Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 25, 2013 is: coffle • \KAW-ful\  • noun : a line of slaves or animals fastened together Examples: "The abolitionists understood the effect that depictions of an auction block, a slave coffle, and the tearing apart of families had upon their audience." - From Steven Deyle's 2005 book Carry Me Back "There was the very real possibility that, if captured...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 24, 2013 is: hapless • \HAP-lus\  • adjective : having no luck : unfortunate Examples: The hapless cashier could not seem to get anything to work correctly that day. "Texas batted around in the ninth against Los Angeles' hapless bullpen-with help from two more stolen bases." - From an Associated Press article by Greg Beacham, August 7, 2013 Did you k...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 23, 2013 is: waitron • \WAY-trahn\  • noun : a person who waits tables (as in a restaurant) : waitperson Examples: The best waitrons are constantly aware of the needs of the diners at their tables without hovering over them. "No sooner were we settled than a teenaged waitron appeared with her pad and asked if we were ready to order. I pointed out tha...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 22, 2013 is: tergiversation • \ter-jiv-er-SAY-shun\  • noun 1 : evasion of straightforward action or clear-cut statement : equivocation 2 : desertion of a cause, position, party, or faith Examples: Ken's speech was marked by tergiversation and gave few indications of where he really stood on the issue. "A man is allowed to change his mind-even in the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 21, 2013 is: acquiesce • \ak-wee-ESS\  • verb : to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively - often used with in or to Examples: The workers began to threaten a strike once it became clear that the company was unlikely to simply acquiesce to their demands. "It is an uncomfortable truth: Dictatorship often rests on a measure of consent. A people...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 20, 2013 is: fraxinella • \frak-suh-NEL-uh\  • noun : a Eurasian perennial herb (Dictamnus albus) of the rue family with flowers that emit an aromatic flammable vapor in hot weather Examples: The green leaves and pink flowers of the fraxinella contrasted nicely with the silvery leaves and bright yellow flowers of the yarrow. "Few perennials don't ben...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 19, 2013 is: importune • \im-per-TOON\  • verb 1 : to urge or beg with troublesome persistence 2 : annoy, trouble Examples: A coalition of town residents, many of them cycling enthusiasts, importuned the mayor to approve funding for the construction of a new bike trail. "Obsessed with finding money to purchase the land from the Turks and finance the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 18, 2013 is: contraption • \kun-TRAP-shun\  • noun : device, gadget Examples: My uncle fancied himself an inventor and his garage was always full of contraptions in various stages of construction. "Each week, publisher and editor Dean Coombs, 61, produces his four-page, weekly newspaper using a giant Linotype machine…. You have to admire this simple...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 17, 2013 is: gingerly • \JIN-jer-lee\  • adjective : very cautious or careful Examples: "He'd taken off his sling and stuffed it into his windbreaker pocket. Earlier, he'd said that his shoulder was already much better. He rotated it for me in a gingerly fashion." - From an article by Roger Angell in The New Yorker, March 26, 2001 "He went ahead of u...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 16, 2013 is: caveat • \KAV-ee-aht\  • noun 1 a : a warning enjoining one from certain acts or practices b : an explanation to prevent misinterpretation c : a modifying or cautionary detail to be considered when evaluating, interpreting, or doing something 2 : a legal warning to a judicial officer to suspend a proceeding until the opposition has a hea...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 15, 2013 is: orchidaceous • \or-kuh-DAY-shus\  • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling the orchids 2 : showy, ostentatious Examples: The actress attended the premiere wearing an orchidaceous creation by a renowned fashion designer. "Where I am, in orchidaceous Hawaii, among squawking geese, the sun glittering on the sea.…" -Paul Theroux in ans...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 14, 2013 is: valetudinarian • \val-uh-too-duh-NAIR-ee-un\  • noun : a person of a weak or sickly constitution; especially : one whose chief concern is his or her ill health Examples: "Einstein freely indulged his appetite for heavy German cooking; Gödel subsisted on a valetudinarian's diet of butter, baby food, and laxatives." - From an article by Ji...