The word for today is… sotto voce (adverb or adjective) - 1: under the breath : in an undertone, also : in a private manner 2: very softly —used as a direction in music Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Sotto voce functions both as an adverb ("she began telling us sotto voce about
The word for today is… louche (adjective) - : not reputable or decent Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Louche ultimately comes from the Latin word luscus, meaning "blind in one eye" or "having poor sight." This Latin term gave rise to the French louche, meaning "squinting" or
The word for today is… plenipotentiary (adjective, noun) - adjective 1: invested with full power 2: of or relating to a plenipotentiary noun : a person and especially a diplomatic agent invested with full power to transact business Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The adjective plenipotentiary is typically used after the noun it
The word for today is… martinet (noun) - 1: a strict disciplinarian 2: a person who stresses a rigid adherence to the details of forms and methods Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : When France's King Louis XIV appointed Lieutenant Colonel Jean Martinet to be inspector general of the infantry in
The word for today is… double entendre (noun) - 1 linguistics : a word or expression capable of two interpretations with one usually risqué 2 literature : ambiguity of meaning arising from language that lends itself to more than one interpretation Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : The words double entendre and pun are both
The word for today is… élan (noun) - : vigorous spirit or enthusiasm Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Once upon a time, English speakers did not have élan (the word, that is; we have always had the potential for vigorous spirit). We had, however, the verb elance, meaning "to throw," that
The word for today is… chlamys (noun) - : a short oblong mantle worn by young men of ancient Greece Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : If you had been a man of ancient Greece, you'd likely have worn a chlamys from time to time. This cloak was a short, oblong mantle,
The word for today is… anneal (verb) - transitive verb 1a: to heat and then cool (a material, such as steel or glass) usually for softening and making less brittle, also : to cool slowly usually in a furnace b: to cause two complementary strands of nucleic acid (such as DNA or
The word for today is… comely (adjective) - 1: pleasurably conforming to notions of good appearance, suitability, or proportion 2: having a pleasing appearance : not homely or plain Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Although comely is now typically used to describe the appearance of human beings, it was once used more broadly
The word for today is… sultry (adjective) - 1a: very hot and humid : sweltering b: burning hot : torrid 2a: hot with passion or anger b: exciting or capable of exciting strong sexual desire Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Sultry days and glances both burn hot—one literally, and the other figuratively. Sultry
The word for today is… breadbasket (noun) - 1 slang : stomach 2: a region that is a major producer of grain crops (such as wheat) Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Breadbasket has been used as slang in English since at least the mid-1700s. (It has been used even longer to mean
The word for today is… erroneous (adjective) - 1: containing or characterized by error : mistaken 2 archaic : wandering Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Erroneous basically means "containing errors", and, since most of us are constantly suffering from mistaken notions, the word is often used in front of words such as
The word for today is… kludge (noun) - : a haphazard or makeshift solution to a problem and especially to a computer or programming problem Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : As long as the origins of kludge (also spelled kluge) are uncertain, any attempt to pin them down will itself be a bit
The word for today is… aerie (noun) - 1: the nest of a bird on a cliff or a mountaintop 2 obsolete : a brood of birds of prey 3: an elevated often secluded dwelling, structure, or position Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : This word is better known to me as eyrie. English
The word for today is… ginkgo (noun) - : a gymnospermous dioecious tree (Ginkgo biloba) of eastern China that is widely grown as an ornamental or shade tree and has fan-shaped leaves and foul-smelling yellowish fleshy seed coats, called also maidenhair tree Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : There is only one
The word for today is… boustrophedon (noun) - : the writing of alternate lines in opposite directions (as from left to right and from right to left) Source : Merriam-Webster Etymology : Before the standardization of writing from left to right, ancient Greek inscribers once used a style called boustrophedon, a word meaning
