English Rules

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

November 2008

fulgent
11.09.08

shining brightly

This word appears in a New York Times editorial by Nicholas D. Kristof: “a pedant is a supercilious show-off who drops references to Sophocles and masks his shallowness by using words like ‘fulgent’ and ‘supercilious.’ ”

August 2008

scry
08.24.08

foretell the future using a crystal ball or other reflective object or surface

I read a book to Ben a few weeks ago called The Magic Thief. In it, the author referred to a "scrying globe" when she could could have used the more mundane "crystal ball." I suppose "scrying globe" sounds more mysterious.

July 2008

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.

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.

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?

May 2008

scrum
05.25.08

an ordered formation of players, used to restart play, in which the forwards of a team form up with arms interlocked and heads down, and push forward against a similar group from the opposing side

I saw this word today while reading a New York Times editorial called The Invisible War.

April 2008

segue
04.28.08

to move smoothly and unhesitatingly from one state, condition, situation, or element to another

It's pronounced SEGway, the way the personal transportation device is spelled.This word appears a couple times in the book The Know-It-All: "Next, I impress my nieces and nephew with stories about fossilized dinosaur poop (it's called coprolite). I segue into the best method for storing manure (stack it, so that it doesn't leach nitrogen), which wasn't quite as big a hit. But I redeem myself with the casebearing beetle. When it's threatened, it pulls its legs inward and disguises itself as caterpillar droppings." The word's origin is the same as that of sequence.

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.

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.

ziggurat
04.05.08

a temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories

In his blog entry about creating the JavaScript programming language, Brendan Eich writes: "The answer was that two languages were required to serve the two mostly-disjoint audiences in the programming ziggurat who most deserved dedicated programming languages: the component authors, who wrote in C++ or (we hoped) Java; and the 'scripters,' amateur or pro, who would write code directly embedded in HTML." I don't recall having seen this word used figuratively before, but that is obviously what Mr. Eich is dong here.

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."

March 2008

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.

theodicy
03.23.08

the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil

A former student of mine who is now an outspoken atheist cannot reconcile the existence of God and suffering. I'm not sure if he is aware of theodicy.

February 2008

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."

January 2008

mountebank
01.28.08

1. a hawker of quack medicines who attracts customers with stories, jokes, or tricks. 2. a flamboyant charlatan

I don't see this word used much anymore, but Stephen Colbert used it in his book I am America (And So Can You)

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.

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."

imperious
01.12.08

1. arrogantly domineering or overbearing 2. urgent; pressing 3. (obsolete) regal; imperial

In this week's New Yorker: "This week, Bloomberg will attend a meeting of Unity08, in Oklahoma, to discuss third-party options, and in recent weeks he has displayed a vague yet imperious disdain for the assembled candidates, while privately hustling from one policy consultant and policy grandee to the next..."

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.

December 2007

irenic
12.28.07

favoring, conducive to, or operating toward peace, moderation, or conciliation

William Safire used this word in his column last weekend.

mollify
12.14.07

appease the anger or anxiety of (someone)

This word popped into my mind the other day when my daughter mentioned her friend Molly.

November 2007

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!

syzygy
11.24.07

a conjunction or opposition, esp. of the moon with the sun

My friend Jonathan showed me this word a couple weeks ago. It's a funny looking word.

paladin
11.13.07

1. a knight renowned for heroism and chivalry 2. any of the twelve peers of Charlemagne's court, of whom the count palatine was the chief

My wife read this word in a book and asked me what it meant. I told her I didn't know. We both looked it up.

ludic
11.04.07

showing spontaneous and undirected playfulness

David Crystal refers to "ludic linguistics" in his book.

October 2007

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.

varlet
10.23.07

1. an attendant or servant 2. a knight's page 3. a rascal; a knave

This is another one from David Crystal's book, Words, Words, Words. It's not typically used anymore, except in children's books that take place in the Medieval period. For some reason, the Oxford American Dictionary identifies only definition 3 as "archaic," as if the other two definitions are in common use. Neither the American Heritage Dictionary nor Merriam-Webster identify any of the definitions as archaic. Makes me wonder.

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.

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").

mackintosh
10.08.07

1. a full-length waterproof coat 2. a lightweight, waterproof fabric that was originally of rubberized cotton

This word is one of the eponyms that David Crystal mentions in Words, Words, Words.

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.

September 2007

ungainly
09.30.07

1. lacking grace or ease of movement or form; clumsy 2. difficult to move or use; unwieldy

I used this word the other day, but I can't remember now what I was referring to.

