Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 6, 2011 is: pelf • \PELF\  • noun : money, riches Examples: "Nowadays Western Union is good only if you want to wire cash to your child in college or pelf to a partner in peril." -- From an editorial by Vincent L. Hall in The Dallas Morning News, June 19, 2011 "On an island with the third-highest GDP per capita in the world, where every British bank...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 5, 2011 is: perspicacious • \per-spuh-KAY-shus\  • adjective : of acute mental vision or discernment : keen Examples: The average time for solving the puzzle was seven minutes, but some of the more perspicacious subjects did it in under three minutes. "There was always someone who had it worse, whose pain was more fresh. But there was also someone a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 4, 2011 is: palliate • \PAL-ee-ayt\  • verb 1 : to reduce the violence of (a disease); also : to ease (symptoms) without curing the underlying disease 2 : to cover by excuses and apologies 3 : to moderate the intensity of Examples: Don't try to palliate your constant lying by claiming that everybody lies. "Insomnia is a chronic disorder that needs to...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 3, 2011 is: synecdoche • \suh-NEK-duh-kee\  • noun : a figure of speech by which a less encompassing term is put for a more encompassing term or vice versa Examples: Shakespeare's Macbeth employs synecdoche when he orders a servant out of his presence with the command "Take thy face hence." "At times, Dos Passos suggests that New York City is a synec...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 2, 2011 is: finicky • \FIN-ih-kee\  • adjective 1 : extremely or excessively particular, exacting, or meticulous in taste or standards 2 : requiring much care, precision, or attentive effort Examples: Pamela found it challenging to come up with ideas for healthy meals that her young son, a finicky eater, would enjoy. "Reports that the actor [Kelsey G...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 1, 2011 is: coruscate • \KOR-uh-skayt\  • verb 1 : to give off or reflect light in bright beams or flashes : sparkle 2 : to be brilliant or showy in technique or style Examples: The astronomy students observed the coruscating stars through a high-powered telescope. "Down below the Sea of Galilee gleamed, coruscated, in the setting biblical sun." -- F...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 31, 2011 is: mettle • \MET-ul\  • noun 1 a : vigor and strength of spirit or temperament b : staying quality : stamina 2 : quality of temperament or disposition Examples: The tractor had proved its mettle, lasting for over four generations, but Bobby knew that it was high time to lay it to rest. "One thousand runners from across the country tested their...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 30, 2011 is: precatory • \PREK-uh-tor-ee\  • adjective : expressing a wish Examples: Mr. Tyler’s will included a precatory provision that his grand piano be restored and donated to a music school. "A shareholder proposal to declassify the Board was defeated by shareholders who voted either by proxy or at the Meeting.… For the precatory proposal to pass,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 29, 2011 is: quid pro quo • \kwid-proh-KWOH\  • noun : something given or received for something else; also : a deal arranging a quid pro quo Examples: "In Hollywood no one does something for nothing," said the director, adding "there's always a quid pro quo involved." "If we are to believe current reports, Obama has agreed to significant cuts in Medica...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 28, 2011 is: indite • \in-DYTE\  • verb 1 : make up, compose 2 : to give literary or formal expression to 3 : to put down in writing Examples: "He proceeded to indite a note to Biddy, with my love in it." -- From Charles Dickens' novel, Great Expectations, 1861 "Sometimes, instead of cursing, Upton would indite a note…." -- From Sally Ryder Brady's 2011...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 27, 2011 is: torpor • \TOR-per\  • noun 1 a : a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility b : a state of lowered physiological activity typically characterized by reduced metabolism, heart rate, respiration, and body temperature that occurs in varying degrees especially in hibernating and estivating animals 2 : apathy, dul...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 26, 2011 is: colloquial • \kuh-LOH-kwee-ul\  • adjective 1 : of or relating to conversation : conversational 2 a : used in or characteristic of familiar and informal conversation; also : unacceptably informal b : using conversational style Examples: Molly can switch from formal academic language to a charmingly colloquial style, depending on the audienc...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 25, 2011 is: whirligig • \WER-lih-gig\  • noun 1 : a child's toy having a whirling motion 2 a : one that continuously whirls or changes b : a whirling or circling course (as of events) Examples: Sam was spinning in a financial whirligig; the more he earned the more he spent as he plunged deeper and deeper into debt. "McKay said there will be family acti...