WORD OF THE DAY
parlous / adjective / PAHR-lus
Definition
: full of danger or risk
Examples
"Back in Venice, he was restoring an apartment of his own …, a stately edifice constructed … in the mid-1600s that had fallen into a parlous condition."
— Hamish Bowles, Vogue, March 2018
"In 2007, el-Sayed established a small online newsletter to investigate corruption. When the conflict broke out, he took to writing about the parlous state of public utilities and the profiteering on both sides that followed."
— James Harkin, Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2015
Did You Know?
Parlous is both a synonym and a derivative of perilous; it came to be as an alteration of perilous in Middle English. (Perilous is derived from the Anglo-French perilleus, which ultimately comes from the Latin word for "danger," perīculum.)
Both words are documented in use from at least the 14th century. Seven centuries later, both remain in steady use, often modifying state or times; however, perilous is, by far, the preferred synonym. More than likely, this is from having the familiar peril as a base.
Friday, March 30, 2018
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Manticore
WORD OF THE DAY
manticore / noun / MAN-tih-kor
Definition
: a legendary animal with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon or scorpion
Examples
The recently unearthed stela depicts a manticore and several other frightening and fantastic creatures.
"Here be dragons. Also a cacophony of bird calls, a stunning painting of a stinky plant, and everything you always wanted to know about the manticore (part man, part lion, all the rage in 1658) but were too historically uninformed to ask."
— Karla Peterson, The San Diego Union Tribune, 27 Aug. 2016
Did You Know?
A mythical creature of ancient fables, the manticore keeps company with the better-known unicorn, dragon, and griffin. Descriptions of the manticore's features sometimes differ (some accounts mention porcupine quills or poisonous spikes, for example; others depict the tail as having a serpent's head), but the animal is by all accounts a dreadful beast.
The word manticore came to English through the Greek mantichōras and Latin mantichora, and is probably ultimately of Iranian origin. Etymologists think it is related to an Old Persian word for "man-eater."
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Delegate
WORD OF THE DAY
delegate / verb / DEL-uh-gayt
Definition
1: to entrust to another
2: to appoint as one's representative
3: to assign responsibility or authority
Examples
"He said the current board seems to delegate rather than take input and make decisions based on what the community wants…."
— Derek Lacey, BlueRidgeNow.com (Henderson, North Carolina), 14 Feb. 2018
"What's appropriate for your boss to delegate to you, and what's not? Especially when your boss asks you to do simple tasks—as in: very basic duties that are part of their job—they're walking a thin line between what's fair for you to do and what's not."
— The Cut, 9 Feb. 2018
Did You Know?
To delegate is, literally or figuratively, to send another in one's place, an idea that is reflected in the word's origin; it is a descendant of Latin legare, meaning "to send as an emissary."
Other English words that can be traced back to legare include legate ("an emissary usually having official status"), legacy, colleague, and relegate. (The related Latin noun legatus refers to an ambassador, deputy, or provincial governor.)
The noun delegate, meaning "a person acting for another," was in use in English by the 15th century, with the verb first appearing in the 16th century.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Grandiose
WORD OF THE DAY
grandiose / adjective / gran-dee-OHSS
Definition
1: characterized by affectation of grandeur or splendor or by absurd exaggeration
2: impressive because of uncommon largeness, scope, effect, or grandeur
Examples
The committee eventually scaled back the most outlandish parts of its plans for the festival, including a grandiose scheme to bring in live peacocks for the event.
"I wonder if Louise ever imagined the magnitude of influence her work was to have on the planet. Probably not; for greatness such as hers is more likely to be born of purpose than of grandiose design."
— Suzy Singh, Business World, 2 Sept. 2017
Did You Know?
Grandiose, magnificent, imposing, stately, majestic, and grand all can mean very large and impressive. Grand adds to greatness of size the implications of handsomeness and dignity, as in "a grand staircase."
Magnificent implies an extreme and impressive largeness without sacrifice of dignity or good taste ("magnificent paintings"). Imposing implies great size and dignity but especially stresses impressiveness ("an imposing edifice").
Stately may suggest poised dignity, erectness of bearing, handsomeness of proportions, and ceremonious deliberation of movement ("the stately procession").
Majestic combines the implications of imposing and stately and usually adds a suggestion of solemn grandeur ("a majestic waterfall").
Grandiose implies a size or scope exceeding ordinary experience ("grandiose hydroelectric projects").
Monday, March 26, 2018
Bravado
WORD OF THE DAY
bravado / noun / bruh-VAH-doh
Definition
1a: blustering swaggering conduct
1b: a pretense of bravery
2: the quality or state of being foolhardy
Examples
The quiet, reserved actor is primarily known for playing characters who radiate bravado and swagger.
