Jubilate

 WORD OF THE DAY

jubilate / verb / JOO-buh-layt

Definition

1: rejoice

2a: the 100th Psalm in the King James Version

2b (not capitalized): a joyous song or outburst

3: the third Sunday after Easter

Examples

"If the Yankees were in no mood to watch the Red Sox jubilate, a glance at the scoreboard didn't help matters." 

— Billy Witz, The New York Times, 21 Sept. 2018

A medical researcher too committed to his work to pause and jubilate even upon hearing that he had won the Nobel Prize.

Did You Know?

When things are going your way, you may want to shout for joy—or to jubilate. 

The joyful source of jubilate is Latin jubilare, which means "to shout for joy."

Astute

 WORD OF THE DAY

astute / adjective / uh-STOOT

Definition

1: having or showing shrewdness and an ability to notice and understand things clearly : mentally sharp or clever

2: crafty, wily

Examples

"In her new memoir, 'Both/And,' … [Huma Abedin] may be one of the most politically astute and well-traveled women in the world, but she portrays herself as far from worldly, at least in affairs of the heart." 

— Susan Dominus¸ The New York Times, 21 Nov. 2021

We thought they were not very intellectually astute, but we didn't really understand how political a lot of what they were doing was.

— Ben Wallace-Wells, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2007

Did You Know?

Astute comes from the Latin noun astus, meaning "craft." 

The word implies being keenly observant and forming sound judgments based on knowledge and experience.

Insinuate

 WORD OF THE DAY

insinuate / verb /  in -SIN-yuh-wayt

Definition

1a: to impart or suggest in an artful or indirect way 

1b: imply

1c: to introduce (something, such as an idea) gradually or in a subtle, indirect, or covert way

2: to introduce (someone, such as oneself) by stealthy, smooth, or artful means

3a (archaic) : to enter gently, slowly, or imperceptibly 

3b: creep

4 (archaic): to ingratiate oneself

Examples

Racist and antisemitic tropes are prevalent in the QAnon mythos, popping up in story lines that insinuate Jewish people are behind an effort to control the world.

— Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2021

Tennessee continues to insinuate masks don't work and the task of keeping kids safe from COVID-19 in schools is an individual, not community, task, according to legal arguments in federal court.

— Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, 22 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?

The meaning of insinuate is similar to that of another verb, suggest. Whether you suggest or insinuate something, you are conveying an idea indirectly. 

But although these two words share the same basic meaning, each gets the idea across in a different way. 

When you suggest something, you put it into the mind by associating it with other ideas, desires, or thoughts. 

You might say, for example, that a book's title suggests what the story is about. 

The word insinuate, on the other hand, usually includes a sense that the idea being conveyed is unpleasant, or that it is being passed along in a sly or underhanded way ("She insinuated that I cheated").

Livid

 WORD OF THE DAY

livid / adjective / LIV-id

Definition
1a: discolored by bruising
1b: black-and-blue
2: ashen, pallid
3: reddish
4a: very angry
4b: enraged

Examples
"… consumers … were livid about high gas prices. Gas in some markets topped $4 a gallon."
— Beth Musgrave, The Lexington (Kentucky) Herald Leader, 26 May 2011

Upon discovering that the men’s soccer team got cute team sweaters, even after losing their last game, Whitney is livid and makes her way to the men’s locker room to showcase how much more money gets poured on the men’s team than women’s.
— Ashley Bardhan, Vulture, 26 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?
Livid has a colorful history. The Latin adjective lividus means "dull, grayish, or leaden blue."
From this came the French livide and eventually the English "livid," which was used to describe flesh discolored by a bruise when it was first recorded in the early 17th century.
A slight extension of meaning gave it the sense "ashen or pallid," as used in describing a corpse.
"Livid" eventually came to be used in this sense to characterize the complexion of a person pale with anger ("livid with rage").
From this meaning came two new senses in the 20th century.
One was "reddish," as one is as likely to become red with anger as pale; the other was simply "angry" or "furious," the most common sense of the word today.

