Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 15, 2012 is: quail • \KWAIL\  • verb 1 : to give way : falter 2 : to recoil in dread or terror : cower Examples: Douglas quailed when the dentist told him that he would need a root canal. "There's an already notorious scene in a bathtub, involving the extraction of toenails, which would send Mary Whitehouse quailing ashen-faced for the exit, if she'd...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 14, 2012 is: disapprobation • \dis-ap-ruh-BAY-shun\  • noun : the act or state of disapproving : the state of being disapproved : condemnation Examples: The man talking loudly on his cell phone garnered several looks of disapprobation before the movie even began. "This is a classic soft-serve palace where not much has changed in decades, including th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 13, 2012 is: undulate • \UN-juh-layt\  • verb 1 : to form or move in waves : fluctuate 2 : to rise and fall in volume, pitch, or cadence 3 : to present a wavy appearance Examples: From the window of our bed-and-breakfast, we had a gorgeous view of the green hills undulating into the distance. "Seeded with drought-tolerant California native plants, th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 12, 2012 is: peripatetic • \pair-uh-puh-TET-ik\  • adjective 1 : of or relating to the Greek philosopher Aristotle or his philosophy : Aristotelian 2 : of, relating to, or given to walking 3 : moving or traveling from place to place : itinerant Examples: I was peripatetic throughout my twenties, but in my thirties I bought a house and began putting d...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 11, 2012 is: stravage • \struh-VAYG\  • verb : to roam Examples: "I was living at Gray's Inn in those days, and we stravaged up Gray's Inn Road on one of those queer, unscientific explorations of the odd corners of London in which I have always delighted." - From Arthur Machen's 1922 novella The House of Souls "Eleanor sees widowed Lindsay and single...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 10, 2012 is: nuance • \NOO-ahnss\  • noun 1 : a subtle distinction or variation 2 : a subtle quality : nicety 3 : sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value) Examples: The movie's dialogue didn't sound convincing, partly because none of the characters had mastered the nuances of a Midwester...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 9, 2012 is: lugubrious • \loo-GOO-bree-us\  • adjective 1 : mournful; especially : exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful 2 : dismal Examples: Katie's friends guessed immediately from her lugubrious expression that she and her boyfriend had broken up. "Then beneath that lugubrious lament comes a kind of gentle chugging rhythm, like the clickety-clack o...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 8, 2012 is: gallant • \GAL-unt\  • adjective 1 : showy in dress or bearing : smart 2 a : splendid, stately b : spirited, brave c : nobly chivalrous and often self-sacrificing 3 : courteously and elaborately attentive especially to ladies Examples: The climbers made a gallant attempt but failed to reach the summit of the great mountain. "Every year, c...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 7, 2012 is: jocose • \joh-KOHSS\  • adjective 1 : given to joking : merry 2 : characterized by joking : humorous Examples: Rachel has the kind of jocose personality that can liven up even the dullest of parties. "The information imparted doesn't run particularly deep, but in simple, mostly jocose language, he manages to explain the Electoral College,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 6, 2012 is: gainsay • \gayn-SAY\  • verb 1 : to declare to be untrue or invalid 2 : contradict, oppose Examples: There is no doubt that their work makes a useful contribution, but it does not provide enough evidence to gainsay the conclusions of earlier scholars. "And there was something childlike about Griffith, too, even in his Matlock days, as a d...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 5, 2012 is: inimitable • \in-IM-it-uh-bul\  • adjective : not capable of being imitated : matchless Examples: "He is involved in roughly six projects, most of them part time and some dormant. Each is different from the others and to each, say those who work with him, he adds something inimitable." - From an article by Timothy Finn in the Kansas City...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 4, 2012 is: ecstatic • \ek-STAT-ik\  • adjective : of, relating to, or marked by rapturous delight Examples: Naomi's face was ecstatic as she accepted first prize in the essay contest. "Jordan Staal would much rather play with his brother than against him. Traded on his wedding day in June, he became teammates with older brother Eric Staal on the Car...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 3, 2012 is: caduceus • \kuh-DOO-see-us\  • noun 1 : the symbolic staff of a herald; specifically : a representation of a staff with two entwined snakes and two wings at the top 2 : an insignia bearing a caduceus and symbolizing a physician Examples: The U.S. Army Medical Corps chose the caduceus as its symbol in 1902. "Since then the politics of heal...