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Word of the Day Archives

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Definitions borrowed or adapted from the American Heritage Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Online. Words picked by whim

(n.) 1. one who teaches or studies the alphabet 2. one who is just learning; a beginner (adj.) 1. having to do with the alphabet. 2. being arranged alphabetically 3. elementary or rudimentary

This is a funny word because it's so elementary but it sounds so magical.

ablutions 05.31.05

a washing or cleansing of the body, especially as part of a religious rite

Back to The Double: "...without wasting time on shaving, and omitting all but the most necessary ablutions, still in his pajamas and dressing gown, like someone who is expecting no visitors, he launched into the day's tasks."

abnegate 09.06.05

1. to give up (rights or a claim, for example); renounce 2. to deny (something) to oneself

I think I'm going to go on a Latinate binge. Two words ago I used "fulminate." So I'll try to think of some other "-ate" words for your lexical pleasure.

abrogate 09.07.05

to abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority

Here's another Latinate word for your enjoyment.

abscond 06.29.05

to leave quickly and secretly and hide oneself, often to avoid arrest or prosecution

This word is usually followed by with. It appears in The Dream of Scipio: "As far as he could tell, he could have absconded with many more; certainly no one ever noticed the thefts."

abstemious 10.01.04

Eating and drinking in moderation.

abstruse 12.07.04

Difficult to understand; recondite

Abstruse, along with recondite, is typically used to refer to scholarly complexity, something that is academically or intellectually hard to grasp.

accretion 01.25.06

1. growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion 2. (Biology) the growing together or adherence of parts that are normally separate 3. (Geology) slow addition to land by deposition of water-borne sediment

This word appears in the definition of another word, one that will be tomorrow's word of the day.

accretion 07.07.05

growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion

From The Dream of Scipio: "She also jotted down variants in the stories, grouping them into themes and categories, trying to distinguish the few kernels of truly old legend from recent accretions or borrowings."

acedia 04.15.08

spiritual torpor and apathy; ennui

Pronounced uh-SEED-ee-uh. Kathleen Norris is talking about acedia at the Festival of Faith & Writing this weekend.

acme 10.19.07

the highest point, as of achievement or development; the point at which someone or something is best, perfect, or most successful

David Crystal, in Words, Words, Words, writes: "Eric Partridge ... called [slang] 'the acme and quintessence of spoken and informal language.' " When I was growing up, there was a grocery store in town called Acme.

acolyte 05.13.05

1. a devoted follower or attendant 2. one who assists the celebrant in the performance of liturgical rites

I just saw this word, but can't remember now where it was. Oh well.

adage 09.15.07

a saying that sets forth a general truth and that has gained credit through long use

I was composing a blog entry in my head yesterday and got stuck on this word, because it made me recall when I was a kid and thought that it was pronounced "uh-DOZH" rather than "ADD-ij." I had never heard anyone speak it, and it looked so similar to a word that I had heard a lot during my early days of playing the violin: "adagio."

aerie 10.28.06

1. the nest of a bird, such as an eagle, built on a cliff or other high place 2. a house or stronghold perched on a height

I saw this word in The Hobbit, which I'm currently reading to my son. It was spelled eyrie, though, which must be a British variant or something.

aggregate 12.15.04

[verb] to collect or gather into a mass, sum, or whole

This word can also be used as a noun or an adjective. Very versatile.

agitprop 01.06.06

political propaganda, especially favoring communism and disseminated through literature, drama, art, or music

This word appears in The Number: "Official Garrett agitprop characterizes its broad target market as 'hardworking, everyday people who play by the rules and who need folks they can trust.' " I think the author, Lee Eisenberg, is using the term loosely. I first heard this word when my wife was in a play called "Mephisto" in Seattle. The play was set during (or leading up to) World War II.

ague 04.14.06

1. a febrile condition in which there are alternating periods of chills, fever, and sweating (used chiefly in reference to the fevers associated with malaria) 2. a chill or fit of shivering

Ague appears as a synonym of yesterday's word, febrile. Oddly enough, I remember coming across this word back in college when I read The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's such a strange word that I must have looked it up or something. In any case, it stuck with me. A quick search inside the book on amazon.com brought up this passage: "He was shivering with a kind of ague. For nearly twenty minutes, neither of the men spoke. A fly buzzed noisily about the room, and the ticking of the clock was like the beat of a hammer."

alacrity 11.24.04

1. cheerful willingness; eagerness. 2. speed or quickness; celerity; promptness in response

I can't remember now where I just bumped into this word again, but I do recall that Herman Melville had a love affair with alacrity in his short novel Typee. Good book, but nothing compared to the monumentally brilliant Moby Dick.

ameliorate 09.08.05

to make or become better; improve

This is another word in my series of -ate words

antediluvian 05.05.05

1. extremely old and antiquated 2. from the Bible, occurring or belonging to the era before the Flood

This just happens to be one of my favorite words.

anti-foundationalist 03.06.06

an anti-foundationalist is one who does not believe that there is some fundamental belief or principle which is the basic ground or foundation of inquiry and knowledge...

The definition, from Wikipedia, continues: "Anti-foundationalists use logical or historical/genealogical attacks on foundational concepts (see especially Nietzsche and Foucault), often coupled with alternative methods for justifying and forwarding intellectual inquiry, such as the pragmatic subordination of knowledge to practical action."

antimacassar 03.12.06

a protective covering for the backs of chairs and sofas

I ran into this word, to my great surprise, while reading Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle to my son Ben.

antipathy 09.29.06

a strong feeling of aversion or repugnance

This word appears in a review of the new movie "The Queen," describing Helen Mirren's performance: "It takes guts to risk our antipathy, to invite us in with brilliant technique rather than bids for empathy."

antipodes 02.03.05

1. any two places or regions that are on diametrically opposite sides of the earth 2. something that is the exact opposite or contrary of another

A friend at work asked me if the word dichotomy would be appropriate in a certain context, and I suggested antipodes instead. Bill Bryson, in his book In a Sunburned Country, uses antipodean six times, enough for me to instantly recall it two years after having read the book when the situation called for it.

aphasia 09.13.05

partial or total loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting from damage to the brain caused by injury or disease

I heard the terribly sad news yesterday of a friend's uncle who now has aphasia due to a brain tumor.

apogee 04.02.08

1. the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is furthest from the earth (the opposite of perigee) 2. figurative: the highest point in the development of something; the climax or culmination of something

I saw this word in a New York Times article, and thought I should do something about it: "he outcry over Mr. Lander’s book deal suggests the trend that has been building for a half decade may have finally reached apogee."

apostasy 10.19.06

abandonment of one's religious faith, a political party, one's principles, or a cause

This word appears in the long litany of unwanted titles Bob Dylan felt his fans were putting on him: "Kaiser of Apostasy." For more of the quote, see yesterday's word, polemics.

apotheosis 02.21.05

1. exaltation to divine rank or stature; deification 2. elevation to a preeminent or transcendent position; glorification 3. the perfect example; quintessence

A friend at work who is looking for a mate through eHarmony came across someone who referred to himself as the apotheosis of something or other. She immediately lost all interest. Who can blame her?

approbation 02.09.05

1. an expression of warm approval; praise 2. official approval

For some reason I'm drawn to the negative words, so tonight I'd tried very hard to think of a positive word that would be fitting for a word of the day. Thus, I give you approbation.

appurtenance 09.17.05

an incidental right (as a right-of-way) attached to a principal property right and passing in possession with it

In a recent New Yorker piece, Nicholas Lemann writes, "Southern Louisiana is the site of many environmental depredations, but one of them will never be a feeling of locked-down sterility as an appurtenance of human habitation. Nature has the upper hand."

arbalest 04.27.05

a medieval missile launcher designed on the principle of the crossbow

ardent 11.01.05

1. expressing or characterized by warmth of feeling; passionate 2. displaying or characterized by strong enthusiasm or devotion; fervent 3a. burning; fiery b. glowing; shining

A friend of mine thought that I had used this word tonight in a conversation we were having, but he was mistaken.

