chastise - Word of the Day - 31/05/18

chastise

verb

Pronunciation

chass-TYZE
 

Definition

1 : to censure severely : castigate

2 : to inflict punishment on (as by whipping)

Did You Know?

Chastise, castigate, chasten, correct, and discipline all imply the infliction of a penalty in return for wrongdoing. Chastise often applies to verbal censure or denunciation ("she chastised her son for neglecting his studies"). Castigate usually implies a severe, typically public censure ("an editorial was published castigating the entire city council"), while chasten suggests any affliction or trial that leaves someone humbled or subdued ("chastened by a landslide election defeat"). Correct implies punishment aimed at reforming an offender ("the function of prison is to correct the wrongdoer"), and discipline is a punishment intended to bring a wrongdoer under control ("parents disciplining their children").

Examples

The boss eventually had to chastise certain employees for being consistently late.

"Strikingly, each time the company encounters another privacy outcry, its initial response is not to own up to the situation, explain, apologize and listen, but rather to chastise its users for daring to ask." — Kalev Leetaru, Forbes, 6 Apr. 2018

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of chastise: ETTAIPRUEV.

Merriam-Webster

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indigence - Word of the Day - 30/05/18

indigence

noun

Pronunciation

IN-dih-junss
 

Definition

: a level of poverty in which real hardship and deprivation are suffered and comforts of life are wholly lacking

Did You Know?

Is your vocabulary impoverished by a lack of synonyms for indigence? We can help. Poverty, penury, want, and destitution all describe the state of someone who is lacking in key resources. Poverty covers the range from severe lack of basic necessities to an absence of material comforts ("the refugees lived in extreme poverty"). Penury suggests a cramping or oppressive lack of money ("illness condemned him to years of penury"). Want and destitution imply extreme, even life-threatening, poverty ("lived in a perpetual state of want"; "the widespread destitution in countries beset by famine"). Indigence, which descends from a Latin verb meaning "to need," implies seriously straitened circumstances and usually connotes the endurance of many hardships and the lack of comforts.

Examples

"But how do the poor minority fare? Perhaps it will be found that just in proportion as some have been placed in outward circumstances above the savage, others have been degraded below him. The luxury of one class is counterbalanced by the indigence of another." — Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

"Indigence isn't rare in Rochester and in Monroe County's towns, given the area's systemic poverty. And for the public defenders' clients, Donaher says, 'any amount of cash bail is an enormous obstacle, because they don't have cash.'" — Tianna Mañón, The Rochester (New York) City Newspaper, 11 Apr. 2018

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete an adjective that means "penniless": i _ _ ec _ n _ _ us.

Merriam-Webster

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flummox - Word of the Day - 29/05/18

flummox

verb

Pronunciation

FLUM-uks
 

Definition

: confuse

Did You Know?

No one is completely sure where the word flummox comes from, but we do know that early use can be found in Charles Dickens' 1837 novel The Pickwick Papers and that it had become quite common in both British and American English by the end of the 19th century. One theory expressed by some etymologists is that it was influenced by flummock, a word of English dialectical origin used to refer to a clumsy person. This flummock may also be the source of the word lummox, which also means "a clumsy person."

Examples

"A computer glitch at the IRS knocked offline the agency's ability to process many tax returns filed electronically, a stunning breakdown that left agency officials flummoxed and millions of Americans bewildered." — Jeff Stein, Damian Paletta, and Mike DeBonis, The Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2018

"The reason for math's bad rap is that the very same teachers and parents who have psychic scars from their own inability to correctly memorize their multiplication tables in the fourth grade are today completely flummoxed by elementary school kids' homework." — Esther J. Cepeda, The Record (Bergen County, New Jersey), 26 Apr. 2018

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of flummox: _ _ s _ o _ b _ _ _ l _ te.

Merriam-Webster

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sacrosanct - Word of the Day - 28/05/18

sacrosanct

adjective

Pronunciation

 SAK-roh-sankt

Definition

1 : most sacred or holy : inviolable

2 : treated as if holy : immune from criticism or violation

Did You Know?

That which is sacrosanct is doubly sacred. Sacrosanct is derived from the Latin sacrosanctus, which is probably from the phrase sacro sanctus ("hallowed by a sacred rite"). The first element of this phrase, sacro, is the ablative case of sacrum ("a sacred rite") and means "by a sacred rite" (sacrum lives on in English anatomy as the name for our pelvic vertebrae—a shortening of os sacrum, which literally means "holy bone"). The second element, sanctus, is the past participle of the Latin sancire, which means "to make sacred." Sanctus has also given English the words saint, sanctimony, sanctify, and sanctuary.