"Some compete for money, with first-prize purses of up to $500 on a recent race day. But most are amateurs, who put thrills and bravado above the ever-present risk of spinning out and slipping sideways across the ice."
— Michael Hill, The Chicago Tribune, 28 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
Bravado ultimately traces to the Old Italian adjective bravo, meaning "courageous" or "wild." Nowadays, the wildness once associated with bravado has been tamed to an overbearing boldness that comes from arrogance or a position of power.
Celebrities, political or corporate giants, and the schoolyard bully may all show bravado (though they often turn out to be not so tough after all).
Bravado is also used for show-offish, daring acts that seem reckless and inconsistent with good sense, but might nonetheless be applauded with shouts of "Bravo!" when successful (the spectacular feats of stuntmen, for example).
Friday, March 23, 2018
Farce
WORD OF THE DAY
farce / noun / FAHRSS
Definition
1a: a savory stuffing
1b: forcemeat
2: a light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and improbable plot
3: the broad humor characteristic of farce
4: an empty or patently ridiculous act, proceeding, or situation
Examples
"The company's guarantee is a farce," Jay complained. "The replacement they sent broke even more quickly than the original."
"Congress approved the funding with few reservations, and years passed before lawmakers seemed to comprehend their role in the farce."
— Mark Mazzetti, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
When farce first appeared in English, it had to do with cookery, not comedy. In the 14th century, English adopted farce from Middle French with its original meaning of "forcemeat" or "stuffing."
The comedic sense of farce in English dates from the 16th century, when English imported the word again, this time to refer to a kind of knockabout comedy already popular in France.
This dramatic genre had its origins in the 13th-century practice of augmenting, or "stuffing," Latin church texts with explanatory phrases. By the 15th century, a similar practice had arisen of inserting unscripted buffoonery into religious plays.
Such farces—which included clowning, acrobatics, reversal of social roles, and indecency—soon developed into a distinct dramatic genre and spread rapidly in various forms throughout Europe.
farce / noun / FAHRSS
Definition
1a: a savory stuffing
1b: forcemeat
2: a light dramatic composition marked by broadly satirical comedy and improbable plot
3: the broad humor characteristic of farce
4: an empty or patently ridiculous act, proceeding, or situation
Examples
"The company's guarantee is a farce," Jay complained. "The replacement they sent broke even more quickly than the original."
"Congress approved the funding with few reservations, and years passed before lawmakers seemed to comprehend their role in the farce."
— Mark Mazzetti, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
When farce first appeared in English, it had to do with cookery, not comedy. In the 14th century, English adopted farce from Middle French with its original meaning of "forcemeat" or "stuffing."
The comedic sense of farce in English dates from the 16th century, when English imported the word again, this time to refer to a kind of knockabout comedy already popular in France.
This dramatic genre had its origins in the 13th-century practice of augmenting, or "stuffing," Latin church texts with explanatory phrases. By the 15th century, a similar practice had arisen of inserting unscripted buffoonery into religious plays.
Such farces—which included clowning, acrobatics, reversal of social roles, and indecency—soon developed into a distinct dramatic genre and spread rapidly in various forms throughout Europe.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Lugubrious
WORD OF THE DAY
lugubrious / adjective / loo-GOO-bree-us
Definition
1a: mournful
1b: exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful
2: dismal
Examples
"Most of the interviewees talk in the lugubrious tones of the defeated. We all know the story ends badly."
— Bing West, The New York Post, 19 Sept. 2017
"In the new movie, Liam Neeson plays Felt with a kind of lugubrious sincerity. He's an unhappy man, beset by professional and personal woes, and he makes his secret alliance with Woodward for reasons that are both admirable and vengeful."
— Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker, 26 Sept. 2017
Did You Know?
"It is a consolation to the wretched to have companions in misery," wrote Publilius Syrus in the first century B.C.E. Perhaps this explains why lugubrious is so woeful—it's all alone.
Sure, we can dress up lugubrious with suffixes to form lugubriously or lugubriousness, but the word remains essentially an only child—the sole surviving English offspring of its Latin ancestors.
This wasn't always the case, though. Lugubrious once had a linguistic living relative in luctual, an adjective meaning sad or sorrowful. Like lugubrious, luctual traced ultimately to the Latin verb lugēre, meaning "to mourn."
Luctual, however, faded into obsolescence long ago, leaving lugubrious to carry on the family's mournful mission all alone.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Cadre
WORD OF THE DAY
cadre / noun / KAD-ray
Definition
1: a nucleus or core group especially of trained personnel able to assume control and to train others; broadly : a group of people having some unifying relationship
2: a cell of indoctrinated leaders active in promoting the interests of a revolutionary party
3: a member of a cadre
4: frame, framework
Examples
"As an articulate woman proposing solutions to the ills of society, Lucy was no lone figure on the city's political landscape. Still, within a public arena of competing ideas and legislative initiatives, she occupied a prominent niche—a revolutionary cadre of one—and fought to stay in the headlines and on the front page."