argot 06.14.07

a specialized vocabulary or set of idioms used by a particular group

Here's another word I saw recently, but can't remember where. The American Heritage Dictionary says it can be pronounced AR-go or AR-gut. Which do you prefer?

arrogate 10.14.05

1. to take or claim for oneself without right; appropriate 2. to ascribe on behalf of another in an unwarranted manner

I saw this word in an excellent article called In the Asylum the other day: "Among the best [critics of psychiatry] was the influential historian Andrew Scull, whose history of the origins of asylums, Museums of Madness, nevertheless implied that the arrogation of insanity to the purview of doctors in the eighteenth century did not grow out of any natural connection between the phenomena of madness and the endeavor of medicine..."

asperity 01.12.05

1. severity; rigor 2. harshness of manner; ill temper or irritability 3. roughness of surface; unevenness

Ron Rosenbaum uses this word in his New York Observer article, "Disaster Ignites Debate: Was God In the Tsunami?":

I recall the asperity with which this easy out (Kushner's "God is not all-powerful") was dismissed by Yehuda Bauer, the former head of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, when I asked him about it in Jerusalem.

assiduous 01.30.05

1. constant in application or attention; diligent 2. unceasing; persistent

Yet another fine word that appears in Kate Atkinson's novel, Case Histories.

atavism 06.27.06

1. the return of a trait or recurrence of previous behavior after a period of absence 2. the reappearance of a characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence, usually caused by the chance recombination of genes

This word appears in a column by Bill Machrone in a recent PC Magazine: "But after visiting www.squeak.org I felt an atavistic desire to examine the state of free or inexpensive versions of BASIC.

augur 07.03.06

1. to predict, especially from signs or omens 2. to serve as an omen of; betoken

"Augur" shows up in Seeing by Jose Saramago: "...in a praiseworthy display of civic-mindedness, which augured well for the future, seemed to have no intention of harming, either in word or deed, their legitimate leaders."

august 11.10.06

1. inspiring awe or admiration; majestic 2. venerable for reasons of age or high rank

One last word from Terry Eagleton's book review: "These days, theology is the queen of the sciences in a rather less august sense of the word than in its medieval heyday."

auspicious 02.27.05

attended by favorable circumstances; propitious

My brother-in-law used this word at the dinner table tonight. The excellent book by S.I. Hayakawi, Choose the Right Word, says that auspicious suggests the foretelling of a beneficial outcome from preceding omens

austere 10.03.04

1. Severe or stern in disposition or appearance; somber and grave. 2. Strict or severe in discipline; ascetic: a desert nomad's austere life. 3. Having no adornment or ornamentation.

This morning as I was getting ready for church, I thought about the poem by Robert Hayden, "Those Winter Sundays." The last two lines are especially evocative: "What did I know, what did I know / of love's austere and lonely offices?" And they're more meaningful the more you think about two of the words. Here I've provided the definition for one of them. Part 2 will define "offices."

avuncular 02.17.05

1. of or having to do with an uncle 2. regarded as characteristic of an uncle, especially in benevolence or tolerance

One of my classmates in graduate school referred to a professor as avuncular, and I wasn't sure if he meant it as compliment or an insult. Ever since, I've felt a fondness for this word.

bailiwick 11.29.05

1. a person's specific area of interest, skill, or authority 2. the office or district of a bailiff

I saw this word in a New York Times article: "In the latest twist in an accelerating technological free-for-all, the Baby Bells are trying to shore up their flagging fortunes by muscling their way into what was until just a decade ago the bailiwick of cable companies." I love this word because it sounds funny, even though the meaning is humorless. When I first came across it, I thought it might be something people use for smacking others.

banal 06.04.05

lacking originality, freshness, or novelty; drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite

Here is my paraphrase of what the Usage Note in the American Heritage Dictionary has to say about the pronunciation of banal: There is little agreement and much confusion over the pronunciation of banal. Possible pronunciations include BAY-null (rhyming with anal), buh-NAL (rhyming with canal), and bun-ALL (the last syllable rhyming with doll). The note concludes with this diplomatic gesture: "Speakers can perhaps take comfort in knowing that any one of [these] pronunciations will have the support of a substantial minority and that none of them is incorrect. When several pronunciations of a word are widely used, there is really no right or wrong one." Still, I would avoid the first pronunciation, as it sounds too similar to "anal."

From The Double: "That's just coincidence, simple, banal coincidence."

beachhead 04.02.07

1. a position on an enemy shoreline captured by troops in advance of an invading force 2. a first achievement that opens the way for further developments; a foothold

I heard this word on NPR the other day and thought it was a nice example of a portmanteau

bedraggled 08.24.07

dirty and disheveled

Can this word refer to a state of mind? The disheveled part, I mean. Apparently, the first use of this word was in the early 18th century. It comes from the word draggle, which means, "dirty or wet, typically by trailing it through mud or water." I've never seen draggle used without the be- and the -d, but I like it. Maybe draggle deserves a renaissance?

behemoth 04.05.06

1. something enormous in size or power 2. a huge animal, possibly the hippopotamus, described in the Bible

I saw this word in the Bible, mentioned somewhere around the place that leviathan was mentioned.

belay 11.06.05

1. Nautical: to secure or make fast (a rope, for example) by winding on a cleat or pin 2. to secure (a mountain climber, for example) at the end of a length of rope 3. to cause to stop

My son Ben had his first rock-climbing class at the Y on Saturday. The instructor showed us how to belay, and I learned a new word in the process.

benighted 01.28.05

1. being in a state of moral or intellectual darkness; unenlightened 2. overtaken by darkness or night

The other day I was running through words that begin with "be," and the first three had to do with love or infatuation: beloved, betrothed, besotted. Then my mind alighted on benighted, which may also have to do with love in some kind of perverse way, but I'll withhold judgment on that.

bestiary 05.09.06

a medieval collection of stories providing physical and allegorical descriptions of real or imaginary animals along with an interpretation of the moral significance each animal was thought to embody. A number of common misconceptions relating to natural history were preserved in these popular accounts

My mind was jumping from one word to the next the other day and eventually alit on this one.

bier 10.25.07

a movable frame on which a coffin or a corpse is placed before burial or cremation or on which it is carried to the grave

Someone engaged in some witty wordplay a while back based on bier and its homophone, beer. David Crystal related the anecdote in his book, but I didn't find it particularly engaging. I think it had something to do with the TV series "Six Feet Under" and Heineken beer.

bifurcate 09.09.05

to divide or separate into two parts or branches; fork

Another in the series of "-ate" words, this one comes from Summer Satushek, a loyal reader who suggested it in an email message to me this morning. By the way, bifurcate can also act as an adjective, but then the last syllable sounds more like kut or kit than like kate, which is how the verb's ending sounds.

bivouac 10.11.04

A temporary encampment often in an unsheltered area.

I love the way this word sounds: BIV-wack. What a funny word.

blatherskite 12.04.04

A babbling, foolish person

This is my favorite word from Mark Twain's short story "The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg."

