The word for today is… emulate (verb): 1a: to strive to equal or excel b: imitate – especially : to imitate by means of an emulator 2: to equal or approach equality with Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but we’ll posit that
The word for today is… cacophony (noun): 1: harsh or jarring sound : dissonance 2: an incongruous or chaotic mixture : a striking combination Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you’re hooked on phonetics, you may know that the Greek word phone has made a great deal of noise in English. Cacophony
The word for today is… ulterior (adjective): 1: going beyond what is openly said or shown and especially what is proper 2a: further, future b: more distant c: situated on the farther side Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Although now usually hitched to the front of the noun motive to refer
The word for today is… refurbish (verb): : to brighten or freshen up : renovate Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : As seems proper given how English prefixes work, before you could refurbish something you could furbish it. That shorter word was borrowed into Middle English in the 14th century from Anglo-French as furbisshen;
The word for today is… verbiage (noun): 1: a profusion of words usually of little or obscure content 2: manner of expressing oneself in words : diction Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Verbiage descends from French verbier, meaning “to trill” or “to warble.” The usual sense of the word implies an overabundance
The word for today is… obeisance (noun): 1: a movement of the body made in token of respect or submission : bow 2: acknowledgment of another’s superiority or importance : homage Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : When it first appeared in English in the 14th century, obeisance shared the same meaning as
The word for today is… kith (noun): : familiar friends, neighbors, or relatives Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you’d used the word kith a thousand years ago, you might have been referring to knowledge, or to a homeland, or possibly to your neighbours and acquaintances. While those first two meanings
The word for today is… germane (adjective): 1: being at once relevant and appropriate : fitting 2 obsolete : closely akin Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : “Wert thou a Leopard, thou wert Germane to the Lion.” So wrote William Shakespeare in his five-act tragedy Timon of Athens, using an old (and now-obsolete) sense
The word for today is… Weltanschauung (noun): : a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint : worldview Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The German word Weltanschauung literally means “world view”; it combines Welt, meaning “world,” with Anschauung, meaning “view.” (You might have noticed this word’s resemblance
The word for today is… ad hominem (adjective, adverb): adjective 1: appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect 2: marked by or being an attack on an opponent’s character rather than by an answer to the contentions made adverb : in an ad hominem manner Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology
The word for today is… salubrious (adjective): : favorable to or promoting health or well-being Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Salubrious, like healthful and wholesome, describes things that are favorable to the health of the mind or body. (A rather formal and somewhat rare word, it is related by its Latin ancestor
The word for today is… agnostic (noun, adjective): noun 1: a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god 2: a
The word for today is… connive (verb): Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Connive may not seem like a term that would raise many hackles, but it certainly raised those of Wilson Follett, a usage critic who lamented that the word “was undone during the Second World War, when restless spirits felt
The word for today is… proximity (noun): : the quality or state of being proximate : closeness Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The fact that the star closest in proximity to our sun (approximately 4.2 light-years distant) is named Proxima Centauri is no coincidence. The history of proximity hinges on the idea
The word for today is… inveterate (adjective): 1: confirmed in a habit : habitual 2: firmly established by long persistence Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Despite how it may seem at first glance, inveterate has nothing to do with lacking a spine. That’s invertebrate, which came into English in the early
The word for today is… demean (verb, verb): verb : to lower in character, status, or reputation verb : to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : There are two words spelled demean in English. One has a construction similar to its synonym, debase: where debase