Examples

"Cowperwood's private office … was a solid cherry-wood box in which he could shut himself completely—sight-proof, sound-proof. When the door was closed it was sacrosanct." — Theodore Dreiser, The Titan, 1914

"The launch of Elon Musk's Falcon Heavy from the Kennedy Space Center … was the latest in a series of milestones reviving interest in space. It happened on the sacrosanct stretch of sand along the Florida coast that has witnessed so many epic flights out of the atmosphere." — Christian Davenport, The Washington Post, 11 Feb. 2018

Name That Antonym

Fill in the blanks to complete an antonym of sacrosanct: _ n _ _ ns _ _ r _ _ ed.

Merriam-Webster

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arrogate - Word of the Day - 27/05/18

arrogate

verb

Pronunciation

AIR-uh-gayt 

Definition

1 a : to claim or seize without justification

   b : to make undue claims to having : assume

2 : to claim on behalf of another : ascribe

Did You Know?

Arrogate comes from Latin arrogatus, a past participle of the verb arrogare, which means "to appropriate to one's self." The Latin verb, in turn, was formed from the prefix ad- ("to" or "toward") and the verb rogare ("to ask"). You may have noticed that arrogate is similar to the more familiar arrogant. And there is, in fact, a relationship between the two words. Arrogant comes from Latin arrogant- or arrogans, the present participle of arrogare. Arrogant is often applied to that sense of superiority which comes from someone claiming (or arrogating) more consideration than is due to that person's position, dignity, or power.

Examples

The city council has accused the mayor of arrogating decision-making authority to himself that rightly belongs with the council.

"Teenage girls rule in the tart but sweet new Broadway musical Mean Girls. But their system of high-school government is far from a democracy: It's a reign of terror, angst and mall fashions, where popularity is arrogated and then ruthlessly enforced." — Adam Feldman, TimeOut New York, 8 Apr. 2018

Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete a verb derived from Latin rogare that can mean "to defer" or "to postpone": p _ _ r _ g _ e.

Merriam-Webster

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cajole - Word of the Day - 24/05/18

cajole

verb

Pronunciation

kuh-JOHL

Definition

1 a : 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

Did You Know?

Cajole comes from a French verb, cajoler, which has the same meaning as the English word. You might not think to associate cajole with cage, but some etymologists theorize that cajoler is connected to not one but two words for "cage." One of them is the Anglo-French word cage, from which we borrowed our own cage. It comes from Latin cavea, meaning "cage." The other is the Anglo-French word for "birdcage," which is gaiole. It's an ancestor of our word jail, and it derives from Late Latin caveola, which means "little cage." Anglo-French speakers had a related verb, gaioler, which meant "to chatter like a jay in a cage." It's possible that cajoler is a combination of gaioler and cage.

Examples

"Wertheim and the 60 Minutes crew were only permitted into the building's circular library, despite an attempt to cajole former Lampoon president Alice Ju to grant them further access." — Brit McCandless Farmer, CBSNews.com, 8 Apr. 2018

"Designers call the ways marketers and developers cajole and mislead us into giving up our data 'dark patterns,' tactics that exploit flaws and limits in our cognition." — Christopher Mims, The Wall Street Journal, 22 Apr. 2018

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of cajole: NILHBASD.

Merriam-Webster

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petard - Word of the Day - 23/05/18

petard

noun

Pronunciation

 puh-TAHRD

 Definition

1 : a case containing an explosive to break down a door or gate or breach a wall

2 : a firework that explodes with a loud report

Did You Know?

Aside from historical references to siege warfare, and occasional contemporary references to fireworks, petard is almost always encountered in variations of the phrase "hoist with one's own petard," meaning "victimized or hurt by one's own scheme." The phrase comes from William Shakespeare's Hamlet: "For 'tis the sport to have the enginer / Hoist with his own petar." Hoist in this case is the past participle of the verb hoise, meaning "to lift or raise," and petar(d) refers to an explosive device used in siege warfare. Hamlet uses the example of the engineer (the person who sets the explosive device) being blown into the air by his own device as a metaphor for those who schemed against him being undone by their own schemes. The phrase has endured, even if its literal meaning has largely been forgotten.

Examples

"The metal walls of the narrow corridor would scatter ricochets and shrapnel in every direction, and any intact panels of reflex armour would ignite grenades and petards in counterfire…." — John C. Wright, The Judge of Ages, 2014

"I ran back and seized a tin box which had been filled with candles. It was about the size of my busby—large enough to hold several pounds of powder. Duroc filled it while I cut off the end of a candle. When we had finished, it would have puzzled a colonel of engineers to make a better petard." — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, 1896

Test Your Vocabulary

What word is the name for both the marine animal also known as the electric ray and for a small firework that explodes when it hits a hard object?

