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
fine; completely satisfactory; OK.
Explanation
- Copacetic is an Americanism that was first attested in Irving Bacheller’s 1919 book about Abraham Lincoln, A Man for the Ages.
- Copacetic is also spelled copasetic and is of obscure origin.
- Proposed languages of origin include Chinook, Italian, Louisiana French, and Hebrew, but none of the origin stories are particularly convincing.
- Copacetic further entered the public consciousness through the Prohibition-era song “At the New Jump Steady Ball,” whose lyrics include the line “Copasetic was the password for one and all, at the new jump steady ball.”
- The dinner party was a success, with delicious food, great company, and a copacetic atmosphere.
- Despite some initial concerns, the project's progress has been copacetic and is moving forward smoothly.
noun
an environmental cue, as the length of daylight or the degree of temperature, that helps to regulate the cycles of an organism's biological clock.
Explanation
- Zeitgeber was first recorded in English in 1970–75.
- Zeitgeber comes from German, in which it was coined by J. Aschoff in 1954.
- Zeitgeber means literally, “time-giver,” on the model of the German word Taktgeber, “electronic synchronization device, timer, metronome.”
- In the absence of external zeitgebers, such as clocks or natural light, some individuals may struggle to maintain regular sleep patterns.
- The sunrise served as a powerful zeitgeber for the birds, signaling the start of their daily singing rituals.
verb
to ignore a person or one's surroundings when in a social situation by busying oneself with a phone or other mobile device.
Explanation
- Phub was first recorded in 2010–15.
- Phub was a result of a linguistic experiment by a group of lexicographers, authors, and poets to coin a word to describe the behavior, and is a combination of the words phone and snub.
- Phone is a shortening of telephone, which combines the Greek forms Greek têle-, "far," and - phōnḗ, "voice."
- Snub, first recorded in the 14th century, comes from the Old Norse word snubba, “to scold, reprimand.”
- The couple's romantic dinner was marred by their constant need to phub each other, diverting their attention to their phones rather than enjoying each other's company.
- As the speaker passionately delivered his presentation, he noticed several audience members phubbing him, their focus shifted to their screens rather than paying attention.
noun
a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
Explanation
- Curmudgeon was first recorded around 1570–80 and has an unexplained origin.
- A curmudgeon is someone who revels in having a negative outlook, insistently saying things like “adversity builds character.”
- A curmudgeon may have a tender heart, but they hide it behind a crusty exterior.
- Everyone knew Mr. Hunham as a true curmudgeon, the kind of teacher who would start a new lesson right before the holiday break.
- His students called him a curmudgeon behind his back, and he called them troglodytes, philistines, vulgarians, and Visigoths—to their faces.
noun
the action, process, or faculty of looking back on things past.
Explanation
- Retrospection was first recorded in 1625–35.
- Retrospection was formed from the suffix -ion, denoting action or condition, and the word retrospect, "contemplation of the past."
- Retrospect was probably formed from the prefix retro-, meaning "backward," and the word (pro)spect from the Latin word prōspectus, “outlook, view.”
- The last piece of the puzzle, spect-, comes from the Latin word specere, meaning "to look."
- The elderly man smiled as he leafed through his photo album, indulging in moments of retrospection, reliving his youth and reflecting on a life well-lived.
- After a year of travel, she looked out the plane window in retrospection, reminiscing about the places she had visited and the memories she had made.
