Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 24, 2011 is: telegenic • \tel-uh-JEN-ik\  • adjective : well-suited to the medium of television; especially : having an appearance and manner that are markedly attractive to television viewers Examples: This year's playoffs will feature some very telegenic rookies playing alongside veterans destined for the Hall of Fame. "What readers remember from the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 23, 2011 is: adversary • \AD-ver-sair-ee\  • noun : one that contends with, opposes, or resists : enemy Examples: Susan dreaded meeting her adversary at the negotiating table again, because she had come out on the losing side every time so far. "New START is not explicitly about improving relations with a former cold-war adversary, but rather reducing...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 22, 2011 is: imbue • \im-BYOO\  • verb 1 : to tinge or dye deeply 2 : endow Examples: The singer imbued her voice with a profound sadness for the haunting ballad. "Friedlander suggests that if only the business schools, their deans and students had studied Nelson Mandela's inspiring life, and if only they had learned how he had generated his enormous m...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 21, 2011 is: cavalier • \kav-uh-LEER\  • adjective 1 : debonair 2 : marked by or given to offhand and often disdainful dismissal of important matters Examples: Matthew’s cavalier disregard for other people’s property was evident when he took his sister’s car without asking permission. "My bandmates are sitting around me while I reset the grenade’s pin...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 20, 2011 is: ninja • \NIN-juh\  • noun : a person trained in ancient Japanese martial arts and employed especially for espionage and assassinations Examples: Ninjas are thought to be able to run faster than ordinary people, scale impossible walls, and endure the severest of pain. "Simon Baldry has practiced ninjutsu on and off for 15 years and, despite...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 19, 2011 is: snitty • \SNIT-ee\  • adjective : disagreeably ill-tempered Examples: She's nice but her sister is outright snitty. "I'm sorry, that was a little snitty, wasn't it? I've had a lot of things bottled up inside for a while and that can make things come out weird sometimes." -- From Robert Morrow's 2010 novel Ringing True Did you know? Those o...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 18, 2011 is: gloaming • \GLOH-ming\  • noun : twilight, dusk Examples: Crickets were chirping in the gloaming as the newlyweds walked home holding hands. "Nighttime, not the late hours but the gloaming, when the sun was setting and dinner must be prepared and the long evening stretched out before her -- that's when the loneliness settled in like the ac...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 17, 2011 is: procrastinate • \pruh-KRAS-tuh-nayt\  • verb 1 : to put off intentionally and habitually 2 : to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done Examples: Somehow, despite procrastinating, Melody managed to hand her assignment in on time. "Some high school students procrastinate on college applications because they are inti...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 16, 2011 is: ossify • \AH-suh-fye\  • verb 1 : to become or change into bone or bony tissue 2 : to become or make hardened or set in one's ways Examples: When a baby is born, many of the bones in its body have yet to ossify. "But too many businesses are surviving because credit costs nothing, and bankers care little whether their borrowers are profitab...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 15, 2011 is: charisma • \kuh-RIZ-muh\  • noun 1 : a personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure (as a political leader) 2 : a special magnetic charm or appeal Examples: The young singer had the kind of charisma that turns a performer into a star. "On one level, 'Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson' is an irr...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 14, 2011 is: jubilate • \JOO-buh-layt\  • verb : rejoice Examples: When the basketball team finally won a game after nine straight losses, they jubilated as if they'd won the state championship. "They moved some dirt around, dropped a few seeds here and there, and jubilated as Michelle led the merry band." -- From Laura Ingraham's 2010 book The Obama D...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 13, 2011 is: guttural • \GUTT-uh-rul\  • adjective 1 : articulated in the throat 2 : formed with the back of the tongue touching or near the soft palate 3 : being or marked by utterance that is strange, unpleasant, or disagreeable Examples: The only response we could get from him was an inarticulate guttural grunt. "Four thuggish-looking Klingons, spor...