— Jacqueline Jones, Goddess of Anarchy, 2017
"As Jon Gruden continues to build his coaching staff, his latest hire fits right in with the cadre of football minds with whom Gruden has had extensive experience. He has hired long time draft prep training specialist, Tom Shaw as the team's strength coach."
— Pro Football Weekly, 15 Feb. 2018
Did You Know?
To understand cadre, we must first square our understanding of the word's Latin roots. Cadre traces to the Latin quadrum, meaning "square." Squares can make good frameworks—a fact that makes it easier to understand why first French speakers and later English speakers used cadre as a word meaning "framework."
If you think of a core group of officers in a regiment as the framework that holds things together for the unit, you'll understand how the "personnel" sense of cadre developed. Military leaders and their troops are well-trained and work together as a unified team, which may explain why cadre is now sometimes used more generally to refer to any group of people who have some kind of unifying characteristic, even if they aren't leaders.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Yegg
WORD OF THE DAY
yegg / noun / YEG
Definition
1: one that breaks open safes to steal : safecracker
2: robber
Examples
"Last Friday night while Sonoma peacefully slept a gang of yeggs, evidently professionals for they wore gloves to conceal all fingerprints, hammered away at the big safe of the Napa Milling Company, broke it open and escaped with $153 in cash, an account book and checks totaling $215."
— The Sonoma (California) Index-Tribune, 6 Sept. 1935
"The cops grabbed him and another yegg for a Philadelphia store burglary."
— James Lardner and Thomas Reppetto, NYPD: A City and Its Police, 2000
Did You Know?
Safecracker first appeared in print in English around 1873, but English speakers evidently felt that they needed a more colorful word for this rather colorful profession.
No one is quite sure where yegg came from. Its earliest known use in print is from a 1901 New York Times article. This same article also includes the first known print use of the variant yeggmen.
Yegg has always been less common than safecracker, but it still turns up once in a while.
yegg / noun / YEG
Definition
1: one that breaks open safes to steal : safecracker
2: robber
Examples
"Last Friday night while Sonoma peacefully slept a gang of yeggs, evidently professionals for they wore gloves to conceal all fingerprints, hammered away at the big safe of the Napa Milling Company, broke it open and escaped with $153 in cash, an account book and checks totaling $215."
— The Sonoma (California) Index-Tribune, 6 Sept. 1935
"The cops grabbed him and another yegg for a Philadelphia store burglary."
— James Lardner and Thomas Reppetto, NYPD: A City and Its Police, 2000
Did You Know?
Safecracker first appeared in print in English around 1873, but English speakers evidently felt that they needed a more colorful word for this rather colorful profession.
No one is quite sure where yegg came from. Its earliest known use in print is from a 1901 New York Times article. This same article also includes the first known print use of the variant yeggmen.
Yegg has always been less common than safecracker, but it still turns up once in a while.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Hachure
WORD OF THE DAY
hachure / verb / ha-SHUR
Definition
: to denote surfaces in relief (as on a map) by shading with short lines drawn in the direction of slope
Examples
"Topographic surveys were done for the first time with compasses…. And mapmakers developed new methods for depicting terrain. One method, called hachuring, used lines to indicate the direction and steepness of a slope."
— Greg Miller, National Geographic, 16 Sept. 2016
"Lava flows that filled in much of the Yellowstone caldera are shown in this geologic map of the Yellowstone-Teton region. Rock units are colored by age and composition. Boundaries of the Yellowstone and Island Park calderas are hachured."
— Robert B. Smith and Lee J. Siegel, Windows into the Earth: The Geologic Story of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, 2000
Did You Know?
Hachuring is an old map-drawing technique that was largely replaced in later years by the use of contour lines, or lines that connect points of similar elevation.
The word hachure, which can also be a noun referring to one of the short lines used in hachuring, comes from the French hacher, meaning "to chop up" or "hash."
This French word is also the source of the verbs hash, which can mean "to chop (food, such as meat and potatoes) into small pieces," among other meanings, and hatch, meaning "to inlay with narrow bands of distinguishable material" and "to mark (something, such as a drawing or engraving) with fine closely spaced lines."
hachure / verb / ha-SHUR
Definition
: to denote surfaces in relief (as on a map) by shading with short lines drawn in the direction of slope
Examples
"Topographic surveys were done for the first time with compasses…. And mapmakers developed new methods for depicting terrain. One method, called hachuring, used lines to indicate the direction and steepness of a slope."
