Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 4, 2012 is: maieutic • \may-YOO-tik\  • adjective : relating to or resembling the Socratic method of eliciting new ideas from another Examples: "I am grateful to him for his maieutic inquiry about my own views, which had not crystallized." - From an article by William F. Buckley, Jr., in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 27, 1973 "The internationa...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 3, 2012 is: espresso • \eh-SPRESS-oh\  • noun 1 : strong coffee brewed by forcing steam through finely ground darkly roasted coffee beans 2 : a cup of espresso Examples: Joan couldn't begin her day without at least one cup of espresso to wake her up. "I actually have a little espresso sometimes right before working out." - Natalie Morales on The Today...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 2, 2012 is: sequacious • \sih-KWAY-shus\  • adjective : intellectually servile Examples: Eager to prove that he was not merely a sequacious follower, Mario wrote a critical review of his former mentor's book. "Fund investors are not simply sequacious followers of yield, but are also responding to the federal government's actions to stabilize the macro...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 1, 2012 is: agon • \AH-gahn\  • noun : conflict; especially : the dramatic conflict between the chief characters in a literary work Examples: As the U.S. presidential elections approach, anyone with an interest in politics is focused on the agon about to reach its quadrennial climax. "From the beginning of the agon, the play [The Merchant of Venice] p...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 31, 2012 is: phantasm • \FAN-taz-um\  • noun 1 a : a product of fantasy: as b : delusive appearance: illusion c : ghost, specter d : a figment of the imagination 2 : a mental representation of a real object Examples: The old mansion, which according to local legend is inhabited by the phantasm of an 18th-century resident, is the perfect location for a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 30, 2012 is: mawkish • \MAW-kish\  • adjective 1 : having a weak often unpleasant taste 2 : marked by sickly sentimentality : sad or romantic in a foolish or exaggerated way Examples: Tessa preferred to give out humorous greeting cards to her friends as opposed to the mawkish ones that were supposed to make them cry. "Although [the Bee Gees] harmonized...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 29, 2012 is: dissociate • \dih-SOH-shee-ayt\  • verb : disconnect, disunite Examples: Although both politicians are members of the same party, the Senator is trying to dissociate herself from the unpopular governor. "It's not easy to go back to the place where you became an adult. You can't dissociate yourself from the angst, the mistakes, the naïveté....

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 28, 2012 is: ad hominem • \ad-HAH-muh-nem\  • adjective 1 : appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect 2 : marked by or being an attack on an opponent's character rather than by an answer to the contentions made Examples: The governor's only response to the criticism of his new policy was to launch an ad hominem attack against those doin...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 27, 2012 is: malison • \MAL-uh-sun\  • noun : curse, malediction Examples: "When I see him again he shall have the rough side of my tongue and my malison besides." - From Henry Gilbert's 1912 book Robin Hood and the Men of the Greenwood "To add insult to injury he preferred to launch a malison of hatred and execration...." -From a letter by Raymond Ell...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 26, 2012 is: immure • \ih-MYOOR\  • verb 1 a : to enclose within or as if within walls b : imprison 2 : to build into a wall; especially : to entomb in a wall Examples: Scientists at the remote research station were immured by the frozen wastelands that surrounded them. "Rather, what fairy tales obsessively conjure up is a world of mutability, in which...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 25, 2012 is: enigmatic • \en-ig-MAT-ik\  • adjective : of, relating to, or resembling an enigma : mysterious Examples: When Rolf asked her where she had been, Tianna just gave him an enigmatic smile and answered, "Oh, here and there." "Chris Marker, who died earlier this year at 91, was an enigmatic figure, reluctant to be photographed and prone to bio...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 24, 2012 is: demiurge • \DEM-ee-erj\  • noun : one that is an autonomous creative force or decisive power Examples: The powerfully talented singer-songwriter-producer has been described by at least one music-industry insider as a "demiurge." "A noisy group of video-game critics and theoreticians laments the rise of story in games. Games, in one version...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 23, 2012 is: smashmouth • \SMASH-mouth\  • adjective : characterized by brute force without finesse Examples: Monday night's game, between two teams known for their hard-hitting, aggressive styles, promises to be entertaining if you like smashmouth football. "The Tigers earned the win behind a smashmouth rushing attack and a passing game that was effec...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 22, 2012 is: extemporize • \ik-STEMP-puh-ryze\  • verb 1 : improvise 2 : to get along in a makeshift manner Examples: Although she was caught off-guard by the award, Sue managed to extemporize a speech thanking her entire team for their hard work. Did you know? "Extemporize" means to say or do something on the spur of the moment, an appropriate meaning...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 21, 2012 is: abide • \uh-BYDE\  • verb 1 : to endure, tolerate, or accept 2 : to remain stable or fixed in a state 3 : to continue in a place Examples: Susan has been a vegetarian for years and can no longer abide even the smell of cooked meat. "Linen suits have a lot going for them, but if you can't abide all that wrinkling, a linen-wool-blend suit .....

