The word for today is… diatribe (noun) - 1: a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing 2: ironic or satirical criticism 3 archaic : a prolonged discourse Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : When English speakers adopted diatribe in the late 16th century, they were glancing back at the ancients. The word
The word for today is… asperity (noun) - 1: roughness of manner or of temper : harshness of behavior or speech that expresses bitterness or anger 2: rigor, severity 3a: roughness of surface : unevenness, also : a tiny projection from a surface - the asperities of the tongue b: roughness of sound
The word for today is… facade (noun) - 1: the front of a building, also : any face of a building given special architectural treatment 2: a false, superficial, or artificial appearance or effect Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Facade is thought to have come to English from the Vulgar Latin facia, meaning
The word for today is… supercilious (adjective) - : coolly and patronizingly haughty Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Arrogant and disdainful types tend to raise an eyebrow at anything they consider beneath them. The original supercilious crowd must have shown that raised-eyebrow look often, because the adjective supercilious derives from "supercilium,"
The word for today is… etymology (noun) - 1: the history of a linguistic form (such as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its
The word for today is… veritable (adjective) - : being in fact the thing named and not false, unreal, or imaginary —often used to stress the aptness of a metaphor Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Veritable, like its close relative verity (“truth”), came to English through Anglo-French from Latin, ultimately the adjective vērus,
The word for today is… pococurante (adjective) - : indifferent, nonchalant Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The French writer Voltaire carefully named his characters in Candide (1759) to create allegories. He appended the prefix pan-, meaning "all," to "glōssa," the Greek word for "tongue," to name his
The word for today is… indigenous (adjective) - 1a: produced, growing, living, or occurring natively or naturally in a particular region or environment b: Indigenous or less commonly indigenous : of, relating to, or descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a place and especially of a place that was colonized
The word for today is… muse (verb, noun) - verb 1: to become absorbed in thought,especially : to think about something carefully and thoroughly musing about what might have been 2: archaic : wonder, marvel Noun 1 capitalized : any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and
The word for today is… biannual (adjective) - 1: occurring twice a year 2: occurring every two years Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : When we describe something as biannual, we can mean either that it occurs twice a year or that it occurs once every two years. So how does someone know
The word for today is… persecute (verb): 1: to harass or punish in a manner designed to injure, grieve, or afflict, specifically : to cause to suffer because of belief 2: to annoy with persistent or urgent approaches (such as attacks, pleas, or importunities) : pester Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Persecute typically has
The word for today is… penultimate (adjective) - 1: next to the last 2: of or relating to the next to the last syllable of a word Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Penultimate isn't the last word in words for things that are next to last. It has a pair
The word for today is… plenary (adjective) - 1: complete in every respect : absolute, unqualified 2: fully attended or constituted by all entitled to be present Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : In the 14th century, the monk Robert of Brunne described a situation in which all the knights of King Arthur'
The word for today is… amanuensis (noun) - : one employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : In Latin, the phrase servus a manu translates loosely as "slave with secretarial duties." (The noun manu, meaning "hand," gave us words such as manuscript,
The word for today is… obviate (verb) - : to anticipate and prevent (something, such as a situation) or make (an action) unnecessary Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : It's most often needs that get obviated. And a need that's obviated is a need that's been anticipated and
The word for today is… cliché (noun) - 1: a trite phrase or expression. Also : the idea expressed by it 2: a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation 3: something (such as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The words cliché and stereotype have