— Greg Miller, National Geographic, 16 Sept. 2016
"Lava flows that filled in much of the Yellowstone caldera are shown in this geologic map of the Yellowstone-Teton region. Rock units are colored by age and composition. Boundaries of the Yellowstone and Island Park calderas are hachured."
— Robert B. Smith and Lee J. Siegel, Windows into the Earth: The Geologic Story of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, 2000
Did You Know?
Hachuring is an old map-drawing technique that was largely replaced in later years by the use of contour lines, or lines that connect points of similar elevation.
The word hachure, which can also be a noun referring to one of the short lines used in hachuring, comes from the French hacher, meaning "to chop up" or "hash."
This French word is also the source of the verbs hash, which can mean "to chop (food, such as meat and potatoes) into small pieces," among other meanings, and hatch, meaning "to inlay with narrow bands of distinguishable material" and "to mark (something, such as a drawing or engraving) with fine closely spaced lines."
Friday, March 16, 2018
Anent
WORD OF THE DAY
anent / preposition / uh-NENT
Definition
: about, concerning
Examples
"Whatever the case, the undertaking was soon abandoned in disappointment and apparently with strong feelings anent the region itself."
— Wesley Frank Craven, The Southern Colonies in the 17th Century, 1970
"The Act had been a sensible idea. Its absence would be noted. Not least among minority communities who welcomed the protection available from Section Six of the Act anent Online communications."
— Brian Taylor, BBC.com, 25 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
Anent looks like a rather old-fashioned word, and it is, in fact, very old: an earlier sense of the word can be found in Beowulf, from approximately 800 C.E.
Anent was at one point almost obsolete—it had nearly died out by the 17th century—but it was revived in the 19th century.
Various usage commentators have decried anent as "affected" and "archaic." The former complaint seems like a harsh judgment, and the latter is untrue: although anent is rarely heard in speech, examples of current use can easily be found in written sources, especially in Scottish English.
Once a favored preposition in Scots law, it turns up today in the occasional letter to the editor ("Anent your article on…").
Dead words do occasionally rise from the grave, and anent is one of them.
anent / preposition / uh-NENT
Definition
: about, concerning
Examples
"Whatever the case, the undertaking was soon abandoned in disappointment and apparently with strong feelings anent the region itself."
— Wesley Frank Craven, The Southern Colonies in the 17th Century, 1970
"The Act had been a sensible idea. Its absence would be noted. Not least among minority communities who welcomed the protection available from Section Six of the Act anent Online communications."
— Brian Taylor, BBC.com, 25 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
Anent looks like a rather old-fashioned word, and it is, in fact, very old: an earlier sense of the word can be found in Beowulf, from approximately 800 C.E.
Anent was at one point almost obsolete—it had nearly died out by the 17th century—but it was revived in the 19th century.
Various usage commentators have decried anent as "affected" and "archaic." The former complaint seems like a harsh judgment, and the latter is untrue: although anent is rarely heard in speech, examples of current use can easily be found in written sources, especially in Scottish English.
Once a favored preposition in Scots law, it turns up today in the occasional letter to the editor ("Anent your article on…").
Dead words do occasionally rise from the grave, and anent is one of them.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Telegenic
WORD OF THE DAY
telegenic / adjective / tel-uh-JEN-ik
Definition
1: well-suited to the medium of television
2: having an appearance and manner that are markedly attractive to television viewers
Examples
The future looks promising for this charismatic and telegenic young politician.
"[Shaun] White is a telegenic guy; he's been a corporate-sponsored snowboarder since the tender age of 7, and won gold medals in both 2006 and 2010."
— Sonia Saraiya, Variety, 18 Feb. 2018
Did You Know?
Telegenic debuted in the 1930s, an offspring of television and photogenic, meaning "suitable for being photographed especially because of visual appeal." The word photogenic had other, more technical meanings before it developed that one in the early decades of the 20th century, but the modern meaning led to the sense of -genic that interests us here: "suitable for production or reproduction by a given medium."
That sense is found in today's word, telegenic, as well as its synonym, videogenic. Telegenic may seem like a word that would primarily be used of people, but there is evidence for telegenic describing events (such as popular sports), objects, and responses. Occasionally, one even sees reference to a telegenic attitude or other intangible.
telegenic / adjective / tel-uh-JEN-ik
Definition
1: well-suited to the medium of television
2: having an appearance and manner that are markedly attractive to television viewers
Examples
The future looks promising for this charismatic and telegenic young politician.
"[Shaun] White is a telegenic guy; he's been a corporate-sponsored snowboarder since the tender age of 7, and won gold medals in both 2006 and 2010."
— Sonia Saraiya, Variety, 18 Feb. 2018
Did You Know?