Merriam-Webster

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garrulous - Word of the Day - 22/05/18

garrulous

adjective

Pronunciation

 GAIR-uh-lus PrevNext
 

Definition

1 : given to prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity : pointlessly or annoyingly talkative

2 : using or containing many and usually too many words : wordy

Did You Know?

English has many adjectives that share the meaning "given to talk" or "talking." Talkative may imply a readiness to talk or a disposition to enjoy conversation, while loquacious suggests the power of expressing oneself articulately, fluently, or glibly. Voluble suggests a free, easy, and unending talkativeness, and garrulous implies talkativeness that is dull, rambling, or tedious. Garrulous, by the way, derives from the Latin verb garrīre, which means "to chatter" or "to talk rapidly."

Examples

Bob's garrulous and outgoing nature is a stark contrast to his brother's more retiring demeanor.

"Travel impresses on the memory a kaleidoscope of disparate images…. Men in long gray shirts and trousers play cards. In a dusty, narrow street, an old woman sells vegetables. Garrulous gray and black crows look for food along the sewage canal." — Krista Kafer, The Denver Post, 1 Dec. 2017

Name That Antonym

Fill in the blanks to complete an antonym of garrulous: t_ _ it _ _ n.

Merriam-Webster

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raillery - Word of the Day - 21/05/18

raillery

noun

Pronunciation

RAIL-uh-ree
 

Definition

1 : good-natured ridicule : banter

2 : an instance of joking or ridicule : jest

Did You Know?

Raillery is the anglicized form of the French word raillerie, which stems from the Middle French verb railler, meaning "to mock." Railler, which probably comes from Old French reillier ("to growl" or "to mutter") and ultimately from Late Latin ragere ("to neigh"), also gave us our verb rail. But rail and raillery are quite different in tone. Rail means "to revile or scold in harsh, insolent, or abusive language," whereas raillery usually suggests cutting wit that pokes fun good-naturedly.

Examples

"Hardin rarely got angry at anyone. Fuzz was always trying to get his goat with some unprovoked raillery, but Hardin understood that was the point and couldn't even force himself to be riled." — Michael MacLeod, The Antioch Review, Fall 2009

"Indeed, the sense of camaraderie between cast members is striking. Charlotte Ritchie and Simon Bird in particular have a steady repartee that makes the interview feel more like a cosy chat, and it is clear that the wit and raillery that distinguish the play are equally prevalent off stage." — Katie Sayer and Emily Lawford, Cherwell (Oxford University), 5 June 2017

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of raillery: SLAERFGEPI.

Merriam-Webster

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besot - Word of the Day - 20/05/18

besot

verb

Pronunciation

bih-SAHT
 

Definition

1 : infatuate

2 : to make dull or stupid; especially : to muddle with drunkenness

Did You Know?

Besot developed from a combination of the prefix be- ("to cause to be") and sot, a now-archaic verb meaning "to cause to appear foolish or stupid." Sot in turn comes from the Middle English noun sott, meaning "fool." Early print evidence of besot is found in a poem by George Turberville, published in 1567. In the poem, the narrator describes how he gazed at a beautiful stranger "till use of sense was fled." He then proceeds to compare himself to Aegisthus of Greek legend, the lover of Clytemnestra while Agamemnon was away at war, writing: "What forced the Fool to love / his beastly idle life / Was cause that he besotted was / of Agamemnon's Wife."

Examples

"Anyone spending time watching Australian TV … must conclude that food and the cooking thereof besots our nation." — Garry Barker, The Age (Melbourne, Australia), 26 June 2014

"They debauch the spirit of the ignorant and credulous with mystical trash, as effectually as if they had besotted their brains with gin, and then pick their pockets with the same facility." — Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary, 1816

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of besot: _ _ e _ ri _ _ e.

Merriam-Webster

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unfettered - Word of the Day - 19/05/18

unfettered

adjective

Pronunciation

 un-FET-erd
 

Definition

: free, unrestrained

Did You Know?

A fetter is a chain or shackle for the feet (as used on a prisoner), or, more broadly, anything that confines or restrains. The word derives from Middle English feter and shares an ancestor with Old English fōt, meaning "foot." Fetter and unfetter both function as verbs in English with contrasting literal meanings having to do with the putting on of and freeing from fetters; they likewise have contrasting figurative extensions having to do with the depriving and granting of freedom. The adjective unfettered resides mostly in the figurative, with the word typically describing someone or something unrestrained in progress or spirit. This is how English poet and clergyman John Donne used the word in his early 17th-century work The Progress of the Soule: "To an unfetterd soules quick nimble hast / Are falling stars, and hearts thoughts, but slow pac'd."