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.

quorum
09.17.07

1. the minimal number of officers and members of a committee or organization, usually a majority, who must be present for valid transaction of business 2. a select group

A friend at work used the word "quorum" and then asked what it meant. I somewhat hastily said something about it being a Jewish thing and that it meant 10 or more, after which I looked at the dictionary and discovered that its meaning was entirely different. I should have known better. I mean, "quorum" is about as Latin as words get. Anyway, the word was still gnawing at me, so I decided to look it up at Wikipedia, and, lo, there was a reason for my original thought: "Individual prayer is considered acceptable, but prayer with a quorum of ten adults (a minyan) is considered 'prayer with the community,' and this is the most highly recommended form of prayer."

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."

rue
09.11.07

bitterly regret (something one has done or allowed to happen); to feel remorse or sorrow for

This word appears in the David Crystal book, Words Words Words: "I've been badly biscuited, the child might ruefully reflect, later." The sentence is meant to emphasize a British slang usage of biscuit, but I like it for the little three-letter word (here in its longer adverb form) packed with connotation. One of my most vivid memories of this word, probably because of its different meaning there, was in Shakespeare's Hamlet, where Ophelia sings: "There's rue for you; and here's some for me. We may call it herb of grace a Sunday's. O, you must wear your rue with a difference." Ophelia's herb is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, "any of various aromatic southwest Asian or Mediterranean plants of the genus Ruta…having bipinnately compound leaves that yield an acrid volatile oil formerly used in medicine."

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.

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.

August 2007

obsolescent
08.29.07

being in the process of passing out of use or usefulness; becoming obsolete

This is a great word, if only for its difference from obsolete. I think I might have been using obsolete all along when I've been meaning obsolescent.

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?

plinth
08.15.07

a heavy base supporting a statue or vase

I had never heard of this word until I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm not going to give anything away, in case there is someone out there who wants to read the book but hasn't yet. All I'll say is that a lot of statues are knocked off their plinths.

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.

July 2007

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?

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."

rube
07.19.07

an unsophisticated country person; a country bumpkin

Nothing special about this slang word. I just like it.

abecedarian
07.08.07

(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.

June 2007

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."

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?

lambent
06.04.07

(of light or fire) glowing, gleaming, or flickering with a soft radiance

I love this word. Makes me feel warm and cozy. Saw it somewhere recently. Not sure where.

May 2007

philistine
05.17.07

1a. a smug, ignorant, especially middle-class person who is regarded as being indifferent or antagonistic to artistic and cultural value. b. one who lacks knowledge in a specific area.

The first definition of this word is "a member of an Aegean people who settled ancient Philistia around the 12th century b.c." But I like the other definitions better. Also, while these definitions are for the noun, philistine can also be used as an adjective. The American Heritage Dictionary has a nice summary of this word's history.

philippic
05.16.07

a verbal denunciation characterized by harsh, often insulting language; a tirade

I saw this word in a magazine article. Can't remember the article, but I think the magazine was Harper's, and I was reading it while on a plane bound to New York City.

April 2007

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!

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.

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. Didn’t he feel, he was asked, that his often abrasive dismissals of fellow critics (“execrable,” “stupid”) lowered the standards of academic writing?".

mendicant
04.09.07

1. a beggar 2. a member of an order of friars forbidden to own property in common, who work or beg for their living

This word appeared in a Washington Post article about Joshua Bell playing the violin in a D.C. Metro station: "But on that Friday in January, Joshua Bell was just another mendicant, competing for the attention of busy people on their way to work."

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

March 2007

pilcrow
03.11.07

The pilcrow (¶), also called the paragraph sign or the alinea, is a typographical character commonly used to denote individual paragraphs.

I came across this word while I was looking at a set of icons for a project I'm working on. The definition is sponsored by Wikipedia. The icon comes from the famfamfam silk set.

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.

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.

February 2007

cadge
02.22.07

to beg or get by begging

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

plenary
02.04.07

1. complete in all respects; unlimited or full 2. fully attended by all qualified members

This word comes from Walker Percy's The Moviegoer: "He has won title to his own existence, as plenary an existence now as Holden's, by refusing to be stampeded like the ladies from Hattiesburg.