Adventitious

 WORD OF THE DAY

adventitious / adjective / ad-ven-TISH-us

Definition

1: coming from another source and not inherent or innate

2: arising or occurring sporadically or in other than the usual location

Examples

"Adventitious roots are roots that form on plant organs like stems, leaves and nodes of the plant. These roots are the ones that reach out to anchor the plant as well as find water and nutrients." 

— Campbell Vaughn, The Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle, 28 Jan. 2021

This can also occur when trees are planted too deep, as adventitious (growing sideways from the stem) roots grow against the stem and squeeze the sapwood.

— Rebecca Jepsen, The Mercury News, 28 Aug. 2019

 

Did You Know?

Adventitious is an adventitious word: it comes to English from the Latin adventicius, meaning "coming from outside." 

This, in turn, comes from "adventus," the past participle of the verb advenire, meaning "to arrive" or "to happen." 

That verb is also a source of several other English words, including "advent" (which, in its uncapitalized form, can refer to any coming or arrival), "adventure" (a word whose earliest sense was "chance happening"), and "avenue" (a means of arrival).

Benign

 WORD OF THE DAY

benign / adjective / bih-NYNE

Definition

1a: of a mild type or character that does not threaten health or life

1b : not becoming cancerous

1c: having no significant effect 

1d: harmless

2a: of a gentle disposition 

2b: gracious 

3a: showing kindness and gentleness

3b: favorable, wholesome

Examples

“… substituting such benign power sources as the hybrid, the fuel cell, and the electric motor in place of … the internal-combustion engine.

— Brock Yates, Car and Driver, May 2000

Rather than a benign fairytale creature that delivers babies, the marabou stork is an ugly, viciously predatory African bird that preys on flamingos …

— James Polk, New York Times Book Review, 11 Feb. 1996

Did You Know?

Benign comes from Latin benignus, which was formed from bene, meaning "well," and gignere, "to beget." 

Gignere is the root of such English words as genius and germ.

Paucity

 WORD OF THE DAY

paucity / noun / PAW-suh-tee

Definition

1a: smallness of number

1b: fewness

2a: smallness of quantity 

2b: dearth

Examples

"... sparse transit service and a paucity of bicycle lanes often leave automobiles as the only, not necessarily the preferred, transportation option." — David Zipper, The Daily Herald (Everett, Washington), 25 Oct. 2021

For my part, I find increasingly that I miss the simplicity, the almost willful paucity, of the English way of doing things.

— Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999

Did You Know?

Here's a little information about paucity: the word was first recorded in English in the 15th century, and it comes to us from the Latin paucitas ("smallness of number"), which is derived from the adjective paucus ("little"). 

The word's origin informs its use; paucity can be used to refer to a littleness of numbers (as in "a paucity of facts/studies") or quantity ("a paucity of evidence"), or one can use paucity when speaking of abstract concepts, as in "a paucity of experience/knowledge."

Exasperate

 WORD OF THE DAY

exasperate / verb / ig-ZASS-puh-rayt

Definition
1a: to cause irritation or annoyance to
1b: to excite the anger of
1c: enrage
2a (obsolete): to make more grievous
2b: aggravate
3a: irritated or annoyed especially to the point of injudicious action
3b: exasperated
4: roughened with irregular prickles or elevations

Examples
"His suggestions sometimes exasperate the garden designers, who have their own vision of where things should be."
— Jeanette Marantos, The Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2021

Voting restrictions, like those outlined in Senate Bill 90, can exasperate health disparities.
— Laken Brooks, Forbes, 8 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?
Exasperate hangs with a rough crowd. It derives from exasperatus, the past participle of the Latin verb exasperare, which in turn was formed by combining ex- with asper, meaning "rough."
Another descendant of asper in English is asperity, which can refer to the roughness of a surface or the roughness of someone's temper.
Another relative, albeit a distant one, is the English word spurn, meaning "to reject."
Lest you wish to exasperate your readers, you should take care not to confuse exasperate with the similar-sounding exacerbate, another Latin-derived verb that means "to make worse," as in "Their refusal to ask for help only exacerbated the problem."

