Word of the Day
Learn a new word every day! The Dictionary.com team of language experts carefully selects each Word of the Day to add some panache to your vocabulary.
a side of a mountain receiving direct sunlight
Hikers and climbers might gravitate toward the adret, the slope that soaks up the sun while the other side stays cooler and shaded. It's the warm, inviting stretch of the mountain where snow melts first, plants thrive, and the day feels a little more lively. Next time you're outdoors, see if you can look on the bright side!
In early spring, the adret showed patches of grass, while the opposite slope stayed snowy and quiet.
in a jumbled, confused, or disorderly manner
When life moves higgledy-piggledy, it's full of chaos, mess, or confusion. Papers pile up, plans unravel, and suddenly everything's higgledy-piggledy. At least there's a fun word for these moments of delightful disorder!
The children left their building blocks higgledy-piggledy all over the living room floor.
a love letter
A billet-doux is a love letter — usually short, personal, and meant for just one special reader. The phrase, which comes from French meaning "sweet note," carries an old-fashioned elegance that suggests handwritten notes. In the digital age, a billet-doux feels intimate in a way few messages can match.
The billet-doux found inside the old book revealed a past romance.
a mire or mudhole
A loblolly refers to a soggy, muddy patch of ground where footing quickly becomes uncertain. The word has a low, sloshy sound that matches the place it describes. If you've ever stepped somewhere that swallowed your shoe whole, you've met a loblolly.
After the heavy rain, the path turned into a squishy loblolly, making it hard to walk.
to question closely
To catechize is to question someone intensely, usually in a careful or systematic way. The word suggests sustained attention rather than casual curiosity. If someone keeps circling back until your response is crystal clear, they might be catechizing you.
The attorney planned to catechize the witness about every last detail of the incident.
