Category: Word of the Day

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Word of the Day – Outré

  • Adjective:  Outré
    1.   violating convention or propriety : bizarre
  • Synonyms:
    1. bizarro
    2. crazy
    3. eccentric
    4. far-out
    5. funky
    6. off-kilter
    7. outlandish
    8. peculiar
    9. quirk
    10. weird
  • Usage:
    1. “Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories by two masters of the form who share an outré sensibility. Humor, humanity, and fantasy all combine in four tales of things gone wrong.”
  • Encountered:
    1. Written introduction to this week’s episode of  the Selected Shorts podcast –Embracing Disaster: Joyce Carol Oates and Etgar Keret

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

Just as an aside, if you love short stories you need to check out the Selected Shorts podcast.  I have listened to some truly remarkable stories over my years of listening to this show.  Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Their description of their show: “Its story time for adults with PRI’s award-winning series of short fiction read by the stars of stage and screen. Recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in NYC and on tour. A co-production of Symphony Space and WNYC Radio.”

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Word of the Day – Horologist

  • Noun:  Horologist
    1.  a person skilled in the practice or theory of horology (the study and measurement of time; the art of making clocks and watches)
    2. a maker of clocks or watches
  • Synonyms:
    1. watchmaker
    2. clockmaker
    3. horologer
    4. timekeeper
  • Usage:
    1. Witness on the stand to Prosecuting Attorney, “Yes I am a horologist, but the correct pronunciation of my profession is ho·rol·o·gist, not whore·rol·o·gist.”
  • Encountered:
    1. In dinner conversation with an horologist

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