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.
adjective
spacious and convenient; roomy.
Explanation
- Entered English around 1375–1425.
- Ultimately comes from Latin commodi(tās), "convenience."
- Commodity, "something of use, advantage, value," shares this origin.
- Sign up for more Word of the Day!
- The new office building features a commodious conference room for large meetings.
- The commodious living room provided ample space for entertaining guests.
adjective
free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.
Explanation
- First recorded in 1820–30.
- Comes from French, combining the negative prefix in- with souciant, a form of soucier “to worry.”
- Soucier comes from Latin sollicitāre “to disturb,” from which we also get solicitous, "anxious; concerned; eager."
- Sign up for more Word of the Day!
- As the waves crashed against the shore, he strolled along the beach with an insouciant gait.
- Even in the face of adversity, she maintained an insouciant demeanor, refusing to let life's challenges dampen her spirit.
noun
a word spelled the same as another but having a different sound and meaning.
Explanation
- From the Late Greek word heterṓnymos, dating back to 1880–85.
- The prefix hetero- means "different."
- The suffix -onym means "name."
- Sign up for more Word of the Day!
- The word wind is a fascinating heteronym, with one pronunciation representing moving air and the other representing the act of winding a clock.
- Lead is a classic heteronym, with one pronunciation meaning to guide or direct, while the other refers to a heavy metal.
noun
the illusory perception of meaningful patterns or images of familiar things in random or amorphous data, as a face seen on the moon.
Explanation
- First recorded in 1960–65.
- Comes from German Pareidolien, plural of Pareidolie.
- Pareidolie is formed from par(a)- "at the side of; beside; beyond," and eidol(on) "phantom; apparition."
- Sign up for more Word of the Day!
- The excitement grew as the researchers discovered what appeared to be pareidolia in the data collected from deep space.
- As I stared at the clouds, I experienced pareidolia and saw a bunny shape formed by their fluffy contours.
noun
a usually short, heavy rainstorm.
Explanation
- First recorded in 1900–05.
- Used primarily in Midland and Western United States dialects of English.
- Gully comes from gullet, "the throat," which comes from French.
- Washer comes from the English verb wash, recorded before 900.
- Sign up for more Word of the Day!
- The farmers rejoiced as the gullywasher replenished their parched fields.
- The residents of the desert town knew to brace themselves whenever dark clouds gathered on the horizon, signaling an imminent gullywasher.
