The word for today is… grift (verb) - : to acquire money or property illicitly Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Someone who grifts is a thief, but of a particular sort: they illegally obtain money or property by means of cleverness or deceit, and do not usually resort to physical force or violence.
The word for today is… paltry (adjective) - 1: inferior, trashy 2: mean, despicable 3: trivial 4: meager, measly Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Before paltry was an adjective, it was a noun meaning trash. That now-obsolete noun came from palt or pelt, a dialect term referring to a piece of coarse
The word for today is… perquisite (noun) - 1: a privilege, gain, or profit incidental to regular salary or wages, especially : one expected or promised 2: gratuity, tip 3: something held or claimed as an exclusive right or possession Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Looking to acquire a job loaded with perquisites,
The word for today is… Delphic (adjective) 1: of or relating to ancient Delphi or its oracle 2 often delphic: ambiguous, obscure Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Delphi in Greece was the site of a temple to Apollo at which there resided an oracle, a woman through whom Apollo would speak, foretelling
The word for today is… bodice (noun) - 1: the upper part of a woman's dress 2 archaic : corset, stays Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The term bodice is derived from body. One sense of the word body is “the part of a garment covering the body or trunk.” In
The word for today is… frowsy (adjective) - 1: musty, stale 2: having a slovenly or uncared-for appearance Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Despite its meanings suggesting neglect and inattention, frowsy has been kept in steady rotation by English users since the late 1600s. The word (which is also spelled frowzy and
The word for today is… alchemy (noun) - 1: a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of 2: a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way 3: an inexplicable or
The word for today is… pseudonym (noun) - : a fictitious name, especially pen name Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Pseudonym has its origins in the Greek adjective pseudōnymos, which means “bearing a false name.” French speakers adopted the Greek word as the noun pseudonyme, and English speakers later modified the French word
The word for today is… cajole (verb) - 1a: to persuade with flattery or gentle urging especially in the face of reluctance : coax b: to obtain from someone by gentle persuasion 2: to deceive with soothing words or false promises Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : However hard we try, we can’t
The word for today is… propriety (noun) - 1: the quality or state of being proper or suitable : appropriateness 2a: conformity to what is socially acceptable in conduct or speech b: proprieties plural : the customs and manners of polite society c: fear of offending against conventional rules of behavior especially
The word for today is… sparge (verb) - 1: sprinkle, bespatter, especially : spray 2: to agitate (a liquid) by means of compressed air or gas entering through a pipe Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Etymologists think that "sparge" likely came to English by way of the Middle French word espargier,
The word for today is… longevity (noun) - 1a: a long duration of individual life b: length of life 2: long continuance : permanence, durability Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : As living conditions improve and the science of medicine advances, the longevity of the average Western European has increased greatly, from about 45
The word for today is… tergiversation (noun) - 1: evasion of straightforward action or clear-cut statement : equivocation 2: desertion of a cause, position, party, or faith Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The roots of tergiversation are about an unwillingness to pick a course and stay on it. The Latin verb tergiversari means
The word for today is… rhomboid (noun, adjective) - noun : a parallelogram with no right angles and with adjacent sides of unequal length adjective : shaped somewhat like a rhombus or rhomboid Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Rhomboids, like triangles, may take various different shapes, but they always look like a lopsided diamond
The word for today is… plaintive (adjective) - : expressive of suffering or woe : melancholy Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : “The people are drifting from door to door / Can’t find no heaven I don’t care where they go.” So sang Nehemiah Curtis “Skip” James on a Depression-era recording of his song
The word for today is… perdition (noun) - 1a: eternal damnation b: hell 2a archaic : utter destruction b obsolete : loss Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Not a word very suitable for the festive season, but them's the breaks. Perdition is a word that was borrowed into English in the 14th
