Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 16, 2013 is: booboisie \boob-wah-ZEE\ noun : the general public regarded as consisting of boobs Examples: "'Elitism' was always the sneer of the booboisie against opera…." — From an article by Stephanie Von Buchau in Opera News, July 1998 "[Simon] Doonan's silliness is a delight. This is not a rote throwback to the 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' advice of yore. There's no dumbing down for the booboisie." — From a book review by Christopher Muther in the Boston Globe, January 7, 2012 Did you know? Journalist and critic H. L. Mencken is often credited with coining "booboisie," a blend of "boob," as it refers to someone who cares too much about things and too little about ideas and art, and "bourgeoisie," that French-origin term for the middle class. Mencken may have indeed coined the word, but it seems likely that he wasn't the word's only inventor. According to the 2006 Yale Book of Quotations, Mencken was quoted using "booboisie" in an August 1922 issue of The Dial before it appeared in any of his writings. But a February 22, 1922 Washington Post article opens with the following line: "A plot to mulct the 'booboisie' which might have been invented by an author of get-rich-quick fiction …." The booboisie, of course, couldn't care less.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 15, 2013 is: nary \NAIR-ee\ adjective : not any : not one Examples: "I must have it back as I have nary other copy." — From a 1961 letter by Flannery O'Connor "It was 4-0 in Cleveland's favor by then, and the way the Rangers were going down meekly—nary a runner reaching second base—the deficit seemed much larger." — From an article by Gil LeBreton in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 11, 2013 Did you know? "Nary," often used in the phrase "nary a" to mean "not a single," is an 18th century alteration of the adjectival phrase "ne'er a," in which "ne'er" is a contraction of "never." That contraction dates to the 13th century, and the word it abbreviates is even older: "never" can be traced back to Old English "nǽ fre," a combination of "ne" ("not" or "no") and "ǽfre" ("ever"). Old English "ne" also combined with "ā" ("always") to give us "nā," the Old English ancestor of our "no." "Ā," from the Latin "aevum" ("age" or "lifetime") and Greek "aiōn" ("age"), is related to the English adverb "aye," meaning "always, continually, or ever." This "aye" (pronounced to rhyme with "say") is unrelated to the more familiar "aye" (pronounced to rhyme with "sigh") used as a synonym of "yes."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 14, 2013 is: frisson \free-SAWN\ noun : a brief moment of emotional excitement : shudder, thrill Examples: The emotionally-charged scene adds a frisson of tension to the play's final act. "By the end of the book the party is over, but it is hard to feel any frisson of regret when the party was so little fun when it was going on." — From an article by Douglas Murray in The Spectator, May 11, 2013 Did you know? "I feel a shiver that's not from the cold as the band and the crowd go charging through the final notes…. That frisson, that exultant moment...." That's how writer Robert W. Stock characterized the culmination of a big piece at a concert in 1982. His use of the word "shiver" is apt given that "frisson" comes from the French word for "shiver." "Frisson" traces to Old French "friçon," which in turn derives from "frictio," Latin for "friction." What does friction—normally a heat generator—have to do with thrills and chills? Nothing, actually. The association came about because "frictio" (which derives from Latin "fricare," meaning "to rub") was once mistakenly taken to be a derivative of "frigēre," which means "to be cold."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 13, 2013 is: fungible \FUN-juh-bul\ adjective 1 : being of such a nature that one part or quantity may be replaced by another equal part or quantity in the satisfaction of an obligation 2 : interchangeable 3 : flexible Examples: Since fruits and vegetables are regarded as fungible in this diet, you are allowed a total of five servings of either or both. "Oil is a fungible commodity and its prices are determined in the global market." — From an article by Gal Luft in The Wichita Eagle (Kansas), May 30, 2013 Did you know? "Fungible"—which derives from the Latin verb "fungi," meaning "to perform" (no relation to the noun "fungus" and its plural "fungi")—is a word that often shows up in legal and political contexts. Something fungible can be exchanged for something else of the same kind. For example, when we say "oil is a fungible commodity," we mean that when a purchaser is expecting a delivery of oil, any oil of the stipulated quantity and quality will usually do. Another example of something fungible is cash. It doesn't matter what twenty dollar bill you get — it's still worth the same amount as any other twenty dollar bill. In contrast, something like a painting isn't fungible; a purchaser would expect a specific, identifiable item to be delivered. In broader use, "fungible" can mean "interchangeable" or sometimes "changeable, fluid, or malleable."