The Tanner: "And so, if the Chair will examine the test-remark in the sack, we shall know which of these two frauds--[The Chair. "Order!"]--which of these two adventurers--[The Chair. "Order! order!"]--which of these two gentlemen--[laughter and applause]--is entitled to wear the belt as being the first dishonest blatherskite ever bred in this town--which he has dishonoured, and which will be a sultry place for him from now out!"

bloviate 01.09.08

to discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner (slang)

A form of this word ("bloviations") showed up in a Paul Krugman article today: "From inevitability to pitiful failure to front-runner again in just a few days. There’s no hint that the market saw either Iowa or New Hampshire coming, or knew anything beyond the bloviations of the talking heads." I can't remember ever having seen this word before, so I looked it up.

bludgeon 02.12.05

noun: short heavy club, usually of wood, that is thicker or loaded at one end
verb: to hit with or as if with a heavy club

This is not the kind of word that I would typically use as a word of the day, but it rhymes so nicely with dudgeon, and I'm a sucker for rhymes.

bonhomie 01.26.05

a pleasant and affable disposition; good-natured easy friendliness

The wonderful Canadian band Broken Social Scene use the (original) French spelling of this word in the song title, "I Slept with the Bonhomme at the CBC." Also, the word appears in Kate Atkinson's novel Case Histories: Theo had stood in the boardroom many times, sharing a glass of wine with his partners and associates, all of them full of the provincial bonhomie of successful professionals.

boondoggle 12.21.05

1. an unnecessary or wasteful project or activity 2a. a braided leather cord worn as a decoration especially by Boy Scouts b. a cord of braided leather, fabric, or plastic strips made by a child as a project to keep busy

From a book I'm reading now called The Number: "Nonetheless, I regarded these trips as delightful boondoggles, days of wine and risotto."

bowdlerize 10.13.07

remove material that is considered improper or offensive (from a book, for example), esp. with the result that it becomes weaker or less effective; to expurgate (a book, for example) prudishly

This is another one of David Crystal's examples of an eponym, from his book Words, Words, Words. Apparently, it may be pronounced either with a long "o" sound (bō...) or with an "ow" sound (as in "wow").

brazier 04.28.06

1. a metal pan for holding burning coals or charcoal 2. a cooking device consisting of a charcoal or electric heating source over which food is grilled

This word also appears in T.S. Eliot's poem "Little Gidding." That guy was full of good words.

breviary 05.13.06

a book containing the hymns, offices, and prayers for the canonical hours

This word's appearance here is the result of free association.

brio 05.17.05

vigor, vivacity

I came across this word this morning as I began reading Jose Saramago's novel The Double: "As he puts the video away in his battered, teacher's briefcase, Tertuliano Maximo Alfonso, with admirable brio, struggles not to reveal the displeasure provoked by the shop assistant's gratuitous sneer..."

I'm sure I will find many more good words from this book. Stay tuned.

brouhaha 01.04.07

an uproar; a hubbub

This is the last in my series of silly words. I'll probably return to silly words later on, but now I have a backlog of words from Walker Percy's The Moviegoer that I need to get through.

bucolic 11.24.05

1. of or characteristic of the countryside or its people; rustic 2. of or characteristic of shepherds or flocks

Here's another word about the rural life.

bugaboo 11.25.05

1. an object of obsessive, usually exaggerated fear or anxiety 2. a recurring or persistent problem

I used this word tonight in a blog entry: Those Liberal English Teachers, and I like the way the word sounds.

bugbear 07.25.08

a cause of obsessive fear, irritation, or loathing

I just used this word in a reply to a comment in the Writing Guide section. For a moment I wasn't sure whether the correct term to use was bugaboo or bugbear. It turns out that they mean roughly the same thing. Also, apparently I had already used bugaboo as a word of the day almost three years ago.

bumptious 11.03.06

crudely or loudly assertive; pushy

This is another word from Terry Eagleton's review of The God Delusion: "Or does he imagine like a bumptious young barrister that you can defeat the opposition while being complacently ignorant of its toughest case?"

cadge 02.22.07

to beg or get by begging

This word appeared in last Sunday's New York Times crossword puzzle.

caliph 04.29.05

a leader of an Islamic polity, regarded as a successor of Muhammad and by tradition always male

calumny 08.07.06

1. a false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation; slander

This is the last word I have poached from The Portrait by Iain Pears: "I could never before claim that you were anything other than an honest man." With that article you entered the darkness of calumny and deceit."

canard 01.21.08

1. an unfounded or false, deliberately misleading story 2. a short winglike control surface projecting from the fuselage of an aircraft ... mounted forward of the main wing and serving as a horizontal stabilizer

My friend Jonathan just told me about the unusual etymology of this word.

capitulate 06.16.05

1. to surrender under specified conditions; come to terms. 2 to give up all resistance; acquiesce

From the New Yorker: "it looks as if Nolan and Liman have capitulated to the marketing demands of a system that is squeezing the art out of large-scale moviemaking."

capricious 05.23.05

characterized by or subject to whim; impulsive and unpredictable

Yet another word from The Double—as far as I can tell, used oxymoronically with "pig-headedness":

...quite without affectation and making no pretense at appearing to be more than what it is, the home of a secondary school teacher who doesn't earn very much, a fact that may be capricious pig-headedness on the part of the teaching profession or the result of a historical penalty as yet still unpaid.

carapace 08.05.07

1. a protective, shell-like covering likened to that of a turtle or crustacean 2. a hard bony or chitinous outer covering, such as the fused dorsal plates of a turtle or the portion of the exoskeleton covering the head and thorax of a crustacean.

I'm pretty sure I saw this word while reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to Ben the other night.

castigate 10.30.06

1. to inflict severe punishment on 2. to criticize severely

This word appears in a review by Terry Eagleton (my favorite popularizer of literary theory) of a new book by Richard Dawkins: "Card-carrying rationalists like Dawkins, who is the nearest thing to a professional atheist we have had since Bertrand Russell, are in one sense the least well-equipped to understand what they castigate, since they donâ€™t believe there is anything there to be understood, or at least anything worth understanding."

casuistry 08.26.05

1. specious or excessively subtle reasoning intended to rationalize or mislead 2. the determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by analyzing cases that illustrate general ethical rules

I thought of this word while mistyping caustic as casutic at work today.

cavil 04.08.05

to find fault unnecessarily; raise trivial objections; quibble about; detect petty flaws in

From Maureen Dowd, in a New York Times op-ed piece: "No matter how much Democrats may be caviling over the House Republicans' attempts to squelch the Ethics Committee before it goes after Mr. DeLay (the former exterminator who pushed to impeach Bill Clinton), privately they're rooting for Mr. DeLay to thrive."

celerity 09.10.06

swiftness of action or motion; speed

This word appeared in the subject line of some junk mail that I received today. What are these spammers doing? Pulling out words from an old copy of Word Power?

charette 07.13.05

a creative process akin to visual brainstorming that is used by design professionals to develop solutions to a design problem within a limited timeframe

A friend of mine used this word this morning, and I had no idea what it meant. When I confessed my ignorance, he defined it well, but I couldn't recall the definition precisely enough for this entry, so I'm using a definition I found on a Carnegie Mellon Library web page. Here is thetheir entry for charette in its entirety:
"The term 'charette' evolved from a pre-1900 exercise at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in France. Architectural students were given a design problem to solve within an allotted time. When that time was up, the students would rush their drawings from the studio to the Ecole in a cart called a charrette. Students often jumped in the cart to finish drawings on the way. The term evolved to refer to the intense design exercise itself. Today it refers to a creative process akin to visual brainstorming that is used by design professionals to develop solutions to a design problem within a limited timeframe."

charlatan 07.20.08

one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability; a fraud; a quack

Sara told me today about a couple charlatans she had read about in the newspaper. To avoid potential libel suits, I won't mention any names. Also, there was a band in the 1990s called The Charlatans UK. They might still be around.

chilblain 07.23.06

an inflammation followed by itchy irritation on the hands, feet, or ears, resulting from exposure to moist cold

From The Portrait: "I told you often about getting up at five every morning in the icy Gorbals lodgings I stayed in, going to work with a slice of dried porridge in my pocket for my lunch; of working with chilblains on my fingers in winter, of never seeing daylight for six months of the year."

clandestine 03.21.05

kept or done in secret, often in order to conceal an illicit or improper purpose

(pronounced clan-DESS-tin) This is another one that just popped into my head. Not feeling very inspired lately.

collusion 09.01.07

secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others

This isn't a very nice word. I wonder, though, if a second meaning is beginning to emerge through common usage—one not involving illegality or cheating or deceit. The definition above, from the Oxford American Dictionary, already hints at this with the word especially. Note the difference between that definition and the one from The American Heritage Dictionary: "A secret agreement between two or more parties for a fraudulent, illegal, or deceitful purpose." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary's definition, which also uses especially, seems to leave the most room for a more neutral connotation: "secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose." My guess is that as the word continues to be used outside of the legal profession, its meaning will become more generalized to the point where people will, given the proper context, understand it to mean "a secret agreement or activity between two or more parties." But, that's only a guess. Who knows? Maybe that has already happened.

