Tag: Word

Word of the Week

Word of the Week

banalize  
[buh-nal-ahyz, -nah-lahyz, beyn-l-ahyz]
verb (used with object)
1. to render or make devoid of freshness or originality; trivialize: Television has often been accused of banalizing even the most serious subjects.
2. To make commonplace

Word of the Week

punditocracy

noun

pun·​dit·​oc·​ra·​cy | ˌpən-dət-ˈä-krə-sē

How to pronounce punditocracy (audio) plural punditocracies

Definition of punditocracy

: a group of powerful and influential political commentators

Examples of punditocracy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the WebThe conservative punditocracy was swift to portray D’Souza’s indictment as an exercise in political persecution. — Time, “President Trump Says He’s Pardoning Dinesh D’Souza. Who’s That, and What Did He Do?,” 31 May 2018 The result, the punditocracy declares, will be a full-out civil war in GOP. — Charles J. Sykes, Time, “Charlie Sykes: Roy Moore Signals the End of the Republican Party,” 28 Sep. 2017 That was before the punditocracy identified the maniacal following Trump was beginning to attract, or the disdain for establishment party leaders ruminating in The Base, or some formidable combination of both. — Jack Holmes, Esquire, “Trump Laid a Despicable Attack on McCain 2 Years Ago. Not Much Has Changed.,” 18 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘punditocracy.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors.

First Known Use of punditocracy

1987, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for punditocracy

pundit + -cracy

Statistics for punditocracy

Bottom 20% of words

Time Traveler for punditocracy

The first known use of punditocracy was in 1987

Word of the Week

inkhorn

play adjective INK-horn

Definition-

nounHISTORICAL

  1. a small portable container for ink.
    • denoting pedantic words or expressions used only in academic writing.modifier noun: inkhorn“I will avoid many of the inkhorn terms coined by the narratologists”

Did You Know?

Picture an ancient scribe, pen in hand, a small ink bottle made from an animal’s horn strapped to his belt, ready to record the great events of history. In 14th-century England, such ink bottles were dubbed (not surprisingly) inkhorns. During the Renaissance, learned writers often borrowed words from Latin and Greek, eschewing vulgar English alternatives. But in the 16th century, some scholars argued for the use of native terms over Latinate forms, and a lively intellectual debate over the merits of each began. Those who favored English branded what they considered ostentatious Latinisms “inkhorn terms” after the bottles carried by scholars, and since then we have used inkhorn as an adjective for Latinate or pretentious language.

Word of the Week

Shot´-clog`

Noun

DEFINITION-

A person tolerated only because he pays the shot, or reckoning, for the rest of the company, otherwise a mere clog on them. Thou common shot-clog, gull of all companies.- Chapman.
Image result for a person tolerated

Word of the Week

fecund

[ fee-kuhnd, -kuh nd, fek-uhnd, –uh nd ]

adjective

producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in abundance; prolific; fruitful: fecund parents; fecund farmland.very productive or creative intellectually: the fecund years of the Italian Renaissance.

RELATED WORDS

breeding, fertile, fruitful, pregnant, prolific, rich, teeming, spawning, fructiferous

Origin of fecund

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin fēcundus, equivalent to fē- (see fetus) + -cundus adj. suffix; replacing late Middle English fecounde < Anglo-FrenchRelated formsnon·fe·cund, adjectiveun·fe·cund, adjective

Image result for fecund definition

Word of the Week(Unusual)

agastopia

n. – admiration of a particular part of someone’s body

See the source image
See the source image

Example sentences

“This agastopia I have for your neck renders me insensate.”

“Have you ever noticed his agastopia? He cannot raise his eyes above waist level when a particularly callipygian woman walks by.”

Word of the Week

Treacle

trea·cle[ˈtrēk(ə)l]NOUN

treacles (plural noun) BRITISHa

thick, sticky dark syrup made from partly refined sugar; molasses. cloying sentimentality or flattery.” enough of this treacle—let’s get back to business

“ORIGIN”

Middle English (originally denoting an antidote against venom): from Old French triacle, via Latin from Greek thēriakē ‘antidote against venom’, feminine of thēriakos (adjective), from thērion ‘wild beast British

Current senses date from the late 17th century.