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.
to fidget or shift one's weight from one foot to the other
Hotch means "to fidget or shuffle around," shifting your weight when you just can't sit still. It came to us via the Middle French hocher, "to shake," the same root that simmered into the mixed-up stew "hotchpotch," and eventually morphed into the jumbled "hodge-podge." The next time a long meeting has you squirming in your chair, just call it a classic hotch and wiggle on!
based on the truth
Soothfast describes something or someone who's rock-solid honest and unwaveringly true. The word combines the Old English terms for "truth" and "firm." Stay soothfast, and to thine own self be true!
the use of an opponent's strengths or one's own weaknesses to accomplish a goal
You may know jujitsu as a martial art, but it can also describe using an opponent's strengths, or even your own weaknesses, to accomplish a goal. Now go take down today's challenges and claim the win.
to counterbalance or offset in weight, force, or importance
Equiponderate means "to balance or weigh things equally." It fuses Latin roots meaning "equal" and "to weigh," building a miniature set of scales right into the word. Remember to stay levelheaded, and you'll make it through today just fine.
a coded message
B-H-O-G-D-Q. It looks like nonsense, but deduce a secret rule, and you'll reveal a word that's all about hidden meanings. A cipher is a type of code that obscures a message. This word comes from the Arabic sifr, meaning "zero," which eventually landed in English with its cryptic sense. Ready to sleuth your way through the day?
