Scintillate

 WORD OF THE DAY

scintillate / verb / SIN-tuh-lay

Definition
1a: to emit sparks
1b: spark
2a: to emit quick flashes as if throwing off sparks
2b: sparkle
3: to dazzle or impress with liveliness or wit
4: to throw off as a spark or as sparkling flashes

Examples
“Kimberly Marable's scarred Persephone, torn as Hades' consort between verdant summers above and the steamy underworld below, exudes a lust for life despite all. Her torchy vocals scintillate in ‘Livin' It Up on Top,’ a rousing paean to seizing every moment.”
— Michael Grossberg, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, 18 Nov. 2021

The performances abounded in scintillating grace, wondrous shadings, even touches of impetuousness — all the qualities that distinguish his Chopin, Liszt and Schumann.
— New York Times, 4 Mar. 2020

Did You Know?
The history of scintillate begins with Latin scintilla, which means "spark."
Scintilla, in turn, sparked the development of the verb scintillare, meaning "to sparkle."
Scintillate is the English version of scintillare.
Though it sometimes means literally "to sparkle," it more often means "to sparkle" in a figurative sense—that is, to be lively, or to perform brilliantly.
 Scintillate is not the only word we get from scintilla. There is also scintilla itself (used as a noun meaning "a little bit"), scintillant (an adjective describing something that scintillates), and scintillation (which, among other things, means "a brilliant outburst").

Duress

WORD OF THE DAY

duress / noun / dur-RESS

Definition
1 (law): forcible restraint or restriction
2 (law): compulsion by threat

Examples
"The ordinance ... was passed under duress by council members who believed that it would never be implemented."
— Gilbert Garcia, The San Antonio (Texas) Express-News Online, 20 May 2022

The Ukrainian cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, in Luhansk, are increasingly under duress and could fall to Russian forces within a week, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
— Claire Parker, Washington Post, 11 June 2022

Did You Know?
Duress is most often paired with the word under to refer to force or threats meant to make someone do something.
For example, someone forced to sign a document signs it “under duress,” and a person held “under duress” is not free to leave but is being constrained, usually unlawfully.
Do not confuse being “under duress” with being “under stress,” which is a much more common occurrence.
Duress is a word of hardy stock. It has been a part of the English language since the 14th century and has a number of long-lived relatives.
 Duress itself came into Middle English through the Anglo-French duresce (meaning "hardness" or "severity"), which stems from Latin durus, meaning "hard."
Some obvious relatives of this robust root are durable, endure and obdurate (meaning "unyielding" or "hardened in feelings").
Some others are dour (meaning "harsh," "unyielding," or "gloomy") and the preposition during.

Fulsome

 WORD OF THE DAY

fulsome / adjective / FULL-sum

Definition
1a: characterized by abundance
1b: copius
1c: generous in amount, extent, or spirit
1d: being full and well developed
2: aesthetically, morally, or generally offensive
3a: exceeding the bounds of good taste
3b: overdone
4a: excessively complimentary or flattering
4b: effusive

Examples
"The county executive isn't opposed in principle to bonds for housing, but thinks county leaders need to have a more fulsome discussion about tradeoffs such debt would require."
— Dan Brendel, The Washington (D.C.) Business Journal, 10 May 2022

There are fulsome discussions around ensuring a person with a juvenile record of violence or mental health struggles cannot get hold of such a weapon upon turning 18, when many juvenile records are expunged.
— Jennifer Haberkornstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2022

Did You Know?
In the 19th century, fulsome was mostly a literary term used disapprovingly to describe excessive, insincere praise and flattery.
This meaning is still current, but since the early 20th century fulsome has been increasingly used with far more positive meanings, among them “abundant, copious” and “full and well developed.”
The result is some amount of confusion: a phrase like “fulsome praise” used today without clarifying context may rightly be understood to mean either “abundant praise” or “excessive and obsequious praise.”
While some critics object to the pleasanter meanings of fulsome, they are in fact true to the word’s origins: when it was first used in the 14th century fulsome meant “abundant, copious.”

The senses shown above are the chief living senses of fulsome. Sense 2, which was a generalized term of disparagement in the late 17th century, is the least common of these.
Fulsome became a point of dispute when sense 1, thought to be obsolete in the 19th century, began to be revived in the 20th.
The dispute was exacerbated by the fact that the large dictionaries of the first half of the century missed the beginnings of the revival. Sense 1 has not only been revived but has spread in its application and continues to do so.
The chief danger for the user of fulsome is ambiguity. Unless the context is made very clear, the reader or hearer cannot be sure whether such an expression as "fulsome praise" is meant in sense 1b or in sense 4.