Examples

The biographer has been given unfettered access to the family's collection of personal correspondence.

"We are both deeply committed to facilitating the restoration and preservation of open and unfettered political dialogue." — Howard Dean and Newt Gingrich, The Chicago Daily Herald, 17 Apr. 2018

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of unfettered: _ n _ r _ _ me _ _ d.

Merriam-Webster

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muliebrity - Word of the Day - 18/05/18

muliebrity

noun

Pronunciation

 myoo-lee-EB-ruh-tee
 

Definition

: the quality of being a woman : femininity

Did You Know?

Muliebrity has been used in English to suggest the distinguishing character or qualities of a woman or of womankind since the 16th century. (Its masculine counterpart, virility, entered the language at about the same time.) Muliebrity comes from Latin mulier, meaning "woman," and probably is a cognate of Latin mollis, meaning "soft." Mollis is also the source of the English verb mollify—a word that implies a "softening" of hurt feelings or anger.

Examples

Helene tried to convey to her daughter that muliebrity was best expressed not by dressing a certain way or conforming to others' expectations, but by being her own true, confident self.

"Wonder Woman has flaws.… It succeeds in spite of them, and that is to be admired, but we cannot start viewing this as the epitome of the female superhero motion picture. We will accomplish more, and faster, if we view this film as the starting point for muliebrity in the comic-book blockbuster." — Thomas Burns Scully, PopDust, 5 June 2017

Word Quiz

What 4-letter word derived from Latin mollis begins with "m" and means "to work hard"?

Merriam-Webster

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winsome - Word of the Day - 17/05/18

winsome

adjective

Pronunciation

WIN-sum
 

Definition

1 : generally pleasing and engaging often because of a childlike charm and innocence

2 : cheerful, lighthearted

Did You Know?

Winsome began as wynsum many centuries ago. It was formed from wynn, the Old English word for "joy" or "pleasure," and the suffix -sum, an older form of the -some we see today in many adjectives, such as awesome, irksome, and lonesome. Wynn later became win, meaning "pleasure," but that noun is now obsolete. We do, however, use another word that has a "pleasing" connection and is related, albeit distantly, to winsome. Winning ("tending to please or delight," as in "a winning smile" or "winning ways"), the present participle of the familiar verb win, is from Old English winnan, meaning "to struggle." Both winnan and wynn are thought to be related to Latin venus, which means, among other things, "charm."

Examples

"… the song's giddy piano licks and bass groove are so winsome and familiar, the whole thing's tough to place in any particular setting. Simply put, it's a pop song, in a very classic sense." — Chris Payne, Billboard, 17 May 2017

"The winsome Canadian comedy 'Don't Talk to Irene' combines a high school misfit movie with a backstage musical and adds a few fantastical flourishes for an uplifting tale about an outsider finding her place in the world. It's so sweet it just might give you a cavity." — Katie Walsh, The Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2018

Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of winsome meaning "cheerful": PUTEECPI.

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aggress - Word of the Day - 16/05/18

aggress

verb

Pronunciation

uh-GRESS
 

Definition

: to make an attack : to act aggressively

Did You Know?

Aggress and its more familiar relatives aggression and aggressive derive from the Latin verb aggredī, meaning "to approach, attack, or undertake." Although the modern word aggress carries only the second of these three meanings, the word could when it was first used in English in the 16th century also mean "to approach." That use is now obsolete. There also exists a noun aggress, which is too rare to qualify for entry in even our unabridged dictionary.  It typically means "an attack," but also has an obsolete meaning of "an approach."

Examples

Certain indicators, such as irritability, can signify an animal's likelihood to aggress.

"Under-socialized dogs are risks to their owners and to others because they can become frightened by everyday things, making them more likely to aggress or bite." — Dottie Nelson, The Addison County (Vermont) Independent, 17 July 2017

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a verb that means "to attack violently with blows or words": _ _ s _ il.

Merriam-Webster

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layman - Word of the Day - 15/05/18

layman

noun

Pronunciation

LAY-mun
 

Definition

1 : a person who is not a member of the clergy

2 : a person who does not belong to a particular profession or who is not expert in some field

Did You Know?

Layman began its run in English as the open compound lay man. In this context, lay is an adjective that can mean "belonging or relating to those not in holy orders," "not of the clergy," and "not ecclesiastical." The origins of lay and layman can be traced back through French and Late Latin to Greek laikos, meaning "of the people." Layman was originally used to distinguish between non-clerical people and the clergy, but it was soon also being used to distinguish non-professionals from professionals in a field (such as law or medicine). The phrase layman’s terms is used to refer to simple language about a topic that even non-experts in the field can understand.

