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contaminate (verb) -
1a: to soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association
b: to make inferior or impure by admixture
2: to make unfit for use by the introduction of unwholesome or undesirable elements
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : Contaminate, taint, pollute, and defile mean to make impure or unclean. Contaminate implies intrusion of or contact with…
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bacchanalian (adjective, noun) -
adjective
: of, relating to, or suggesting the ancient Roman religious rites marked by orgiastic revelry and drunkenness that were held in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine
noun
: a bacchanalian reveler
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : The Roman god of drama, wine, and ecstasy, Bacchus was the focus of a widespread celebration, the…
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candid (adjective, noun) -
adjective
1a: expressing opinions, feelings, etc. in an open, honest, and sincere way, also : being or involving such expression
b: disposed to criticize severely : blunt
c: indicating or suggesting sincere honesty and absence of deception
2: relating to or being photography or videography of one or more subjects acting naturally or…
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nexus (noun) -
1: connection, link, also : a causal link
2: a connected group or series
3: center, focus
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : When nexus came into English in the 17th century, it meant “connection” or “link.” Eventually, people began using it to refer to a connected group or series of things, as in “a nexus of relationships.” In recent decades it has…
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nexus (noun) -
1: connection, link, also : a causal link
2: a connected group or series
3: center, focus
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : When nexus came into English in the 17th century, it meant “connection” or “link.” Eventually, people began using it to refer to a connected group or series of things, as in “a nexus of relationships.” In recent decades it has…
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hobgoblin (noun) -
1: a mischievous goblin
2: bogey
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : While a goblin is traditionally regarded in folklore as a grotesque, evil, and malicious creature, a hobgoblin tends to be more of a playful troublemaker. (The character of Puck from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream might be regarded as one.) First appearing in English in the…
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cereal (adjective, noun) -
adjective
: relating to grain or to the plants that produce it
noun
1: a plant (such as a grass) yielding starchy grain suitable for food, also : its grain
2: a prepared foodstuff of grain (such as oatmeal or cornflakes)
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : The Roman goddess Ceres, the equivalent of the Greek Demeter, was a calm goddess who…
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Gordian knot (noun) -
1: an intricate problem, especially : a problem insoluble in its own terms
2: a knot tied by Gordius, king of Phrygia, held to be capable of being untied only by the future ruler of Asia, and cut by Alexander the Great with his sword
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : According to legend, when the peasant Gordius became king of Gordium, capital…
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inflection (noun) -
1: change in pitch or loudness of the voice
2a: the change of form that words undergo to mark such distinctions as those of case, gender, number, tense, person, mood, or voice
b: a form, suffix, or element involved in such variation
c: accidence
3: the act or result of curving or bending : bend
4a: change in curvature of an arc or curve from concave to…
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onus (noun) -
1[Latin] a: burden
b: a disagreeable necessity : obligation
c: blame
d: stigma
2[New Latin] : burden of proof
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : Understanding the etymology of onus shouldn’t be a burden; it’s as simple as knowing that English borrowed the word—spelling, meaning, and all—from Latin in the 17th century. Onus is also a distant relative of…
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anchorite (noun) -
: a person who lives in seclusion usually for religious reasons
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : The term "anchor" was being used for religious hermits about 450 years before "anchorite" came into common use in our language. The reclusive "anchor" and "anchorite" are both derived from the Late Latin anachoreta, which, in turn, can be traced to the…
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slight (adjective, verb, noun) -
adjective
1a: having a slim or delicate build : not stout or massive in body
b: lacking in strength or substance : flimsy, frail
c: deficient in weight, solidity, or importance : trivial
2: small of its kind or in amount
verb
1: to treat as slight or unimportant : make light of
2: to treat with disdain or indifference
3: to perform or…
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florid (adjective) -
1a: very flowery in style : ornate. Also : having a florid style
b: elaborately decorated
2a: tinged with red : ruddy
b: marked by emotional or sexual fervor
3: fully developed : manifesting a complete and typical clinical syndrome
4 archaic : healthy
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology: When it first entered English "florid" was used with the…
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aberrant (adjective, noun) -
adjective
1: deviating from the usual or natural type : atypical, abnormal
2: straying from the right or normal way
noun
1: a group, individual, or structure that is not normal or typical : an aberrant group, individual, or structure
2: a person whose behavior departs substantially from the standard
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology :…
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syllabub (noun) -
: milk or cream that is curdled with an acid beverage (such as wine or cider) and often sweetened and served as a drink or topping or thickened with gelatin and served as a dessert
