Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 18, 2012 is: bedizen • \bih-DYE-zun\  • verb : to dress or adorn gaudily Examples: The children entertained themselves for hours with the contents of the old trunk, donning fancy dresses and bedizening themselves with jewelry and scarves. "Critics love to bedizen her photographs in fancy theories, but [photographer Cindy] Sherman seldom overthinks. The m...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 17, 2012 is: nebbish • \NEB-ish\  • noun : a timid, meek, or ineffectual person Examples: As a teenager, Lyle was a nebbish who could never stand up to the bullies who gave him such a hard time. "The play started off deadly dull and only picked up when Lore came on stage. He embodied the myopic, nebbish caricature…. His best moments came in Act II, when...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 16, 2012 is: piquant • \PEE-kunt\  • adjective 1 : agreeably stimulating to the palate; especially : spicy 2 : engagingly provocative; also : having a lively arch charm Examples: Reggie's piquant commentary always makes for interesting listening, though sometimes his remarks can go too far. "Our main courses were preceded by green salads, which were brig...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 15, 2012 is: four-flush • \FOR-FLUSH\  • verb : to bluff in poker holding a four flush; broadly : to make a false claim : bluff Examples: We found an old newspaper article in which a candidate promised he would never "four-flush" or mislead voters. "Royal is a not quite legal lawyer, four-flushing his way around New York, long separated from his wife and...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 14, 2012 is: derring-do • \dair-ing-DOO\  • noun : daring action : daring Examples: In a spectacular feat of derring-do, the stuntman leaped from the overpass and landed on top of the train as it passed below. "It's a bit of a letdown when, near its end, the book reverts to more conventional Bond-style derring-do, as our hero struggles to recapture the w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 13, 2012 is: querulous • \KWAIR-yuh-lus\  • adjective 1 : habitually complaining 2 : fretful, whining Examples: “Are we there yet?” asked a querulous voice from the back seat of the car. "In his personal affairs [Joseph] Roth is querulous here to the point of annoyance. He complains about everything: his health, his squabbles with editors, the shabby hot...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 12, 2012 is: tragus • \TRAY-gus\  • noun : the prominence in front of the external opening of the outer ear Examples: "The tragus, she explains, is the tough fold of cartilage that sticks out from the ear at the entrance to the ear canal." - From an article in the Irish Independent, December 5, 2011 "Siobhan … got her nose pierced as soon as she got to t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 11, 2012 is: emote • \ih-MOHT\  • verb : to give expression to emotion especially in acting Examples: The star of the show stood center stage, emoting and gesturing wildly. "It's not always immediately obvious, but sometimes you fall in love with a band for the way the singers emote." - From a review by James Reed in The Boston Globe, January 24, 2012 Di...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 10, 2012 is: picaresque • \pik-uh-RESK\  • adjective : of or relating to rogues or rascals; also : of, relating to, suggesting, or being a type of fiction dealing with the episodic adventures of a usually roguish protagonist Examples: "His specialty was the picaresque novel, which took the hero (with the reader happily perched on his shoulder) on a wild...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 9, 2012 is: alleviate • \uh-LEE-vee-ayt\  • verb a : relieve, lessen: as b : to make (as suffering) more bearable c : to partially remove or correct Examples: Mom suggested that ibuprofen and tea would perhaps alleviate some of the misery of my cold. "Public health officials are pushing to alleviate crowds at Boston's emergency rooms by redirecting patie...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 8, 2012 is: hyphenate • \HYE-fuh-nayt\  • noun : a person who performs more than one function (as a producer-director in filmmaking) Examples: Ever ambitious, Laura has proven herself to be an accomplished musical hyphenate - composing, performing, and recording all her own musical compositions. "So who is [actor Justin Theroux]? It’s not surprising that...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 7, 2012 is: loquacious • \loh-KWAY-shus\  • adjective 1 : full of excessive talk : wordy 2 : given to fluent or excessive talk : garrulous Examples: The children were loquacious on the car ride back from the zoo, chattering endlessly about all the animals they saw. "As the week sped by, we decided to take a break from our paradise for a jungle trip with...