Examples

The Nobel laureate's book is an introduction to astrophysics that, despite its depth and detail, remains accessible to the layman.

"One of my favorite genres of Catholic literature is the book-length interview: the Pope or some other high-ranking churchman sits down with a reporter or other layman, both operating on the assumption that conversation tends toward truth." — Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 16 Apr. 2018

Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of layman: CLEASRU.

Merriam-Webster

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transpire - Word of the Day - 14/05/18

transpire

verb

Pronunciation

tran-SPYRE
 

Definition

1 : to take place : go on, occur

2 a : to become known or apparent

   b : to be revealed

3 : to give off vaporous material

4: to pass off or give passage to (a fluid) through pores or interstices

Did You Know?

Transpire came to life in the late 16th century and was originally used in technical contexts to describe the passage of vapor through the pores of a membrane. From this technical use developed a figurative sense: "to escape from secrecy," or "to become known." That sense was often used in ambiguous contexts and could be taken to mean "to happen." (For example, Emily Dickinson wrote in a letter, "I long to see you once more ... to tell you of many things which have transpired since we parted.") Thus, the "to take place" sense developed. Around 1870, usage critics began to attack this sense as a misuse, and modern critics occasionally echo that sentiment. But the sense is commonly found today in serious and polished prose without concern.

Examples

Plants transpire more profusely under dry, hot weather conditions.

"The single best way to improve the vibe of a room is with candles. And for that you're going to want a good-looking set of candlesticks. They are … the easy upgrade, the little hint that something really fun is about to transpire." — Bon Appétit, December 2017

Test Your Vocabulary

What is the meaning of the verb suspire?

Merriam-Webster

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nascent - Word of the Day - 13/05/18

nascent

adjective

Pronunciation

 NASS-unt

Definition

: coming or having recently come into existence

Did You Know?

Nascent comes from nascens, the present participle of the Latin verb nasci, which means "to be born." It is a relative newcomer to the collection of English words that derive from that Latin verb. In fact, when the word nascent was itself a newborn, in the first quarter of the 17th century, other nasci offspring were already respectably mature. Nation, native, and nature had been around since the 1300s; innate and natal, since the 1400s. More recently, we picked up some French descendants of nasci: née in the 1700s and Renaissance in the 1800s. One of our newer nasci words is perinatology, which was first used in the late 1960s to name the specialized branch of medicine concerned with childbirth.

Examples

"At this point, the scholarly reexamination of the Bible met up with another movement, the nascent Protestant Reformation." — James L. Kugel, How to Read the Bible, 2007

"Bezos starts by upending the world of books with his start-up Amazon, using the nascent Internet to challenge brick-and-mortar book chains like Barnes and Noble." — Chris Impey, The Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2018

Quiz

What adjective related to Latin nasci begins with "c" and is used to describe words having the same origin, such as English eat and German essen?

Merriam-Webster

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collaborate - Word of the Day - 12/05/18

collaborate

verb

Pronunciation

 kuh-LAB-uh-rayt
 

Definition

1 : to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor

2 : to cooperate with or willingly assist an enemy of one's country and especially an occupying force

3 : to cooperate with an agency or instrumentality with which one is not immediately connected

Did You Know?

The Latin prefix com-, meaning "with, together, or jointly," is a bit of a chameleon—it has a tricky habit of changing its appearance depending on what it's next to. If the word it precedes begins with "l," com- becomes col-. In the case of collaborate, com- teamed up with laborare ("to labor") to form Late Latin collaborare ("to labor together"). Colleague, collect, and collide are a few more examples of the com- to col- transformation. Other descendants of laborare in English include elaborate, laboratory, and labor itself.

Examples

"Everyone needs to know how to collaborate well, and you can practice that skill in many ways: by setting up working groups, lending a hand to your coworkers, and checking in to make sure your goals line up with your teammates." — Judith Humphrey, Fast Company, 21 Mar. 2018

"The friends—Todd Anderson, a printmaking professor at Clemson University, and Bruce Crownover, a master printer at Tandem Press at the University of Wisconsin-Madison—collaborated on the oversized art book 'The Last Glacier,' which was on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City earlier this year." — Carol Schmidt, The Billings (Montana) Gazette, 9 Apr. 2018

Name That Antonym

Fill in the blanks to complete an antonym of collaborate: s _ _ ne _ al _.

Merriam-Webster

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otiose - Word of the Day - 11/05/18

otiose

adjective

Pronunciation

 OH-shee-ohss

 Definition

1 : producing no useful result : futile

2 : being at leisure : idle

3 : lacking use or effect : functionless

Did You Know?

