Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 18, 2011 is: mayhem • \MAY-hem\  • noun 1 : willful and permanent crippling, mutilation, or disfigurement of any part of the body and especially deprivation of a bodily member 2 : needless or willful damage or violence Examples: "A 22-year-old Salt Lake man was charged Wednesday with felony mayhem for allegedly biting off a piece of another man's nose...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 17, 2011 is: flounce • \FLOUNSS\  • verb 1 a : to move with exaggerated jerky or bouncy motions b : to go with sudden determination 2 : flounder, struggle Examples: Bernard flounced around the house in a huff, yanking doors open and slamming them shut as he stomped from room to room. "The Master of the Music flounced out with the choir flouncing out i...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 16, 2011 is: chameleon • \kuh-MEEL-yun\  • noun 1 : a small lizard whose skin changes color especially according to its surroundings 2 a : a person given to often expedient or facile change in ideas or character b : one that is subject to quick or frequent change especially in appearance Examples: At the summer resort he acquired a reputation as a soc...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 15, 2011 is: brummagem • \BRUM-ih-jum\  • adjective : not genuine : spurious; also : cheaply showy : tawdry Examples: Donald knew better than to pay good money for the brummagem watch that was being falsely advertised as a quality Swiss timepiece. "Just as critics … conceived high culture in some antithetical relationship to 'middlebrow' or 'kitsch,'...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 14, 2011 is: canoodle • \kuh-NOO-dul\  • verb : to engage in amorous embracing, caressing, and kissing Examples: Chaperones watched for couples attempting to sneak under the gymnasium's bleachers to canoodle. "The honeymooners are ubiquitous. They cuddle on the beaches, and they maneuver kayaks across the clear, turquoise waterways. They hold hands an...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 13, 2011 is: harbinger • \HAHR-bun-jer\  • noun 1 : one that pioneers in or initiates a major change : precursor 2 : one that presages or foreshadows what is to come Examples: The February thaw is a harbinger of spring -- even if it's followed by a few more snowstorms. "When Packers outside linebacker Clay Matthews had three sacks against Philadelphia...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 12, 2011 is: emprise • \em-PRYZE\  • noun : an adventurous, daring, or chivalric enterprise Examples: The poet Rupert Brooke, in an elegy to the passing of youth, lamented the loss of "high emprise and ventures dear." "But perhaps he was the only one courageous enough to voice an opinion that others might have shared, but were afraid to say, that this...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 11, 2011 is: unctuous • \UNK-chuh-wus\  • adjective 1 a : fatty, oily b : smooth and greasy in texture or appearance 2 : insincerely smooth in speech and manner Examples: Angela's date was an unctuous man who attempted, unsuccessfully, to pass himself off as a sensitive, artistic soul. "Cucumbers by themselves are too watery and mild, and avocados by...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 10, 2011 is: torpedo • \tor-PEE-doh\  • noun 1 a : a weapon for destroying ships by rupturing their hulls below the waterline: as b : a submarine mine c : a thin cylindrical self-propelled underwater projectile 2 : a large sandwich on a long split roll with any of a variety of fillings : submarine Examples: Among the undersea wreckage, the divers foun...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 9, 2011 is: vicissitude • \vuh-SISS-uh-tood\  • noun 1 : the quality or state of being changeable : mutability 2 a : an unexpected change or fluctuation b : a difficulty or hardship usually beyond one's control Examples: A good investor cannot simply rely on the vicissitude of the market; one must also have patience and use strategy to invest wisely....