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 2, 2012 is: wend • \WEND\  • verb : to direct one's course : travel, proceed Examples: The hikers wended through the forest's trails. "Improvements in wastewater treatment and conservation upgraded the water quality of the river, which wends its way nearly 500 miles from its origin in the Appalachian Plateau to Point Lookout, Maryland, where it empti...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 1, 2012 is: aborning • \uh-BOR-ning\  • adverb : while being born or produced Examples: The bill was introduced in the Senate last year, but it died aborning. "We've all put aside the social task that we wanted to take the time to do well, postponed the email that should be long and full, only to realize we never did it at all. The dashed-off note th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 31, 2012 is: inspissate • \in-SPISS-ayt\  • verb : to make or become thick or thicker Examples: "Marmalade of carrots is the juice of yellow carrots, inspissated till it is of the thickness of fluid honey, or treacle, which last it resembles both in taste and color." - From Capt. James E. Cook's 1777 book A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the Wo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 30, 2012 is: servile • \SER-vul\  • adjective 1 : of or befitting a slave or a menial position 2 : meanly or cravenly submissive : abject Examples: Maura was embarrassed at the way her mother demanded servile behavior from store employees. "In a communique read from atop of the small truck, they criticised the national unions for placing too little impo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 29, 2012 is: benison • \BEN-uh-sun\  • noun : blessing, benediction Examples: The candidate sought the benison of the popular pastor in the hope of gaining both spiritual and political support. "On warm(ish) days, the soft rain feels like a benison, pattering gently on fallen leaves and stirring up earthy scents that remind me more of spring than autumn...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 28, 2012 is: aliment • \AL-uh-munt\  • noun : food, nutriment; also : sustenance Examples: "In the Propontis, as far as I can learn, none of that peculiar substance called brit is to be found, the aliment of the right whale." - From Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby Dick "Until well into the nineteenth century, the notion of a well-balanced diet had occ...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 27, 2012 is: sansculotte • \sanz-koo-LAHT\  • noun 1 : an extreme radical republican in France at the time of the Revolution 2 : a radical or violent extremist in politics Examples: "At the time of the French Revolution, the rampaging sansculottes wrecked churches and every sign of monarchal or religious authority." - From Peter Manseau's 2009 book Rag...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 26, 2012 is: sedulous • \SEJ-uh-lus\  • adjective 1 : involving or accomplished with careful perseverance 2 : diligent in application or pursuit Examples: Daphne was a sedulous student whose hard work and determination earned her a number of college scholarships. "We were sedulous. We were driven. Our vocabularies were formidable and constantly expandin...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 25, 2012 is: belaud • \bih-LAWD\  • verb : to praise usually to excess Examples: Supporters belauded the idea as a magic bullet for all social problems in the country. "Several cheers went up. Piccard, unaware of the scene unfolding behind him, seemed to think they were meant to belaud his plan." - From Jake Silverstein's 2011 book Nothing Happened and...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 24, 2012 is: never-never land • \nev-er-NEV-er-LAND\  • noun : an ideal or imaginary place Examples: Lester seems to think he lives in some kind of never-never land where people don't have to accept responsibility for their actions. "China's pride of ownership is all too familiar to most Taiwanese, who are constantly bombarded by Beijing's assertions th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 23, 2012 is: dundrearies • \dun-DREER-eez\  • noun plural : long flowing sideburns Examples: Many of the Civil War reenactors were sporting dundrearies to give their costumes a look of authenticity. "Although as a Victorian man he lacks the vocabulary to express it, he is living out the existentialist crisis, confronting absurdity and nothingness in cra...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 22, 2012 is: ramose • \RAY-mohss\  • adjective : consisting of or having branches Examples: "On a coral reef something analogous happens when ramose corals grow upward to create a structure resistant to waves and current...." - Les S. Kaufman in Coral Reef Restoration Handbook, 2006 "This decision pushed the Iraqi scene into ramose labyrinths and added...