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# The Good Oil Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-good-oil-word-of-the-day-627/
- Published: 2026-05-05T18:15:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-05T18:15:44.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, Word of the Day

The word for today is…

fillip (verb, noun) -

*verb*  
1a: to suddenly and forcibly straighten (a finger curled up against the thumb) as a way of gesturing or striking  
b: to strike or tap by filliping  
2: to project quickly by or as if by filliping  
3: stimulate

*noun*  
1a: a blow or gesture made by the sudden forcible straightening of a finger curled up against the thumb  
b: a short sharp blow : buffet  
2: something tending to arouse or excite: such as  
a: stimulus  
b: a trivial addition : embellishment  
c: a significant and often unexpected development : wrinkle

Source : [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fillip?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : Like flip and flick, fillip is considered a phonetic imitation of the sharp release of a curled-up finger aimed to strike something. Language history suggests that people were filliping in the 15th-century, well before they were flipping and flicking. Specifically, fillip describes a strike or gesture made by the sudden straightening of a finger curled up against the thumb—a motion commonly referred to as a flick. It didn't take long before the sensational stinging smartness of filliping was extended to figurative use. "I mark this in our old Mogul's wine; it's quite as deadening to some as filliping to others," observes Herman Melville's Dutch sailor of wine's "stimulating" effect in Moby Dick.

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