Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 21, 2010 is: caravansary • \kair-uh-VAN-suh-ree\  • noun 1 : an inn surrounding a court in eastern countries where caravans rest at night 2 : hotel, inn Examples: Most of the area's hotels are on the pricey end of the scale, but there are a few caravansaries for budget travelers. "Dedan was an important caravansary on the Incense Road, the network of...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 20, 2010 is: plaintive • \PLAYN-tiv\  • adjective : expressive of suffering or woe : melancholy Examples: We could hear the plaintive cry of a wounded animal in the woods. "The new album's got a timelessness to it, as Bondy pulls you in with tersely plaintive yarns of hard luck in the big, bad world, the predictability of loneliness and the faint pro...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 19, 2010 is: fret • \FRET\  • verb 1 : to eat or gnaw into : wear, corrode; also : fray 2 : to become vexed or worried 3 : agitate Examples: A consummate worrier, he frets over every little thing that might go wrong. "Some political analysts had fretted before the speech that Obama would use the occasion as a 'victory lap' in the same way that Mr. Bu...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 18, 2010 is: scintillate • \SIN-tuh-layt\  • verb 1 : to emit sparks : spark 2 : to emit quick flashes as if throwing off sparks : sparkle Examples: We watched contentedly as our campfire scintillated in the darkness. "Nightlife in the city is all about glitz and glitter. Bright lights to illuminate, scintillate, and titillate." -- From an article by...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 17, 2010 is: farrago • \fuh-RAH-goh\  • noun : a confused mixture : hodgepodge Examples: The shop is filled with a whimsical farrago of artwork, antiques, and vintage clothing. "So far, the excuses and explanations offered … for this fiasco have been a farrago of misleading and contradictory statements." -- From The Ottawa Sun, July 21, 2010 Did you...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 16, 2010 is: jejune • \jih-JOON\  • adjective 1 : lacking nutritive value 2 : devoid of significance or interest : dull 3 : juvenile, puerile Examples: She made jejune remarks about life and art. "If familiar figures like Kermit the Frog and SpongeBob SquarePants are simply too jejune for you, the organizers of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade have add...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 15, 2010 is: antecessor • \an-tih-SESS-er\  • noun : one that goes before Examples: Literary critics hailed the first novel as a brilliant and groundbreaking follow-up to famous antecessors in the genre. "The relentless show-biz blitz by Gov. Bill Richardson, and all the movie- and TV-shooting it's brought to our state, will be a big part of his lege...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 14, 2010 is: countermand • \KOUNT-er-mand\  • verb 1 : to revoke (a command) by a contrary order 2 : to recall or order back by a superseding contrary order Examples: "From around the world, postcards poured in to then-U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton's office demanding that he countermand the order to prosecute." (Stephen Lemons, Phoenix New Times, Febru...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 13, 2010 is: flounder • \FLOUN-der\  • verb 1 : to struggle to move or obtain footing : thrash about wildly 2 : to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually Examples: I'm not so sure they actually know what they are doing. They appear just to be floundering about. Did you know? Despite the fact that "flounder" is a relatively common English verb, its...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 12, 2010 is: mayhap • \MAY-hap\  • adverb : perhaps Examples: "Mayhap this thought will lead to another, that perhaps we should have second thoughts about becoming a society all about consumption." (The Bismarck Tribune, November 21, 2007) Did you know? If "mayhap" looks to you like a relative of its synonym "perhaps," you're right -- the words are r...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 11, 2010 is: debacle • \dee-BAH-kul\  • noun 1 : a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river 2 : a violent disruption (as of an army) : rout 3 a : a great disaster b : a complete failure : fiasco Examples: Volunteers from around the nation have joined together to aid the communities affected by the oil spill debacle. Did you know? "Debacle" comes from the...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 10, 2010 is: synchronicity • \sing-kruh-NISS-uh-tee\  • noun 1 : the quality or fact of being simultaneous 2 : the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events Examples: Who could explain the synchronicity of receiving an e-mail from cousin Jane on the very day we stumbled upon pictures from her wedding? Did you know? "It happens t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 9, 2010 is: auxiliary • \awg-ZILL-yuh-ree\  • adjective 1 a : offering or providing help b : functioning in a subsidiary capacity 2 : constituting a reserve : supplementary Examples: "I began working in opera 65 years ago, coaching singers, and then served in various auxiliary functions before I began conducting." (Erich Leinsdorf, The New York Times...