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 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.
noun
crafty schemes; plots; intrigues.
Explanation
- Machinations was first recorded around 1375–1425.
- Machinations comes from the late Middle English word machinacion, from the Latin stem māchinātiōn-.
- The verb form, machinate, entered English over a century later from the Latin word māchinārī, “to invent, contrive, devise artfully,” and is related to the more common word machine, "a mechanical apparatus or contrivance."
- The mastermind behind the political machinations orchestrated a complex web of deceit to manipulate public opinion.
- Through cunning machinations and hidden alliances, the spy infiltrated the enemy ranks and gathered vital intelligence.
noun
a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination.
Explanation
- Phantasmagoria was first recorded in 1795–1805.
- Phantasmagoria comes from the French word fantasmagorie, a compound word based on fantasme, "phantasm."
- Phantasm, the first element, ultimately comes from the Greek word phántasma, “image, vision.”
- The second element of phantasmagoria perhaps represents the Greek word agorá, "assembly, gathering."
- The magician's show was filled with a phantasmagoria of tricks and illusions, leaving the audience in awe and disbelief.
- As she entered the abandoned house, a phantasmagoria of eerie shadows and ghostly figures danced before her eyes.
adjective
of, relating to, or resembling twilight; dim; indistinct.
Explanation
- Crepuscular was first recorded in 1660–70.
- Crepuscular comes from the noun crepuscule, "twilight; dusk."
- Crepuscule was first recorded around 1350–1400 from the Latin word crepuscul(um), which is similar to creper, "obscure."
- During the crepuscular times of day, the sky takes on a mesmerizing blend of colors.
- The early morning mist added to the crepuscular atmosphere as we hiked through the craggy landscape.
