Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 4, 2011 is: wane • \WAYN\  • verb 1 : to decrease in size, extent, or degree 2 : to fall gradually from power, prosperity, or influence Examples: Jenna loved the movie at first, but her enthusiasm waned as the pace began to drag. "Those foreclosure numbers aren't expected to wane anytime soon. RealtyTrac found that 2.9 million homes got foreclosure notices...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 3, 2011 is: odious • \OH-dee-us\  • adjective : arousing or deserving hatred or repugnance : hateful Examples: Martin was an odious person: cruel, violent, and deceitful, willing to do anything to anyone to gain the wealth and power he craved. "The audition process and the testing process is so odious and miserable that you don't want to do it unless there...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 2, 2011 is: vamoose • \vuh-MOOSS\  • verb : to depart quickly Examples: With the sheriff and his posse hot on their tails, the bank robbers knew they had better vamoose. "He raised his handgun and tried to line Reilly down its sight, but there was too much commotion around the agent and Zahed couldn't get a clean shot. Time to vamoose. With his weapon stil...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 1, 2011 is: Beltane • \BEL-tayn\  • noun : the Celtic May Day festival Examples: Aunt Kat vividly described the huge bonfires and colorful rituals she had witnessed at the Beltane festival in Edinburgh as a girl. "Meg said that Beltane eve was one of great natural power. Blessings and curses abounded as the veil between the worlds thinned. " -- From Traci...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 30, 2011 is: shivaree • \shiv-uh-REE\  • noun : a noisy mock serenade to a newly married couple Examples: On the night of Sally and Henry's wedding, the townspeople gathered outside the couple's window to participate in a raucous shivaree. "A shivaree on Virginia Street brought these youngsters together to bang pots and make noise on the occasion of the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 29, 2011 is: ken • \KEN\  • noun 1 a : the range of vision b : sight, view 2 : the range of perception, understanding, or knowledge Examples: The author advised the aspiring writers in the crowd to develop an authoritative voice by sticking to subjects within their ken. "[Yemeni President Ali Abdullah] Saleh and his military-based regime are steering the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 28, 2011 is: catastrophe • \kuh-TASS-truh-fee\  • noun 1 a : a violent and sudden change in a feature of the earth b : a violent usually destructive natural event (as a supernova) 2 : utter failure : fiasco Examples: The party was a catastrophe; the band didn't show up, the food was awful, and a sudden rain shower sent the guests running for cover. "The...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 27, 2011 is: axiomatic • \ak-see-uh-MAT-ik\  • adjective 1 : taken for granted : self-evident 2 : based on or involving an axiom or system of axioms Examples: The axiomatic concept of supply and demand dictates that if there is a decrease in the amount of a commodity available and an increase in the public need for it, then the price of that commodity wi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 26, 2011 is: ensconce • \in-SKAHNSS\  • verb 1 : to place or hide securely : conceal 2 : to establish or settle firmly, comfortably, or snugly Examples: Rather than ensconce the discouraging news in falsely hopeful language, the doctor imparted the diagnosis in a clear, straightforward manner. "From Wednesday morning through Sunday night, nine men and on...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 25, 2011 is: vitrine • \vuh-TREEN\  • noun : a glass showcase or cabinet especially for displaying fine wares or specimens Examples: The tiny antiquarian bookshop has some books that are available for browsing, but the rarer and more valuable volumes are housed in the tall vitrines that line the walls. "A weathered wooden child's chair is stacked atop it...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 24, 2011 is: aspersion • \uh-SPER-zhun\  • noun 1 : a sprinkling with water especially in religious ceremonies 2 a : a false or misleading charge meant to harm someone's reputation b : the act of making such a charge : defamation Examples: Melissa believed that Roger had unjustly cast aspersions on the quality of her research. "There's always, for whoeve...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 23, 2011 is: meme • \MEEM\  • noun : an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture Examples: It is easy to fall prey to a meme that has been perpetuated by the mass media even without any evidence to support the original idea. "The Internet-to-print projects usually happen swiftly, Boog noted, so the books are rel...