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 12, 2013 is: thwart \THWORT\ verb 1 a : to run counter to so as to effectively oppose or baffle b : to oppose successfully : defeat the hopes or aspirations of 2 : to pass through or across Examples: At the end of the episode, the fleeing villain told the hero, "You may have thwarted me this time, but I'll be back." "But the union and its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, are also trying to thwart the Lawrence turnaround plan legislatively." — From an editorial in the Boston Globe, May 29, 2013 Did you know? "Thwart" and its synonyms "foil" and "frustrate" all suggest checking or defeating another's plan or preventing the achievement of a goal. "Foil" implies checking or defeating so as to discourage future efforts ("foiled by her parents, he stopped trying to see her"), while "frustrate" suggests making all efforts, however vigorous or persistent, futile or ineffectual ("frustrated attempts at government reform"). "Thwart" usually indicates frustration caused by opposition ("the army thwarted an attempted coup").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 11, 2013 is: éminence grise \ay-mee-nahnss-GREEZ\ noun 1 : a confidential agent; especially : one exercising unsuspected or unofficial power 2 : a respected authority; specifically : an elder statesman Examples: The seminar will be taught by a revered éminence grise of Civil War historians. "At 95, pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton ranks as the éminence grise of infant and child development, with countless parenting books to his credit." — From an article by Laura Landro in the Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2013 Did you know? "Éminence grise" (literally, "gray eminence") was the sobriquet of Père Joseph (1577-1638), the Capuchin monk who served as secretary to Cardinal Richelieu, Chief Minister under Louis XIII. Richelieu's ambition for French domination of Europe aligned neatly with Joseph's hope to convert European Protestants to Roman Catholicism. Joseph's nickname came from the color of his cloak—and from the fact that Richelieu himself was known as the Éminence Rouge (Red Eminence). The term "éminence grise" came to mean a loyal confidant of any powerful individual, but recently the word has alternately come to mean a respected senior member within a field or profession (the gray in this case perhaps alluding to the color of an elder's hair).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 10, 2013 is: lackadaisical \lak-uh-DAY-zih-kul\ adjective : lacking life, spirit, or zest : languid Examples: Feeling particularly lackadaisical in the summer heat, we lounged on the front porch drinking lemonade. "Malone will be tasked with reeling in a team of players who favor one-on-one basketball and often played lackadaisical defense." — From an article by Jason Jones in the Sacramento Bee, May 31, 2013 Did you know? Alas, alack, there are times when life seems to be one unfortunate occurrence after another. We’ve all had days when nothing seemed to go right. When folks had one of those days back in the 17th century, they'd cry "Lackaday" to express their sorrow and disappointment. "Lackaday" was a shortened form of the expression "alack the day." In the mid-1700s, "lackadaisical" was coined through addition of the suffix "-ical." The word "lackadaisy" also was used around that time as an interjection similar to "lackaday," and this word, though never as prevalent as "lackaday," might have influenced the coinage of "lackadaisical."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 09, 2013 is: phalanx \FAY-lanks\ noun 1 : a body of heavily armed infantry in ancient Greece formed in close deep ranks and files; broadly : a body of troops in close array 2 : one of the digital bones of the hand or foot of a vertebrate 3 a : a massed arrangement of persons, animals, or things b : an organized body of persons Examples: A solid phalanx of armed guards stood in front of the castle. "In past years I’ve spotted Oprah Winfrey, or the specter of her anyway, dressed in blazing yellow and surrounded by a phalanx of large, black-suited bodyguards, her filtered image shimmering like the sun peeking through a forest of towering Versace-clad sequoias." — From an article by Laura Rafaty in the Napa Valley Register, June 4, 2013 Did you know? The original sense of "phalanx" refers to a military formation that was used in ancient warfare and consisted of a tight block of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, several rows deep, often with shields joined. The word "phalanx" comes from the Greeks, though they were not the only ones who used this formation. The Greek term literally means "log" and was used for both this line of battle and for a bone in a finger or toe. The word and its senses passed into Latin and then were adopted into English in the 16th century. These days, a "phalanx" can be any arranged mass, whether of persons, animals, or things, or a body of people organized in a particular effort.