piece or part : scrap b : shell, scale; especially : elytron 2 : fragments of pottery vessels found on sites and in refuse deposits where pottery-making peoples have lived 3 : highly angular curved glass fragments of tuffaceous sediment Examples:...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 12, 2013 is: undergird • \un-der-GERD\  • verb : to form the basis or foundation of : strengthen, support Examples: "High school students need to understand the paradigms and traditions that undergird social and political institutions." - From a lesson plan at CNNfyi.com, July 3, 2001 "No one argues that a robust U.S. economy is needed to undergird an...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 11, 2013 is: rectitudinous • \rek-tuh-TOO-duh-nus\  • adjective 1 : characterized by the quality of being honest and morally correct 2 : piously self-righteous Examples: The senatorial candidate's supporters insist that he is possessed of a rectitudinous character and a spotless record. "Hallie Foote is there, of course, excellent and rectitudinous as...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 10, 2013 is: comprise • \kum-PRYZE\  • verb 1 : to include especially within a particular scope 2 : to be made up of 3 : compose, constitute Examples: The city developers' plans include a massive recreational complex that comprises a concert hall, four restaurants, two hotels and a theater. "One section of the report … concluded that cars built 10 or...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 9, 2013 is: enormity • \ih-NOR-muh-tee\  • noun 1 : very large size 2 : the quality of great impact or importance Examples: The enormity of the crimes perpetrated by the dictatorial regime has only just begun to receive the international attention it deserves. "The gee-whiz enormity of the project wasn't lost on the dignitaries and hard-hatted utility...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 8, 2013 is: mitigate • \MIT-ih-gayt\  • verb 1 : to cause to become less harsh or hostile 2 : to make less severe or painful Examples: Both engineers and government officials hoped that improvements to the public transportation system would help mitigate traffic congestion in the city. "Each house has a $39,000 geothermal system and $29,000 solar syst...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 7, 2013 is: bonhomie • \bah-nuh-MEE\  • noun : good-natured easy friendliness Examples: Kayla was worried that she wouldn't get along with her new roommates, but their bonhomie quickly put her at ease. "The discussions today were tinged by a history of difficult exchanges between Netanyahu and Obama. For all the supposed bonhomie of their first encoun...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 6, 2013 is: plenipotentiary • \plen-uh-puh-TEN-shuh-ree\  • adjective 1 : invested with full power 2 : of or relating to a person invested with full power to transact any business Examples: "The generalissimo assured his allies that Stilwell had his full confidence and was vested with plenipotentiary powers." - From Frank McLynn's 2011 book The Burma...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 5, 2013 is: rubric • \ROO-brik\  • noun 1 : a rule especially for the conduct of a liturgical service 2 : heading, title; also : class, category 3 : an explanatory or introductory commentary; specifically : an editorial interpolation 4 : a guide listing specific criteria for grading or scoring academic papers, projects, or tests Examples: A stricter e...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 4, 2013 is: lade • \LAYD\  • verb 1 a : to load or be loaded (as with cargo) b : to put or place as a load especially for shipment c : to load heavily or oppressively 2 : to take up (a liquid) with or as if with a ladle or dipper Examples: "There were no pictures on the walls but here and there boughs laden with heavy-petalled flowers spread widely ag...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 3, 2013 is: kipper • \KIP-er\  • noun 1 : a male salmon or sea trout during or after the spawning season 2 : a herring or salmon cured by salting and smoking Examples: While vacationing in London, Kim enjoyed a fine breakfast of kippers and eggs. "It's a simple dish: smoked kipper from New York broiled with fans of red onion; buttery, large-curd scram...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 2, 2013 is: eristic • \ih-RISS-tik\  • adjective : characterized by disputatious and often subtle and specious reasoning Examples: "Dialectical argument is a cooperative, two-sided truth-seeking art that requires a constructive and balanced attitude, whereas eristic dialogue is one-sided, quarrelsome, and antagonistic." - From Douglas Walton's 1999 bo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 1, 2013 is: vaporware • \noun\  • noun : a computer-related product that has been widely advertised but has not and may never become available Examples: Experts in the computer industry suspected that the vaporware being pushed by the software company was still full of bugs and would never hit the market. "Kickstarter makes no guarantees on the promis...