Otiose was first used in English in the late-18th century to describe things producing no useful result. By mid-19th century, it was being used in keeping with its Latin source otiosus, meaning "at leisure." There is also the noun form otiosity, which predates otiose by approximately three centuries. That noun is rarely found in writing today, but it makes an appearance on the occasional spelling bee word list.

Examples

"Ever since I was seven years old, I have been collecting books and articles on the Great Flood, hoping to write the full account myself. David McCullough's The Johnstown Flood (1968) was so brilliant that it rendered my own ambition otiose." — Michael Novak, National Review, 4 June 2014

"He did not have the patience for otiose people like Gibson, whom he put in the same category as those rude reporters who continued to pester him daily with inane queries and ridiculous suggestions." — Godfrey Wray, Beyond Revenge, 2008

Name That Synonym

What synonym of otiose begins with "v" and can also describe a person who is conceited?

Merriam-Webster

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slumgullion - Word of the Day - 10/05/18

slumgullion

noun

Pronunciation

SLUM-gull-yun 

Definition

: a meat stew

Did You Know?

Slumgullion may not sound like the most appetizing name for a dish, but that's part of its charm. The word's etymology doesn't necessarily do it any favors: while the origins of slumgullion are somewhat murky, the word is believed to derive from slum, an old word for "slime," and gullion, an English dialectical term for "mud" or "cesspool." The earliest recorded usages of slumgullion, including one from Mark Twain's Roughing It (1872), refer not to a stew but a beverage. The sense referring to the stew debuted a few decades later, and while there is no consensus on exactly what ingredients are found in it, that's the slumgullion that lives on today.

Examples

The slumgullion was hot, savory, and hearty, and on this rainy night we were all eager for seconds.

"She rode up a small dirt hill to a grassy clearing bordered by cabins, where she got a glimpse of the rock, big enough to seat at least a dozen campers, where she and her scouts had cooked slumgullion, a stew of meat and vegetables, over a camp fire." — Jodi Weigand, The Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 9 Aug. 2007

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete the name for a beef stew cooked in beer: ca _ _ o _ n _ de.

Merriam-Webster

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jocose - Word of the Day - 09/05/18

jocose

adjective

Pronunciation

joh-KOHSS
 

Definition

1 : given to joking : merry

2 : characterized by joking : humorous

Did You Know?

When you need a word to describe something (or someone) that causes or is intended to cause laughter, you might pick jocose or a synonym such as humorous, witty, facetious, or jocular. Of those terms, humorous is the most generic and can be applied to anything that provokes laughter. Witty suggests cleverness and a quick mind, while facetious is a word for something that is not meant to be taken seriously. Jocose and jocular both imply a habitual waggishness and a fondness for joking.

Examples

"Mr. Battle has a pleasant, jocose style of public address, but Ms. Jamison's is without equal, exciting in rhythm and phrasing, hilarious in off-the-cuff remarks, generous in spirit." — Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times, 4 Dec. 2015

"His natural sound, the tone that rises when he is writing unself-consciously to friends, is nothing like the voice of his good fiction. He was naturally garrulous and jocose—indeed, by the time he was a celebrity he was so garrulous and jocose that it shocked people, though he was just being himself." — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 3 July 2017

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a verb that means "to say or do something jokingly": _ _ pe.

Merriam-Webster

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menagerie - Word of the Day - 08/05/18

menagerie

noun

Pronunciation

muh-NAJ-uh-ree

Definition

1 a : a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition

   b : a collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition

2 : a varied mixture

Did You Know?

Back in the days of Middle French, ménagerie meant "the management of a household or farm" or "a place where animals are tended." By the late 1600s, English speakers had adopted the word but dropped its housekeeping aspects, applying it specifically to the places where circuses and other exhibitions kept show animals. Later, menagerie was generalized to refer to any varied mixture, especially one that includes things that are strange or foreign to one's experience.

Examples

"Joe proved a quick country convert, taking ownership of the grounds and the growing menagerie, which now includes eight Icelandic sheep, eight Bantam chickens, and two collies." — Caroline Collins McKenzie, Country Living, December 2017

"I can never find my keys in the four pockets in my pants. So the typical golf bag, with its menagerie of zippers and storage, presents a particular nightmare of lost essentials." — Tom Chiarella, Popular Mechanics, June 2017

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of menagerie, meaning "a varied mixture," that is also a Middle French borrowing: g _ l _ _ m _ u _ ry.