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 08, 2013 is: ephebic \ih-FEE-bik\ adjective : of, relating to, or characteristic of a youth of ancient Greece or a young man Examples: "Ephebic training included athletic instruction in the events which were contested in the Olympics and in the hundreds of other athletic contests of the eastern Mediterranean." — From a post by Dr. Jason Koenig at his Ancient and Modern Olympics blog, May 31, 2013 "This Old Master didn't disport himself with mistresses or, like Leonardo and Michelangelo, with ephebic young men; most of his surviving correspondence chases unpaid bills." — From a book review by Peter Conrad in The Observer, December 2, 2012 Did you know? An ephebus was a youth in ancient Greece who had reached the age of puberty. The name is from the Greek word "ephēbos," from "epi-" ("upon") and "hēbē" ("youth" or "puberty"). Ephebi (the plural of "ephebus") aged 18 or 19 were at one time required to undergo two years of stringent military training, but the requirement became less compulsory and the training less rigorous and militaristic over time. The youthfulness of the ephebi inspired both the adjective "ephebic" and the noun "ephebe." The latter can mean "a young man," as illustrated by John Walsh in the Independent Extra, March 23, 2010: "When you're 40, the sight of your one-time room-mate Philip, once a skinny ephebe with golden ringlets, now transmogrified into a burly renegade with a head like a Sumo bouncer and a body to match, is frightening."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 07, 2013 is: infantilize \IN-fun-tye-lyze\ verb 1 : to cause to be or remain like an infant or young child 2 : to treat like an infant or young child Examples: Even though Katie was a teenager, her grandmother still tended to infantilize her, bringing her dolls and other gifts more suitable for younger kids. "Although I don't approve of holier-than-thou government officials trying to infantilize citizens by dictating to them what they can eat and drink, this kind of thing is hard to stop once it gets started." — From an opinion piece by Randy Scruggs in the Pulaski County Mirror (St. Robert, MO), June 20, 2012 Did you know? "Infantilize" is just a baby, relatively speaking, in the English language family. It first saw the light of day in the early 1930s, when social scientists started using it to discuss ways that humans or human activity can prolong or encourage dependency in other humans by treating them as helpless. The adjective "infantile," which gave birth to "infantilize," is far more mature, however—it's over 300 years old. "Infantile" sometimes literally means "relating to infants"—that is, to children in the first year of life—but it also has a broader meaning; if you chide someone's infantile behavior, you simply mean that the person is acting immaturely or childishly.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 06, 2013 is: utile \YOO-tul\ adjective : useful Examples: Shaker crafts are simple, meticulously constructed, pleasing to the eye, and eminently utile, all at the same time. "One marvels that 12th-century engineers and builders were able to erect a structure that was both esthetically pleasing to the eye and functionally utile for the ages; after all, the original—medieval—London Bridge was in daily use for more than six-and-one-half-centuries." — From a feature by Kurt F. Stone in OpEdNews, June 3, 2013 Did you know? For over a hundred years before "useful" entered our language, "utile" served us well on its own. We borrowed "utile" from Middle French in the 15th century. The French derived it from Latin "utilis," meaning "useful," which in turn comes from "uti," meaning "to use." "Uti" (the past participle of which is "usus") is also the source of our "use" and "useful." We've been using "use" since at least the 13th century, but we apparently didn't acquire "useful" until the late 16th century, when William Shakespeare inserted it into King John. Needless to say, we've come to prefer "useful" over "utile" since then, though "utile" functions as a very usable synonym. Other handy terms derived from "uti" include "utilize," "usury," "abuse" and "utensil."