Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 3, 2013 is: boulevardier • \bull-uh-vahr-DYAY\  • noun : a frequenter of the Parisian boulevards; broadly : man-about-town Examples: Trevor fancies himself something of a boulevardier, and he appears in the newspaper's society pages often enough that the label seems apt. "Effervescent and boyish, he has a boulevardier's bounce and a performer's panache."...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 2, 2013 is: ambidextrous • \am-bih-DEK-strus\  • adjective 1 : capable of using both hands with equal ease 2 : unusually skillful : versatile 3 : characterized by duplicity : double-dealing Examples: "Jensen, a right-handed athlete, quickly began to teach himself to become ambidextrous." - From an article by Sam Blum in The Daily Orange (Syracuse, New Yo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 1, 2013 is: provenience • \pruh-VEE-nee-unss\  • noun : origin, source Examples: The museum has hired outside experts to help uncover the provenience and ownership history of several of its artifacts. "The mask's provenience is unclear; the dealer suggested that it originated from a cave in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico.…" - From an article by Jack Frazi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 31, 2013 is: balneology • \bal-nee-AH-luh-jee\  • noun : the science of the therapeutic use of baths Examples: Balneology is used at the spa as a means of treating injured muscles. "Fortunately, our collection contains a large number of items relating to balneology, the science of baths and bathing, including pamphlets from hot spring resorts across the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 30, 2013 is: obviate • \AHB-vee-ayt\  • verb : to anticipate and prevent (as a situation) or make unnecessary (as an action) Examples: Rob checks every ledger entry twice to obviate any problems when it comes time for an audit. "Some TVs come equipped with … technology that manufacturers incorporated to obviate the need for supplementary cable boxes." -...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 29, 2013 is: fuliginous • \fyoo-LIJ-uh-nus\  • adjective 1 a : sooty b : obscure, murky 2 : having a dark or dusky color Examples: Theo's journalism professor encouraged him to eschew fuliginous prose in favor of simple, straightforward language. "For two weeks he continued his surveying in a fuliginous atmosphere of almost continual fog but then, on 5 A...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 28, 2013 is: laudable • \LAW-duh-bul\  • adjective : worthy of praise : commendable Examples: Parents, faculty, and members of the community commended the students for their laudable efforts at cleaning up the park and renovating its play structures. "This revision of the school funding formula would align with and enable those laudable reforms to come t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 27, 2013 is: flehmen • \FLAY-mun\  • noun : a mammalian behavior (as of horses or cats) in which the animal inhales with the mouth open and upper lip curled to facilitate exposure of the vomeronasal organ to a scent or pheromone Examples: The vet explained to the children that what appeared to be a display of anger in the cat was actually a behavior call...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 26, 2013 is: hallmark • \HAWL-mahrk\  • noun 1 : a mark put on an article to indicate origin, purity, or genuineness 2 : a distinguishing characteristic, trait, or feature Examples: The entertainer's new book features the same kind of wry humor that is the hallmark of his radio show. "His usually sympathetic, sometimes overgenerous interpretation of othe...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 25, 2013 is: nascent • \NASS-unt\  • adjective : coming or having recently come into existence Examples: Brent began working at the company when it was in its nascent stage, with just a single one-room office and four employees. "Both Enterprise and Hertz have small car-sharing units. Zipcar is estimated to have the largest share of the nascent industry,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 24, 2013 is: canorous • \kuh-NOR-us\  • adjective : pleasant sounding : melodious Examples: A canorous chorus of birdsong filled the morning air. "The album features fast and brooding melodies … and standout canorous piano and clean guitar moments…." - From a post by Caroline Jensen at Rock Edition, February 6, 2013 Did you know? In Confessions of an Eng...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 23, 2013 is: riposte • \rih-POHST\  • noun 1 : a fencer's quick return thrust following a parry 2 : a retaliatory verbal sally : retort 3 : a retaliatory maneuver or measure Examples: The lifelong friends always greeted each other the same way: John would point out Gary's thinning hair, then Gary would come back with a riposte about John's golf game. "Mo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 22, 2013 is: grift • \GRIFT\  • verb 1 : to obtain (money) illicitly (as in a confidence game) 2 : to acquire money or property illicitly Examples: John grifted much of his income by carrying out elaborate cons against unsuspecting tourists. "Both victims lost substantial amounts of money, with one being grifted out of an astonishing $35,000.