Merriam-Webster

http://grammarandpunctuationmodule4.blogspot.com.au/

decimate - Word of the Day - 07/05/18

decimate

verb

Pronunciation

DESS-uh-mayt
 

Definition

1 : to select by lot and kill every tenth person of

2 : to exact a tax of 10 percent from

3 a : to reduce drastically especially in number

   b : to cause great destruction or harm to

Did You Know?

The connection between decimate and the number ten harks back to a brutal practice of the army of ancient Rome. A unit that was guilty of a severe crime (such as mutiny) was punished by the selection and execution of one-tenth of its soldiers, thereby scaring the remaining nine-tenths into obedience. It's no surprise that the word for this practice came from Latin decem, meaning "ten." From this root we also get our words decimal and decade, as well as December, so named because it was originally the tenth month of the calendar before the addition of January and February. In its extended uses, decimate strayed from its "tenth" meaning and nowadays refers to the act of destroying or damaging a great quantity or large part of something.

Examples

Budget cuts have decimated public services in many towns and cities throughout the state.

"We must do everything we can to eliminate the diseases that have potential to decimate our population if we do not take action." — Kacie L. Pauls, The Kansas City (Missouri) Star, 22 Mar. 2018

Word Quiz

Fill in the blanks to complete a verb derived from Latin decem ("ten") that means "to intersect or cross": d _ _ u _ s _ te.

Merriam-Webster

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remuneration - Word of the Day - 06/05/18

remuneration

noun

Pronunciation

rih-myoo-nuh-RAY-shun

Definition

: the act or fact of paying an equivalent to for a service, loss, or expense : recompense, pay

Did You Know?

Our evidence shows remuneration to be most at home in writing that concerns financial matters, especially when large amounts of money—or other forms of compensation—are involved. Whether it's because money is often expressed in numerals, or simply because the "n" and "m" are adjacent to each other on our keyboards, "reMUNeration" often appears misspelled as "reNUMeration."  (Renumeration, a very rare word, means "to enumerate [to count or list] again.") It pays to know that the -mun- in remuneration is from Latin munus, meaning "gift," a root it shares with munificent, an adjective which means "very liberal in giving."

Examples

The actor was offered a modest speaking fee by the host as remuneration for giving her speech at the awards ceremony.

"Travelers who are bumped from an overbooked flight can seek remuneration—as can people who were delayed more than three hours by a 'technical difficulty.'" — Melanie Lieberman, Travel + Leisure, 6 Mar. 2018

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of remuneration: _ u _ t _ an _ e.

Merriam-Webster

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agonistic - Word of the Day - 05/05/18

agonistic

adjective

Pronunciation

ag-uh-NISS-tik
 

Definition

1 : of or relating to the athletic contests of ancient Greece

2 : argumentative

3 : striving for effect : strained

4 : of, relating to, or being aggressive or defensive social interaction (such as fighting, fleeing, or submitting) between individuals usually of the same species

Did You Know?

Agonistic has its roots in ancient Greece—specifically in the agonistic (to use the oldest sense of the word) athletic contests called agons featured at public festivals. From physical conflict to verbal jousting, agonistic came to be used as a synonym for argumentative and later to mean "striving for effect" or "strained." Common current use, however, is biological, relating to confrontational interaction among animals of the same species and the responsive behaviors—such as aggression, flight, or submission—they exhibit. Agonistic is also sometimes used to describe an agonist muscle, a muscle that on contracting is automatically checked and controlled by an opposing muscle, that other muscle being an antagonist. For example, during a bicep curl in weight lifting, the (contracted) bicep is the agonistic muscle and the (relaxed) triceps muscle is the antagonist.

Examples

Artie Kopelman … has also noticed non-hunting uses of bubbles in his humpback-whale encounters. In one instance last summer, he and a small group were drifting in a boat when suddenly a ring of bubbles surrounded them. 'This might have been an agonistic display, or an attempt to build a wall around us,' says Kopelman…." — Erica Cirino, The Atlantic, 28 June 2017

"In agonistic discourse, a political rival is seen and talked about as an adversary—an adversary to be beaten, for sure—but still an adversary, with the same right to be in the political arena as one's self." — Eddie Glenn, The Tulsa (Oklahoma) World, 19 Oct. 2016

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete the name for a systematic argumentative discourse in defense of a doctrine: a _ _ l _ ge _ i _ s.

Merriam-Webster

http://creatingcharactersforfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/

flocculate - Word of the Day - 04/05/18

flocculate

verb

Pronunciation

FLAH-kyuh-layt
 

Definition

: to aggregate or coalesce into small lumps or loose clusters

Did You Know?