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 20, 2012 is: uncanny • \un-KAN-ee\  • adjective 1 : eerie, mysterious 2 : being beyond what is normal or expected Examples: Our waiter had an uncanny resemblance to the creepy villain in the film we had just seen. "When Sherlock Holmes walks into a crime scene, he displays the uncanny ability to deduce how the crime unfolded: where the criminal entered...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 19, 2012 is: hew • \HYOO\  • verb 1 : to cut or fell with blows (as of an ax) 2 : to give shape to with or as if with an ax 3 : to conform or to adhere Examples: Josh was never one to hew to policies with which he disagreed. "Typically at this point on the political calendar, a sitting vice president scrupulously downplays his interest in ascending to...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 18, 2012 is: worldly-wise • \WERLD-lee-wyze\  • adjective : possessing a practical and often shrewd understanding of human affairs Examples: The interns' supervisor addressed the group, saying "We don't expect our interns to be worldly-wise-we expect them to be conscientious, hardworking, and committed to learning how work in a small non-profit is done...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 17, 2012 is: furlong • \FER-lawng\  • noun : a unit of distance equal to 220 yards (about 201 meters) Examples: "They tramped on again. But they had not gone more than a furlong when the storm returned with fresh fury." - From J.R.R. Tolkien's 1954 book The Fellowship of the Ring "Trained by Ben Perkins Jr. and ridden by Pablo Fragoso, the 3-year-old c...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 16, 2012 is: surfeit • \SER-fut\  • noun 1 : an overabundant supply : excess 2 : an intemperate or immoderate indulgence in something (as food or drink) 3 : disgust caused by excess Examples: "A surfeit of the sweetest things / The deepest loathing to the stomach brings...." - From William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1596 "Every day, we're...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 15, 2012 is: envisage • \in-VIZ-ij\  • verb 1 : to view or regard in a certain way 2 : to have a mental picture of especially in advance of realization Examples: In planning out their new patio, Betty and Sherman envisaged a place where they could grill food on the barbecue and invite friends over to relax. "A captivating new book envisages conversatio...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 14, 2012 is: garniture • \GAHR-nih-cher\  • noun 1 : embellishment, trimming 2 : a set of decorative objects (as vases, urns, or clocks) Examples: The room was authentically furnished right down to the 16th-century garniture decorating the mantel and the wardrobe. "The studio was prolific, producing lamps and clock cases with matching garniture." - Fro...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 13, 2012 is: fecund • \FEK-und\  • adjective 1 : fruitful in offspring or vegetation : prolific 2 : intellectually productive or inventive to a marked degree Examples: As an artist she gets most of her inspiration from nature; her daily walks in the woods are a fecund source of ideas. "Sea slugs that mate more than the absolute minimum necessary to ret...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 12, 2012 is: nuncupative • \NUN-kyoo-pay-tiv\  • adjective : spoken rather than written : oral Examples: On his deathbed Jacob made a nuncupative will for his son and daughter. "He left me a small Legacy in a nuncupative Will, as a Token of his Kindness for me." - From The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Did you know? "Nuncupative" (from...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 11, 2012 is: rectitude • \REK-tuh-tood\  • noun 1 : the quality or state of being straight 2 : moral integrity : righteousness 3 : the quality or state of being correct in judgment or procedure Examples: The speaker exhorted audience members to lead lives of unimpeachable rectitude and integrity. "The finance ministry will pitch India's strength as a l...