Word of the Day

Refulgent is an adjective that means shining brightly. The Latin word fulgure (FOOL gere ay) means ‘gleam.’ When something is described as refulgent, we mean it shines brightly. For example: I instantly fell in love with Regina's painting. All those refulgent colors brought me to tears.

Jettison is a verb that means to abandon or discard something useless. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word Jactare (yack TAR ay) which means ‘to throw.’ Jettison emerged as an English word in the mid 19th century and means to ‘to throw away.’ I got about halfway through my hike before I realized I’d have to jettison my backpack. It had become so frail and useless that I simply had to aba...

Congeries is a noun that refers to a collection of disparate items. Coming directly From Latin, our word of the day shares its root with words like congress and congregate. All of these words refer to people or things forming as a collection. But Congeries usually refers to a disorderly collection of random things. We found a strange congeries of scholarly articles, fitness magazines and comic boo...

Dissemble is a verb that means to conceal one's true motives or feelings. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word dissimulare (dee seem ooh LAR ay) which means ‘to disguise’ or ‘conceal.’ When Cory supported the store’s opening, he tried to dissemble the reasons for his support. But he couldn’t conceal those reasons from us. We knew he was one of the store’s chief investors.

Slapdash is an adjective that means done hurriedly and carelessly. Our word of the day comes from a 17th century English play called the The Kind Keeper. By combining the words ‘slap’ and ‘dash,’ it conveyed a sense of something done quickly and without much care. As a plumber, Darren may be a fast worker, but he can be a little too slapdash for some clients’ tastes. Most people want their work do...

Ennui is a noun that refers to a state of boredom. Our word of the day shares its Old French origin with the word ‘annoy.’ When something brings ennui into our lives it annoys us and makes us weary. After years of working in the sales industry, I began to feel a sense of ennui. I just couldn’t escape the sense of boredom it caused me to work in a field that I didn’t excel at.

Stochastic is an adjective that means randomly selected. Our word of the day comes from the Greek word stokhos (STOKE hose) which means ‘to aim at’ or ‘guess.’ When we guess something we are more or less selecting it randomly. I was honored to be selected the captain of the bowling team until I learned the process of being picked was stochastic. I wouldn’t have been so honored if I’d known I was p...

Rodomontade is a noun that refers to a bragging speech. Our word of the day comes from an epic Medieval Italian poem called the Frenzy of Orlando. More specifically, the word rodomontade’s origin is from a boastful character in the poem.  Today the word is a noun that refers to any boastful speech. Most people in the audience were pretty annoyed at Carl’s rodomontade. That kind of self-congra...

Duplicity is a noun that refers to contradictory speech or behavior. The Latin word duplicitas (doo plea CHEAT us) means ‘twofold.’ You could think of any form of duplicity as twofold in the same way we think of a liar or cheater as ‘two-faced.’ Example: Many people refuse to vote because they find cases of duplicity in the political world. But it’s important to remember that not all public offici...

Idoneous is an adjective that means fit or proper. Our word of the day comes almost directly from the Latin word idoneus (ee DOHN ee oos) and its meaning has remained much the same since evolving into English. When something is described as ideonous, we mean it fits a given need. Visiting foreign countries can be a little uncomfortable because I never know the idoneous thing to say. It takes time...

Renege is a verb that means to go back on a promise or commitment. Derived from Medieval Latin, our word of the day was once used as a synonym of ‘denial,’ but more recently, it means to reverse field on a commitment previously made. For example: The mayor promised to support the football team when they first arrived in town. But after three awful seasons he reneged on that promise.

Exiguous is an adjective that means inadequate or scarce. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word exiguus (ecks ay GOOSE) which has the same basic meaning as exiguous. It is used to describe something that is not in adequate supply. The exiguous resources in our small town was a serious problem for business. It’s hard to run a business when the things you need are in short supply.

Mete is a verb that means to measure or dole out. Our word of the day comes from an Old English word that means ‘to allot’ or ‘measure.’ You could think of meting something out as giving each person their allotment. But typically the word refers to giving out punishment or some kind of harsh treatment. For example: When it comes time to sentence the guilty parties, we’re certain that the judge wil...