Telegenic debuted in the 1930s, an offspring of television and photogenic, meaning "suitable for being photographed especially because of visual appeal." The word photogenic had other, more technical meanings before it developed that one in the early decades of the 20th century, but the modern meaning led to the sense of -genic that interests us here: "suitable for production or reproduction by a given medium."
That sense is found in today's word, telegenic, as well as its synonym, videogenic. Telegenic may seem like a word that would primarily be used of people, but there is evidence for telegenic describing events (such as popular sports), objects, and responses. Occasionally, one even sees reference to a telegenic attitude or other intangible.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Invigilate
WORD OF THE DAY
invigilate / verb / in-VIJ-uh-layt
Definition
1a: to keep watch; especially
1b: to supervise students at an examination
2: supervise, monitor
Examples
Professors will take turns invigilating exams during the finals period.
"Since I have so often been asked about the mechanics of the job [of restaurant reviewer], it seems worth mentioning a few here…. In places designed for group eating, I often made up a group, though I tended to invigilate what was ordered: duplicate orders were banned and no one got to say, 'I think I'll have a steak.'"
— Peter Calder, The New Zealand Herald, 24 Dec. 2017
Did You Know?
Keep your eyes open and you're sure to spot a few relatives of today's word. Invigilate is a descendant of the Latin verb vigilare, meaning "to stay awake."
As you may have guessed, vigilare is the ancestor of our adjective vigilant ("alertly watchful"), and it also gives us reveille ("a signal to wake up in the morning," via French réveillez) and surveillance ("close watch, supervision," via French surveiller).
Invigilate has been a member of the English language since the mid-16th century.
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Laudable
WORD OF THE DAY
laudable / adjective / LAW-duh-bul
Definition
1: worthy of praise
2: commendable
Examples
Thanks to the laudable efforts of dozens of volunteers, the town's Winter Carnival was an enjoyable event for everyone.
"Exposing your children to art and culture during Miami Art Week is a laudable idea. Letting a pack of 6-year-olds run around through the crowded aisles of Art Miami is something entirely different."
— Connie Ogle, The Miami Herald, 11 Dec. 2017
Did You Know?
Both laudable and laudatory derive ultimately from Latin laud- or laus, meaning "praise." Laudable and laudatory differ in meaning, however, and usage commentators warn against using them interchangeably.
Laudable means "deserving praise" or "praiseworthy," as in "laudable efforts to help the disadvantaged." Laudatory means "giving praise" or "expressing praise," as in "a laudatory book review."
People occasionally use laudatory in place of laudable, but this use is not considered standard.
Monday, March 12, 2018
Scilicet
WORD OF THE DAY
scilicet / adverb / SKEE-lih-ket
Definition
1: that is to say
2: to wit, namely
Examples
The organization's charter clearly states that "any changes to the structure of the organization's meetings must be unanimously approved by the executive board, scilicet, the chair and the board's six other members."
"Their objection—they claimed—was to the parcelling out of the top state jobs among the political (scilicet: the other political) parties."
— The Economist, 13 Jan. 1979
Did You Know?
Scilicet is a rare word that most often occurs in legal proceedings and instruments. It is from Latin scire ("to know") and licet ("it is permitted"), which is also a root of videlicet—a synonym of scilicet.
Licet, in turn, descends from the Latin verb licēre, which means "to be permitted" and is the ultimate source of the English words leisure, by way of the Anglo-French leisir ("to be permitted"), and license, which comes to us through Anglo-French from the Latin licens, the present participle of licēre.
Scire has also made other contributions to English, giving us such words as conscience, conscious, and science.
scilicet / adverb / SKEE-lih-ket
Definition
1: that is to say
2: to wit, namely
Examples
The organization's charter clearly states that "any changes to the structure of the organization's meetings must be unanimously approved by the executive board, scilicet, the chair and the board's six other members."
"Their objection—they claimed—was to the parcelling out of the top state jobs among the political (scilicet: the other political) parties."
— The Economist, 13 Jan. 1979
Did You Know?
Scilicet is a rare word that most often occurs in legal proceedings and instruments. It is from Latin scire ("to know") and licet ("it is permitted"), which is also a root of videlicet—a synonym of scilicet.
Licet, in turn, descends from the Latin verb licēre, which means "to be permitted" and is the ultimate source of the English words leisure, by way of the Anglo-French leisir ("to be permitted"), and license, which comes to us through Anglo-French from the Latin licens, the present participle of licēre.
Scire has also made other contributions to English, giving us such words as conscience, conscious, and science.
Friday, March 9, 2018
Meander
WORD OF THE DAY
meander / verb \ mee-AN-der
Definition
1: to follow a winding or intricate course
2a: to wander aimlessly or casually without urgent destination
2b: ramble
Examples
"The trail meanders through towering evergreens, over a creek and beside a waterfall."
