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
any confusing or troublesome situation, especially one from which it is difficult to free oneself.
Explanation
- Morass entered English in the late 1400s.
- Morass originally came from the Dutch word moeras, an alteration of the word moer, "marsh."
- Also related to morass are marsh and moor, "a tract of open, peaty, wasteland."
- Morass acquired its figurative sense in the late 1860s.
- Other fun synonyms for a confusing situation include quagmire, labyrinth, imbroglio, and quandary.
- After years of mismanagement, the company found itself in a financial morass, struggling to pay its debts and keep its doors open.
- His failed attempts at fixing his car's engine only served to deepen the morass of broken parts and tangled wires in the garage.
noun
an advanced type of machine learning that uses multilayered neural networks to establish nested hierarchical models for data processing and analysis.
Explanation
- Deep learning is a subfield of machine learning, in which machines come up with algorithms to solve problems on their own.
- Deep learning refers to when computers are taught to learn more like humans, by example, and to make decisions.
- The word deep refers to the multitude of layers that are constructed in the artificial neural networks.
- Deep learning was first recorded as a term by Rina Dechter in the 1986 conference proceedings of the 5th National Conference on Artificial Intelligence.
- The dress company implemented an artificial intelligence technique called deep learning to automate the design process.
- The ophthalmologist used a machine that applied deep learning to detect early stages of macular degeneration in her patients' eyes.
adjective
extraordinary in some bad way.
Explanation
- Egregious was first recorded in 1525-35.
- Egregious comes from the Latin word ēgregius, which means “preeminent, outstanding.”
- The greg- element in egregious is the stem of grēx, “flock,” such that egregious literally means "standing out from the flock."
- Another flock-related word is gregarious, which means "fond of the company of others," or, more literally, "belonging to the flock."
- The defendant's egregious behavior in the courtroom shocked everyone present.
- Despite their years of experience, the coach was unable to overlook the players' egregious mistakes.
noun
traditionally a striped cotton with alternate stripes crinkled in the weaving.
Explanation
- Seersucker was first recorded in English around 1715-25, after the fabric had begun to be imported to Europe from India.
- Seersucker comes from the Hindi word sīrsakar, from the Persian phrase shīr o shakar, which literally means "milk and sugar."
- Seersucker was originally used in workwear but became fashionable for men's suits in the southern United States around the turn of the 20th century.
- The old rocking chair on the front porch was draped in a faded seersucker cushion, evoking nostalgic memories of lazy afternoons.
- As the summer heat intensified, he opted for a lightweight seersucker suit that kept him cool and stylish.
noun
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Explanation
- Zedonk was first recorded in 1970-75, and like the animal it refers to, is a combination of zebra and donkey.
- Zebra comes from the Portuguese word zebra, "wild Iberian ass."
- Donkey is of uncertain origin, perhaps an alteration of Dunkey, a nickname for Duncan.
- Donkey could also be a form of dun, “dull, grayish brown.”
- The exotic animal farm always had at least three zedonks at one time along with purebred zebras.
- The child added a zedonk to each of their drawings, as it was one of the few hybrid animals they had seen in real life.