January 2007

jocose
01.30.07

1. given to joking; merry 2. characterized by joking; humorous

From Walker Percy's The Moviegoer: "Once he told me I needn't worry about some piece of foolishness he heard me say to Linda, since it was not a malicious lie but rather a 'jocose lie.' "

interstice
01.24.07

1. a space that intervenes between things; especially : one between closely spaced things b. a gap or break in something generally continuous 2. a short space of time between events

This word is inspired by the little break I'm taking from this website/blog. For the next six months or so, words of the day will be more like words of the week or month. For more information, see my main blog post: Taking Stock and Slowing Down

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."

sough
01.12.07

to make a soft murmuring or rustling sound

Another word from The Moviegoer: "Yet when she came in this morning unshouldering her Guatemalan bag and clearing her hair from her short collar, I heard a soughing sound in my ears like a desert wind."

mistral
01.09.07

a dry cold northerly wind that blows in squalls toward the Mediterranean coast of southern France

The definition here refers to a literal wind, but Walker Percy's mistral is figurative: "It is just as well I keep my distance. Today it is louder than ever, this mistral whistling in my ears. I am nearly sick with it. Desire for her is like a sorrow in my heart."

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.

folderol
01.03.07

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

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

December 2006

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.

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.

tendentious
12.26.06

marked by a strong implicit point of view; partisan

This word appears in a recent new Yorker article: "[The Iraq Study Group's report] contends only that what it offers is less bad than the alternatives (though its case against one alternative—what it calls, a little tendentiously, 'precipitate' or '"premature' withdrawal—is more asserted than argued). That Bush's war in Iraq is an unmitigated catastrophe has been known for some time. What the Iraq Study Group has done is to make it official."

manque
12.20.06

unfulfilled or frustrated in the realization of one's ambitions or capabilities

This is a French word (manqué), used postpositively. In other words, it follows the noun that it modifies. For example, "writer manqu&eacute. The word appears in a New York Times review of the new "Rocky" movie: "Don’t ask why his whiny son, Robert, a charmless yuppie manqué with a chip on his shoulder, does not bear the slightest resemblance to his father."

truckle
12.15.06

to be servile or submissive

This is another word that appeared in a recent issue of the New Yorker: "A Goldman Sachs sitcom would have to be set in the mailroom, because watching envy and truckling is a lot funnier than watching the distribution of Christmas bonuses." Here, the writer is contrasting conventional office sitcoms to The Office

martinet
12.12.06

1. a rigid military disciplinarian 2. one who demands absolute adherence to forms and rules

I saw this word in a recent New Yorker article about the sitcom The Office: At the office, we have come to understand, the boss is always a blustery martinet; abbreviations are a B.F.D.; your co-workers eat your food, talk your ear off, and stab you in the back; and work has no inherent value."

krewe
12.10.06

any of several groups with hereditary membership whose members organize and participate as costumed paraders in the annual Mardi Gras carnival

My wife, who grew up in Tampa, had told me about krewes in that city, but I never knew until I started reading Walker Percy's The Moviegoer how krewe was spelled. According to the American Heritage Dictionary: "Krewe is only an imitation of an old-fashioned spelling of crew in its standard meaning, but the word, thanks to its association with Mardi Gras and New Orleans high society, has taken on some of the mystique of the carnival."

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.

tarry
12.03.06

1. to delay or be late in going, coming, or doing 2. to wait 3. to remain or stay temporarily, as in a place

This word isn't used very much these days. It kind of reminds me of Puritan New England or a Nathaniel Hawthorne story.

November 2006

postprandial
11.26.06

following a meal, especially dinner

I can't remember where I heard or saw this word, but I do remember when: Thanksgiving day. I believe this word will come in handy when I need a postprandial nap.

sault
11.25.06

a waterfall or rapids

Back to the geological words. This word is pronounced soo. Strange, huh?

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.

moor
11.19.06

1. an expanse of open rolling infertile land 2. a boggy area, especially one that is peaty and dominated by grasses and sedges

I think a theme is developing here... When I was in high school, the moors of Emily Brönte's and Thomas Hardy's novels enchanted me.

sward
11.17.06

1. land covered with grassy turf 2. a lawn or meadow

This word appears in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, which I'm reading now to my son.

quay
11.14.06

a wharf or reinforced bank where ships are loaded or unloaded

I saw this word a lot while reading The Hobbit to my son.

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.

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."

insidious
11.04.06

1. working or spreading harmfully in a subtle or stealthy manner 2. intended to entrap; treacherous 3. beguiling but harmful; alluring

Someone who receives my word of the day sent me a reply noting that yesterday's word reminded him of a certain U.S. president. His email inspired today's word. Can you guess the person I think insidious aptly describes? I'm referring to the first two definitions, certainly not the third.

