Word of the Day
antepenultimate
adjective
third from the end.
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Why Dictionary.com chose antepenultimate
More about antepenultimate
- Antepenultimate was first recorded in 1670-80.
- It comes from the Latin word antepaenultima, the second (syllable) from the last, or literally “before the penult.”
- The penult is the next-to-last syllable in a word. It comes from a contraction of paene ultima, “almost the last.”
- Taking it to the final step, the ultima is the last syllable in a word and comes from the Latin word ultimus, “farthest.”
EXAMPLES OF ANTEPENULTIMATE
- The antepenultimate episode of the thrilling TV series kept viewers on the edge of their seats.
- As the show was winding down, the antepenultimate firework exploded into a dazzling display of colors in the night sky.
pulchritudinous
adjective
physically beautiful; comely.
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Why Dictionary.com chose pulchritudinous
More about pulchritudinous
- Pulchritudinous comes from the Latin word pulchritūdō, meaning “beauty.”
- Pulchritūdō also gives us pulchritude, meaning “physical beauty,” which was first recorded in the 1400s.
- Pulchritudinous began to appear in the early 1700s and gained popularity in the 1800s with American authors who started using the word because it was humorously long and overly complicated.
- Washington Irving employed it in The Crayon Miscellany (1835) alongside other unnecessarily complex words to make fun of an advertisement for ginger ale.
EXAMPLES OF PULCHRITUDINOUS
- The sunset painted the sky with pulchritudinous hues of pink and gold.
- The ballerina’s graceful movements were enhanced by her pulchritudinous form.
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Why Dictionary.com chose bedevil
More about bedevil
- Bedevil, in the featured sense, was first recorded in 1760-70.
- It was formed from be- (an older prefix for forming verbs) and devil, which was first recorded before 900 and came from Late Latin diabolus.
- Diabolus itself came from Greek diábolos, “slanderer,” which came from diabállein, “to assault someone’s character,” or literally “to throw across.”
EXAMPLES OF BEDEVIL
- The complex math problem bedeviled the students, leaving them puzzled and uncertain about the correct solution.
- The persistent technical glitches in the computer program bedeviled the developers, making it difficult for them to meet their deadline.
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