Peccadillo - Word of the Day - February 7, 2016
Noun
Pronunciation
pek-uh-DIL-oh
Definition
A relatively minor fault or sin.
Examples
The sexual
peccadilloes of celebrities aren’t necessarily news
Mark's thank-you note to his hostess was sincere and
touching; his only peccadillo was addressing her by her first name instead of
"Mrs. Henderson."
"[Tanyanne] Ball seemed to have mastered the form of
affable confrontation: as soon as she saw someone perpetrating a civic
peccadillo, she would stride up and calmly, grinningly ask, 'Are you aware that
you have just committed a violation?'" — Tobi Haslett, NewYorker.com, 10
Nov. 2015
Did You Know?
"The world loves a spice of wickedness." That
observation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow may explain why people are so willing
to forgive peccadilloes as youthful foolishness or lapses of judgment. The
willingness to overlook petty faults and minor offenses existed long before
English speakers borrowed a modified version of the Spanish pecadillo at the
end of the 16th century. Spanish speakers distinguished the pecadillo, or
"little sin," from the more serious pecado, their term for a sin of
magnitude. And these Spanish terms can be traced back still further, to the
Latin verb peccare, meaning "to sin."
Word Quiz
What adjective is derived from the Latin verb peccare and
means "flawless"?
Merriam-Webster &
Oxford Dictionaries
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