Congenial

 WORD OF THE DAY

congenial / adjective / kun-JEEN-yul

Definition
1a: pleasant, especially agreeably suited to one's nature, tastes, or outlook
1b: sociable, genial
1c: existing or associated together harmoniously
2a: having the same nature, disposition, or tastes
2b: kindred

Examples
"There's no question that Sloan was a competitor, but throughout the competition he was congenial and respectful…."
 — The Austin (Minnesota) Daily Herald, 3 Nov. 2021

Jackson may walk up to home plate with the cool strut of a superstar, but off the field he is warm and congenial.
— Peter Gammons, Sports Illustrated, 12 June 1989

Did You Know?
According to ancient mythology, each person at birth was assigned a guardian spirit.
The Latin name for this attendant spirit was genius.
Two people who get along well together can be thought of as sharing a similar spirit.
They might even be described by a word combining the Latin prefix com- (meaning "with, together") and genius—in English congenial.

Huckster

 WORD OF THE DAY

huckster / noun / HUCK-ster

Definition
1a: hawker, peddler
1b: one who sells or advertises something in an aggressive, dishonest, or annoying way
2: one who produces promotional material for commercial clients especially for radio or television
3a: haggle
4: to deal in or bargain over
5: to promote aggressively 

Examples
By this light, the president’s deification is not the strange mania of easy marks, keen to be hoodwinked by a trashy gratifying huckster.
— Ian Beacock, The New Republic, 6 Dec. 2021

To the people who doubted him, Williams was a huckster.
— K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 19 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?
Hawkers, peddlers, and hucksters have been selling things out of the back of wagons, in narrow alleys, and on the fringes of towns for years (though nowadays, they're more likely to plug their wares on television or the Internet).
Of those three words-"hawker," "peddler," or "huckster"-the one that has been around the longest in English is "huckster."
It has been with us for over 800 years, and it derives from the Middle Dutch word hokester, which in turn comes from the verb hoeken, meaning "to peddle."
"Peddler" (or "pedlar") was first attested in the 14th century, and this sense of "hawker" has only been appearing in English texts since the early 1500s.

Abrasive

 WORD OF THE DAY

abrasive / adjective / uh-BRAY-siv

Definition
1a: causing damage, wear, or removal of surface material by grinding or rubbing
1b: tending to abrade
2: causing irritation
3: a substance (such as emery or pumice) used for abrading, smoothing, or polishing

Examples
"During the late fall and winter, frequent snowfall and abrasive sidewalk salt can damage the design of a holiday doormat within weeks."
— Valerie Jacobsen, KDVR (Denver, Colorado), 29 Oct. 2021

Lemons make a wonderful cleaning tool thanks to the antibacterial properties of their acidic juice, and the abrasive quality of salt works well to scrub cutting boards.
— Samantha Hunter, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?
Once upon a time, English had two different but similarly derived words meaning "to wear down": abrade and abrase.
However, in this fairy tale, only one of the two had a happy ending; while abrade remains a familiar word to modern English speakers, abrase has become quite rare.
And yet, abrase lives on in its descendant abrasive, which was formed by combining the verb with the -ive suffix.
Both of the verbs, and by extension abrasive, can be traced back to the Latin verb abradere, meaning "to scrape off."
Abradere in turn is a combination of ab- and radere, meaning "to scrape."

Talisman

 WORD OF THE DAY

talisman / noun / TAL-iss-mun

Definition
1: an object held to act as a charm to avert evil and bring good fortune
2: something producing apparently magical or miraculous effects

Examples
"Brooklyn-born [Margaret Wise Brown] … demonstrated her quirky personality early on, once toting a rabbit in a basket onto a train. (This rabbit became a talisman, as Brown wrote 26 books whose titles bore the words bunny or rabbit.)"
— Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2021

Gareth Bale regularly shines on the international stage, thriving on the responsibility of being Wales’ talisman.
— James Nalton, Forbes, 21 June 2021

Did You Know?
The English language may have borrowed talisman from French, Spanish, or Italian; all three include similar-looking words for a lucky charm that derive from an Arabic word for a charm, ṭilsam.
Ṭilsam traces to ancient Greek telein, which means "to initiate into the mysteries."