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 8, 2011 is: plaguey • \PLAY-ghee\  • adjective : causing irritation or annoyance : troublesome Examples: Mona was a quiet girl who loved her books and detested the annoying antics of her plaguey peers. "What about monks? What about those stories I read as a boy featuring solitary genius inventors, working away at their crazy later-famous tasks, uninte...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 7, 2011 is: interminable • \in-TER-muh-nuh-bul\  • adjective : having or seeming to have no end; especially : wearisomely protracted Examples: Sarah declared that, if she had to sit through one more interminable meeting where nothing was resolved, she would scream. "With the exception of having to eat a couple of cold dinners caused by interminable ru...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 6, 2011 is: tutelage • \TOO-tuh-lij\  • noun 1 : an act of guarding or protecting 2 : the state of being under a guardian or tutor 3 a : instruction especially of an individual b : a guiding influence Examples: Under the tutelage of her high school swim coach, Lynn has greatly improved her times. "Originally a classically trained pianist as a child an...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 5, 2011 is: earwig • \EER-wig\  • verb : to annoy or attempt to influence by private talk Examples: Some of the students are not above earwigging the professor in an attempt to improve their grades. “In Mississippi's casual sociality, lawyers see judges on hunting trips and at cocktail parties, and sometimes visit them privately in chambers. Occasiona...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 4, 2011 is: salvo • \SAL-voh\  • noun 1 : a simultaneous discharge of guns or bombs 2 a : a sudden burst b : a spirited attack Examples: The newspaper article was intended as a salvo against the mayor's policies. "With the arrival of the New Year, Hollywood is prepared to hurl another salvo of films into theaters to see what sticks." -- From an articl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 3, 2011 is: ragtag • \RAG-tag\  • adjective 1 : ragged, unkempt 2 : composed of diverse often incongruous elements : motley Examples: Despite fielding a ragtag collection of players unwanted by other teams, the Barons finished the season with a winning record. "The U.S. Army teaches every recruit about Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the T...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 2, 2011 is: linchpin • \LINCH-pin\  • noun 1 : a locking pin inserted crosswise (as through the end of an axle or shaft) 2 : one that serves to hold together parts or elements that exist or function as a unit Examples: A matching DNA sample was the linchpin in the murder case. "Although ties to the EU remain its economic linchpin, the country has shif...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 1, 2011 is: lucid • \LOO-sid\  • adjective 1 a : suffused with light : luminous b : translucent 2 : having full use of one's faculties : sane 3 : clear to the understanding : intelligible Examples: When Shelly talks in her sleep she often says things that are perfectly lucid, but if you ask her about the statements in the morning she won’t remember a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 31, 2011 is: hoodlum • \HOOD-lum\  • noun 1 : thug; especially : a violent criminal 2 : a young ruffian Examples: The shaken man tried his best to give the police an accurate physical description of the hoodlum who mugged him in the parking lot. "In the good old days, the bowling alley was a place for teenage punks to gather outside, smoke and fight…....

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 30, 2011 is: urbane • \er-BAYN\  • adj : notably polite or polished in manner Examples: When had my willful and tomboyish cousin turned into this urbane young artist greeting the guests at her opening reception? "It is an archetypal scenario: innocent nave falls victim to the chicanery of a malevolent, urbane and -- most importantly -- seemingly innocu...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 29, 2011 is: euphoria • \yoo-FOR-ee-uh\  • noun : a feeling of well-being or elation Examples: The whole college was swept up in the euphoria of winning the national basketball title. "As for the new airport, McArthur could hardly keep a smile from his face during its entire opening ceremony. The event saw the mayor singing, laughing and soaking in the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2011 is: tog • \TAHG\  • verb : to dress especially in fine clothing -- usually used with up or out Examples: She smiled as she took pictures of her teenage son, who was togged out in a tuxedo and standing next to his prom date. "Brolin is togged out in 20 pounds of woolen Civil War-era clothing, including a floor-length duster, for one of the movi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 27, 2011 is: censure • \SEN-sher\  • verb : to find fault with and criticize as blameworthy Examples: He was censured by the board for his failure to report the problem. "A United Nations committee censured Tehran for what it said was an accelerating crackdown on its opponents." -- From an article by Jay Solomon and Farnaz Fassihi in the Wall Street Jo...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 26, 2011 is: bathetic • \buh-THET-ik\  • adjective : characterized by triteness or sentimentalism Examples: The author has presented us with another bathetic coming-of-age love story. “Just before Ms. MacGraw utters the deathless catchphrase ‘Love means never having to say you’re sorry,’ Crimson Key members loudly implore her, ‘Don’t say it!’ At the co...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 25, 2011 is: lobscouse • \LAHB-skouss\  • noun : a sailor's dish of stewed or baked meat with vegetables and hardtack Examples: Tucked away in a box in the attic were old recipes from Grandpa's father, including one for lobscouse. "Mam knows that I don’t like lobscouse. All those bits of grey meat and white bone and potato and carrot in watery stock wi...