— Jim Ryan, The Oregonian, 7 Feb. 2018
"Instead of hooks or choruses, there were intensities, pulses, sung words that meandered and then dissolved into crystalline sound. They were barely songs. But they were enough. The listener got the impression that language was insufficient to express her highs and lows."
— Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2017
Did You Know?
Roam, ramble, and meander all mean to move about from place to place without a plan or definite purpose, but each suggests wandering in a unique way.
Roam refers to carefree wandering over a wide area often for pleasure (as in "I roamed over the hills for hours").
Ramble stresses carelessness and indifference to one's course or objective (for instance, "the speaker rambled on without ever coming to the point").
Meander, which comes from Greek Maiandros—an old name for a river in Asia Minor that is now known as the Menderes—implies a winding course and lazy movement, and it is still sometimes associated with rivers (as in, "the river meandered through the town").
Meander can also be used as a noun meaning "a winding path."
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Cursory
WORD OF THE DAY
cursory \ adjective \ KER-suh-ree
Definition
1: rapidly and often superficially performed or produced
2: hasty
Examples
James gave the instructions only a cursory look before he began to assemble the shelves and didn't realize until he was partway through that he would need a power drill.
"The police report has been filed, but a detective won't be on the case until Tuesday. Knowing LA, there are so many automobile thefts that it may not get much more than a cursory acknowledgement from the police."
— Bradley Brownell, Jalopnik, 28 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
Cursory and its synonyms superficial and shallow all mean "lacking in depth or care"—but these words are not used in exactly the same way in all cases. Cursory, which comes from the Latin verb currere ("to run"), implies speed and stresses a lack of attention to detail.
While cursory suggests a lack of thoroughness, superficial implies a concern only with surface aspects or obvious features. An analysis of a problem might be labeled "superficial" if it considers only the obvious and fails to dig deeper into the issue.
Shallow is more generally derogatory in implying lack of depth in knowledge, reasoning, emotions, or character, as in "insensitive and shallow comments."
cursory \ adjective \ KER-suh-ree
Definition
1: rapidly and often superficially performed or produced
2: hasty
Examples
James gave the instructions only a cursory look before he began to assemble the shelves and didn't realize until he was partway through that he would need a power drill.
"The police report has been filed, but a detective won't be on the case until Tuesday. Knowing LA, there are so many automobile thefts that it may not get much more than a cursory acknowledgement from the police."
— Bradley Brownell, Jalopnik, 28 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
Cursory and its synonyms superficial and shallow all mean "lacking in depth or care"—but these words are not used in exactly the same way in all cases. Cursory, which comes from the Latin verb currere ("to run"), implies speed and stresses a lack of attention to detail.
While cursory suggests a lack of thoroughness, superficial implies a concern only with surface aspects or obvious features. An analysis of a problem might be labeled "superficial" if it considers only the obvious and fails to dig deeper into the issue.
Shallow is more generally derogatory in implying lack of depth in knowledge, reasoning, emotions, or character, as in "insensitive and shallow comments."
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Woolgathering
WORD OF THE DAY
woolgathering \ noun \ WOOL-gath-uh-ring
Definition
: indulgence in idle daydreaming
Examples
My woolgathering in the backseat was abruptly interrupted by a question from the taxi driver.
"I love the feeling of being on a train, the rumble and roar that seem to aid woolgathering, and I never tire of staring out the window, no matter the scenery."
— Karl Zimmermann, The Los Angeles Times, 3 Sept. 2017
Did You Know?
Woolgathering once literally referred to the act of gathering loose tufts of wool that had gotten caught on bushes and fences as sheep passed by.
As you might imagine, woolgathering was not the most profitable of enterprises; its practitioners must have seemed to wander aimlessly, gaining little for their efforts.
In the mid-16th century, woolgathering began to appear in figurative phrases such as "my wits went a woolgathering"—in other words, "my mind went wandering aimlessly."
From there, it wasn't long before the word woolgathering came to suggest foolish or purposeless mind-wandering.
woolgathering \ noun \ WOOL-gath-uh-ring
Definition
: indulgence in idle daydreaming
Examples
My woolgathering in the backseat was abruptly interrupted by a question from the taxi driver.
"I love the feeling of being on a train, the rumble and roar that seem to aid woolgathering, and I never tire of staring out the window, no matter the scenery."
— Karl Zimmermann, The Los Angeles Times, 3 Sept. 2017
Did You Know?
Woolgathering once literally referred to the act of gathering loose tufts of wool that had gotten caught on bushes and fences as sheep passed by.
