The word for today is… smarmy (adjective): 1 : revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, or false earnestness 2 : of low sleazy taste or quality Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Something smarmy will often ooze with self-satisfaction and insincerity. Much like its synonyms unctuous and slick, smarmy has a history
The word for today is… derrick (noun): 1 : a hoisting apparatus employing a tackle rigged at the end of a beam 2 : a framework or tower over a deep drill hole (as of an oil well) for supporting boring tackle or for hoisting and lowering Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : During
The word for today is… hoity-toity (adjective): 1 : thoughtlessly silly or frivolous 2 : marked by an air of assumed importance Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Today we most often use hoity-toity as an adjective, but before it was an adjective it was a noun meaning “thoughtless giddy behavior.” The
The word for today is… menorah (noun): a candelabra with seven or nine lights that is used in Jewish worship Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : English speakers originally used the Hebrew borrowing menorah for the seven-branched candelabra used in Jewish worship since ancient times. The nine-branched Hanukkah candelabra is
The word for today is… commensurate (adjective): 1 : corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree : proportionate 2 : equal in measure or extent Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Commensurate is a word that really measures up. And no wonder – it’s a descendant of the Latin noun mensura, meaning “measure,” from “mensus,
Today marks my first birthday as collator of the BFD’s Word of the Day. As a birthday present to myself I am going to re-post my favourite word from the last year. This was first posted on 2nd February 2021 and was the first word I chose after
The word for today is… malice (noun): 1 : desire to cause pain, injury, or distress to another 2 : intent to commit an unlawful act or cause harm without legal justification or excuse Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Malicious and malevolent are close in meaning, since both refer to ill will that
The word for today is… jovial (adjective): : characterized by good-humored cheerfulness and conviviality Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Jupiter, also called Jove, was the chief Roman god and was considered a majestic, authoritative type—just the kind of god to name a massive planet like Jupiter for. Our word jovial
The word for today is… feign (verb): 1a : to give a false appearance of b : to assert as if true 2 archaic a : invent, imagine b : to give fictional representation to 3 obsolete : disguise, conceal Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Feign is all about faking it, but that hasn’t always
The word for today is… enclave (noun): : a distinct territorial, cultural, or social unit enclosed within or as if within foreign territory Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Looking for the keys to the etymology of enclave? You’ll find them in French and Latin. English speakers borrowed “enclave” from French in
The word for today is… garbage (noun): 1a : food waste b : discarded or useless material 2a : trash b : inaccurate or useless data Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Middle English, “poultry organs and body parts used for food, poultry refuse,” borrowed from Anglo-French. Garbage (implied in sergant garbagere – “kitchen servant tasked
The word for today is… univocal (adjective): 1 : having one meaning only 2 : unambiguous Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Earliest known print evidence of univocal, in the sense of “having one meaning only,” dates the word to the mid-1500s, somewhat earlier than its more familiar antonym equivocal (meaning “often misleadingly
The word for today is… trepidation (noun): 1: a nervous or fearful feeling of uncertain agitation 2: archaic : a tremulous motion, tremor Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you’ve ever trembled with fright, you know something of both the sensation and etymology of trepidation. The word comes from the Latin
The word for today is… exonerate (verb): 1 : to relieve of a responsibility, obligation, or hardship 2 : to clear from accusation or blame Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : We won’t blame you if you don’t know the origins of today’s word. Exonerate derives via Middle English from the
The word for today is… amity (noun): : friendship – especially friendly relations between nations Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Amity has been used in English to describe friendship or friendliness for well over 500 years. It is derived from the Latin word for “friend,” amicus, and has come to be used especially
The word for today is… negotiate (verb): 1 : to discuss something formally in order to make an agreement 2 : to agree on (something) by formally discussing it 3 : to get over, through, or around (something) successfully Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : For the first 250 years of its life, negotiate had