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 6, 2012 is: carp • \KAHRP\  • verb : to find fault or complain querulously Examples: Kate protested that her boss seemed to do nothing but carp and interfere, never praising or encouraging her. "Critics have been carping endlessly that tonight's Oscars may be the most snooze worthy and least attractive to mainstream audiences in years." - From an article...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 5, 2012 is: cockalorum • \kah-kuh-LOR-um\  • noun 1 : a boastful and self-important person 2 : boastful talk Examples: No one believed Marty's cockalorum about being an expert pool player, and as it turned out, he was indeed just as bad as the rest of us. "No one is saying Little Floyd is a conniving little cockalorum, but … he would very much like to ad...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 4, 2012 is: rash • \RASH\  • adjective : marked by or proceeding from undue haste or lack of deliberation or caution Examples: He often doesn't think before he speaks, and this is not the first time he has had to apologize for his rash comments. "Many colleges have yet to send out their final acceptances. So before making a rash decision, sit tight and w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 3, 2012 is: incunabulum • \in-kyuh-NAB-yuh-lum\  • noun 1 : a book printed before 1501 2 : a work of art or of industry of an early period Examples: The tiny college has a library that boasts an impressive - and surprising - collection of incunabula. "This painting, which now resides in the Museo del Prado, has come to be venerated yet again, this time b...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 2, 2012 is: grok • \GRAHK\  • verb : to understand profoundly and intuitively Examples: The novel's protagonists are driven by a desire to grok their place in the grand scheme of the universe. "Both of these views completely fail to grok both the documented benefits of America's leadership in space and the font of inspiration for visionaries … who have a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 1, 2012 is: devious • \DEE-ve-us\  • adjective 1 : deviating from a straight line : roundabout 2 : behaving wrongly : errant 3 : tricky, cunning; also : deceptive Examples: Our guide took us by a devious route to the center of the city. "Former Congresswoman Jane Harman's resignation shortly after winning reelection in November 2010 struck many as a typi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 31, 2012 is: resile • \rih-ZYLE\  • verb : recoil, retract; especially : to return to a prior position Examples: The politician said he was sorry that his comments had caused offense, but he stopped short of resiling from his position. "Conservatives should not resile from talking about this subject on moral as well as practical grounds." - From an edito...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 30, 2012 is: atavism • \AT-uh-viz-um\  • noun 1 a : recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination b : recurrence of or reversion to a past style, manner, outlook, approach, or activity 2 : one that manifests atavism : throwback Examples: "Examples of atavisms in animals include the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 29, 2012 is: zoomorphic • \zoh-uh-MOR-fik\  • adjective 1 : having the form of an animal 2 : of, relating to, or being a deity conceived of in animal form or with animal attributes Examples: Using her new cookie cutters, Angela baked a batch of zoomorphic cookies to bring to the kids in her niece's classroom. "The historic Lobero Theatre will be transfor...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 28, 2012 is: epaulet • \ep-uh-LET\  • noun a : something that ornaments or protects the shoulder: as b : an ornamental fringed shoulder pad formerly worn as part of a military uniform c : an ornamental strip or loop sewn across the shoulder of a dress or coat Examples: "I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment while I was hoeing in a vil...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 27, 2012 is: knee-jerk • \NEE-jerk\  • adjective : readily predictable : automatic; also : reacting in a readily predictable way Examples: After counting the money and realizing that $100 was missing, the manager's knee-jerk response was to fire the clerk. "Now we know what it takes to get Democrats and Republicans working together - namely, a potential...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 26, 2012 is: hebdomadal • \heb-DAH-muh-dul\  • adjective : occurring, appearing, or done every week : weekly Examples: Charles made room in his schedule for hebdomadal visits with his math tutor throughout the semester. "And still he remembered the Sunday evening, the hebdomadal get-together of his parents' circle of friends." -- From Rohinton Mistry's 2...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 25, 2012 is: multitudinous • \mul-tuh-TOO-duh-nus\  • adjective 1 : including a multitude of individuals 2 : existing in a great multitude 3 : existing in or consisting of innumerable elements or aspects Examples: The author's appearance is expected to attract a multitudinous gathering that will fill the entire auditorium. "The factors between [wine] lab...