Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 7, 2012 is: unfettered • \un-FET-erd\  • adjective : free, unrestrained Examples: The biographer has been given unfettered access to the family's collection of personal correspondence. "In this era of urban sprawl and unfettered development, land preservation and conservation are keys to maintaining our outdoors heritage…." - From an article by Gary Block...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 6, 2012 is: cognoscente • \kahn-yuh-SHEN-tee\  • noun, plural cognoscenti : a person who has expert knowledge in a subject : connoisseur Examples: Cognoscenti in the art world knew that most of the works being auctioned off were second-rate. "The foreign-exchange cognoscenti have framed Friday's Bank of Japan meeting as one with potential to break the stu...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 5, 2012 is: tempestuous • \tem-PESS-chuh-wus\  • adjective : of, relating to, or resembling a tempest : turbulent, stormy Examples: Because the player's relationship with his manager had grown more tempestuous over the course of the season, the decision to trade him benefited everyone. "An East Tennessee April can be tempestuous and temperamental, and in...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 4, 2012 is: lookism • \LOOK-iz-um\  • noun : prejudice or discrimination based on physical appearance and especially physical appearance believed to fall short of societal notions of beauty Examples: As a teacher, Kim's response to recent studies showing that attractive students receive better grades was to try to be vigilant against her own possible look...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 3, 2012 is: halcyon • \HAL-see-un\  • adjective 1 : calm, peaceful 2 : happy, golden 3 : prosperous, affluent Examples: Although Grandma spoke longingly of the halcyon days of her childhood, Jamie suspected all had not been as perfect as she recalled. "It was a halcyon period for her, although she continued to take prescription drugs, a portent of problem...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 2, 2012 is: recidivism • \rih-SID-uh-viz-um\  • noun : a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior; especially : relapse into criminal behavior Examples: The judge took the rate of recidivism into account when assigning penalties for various criminal offenses. "The Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations has proposed a $65,000 stu...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 1, 2012 is: space cadet • \SPAYSS-kuh-DET\  • noun : a flaky, lightheaded, or forgetful person Examples: A well-worded e-mail that recaps your main points can remind your colleagues that, however much you flubbed your presentation in the meeting, you're not really such a space cadet. "I'm more or less a space cadet in general, and developing the skill to...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 31, 2012 is: fugacious • \fyoo-GAY-shus\  • adjective : lasting a short time : evanescent Examples: The rock band's rise in popularity turned out to be fugacious, and within two years its members had moved on to other careers. "It is of no surprise that their debt problem is not fugacious, it is insurmountable. It is an impossible task for Greece to pay it...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 30, 2012 is: eschew • \ess-CHOO\  • verb : to avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds Examples: The keynote speakers were two former gang members who now eschew violence. "The women least likely to have epidurals, said Wilson, are those who arrive at the hospital in the nick of time and those determined to eschew drugs." - From an article...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 29, 2012 is: minim • \MIN-im\  • noun 1 : a musical half note 2 : something very minute 3 : a unit of liquid capacity equal to 1/60 fluid dram Examples: The nurse measured out 10 minims of the medication. "Again and again in 'Coppelia' a dancer will pay attention to musical minims while disregarding the climax, shape or ending of a phrase." - From a review...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 28, 2012 is: accoutrement • \uh-KOO-ter-munt\  • noun 1 a : equipment, trappings; specifically : a soldier's outfit usually not including clothes and weapons - usually used in plural b : an accessory item of clothing or equipment - usually used in plural 2 : an identifying and often superficial characteristic or device - usually used in plural Examples: Sh...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 27, 2012 is: epitome • \ih-PIT-uh-mee\  • noun 1 a : a summary of a written work b : a brief presentation or statement of something 2 : a typical or ideal example : embodiment Examples: The cabin we'd rented was the epitome of country charm: wide pine floors, simple sturdy furniture, and clean linen curtains billowing in the breeze of the open windows. "He...