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.
insignificantly small or sparse
Scrabbly can describe vegetation that's patchy, rough, and thin, like those scruffy tufts of green hanging on for dear life in stony soil. It comes from a Dutch word meaning "scrape." But I bet my fellow word lovers are more interested in knowing whether scrabbly is somehow connected to a certain board game. The answer is yes, but that's a story for another day.
to brag
Bukh is a word for talking big or bragging when you just can't keep the humble in check. It swaggered into English from a Hindi word meaning "talk," picked up during the days of the British Raj. Why brag about your big vocabulary when you can bukh instead?
inclined or eager to fight
Ready to rumble? Pugilistic means "inclined to fight." Fittingly, the word comes from a Latin term for "boxer," and it's been bobbing and weaving through English since the 1700s. Keep your guard up today and land those knockout ideas.
the art or practice of disputation or controversy
Polemics is the art of sparring in spirited debate. The term marches in from a Greek word meaning "warlike," a nod to those who enjoy treating verbal jousting like battle. Polish those points, keep it civil, and let the friendly fire of ideas fly!
occurring around the time of a solstice
Solstitial describes anything occurring around the time of a solstice. The word beams down from Latin solstitium, literally "sun standing still," because some ancient astronomers thought a solstice was the day where the sun appeared to stand still at its highest or lowest point in the sky. Soak up those extra rays today, but keep the sunscreen handy.
