Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 26, 2011 is: jitney • \JIT-nee\  • noun 1 : a small bus that carries passengers over a regular route on a flexible schedule 2 : an unlicensed taxicab Examples: After doing some shopping along the boardwalk, we boarded a jitney whose route took us back to our hotel. "There is a certain kind of socialite who spends her summers in the Hamptons: perhaps th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 25, 2011 is: pediculous • \pih-DIK-yuh-lus\  • adjective : infested with lice : lousy Examples: Several third-graders had to be treated for lice after being exposed to a pediculous classmate. "We prisoners called ourselves the Jerseys, not out of respect for this vile, pediculous hulk [the prison ship Jersey], but because it was our commonality, the gl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 24, 2011 is: infotainment • \in-foh-TAYN-munt\  • noun : television programming that presents information (such as news) in a way that is meant to be entertaining Examples: "Presidential efforts to generate news of their policies compete with Americans' preferences for infotainment and soft news coverage of celebrities and scandal." -- From Matthew Esh...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 23, 2011 is: layman • \LAY-mun\  • noun 1 : a person who is not a member of the clergy 2 : a person who does not belong to a particular profession or who is not expert in some field Examples: The Nobel laureate's book is an introduction to physics that, despite its depth and detail, remains quite accessible to the layman. "Born on Sept. 11, 1911 … she...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 22, 2011 is: importunate • \im-POR-chuh-nut\  • adjective 1 : troublesomely urgent : overly persistent in request or demand 2 : troublesome Examples: Sylvia was becoming fed up with the importunate phone calls she continued to receive from charities seeking donations. "We'd navigate our way across the floor, nodding at random well-wishers and the vener...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 21, 2011 is: sublimate • \SUB-luh-mayt\  • verb 1 : to cause to pass directly from the solid to the vapor state 2 : to direct the expression of (a desire or impulse) from a primitive to a more socially and culturally acceptable form Examples: Jeb's letter made Marcy want to scream and throw things, but instead she sublimated her anger by writing a tart...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 20, 2011 is: exodus • \EK-suh-dus\  • noun 1 : the mainly narrative second book of canonical Jewish and Christian Scripture 2 : a mass departure : emigration Examples: When the concert ended, the exodus of attendees clogged up traffic for miles. "Simmering tensions between the faculty and administration at the prestigious Bronx High School of Science h...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 19, 2011 is: conversant • \kun-VER-sunt\  • adjective : having knowledge or experience Examples: The software firm advertised for programmers who are conversant with the latest technologies and languages and who have at least 3 years of job-related experience. "You will find newfangled Bohemian specialties like duck breast with red-cabbage essence; wai...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 18, 2011 is: broadside • \BRAWD-syde\  • noun 1 : a sheet of paper printed usually on one side (as an advertisement) 2 : all the guns on one side of a ship; also : their simultaneous discharge 3 : a volley of abuse or denunciation : a strongly worded attack Examples: The intern was surprised when her supervisor answered her simple question with a broad...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 17, 2011 is: Aesopian • \ee-SOH-pee-un\  • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of Aesop or his fables 2 : conveying an innocent meaning to an outsider but a hidden meaning to a member of a conspiracy or underground movement Examples: What sounded like a friendly greeting from Jerome was in fact Aesopian code warning his partner, who had ju...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 16, 2011 is: bumbershoot • \BUM-ber-shoot\  • noun : umbrella Examples: Noticing that a light rain had just begun to fall, Grandpa turned to Susie and said, "Don't forget to take your bumbershoot!" "The Camas Days parade featured vintage cars; rodeo royalty mounted on horses; and the Lacamas Shores Rain or Shine Umbrella Drill Team, which wowed the cro...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 15, 2011 is: regurgitate • \ree-GUR-juh-tayt\  • verb : to throw or be thrown back, up, or out Examples: Instead of sharing some new ideas, the book regurgitates the same old arguments that other authors have tried before. "Vultures often regurgitate indigestible parts of the things they feed on, which adds to the mess on the ground below the eucalyptu...