…" - From an...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 21, 2013 is: demotic • \dih-MAH-tik\  • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or written in a simplified form of the ancient Egyptian hieratic writing 2 : common, popular 3 : of or relating to the form of Modern Greek that is based on everyday speech Examples: The style of her art work is intentionally demotic, aimed at ordinary people rather than the elite of...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 20, 2013 is: plaudit • \PLAW-dit\  • noun 1 : an act or round of applause 2 : enthusiastic approval - usually used in plural Examples: The latest installment in the movie series earned plaudits from critics and fans alike. "Just a year and a half after graduating from Los Angeles' private Harvard-Westlake School, Platt has … scored the show-stealing 'Mor...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 19, 2013 is: sacrosanct • \SAK-roh-sankt\  • adjective 1 : most sacred or holy : inviolable 2 : treated as if holy : immune from criticism or violation Examples: Our family traditions may seem silly to outsiders, but to us they are sacrosanct. "'Is college a lousy investment?' This was the question posed in a Newsweek cover story in the fall, a blunt cha...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 18, 2013 is: fetter • \FET-er\  • noun 1 : a chain or shackle for the feet 2 : something that confines : restraint Examples: John keeps his smartphone with him when he goes hiking, but Linda leaves hers at home, preferring to free herself momentarily of the fetters of technology. "At the moment, legally speaking, Internet cafes operate in Ohio without fe...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 17, 2013 is: katzenjammer • \KAT-sun-jam-er\  • noun 1 : hangover 2 : distress 3 : a discordant clamor Examples: The morning after the wedding, Pamela woke up with a blinding katzenjammer. "Combating your attack of the katzenjammers with more liquor may seem absurd, but desperate times demand desperate measures." - From an article by Lissa Townsend Rodge...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 16, 2013 is: carminative • \kahr-MIN-uh-tive\  • adjective : expelling gas from the stomach or intestines so as to relieve flatulence or abdominal pain or distension Examples: Fennel is a carminative herb that helps alleviate gas after a spicy meal. "Cumin seeds contain numerous phyto-chemicals that are known to have antioxidant, carminative and anti-fla...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 15, 2013 is: voracious • \vaw-RAY-shus\  • adjective 1 : having a huge appetite : ravenous 2 : excessively eager : insatiable Examples: Cemal is a voracious reader who whips through three or four books each week. "Hundreds of Humboldt squid washed up on Santa Cruz County beaches Sunday in a mass stranding that is not uncommon but remains somewhat of a my...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 14, 2013 is: quirk • \KWERK\  • verb : curve, twist Examples: "She was surprised by the humor that quirked his fine straight lips." - From Elizabeth George Speare's 1958 book The Witch of Blackbird Pond "Refusing to relinquish his own control in Jacksonville, Elvis created the familiar hysteria by surprise moves-standing stock-still and quirking his inde...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 13, 2013 is: behemoth • \bih-HEE-muth\  • noun : something of monstrous size, power, or appearance Examples: The town has voted against letting the retail behemoth build a store on the proposed site. "Interviews with an array of industry veterans … outline how Fairchild and the companies it spawned both developed the technologies and established the busi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 12, 2013 is: piggyback • \PIG-ee-bak\  • adverb 1 : up on the back and shoulders 2 : on or as if on the back of another; especially : on a railroad flatcar Examples: The youngest of the hikers had the advantage of riding piggyback through the muddy fields. "Unfortunately, his footing wasn't as steady as he'd hoped, and he fell from the log.… He wasn't ab...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 11, 2013 is: cajole • \kuh-JOHL\  • verb 1 a : to persuade with flattery or gentle urging : coax b : to obtain from someone by gentle persuasion 2 : to deceive with soothing words or false promises Examples: Brianna was able to cajole some money from her father before leaving for the movies. "Walking across Niagara Falls on a high wire is supposed to be...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 10, 2013 is: relict • \REL-ikt\  • noun 1 : a surviving species of an otherwise extinct group of organisms; also : a remnant of a formerly widespread species that persists in an isolated area 2 : something left unchanged Examples: This rare plant is a relict of a once abundant genus. "Northern flying squirrels still remain in the highest elevations of Vi...