The word for today is… vignette (noun): 1a : a picture (such as an engraving or photograph) that shades off gradually into the surrounding paper b : the pictorial part of a postage stamp design as distinguished from the frame and lettering 2a : a short descriptive literary sketch b : a brief incident
The word for today is… precarious (adjective): characterized by uncertainty, insecurity, or instability that threatens with danger. Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : “This little happiness is so very precarious, that it wholly depends on the will of others”. Joseph Addison, in a 1711 issue of Spectator magazine, couldn’t have described
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 : Exonerate derives via Middle English from the past participle of the Latin verb exonerare, meaning “to unburden,” formed by combining the prefix ex-
The word for today is… tumbrel (noun): 1 : a farm tipcart 2 : a vehicle carrying condemned persons (such as political prisoners during the French Revolution) to a place of execution Source : Online Etymology Dictionary Etymology : mid-15c., “two-wheeled cart for hauling dung, stones, etc.,” earlier an instrument of punishment
The word for today is… cute (adjective, noun): adjective 1a : clever or shrewd often in an underhanded manner b : impertinent, smart-alecky 2 : attractive or pretty especially in a childish, youthful, or delicate way 3 : obviously straining for effect noun : the quality or state of being cute or cutesy Source
The word for today is… recalcitrant (adjective): : obstinately defiant of authority or restraint 2a : difficult to manage or operate b : not responsive to treatment c : resistant Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Long before any human was dubbed “recalcitrant” in English (that first occurred, as best we know, in one of William
The word for today is… perfidious (adjective): : of, relating to, or characterized by perfidy – the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The modern English meaning of “perfidious” remains faithful to that of its Latin ancestor, perfidus, which means “faithless.” English speakers have used “perfidious”
The word for today is… tribulation (noun): : distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The writer and Christian scholar Thomas More, in his 1534 work A dialoge of comforte against tribulation, defined the title word as “euery such thing as troubleth and greueth [grieveth] a
The word for today is… doomsday (noun): 1 : a day of final judgment 2 : a time of catastrophic destruction and death Source : Online Etymology Dictionary Etymology : In medieval England doomsday was expected when the world’s age had reached 6,000 years from the creation, which was thought to have
The word for today is… gambol (verb): to skip about in play Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : In Middle French, the noun “gambade” referred to the frisky spring of a jumping horse. In the early 1500s, the English word gambol romped into print as both a verb and a noun. (The
The word for today is… steampunk (noun): science fiction dealing with 19th-century societies dominated by historical or imagined steam-powered technology Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : “I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term
The word for today is… coeval (adjective): of the same or equal age, antiquity, or duration Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Coeval comes to English from the Latin word coaevus, meaning “of the same age.” “Coaevus” was formed by combining the “co-” prefix (“in or to the same degree”) with Latin
The word for today is… responsive (adjective): 1 : giving response 2 : quick to respond or react appropriately or sympathetically 3 : using responses Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Responsive comes from the joining of Latin responsus with the suffix -ivus, which gave English -ive. That suffix changes verbs into adjectives, as in
The word for today is… word inflammable (adjective): Inflammable describes things that can easily catch fire. It also means “easily excited or angered.” Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Combustible and incombustible are opposites, but flammable and inflammable are synonyms. How can that be? The in- of incombustible is a common prefix
The word for today is… adversary (noun, adjective): noun : one that contends with, opposes, or resists : an enemy or opponent adjective 1 : of, relating to, or involving an enemy or adversary 2 : having or involving antagonistic parties or opposing interests Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you’ve ever had someone
The word for today is… sedentary (adjective): 1 : not migratory 2a : doing or requiring much sitting b : not physically active 3 : permanently attached Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : English speakers borrowed sedentary in the late 16th century from Middle French sedentaire, which in turn derives from Latin sedentarius. Sedentarius, which means