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 8, 2010 is: zenith • \ZEE-nith\  • noun 1 : the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the nadir and vertically above the observer 2 : the highest point reached in the heavens by a celestial body 3 : culminating point : acme Examples: "The race was either the nadir or the zenith of high jinks politics, depending on one's point of vie...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 7, 2010 is: laconic • \luh-KAH-nik\  • adjective : using or involving the use of a minimum of words : concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious Examples: "While the Ingallses were living outside the town of De Smet, in what is now South Dakota, Laura met her future husband, a laconic homesteader ten years her senior." (Judith Thurman, The Ne...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 6, 2010 is: paranymph • \PAIR-uh-nimf\  • noun 1 : a friend going with a bridegroom to fetch home the bride in ancient Greece; also : the bridesmaid conducting the bride to the bridegroom 2 a : best man b : bridesmaid Examples: The bride and groom, accompanied by their paranymphs, stood before the officiating clergy. Did you know? "Paranymph" resulte...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 5, 2010 is: Sisyphean • \sis-uh-FEE-un\  • adjective : of, relating to, or suggestive of the labors of Sisyphus; specifically : requiring continual and often ineffective effort Examples: "Considering the inherently fickle nature of golf, defending a title is, no doubt, as Sisyphean a task as any in the sport." (Anthony Cuaycong, BusinessWorld, July 2...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 4, 2010 is: bona fides • \boh-nuh-FYE-deez\  • noun 1 : good faith : sincerity 2 : evidence of one's good faith or genuineness 3 : evidence of one's qualifications or achievements Examples: If you still have doubts about Rob’s bona fides as a lawyer, you should hear all the good things his past clients have said about him. Did you know? "Bona fides"...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 3, 2010 is: clitic • \KLIT-ik\  • noun : a word that is treated in pronunciation as forming a part of a neighboring word and that is often unaccented or contracted Examples: In "what's happening?" the "s" in "what's" is a clitic. Did you know? We hear clitics every day in sentences like "This'll be fine" and "C'mon over here." There are two kinds of...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 2, 2010 is: vulpine • \VUL-pine\  • adjective 1 : of, relating to, or resembling a fox 2 : foxy, crafty Examples: "There is something Gatsby-esque about the whole story. [Bernie] Madoff is a clear proxy for Meyer Wolfsheim, the vulpine, self-satisfied criminal seducer." (Daniel Gross, Newsweek, January 12, 2009) Did you know? In Walden (1854), Henry...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 1, 2010 is: hector • \HEK-ter\  • verb 1 : to play the bully : swagger 2 : to intimidate or harass by bluster or personal pressure Examples: The judge sternly ordered the attorney to stop hectoring the witness. Did you know? In Homer's Iliad, Hector, the eldest son of King Priam of Troy, was a model soldier, son, father, and friend, the champion of t...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 31, 2010 is: dram • \DRAM\  • noun 1 : a unit of avoirdupois weight equal to 1/16 ounce 2 : a unit of apothecaries' weight equal to 1/8 ounce 3 : a unit of liquid capacity equal to 1/8 fluid ounce 4 a : a small portion of something to drink b : a small amount Examples: The two of them don't have a dram of sense between them, so I'm not surprised that th...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 30, 2010 is: flat-hat • \FLAT-hat\  • verb : to fly low in an airplane in a reckless manner : hedgehop Examples: Unable to resist the temptation to show off, the young pilot decreased altitude and flat-hatted over the county fairground. Did you know? Legend has it that the term "flat-hat" originated with an incident back in the days of barnstormers in w...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 29, 2010 is: quorum • \KWOR-um\  • noun 1 : a select group 2 : the number (as a majority) of officers or members of a body that when duly assembled is legally competent to transact business Examples: The town’s charter states that a quorum of at least nine members must be present before any voting by the town council can take place. Did you know? In Lat...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 28, 2010 is: veridical • \vuh-RID-ih-kul\  • adjective 1 : truthful, veracious 2 : not illusory : genuine Examples: "All psychotherapies are based on the fact that memory is not veridical, that unconscious desires and fantasies exert their force on us all.…" (Henry Kaminer, Weekly Standard, July 31, 2000) Did you know? We'll tell only the truth here: "v...