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.
trifling, small, or of little value
Calling something picayune means it's trivial or of little value. The word originally referred to a small Spanish coin used in the American South and later developed its figurative sense of something small or trifling. Today, you might use it to describe a minor complaint or petty concern. In other words, if it's picayune, it's probably not worth making a big deal about.
Why squabble over such picayune details when we have much bigger problems to solve?
cold or chilly
Algid describes something cold or frosty. You won't hear the word much today, but you were more likely to encounter it in the 1800s. So if you find yourself reaching for a coat — and an old-fashioned way to describe the cold — algid might be just the word.
She shivered uncontrollably after stepping out into the algid winter wind.
to complain or grumble
A bellyache can be more than an upset stomach; as a verb, it refers to complaining. Kids might bellyache about doing their homework, while adults might bellyache about having to remind their kids to do their homework. No matter your age, there's always something to bellyache about.
He began to bellyache about the long line at the grocery store.
to make up or use new words
Have you ever come up with a new word and tried to get your friends to use it? That's neologizing! Every language needs new words to keep up with new ideas, inventions, and trends. So go ahead and neologize. Who knows — your word might catch on and end up in the dictionary someday!
Writers may neologize to describe new technology that lacks existing terms in the dictionary.
a self-evident truth that requires no proof
An axiom is a statement accepted as true without needing to be proved. The word comes from a Greek term meaning "something worthy" and is commonly used in logic, philosophy, and mathematics. When it comes to axioms, the truth speaks for itself.
In mathematics, "the shortest distance between two points is a straight line" is often treated as an axiom.