Flippant

 WORD OF THE DAY

flippant / adjective / FLIP-unt

Definition

1: lacking proper respect or seriousness

2 (archaic): glib, talkative

Examples

As far as he was concerned, we were an unforgivably flippant bunch. Louche. Our shared political stance … struck him as pathetically naive.

— Mordecai Richler, GQ, November 1997

“… although she is neither solemn nor pontifical, she may be the least flippant advice columnist in the business.”

— Ray Olson, Booklist, 1 May 1991

Did You Know?

Flippant did something of a flip-flop shortly after it appeared in English in the late 16th century. 

The word was probably created from the verb flip, which in turn may have originated as an imitation of the sound of something flipping. 

The earliest senses of the adjective were "nimble" and "limber." 

One could be flippant not only on one's feet, but also in speech—that is, someone flippant might have a capacity for easy, flowing speech. 

Such flippancy was considered a good thing at first. But people who speak freely and easily can sometimes seem too talkative, and even impertinent. 

By the end of the 18th century, the positive sense of flippant had slipped from use, and the "disrespectful" sense had taken its place.

Beleaguer

 WORD OF THE DAY

beleaguer / verb / bih-LEE-gur

Definition
1: besiege
2: trouble, harass

Examples
"Pharmacists, some of whom already are financially beleaguered, say they can't afford an additional, unexpected hit that takes away as much as 50% of their annual profit."
— Darrel Rowland, The Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, 31 Oct. 2021

Many Indians obeyed the rules, wary of catching the virus and not trusting India’s beleaguered health care system to save them.
— New York Times, 6 May 2020

Did You Know
English speakers created "beleaguer" from the Dutch word belegeren in the 16th century.
"[Military men] will not vouchsafe . . . to use our ancient terms belonging to matters of war, but do call a camp by the Dutch name," commented the English soldier and diplomat Sir John Smyth in 1590.
The word for "camp" that he was referring to is "leaguer."
That term in turn comes from Dutch "leger," which is one of the building blocks of "belegeren" (literally, "to camp around").
But neither "leaguer" nor "beleaguer" were in fact utterly foreign. Old English "leger," the source of our modern "lair," is related to the Dutch word.
And the Old English "be-" ("about, around"), as seen in "besiege" and "beset," is related to the Dutch prefix be- in "belegeren."

Palisade

 WORD OF THE DAY

palisade / noun / pal-uh-SAYD

Definition
1a: a fence of stakes especially for defense
1b: a long strong stake pointed at the top and set close with others as a defense
2: a line of bold cliffs
3: to fortify with palisades

Examples
"The fort was built high, with a palisade, or staked fence, which was perhaps as high as 14 feet."
— Scott Desmit, The Daily News (New York), 26 Oct. 2021

It was surrounded by a palisade of wooden posts that eventually decayed, leading the mound to collapse.
— Isis Davis-marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Aug. 2021

Did You Know
Palisade derives via French from the Latin noun palus, meaning "stake."
The word originally applied to one of a series of stakes set in a row to form an enclosure or fortification. "The Palisades" is also the name given to the line of traprock cliffs that stretches for about 15 miles along the western bank of the Hudson River in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey.
Purportedly, these cliffs got their name from the resemblance of the tall rocks to rows of stakes or trees, although who exactly came up with the name is a matter of dispute.
Before long "palisade" came to refer to any similar formation of tall cliffs.

