Brandish

 WORD OF THE DAY

brandish / verb / BRAN-dish

Definition
1: to shake or wave (something, such as a weapon) menacingly
2: to exhibit in an ostentatious or aggressive manner
3a: an act or instance of waving something menacingly or exhibiting something ostentatiously or aggressively
3b: an act or instance of brandishing

Examples
“If someone is caught by police brandishing an imitation gun in a public place, they could face fines, an arrest or have the object seized by police.”
— The Daily Chronicle (DeKalb, Illinois), 15 June 2022

The district attorney’s office declined to file felony charges against Lee in the attack on Chappelle because the performer was not injured and Lee did not brandish the weapon, prosecutors said.
— James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2022

Did You Know?
Often when we encounter the word brandish in print, it is followed by a word for a weapon, such as knife or handgun.
That’s appropriate given the word’s etymology: it is a descendant of the Middle English braundisshen, which comes from the Anglo-French brant or braund, a word of Germanic origin meaning “sword.”
Nowadays you can brandish things other than weapons, however.
The figurative usage of brandish rose alongside its earliest literal usage in the 14th century.
When you brandish something that isn’t a weapon (such as a sign or a letter), you are in effect waving it in someone’s face so that it cannot be overlooked

Effulgence

 WORD OF THE DAY

effulgence / noun / ih-FULL-junss

Definition
1: radiant splendor
2: brilliance

Examples
"His oil portrait silently observed us. His brother Robert who painted it didn't go for the obvious choice and recreate Dad's life-of-the-party effulgence, but instead captured his pensive look, as if he's listening intensely to what you are asking, and he may or may not answer you."
— Jamie Brickhouse, The Huffington Post, 21 June 2022

Just ask Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex who took her lit-from-within skin to the next level yesterday with an ample swirl of roseate blush applied to transform her pregnancy glow into a full-on display of effulgence.
— Calin Van Paris, Vogue, 30 Oct. 2018

Did You Know?
Apparently, English speakers first took a shine to effulgence in the 17th century; that's when the word was first used in print in our language.
Effulgence derives from the Latin verb fulgēre, which means "to shine."
Fulgēre is also the root of fulgent, a synonym of radiant that English speakers have used since the 15th century. 
Another related word, refulgence, is about 30 years older than effulgence.
Refulgence carries a meaning similar to effulgence but sometimes goes further by implying reflectivity, as in "the refulgence of the knight's gleaming armor."

Jaunty

WORD OF THE DAY

jaunty / adjective / JAWN-tee

Definition
1a: sprightly in manner or appearance
1b: lively
2a (archaic): stylish
2b: genteel

Examples
"Monty and Rose, who achieved local fame in 2019 as the first federally endangered piping plovers to raise a family in Chicago in almost 60 years, are gone from the North Side beach where they spent three summers. But the hope that the jaunty little shorebirds sparked for their species continues to grow. The Great Lakes Piping Plover Conservation Team has announced a record-breaking 2022 breeding season, with 149 wild chicks reaching the fledgling—or flying—stage, the most since official counts began in 1984."
— Nara Schoenberg, The Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2022

There was a jaunty red scarf around her neck, pinned with a large jeweled brooch.
— Seija Rankin, EW.com, 5 May 2020

Did You Know?
Does throwing on a jaunty hat make someone appear more genteel? Maybe, but something more definitive links the words: both jaunty and genteel come from the French word gentil, meaning "of aristocratic birth."
Genteel was borrowed first to describe things associated with aristocratic people. Jaunty joined the language just a few years later in the mid-17th century as a synonym of stylish and also as a synonym for genteel.
While genteel has maintained its associations of propriety and high social class, jaunty has traipsed into less stuffy territory as a descriptor of tunes and hats and other things that suggest lively confidence.