The word for today is… critique (noun, verb): noun : an act of criticizing verb : to examine critically, review Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :What’s the difference between criticism and critique? There’s some overlap in meaning, but they’re not the same in every situation. Criticism is most often used
The word for today is… proselytise (verb): 1 : to induce someone to convert to one’s faith 2 : to recruit someone to join one’s party, institution, or cause Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Proselytise comes from the noun proselyte, meaning “a new convert,” which in turn ultimately comes from the
The word for today is… ritzy (adjective): 1 : snobbish 2 : impressively or ostentatiously fancy or stylish Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :César Ritz (1850-1918) earned worldwide renown for the luxurious hotels bearing his name in London and Paris. (The Ritz-Carlton hotel company is a contemporary descendant of these enterprises.
The word for today is… kerfuffle (noun): : a disturbance or commotion typically caused by a dispute or conflict Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Fuffle is an old Scottish verb that means “to muss” or “to throw into disarray”—in other words, to (literally) ruffle someone’s (figurative) feathers. The addition of
The word for today is… sporadic (adjective): : occurring occasionally, singly, or in irregular or random instances Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :You never know where or when the occasion to use sporadic will pop up, but when it does, sporadic is the perfect choice to describe something that happens randomly or
The word for today is… caucus (noun, verb): noun 1: a closed meeting of a group of persons belonging to the same political party or faction usually to select candidates or to decide on policy 2: a group of people united to promote an agreed-upon cause verb : to meet
The word for today is… anthropomorphic (adjective): 1 : described or thought of as having a human form or human attributes 2 : ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :We are endlessly fascinated by the uniqueness and complexity of human language. Many species use sounds and gestures to
The word for today is… conscription (noun): : compulsory enrollment of persons especially for military service Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :With its scrip- root, conscription means basically writing someone’s name on a list—a list that, unfortunately, a lot of people usually don’t want to be on. Conscription has
The word for today is… misnomer (noun): 1 : the misnaming of a person in a legal instrument 2a : a use of a wrong or inappropriate name b : a wrong name or inappropriate designation Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :What’s in a name? Well, in some cases, a name will contain
The word for today is… defer (verb): 1a : put off, delay 1b : to postpone induction of (a person) into military service 2 : to delegate to another Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :There are two distinct words spelled defer in English, each with its own history and meaning. The defer having to
The word for today is… perspicacious (adjective): : of acute mental vision or discernment Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Some perspective on perspicacious: the word combines the Latin perspicac- (from perspicax meaning “clear-sighted,” which in turn comes from perspicere, “to see through”) with the common English adjective suffix -ious. The result
The word for today is… verdigris (noun): 1a : a green or greenish-blue poisonous pigment resulting from the action of acetic acid on copper and consisting of one or more basic copper acetates b : normal copper acetate Cu(C2H3O2)2·H2O 2 : a green or bluish deposit especially of copper
The word for today is… haywire (adverb or adjective): 1 : being out of order or having gone wrong 2 : emotionally or mentally upset or out of control Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :The noun haywire refers to a type of wire once used in baling hay and sometimes for makeshift repairs.
The word for today is… ilk (noun, pronoun): noun : sort, kind – e.g. politicians and their ilk pronoun (chiefly Scotland) : same —used with that especially in the names of landed families Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :The Old English pronoun ilca is the predecessor of the modern noun ilk, but by
The word for today is… exponent (noun): 1 : a symbol written above and to the right of a mathematical expression to indicate the operation of raising to a power 2a : one that expounds or interprets b : one that champions, practices, or exemplifies Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :You probably won’t
The word for today is… laconic (adjective): : using or involving the use of a minimum of words Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology :Laconia was an ancient country in southern Greece. Its capital city was Sparta, and the Spartans were famous for their terseness of speech. Laconic comes to us by way