comely 11.22.04

1. pleasurably conforming to notions of good appearance, suitability, or proportion 2. pleasing and wholesome in appearance; attractive

Funny word, comely. So close to homely, but so different in meaning. The New Yorker quotes Richard Wilbur using the word in a Paris Review interview: "To put it simply, I feel that the universe is full of glorious energy, that the energy tends to take pattern and shape, and that the ultimate character of things is comely and good. I am perfectly aware that I say this in the teeth of all sorts of contrary evidence, and that I must be basing it partly on temperament and partly on faith, but that is my attitude." Richard Wilbur is one of my favorite poets, by the way. His new book is available at amazon.com now.

comity 10.04.05

1. an atmosphere of social harmony. 2. the principle by which the courts of one jurisdiction may accede or give effect to the laws or decisions of another

This word appears in a Wired Magazine article about Tim O'Reilly, the publisher of many computer books with the animals on the front covers: "O'Reilly's ability to describe trends in terms of human comity springs from an even deeper source. To find it, I take the road to laid-back Sebastopol..."

commodify 03.04.06

to turn something useful to commercial or other advantage

This word was popular among the pseudo-Marxists in the group, but of course they especially liked to say commodification.

compendious 10.22.04

Containing or stating briefly and concisely all the essentials; succinct.

This word popped into my head this morning, as words are wont to do, and for some reason I attached it to the word capacious. I confess the error of my ways and repent of my attempt to associate the two words. As we can see, the two are nothing alike, and I am chastened.

comport 04.15.06

to conduct or behave (oneself) in a particular manner

Nothing in particular inspired this word. It just hit me the other day, so I wrote it down.

concatenate 09.01.05

1. To connect or link in a series or chain 2. (in Computer Science) to arrange (strings of characters) into a chained list

On my way to work this morning I was reading about how to concatenate strings in PHP. That's what I do for fun these days. Read books about PHP.

confabulate 05.08.05

1. (psychology) to fill in gaps in one's memory with fabrications that one believes to be facts 2. to talk casually; chat

This is the first word in a series on words that deal with not telling the truth.

conflate 10.24.05

1a. to bring together; fuse b. confuse 2. to combine (as two readings of a text) into a composite whole

A friend of mine conflated two words tonight in an email. I can't mention the words, because it might embarrass my friend.

contingency 03.05.06

1a. an event that may occur but that is not likely or intended; a possibility b. a possibility that must be prepared for; a future emergency 2. the condition of being dependent on chance; uncertainty 3. something incidental to something else

This word gained favor among the UVa students who wanted to align themselves with Richard Rorty, who was ostensibly a professor there, because of his book Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity.

conundrum 07.06.05

1. a riddle in which a fanciful question is answered by a pun 2. a paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma

From The Dream of Scipio: "both would have had to choose between friendship and obedience, creating a conundrum of irresolvable proportions."

conurbation 08.03.06

a predominantly urban region including adjacent towns and suburbs; a metropolitan area; an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities

This word showed up this morning in a demo of some web-based product. It was in sample text and was referring to Tokyo.

copse 07.09.05

a thicket of small trees or shrubs; a coppice

Last word of the day from The Dream of Scipio: "As he reached the top and saw the chapel nestling in its little copse of trees, he saw also the bits and pieces she had left behind the last time she had been there…"

cornucopia 11.23.06

1. a goat's horn overflowing with fruit, flowers, and grain, signifying prosperity 2. a cone-shaped ornament or receptacle 3. an overflowing store; an abundance 4. in Greek mythology, the horn of the goat that suckled Zeus, which broke off and became filled with fruit. In folklore, it became full of whatever its owner desired

My son used this word this morning. He must have heard it in his kindergarten class this week while learning about Thanksgiving.

cosset 07.18.05

to pamper

This word appears in the new Harry Potter book, which I'm enjoying right now.

cozen 03.01.05

to mislead by means of a petty trick or fraud; deceive 2. to persuade or induce to do something by cajoling or wheedling 3. to obtain by deceit or persuasion

It's pronounced the same way as cousin. Warning: may cause confusion when spoken.

craven 03.07.05

lacking the least bit of courage; contemptibly fainthearted

My brain hopskotched from cozen to craven.

crepuscular 07.29.05

1. of or like twilight; dim 2. (in zoology) becoming active at twilight or before sunrise, as do bats and certain insects and birds

Another word from Gilead:"I you could see me not as a child but as a grown man, it is surely true that you would observe a certain crepuscular quality in me. As you read this, I hope you will understand that when I speak of the long night that preceded these days of my happiness, I do not remember grief and loneliness so much as I do peace and comfort—grief, but never without comfort; loneliness, but never without peace. Almost never."

crestfallen 12.11.04

1. dispirited and depressed; dejected 2. having a drooping crest or hanging head

This is the first word that I thought of when I discovered that we had missed the Lucia Fest today because of a time mix-up. You see, it's our daughter Lucia's second birthday today, and we thought it would be fitting to honor her birthday and our heritage by seeing the local Lucia Fest. We thought it was to be held tonight. It was this morning.

crucible 05.02.06

1. a vessel made of a refractory substance such as graphite or porcelain, used for melting and calcining materials at high temperatures 2. a severe test, as of patience or belief; a trial 3. a place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces

I recently saw this word in Proverbs: "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart." Of course it's also the title of a play by Arthur Miller. But you already knew that.

cryptic 06.27.05

1. secret; occult 2.a. having or seeming to have a hidden or ambiguous meaning; mysterious b. marked by an often perplexing brevity 3. serving to conceal 4. using cipher or code

Another from The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears: "So cryptic was his benefactor that Pisano could not be sure whether it was a reward or a punishment."

cryptomnesia 05.18.06

the recall of memories not recognized as such but thought to be original creations

What a cool word! I heard about it in a recent podcast from NPR's On the Media, in which Ron Rosenbaum suggests that Vladimir Nabokov, rather than being guilty of plagiarism, might have been suffering from cryptomnesia when he wrote Lolita. Apparently, a German author wrote a short story called "Lolita" about an older man's infatuation with a young girl — more than 40 years before Nabokov wrote his novel. Whoa! For more on cryptomnesia, read the Wikipedia entry.

cudgel 02.13.05

noun: a short heavy stick; a club
verb: to beat or strike with or as if with a cudgel

Okay, I promise this is the last of the violent words for a while, but I couldn't help myself once I got on a roll with the "udge" words (see dudgeon and bludgeon).

cupidity 09.07.06

excessive desire, especially for wealth; covetousness or avarice

A junk mail message that I got this morning had "Cupidity" listed as the sender. Wow, such vocabularies those spammers have! Now that I think of it, it's kind of a shame that cupidity doesn't have something to do with love.

cyclothymia 04.26.07

a mild affective disorder characterized by alternating periods of elevated and depressed mood

Someone on a blog somewhere referred to open-source software projects as cyclothymic. I had to look up the word.

dearth 02.07.05

a scarce supply; a lack

Another one-syllable word that I like a lot.

decimate 11.13.06

1. to destroy or kill a large part of (a group) 2. (a). to inflict great destruction or damage on (b). to reduce markedly in amount 3. to select by lot and kill one in every ten of

This word has an interesting "Usage Note" in the American Heritage Dictionary. The dictionary's editors put together a usage panel consisting of linguists and lexicographers and asked them what they thought on various usage issues. Here is what they said about decimate: "Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions. Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a group. Sixty-six percent of the Usage Panel accepts this extension in the sentence The Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge that the number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population. However, when the meaning is further extended to include large-scale destruction other than killing, as in The supply of fresh produce was decimated by the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, only 26 percent of the Panel accepts the usage.

declaim 03.08.05

1. to deliver a formal recitation, especially as an exercise in rhetoric or elocution 2. to speak loudly and vehemently 3. to speak pompously or bombastically

An article in The Nation claims, Bolton is the rightwing's leading declaimer of the United Nations

decry 11.10.05

1. to condemn openly 2. to depreciate (currency, for example) by official proclamation or by rumor

