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.
noun
a small bunch of flowers or herbs.
Explanation
- First recorded in 1400–50.
- From late Middle English tusmose or tussemose.
- Also spelled tuzzy-muzzy.
- Sign up for more Word of the Day!
- The thoughtful hostess offered each guest a personalized tussie-mussie as they departed.
- The charming cottage was adorned with a tussie-mussie of fragrant herbs, adding a lovely touch to the decor.
noun
a soft murmuring or rustling sound; whisper.
Explanation
- First recorded in 1825–35.
- From the Latin word for "whisper."
- Sign up for more Word of the Day!
- The wind rustled through the trees, creating a gentle susurrus that echoed in the forest.
- In the library, whispered conversations created a faint susurrus in the background.
noun
an online test designed so that humans but not computers are able to pass it, used as a security measure and usually involving a visual-perception task.
Explanation
- CAPTCHA was first recorded around 2000–05.
- CAPTCHA comes from the words Completely Automated Public Turing (Test to Tell) Computers and Humans Apart.
- A Turing test is a test proposed by British mathematician Alan Turing that is often taken as a test of whether a computer has humanlike intelligence.
- If a panel of human beings conversing with an unknown entity (via keyboard, for example) believes that that entity is human, and if the entity is actually a computer, then the computer is said to have passed the Turing test.
- To ensure security, the website introduced a CAPTCHA feature that required users to complete a quick pattern recognition task before logging in.
- It is often more difficult than one would expect to correctly identify all the traffic lights in a CAPTCHA.
adjective
completely puzzled or perplexed by something unexpected.
Explanation
- Nonplussed was first recorded in 1600–10, and comes from the verb nonplus, "to render utterly perplexed by something unexpected."
- Nonplus comes from the Latin phrase nōn plūs, which literally means, “not more, no further,” as in, not much more can be done.
- More recently, nonplussed has been used to mean "indifferent or unexcited," a contradictory second meaning.
- One explanation for this is the analysis of nonplussed as non- “not” + plussed, interpreted as “not puzzled, perplexed, bothered, or impressed,” when in fact plussed has no meaning in English.
- The complex riddle posed by the professor left the students nonplussed, as they struggled to come up with a logical solution.
- Upon hearing the mind-boggling plot twist in the movie, I sat in silence, completely nonplussed by the unexpected turn of events.
noun
the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course.
Explanation
- Aberration was first recorded in 1585–95.
- Aberration comes from the Latin word aberrātiōn-, “distraction, diversion, relief (from pain or sorrow).”
- The Latin word aberrātiōn is equivalent to the past participle of the Latin verb aberrāre, meaning “to divert, forget for a time; to wander, deviate."
- The sudden outburst during his composed speech was an aberration from his typically calm demeanor.
- The painting stood out in the gallery due to its vibrant colors, acting as an aberration among the more muted tones of the other artworks.