Rankle

WORD OF THE DAY

rankle / verb / RANK-ul

Definition
1: to cause anger, irritation, or deep bitterness
2: to feel anger and irritation
3: to cause irritation or bitterness in

Examples
Kacey felt the pivot and the influx of new listeners might rankle someone but didn’t care.
— Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2021

"Just one caveat: big swaths of this book are fiction, which may rankle readers who are eager to sink their teeth into a good nonfiction book."
— Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, 24 Sept. 2021

Did You Know
The history of today's word is something of a sore subject.
When rankle was first used in English, it meant "to fester," and that meaning is linked to the word's Old French ancestor—the noun raoncle or draoncle, which meant "festering sore."
Etymologists think this Old French word was derived from the Latin dracunculus, a diminutive form of draco, which means "serpent" and which is the source of the English word dragon.
The transition from serpents to sores apparently occurred because people thought certain ulcers or tumors looked like small serpents. 

Ostracize

 WORD OF THE DAY

ostracize / verb / AH-struh-syze

Definition
1: to exile by ostracism
2: to exclude from a group by common consent

Examples
"Our mental health suffers if we feel separated, ostracized or lack a sense of belonging."
— Tracy Brower, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2021

While some artist’s foundations become philanthropic juggernauts (like Warhol’s) or rule-enforcing guardians (Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s) in perpetuity, Holt/Smithson will dissolve in 2038, the year the pair would have turned 100.
— New York Times, 12 Nov. 2021

Did You Know
In ancient Greece, prominent citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled by a practice called ostracism. Voters would elect to banish another citizen by writing that citizen's name down on a potsherd.
Those receiving enough votes would then be subject to temporary exile from the state (usually for ten years).
The English verb ostracize can mean "to exile by the ancient method of ostracism," but these days it usually refers to the general exclusion of one person from a group at the agreement of its members.
Ostracism and ostracize derive from the Greek ostrakizein ("to banish by voting with potsherds").
Its ancestor, the Greek ostrakon ("shell" or "potsherd"), also helped to give English the word oyster.

Interloper

 WORD OF THE DAY

interloper / noun / in-ter-LOH-per

Definition
1a: one that interlopes
1b: one that intrudes in a place or sphere of activity
1c: an illegal or unlicensed trader

Examples
"For decades, physicists have suspected an interloper. A reclusive, hypothetical subatomic particle might be creeping into studies of neutrinos, nearly massless particles with no electric charge. A new study casts doubt on that idea…."
— Emily Conover, Science News, 27 Oct. 2021

The interloper has been vanquished, her family is safe, and her husband is in her arms again.
— Nylah Burton, refinery29.com, 11 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?
When English speakers combined "inter-" with "-loper" in the late 1500s, they already had a word landloper (now archaic) for "a person who runs about the land" (in other words, a vagrant).
The "-loper" part of "interloper" is related to Middle Dutch and Old English words meaning "to run" and "to leap."
 An "interloper" is essentially one who jumps into the midst of things without an invitation to do so.
In its earliest uses, "interloper" referred specifically to one who interfered in trade illegally - that is, a trader who trespassed on the rights or charters of others.
Sometimes "interloper" even referred to a ship employed in illegal trading.
But the word quickly took on extended use, coming to refer not just to intrusion in trade but also in personal affairs or other matters.

Fomite

WORD OF THE DAY

fomite / noun / FOH-myte

Definition
1: an object (such as a dish, doorknob, or article of clothing) that may be contaminated with infectious agents (such as bacteria or viruses) and serve in their transmission

Examples
"Sneezing and coughing can spread germs onto surfaces either through the droplets released from the sneeze or cough itself or through germs from the sneeze or cough getting onto the hands, which then come into contact with fomites."
 — Lois Zoppi, News Medical, 18 Feb. 2021

It is spread primarily from symptomatic people to others who are in close contact through respiratory droplets, by direct contact with infected persons, or by contact with contaminated objects and surfaces (fomites).
— Dr. Tom Frieden And Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, CNN, 9 Apr. 2020

Did You Know
"Disinfectant on your hands keeps us healthier and fomites no longer foment as much disease." Australian newspaper contributor Peter Goers was likely going for alliteration when he paired up fomite and foment, a verb meaning "to promote the growth or development of"—but, whether he realized it or not, the words fomite and foment are related.
Fomite is a back-formation of fomites, the Latin plural of fomes, itself a word for "tinder." (Much like tinder is a catalyst of fire, a fomite can kindle disease.) 
Fomes is related to the Latin verb fovēre ("to heat"), an ancestor of foment.