Another word from an article by David Remnick in the New Yorker: "As if by magic, Party regulars were suddenly decrying the emptiness at the core of things. Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former chief of staff, publicly unloaded (three years too late) on the Bush Administration for 'cowboyism' in its foreign policy, for the duplicitous marshalling and manipulation of intelligence to sell the invasion of Iraq..."

defenestration 12.02.04

an act of throwing someone or something out of a window

In honor of it being the tenth-most looked-up word on Merriam-Webster Online in 2004, I hereby decree that defenestration shall be word of the day for December 2.

deleterious 01.11.05

harmful or injurious, often in a subtle or unexpected way

It's the yang to salubrious's yin. Or something like that.

demagogue 10.16.06

a leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace

This word appears in a delightful passage of Chronicles, the Bob Dylan memoir: "I wanted to set fire to these people. These gate-crashers, spooks, trespassers, demagogues were all disrupting my home life and the fact that I was not to piss them off or they could press charges really didn't appeal to me."

demur 05.06.05

to voice opposition; object

This verb is not to be confused with the adjective, demure.

demure 05.07.05

1. modest and reserved in manner or behavior 2. affectedly shy, modest, or reserved

This adjective is not to be confused with the verb, demur.

depredation 09.15.05

1. damage or loss; ravage 2. a predatory attack; a raid

This word comes from a recent New Yorker piece, Nicholas Lemann writes, "Southern Louisiana is the site of many environmental depredations, but one of them will never be a feeling of locked-down sterility as an appurtenance of human habitation. Nature has the upper hand."

derring-do 03.25.08

action displaying heroic courage

I've used this word a few times in the past week, in a silly sort of way. It's impossible for me to use this word seriously. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the current meaning of the word is based on a mistake. Apparently, the words dorrying do, meaning "daring to do" in a Chaucer text, were later misprinted as derryinge do, which Edmund Spenser (centuries after Chaucer) misinterpreted to mean manhood or chivalry. Sir Walter Scott took this meaning and ran with it.

despoil 06.23.07

to steal or violently remove valuable or attractive possessions from; plunder

This is such a cool word. It's not related to "spoil" in the sense of "go bad." Instead, it refers to taking away the spoils—as in "the spoils of war."

despot 05.18.05

a person who wields power oppressively; a tyrant

This is another word that comes from Saramago's The Double: "...our duty as free people is to argue energetically with a despotic fate that has determined with who knows what malicious intentions, that the gren pear should be the film and not the homework or the book." The quote really does make sense in context.

desultory 10.27.04

1. marked by lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose 2. moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected

Nothing inspired this word. It just popped into my mind randomly. So I decided, for no reason, to post it to the word of the day.

detritus 12.16.05

1. loose material (as rock fragments or organic particles) that results directly from disintegration 2. a product of disintegration, destruction, or wearing away

I used this word, in a figurative sense, in an email message today. I can't for the life of me remember why.

diacritic 01.13.06

a mark, such as the cedilla of faÃ§ade or the acute accent of resumÃ©, added to a letter to indicate a special phonetic value or distinguish words that are otherwise graphically identical

Someone recently asked me what the dot on an "i" is called. I didn't know, but I told her about the diacritic just so I could give her something

diaphanous 06.05.05

1. of such fine texture as to be transparent or translucent 2. characterized by delicacy of form

From The Double: "...wouldhave gently carried him off to the diaphanous threshold of sleep."

diaspora 09.05.05

1. a. a dispersion of a people from their original homeland. b. the community formed by such a people 2. the dispersion of Jews outside of Israel from the sixth century b.c., when they were exiled to Babylonia, until the present time 3. the body of Jews or Jewish communities outside Palestine or modern Israel 4. a dispersion of an originally homogeneous entity, such as a language or culture

I heard this word used on National Public Radio today referring to the people displaced by Hurricane Katrina who are now relocating to other parts of the country.

dilatory 10.28.04

1. tending or intended to cause delay 2. characterized by procrastination

Sounds a little bit like desultory. Also looks like it should be related to dilate in some way, but I don't think it is. Before I saw the word in print, I thought dilate was spelled dialate, because that's the way we pronounced it when I was a kid. It was a little confusing to hear people talking about "dialated" pupils; I expected to see eyeballs spinning, as a dial on a phone would. What a relief to finally get that straightened out.

diphthong 01.05.05

a gliding monosyllabic speech sound (as the vowel combination at the end of toy) that starts at or near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves to or toward the position of another

Sounds like an insult, but it's not! So, you couldn't really call Roy a diphthong, even though his name contains one. It also sounds a little like something an immodest man might wear.

dirigible 12.08.06

a self-propelled lighter-than-air craft with directional control surfaces

This word can also be used as an adjective meaning "capable of being steered." I heard this word used in the television show "Arthur" that I watched the other morning with my kids. I must admit, it took me by surprise.

dissemble 10.23.04

1. To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance; conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense 2. To make a false show of; feign.

Here's a word that could describe what we're seeing in certain political campaigns. Read The Other "L" Word for a bunch more.

divers 01.17.08

various; several; sundry

In his silly book, Stephen Colbert writes about divers (the noun) in a chapter on sports. When I saw the word divers, I immediately thought of the adjective divers, which is pronounced the same as the noun and is not to be confused with diverse, meaning "differing one from another" or "made up of distinct characteristics."

doff 02.19.06

1. to take off; remove (as in to doff one's clothes) 2. to tip or remove (one's hat) in salutation 3. to put aside; discard

A friend just told me about someone she knows who saw a label for "pizza dough" and thought that it was pronounced "pizza doff." Why not? It rhymes with "cough." Now this gentleman goes around referring to "pizza doff" because he thinks that it's a more refined, up-scale pronunciation.

donnybrook 12.01.04

1. an uproar; a free-for-all; a brawl 2. a usually public quarrel or dispute

Etymology from the American Heritage Dictionary: After Donnybrook fair, held annually in Donnybrook, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, and noted for its brawls.
There is a longer explanation of the word's origin on worldwidewords.org

doss 08.30.06

1. (chiefly British slang) sleep; rest 2. a crude or makeshift bed

I came across this word as I was reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to my son, Ben.

dotage 01.03.06

a deterioration of mental faculties; senility

Funny word, huh? The definition is probably nothing like what you might expect if you thought it had something to do with "doting," which means showing too much affection or love. Well, it does have something to do with "doting"—at least the words are connected by a common root—but their definitions seem to have taken different paths in their old age. The word "dotty" is also derived from the same root as "dotage," which makes a lot more sense to me. Anyway, I figured I should make this my word of the day today because my wife just used it in our (belated) Christmas letter that we probably won't send for another couple weeks. Maybe we can make it a Saint Knut's Day letter. That would be very Swedish of us.

draconian 12.31.04

exceedingly harsh; very severe

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, this word is derived from Draco, an Athenian politician who codified the laws of Athens (c. 621). Lauded for its impartiality, his code was unpopular for its severity.

drey 11.30.07

the nest of a squirrel, typically in the form of a mass of twigs in a tree

My son wrote a "report" on squirrels the other day. One of the words he used was drey. I had never seen it before. Already in the first grade my son is teaching me things I never knew. His (and my daughter's) school years are going to be a fun ride!

dudgeon 02.11.05

sullen, angry, or indignant state, often used in the phrase in high dudgeon

I'd love to know where this word comes from, but both the American Heritage Dictionary and the Merriam Webster Dictionary say that its origin is unknown. What a strange, particular word it is.

dunderhead 07.10.08

a stupid person

Has it really been over two months since I last posted a word of the day? Wow, I sure feel like a dunderhead. I wonder where this word came from. Is there such thing as a dunder?

duplicity 11.09.04

1. Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech 2. contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action; especially : the belying of one's true intentions by deceptive words or action

Was there any duplicity in this year's presidential campaign? Hmm, I wonder.

dystopia 12.29.04

1. an imaginary place or state in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror. 2. a work describing such a place or state