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?"

October 2006

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 don’t believe there is anything there to be understood, or at least anything worth understanding."

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.

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.

polemics
10.17.06

1. the art or practice of argumentation or controversy 2. the practice of theological controversy to refute errors of doctrine

This is another word that appears in Bob Dylan's memoir, Chronicles,: "I was sick fo the way my lyrics had been extrapolated, their meanings subverted into polemics and that I had been anointed as the Big Bubba of Rebellion, High Priest of Protest, the Czar of Dissent, the Duke of Disobedience, Leader of the Freeloaders, Kaiser of Apostasy, Archbishop of Anarchy, the Big Cheese." Sounds pretty angry, doesn't he? But "Big Cheese"? Couldn't he do better than that? That was kind of a letdown after Archbishop of Anarchy.

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."

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.

luminous
10.04.06

1. emitting light, especially emitting self-generated light 2. full of light; illuminated 3a. easily comprehended; clear: luminous prose b. enlightened and intelligent; inspiring

This word appears in the Bob Dylan memoir I've been reading. It also appears in the promotional blurbs of thousands of books sold every year (see my blog entry on the topic).

September 2006

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."

macerate
09.27.06

1. to make soft by soaking or steeping in a liquid 2. to separate into constituents by soaking 3. to cause to become lean, usually by starvation; emaciate

My friend Melissa used this word tonight. It just tripped off her tongue like it was no big deal. I was impressed.

insipid
09.20.06

1. lacking qualities that excite, stimulate, or interest; dull 2. lacking flavor or zest; not tasty

The last one from Doctor Glas: "Our love of beauty knows no other source. All art, all poetry, all music has drunk at it. The most insipid modern historical painting, every bit as much as Raphael's madonnas and Steinlen's little Parisian working girls … springs from this origin, albeit often by the longest and most circuitous of routes."

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."

propinquity
09.18.06

proximity; nearness 2. kinship 3. similarity in nature

From Doctor Glas: "And I don't think I'm exceeding the bounds of what is reasonable if I point out that the constant propinquity of a young woman, particularly at nights, must have much the same effect on a clergyman as on any other mortal man.

sacerdotal
09.13.06

of or relating to priests or the priesthood; priestly

This word appears in Doctor Glas, a Swedish novel written by Hjalmar Söderberg in 1905: "A little further away sat an actor with his wife and children, wiping his mouth with sacerdotal gravity.

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?

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.

August 2006

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.

squib
08.27.06

1a. a small firecracker. b. a broken firecracker that burns but does not explode 2a. a brief satirical or witty writing or speech, such as a lampoon b. a short, sometimes humorous piece in a newspaper or magazine, usually used as a filler

I had a hunch that this word, which in the wizarding world of Harry Potter refers to someone born with wizard blood but having no magical powers, might also be a word in the real world of the English language. Maybe J. K. Rowling chose the word because of definition 1b.

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.

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.”

sylph
08.17.06

1. a slim, graceful woman or girl 2. in the occult philosophy of Paracelsus, a being that has air as its element

This word shows up in the odd little book by Steve Martin, The Pleasure of My Company: "I never have interfered with a relationship, out of respect for the guy as much as for myself, but Brian is a dope and Philipa is a sylph and I am a man, even if that description of myself is qualified by my failure to be able to cross the street at the curb."

rubicon
08.12.06

a limit that when passed or exceeded permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment

The other day I heard the CEO of Young and Rubicam interviewed on NPR, and the name of the company reminded me of rubicon.

thaumatrope
08.09.06

a toy that was popular in Victorian times. A disk or card with a picture on each side is attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers, the two pictures appear to combine into a single image due to persistence of vision.

I came across this word in a Paste Magazine article about Thom Yorke, lead singer of the band Radiohead: "Left to ponder the potential of the Bono/Yorke tag team while the waiter refills our glasses, I begin to see Yorke as a human thaumatrope, a token with two different pictures on the front and back. When you roll it quickly band and forth, the two pictures become one image, flickering and three-dimensional. Like the two faces of Janus, one side represents organic beginnings while the other represents the transition between primitive life and civilization, peace and war; spin them fast enough and you have Thom Yorke." Wow, that's pretty heady stuff.

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."