Galvanize

 WORD OF THE DAY

galvanize / verb / AL-vuh-nyze

Definition
1a: to subject to the action of an electric current especially for the purpose of stimulating physiologically
1b: to stimulate or excite as if by an electric shock
2a: to coat (iron or steel) with zinc
2b: to immerse in molten zinc to produce a coating of zinc-iron alloy

Examples
"I think circumstances we've been through helped get us to this point. Whether it is the natural disaster, the pandemic or some of the tough losses … all of it helped galvanize this team."
— Dwain Jenkins, quoted in The Advocate (Louisiana), 19 Oct. 2021

The hope was that this year’s conference would serve as a shared target, to galvanize countries to do their own work figuring out how to reduce emissions domestically in the period between the Paris and Glasgow conferences.
— Time, 14 Nov. 2021

Did You Know?
Luigi Galvani was an Italian physician and physicist who, in the 1770s, studied the electrical nature of nerve impulses by applying electrical stimulation to frogs' leg muscles, causing them to contract.
Although Galvani's theory that animal tissue contained an innate electrical impulse was disproven, the French word galvanisme came to describe a current of electricity especially when produced by chemical action.
English borrowed the word as galvanism, and shortly after the verb galvanize came to life.

Smarmy

 WORD OF THE DAY

smarmy / adjective / SMAR-mee

Definition
1: revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, or false earnestness
2: of low sleazy taste or quality

Examples
"Before [Daniel Craig], James Bond was portrayed by Sean Connery as suave and immovable; by George Lazenby as vulnerable and tragic; by Roger Moore as smarmy and loose…."
— Aidan Whatman, Whatculture.com, 7 Oct. 2021

But his odd reluctance to name Trump—and his insistence on adopting a kind of smarmy passive aggression—only underscores a larger problem: Even the handful of Republicans who do denounce Trump will only go so far.
— Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 31 May 2021

Did You Know?
Something smarmy will often ooze with self-satisfaction and insincerity.
Much like its synonyms unctuous and slick, smarmy has a history that starts with a meaning of literal slipperiness or oiliness. The verb smarm appeared in English in the mid-19th century.
Etymologists don't know where it came from, but they do know that it meant "to smear," "to gush," or sometimes "to make smooth or oily." A few decades later, the use of smarm was extended to sometimes mean "to use flattery."
The adjective smarmy appeared in the early 20th century.
At first meaning "insincerely flattering" or "smug," it later took on an additional meaning: "sleazy."

Derrick

 WORD OF THE DAY

derrick / noun / DAIR-ik

Definition
1: a hoisting apparatus employing a tackle rigged at the end of a beam
2: a framework or tower over a deep drill hole (as of an oil well) for supporting boring tackle or for hoisting and lowering

Examples
Zora Chung, the company’s cofounder and CFO, points to an oil derrick lodged in the startup’s parking lot.
— Aarian Marshall, Wired, 2 Nov. 2021

Huntington Beach High School’s football team is still called the Oilers, and its icon is an oil derrick.
— Laura Blasey, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2021

Did You Know?
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, London was the home of a notorious executioner named Derick.
Among those he beheaded was the Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux, who according to a street ballad of the time had once saved the life of the ungrateful executioner.
While members of the nobility were accorded the courtesy of beheading, it was the lot of commoners to be hanged, and those sent to face the rope at the hands of the executioner Derick nicknamed the gallows at Tyburn after him.
Throughout the 17th century, "derick" was used as a name for both hangman and gallows. After the days of public hangings, the word derrick was adopted as a name for a number of less ominous frameworks or towers.