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 05, 2013 is: syllogism \SIL-uh-jiz-um\ noun 1 : a deductive scheme of a formal argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion 2 : a subtle, specious, or crafty argument 3 : deductive reasoning Examples: Kelly could not prove it, but she suspected that her opponent's arguments were a series of sneaky syllogisms based on dubious "facts." "She learned to read [Thomas] Aquinas in the original, mastered the syllogism, pursued Socratism, then took that highly classical background with her to Dominican University in River Forest, Ill., where she graduated with a master’s degree in library and information science." — From an article by Kevin Nevers in the Chesterton Tribune (Indiana), May 8, 2013 Did you know? For those trained in formal argument, the syllogism is a classical form of deduction. One example is the inference that "kindness is praiseworthy" from the premises "every virtue is praiseworthy" and "kindness is a virtue." "Syllogism" came to English through Anglo-French from Latin "syllogismus," which in turn can be traced back through Greek to the verb "syllogizesthai," meaning "to infer." In Greek "logizesthai" means "to calculate" and derives from "logos," meaning "word" or "reckoning." "Syl-" comes from "syn-," meaning "with" or "together."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 04, 2013 is: esplanade \ESS-pluh-nahd\ noun : a level open stretch of paved or grassy ground; especially : one designed for walking or driving along a shore Examples: The whole length of the esplanade was full of people who had secured prime viewing spots for the Fourth of July fireworks show. "On Monday, hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the esplanade in front of the city's Invalides dome, clashing with riot police, who were posted around Paris neighborhoods in bulletproof vests and helmets, as they have been numerous times during the past several months." — From an article by Vivienne Walt in Time, May 29, 2013 Did you know? The history of "esplanade" is completely on the level. The Italians created "spianata," for a level stretch of ground, from their verb "spianare," which means "to make level." "Spianare" in turn comes from the Latin verb "explanare," which also means "to make level" and which is the source of our verb "explain." Middle-French speakers borrowed "spianata" as "esplanade," and in the late 1500s we borrowed the French word. In the late 17th century, and even later, esplanades were associated with war. The word was used to refer to a clear space between a citadel and the nearest house of a town or to a slope around a fortification used for defense against attack. Today, however, esplanades are usually for enjoyment.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 03, 2013 is: vouchsafe \vowch-SAYF\ verb 1 a : to grant or furnish often in a gracious or condescending manner b : to give by way of reply 2 : to grant as a privilege or special favor Examples: "Hear my cry, O God the Reader; vouchsafe that this my book fall not still-born into the world wilderness." — From W. E. B. DuBois' 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk "[Helen] Mirren is in a suite so vast it has its own internal lobby with a comedic number of doors leading off it. As I arrive, she is apparently behind one of them, wrapping a shoot for another publication (she doesn't vouchsafe which; it's not my business anyway), while I am led through another one to await her." — From an article by Vicki Woods in Vogue, March 2013 Did you know? Shakespeare fans are well acquainted with "vouchsafe." The word, which was borrowed with its present meaning from Anglo-French in the 14th century, pops up fairly frequently in the Bard's work—60 times, to be exact. "Vouchsafe me yet your picture for my love," beseeches Proteus of Silvia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. "Vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food," King Lear begs his daughter Regan. But you needn't turn to Shakespeare to find "vouchsafe." As illustrated by our second example sentence above, today's writers also find it to be a perfectly useful word.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 02, 2013 is: benedict \BEN-ih-dikt\ noun : a newly married man who has long been a bachelor Examples: There were several benedicts at our most recent high school reunion, but I was most surprised by Denny, who had vowed he'd never marry. "The late Joseph W. Sienkiewicz, who served on the town board from 1953 to 1957, was the last bachelor selectman to become a benedict. Mr. Sienkiewicz and Wanda Janton were married April 16, 1955." — From an article by Ed Patenaude in the Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts), August 23, 2001 Did you know? "Benedick" is the chief male character in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing. Throughout the play, both Benedick and his female counterpart Beatrice exchange barbed comments and profess to detest the very idea of marriage, but the story eventually culminates in their marriage to each other. As a result, Benedick's name came to be applied to men who marry later in life. The spelling was changed to "benedict," possibly by association with a use of "benedict" meaning "bachelor" (although the evidence for this use is scant). Some early 20th-century usage commentators regarded the respelling as incorrect with regard to the etymology, but "benedict" has become the established spelling nevertheless. These days "benedict" is fairly uncommon and most typically encountered in historical sources and references.