Part three of a three-word series based on a single sentence from Maureen Dowd's recent editorial, "Christmas Eve of Destruction":

[Rumsfeld's] disgraceful admission that his condolence letters to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq were signed by machine - "I have directed that in the future I sign each letter," he said in a Strangelovian statement - is redolent of the myopia that has led to the dystopia.

ebullient 11.15.04

1. zestfully enthusiastic; characterized by lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts or feelings 2. boiling or seeming to boil; bubbling

I'm trying to think of more upbeat words to counteract the dreary days ahead of little light and gray skies.

ectoplasm 12.09.05

1a. the visible substance believed to emanate from the body of a spiritualistic medium during communication with the dead b. an immaterial or ethereal substance, especially the transparent corporeal presence of a spirit or ghost 2. in Biology, the outer portion of the continuous phase of cytoplasm of a cell, sometimes distinguishable as a somewhat rigid, gelled layer beneath the cell membrane

I came across this word while browsing through amazon.com and entering the bizarro world of books about "shape-shifters" and reptilians and other paranormal gobbledygoook.

ecumenical 03.27.05

1. of worldwide scope or applicability; universal 2a. promoting worldwide Christian unity or cooperation 2b. concerned with establishing or promoting unity among churches or religions

I thought this would be a nice word for Easter.

effulgence 07.20.05

a brilliant radiance; a radiant splendor

This word comes from Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead by Marilynne Robinson: "... and you were kneeling on the ground together with Soapy between and that effulgence of bubbles rising, and so much laughter. Ah, this life, this world."

egregious 04.03.05

conspicuously bad or offensive

(uh-GREE-je-us) I was going to make today's word concupiscence, but now I think I'll just let people look that one up by themselves.

eidetic 06.22.06

of, relating to, or marked by extraordinarily detailed and vivid recall of visual images

This word appears in a blog post by Alex Halavais about student cheating: "while I make no claim of having anything approaching an eidetic memory (more like an idyllic memory), it may ring some dusty bells and heck, I might be able to pull the book you stole it from down off my shelf."

eke 09.08.07

1. to supplement with great effort. (used with out: eked out an income by working two jobs 2. to get with great effort or strain 3. to make (a supply) last by practicing strict economy

I read somebody's blog the other day, and I noticed that the writer used eek (an exclamation used as an expression of alarm, horror, or surprise) when he meant eke. Silly blogger. Did you know that eke used to mean also a long, long time ago? It's true.

elide 01.18.05

1(a) to omit or slur over (a syllable, for example) in pronunciation (b) to strike out (something written) 2(a) to eliminate or leave out of consideration (b) to cut short; abridge

I don't know how this word worked its way into my puny little brain.

encomium 10.17.04

1. Warm, glowing praise. 2. A formal expression of praise; a tribute.

This is word 2 of 3 from a Maureen Dowd editorial in the New York Times.

enervate 11.08.04

1. To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of 2. to reduce the mental or moral vigor of

Trying to figure out what was wrong with my blog software and fix it sure was enervating.

ennui 01.31.05

weariness and dissatisfaction resulting from lack of interest; boredom

When I was a kid, I'd read this word but never hear it spoken. Boy did I feel dumb the first time I pronounced it as EN-YOU-I (It's really pronounced on-WEE).

enormity 04.09.06

1. the quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness. 2. a monstrous offense or evil; an outrage

Hey, I thought I'd throw in a curve ball today. Here is what the American Heritage Dictionary says about this word in its "Usage Note": "Enormity is frequently used to refer simply to the property of being great in size or extent, but many would prefer that enormousness (or a synonym such as immensity) be used for this general sense and that enormity be limited to situations that demand a negative moral judgment… Fifty-nine percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of enormity as a synonym for immensity in the sentence At that point the engineers sat down to design an entirely new viaduct, apparently undaunted by the enormity of their task. … Writers who ignore the distinction, as in the enormity of the President's election victory or the enormity of her inheritance, may find that their words have cast unintended aspersions or evoked unexpected laughter."

epithalamion 07.31.05

a song or poem in honor of a bride and bridegroom

This word is in honor of my niece Brooke and her new husband, Josh, who were married yesterday in Holland, Michigan.

eponym 10.03.07

1. a person whose name is or is thought to be the source of the name of something, such as a city, country, or era 2. a name or noun formed in such a way

According to David Crystal in his book Words, Words, Words: "When a name becomes an everyday word in a language, it is called an eponym. It's interesting, and a little confusing, that eponym can mean both the name and the person after whom the thing was named.

equivocate 05.10.05

to use language that is subject to two or more interpretations, especially with the intent to deceive

This is the third word in the series on not telling the truth.

eschew 06.25.05

to avoid; shun

(pronounced es-CHOO) From PC Magazine July 2005: "Eschewing the term compression, developers at WindSpring call their solution Data Miniaturization Technology, or DMT."

estimable 10.09.06

1. deserving of esteem; admirable 2. possible to estimate

This word appears in The Hobbit, which I started reading to my son, Ben, a couple nights ago.

euphuism 07.12.05

1. affected elegance of language 2. an affectedly elegant literary style of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, characterized by elaborate alliteration, antitheses, and similes

OK, I have to admit that I cheated today. I flipped through a book of fun words and picked this one randomly. The more words I post on the site, the harder it gets to find other words that are interesting and haven't been used already. Anyway, I like this word because it looks so similar to euphemism.

eviscerate 04.20.06

1. to remove the entrails of; disembowel 2. to take away a vital or essential part of 3. (Medicine) a. to remove the contents of (an organ) b. to remove an organ, such as an eye, from (a patient)

T.S. Eliot uses this word as an adjective in his poem "Little Gidding": "The parched eviscerate soil / Gapes at the vanity of toil, Laughs without mirth."

exacerbate 12.26.05

to increase the severity, violence, or bitterness of; aggravate

This word appears in the same article as a prior word of the day, plangent. Here is the quote for exacerbate: "Should there be a pandemic, Tamiflu would be in short supply. You should not exacerbate that shortage by abetting hoarding." One time when I was a teacher I used this word in the classroom, and a bunch of the students started snickering. I had half a mind to tell them that if they kept laughing they'd go blind.

excise 07.24.07

a tax levied on certain goods and commodities produced or sold within a country and on licenses granted for certain activities

I saw this word used in an article about dealing with multiple windows on a computer screen, but I don't really get how it's appropriate in that context: "Manipulating windows is pure excise—extra work that stands between the user and completing their task."

excoriate 04.21.06

1. to tear or wear off the skin of; abrade 2. to censure strongly; denounce

Paul Krugman uses this word in a recent editorial: "Lee Raymond, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, was paid $686 million over 13 years. But that's not a reason to single him out for special excoriation."

excrescence 01.26.06

1. an outgrowth or enlargement, especially an abnormal one, such as a wart 2. a usually unwanted or unnecessary accretion

From the New Yorker: "[The Abramoff affair] is simply the moment's most visible excrescence of a truly national scandal: the fearful domination of private money over the public interest."

execrable 04.11.07

1. hateful 2. extremely inferior; very bad

This word appeared in a review of a book on T. S. Eliot in the New Criterion: "I heard Craig Raine interviewed on the radio about this book. Didnâ€™t he feel, he was asked, that his often abrasive dismissals of fellow critics (â€œexecrable,â€ â€œstupidâ€) lowered the standards of academic writing?".

exigent 09.19.06

1. requiring immediate action or remedy 2. requiring much effort or expense; demanding

Another from Doctor Glas: Others may be less exigent on that score, that's their business; and I don't know whether the whole question is of much importance. Yet I felt it was important to me, even so."

exorcise 01.09.06

1. to expel (an evil spirit) by or as if by incantation, command, or prayer 2. to free from evil spirits or malign influences

I heard this word this morning on the radio. The reporter said something about the House of Representatives needing to exorcise its demons before the next election in November. The interesting thing about this word for me is that it sounds a lot like "exercise." Tomorrow I'll post another word that sounds like a commonly used word but has an entirely different meaning.