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.

vitriol
08.01.06

1. bitterly abusive feeling or expression 2. sulfuric acid; any of various sulfates of metals, such as ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, or copper sulfate

Another one from The Portrait, which I finished reading a couple weeks ago: "Besides, I thought the critics would have exhausted their stock of vitriol on you, and would find it agreeable to say something nice for once."

July 2006

perfervid
07.24.06

extremely or extravagantly eager; impassioned or zealous

My aunt Ginny suggested that I use "fervid" for a word of the day. I think it's a great word, pefectly suitable for the word of the day, but I like "perfervid" even more.

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."

stevedore
07.21.06

one who is employed in the loading or unloading of ships

Here's another one from The Portrait: "The end was inevitable; Evelyn, I discovered, could drink even a stevedore under the table."

quixotic
07.18.06

1. caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality 2. capricious; impulsive

This is one of many to come that appear in The Portrait: "She was, after all, a very difficult person to be around. Moody, withdrawn, quixotic." Doesn't it seem funny that Don Quixote's name is pronounced kee-HOE-tay, but quixotic is pronounced kwik-SOT-ik?

pyrrhic victory
07.15.06

a victory that is offset by staggering losses

From The Portrait by Iain Pears: "I laughed about it, of course, not least bcause my pictures were admired and you didn't manage to unload a single Cézanne. A cheap and pyrrhic victory on my part; the more I sold, the more my reputation would eventually sink." Read about the origin of the term in the Wikipedia entry.

scurrilous
07.10.06

given to the use of vulgar, coarse, or abusive language; foul-mouthed

Another one from The Portrait: "The sort of detail even the most scurrilous of London magazines would not touch, let alone a patron of the arts.

perorate
07.09.06

1. to conclude a speech with a formal recapitulation 2. to speak at great length, often in a grandiloquent manner; declaim

I bumped into this word in The Portrait, a small novel by Iain Pears: "I remember the way you would stab the air with your finger to make a point as you marched along, the way you collapsed on a park bench and fanned yourself with a guidebook as you finished some wordy peroration about the use of public sculpture."

semiology
07.07.06

(also semiotics) the study of signs, both individually and grouped in sign systems. It includes the study of how meaning is made and understood.

The definition that I use comes from Wikipedia. The quote comes from Saramago again: "he was now keen to show that he, too, was capable of the most subtle of semiological interpretations."

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."

June 2006

tergiversation
06.30.06

1. evasion of straightforward action or clear-cut statement; equivocation 2. desertion of a cause, position, party, or faith

Another word from Jose Saramago's book Seeing: "the fugitive leaders, or deserters, whom we should, in more elevated language, describe as tergiversators, were still opening and closing the last cupboards and drawers, sadly gathering up a final few mementos." And there are plenty more where that one came from.

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.

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."

magnanimous
06.18.06

1. courageously noble in mind and heart 2. generous in forgiving; eschewing resentment or revenge; unselfish

Another one from Jose Saramago's book Seeing: "In order not entirely to lose his grip, having first thanked the minister of foreign affairs and, with great magnanimity, acknowledged the truth of what had been said, he was now keen to show that he, too, was capable of the most subtle of semiological interpretations."

placate
06.12.06

to allay the anger of, especially by making concessions; appease

Another one from Saramago's novel, Seeing: "You mean blank death, don't you, said the prime minister with a placatory smile. "

vindicate
06.09.06

to clear of accusation, blame, suspicion, or doubt with supporting arguments or proof 2. to provide justification or support for 3. to justify or prove the worth of, especially in light of later developments

This word appears in Jose Saramago's book Seeing: "At least it would be possible to proceed to an initial selection, wheat on the one side, tares on the other, and restore to liberty and family life, thereby freeing up the detention centers, those people, finally vindicated, who, without being contradicted by the machine, responded No to the question Did you cast a blank vote."

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..."

numinous
06.01.06

1. supernatural 2. filled with or characterized by a sense of a supernatural presence 3. Spiritually elevated; sublime

When I opened one of the kitchen cupboards this evening, I noticed that my wife had bought a package of Newman-O's, Paul Newman's version of the Oreo cookie. Hmm, Newman-O's. Sounds like numinous!

May 2006

periphrasis
05.26.06

use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression

This word appears in the new Jose Saramago book that I'm reading, Seeing: "As the days passed, it became noticeable, in a way that was, at first, imperceptible, that the word blank, as if it had suddenly become obscene or rude, was falling into disuse, that people would employ all kinds of evasions and periphrases to replace it."