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 31, 2013 is: Demogorgon • \Dee-muh-GOR-gun\  • noun : a mysterious spirit or deity often explained as a primeval creator god who antedates the gods of Greek mythology Examples: "'Lotterman thinks I'm a Demogorgon,' he would say. 'You know what that is? Look it up-no wonder he doesn't like me.'" - From Hunter S. Thompson's novel The Rum Diary (begun 195...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 30, 2013 is: sere • \SEER\  • adjective : being dried and withered Examples: The sere winter garden gave no hint of the profusion of flowers that would bloom in the spring. "Where some people might see only a sere landscape and crumbling stacks of bricks, he sees a civilization that became increasingly hierarchical and income-stratified, held together...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 29, 2013 is: cornucopia • \kor-nuh-KOH-pee-uh\  • noun 1 : a horn-shaped container filled with fruit and grain emblematic of abundance 2 : an inexhaustible store : abundance Examples: The Web site contained a cornucopia of useful information. "A cornucopia of culture awaits the thousands of participants expected at the inaugural Fall Cultural Arts Show...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 28, 2013 is: amaranthine • \am-uh-RANTH-un\  • adjective 1 a : of or relating to an amaranth b : not fading or dying : immortal 2 : being dark reddish purple Examples: "A grass path continued a slow ascent up the hill toward the column, running between two long rows of young but sturdy elms, which in this fine weather looked robust and amaranthine." -...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 27, 2013 is: teetotaler • \TEE-TOH-tuh-ler\  • noun : one who practices or advocates teetotalism : one who abstains completely from alcoholic drinks Examples: The couple plans to use sparkling cider, rather than champagne, for the wedding toast because the bride's parents are teetotalers. "He travels often, but when in Milan, he can be found most Satur...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 26, 2013 is: profligate • \PRAH-flih-gut\  • adjective 1 : wildly extravagant : very wasteful 2 : abandoned to vice and corruption : shamelessly immoral Examples: He earned quite a bit of money as a professional athlete, but squandered much of it on his profligate lifestyle. "Considering how creatively bankrupt and stylistically profligate this second...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 25, 2013 is: prestidigitation • \press-tuh-dij-uh-TAY-shun\  • noun : sleight of hand, legerdemain Examples: Her career as a magician began with feats of prestidigitation and illusion performed for her high school's annual talent shows. "Mark Ruffalo plays a scruffy New York detective charged with bringing down the foursome, which has been recruited by...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 24, 2013 is: scintilla • \sin-TIL-uh\  • noun : a very small amount : spark, trace Examples: "Nobody but the cast and crew has even a scintilla of an idea of how things will actually end, but that hasn't stopped people from speculating, including us." - From an article by Tom Mendelsohn in The Independent (London), September 26, 2013 "Hunters say the w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 23, 2013 is: skylark • \SKY-lahrk\  • verb 1 : to run up and down the rigging of a ship in sport 2 : frolic, sport Examples: "Tina could only sit with Sarah and Lynn and watch wistfully from a distance as the boys talked, joked and skylarked." - From Christopher Cummings' 2012 novel Cockatoo "There, again, just a short ways down the trail, is the dark-...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 22, 2013 is: antic • \AN-tik\  • adjective 1 : characterized by clownish extravagance or absurdity 2 : frolicsome Examples: As the movie progresses the characters become involved in a series of antic misadventures, each one funnier and more absurd than the last. "Yet the star of the memoir may be Ms. Rockefeller's mother, Peggy, who battled depression...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 21, 2013 is: asseverate • \uh-SEV-uh-rayt\  • verb : to affirm or declare positively or earnestly Examples: "I will myself asseverate and bind it by an oath, that the muff thou bearest in thy hand belongeth unto Madam Sophia; for I have frequently observed her, of later days, to bear it about her." - From Henry Fielding’s 1749 novel Tom Jones "And as t...