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : Syllabub's a concoction whose name has had almost as many variations as there are versions of how to make it: "solybubbe," "sullabub,"…
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subsequent (adjective) -
: following in time, order, or place
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : The English language has many ways to indicate that something has come after another thing, but a number of these words have subtle differences. Something is subsequent if it follows something else in time, order, or place. Its meaning is very similar to that of following…
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arrogate (verb) -
1a: to claim or seize without justification
b: to make undue claims to having : assume
2: to claim on behalf of another : ascribe
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : The resemblance between arrogate and arrogant is more than coincidence: they both have the Latin verb arrogare, meaning “to appropriate to one's self,” at their root. This idea of…
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caldera (noun) -
: a volcanic crater that has a diameter many times that of the vent and is formed by collapse of the central part of a volcano or by explosions of extraordinary violence
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : A large, bowl-shaped volcanic depression, a caldera forms when the top of a volcanic cone collapses into the space left after magma is ejected…
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comrade (noun) -
1a: an intimate friend or associate : companion
b: a fellow soldier
2 [from its use as a form of address by communists] : communist
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : In Latin, camara or camera denoted a vaulted ceiling or roof. Later, the word simply mean “room, chamber” and was inherited by many European languages with that meaning. In the Spanish,…
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paranymph (noun) -
1: a friend going with a bridegroom to fetch home the bride in ancient Greece. Also : the bridesmaid conducting the bride to the bridegroom
2a: best man
b: bridesmaid
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : Paranymph resulted from the marriage of the Greek prefix para- and the Greek word for bride, nymphē. The prefix para- can mean "beside" or "alongside…
We tend to treat beliefs as simple reflections of reality, yet power often proves to be the measure of truth.
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canaille (noun) -
1: rabble, riffraff
2: proletarian
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : For a creature said to be man's best friend, the dog doesn't get a whole lot of respect in the English language. Something that has "gone to the dogs," for example, has gone to ruin, and the Britishism dog's breakfast means a confused mess of something. The word canaille, which…
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dudgeon (noun, noun) -
noun
1 obsolete : a wood used especially for dagger hilts
2a archaic : a dagger with a handle of dudgeon
b obsolete : a haft made of dudgeon
noun
: a fit or state of indignation — often used in the phrase in high dudgeon
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : Dudgeon is today most often used in the phrase “in high dudgeon” to describe someone in a…
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flamboyant (adjective, noun) -
adjective
1: marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behavior that attracts attention
2 often Flamboyant : characterized by waving curves suggesting flames
noun
: royal poinciana - a showy Madagascan tree (Delonix regia synonym Poinciana regia) widely planted for its immense racemes of scarlet and orange…
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métier (noun) -
1: vocation, trade
2: an area of activity in which one excels : forte
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : Over the centuries, English has borrowed several French words related in some way to work or working, among them oeuvre (“a substantial body of work of a writer, an artist, or a composer”) and travail (“work of a laborious nature, toil”). Métier…
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exasperate (verb,adjective) -
verb
1a: to cause strong irritation or annoyance to
b: to excite the anger of : enrage
2obsolete : to make more grievous : aggravate
adjective
1: irritated or annoyed especially to the point of injudicious action : exasperated
2: roughened with irregular prickles or elevations
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : Exasperate is frequently…
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vanity (noun, adjective) -
noun
1: inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance : conceit
2: something that is vain, empty, or valueless
3a: dressing table
b: a bathroom cabinet containing a sink and usually having a countertop
4: the quality or fact of being vain
5: a fashionable trifle or knickknack
6: a small case or handbag for toilet articles used by…
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boondoggle (noun) -
1: a braided cord worn by Boy Scouts as a scarf slide, hatband, or ornament
2: a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft
Source : Merriam-Webster
Etymology : When boondoggle popped up in the early 1900s, lots of people tried to explain where the word came from. One theory traced it to an Ozarkian word for "gadget," while…
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nominal (adjective, noun) -
adjective
1a: existing or being something in name or form only
b: of, being, or relating to a designated or theoretical size that may vary from the actual : approximate
c: trifling, insignificant
2 of a rate of interest
a: equal to the annual rate of simple interest that would be obtained if interest were not compounded when in fact it is…
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interdict (noun, verb) -
noun
1: a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical censure withdrawing most sacraments and Christian burial from a person or district
2: a prohibitory decree
verb
1: to lay under or prohibit by an interdict
2: to forbid in a usually formal or authoritative manner
3a: to destroy, damage, or cut off (something, such as an enemy line of supply) by firepower to…