As you might imagine, woolgathering was not the most profitable of enterprises; its practitioners must have seemed to wander aimlessly, gaining little for their efforts.
In the mid-16th century, woolgathering began to appear in figurative phrases such as "my wits went a woolgathering"—in other words, "my mind went wandering aimlessly."
From there, it wasn't long before the word woolgathering came to suggest foolish or purposeless mind-wandering.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Scarify
WORD OF THE DAY
scarify \ verb \ SKAIR-uh-fye
Definition
1: to make scratches or small cuts in (something, such as the skin)
2: to lacerate the feelings of
3: to break up, loosen, or roughen the surface of (something, such as a field or road)
4: to cut or soften the wall of (a hard seed) to hasten germination
Examples
"Recent harvests on city-owned land have removed on average about 50 percent of the standing biomass, which is not low-impact forestry. It is done with large, commercial-scale logging equipment that reduces biodiversity and scarifies the forest soil."
— Ralph Baker, The Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts), 18 July 2017
"Canna seeds need to be scarified by filing through the hard shells before they germinate."
— Tony Tomeo, The Chico (California) Enterprise-Record, 5 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
You get two words for the price of one with scarify. The first scarify appeared in English in the 15th century with the meaning "to make scratches or cuts in" and later developed a figurative application of "cutting" someone emotionally.
This word is ultimately derived from a Greek verb meaning "to scratch an outline." The second homograph turned up in the late 18th century and gained currency by the 20th century.
This scarify was formed by combining scare with -ify, possibly as a combination of scare and terrify, and it predictably means "to scare or frighten."
scarify \ verb \ SKAIR-uh-fye
Definition
1: to make scratches or small cuts in (something, such as the skin)
2: to lacerate the feelings of
3: to break up, loosen, or roughen the surface of (something, such as a field or road)
4: to cut or soften the wall of (a hard seed) to hasten germination
Examples
"Recent harvests on city-owned land have removed on average about 50 percent of the standing biomass, which is not low-impact forestry. It is done with large, commercial-scale logging equipment that reduces biodiversity and scarifies the forest soil."
— Ralph Baker, The Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts), 18 July 2017
"Canna seeds need to be scarified by filing through the hard shells before they germinate."
— Tony Tomeo, The Chico (California) Enterprise-Record, 5 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
You get two words for the price of one with scarify. The first scarify appeared in English in the 15th century with the meaning "to make scratches or cuts in" and later developed a figurative application of "cutting" someone emotionally.
This word is ultimately derived from a Greek verb meaning "to scratch an outline." The second homograph turned up in the late 18th century and gained currency by the 20th century.
This scarify was formed by combining scare with -ify, possibly as a combination of scare and terrify, and it predictably means "to scare or frighten."
Monday, March 5, 2018
Rabble
WORD OF THE DAY
rabble /noun / RAB-ul
Definition
1 : a disorganized or confused collection of things
2 a : a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people
2b: mob
2c : the lowest class of people
Examples
The university chancellor required extra security to help get him through the rabble of protestors.
"Perhaps most importantly, since prescriptive rules are so psychologically unnatural that only those with access to the right schooling can abide by them, they serve as shibboleths, differentiating the elite from the rabble."
— Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct, 1994
Did You Know?
Rabble has been with the English language since its appearance in Middle English (as rabel) around the turn of the 15th century.
The Middle English rabel (originally used to denote a pack or swarm of animals or insects) may have come from the verb rabel which meant "to babble" (despite the similarity in sound and meaning, however, babble and rabble are linguistically unrelated).
The verb rabel is related to Middle Dutch rabbelen and Low German rabbeln, meaning "to speak rapidly or indistinctly" or "to chatter." So how do we get from babbling to crowds of people?
The connecting link may be the idea of confusion. Rabble, in its earliest uses, could indicate a pack of animals, a swarm of insects, or a confused collection of things, in addition to a confused or meaningless string of words.
rabble /noun / RAB-ul
Definition
1 : a disorganized or confused collection of things
2 a : a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people
2b: mob
2c : the lowest class of people
Examples
The university chancellor required extra security to help get him through the rabble of protestors.
"Perhaps most importantly, since prescriptive rules are so psychologically unnatural that only those with access to the right schooling can abide by them, they serve as shibboleths, differentiating the elite from the rabble."
— Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct, 1994
Did You Know?
Rabble has been with the English language since its appearance in Middle English (as rabel) around the turn of the 15th century.
The Middle English rabel (originally used to denote a pack or swarm of animals or insects) may have come from the verb rabel which meant "to babble" (despite the similarity in sound and meaning, however, babble and rabble are linguistically unrelated).
The verb rabel is related to Middle Dutch rabbelen and Low German rabbeln, meaning "to speak rapidly or indistinctly" or "to chatter." So how do we get from babbling to crowds of people?