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 26, 2012 is: pervade • \per-VAYD\  • verb : to become diffused throughout every part of Examples: Jennifer's new perfume was lovely, but she applied it with such a generous hand that the scent pervaded the entire room. "Lowballing pervades the home mortgage market because lenders being compared to other lenders usually have no other way to distinguish them...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 25, 2012 is: troubadour • \TROO-buh-dor\  • noun 1 : a lyric poet or musician who performed chiefly in southern France and northern Italy in the 11th through 13th centuries 2 : a singer especially of folk songs Examples: The small coffeehouse includes a performance space where troubadours from all over can come to play music for the other patrons. "A tango...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 24, 2012 is: damask • \DAM-usk\  • noun 1 : a firm lustrous fabric (as of linen, cotton, silk, or rayon) made with flat patterns in a satin weave on a plain-woven ground on jacquard looms 2 : hard elastic steel ornamented with wavy patterns and used especially for sword blades; also : the characteristic markings of this steel 3 : a grayish red Examples: Th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 23, 2012 is: menagerie • \muh-NAJ-uh-ree\  • noun a : a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition b : a collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition 2: a varied mixture Examples: The Alpine-themed restaurant had a curious menagerie of cuckoo clocks on the wall of its dining room. "Since 2001, thousands of sc...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 22, 2012 is: proficient • \pruh-FISH-unt\  • adjective : well advanced in an art, occupation, or branch of knowledge Examples: When he attended an outdoor adventure camp, Mark became proficient at identifying animal tracks. "Red Sox catcher Ryan Lavarnway was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday…. Always proficient at the plate, Lavarnway did have an i...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 21, 2012 is: boniface • \BAH-nuh-fuss\  • noun : the proprietor of a hotel, nightclub, or restaurant Examples: Jones' retirement will be celebrated, but it also means that for the first time in 45 years, the city's oldest hotel is in need of a new boniface. "Vince Bommarito, boniface of Tony's restaurant at 410 Market Street, said last week was one of his...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 20, 2012 is: hypnagogic • \hip-nuh-GAH-jik\  • adjective : of, relating to, or occurring in the period of drowsiness immediately preceding sleep Examples: "People who play lots of computer games sometimes experience 'screen dreams' as they fall asleep, in which they see vivid images of the game they have been playing. These screen dreams are also products...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 19, 2012 is: shanghai • \shang-HYE\  • verb 1 a : to put aboard a ship by force often with the help of liquor or a drug b : to put by force or threat of force into or as if into a place of detention 2 : to put by trickery into an undesirable position Examples: Nick was shanghaied by Erika into helping out at the charity fundraiser after her first volunteer...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 18, 2012 is: gazette • \guh-ZET\  • noun 1 : newspaper 2 : an official journal 3 : an announcement in an official gazette Examples: I asked my brother to pick up the monthly car-buyer's gazette when he went into town. "On May 2, 2012, Wynn Macau's land concession contract was published in the official gazette of Macau." - From an article in Business Wire,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 17, 2012 is: maffick • \MAF-ik\  • verb : to celebrate with boisterous rejoicing and hilarious behavior Examples: Fans mafficked for hours outside the stadium, celebrating the team's dramatic victory in the division championship. "In half an hour, after the mildest of mafficking, the last visitors of the exhibition's last day had gone out of the gates and...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 16, 2012 is: argot • \AHR-goh\  • noun : an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group Examples: The town's selectmen decided to hire a consultant to sort through the bureaucratic argot of the community development grant application. "What makes the play work, though, is that the rich insider's argot spoken by Mr. Leight'...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 15, 2012 is: accident • \AK-suh-dunt\  • noun 1 a : an unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance b : lack of intention or necessity : chance 2 : an unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorance 3 : a nonessential property or quality of an entity or circumstance Examples: Following the second work-related accident in two weeks,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 14, 2012 is: skulk • \SKULK\  • verb 1 : to move in a stealthy or furtive manner 2 : to hide or conceal something (as oneself) often out of cowardice or fear or with sinister intent b chiefly British : malinger Examples: "I sometimes met with hounds in my path prowling about the woods, which would skulk out of my way, as if afraid, and stand silent amid th...