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."

winsome
05.21.06

charming, often in a childlike or naive way

My pastor used this word in his sermon this morning. Love it.

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.

philander
05.14.06

1. to carry on a sexual affair, especially an extramarital affair, with a woman one cannot or does not intend to marry. Used of a man 2. to engage in many love affairs, especially with a frivolous or casual attitude

The lead guy on the American version of "The Office" said that he considers himself to be a great philanderer because he gives a lot to charity. Pretty funny slip of the tongue.

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.

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.

plausible
05.07.06

1. seemingly or apparently valid, likely, or acceptable; credible 2. giving a deceptive impression of truth or reliability 3. Disingenuously smooth; fast-talking

This word has always intrigued me because the first definition has a neutral, maybe even positive, connotation. But then the second and third definitions are clearly negative. So without proper context, how can someone tell if a writer or speaker intends the first meaning or the second or third? Tough one.

repast
05.04.06

a meal or the food eaten or provided at a meal

My father-in-law thanked my wife for the repast that she prepared tonight. Mmmmm, fish tacos!

orthography
05.03.06

1. the art or study of correct spelling according to established usage 2. The aspect of language study concerned with letters and their sequences in words 3. a method of representing a language or the sounds of language by written symbols; spelling

The Guardian newspaper in England used a variant of "orthography" in a recent headline: Internet culture spells doom for strait-laced orthographers. The "ortho" part means "straight, upright, or correct," which is why we see the same root in "orthodoxy" and "orthodontia."

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.

April 2006

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.

sempiternal
04.27.06

enduring forever; of never-ending duration; eternal

This word appears in T. S. Eliot's poem "Little Gidding." Why he didn't just use "eternal," I have no idea. I thought that maybe it had something to do with the number of syllables per line, but other lines before and after the one with "sempiternal" have either nine or eleven syllables, while the "sempiternal" line has ten. Maybe Eliot was just showing off.

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.

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."

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."

rive
04.19.06

1. to rend or tear apart. 2 to break into pieces, as by a blow; cleave or split asunder 3. to break or distress (the spirit, for example)

This is the inflected form of "riven," which was used in an editorial by Maureen Dowd: "Idiosyncratic, indeed, with Iraq in chaos, the military riven and depleted, the president poleaxed, the Republican fortunes for the midterm elections dwindling, and Republican lawmakers like Chuck Hagel questioning Rummy's leadership and Democratic ones like Dick Durbin proposing a no-confidence vote in the Senate."

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.

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.

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."

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.

monomania
04.12.06

1. pathological obsession with one idea or subject 2. intent concentration on or exaggerated enthusiasm for a single subject or idea

I remember learning this word in my 12th-grade English class when my teacher referred to Ahab's monomaniacal pursuit of the white whale in Moby Dick.

megalomania
04.11.06

1. a psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence 2. an obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions

Here's another word in my big and tall series.

multifarious
04.10.06

having great variety; diverse

This word appeared in a Philadelphia Inquirer article I was reading on the plane yesterday.

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."

megalith
04.07.06

a very large stone used in various prehistoric architectures or monumental styles, notably in western Europe during the second millennium b.c.

I figured that since I just had two words related to big things I might as well put in another.

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.

leviathan
04.03.06

1. something unusually large of its kind, especially a ship 2. a very large animal, especially a whale 3. a monstrous sea creature mentioned in the Bible

I stumbled upon this word in the Bible the other day, either in Job or in Psalms, in my ongoing quest to read the good book from cover to cover.

March 2006

usury
03.31.06

1. the practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, especially at an exorbitant or illegally high rate 2. an excessive or illegally high rate of interest charged on borrowed money.

My wife used this word the other day. I can't remember why. I think she was teasing me about something.

impetuous
03.27.06

1. characterized by sudden and forceful energy or emotion; impulsive and passionate 2. having or marked by violent force

This word appears in the NIV version of the book of Job.

thaumaturgy
03.25.06

the working of miracles or magic feats

Yesterday a friend at work was wearing a shirt that had "Thaumaturgy" emblazoned on the front. It's nice to know that there are people out there who are geekier than I am.

spate
03.24.06

1. a sudden flood, rush, or outpouring 2. (chiefly British) a. a flash flood b. a sudden heavy fall of rain

Maybe the paucity will be followed by a spate of fresh new words on this blog. Anything can happen.

paucity
03.23.06

1. smallness of number; fewness 2. scarcity; dearth

This word just seemed appropriate today, as the words of the day have been few and far between lately.

mordant
03.18.06

1a. bitingly sarcastic b. incisive and trenchant 2. bitingly painful

A variant of this word shows up, believe it or not, on a Chinese restaurant's menu. The dish? Lthick mordacity. Sounds appetizing.

unguent
03.15.06

a salve for soothing or healing; an ointment

This word appears in the definition for antimacassar in Wikipedia.

