Category: Word of the Day
Daily posts of an individual word study
Word of the Day: Clue
Today’s word of the day comes courtesy of The History of English Podcast by Kevin Stroud (https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/). Mr. Stroud began his podcast in June of 2012, and it has continued […]
Word of the Day: Principal
Today’s Word of the Day is principal. The word can be either an adjective or a noun. As an adjective, it means “first or highest in rank, importance, value, etc.; […]
Word of the Day: Unctuous
Today’s word of the day is unctuous. The adjective has three possible meanings: 1. characterized by excessive piousness or moralistic fervor, especially in an affected manner; excessively smooth, suave, or […]
Word of the Day: Ham-handed
Today’s word of the day, courtesy of A.Word.A.Day at the Wordsmith.org website, is ham-handed, an adjective that means “clumsy; tactless; lacking social grace” (https://wordsmith.org/words/today.html). According to the website, the earliest […]
Word of the Day: Cassandra
Today’s word of the day comes courtesy of the Merriam-Webster dictionary website, and it is, I think, the first time that I have gone with a proper noun (a name) […]
Word of the Day: Repine
Today’s word of the day, thanks to the Merriam-Webster dictionary website, is repine, a verb meaning “to feel or express dejection or discontent” or “to long for something” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day). According […]
Word of the Day: Reciprocal
Today’s word of the day, courtesy of WordThink, is reciprocal (http://www.wordthink.com/reciprocal/), an adjective meaning “Done or performed in return.” I should give the people at WordThink some props since I […]
Word of the Day: Noodge
Today’s word of the day, thanks to the Oxford English Dictionary, is noodge. If you look up the word on www.dictionary.com, you will learn that it is just a variant […]
Word of the Day: Supercilious
Today’s word of the day, thanks to dictionary.com, is supercilious, an adjective that means “haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression.” According to www.etymonline.com, the word […]
Word of the Day: Trumpery
Today’s word of the day, thanks to Wordsmith (“a worldwide online community of people who share a love for words, wordplay, language, and literature . . . founded in 1994 […]
Word of the Day: Quotidian
Today’s word of the day, courtesy of Merriam-Webster, is quotidian, which means “daily,” or “usual or customary,” or “ordinary or commonplace,” or, when used of a fever, “characterized by paroxysms […]
Word of the Day: Obverse
Today’s word of the day, courtesy of Merriam-Webster, is obverse, an adjective meaning “the side of a coin or currency note bearing the chief device and lettering,” or “a counterpart […]