Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 26, 2007 is: conciliate • \kun-SILL-ee-ayt\  • verb 1 : to gain (as goodwill) by pleasing acts 2 : to make compatible : reconcile 3 : appease Examples: City Councilor Nguyen approved the closing of the branch library and later attempted to conciliate his constituents by pushing for free bus service to the main library. Did you know? A council is "an a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 25, 2007 is: grinch • \GRINCH\  • noun : killjoy, spoilsport Examples: Our team had improved significantly over the past week, but the grinches were still pointing out that we were more than ten games out of first place. Did you know? When Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, wrote the children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 1957, he p...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 24, 2007 is: kith • \KITH\  • noun : familiar friends, neighbors, or relatives Examples: Andre makes it a point to have at least one barbecue a year at his house in order to stay in touch with his kith and kin. Did you know? "Kith" has had many meanings over the years. In its earliest uses it referred to knowledge of something, but that meaning died o...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 23, 2007 is: rescind • \rih-SIND\  • verb 1 : to take away : remove 2 : take back : cancel 3 : to make void (as an act) by action of the enacting authority or a superior authority : repeal Examples: The union rescinded its call for a strike when management agreed to many of the workers' demands. "… following a hearing before the Atomic Energy Commissi...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 22, 2007 is: prerogative • \prih-RAH-guh-tiv\  • noun 1 a : an exclusive or special right, power, or privilege: as b : one belonging to an office or an official body c : one belonging to a person, group, or class of individuals d : one possessed by a nation as an attribute of sovereignty 2 : a distinctive excellence Examples: How Amy spends her money...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 21, 2007 is: passel • \PASS-ul\  • noun : a large number or amount Examples: Knowing that there will be a passel of phone and e-mail messages to deal with, Rob is dreading going back to work after his two-week vacation. Did you know? Loss of the sound of "r" after a vowel and before another consonant in the middle of a word is common in spoken English...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 20, 2007 is: audition • \aw-DISH-un\  • noun 1 : the power or sense of hearing 2 : the act of hearing; especially : a critical hearing 3 : a trial performance to appraise an entertainer's merits Examples: The theater company is holding auditions today for the role of the play's central character. Did you know? Today, "audition" most often refers to a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 19, 2007 is: voracious • \vaw-RAY-shus\  • adjective 1 : having a huge appetite : ravenous 2 : excessively eager : insatiable Examples: Cemal is a voracious reader who whips through three or four books each week. Did you know? "Voracious" is one of several English words that derive from the Latin verb "vorare," which means "to eat greedily" or "to dev...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 18, 2007 is: auctorial • \awk-TOR-ee-ul\  • adjective : of or relating to an author Examples: "The capacity to tell a plain tale is the greatest of the auctorial gifts." (Anthony Burgess, Homage to QWERT YUIOP) Did you know? In ancient Rome, auctioneers, grantors, and vendors were known as "auctors." The title is based on the Latin verb "augēre," mean...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 17, 2007 is: craven • \KRAY-vun\  • adjective : lacking the least bit of courage : contemptibly fainthearted Examples: Lavinia thought it was craven of Alex to cave into pressure and retract his allegations instead of defending his position. Did you know? "Craven" and its synonyms "dastardly" and "pusillanimous" are all basically fancy words for "cowa...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 16, 2007 is: desuetude • \DESS-wih-tood\  • noun : discontinuance from use or exercise : disuse Examples: The old bridge, which fell into desuetude after the railroad was shut down, has recently been opened as a pedestrian walkway. Did you know? "Desuetude" must be closely related to "disuse," right? Wrong. Despite the similarities between them, "desu...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 15, 2007 is: ubiquitous • \yoo-BIK-wuh-tuss\  • adjective : existing or being everywhere at the same time : constantly encountered : widespread Examples: "The classic clutch has replaced last fall's ubiquitous shoulder bag as this season's handbag of choice," the fashion magazine reported. Did you know? "Ubiquitous" comes to us from the noun "ubiquity...