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.

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.

propitiate
03.09.06

to conciliate (an offended power); appease

My pastor used this word in his sermon last Sunday.

tautology
03.08.06

1a. needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy b. an instance of such repetition 2. (in logic) an empty or vacuous statement composed of simpler statements in a fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are factually true or false

William Safire wrote about tautologies in a recent article for the New York Times. The American Heritage Dictionary uses this example of a tautology (in the 2nd sense of the word): "Either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow."

valorize
03.07.06

1. to establish and maintain the price of (a commodity) by governmental action 2. to give or assign a value to

This is the last of the words I can remember that infiltrated my life in graduate school.

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."

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.

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.

February 2006

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!

reify
02.25.06

to regard or treat (an abstraction) as if it had concrete or material existence

I can't remember how this word would insert itself into a conversation over beer and curly fries at the Garrett, but somehow it always showed up.

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.

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.

neophyte
02.16.06

1. a recent convert to a belief; a proselyte 2. a beginner or novice 3a. (Roman Catholic Church) a newly ordained priest b. a novice of a religious order or congregation

I referred to myself as a neophyte regarding something the other day. Is that vague enough for you? My brain is mush at the moment.

usurp
02.16.06

1. to seize and hold (the power or rights of another, for example) by force and without legal authority 2. To take over or occupy without right

This word appears a lot in C.S. Lewis's novel Prince Caspian: "Everyone except your Majesty knows that Miraz is a usurper. When he first began to rule he did not even pretend to be the King; he called himself Lord Protector."

palliative
02.14.06

relieving or soothing the symptoms of a disease or disorder without effecting a cure

This is another word from the New York Times Magazine: "Lynch and Hagelin say that a mass meditation of [about 8,000 people] could have a palliative effect upon the 'unified field' of consciousness that connects all human beings and thereby bring about the conditions for world peace."

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."

paean
02.06.06

1. a song of joyful praise or exultation 2. a fervent expression of joy or praise 3. an ancient Greek hymn of thanksgiving or invocation, especially to Apollo

A blogger recently described Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink this way: "a paean to intuitive thinking, [which] makes a case for 'thin-slicing,' paring down our information intake so we can tune out the static and make fast, sound decisions."

jackanapes
02.04.06

1a. an impudent or conceited fellow b. a saucy or mischievous child 2. a monkey or an ape

This word appears in C.S. Lewis's book Prince Caspian, which I've been reading to Ben for the past couple weeks: " 'There!' he growled, flinging the parchment across the table to them. 'See what a pack of nursery tales our jackanapes of a nephew has sent us.' "

scrivener
02.03.06

1. a professional copyist; a scribe 2. a notary

I was just reading the blog of someone who refers to himself as a scrivener. The most famous American scrivener would have to be the fictional character Bartleby, from the short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville. Excellent story. Highly recommended.

January 2006

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."

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.

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."

limn
01.19.06

1. to describe 2. to depict by painting or drawing

This word sounds exactly the same as limb, so it might be a source of confusion if spoken. It appears in The Number by Lee Eisenberg: "One head belongs to a man who sits atop the economic Establishment, with easy access to the Bushes, Clinton, Rubin, Greenspan, so you figure he's more than a garden-variety alarmist when he limns how badly you, and we, have mortgaged our futures."

zaftig
01.16.06

1. full-bosomed 2. having a full, shapely figure

(pronounced ZOF-tik or ZOF-tig). This word appears in The Number by Lee Eisenberg: "At the close of an interview, the junior partner hands me a copy of a letter he has just snt to a wealthy client in Florida, a man with a zaftig Number by anyone's standards."

superannuated
01.15.06

1. retired or ineffective because of advanced age 2. outmoded; obsolete

I came across this word while reading an article about CSS design called In Search of the One True Layout: "the method causes the page to expand to the 'actual' height of the columns. The choice is yours whether to accept that or to forego the equal heights in this superannuated browser [Internet Explorer 5 for Mac], currently tottering around the edges of the interweb waiting to be put out of its misery."

diacritic
01.13.06

a mark, such as the cedilla of façade or the acute accent of resumé, 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

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?

proscribe
01.11.06

1. to denounce or condemn 2. to prohibit; forbid 3a. to banish or outlaw (a person) b. to publish the name of (a person) as outlawed

This word is dangerously close to "prescribe." Confusing these two words could kill somebody.

