The word for today is… bodice (noun) - 1: the upper part of a woman's dress 2 archaic : corset, stays Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The term bodice is derived from body. One sense of the word body is “the part of a garment covering the body or trunk.” In
The word for today is… frowsy (adjective) - 1: musty, stale 2: having a slovenly or uncared-for appearance Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Despite its meanings suggesting neglect and inattention, frowsy has been kept in steady rotation by English users since the late 1600s. The word (which is also spelled frowzy
The word for today is… alchemy (noun) - 1: a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of 2: a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way 3: an inexplicable or mysterious
The word for today is… pseudonym (noun) - : a fictitious name, especially pen name Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Pseudonym has its origins in the Greek adjective pseudōnymos, which means “bearing a false name.” French speakers adopted the Greek word as the noun pseudonyme, and English speakers later modified the French word
The word for today is… cajole (verb) - 1a: to persuade with flattery or gentle urging especially in the face of reluctance : coax b: to obtain from someone by gentle persuasion 2: to deceive with soothing words or false promises Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : However hard we try, we can’t
The word for today is… propriety (noun) - 1: the quality or state of being proper or suitable : appropriateness 2a: conformity to what is socially acceptable in conduct or speech b: proprieties plural : the customs and manners of polite society c: fear of offending against conventional rules of behavior especially between
The word for today is… sparge (verb) - 1: sprinkle, bespatter, especially : spray 2: to agitate (a liquid) by means of compressed air or gas entering through a pipe Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Etymologists think that "sparge" likely came to English by way of the Middle French word espargier,
The word for today is… longevity (noun) - 1a: a long duration of individual life b: length of life 2: long continuance : permanence, durability Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : As living conditions improve and the science of medicine advances, the longevity of the average Western European has increased greatly, from about 45
The word for today is… tergiversation (noun) - 1: evasion of straightforward action or clear-cut statement : equivocation 2: desertion of a cause, position, party, or faith Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The roots of tergiversation are about an unwillingness to pick a course and stay on it. The Latin verb tergiversari
The word for today is… rhomboid (noun, adjective) - noun : a parallelogram with no right angles and with adjacent sides of unequal length adjective : shaped somewhat like a rhombus or rhomboid Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Rhomboids, like triangles, may take various different shapes, but they always look like a lopsided diamond
The word for today is… plaintive (adjective) - : expressive of suffering or woe : melancholy Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : “The people are drifting from door to door / Can’t find no heaven I don’t care where they go.” So sang Nehemiah Curtis “Skip” James on a Depression-era recording of his
The word for today is… perdition (noun) - 1a: eternal damnation b: hell 2a archaic : utter destruction b obsolete : loss Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Not a word very suitable for the festive season, but them's the breaks. Perdition is a word that was borrowed into English in the 14th
The word for today is… nativity (noun) - 1: the process or circumstances of being born : birth, especially, Nativity : the birth of Jesus 2: a horoscope at or of the time of one's birth 3: the place of origin Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Happy Christmas to all. Nativity is
The word for today is… aperçu (noun) - 1: a brief survey or sketch : outline 2: an immediate impression Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : In French, aperçu is the past participle of the verb apercevoir ("to perceive" or "to comprehend"), which in turn comes from Latin percipere ("
The word for today is… carceral (adjective) - : of, relating to, or suggesting a jail or prison Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Carceral is a member of a small but imposing family: like its close relations incarcerate (meaning "to imprison") and incarceration (meaning "confinement in a jail or prison&
The word for today is… volant (adjective) - 1: having the wings extended as if in flight — used of a heraldic bird 2: flying or capable of flying 3: quick, nimble Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : English picked up "volant" from Middle French. The term survives in Modern French as