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 12, 2011 is: plinth • \PLINTH\  • noun 1 : the lowest part of the base of an architectural column 2 : a block used as a base (as for a statue) Examples: The museum workers reverently set the newly restored statue back onto an imposing plinth. "Anthony put on his glasses and bent down, searching for a minute label taped to the marble plinth on which the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 11, 2011 is: glabrous • \GLAY-brus\  • adjective : smooth; especially : having a surface without hairs or projections Examples: Unlike the fuzzy peach, the nectarine has a glabrous skin. "Wounds that involve the glabrous surface of the hand ideally are replaced with skin that possesses the same characteristics as the adjacent skin." -- From Thomas R. H...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 10, 2011 is: issuable • \ISH-oo-uh-bul\  • adjective 1 : open to contest, debate, or litigation 2 : authorized for issue 3 : possible as a result or consequence Examples: When they created their new LLC, the owners decided to start with 1,000 issuable shares. "At the time of the first prospectus, a total of nearly 14 million shares were issued or issua...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 9, 2011 is: rapscallion • \rap-SKAL-yun\  • noun : rascal, ne’er-do-well Examples: The rapscallions who hung around the deserted parking lot at night were nothing but trouble. "Being evil is serious business, and business is goooood for Gru. He's a feared and loathed rapscallion of the highest degree who's been responsible for some of the greatest heis...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 8, 2011 is: woebegone • \WOH-bih-gahn\  • adjective 1 : strongly afflicted with woe : woeful 2 : exhibiting great woe, sorrow, or misery 3 : being in a sorry state Examples: Jerry's face had the woebegone expression of a man who had just lost a beloved pet. "The Giants also were able to shake off Kevin Boss' early fumble and kept the woebegone Seahawks...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 7, 2011 is: dander • \DAN-der\  • noun 1 : dandruff; specifically : minute scales from hair, feathers, or skin that may be allergenic 2 : anger, temper Examples: "That sort of arrogance really gets my dander up!" exclaimed Janice. "As regulars of this column are well aware, nothing gets my dander and bad cholesterol up more than hearing ill-informed pe...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 6, 2011 is: aureate • \OR-ee-ut\  • adjective 1 : of a golden color or brilliance 2 : marked by grandiloquent and rhetorical style Examples: Matthew tried to get into the novel that Stephanie had recommended, but he found reading the author's aureate prose too much of a slog. "Still low over the flatland east, the sun threw long aureate light across th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 5, 2011 is: proselytize • \PRAH-suh-luh-tyze\  • verb 1 : to induce someone to convert to one's faith 2 : to recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or cause Examples: Eliza is a staunch environmentalist who always feels the need to proselytize to anyone who doesn't recycle or drive a hybrid automobile. "There is also no denying that in some...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 4, 2011 is: netroots • \NET-roots\  • noun : the grassroots political activists who communicate via the Internet especially by blogs Examples: Inarguably, it was the campaigning by the netroots that helped the senator get elected. "The netroots has developed a message and approach to politics that doesn't get heard in the world of broadcast TV, where t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 3, 2011 is: concrete • \kahn-KREET\  • adjective 1 : naming a real thing or class of things 2 : formed by coalition of particles into one solid mass 3 : relating to or involving specific people, things, or actions rather than general ideas or qualities 4 : relating to or made of concrete Examples: The use of concrete examples will often help your reade...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 2, 2011 is: flummox • \FLUM-uks\  • verb : confuse Examples: Ruth was flummoxed by the angry outburst and wild accusations that greeted her mild complaint. "Several traffic signals around the county seem to be less intuitive than others, judging by some of the mail the Doc receives. One that regularly flummoxes drivers is on northbound Seminole Bouleva...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 1, 2011 is: grandee • \grand-DEE\  • noun : a man of elevated rank or station Examples: After winning the golf tournament, it was expected that the young player would shake hands and pose for pictures with the grandees who had supplied the prize fund. "[George] Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention (1787), helped sell the notion of a s...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 31, 2010 is: meld • \MELD\  • verb : merge, blend Examples: Simmer the sauce until the flavors have melded together. "This work is described as a collaborative, interdisciplinary project melding the contemporary visions of a choreographer, a filmmaker, a visual artist, and a fashion designer." -- From a review by Jennifer Edwards on The Huffington Pos...