Word of the Day
empath
noun
a person who has a particular tendency or ability to psychologically identify with the emotions, thoughts, or attitudes of others.
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Why Dictionary.com chose empath
More about empath
- Empath was first recorded in 1956 in Scottish author J.T. McIntosh’s 1956 “The Empath,” a story about paranormally empathetic beings called empaths.
- Possibly modeled on telepath, empath was formed from empathy, which entered English around 1900 from the Greek word, empátheia, meaning “affection,” translating directly as “in suffering.”
- By the 1990s, empath had jumped from sci-fi to shorthand for a highly sensitive person, and in the 2000s the term was featured in various considerations of emotional intelligence and personality types.
EXAMPLES OF EMPATH
- Being an empath can be both a blessing and a curse, as you feel deeply and truly for others but also can be vulnerable to taking on their emotional baggage.
- As an empath, she felt overwhelmed by the intense emotions of her friends during their breakup.
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Why Dictionary.com chose quiddity
More about quiddity
- Quiddity is from the Latin word, quidditās, meaning “essence” or “whatness.”
- Quintessence or quintessential refer to the perfect embodiment of something and also derive from the same Latin root, quid, meaning “what.”
- Quiddity was first recorded in 1350–1400.
EXAMPLES OF QUIDDITY
- Understanding the quiddity of the problem is key to finding a solution.
- She knew that the quiddity of her subject would come out in the final painting.
zhuzh
verb
to make something more lively and interesting, stylish, or appealing, as by a small change or addition.
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Why Dictionary.com chose zhuzh
More about zhuzh
- Zhuzh first appeared in the mid-1960s in gay communities in the U.K. in the sense meaning “to improve the look of one’s clothing or outfit.”
- The current sense of zhuzh (also spelled zhoosh) was first recorded in 1975–80.
- Zhuzh possibly comes from a Polari word meaning “to fix or tidy” or the Romani word zhouzhou, meaning “clean, neat.”
- It’s more likely that zhuzh is imitative of someone rushing around.
EXAMPLES OF ZHUZH
- She decided to zhuzh up her outfit with a colorful scarf and some bold jewelry.
- With just a few new throw pillows and some rearranging of furniture, they zhuzhed up the living room.
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