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 24, 2011 is: homiletic • \hah-muh-LET-ik\  • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a homily 2 : of or relating to the art of preaching; also : preachy Examples: The lecturer sprinkled his talk with homiletic aphorisms. "In clerical collar and vestments, Mr. Gomes was a figure of homiletic power in the pulpit, hammering out the cadences in a rich...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 23, 2011 is: imbibition • \im-buh-BIH-shun\  • noun : the act or action of imbibing; especially : the taking up of fluid by a colloidal system resulting in swelling Examples: The sign at the entrance to the building stated that the imbibition of alcoholic beverages on the premises was prohibited. "Various chemical and mechanical treatments are used to o...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 22, 2011 is: expedite • \EK-spuh-dyte\  • verb 1 : to execute promptly 2 : to accelerate the process or progress of : speed up 3 : issue, dispatch Examples: To expedite the processing of your request, please include your account number on all documents. "Under the executive order, state agencies can make emergency purchases and acquisitions for expediti...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 21, 2011 is: objurgation • \ahb-jer-GAY-shun\  • noun : a harsh rebuke Examples: "Mr. Filer was now pouring forth his nature in objurgations and oaths, and brandishing before the culprits -- Verena and Ransom -- the extreme penalty of the law." -- From Henry James' 1886 novel The Bostonians "Pushing the Lloyd murder and Yvette's objurgation to a corner...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 20, 2011 is: kerfuffle • \ker-FUFF-ul\  • noun : disturbance, fuss Examples: Predictably, the royal scandal caused quite a kerfuffle on Fleet Street. "If the kerfuffle over last week's Point Taken blog pointed out anything, it's that there is still a large amount of discord between automobile drivers and bicyclists." -- From an editorial in the Louisvil...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 19, 2011 is: ungainly • \un-GAYN-lee\  • adjective 1 a : lacking in smoothness or dexterity : clumsy b : hard to handle : unwieldy 2 : having an awkward appearance Examples: The futon mattress was heavy and ungainly, without any straps to hold onto, and the two roommates struggled to carry it up the stairs. "This fall collection was an '80s-inspired kal...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 18, 2011 is: vaticination • \vuh-tiss-uh-NAY-shun\  • noun 1 : prediction 2 : the act of prophesying Examples: The book's plot hinges on a teenager with a knack for prophecy and a fondness for offering strangers her vaticinations. "But as is the case with romance, evidence of interest in vaticination and prognostication comes to us from many different s...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 17, 2011 is: toplofty • \TAHP-lawf-tee\  • adjective : very superior in air or attitude Examples: Our dinner guest was interesting but a bit toplofty as she recounted tales of her adventures abroad for us. "He was being enormously toplofty, of course, trying to frighten her. And half succeeding." -- From Mary Balogh's 2011 novel More Than a Mistress Did...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 16, 2011 is: defenestration • \dee-fen-uh-STRAY-shun\  • noun 1 : a throwing of a person or thing out of a window 2 : a usually swift dismissal or expulsion (as from a political party or office) Examples: As with all annoying electronic devices, there is a risk that my new alarm clock will meet with a sudden end by defenestration. "They are … bent on th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 15, 2011 is: apocryphal • \uh-PAH-kruh-ful\  • adjective : of doubtful authenticity Examples: Claims that a pack of hyenas had taken up residence near the campsite were believed to be apocryphal until their tracks were discovered last week. "The story, perhaps apocryphal but certainly reasonable, goes that he was never the same after injuring his right...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 14, 2011 is: gumption • \GUMP-shun\  • noun 1 : (chiefly dialect) common sense, horse sense 2 : enterprise, initiative Examples: Mr. Walters hoped that at least one of his young sales clerks would have the gumption to apply for the vacant assistant manager position. "Plans for the relocation and expansion of Vacaville's homeless shelter have hit a snag,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 13, 2011 is: predial • \PREE-dee-ul\  • adjective : of or relating to land or its products Examples: "The lease of a predial estate, when the time has not been specified, is presumed to be for one year.…" -- From the 1993 edition of the Louisiana Civil Code "The new rustic servitudes were conceived as property rights attached to the land itself and cons...