The word for today is… beleaguer (verb): 1 : besiege – a town beleaguered by an army a beleaguered city 2 : trouble, harass Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : English speakers created “beleaguer” from the Dutch word belegeren in the 16th century. “[Military men] will not vouchsafe . . . to use our ancient terms belonging to
The word for today is… enigma (noun): 1 : something hard to understand or explain 2 : an inscrutable or mysterious person 3 : an obscure speech or writing Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : A person who is described as an enigma is a bit of a mystery. You never know what that person
The word for today is… palisade (noun): 1a : a fence of stakes especially for defense b : a long strong stake pointed at the top and set close with others as a defense 2 : a line of bold cliffs Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Palisade derives via French from the Latin noun
The word for today is… rankle (verb): 1 : to cause anger, irritation, or deep bitterness 2 : to feel anger and irritation Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The history of today’s word is something of a sore subject. When rankle was first used in English, it meant “to fester,” and that
The word for today is… milquetoast (adjective): 1 : of a person : timid, meek, or unassertive 2 : lacking in character or vigor Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Caspar Milquetoast was a comic strip character created in 1924 by the American cartoonist Harold T. Webster. The strip, called “The Timid Soul,” ran every
The word for today is… ostracize (verb): 1 : to exile by ostracism 2 : to exclude from a group by common consent Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : In ancient Greece, prominent citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled by a practice called ostracism. Voters would
The word for today is… fomite (noun): an object (such as a dish, doorknob, or article of clothing) that may be contaminated with infectious agents (such as bacteria or viruses) and serve in their transmission Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Disinfectant on your hands keeps us healthier and fomites no longer
The word for today is… commodious (adjective): 1 : comfortably or conveniently spacious 2 archaic : handy, serviceable Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Although it’s now used to mean “roomy,” in the 18th century “commodious” was regularly used to mean “handy” or “serviceable,” a meaning that is true to the word’s
The word for today is… interloper (noun): one that interlopes: such as a : one that intrudes in a place or sphere of activity b : an illegal or unlicensed trader Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : When English speakers combined “inter-” with “-loper” in the late 1500s, they already had a word landloper
The word for today is… wistful (adjective): 1 : full of yearning or desire tinged with melancholy 2 : musingly sad Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Are you yearning to know the history of wistful? If so, I can ease your melancholy a little by telling you that wistful comes from a combination
The word for today is… pantheon (noun): 1a : the gods of a people especially b : a temple dedicated to all the gods 2 : a group of illustrious or notable persons or things I 3 : a building serving as the burial place of or containing memorials to the famous dead of
The word for today is… calculus (noun): 1a : a method of computation or calculation in a special notation (as of logic or symbolic logic) b : the mathematical methods comprising differential and integral calculus 2 : calculation 3a : a concretion usually of mineral salts around organic material found especially in hollow organs
The word for today is… galvanize (verb): 1 : to cause (people) to become so excited or concerned about an issue, idea, etc., that they want to do something about it 2 : to cause (a force that is capable of causing change) to become active 3 technical : to cover (steel or
The word for today is… smarmy (adjective): 1 : revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, or false earnestness 2 : of low sleazy taste or quality Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Something smarmy will often ooze with self-satisfaction and insincerity. Much like its synonyms unctuous and slick, smarmy has a history that
The word for today is… derrick (noun): 1 : a hoisting apparatus employing a tackle rigged at the end of a beam 2 : a framework or tower over a deep drill hole (as of an oil well) for supporting boring tackle or for hoisting and lowering Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : During
The word for today is… hoity-toity (adjective): 1 : thoughtlessly silly or frivolous 2 : marked by an air of assumed importance Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Today we most often use hoity-toity as an adjective, but before it was an adjective it was a noun meaning “thoughtless giddy behavior.” The noun, which