expatiate 03.11.06

to speak or write at length: 2. to wander freely

This word looks so much like expiate that I had to put it in here today, just for fun.

expiate 03.10.06

to make amends or reparation for; atone

Another word used by my pastor last Sunday.

extirpate 04.16.08

1. to pull up by the roots 2. to destroy totally; exterminate 3. to remove by surgery

Someone wrote a techie blog entry a few years ago called X-tirpation. I have no idea what meandering trail led me to that blog tonight, but there I was, looking at a good candidate for word of the day.

exuberant 12.23.04

1. full of unrestrained enthusiasm or joy 2. lavish; extravagant

The Diane Rehm Show today featured Kay Redfield Jamison, who talked about exuberance, and why it may be the most misunderstood of human feelings.

factitious 03.05.07

1. produced artificially rather than by a natural process 2. lacking authenticity or genuineness; sham

This word came up in conversation the other night regarding certain evidence for a certain war delivered by a certain administration.

factoid 01.23.06

1. a piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition 2. Usage Problem: a brief, somewhat interesting fact

Wow! I can't believe how often this word is used incorrectly. David Pogue misused it recently in a New York Times column: "As I wrap up my ten-day tradeshow jaunt and try to remember what my wife and children look like, what I have for you today is a bunch of bullet points: little leftover interesting factoids I've been saving up."

factotum 12.02.05

an employee or assistant who serves in a wide range of capacities

Although I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, I heard this word used in this week's episode of Veronica Mars, a TV show on UPN in which high school students speak like forty-year-old screenwriters with graduate degrees from Columbia or Stanford.

farrago 09.28.05

an assortment or a medley; a conglomeration

This word appeared in the etymology of yesterday's word of the day. I had no idea what it meant, so, of course, I had to look it up.

fatuous 07.27.05

vacuously, smugly, and unconsciously foolish

This word was used in a Guardian Unlimited article: " There's no explaining the success of The Da Vinci Code, which is ill-written and fatuously conceived, outside of the satisfaction it offers to the code-breakers."

febrile 04.13.06

of, relating to, or characterized by fever; feverish

My wife used this word in conversation the other day. She never ceases to amaze me.

feckless 11.12.04

1. lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective 2. careless and irresponsible

How sad to be without a feck. No wonder someone who is feckless is feeble or ineffective. Can you imagine? Note: I am showing enormous restraint here by not playing games with word sounds.

fecund 04.17.05

1. capable of producing offspring or vegetation; fruitful 2. marked by intellectual productivity

Neighbor Kevin told me that he loves the word fecund. I said I'd make it a word of the day. That honor, however, didn't seem to matter at all to him.

festschrift 09.21.07

a collection of writings published in honor of a scholar

I just read about a festschrift that was written for Madeleine L'Engle, who died two weeks ago at the age of 88.

fete 06.22.05

1. a festival or feast 2a. an elaborate, often outdoor entertainment b. an elaborate party

(pronounced fate or fet) I thought I'd throw in this word because it looks so much like mete, but it's pronounced differently. "Fete" can also be a verb, meaning to celebrate or honor with a festival, feast, etc.

fetid 04.18.05

having an offensive odor

In my little brain of word associations, this word always goes along with fecund, only because they sound similar, not because there is any similarity in meaning.

fetish 02.28.06

1. an object that is believed to have magical or spiritual powers, especially such an object associated with animistic or shamanistic religious practices 2. an object of unreasonably excessive attention or reverence 3. something, such as a material object or a nonsexual part of the body, that arouses sexual desire and may become necessary for sexual gratification 4. an abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment; a fixation

This word was very popular with the cool grad students. The only problem was that fetish only had two syllables, so they would refer to fetishization instead. Five syllables! Now that's a word worth saying!

fillip 03.03.07

1. a snap or light blow made by pressing a fingertip against the thumb and suddenly releasing it 2. an embellishment that excites or stimulates 3. one that is trivial or of little importance

This word appears in a New York Times article about the upcoming "Lost Tomb of Jesus" show: "And to add a fillip of legitimacy, the Discovery Channel will follow the film with a panel discussion led by Ted Koppel.

flocculate 07.26.07

1. to cause (soil) to form lumps or masses 2. to cause (clouds) to form fluffy masses

Oh, c'mon! What did you think this word would mean?

florid 05.01.05

1. flushed with rosy color; ruddy 2. very ornate; flowery (as in florid prose)

This word appears in a review of Freakonomics in Newsday: He portrayed Levitt as a noticeably, if not floridly, eccentric fellow - admired by his colleagues yet also something of an enigma.

flout 05.23.06

to treat with contemptuous disregard; to show contempt for; scorn

I heard this word used the other day, but I can't remember where. Regrettably, some people mistake this word for "flaunt."

flummox 08.18.05

to confuse; perplex

Here's another one from Gilead: "Young people from my own flock have come with a copy of La Nausé or L'Immoraliste, flummoxed by the possibility of unbelief, when I must have told them a thousand times that unbelief is possible."

folderol 01.03.07

1. nonsense 2. a useless ornament or accessory; a trifle

Here's another one for my series of silly words.

foment 01.12.06

1. to promote the growth of; incite 2. to treat (the skin, for example) by fomentation.

Looks a lot like "ferment," doesn't it?

foofaraw 12.28.06

1 a great deal of fuss or attention given to a minor matter 2. showy frills added unnecessarily

My cousin used this word tonight. What an excellent word! I can feel a theme coming on.

fop 06.19.05

a man who is preoccupied with and often vain about his clothes and manners; a dandy

This word might get a lot of attention in England, but it's certainly underused in the good ol' US of A. I bumped into it in The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears: "Now here was Sidonius, brave, foppish, foolish Sidonius, who had decided to take a stand where emperors had failed."

forgo 12.11.05

to abstain from; relinquish

The second meaning of the word forego is the same as the meaning of forgo, but if I were using forego, I'd want to avoid confusion by sticking with its first meaning, which is "to precede, as in time or place." Anthony Lane used forgo in his New Yorker review of C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe": "If the movie has to forgo Lewis's narrative tone, with its grimly Oxonian blend of the bluff and the twee…that is fine by me."

fractious 09.25.05

1. inclined to make trouble; unruly 2. having a peevish nature; cranky

The New Yorker has been a goldmine for words of the day lately. This word comes from a recent issue of the venerable magazine, but I can't find it now, so I won't be able put the word in context this time. Oh well.

frenetic 04.20.05

wildly excited or active; frantic; frenzied

When I used this word today in a casual conversation, I was surprised that the woman with whom I was speaking didn't know what it meant. She said that she spells words phonetically. I replied that I spell them frenetically. Little play on words there. I know it's not exactly a knee-slapper, but it is tiny bit funnier when you know what the words mean.

frisson 09.26.05

a moment of intense excitement; a shudder

This word appears in a recent New Yorker magazine: "All this has a certain fascination, and, as 'Troilus and Cressida' unfolds, the 'r's, the elided pronouns, and the longer, tenser vowels give the audience a frisson of extra drama."

fulminate 09.02.05

1. to issue a thunderous verbal attack or denunciation 2. to explode or detonate

I saw this word in an editorial today about Hurricane Katrina and the situation down in Louisiana.

fulsome 08.24.06

1. offensively flattering or insincere 2. offensive to the taste or sensibilities

I can't believe that I haven't used "fulsome" as a word of the day yet. Shocking. Oh well, here it is.

fustian 07.30.05

1. pretentious speech or writing; pompous language 2a. a coarse sturdy cloth made of cotton and flax b. any of several thick twilled cotton fabrics, such as corduroy, having a short nap

This word appears in a book review in Books & Culture: "Alas, Taylor has also inhaled deeply of the intellectual helium that inflates the 'New Economy,' and a fusillade of obfuscation permeates the text. There's the fustian of 'complexity': 'growing complexity,' 'increasingly complex,' 'infinitely complex.' ('Complexity' and its cognates rank with 'interesting' and 'problematic' as tokens of mediocrity.)"

gadfly 07.02.05

1. a persistent irritating critic; a nuisance 2. one that acts as a provocative stimulus; a goad 3. any of various flies, especially of the family Tabanidae, that bite or annoy livestock and other animals

Yesterday's word, magpie, made me think of gadfly. My friend Michael VanHouten used to be in a band called The Gadflies.

garrote 04.17.06

1a. a method of execution by strangulation b. the apparatus used 2. an implement (as a wire with a handle at each end) for strangulation

My friends Mark and Natasha used this word yesterday in a conversation we were having. I have no idea how it came up, but I had to ask them for the definition, after which I told them that I would make it a word of the day. For more on garrote, view the Wikipedia entry.

garrulous 11.13.04

given to excessive and often trivial, rambling, or tedious talk; pointlessly or annoyingly talkative

I didn't realize before how negative the connotations are for this word. I had thought it was a rather neutral word.

gewgaw 12.29.06

a showy thing, especially one that is useless or worthless; a decorative trinket

This word of the day was inspired by a conversation my wife, my cousin, and I had regarding silly-sounding words about silly things.

gormless 02.21.08

(chiefly British) lacking intelligence and vitality; dull.