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 22, 2011 is: primordial • \prye-MOR-dee-ul\  • adjective 1 a : first created or developed : primeval b : existing in or persisting from the beginning (as of a solar system or universe) c : earliest formed in the growth of an individual or organ 2 : fundamental, primary Examples: All life on Earth supposedly came from a primordial ooze in existence many m...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 21, 2011 is: haughty • \HAW-tee\  • adjective : blatantly and disdainfully proud Examples: "Do you know who I am?" asked the woman with a tone of haughtydisdain. "Diana Ross was the first modern pop diva, a benchmark of haughty elegance that laid the path for Whitney, Mariah and Christina. Her front-and-center attitude could be trying; she constantly ove...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 20, 2011 is: disseise • \dih-SEEZ\  • verb : to deprive especially wrongfully of seisin : to put out of possession or occupancy : dispossess Examples: "The complainant declared that he or she had been disseised -- usually physically and sometimes even violently deprived -- of land unjustly and without judgment of a court." -- From a footnote by Janet Loe...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 19, 2011 is: parable • \PAIR-uh-bul\  • noun : example; specifically : a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle Examples: The priest opened his homily by relating the parable of the Good Samaritan that appears in the Gospel of Luke. "Look for no blameless moppets in ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio,’ Carlo C...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 18, 2011 is: condign • \kun-DYNE\  • adjective : deserved, appropriate Examples: A suspension without pay is condign punishment for breaking the company's code of business ethics. "Kara Mustafa's failure, ignominious retreat and condign punishment were greeted with glee in Western Europe." -- From Andrew Wheatcroft's 2009 book The Enemy at the Gate: Habs...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 17, 2011 is: lavation • \lay-VAY-shun\  • noun : the act or an instance of washing or cleansing Examples: "Instead of careful lavations with a few minims of the miraculous water, she bathed daily in one or another of the springs, and imbibed gallons of the fabulous flow of the streams." -- From Jack Vance's 2004 novel Lurulu "In Maycomb County, it was ea...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 16, 2011 is: biophilia • \bye-oh-FILL-ee-uh\  • noun : a hypothetical human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature Examples: "We live in an age in which it is easy to email Buenos Aires, and browse the internet from the Grand Canyon. We could just dial in from whatever sylvan spot appeals to our biophilia." -- Fr...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 15, 2011 is: terpsichorean • \terp-sih-kuh-REE-un\  • adjective : of or relating to dancing Examples: One film critic speculated that this feel-good, terpsichorean movie would have tweens across the nation begging their parents to send them to dance school. "The Jazz Singer turned the industry on its ear, and Jolson's contribution can hardly be overstate...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 14, 2011 is: compurgator • \KAHM-per-gay-ter\  • noun : one who under oath vouches for the character or conduct of an accused person Examples: As a compurgator, you do not have to believe in the innocence of the defendant, but you do have to feel confident speaking positively about that person's character. "To clear himself, the defendant required corrob...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 13, 2011 is: vestige • \VESS-tij\  • noun : a mark or visible sign left by something that existed before; also: a minute remaining amount Examples: Viaducts, walls, and ancient baths remain as vestiges of the Roman occupation of Britain. "Outside her home flies a large American flag, but inside there are vestiges of her native France, with paintings all...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 12, 2011 is: concatenate • \kahn-KAT-uh-nayt\  • verb : to link together in a series or chain Examples: As part of her presentation, Tiffany created a flow chart that concatenated all of the company’s suppliers and accounts. “You may want to place fields on a data-entry form quite differently from the way you want them to print on reports. For example, o...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 11, 2011 is: haphazard • \hap-HAZZ-erd\  • adjective : marked by lack of plan, order, or direction Examples: Because of the haphazard way the cars were parked in the field, it was difficult for drivers to exit in an orderly fashion after the reception. "With bookshelves piled to the ceiling, and every inch of space filled with stacks both meticulous and...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 10, 2011 is: panegyric • \pan-uh-JEER-ik\  • noun : a eulogistic oration or writing; also : formal or elaborate praise Examples: Written on the tenth anniversary of his mother’s death, the poet’s latest piece is a panegyric in her honor. "Football's over reliance on expert based statistics, mathematical probabilities and the highest panegyric going to no...