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.

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.

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.

sybaritic
01.01.06

devoted to or marked by pleasure and luxury

This word appears in a book I've been plodding through called The Number: "In fact, you just can't believe how disciplined you're being and still enjoying a sybaritic lifestyle that makes you feel twenty years younger than you did up north."

December 2005

palimpsest
12.29.05

1. a manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and often legible 2. an object, place, or area that reflects its history

I saw this word in an article about Sufjan Stevens in Plan B Magazine: ". My world is an enchanted palimpsest that explodes on a daily basis in multicoloured powder clouds of storytelling. I used to see a rainbow and believe it was a sign of God's promise to Noah."

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.

nascent
12.25.05

coming into existence; emerging

In some way or another this must have something to do with Christmas. Merry Christmas, everyone!

plangent
12.23.05

1. loud and resounding (as in plangent bells) 2. expressing or suggesting sadness; plaintive

This word comes from "The Ethicist" column in the New York Times Magazine: "On a personal note, I am delighted to learn that there actually are left-wing Democrats. Perhaps they're like ivory-billed woodpeckers: just when you think they're extinct, you hear their plangent cry."

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."

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.

jape
12.13.05

to joke or quip; to make sport of

This word can also be used as a noun, meaning "a joke or quip." I heard it today while listening to a Podcast of Harry Shearer's Le Show on KCRW.

twee
12.12.05

(British). overly precious or nice

I have a feeling that this word is fairly common in England, but I hadn't really noticed it before reading a review of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by Anthony Lane in the New Yorker: "If the movie has to forgo Lewis's narrative tone, with its grimly Oxonian blend of the bluff and the twee ('And now we come to one of the nastiest things in this story'), that is fine by me." Of course, when I asked my wife about the word, she knew exactly what it meant.

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."

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.

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."

malthusian
12.07.05

of or relating to Malthus or to his theory that population tends to increase at a faster rate than its means of subsistence and that unless it is checked by moral restraint or disaster (as disease, famine, or war) widespread poverty and degradation inevitably result

This word appears in a description of Ricky Gervais's first Podcast, which is being hosted on the British Guardian Unlimited news site: "In which Ricky, Steve and Karl discuss ... the pros and cons of technological invention, leading on to Karl's Malthusian concerns and a possible solution. There's a digression into the extra sensory perception of early hominids. Oh, and some Monkey News of course. Plus strange tales about lethal drinking vessels and stately homes."

umbrage
12.05.05

1. offense; resentment 2a. something that affords shade b. shadow or shade 3. a vague or indistinct indication; a hint

I read this word in a Paste Magazine article about an Icelandic band called Sigur Rós: "Who could take umbrage at such Little Prince innocence?"

venal
12.04.05

1a. open to bribery; mercenary b. capable of betraying honor, duty, or scruples for a price; corruptible 2. marked by corrupt dealings, especially bribery 3. obtainable for a price

Yep, I heard this one on Veronica Mars, too.

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.

November 2005

simulacrum
11.30.05

1. an image or representation 2. an unreal or vague semblance

I read this one in a New Yorker article about the guy whose ideas were the inspiration for the movie The Matrix: "What I am, I don't know," Baudrillard said, with a Gallic twinkle in his eye. "I am the simulacrum of myself."

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.

presently
11.28.05

1a. before long; without undue delay b. in a short time; soon 2. at the present time; now

Here's a word for the dueling dictionaries. Note the contrasting emphasis between the American Heritage Dictionary and Webster's: An original meaning of presently was "at the present time; currently."
American Heritage: "That sense is said to have disappeared from the literary language in the 17th century, but it has survived in popular usage and is widely found nowadays in literate speech and writing. Still, there is a lingering prejudice against this use."
Webster's: "Both senses 1 and 2 are flourishing in current English, but many commentators have objected to sense 2. Since this sense has been in continuous use since the 15th century, it is not clear why it is objectionable."
Ooooh! Them's fightin' words!

lief
11.27.05

readily; willingly

Example sentence: "I would as lief go now as later." This word appeared in a crossword puzzle today. I had never seen the word before, but my wife had. Of course.

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.

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.