I can't remember where I just saw this word. Anyway, I like it. It makes me think of someone who is "soft in the head."

gregarious 11.14.04

1. seeking and enjoying the company of others; sociable 2. tending to associate with others of one's kind

I didn't know about the second definition of this word until I looked it up. Interesting. A seemingly innocuous word, even slightly positive in tone, can turn slightly negative, at least to those who believe that tending to associate with others of one's kind is not the most admirable trait.

guttersnipe 10.25.05

1. a homeless vagabond and especially an outcast boy or girl in the streets of a city 2. a person of the lowest moral or economic station

This word was a clue in this past Sunday's crossword puzzle in the Grand Rapids Press.

hagiography 02.22.05

1. biography of saints 2. a worshipful or idealizing biography

After posting apotheosis yesterday, I decided to go with a religious theme for the next few days.

halcyon 11.20.05

Adjective: 1. calm and peaceful; tranquil 2. prosperous; golden (as in halcyon years) Noun: 1. a kingfisher 2. a fabled bird, identified with the kingfisher, that was supposed to have had the power to calm the wind and the waves while it nested on the sea during the winter solstice

Someone I know is having surgery tomorrow, so the doctor prescribed her a drug called Halcion to take a couple hours beforehand.

hale 03.06.05

(adjective) free from infirmity or illness; sound

This word appeared in the crossword puzzle I did today.

hapless 11.11.04

luckless; unfortunate

What must it be like to lack hap? Everybody needs a little hap sometimes. That's why this one goes out to all those hapless souls who can't seem to get a break.

harbinger 04.06.05

1. one that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner 2. one that pioneers in or initiates a major change

(HAR-bin-jur) Third word in the series of words excavated from my site's activity log.

harrier 11.28.04

1. any of a breed of hunting dogs resembling a small foxhound and orig. bred for hunting rabbits 2. a runner on a cross-country team 3. any of various slender, narrow-winged hawks of the genus Circus, such as the marsh hawk, that prey on small animals 4. One that harries

This is a fun word because of its varied meanings. It could be a dog, a hawk, cross-country runner, or someone who harrasses. Crazy, funny word.

hector 10.09.04

To intimidate or dominate in a blustering way; to behave like a bully; swagger.

I like this word because it's both a common noun and a proper noun. Hector was the Trojan prince killed by Achilles in the Iliad.

hegemony 02.21.06

the predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others

This word marks the first of a series of words that were de rigueur among graduate students of English at the University of Virginia in the early 1990s.

hemidemisemiquaver 04.29.07

a note with the time value of half a demisemiquaver; a sixty-fourth note

My friend Jonathan just stumbled upon this word while working with a music transcription application. Love it!

hermeneutics 02.24.05

the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially of scriptural text

The last in my short series of religious terms. For a more detailed discussion of hermeneutics, see the Wikipedia entry. Or, read through this academic piece on Foundationalism and Hermeneutics.

hiatus 03.10.05

a gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break

I'll be taking a hiatus from the Word of the Day blog while I enjoy sunny Florida. Be back on Sunday.

hirsute 04.16.05

covered with hair; hairy

My friends and I were talking today about how all of the men on these reality bachelor/bachelorette shows shave their chests. We agreed that we'd rather remain hirsute.

hobgoblin 08.22.06

1. an object or a source of fear, dread, or harassment; a bugbear 2. an ugly, mischievous elf or goblin

Something reminded me of this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson today: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.â€

hogan 01.19.07

a one-room Navajo structure traditionally built with the entrance facing east, used as a dwelling or for ceremonial purposes

This word appears in Walker Percy's The Moviegoer: "The marshal reminds them of the baby in the hogan. This is no ordinary marshal. He is also a humanist."

hookah 04.24.06

an Eastern smoking pipe designed with a long tube passing through an urn of water that cools the smoke as it is drawn through. Also called hubble-bubble, narghile

I just came across this word last week while reading The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland to my son. Then two nights ago it appeared again, this time in the New York Times article, Collegians Smoking Hookahs ... Filled with Tobacco.

hubris 02.08.05

overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance

One of the characters on ER said "hubris" the other night. I was impressed, since I didn't learn the word until grad school. But, then again, I was a late bloomer.

hurdy-gurdy 12.08.05

1. a medieval stringed instrument played by turning a rosined wheel with a crank and depressing keys connected to tangents on the strings 2. any instrument, such as a barrel organ, played by turning a crank

I just learned about a Swedish band named Hurdy Gurdy while listening to NPR's All Songs Considered: "Hurdy Gurdy is the music of Stefan Brisland-Ferner and Totte Mattsson, both of Sweden and masters of the Swedish hurdy gurdy. On their latest CD, they offer an impressive demonstration of the instrument's range. Calling it a 'medieval synthesizer,' the duo created the album exclusively with sounds generated from various kinds of hurdy gurdys."

hypomania 02.13.06

a mild state of mania, especially as a phase of a manic-depressive cycle

This word appears in the New York Times Magazine: "This year, two professors of psychiatry … argue that the United States is full of energetic risk-takers because it's full of immigrants, who as a grop my carry a genetic marker that expresses itself as restless curiosity, exuberance and competitive self-promotion — a combination known as hypomania."

iconoclast 02.23.05

1. one who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions 2. one who destroys sacred religious images

Another entry for the religious theme. When I learned that this word originally had to do with people who smashed religious icons, it helped paint a vivid picture in my mind, which always helps memory. For me, at least.

idyll 11.25.05

1a. a short poem or prose piece depicting a rural or pastoral scene, usually in idealized terms b. a narrative poem treating an epic or romantic theme 2. a scene or event of a simple and tranquil nature 3 a carefree episode or experience

This is the third word inspired by our brief drive into the country.

ignominious 06.05.06

1. marked by shame or disgrace 2. deserving disgrace or shame; despicable 3. degrading; debasing

This word appears in Jose Saramago's new novel Seeing: "It seemed, therefore, that the high political office promised to the interior minister had been cut short at birth, that he was fated, after having come so close to touching the sun, to be drowned ignominiously in the hellespont..."

ilk 08.19.05

type or kind

I used this word in an email today without giving any thought to the word. It was only after I sent the message that I realized how ridiculous it sounded. It's a funny word, ilk. Here is a little word history from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: "When one uses ilk, as in the phrase men of his ilk, one is using a word with an ancient pedigree even though the sense of ilk, 'kind or sort,' is actually quite recent, having been first recorded at the end of the 18th century. This sense grew out of an older use of ilk in the phrase of that ilk, meaning 'of the same place, territorial designation, or name.' This phrase was used chiefly in names of landed families, Guthrie of that ilk meaning 'Guthrie of Guthrie.' 'Same' is the fundamental meaning of the word."

immolate 08.03.05

1. to kill as a sacrifice 2. to kill (oneself) by fire 3. to destroy

From Marylynne Robinson's Gilead: "She'd wake up if the cat sneezed, she said, but then she'd sleep through the immolation of an en

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