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 14, 2007 is: folderol • \FAHL-duh-rahl\  • noun 1 : a useless ornament or accessory : trifle 2 : nonsense Examples: Cherie dismissed the tabloid article as useless folderol. Did you know? Hogwash. Claptrap. Hooey. Drivel. Malarkey. English is rife with words that mean "nonsense," and "folderol" is one of the many. Though not the most common of the wor...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 13, 2007 is: ingenue • \AN-juh-noo\  • noun 1 : a naïve girl or young woman 2 : the stage role of an ingenue; also: an actress playing such a role Examples: When she was younger, the actress was often typecast as the ingenue who is unwittingly pursued by several adoring men. Did you know? Although Becky Sharp, the ambitious heroine of William Makepeac...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 12, 2007 is: harry • \HAIR-ee\  • verb 1 : to make a pillaging or destructive raid on : assault 2 : to force to move along by harassing 3 : to torment by or as if by constant attack Examples: Seven-year-old Kaitlyn harried her little sister with pokes, hair pulling, and teasing, badgering her until she burst into tears. Did you know? Was there once a...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 11, 2007 is: soporific • \sah-puh-RIFF-ik\  • adjective 1 a : causing or tending to cause sleep b : tending to dull awareness or alertness 2 : of, relating to, or marked by sleepiness or lethargy Examples: After dinner, Owen sank onto the couch by the fireplace and -- succumbing to the soporific effect of his full belly and the comfortable surrounding...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 10, 2007 is: imprecate • \IM-prih-kayt\  • verb : to invoke evil on : curse Examples: "The workers' sweating brows wrinkled, but I heard no one imprecate the river; each just went back to passing along stories and sandbags." (William Least Heat-Moon, River-Horse) Did you know? It may surprise you to learn that a word that refers to wishing evil upon s...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 9, 2007 is: limpid • \LIM-pid\  • adjective 1 a : marked by transparency : pellucid b : clear and simple in style 2 : absolutely serene and untroubled Examples: "Autumn leaves float on a limpid stream through which you can see the shadows they cast on the stones below." (Ken Johnson, The Boston Globe, July 8, 2007) Did you know? Since the early 1600s,...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 8, 2007 is: supercilious • \soo-per-SILL-ee-us\  • adjective : coolly and patronizingly haughty Examples: Lucinda's beauty attracted many suitors, but her supercilious manner eventually drove them all away. Did you know? Arrogant and disdainful types tend to raise an eyebrow at anything they consider beneath them. The original supercilious crowd must...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 7, 2007 is: confabulate • \kun-FAB-yuh-layt\  • verb 1 : to talk informally : chat 2 : to hold a discussion : confer 3 : to fill in gaps in memory by fabrication Examples: Before accepting my offer to purchase their handmade quilt, Polly and Linda took a moment to confabulate. Did you know? "Confabulate" is a fabulous word for making fantastic fabrica...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 6, 2007 is: Locofoco • \loh-kuh-FOH-koh\  • noun 1 : a member of a radical group of New York Democrats organized in 1835 in opposition to the regular party organization 2 : a member of the Democratic party of the United States Examples: "It might be said that Roosevelt was the greatest locofoco since Andrew Jackson." (Robert E. Sherwood, Roosevelt and...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 5, 2007 is: toady • \TOH-dee\  • noun : one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors : sycophant Examples: The editorial unfairly characterizes the appointee as one of the mayor's toadies, ignoring her long record of unselfish service to the community. Did you know? We can thank old-time toadeaters for today's word. In 17th-century Europe, a toadeat...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 4, 2007 is: rambunctious • \ram-BUNK-shuss\  • adjective : marked by uncontrollable exuberance : unruly Examples: By the time she finally got the three rambunctious children to bed, the babysitter was exhausted. Did you know? "Rambunctious" first appeared in print in 1830, at a time when the fast-growing United States was forging its identity and indu...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 3, 2007 is: escapade • \ESS-kuh-payd\  • noun : a usually adventurous action that runs counter to approved or conventional conduct Examples: His latest film is a screwball comedy depicting the calamitous escapades of two men who stow away on a cruise ship. Did you know? When it was first used in English, "escapade" referred to an act of escaping or fl...

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 2, 2007 is: attenuate • \uh-TEN-yuh-wayt\  • verb 1 : to make thin or slender 2 : to lessen the amount, force, magnitude, or value of : weaken 3 : to reduce the severity, virulence, or vitality of Examples: The use of computers, with their quiet keyboards, has greatly attenuated the noise level of the office, but Dee misses the sound of clacking typew...