Category: Word of the Day

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Word of the Day – Consigliere

  • Noun:  Consigliere
    1.   An adviser, especially to a crime boss.
  • Synonyms:
    1. advisor
    2. consultant
    3. counselor
  • Usage:
    1. “Trump and his consigliere Steve Bannon have been quietly encouraging a civil war between Trump’s base of support – mostly white and worried – and everyone who’s not.” ~ Robert Reich
  • Encountered:
    1. Alternet.org editorial – Robert Reich: Trump Is Trying to Start a Civil War

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Kakistocracy

  • Noun:

    1. “government by the worst element of a society,” 1829, coined (by Thomas Love Peacock) on analogy of its opposite, aristocracy, from Greek kakistos “worst,” superlative of kakos “bad” (which perhaps is related to the general Indo-European word for “defecate;” see caco-) + -cracy. Perhaps the closest word in ancient Greek was kakonomia “a bad system of laws and government,” hence kakonomos “with bad laws, ill-governed.
  • Synonyms:
    1. ochlocracy
    2. mob rule
    3. choas
    4. misrule
    5. dystrumpia
  • Usage
    • “Luckily we have one word that sums it all up: a kakistocracy, which literally means government by the worst element of a society. A kakistocracy is a government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens. Trump plans to bring us the worst of both.”
  • Encountered
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Word of the Day – Preternatural/Preternaturally

  • Adjective/Adverb: Preternatural/Preternaturally
    1. existing outside of nature
    2. exceeding what is natural or regular : extraordinary
    3. inexplicable by ordinary means; especially : psychic
  • Synonyms:
  1. extraordinary
  2. exceptional
  3. unusual
  4. uncommon
  5. singular
  6. unprecedented
  7. remarkable
  • Usage:

“Yet the person tens of millions of viewers saw in this fall’s debates was hugely impressive all the same: self-possessed, almost preternaturally calm under pressure, deeply prepared, clearly in command of policy issues.”

  • Encountered:

While reading an opinion piece by Paul Krugman in the New York Times – Why Hillary Wins

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

 

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Word of the Day – Balut

  •  Synonyms:
    1. None found
  • Usage:
  • “Everyone watched the American tourist with anticipation as balut was served to him.”
  • Encountered:
    • Visiting with a Filipino co-worker about food oddities around the world

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Quisling

  •  Noun: Quisling
    1. a traitor who collaborates with an enemy force occupying their country
  • Synonyms:
    1. collaborator
    2. sympathizer
    3. traitor
    4. turncoat
    5. Judas
  • Usage:

“His biggest concern seems to be that after he dies, China will select a new pet Dalai Lama who may act as a quisling to help the Chinese control Tibet and to give legitimacy to their policies there.”

  • Encountered:

Nicholas Kristof column in New York Times – Dalai Lama Gets Mischievous

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Malaprop / Malapropism

  • Noun:  Malaprop / malapropism
    1. the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect, as in, for example, “dance a flamingo ” (instead of flamenco )..
  •  Synonyms:
    1. wrong word
    2. solecism
    3. misuse
    4. misapplication
    5. infelicity
    6. Freudian slip
    7. blunder
  • Usage:

Oh, I just love the kind of woman who can walk over a man
I mean like a god damn marching band
She says, like literally, music is the air she breathes
And the malaprops make me want to fucking scream
I wonder if she even knows what that word means
Well, it’s literally not that
~~ “The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apartment” by Father John Misty.

  • Encountered:
    • While listening to a song on KDHX

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Literally

  • Adverb:  Literally
    1. in a literal sense or manner : actually <took the remark literally> <was literally insane>
    2. used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true
  • Usage Discussion of LITERALLY from m-w.com
    • since some people take sense 2 to be the opposite of sense 1, it has been frequently criticized as a misuse. Instead, the use is pure hyperbole intended to gain emphasis, but it often appears in contexts where no additional emphasis is necessary.
  • Synonyms:
    1. exactly
    2. actually
    3. completely
    4. directly
    5. plainly
    6. precisely
    7. really
    8. simply
    9. truly
  • Usage:

Oh, I just love the kind of woman who can walk over a man
I mean like a god damn marching band
She says, like literally, music is the air she breathes
And the malaprops make me want to fucking scream
I wonder if she even knows what that word means
Well, it’s literally not that
~~ “The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apartment” by Father John Misty.

  • Encountered:
    • While listening to a song on KDHX

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Alacrity

  • Noun:  Alacrity
    1. a quick and cheerful readiness to do something
  • Synonyms:
    1. Eagerness
    2. Willingness
    3. Readiness
  • Usage:
    • From there on, flat setups began crashing into flubbed punchlines with the alacrity of a drunk sailor inviting the entire pub to have a go if they think they’re hard enough.
  • Encountered:
    • Reading an article on the BBC website about the Oscars

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day

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Word of the Day – Venal / Venality

  • Noun:  Venal
  1. capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration: purchasable; especially : open to corrupt influence and especially bribery : mercenary <a venal legislator>.
  2. originating in, characterized by, or associated with corrupt bribery <a venal arrangement with the police>
  • Noun: Venality
  1. The condition of being susceptible to bribery or corruption.
  2. The use of a position of trust for dishonest gain.
  3. is a vice associated with being bribable or of selling one’s services or power, especially when one should act justly instead. In its most recognizable form, dishonesty, venality causes people to lie and steal for their personal advantage, and is related to bribery and nepotism, among other vices

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Word of the Day – Ennui

  • Noun: Ennui ennui
    1. a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement.
  •  Synonyms:
    1. boredom
    2. tedium
    3. listlessness
    4. lethargy
    5. lassitude
    6. languor
    7. weariness
    8. enervation
  • Usage:
    1. The recent retiree was experiencing ennui as he struggled to find meaning in the post-apocalypse world of early retirement.
  • Encountered:
    1. While playing Cards Against Humanity, it was one the white answer cards

To see more Words of the Day, visit this link: Words of the Day