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 13, 2013 is: presage • \PRESS-ij\  • verb 1 : to give an omen or warning of : foreshadow 2 : foretell, predict 3 : to make or utter a prediction Examples: The sudden gloom and ominous dark clouds clearly presaged a nasty storm. "While people debate the merits of building so high so quickly-there's evidence that tall buildings often presage an economi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 12, 2013 is: metonymy • \muh-TAH-nuh-mee\  • noun : a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated Examples: American journalists employ metonymy whenever they say "the White House" in place of "the president and his administration." "It's common for hea...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 11, 2013 is: respite • \RESS-pit\  • noun 1 : a period of temporary delay 2 : an interval of rest or relief Examples: The station's meteorologist had predicted that the bad weather would continue throughout the week without respite. "Welcome to the Garden for Good, where 30 inmates-trained as Kansas Master Gardeners-find respite from the harsh realit...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 10, 2013 is: itinerant • \eye-TIN-uh-runt\  • adjective : traveling from place to place; especially : covering a circuit Examples: Having worked on the band's road crew for many years, Justin had become well accustomed to the itinerant lifestyle. "His home was often visited by itinerant performers: acrobats, dancers, trainers of performing dogs, and...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 9, 2013 is: shindig • \SHIN-dig\  • noun 1 a : a social gathering with dancing b : a usually large or lavish party 2 : fracas, uproar Examples: We're hosting a little shindig this weekend for some friends, and we hope you can attend. "However, whatever significant portion of Earth's satellite will be visible Sunday, July 21, will have to do for every...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 8, 2013 is: per contra • \per-KAHN-truh\  • adverb 1 a : on the contrary b : by way of contrast 2 : as an offset Examples: I don't think this is a good plan at all; per contra, I think it's likely to cause a serious problem. "Part-time job-holding in other industries by successors to the farm business has actually worked as a detriment to sustaining...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 7, 2013 is: malapert • \mal-uh-PERT\  • adjective : impudently bold : saucy Examples: "Fair ladies, brave knights, churls, varlets, squires, scurvy knaves, men-at-arms, malapert rogues-all were merry." - From P. G. Wodehouse's 1914 short story collection The Man Upstairs and Other Stories "Of note, was her necklace, which was made up of pearls that s...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 6, 2013 is: fomite • \FOH-myte\  • noun : an object (as a dish or an article of clothing) that may be contaminated with infectious organisms and serve in their transmission Examples: "Through a trail of infection left on fomites like credit cards, casino chips, phones, files and airport bar peanuts-feeling paranoid yet?-she starts a new plague that b...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 5, 2013 is: etiolate • \EE-tee-uh-layt\  • verb a : to make pale b : to deprive of natural vigor : make feeble Examples: The bean plants that Grace grew for her lab project were weakened and etiolated by their lack of exposure to sunlight. "With Whistler and his quivering cohort, sure: Their etiolated pictures all but evanesce without those chunky, g...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 4, 2013 is: agonistic • \ag-uh-NISS-tik\  • adjective 1 : argumentative 2 : striving for effect : strained 3 : of, relating to, or being aggressive or defensive social interaction (as fighting, fleeing, or submitting) between individuals usually of the same species Examples: "The fulsome praise in the old, residually oral, rhetoric tradition strikes...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 3, 2013 is: brown study • \BROWN-STUD-ee\  • noun : a state of serious absorption or abstraction Examples: "I fell into a brown study as I walked on, and a voice at my side made me start." - From Charles Dickens's 1850 novel David Copperfield "He was staring fixedly ahead, lost in a brown study, the pupils of his eyes slightly blurred." - From George...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 2, 2013 is: incipient • \in-SIP-ee-unt\  • adjective : beginning to come into being or to become apparent Examples: The project is still in its incipient stages, and the company has yet to reveal many details to the general public. "Craig's anger at Irene's incipient dementia eventually becomes indulgence; Irene's dismay about losing her independence...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 1, 2013 is: duress • \dur-RESS\  • noun 1 : forcible restraint or restriction 2 : compulsion by threat; specifically : unlawful constraint Examples: The defense asserts that the defendant's confession was made under duress. "Nondisclosure provisions that stretch beyond a straightforward embargo on business-oriented 'trade secrets' represent the worst...