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.
to accustom to hardship, difficulty, or pain
To inure is to become gradually accustomed to difficulty, especially through repeated exposure. Whether it's cold weather, tough criticism, or early-morning alarms, being inured doesn't mean you like it — it just means you've gotten used to it.
Years of early-morning shifts helped inure her to the discomfort of waking up before dawn.
playful in an aimless way
Ludic describes something playfully spontaneous — imaginative, free-form, and done just for the joy of it. It's the perfect word for when you're off-script, letting curiosity take the lead. A little ludic energy can loosen up even the most rigid day.
He couldn't help but smile at the cats' ludic antics as they batted at a string.
a person who flouts the law, especially one who fails to pay fines owed
A scofflaw is someone who openly disregards rules or regulations. The word was coined during Prohibition as part of a contest to name those who flouted alcohol laws, but the catchy word outgrew that context before long. Whether it's unpaid parking tickets or shooting off fireworks weeks after New Year's, a scofflaw doesn't bother to play by the book.
The scofflaw always ignored his parking tickets, proving his disregard for city regulations.
resembling a duck
Anatine describes anything that resembles a duck in appearance, behavior, or any other way you can imagine. It's a technical term, but there's a touch of whimsy in using it to label something ducklike. Whether it's a duck-shaped cloud or a waddle in someone's walk, anatine is the perfect word when "duckish" just won't do.
The yellow boat had an oddly anatine quality as it floated on the lake.
a forest of stunted trees near the timber line on a mountain
Krummholz refers to the twisted, stunted trees found near a mountain's timber line, shaped by wind and cold. The word comes from German, literally translated as "crooked wood," and it captures both the harshness of alpine life and nature's resilience. In every gnarled branch, krummholz tells a story of survival.
We hiked through the dense, wind-battered krummholz near the mountain's treeline.
