The word for today is… genteel (adjective): 1a : having an aristocratic quality or flavor : stylish b : of or relating to the gentry or upper class c : elegant or graceful in manner, appearance, or shape d : free from vulgarity or rudeness : polite 2a : maintaining or striving to maintain the appearance of
The word for today is… volition (noun): 1 : the power of choosing or determining : will 2 : an act of making a choice or decision Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :When you do something of your own volition, you do it voluntarily, which makes sense—both volition and voluntary ultimately come from
The word for today is… exorbitant (adjective): 1 : not coming within the scope of the law 2 : exceeding the customary or appropriate limits in intensity, quality, amount, or size Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :The first use of “exorbitant” in English was “wandering or deviating from the normal or ordinary course.
The word for today is… cloying (noun): : disgusting or distasteful by reason of excess, also excessively sweet or sentimental Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Cloying comes from the verb cloy, which had among its earliest uses the meaning (to quote the Oxford English Dictionary) “to render [a gun] useless by driving
The word for today is… interlocutor (noun): 1 : one who takes part in dialogue or conversation 2 : a man in the middle of the line in a minstrel show who questions the end men and acts as leader Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :It may not necessarily be grandiloquence to use
The word for today is… writhe (verb): 1a : to twist into coils or folds b : to twist so as to distort : wrench c : to twist (the body or a bodily part) in pain 2 : intertwine Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Writhe wound its way to us from the Old English verb
The word for today is… bespoke (adjective): 1a : custom-made b : dealing in or producing custom-made articles 2 dialect : engaged Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :In the English language of yore, the verb bespeak had various meanings, including “to speak,” “to accuse,” and “to complain.” In the 16th century, bespeak acquired another
The word for today is… litotes (noun): : understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary (as in “not a bad singer” or “not unhappy”) Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Even if you’ve never heard the word litotes, chances are you’ve encountered this figure of
The word for today is… hyperbole (noun): : extravagant exaggeration Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :In the 5th century B.C. there was a rabble-rousing Athenian politician named Hyperbolus. Since Hyperbolus is known to history as a demagogue, i.e. “a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and
The word for today is… noel (noun): 1 : a Christmas carol 2 capitalized : christmas Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :English speakers borrowed the word noel from French. It can be traced further back to the Latin word natalis, which can mean “birthday” as a noun or “of or relating to birth”
The word for today is… frenetic (adjective): : marked by fast and energetic, disordered, or anxiety-driven activity Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :In modern use, frenetic can describe a focused and intense effort to meet a deadline, or dancing among a hyped-up crowd, but the word’s Middle English predecessor, frenetik, had
The word for today is… cadence (noun): 1a : the beat, time, or measure of rhythmical motion or activity b : a rhythmic sequence or flow of sounds in language c : a regular and repeated pattern of activity 2a : a falling inflection of the voice b : a concluding and usually falling strain
The word for today is… subpoena (noun, verb): noun : a writ commanding a person designated in it to appear in court under a penalty for failure verb : to serve or summon with a writ of subpoena Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :If you think you recognize the sub- in subpoena as
The word for today is… transmogrify (noun): : to change or alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :We know that the prefix trans-, meaning “across” or “beyond,” appears in many words that evoke change, such as transform and transpire, but mogrify is a bit
The word for today is… decorous (noun): : marked by propriety and good taste Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :One of the earliest recorded uses of decorous appears in a book titled The Rules of Civility (1673): “It is not decorous to look in the Glass, to comb, brush, or do any
The word for today is… rabble (noun, verb): noun 1 : a disorganized or confused collection of things 2a : a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people : mob b : the lowest class of people verb : to insult or assault by or as a mob Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Rabble has been with