The connecting link may be the idea of confusion. Rabble, in its earliest uses, could indicate a pack of animals, a swarm of insects, or a confused collection of things, in addition to a confused or meaningless string of words.
Friday, March 2, 2018
Nondescript
WORD OF THE DAY
nondescript / adjective / nahn-dih-SKRIPT
Definition
1a: belonging or appearing to belong to no particular class or kind
1b: not easily described
2a: lacking distinctive or interesting qualities
2b: dull, drab
Examples
The famous spy was a quiet, nondescript man that people had a difficult time describing even a few minutes after meeting him, which was clearly an advantage in his profession.
"Crowds of tech aficionados, news crews and the simply curious turned out for the public opening of Amazon's checkout-free convenience store Monday, giving a generally nondescript sidewalk the air of an Apple store the day a new iPhone comes out."
— Elizabeth Weise and Amity Addrisi, The Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, 23 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
It is relatively easy to describe the origins of nondescript (and there's a hint in the first part of this sentence). Nondescript was formed by combining the prefix non- (meaning "not") with descriptus, the past participle of the Latin verb describere, meaning "to describe."
It is no surprise, then, that when the word was adopted in the late 17th century by English speakers, it was typically applied to something (such as a genus or species) that had not yet been described. Other descriptive descendants of describere in English include describe, description, and descriptive itself, as well as the rare philosophical term descriptum ("something that is described").
nondescript / adjective / nahn-dih-SKRIPT
Definition
1a: belonging or appearing to belong to no particular class or kind
1b: not easily described
2a: lacking distinctive or interesting qualities
2b: dull, drab
Examples
The famous spy was a quiet, nondescript man that people had a difficult time describing even a few minutes after meeting him, which was clearly an advantage in his profession.
"Crowds of tech aficionados, news crews and the simply curious turned out for the public opening of Amazon's checkout-free convenience store Monday, giving a generally nondescript sidewalk the air of an Apple store the day a new iPhone comes out."
— Elizabeth Weise and Amity Addrisi, The Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, 23 Jan. 2018
Did You Know?
It is relatively easy to describe the origins of nondescript (and there's a hint in the first part of this sentence). Nondescript was formed by combining the prefix non- (meaning "not") with descriptus, the past participle of the Latin verb describere, meaning "to describe."
It is no surprise, then, that when the word was adopted in the late 17th century by English speakers, it was typically applied to something (such as a genus or species) that had not yet been described. Other descriptive descendants of describere in English include describe, description, and descriptive itself, as well as the rare philosophical term descriptum ("something that is described").
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Agon
WORD OF THE DAY
agon / noun / AH-gahn
Definition
1: conflict
2: the dramatic conflict between the chief characters in a literary work
Examples
"The agon of the central character, self-besieged or plagued by circumstance, runs through the history of the director's films, as does the suspicion that man's brutality to man may have a penitential purpose."
— Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2016
"There is always a fierce struggle—an agon—in the soul of the poet between her own poetic universe and that which precedes her, and against which she is to make her voice heard."
— Costica Bradatan, The Los Angeles Review of Books, 24 Sept. 2017
Did You Know?
Agon comes from the Greek word agōn, which is translated with a number of meanings, among them "contest," "competition at games," and "gathering."
In ancient Greece, agons (the word is also pluralized in English as agones) were contests held during public festivals. The contests—among them the ancient Olympics, on which our modern Olympics is modeled—involved everything from athletics to chariot and horse racing to music and literature.
Agon in the realm of literature refers to the dramatic conflict between the main characters in a Greek play or, more broadly, between the chief characters in any literary work. The word is also occasionally used to refer to conflict in general.
agon / noun / AH-gahn
Definition
1: conflict
2: the dramatic conflict between the chief characters in a literary work
Examples
"The agon of the central character, self-besieged or plagued by circumstance, runs through the history of the director's films, as does the suspicion that man's brutality to man may have a penitential purpose."
— Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2016
"There is always a fierce struggle—an agon—in the soul of the poet between her own poetic universe and that which precedes her, and against which she is to make her voice heard."
— Costica Bradatan, The Los Angeles Review of Books, 24 Sept. 2017
Did You Know?
Agon comes from the Greek word agōn, which is translated with a number of meanings, among them "contest," "competition at games," and "gathering."
In ancient Greece, agons (the word is also pluralized in English as agones) were contests held during public festivals. The contests—among them the ancient Olympics, on which our modern Olympics is modeled—involved everything from athletics to chariot and horse racing to music and literature.
Agon in the realm of literature refers to the dramatic conflict between the main characters in a Greek play or, more broadly, between the chief characters in any literary work. The word is also occasionally used to refer to conflict in general.
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