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 14, 2011 is: hendiadys • \hen-DYE-uh-dis\  • noun : the expression of an idea by the use of usually two independent words connected by and (as nice and warm) Examples: The hendiadys "good and loud" appears in many reviews of the concert. "In the source text, Claudius's distress is represented through doubling -- more specifically, in the form of a hend...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 13, 2011 is: sop • \SAHP\  • noun : a conciliatory or propitiatory bribe, gift, or gesture Examples: The contractor offered higher priced bathroom fixtures at no extra cost as a sop to the homeowner, who was threatening to cancel the contract. "Dinner or hearty lunch brings great opportunity, though it is crucial to bypass the spicy double-sauteed Gene...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 12, 2011 is: languid • \LANG-gwid\  • adjective 1 : drooping or flagging from or as if from exhaustion : weak 2 : sluggish in character or disposition : listless 3 : lacking force or quickness of movement : slow Examples: The trial proceeded at a languid pace as each attorney called up a whole roster of witnesses to testify. "From Gadhafi to Irene, the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 11, 2011 is: Cockaigne • \kah-KAYN\  • noun : an imaginary land of great luxury and ease Examples: Located on a secluded white sandy beach, the resort -- with its many amenities, including a first-class luxury spa -- is like a utopian Cockaigne. "[Simon Patten's] particular genius was in recognizing capitalism's potential to realize something like a mo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 10, 2011 is: sustain • \suh-STAYN\  • verb 1 : to supply with sustenance : nourish 2 : to keep going 3 : to buoy up 4 : to suffer or undergo 5 : to support or prove Examples: Some days it seemed as though the toddler barely ate enough to sustain a goldfish, whereas other days she was ravenous. "The company has taken this extra measure in an effort to s...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 9, 2011 is: QWERTY • \KWER-tee\  • noun, often not capitalized : a standard typewriter or computer keyboard -- called also QWERTY keyboard Examples: My new cell phone has a mini QWERTY keyboard that slides out for easy use. "Touch-screen keyboards enable rapid reconfiguration, even between a QWERTY and alphabetical arrangement." -- From the 2010 book H...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 8, 2011 is: nutmeg • \NUT-meg\  • noun 1 : an aromatic seed produced by an evergreen tree (Myristica fragrans of the family Myristicaceae, the nutmeg family) native to the Moluccas; also : the ground seed used as a spice 2 : a tree yielding nutmeg Examples: Before I can make the pumpkin pie, I will need to go to the store to get cinnamon, ginger, and n...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 7, 2011 is: widdershins • \WID-er-shinz\  • adverb : in a left-handed, wrong, or contrary direction : counterclockwise Examples: We turned right out of the gates and walked the exterior perimeter of the gardens slowly before turning around and walking it again widdershins. "The ships were locked together, rotating widdershins around their common axis....

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 6, 2011 is: mnemonic • \nih-MAH-nik\  • adjective : assisting or designed to assist memory Examples: To help remember the levels of biological classification, James taught his students the mnemonic sentence “King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti” (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species). "Mnemonic devices can help, like mentally regis...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 5, 2011 is: pathos • \PAY-thahss\  • noun 1 : an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion 2 : an emotion of sympathetic pity Examples: Our knowledge of the hero's tragic end adds an element of pathos to the story of his early success. "My books are a mixture of humor and pathos, and I hope they provide some comfort...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 4, 2011 is: Annie Oakley • \an-ee-OH-klee\  • noun : a free ticket Examples: The sales representative gave her client a pair of Annie Oakleys to the golf tournament. "I asked my office neighbor Ned Dougherty if he and his fiancée Ginny wanted to take the other two Annie Oaklies and join us that evening, which is how four of us came to be at New York Ci...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 3, 2011 is: corrade • \kuh-RAYD\  • verb : to wear or crumble away through abrasion Examples: Over the years, the rushing waters had corraded the riverbanks. "The nearly pyramidal shapes in the Cydonia region of Mars -- which recent imagery suggest are likely no more than ancient mountains corraded by eons of sandstorms --were advanced by the late astr...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 2, 2011 is: newspeak • \NOO-speek\  • noun, often capitalized : propagandistic language marked by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings : double-talk Examples: "With all the twists and turns of newspeak, it's virtually impossible to figure out exactly what any candidate stands for anymore," complained Brian. "The cramped me...