The word for today is… puckish (adj) – Mischievous; impish. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : We know Puck as “that merry wanderer of the night,” the shape-changing, maiden-frightening, mischief-sowing henchman to the king of the fairies in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Bard drew
The word for today is… plummy (adj) – 1. (a) Filled with plums. (b) Resembling plums in smell, taste, or appearance. 2. Choice; desirable. 3. Exceedingly or affectedly mellow and rich. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The name of the fruit plum goes back to Old English. During the 18th century,
The word for today is… gaslighting (verb) – To psychologically manipulate (someone) so that they question their memories, perception, or sanity. (noun) – 1. Light produced by burning illuminating gas. 2. A gas burner or lamp. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The term originated from the 1938 play Gas Light (known in
The word for today is… oneiric (adj) – Of, relating to, or suggestive of dreams. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : The notion of using the Greek noun oneiros (meaning “dream”) to form the English adjective oneiric wasn’t dreamed up until the mid-19th century. But back in the late 1500s
The word for today is… lade (verb) – 1. (a) To load with or as if with cargo. (b) To place (something) as a load for or as if for shipment. 2. To burden or oppress; weigh down. 3. To take up or remove (water) with a ladle or dipper. Source
The word for today is… insuperable (adj) – Impossible to overcome; insurmountable. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Insuperable first appeared in print in the 14th century, and as a close synonym to insurmountable, it still means now approximately what it did then. In Latin, superare means “to go over, surmount, overcome,
The word for today is… ineffable (adj) – 1. Incapable of being expressed; indescribable or unutterable. 2. Not to be uttered; taboo. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : “Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of those wild notes always depressed
he word for today is… higgledy-piggledy (adv) – In utter disorder or confusion. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : We really have no idea where higgledy-piggledy came from, but we do know it’s a perfect demonstration of English speakers’ fondness for reduplication—that is, for forming new words by
The word for today is… flounce (noun) – A strip of decorative, usually gathered or pleated material attached by one edge, as on a garment or curtain. (verb) – 1. (a) To move in a lively or bouncy manner: The children flounced around the room in their costumes. (b) To move with
Having wandered into a community FB page one day I saw what I thought was a humorous way to get a certain message across. Now that clearly was not taken in the locality of the community page as there are no snowy mountains within sight, it actually doesn’t even
The word for today is… contraption (noun) – A mechanical device; a gadget. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : English has a number of words that can be used as general terms for mechanical or electronic devices, including gadget, gizmo, widget, and contraption. In addition to their meaning, these four words also
The word for today is… boilerplate (noun) – 1. Steel in the form of flat plates used in making steam boilers. 2. Journalistic material, such as syndicated features, made available by agencies in a form that is already typeset, originally in plate form, for easy incorporation into publications such as newspapers.
The word for today is… assiduous (adj) – Showing or characterised by persistent attention or untiring application Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Judges presiding over assizes (former periodical sessions of the superior courts in English counties) had to be assiduous in assessing how to best address their cases. Not only were
The word for today is… afflatus (noun) – A strong creative impulse, especially as a result of divine inspiration. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Inspiration might be described as a breath of fresh air, and so it is appropriate that inspire derives in part from a word meaning “to breathe”—Latin
The word for today is… acquisitive (adj) – 1. Characterised by a strong desire to gain and possess. 2. Tending to acquire and retain ideas or information: Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : While acquisitive is a useful synonym of the likes of greedy and avaricious, it’s relatively unknown compared to
