The word for today is… obtain (verb): Source : Merriam -Webster transitive verb : to gain or attain usually by planned action or effort intransitive verb 1: to be generally recognized or established : prevail 2 archaic : succeed Etymology : Both obtain and attain can mean “to get” or “to acquire,” and in some
The word for today is… portentous (adjective): 1: of, relating to, or constituting a portent 2: eliciting amazement or wonder : prodigious 3a: being a grave or serious matter b: self-consciously solemn or important : pompous c: ponderously excessive Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : “If it wasn’t for bad luck / You
The word for today is… demarcate (verb): 1: delimit 2: to set apart : distinguish Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : It’s reasonable to assume that demarcate inspired the noun demarcation—many a noun has been formed by adding the suffix -ion to an existing verb. But in this case you’d
The word for today is… aficionado (noun): : a person who likes, knows about, and appreciates a usually fervently pursued interest or activity : devotee Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Before there were nerds, geeks, fanboys, or fangirls, there were aficionados. But not long before, relatively speaking. English borrowed aficionado in the early
The word for today is… paradigm (noun): 1: example, pattern, especially an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype 2: an example of a conjugation or declension showing a word in all its inflectional forms 3: a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories,
The word for today is… splenetic (adjective): 1archaic : given to melancholy 2: marked by bad temper, malevolence, or spite Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : To vent one’s spleen is to express anger. There are healthy ways of doing this, of course, but vent too much of your spleen, or vent
The word for today is… impertinent (adjective): 1a: given to or characterized by insolent rudeness b: not restrained within due or proper bounds especially of propriety or good taste 2: not pertinent : irrelevant Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : English speakers adopted both impertinent and pertinent from Anglo-French in the 14th
The word for today is… faze (verb): : to disturb the composure of : disconcert, daunt Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you’re hazy on faze, let us filter out the fuzz. Faze (not to be confused with phase) first appeared in English in the early 1800s with the same meaning we
The word for today is… tentative (adjective, noun): adjective 1: not fully worked out or developed 2: hesitant, uncertain noun : something that is uncertain or subject to change : something that is tentative Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Tentative is from the Latin tentare (“to attempt”), and its original meaning was “attempted,
The word for today is… coax (verb): 1: to influence or gently urge by caressing or flattering : wheedle 2: to draw, gain, or persuade by means of gentle urging or flattery 3: to manipulate with great perseverance and usually with considerable effort toward a desired state or activity 4 obsolete
The word for today is… sartorial (adjective): : of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes broadly : of or relating to clothes Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : It’s easy to uncover the root of sartorial. Just strip off the suffix -ial and you discover the Latin noun sartor, meaning “tailor”
The word for today is… fervid (adjective): 1: very hot : burning 2: marked by often extreme fervor Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Fervid comes from the Latin verb fervere, meaning “to boil” or “to glow,” as well as, by extension, “to seethe” or “to be roused.” In English, this root gave
The word for today is… nepotism (noun): : favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Nepotism is favoritism based on kinship, especially in professional contexts. English speakers have kept nepotism in the family since the late 1600s, having adopted it from the French, who
The word for today is… grok (verb)): : to understand profoundly and intuitively Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Grok may be the only English word that derives from Martian. Yes, I do mean the language of the planet Mars. No, I’m not getting too weird; we’ve just ventured into the
The word for today is… lionise (verb): : to treat as an object of great interest or importance Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : It is perhaps no surprise that humans have long projected qualities of bravery and regality upon the proverbial “king of the beasts.” It is precisely those and similar admirable
The word for today is… tenebrous (adjective): 1: shut off from the light : dark, murky 2: hard to understand : obscure 3: causing gloom Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Tenebrous can mean both “obscure” and “murky,” but its history is crystal clear. Etymologists know that the word comes from the Latin noun