Irksome is an adjective that means annoying. To irk someone is to annoy or irritate them. When we combine this word of Middle English origin with the suffix S-O-M-E, which means ‘tending to cause,’ we get a word for a person or thing that tends to annoy or irritate. Don’t get me wrong, Craig is a great co-worker to have. But his habit of singing in his cubicle non-stop can get a bit irksome after...

Subterfuge is a noun that refers to deception. Our word of the day combines the Latin prefix S-U-B-T-E-R, meaning ‘secretly’ with F-U-G-E from the Latin verb for ‘to flee.’ The words together give us a word to describe someone secretly escaping the truth. We went to the retreat thinking we were participating in a camping trip, but soon discovered that the trip was just subterfuge for their true pu...

Ignominy is a noun that refers to deep humiliation or disgrace. The root Latin word of ignominy is nomen (NO men) which means ‘name’ or ‘repute.’ When a person’s name has been disgraced they have suffered great harm to their name or reputation. Our word of the day is used to capture this sense of humiliation. For example: Becoming class valedictorian was a great source of pride for Thomas. But whe...

Intransigent is an adjective that means uncompromising. The Latin word transigere (tran SEE jare ay) means ‘to come to an agreement.’ As this word evolved into intransigent, it added the prefix I-N to mean ‘not’ and became a word to mean ‘unable to come to an agreement.’ Everyone else in the family wanted to watch a horror movie last night, but I was intransigent on the issue. I wanted to watch an...

Puissant is an adjective that means powerful. Our word of the day comes from the Latin word posse (POSS ay) which means ‘to be able.’ A puissant person or group who is able to do quite a lot because of their power. If we wanted to accomplish our goals, we needed the help of a puissant advocate of worker’s rights. Without some powerful people assisting us, we had no hope.

Conflagration is a noun that refers to a large, disastrous fire. Our word of the day comes almost directly from the Latin word conflagare (con flah GAR ay) which simply means ‘fire.’ But a conflagration isn’t just a fire — it’s an out-of-control blaze that causes unintended damage. In other words, you wouldn’t use it to describe a bonfire or the small blaze in your fireplace. It saddened me to see...

Lilliputian is an adjective that means small or petty. Our word of the day comes from the Jonathan Swift novel Gulliver’s Travels as a reference to a tiny group of people roughly six inches tall. More recently the word may be used as a noun to refer to a small, petty thing or as an adjective. For example: I lost my nail clipper as we were climbing the mountain. But in the midst of such a monumenta...

Brume is a noun that refers to a mist or a fog. The Latin word bruma (BROOM uh) means ‘winter.’ The word soon evolved to describe a fog or haze — something often seen in the winter. The view on the beach is usually lovely. But when that fog comes in, it has a tendency to obscure the waters and the distant shore. Nothing messes up a breathtaking view like a brume.

Gracile is an adjective that means slender. Coming from the Latin word gracilis (GROTCH ee lease) which means ‘thin,’ our word of the day is a synonym of ‘lean’ or ‘slight.’ My daughter’s efforts to try out for the wrestling team didn’t work out so well. Having a petite, gracile body may be great for gymnastics, but it doesn’t help you much on the wrestling mat.

Clamber is a verb that means to climb awkwardly. Deriving from Old English, our word of the day is often used to describe people climbing over or past obstacles like rocks. For example: For most of us having all those boxes laying around the office was a huge problem. But for Rhonda, all those years of mountain climbing made her an expert at clambering past obstacles.

Evanescent is an adjective that means vanishing like vapor. Our word of the day is derived from the Latin word evanescent (ay ven uh SHENT) which means ‘to disappear.’ Evanescent may be used to refer to something that disappears in a literal sense or it can be used more figuratively as a synonym of ‘ephemeral’ or ‘temporary.’ For example: That recollection of our family singing around the fireplac...

Phonate is a verb that means to make vocal sounds. The Greek word Phone (PHONE) means ‘sound.’ Our word of the day is a synonym of words like ‘talk,’ and ‘speak’ but it’s a broader term that refers to the making of any kind of sound from a person’s mouth. The microphones we used in the studio were so sensitive they picked up any sounds from the speaker’s mouth — even if they weren’t aware of makin...