In the late 16th century, scientists noticed that the loose masses separated from a solution or suspension through precipitation often resembled tufts of wool, and they began to refer to them as flocks, using a word for "tufts" that comes ultimately from the synonymous Latin word floccus. (This flock is not related to the flock that refers to a group of animals, which comes from Old English flocc, meaning "crowd" or "band.") About two centuries later, the Late Latin term flocculus found its way into English and was also used with the meaning "a small loosely aggregated mass." By the end of the 19th century, a whole word family had been formed, including the adjective flocculent, the noun floccule, and the verb flocculate.

Examples

During fermentation, yeast cells flocculate and either rise to the top or sink to the bottom of the vat.

"The polymer causes organics and dirt in the water to flocculate or collect together out of suspension." — Jill Pickett, The News-Enterprise (Elizabethtown, Kentucky), 2 May 2013

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a verb that means "to gather together or form into a mass or group": c _ _ g _ l _ _ e.

Merriam-Webster

http://writinghaikup.blogspot.com.au

beaucoup - Word of the Day - 03/05/18

beaucoup

adjective

Pronunciation

BOH-koo PrevNext
 

Definition

slang : great in quantity or amount : many, much

Did You Know?

In French, as you may know, beaucoup is an adverb meaning "a lot" or "much" (as in merci beaucoup, meaning "thanks a lot"). Beaucoup isn't used on its own as an adjective in French; if you want to say "many" in French, you use the phrase beaucoup de. In other words, you would say beaucoup de livres ("a lot of books"), not beaucoup livres. But French grammar was thrown to the wind when English speakers borrowed this word. Beaucoup has been used as a playful slang adjective in English since at least the 19th century.

Examples

"Atlanta has beaucoup amenities for visitors, from one of the world's largest aquariums, to headier destinations such as the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library." — Michael Kahn, Curbed Atlanta, 12 July 2017

"Two estranged sisters with beaucoup unresolved issues meet for a European holiday in Swedish writer-director Lisa Langseth's inauspicious English-language feature 'Euphoria.'" — Alissa Simon, Variety, 8 Sept. 2017

Name That Synonym

Fill in the blanks to complete a synonym of beaucoup: _ u _ t _ f _ l _.

Merriam-Webster

http://writingforchildrenstage.blogspot.com.au/

palindrome - Word of the Day - 02/05/18

palindrome

noun

Pronunciation

PAL-un-drohm
 

Definition

: a word, verse, or sentence (such as "Able was I ere I saw Elba") or a number (such as 1881) that reads the same backward or forward

Did You Know?

Palindromic wordplay is nothing new. Palindromes have been around since at least the days of ancient Greece, and our name for them comes from two Greek words, palin, meaning "back" or "again," and dramein, meaning "to run." Nowadays, we can all appreciate a clever palindrome (such as "Drab as a fool, aloof as a bard" or "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama"), or even a simple one like "race car," but in the past palindromes were more than just smart wordplay. Until well into the 19th century some folks thought palindromes were actually magical, and they carved them on walls or amulets to protect people or property from harm.

Examples

The teacher asked the class if anyone could think of a single word palindrome with 7 letters. After a couple minutes, Mia raised her hand and said "repaper."

"He went on to create Noxon Tools, named for a small Montana town.… Noxon is a palindrome—spelled the same way forward or backward." — Cindy Hval, The Spokesman Review (Spokane, Washington), 13 Mar. 2018

Word Quiz

What word is distantly related to Greek dramein ("to run") and is the name for a camel?

Merriam-Webster

http://grammarandpunctuationmodule4.blogspot.com.au/

eventuate - Word of the Day - 01/05/18

eventuate

verb

Pronunciation

ih-VEN-chuh-wayt PrevNext
 

Definition

: to come out finally : result, come about

Did You Know?

Eventuate started life as an Americanism in the late 18th century, and was stigmatized in the 19th century. One British commentator called it "another horrible word, which is fast getting into our language through the provincial press." Other British grammarians, and even some Americans, agreed that it was horrible. Eventuate is less controversial these days, though its use is still regarded by the occasional critic as pompous, ponderous, and unnecessary. In any case, eventuate has a perfectly respectable history. It is derived from the Latin noun eventus ("event"), which in turn traces to the verb evenire, meaning "to happen."

Examples

The accident eventuated from a cascade of mistakes that could easily have been prevented with better operator training.

"Charles Dickens is at his best when he compares events in London and Paris during a period of revolution. While the historian may help us to understand the social context that eventuates in a revolution, it is a novel that shows the personal tragedies that come from the breakdown of social order." — Allan Powell, The Herald-Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland), 7 Apr. 2016

Test Your Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks to complete a verb meaning "to appear suddenly": m _ _ _ r _ al _ _ e.

Merriam-Webster

http://writingthestorypruthpunton.blogspot.com.au/