1word1day | Entries tagged with m

Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025

Mawkish (adjective)
mawkish [ maw-kish ]

adjective
1. characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional; maudlin.
2. having a mildly sickening flavor; slightly nauseating.

Other Words From
mawk ish·ly adverb
mawk ish·ness noun

Related Words
cloying, gooey, maudlin, mushy, sappy, sloppy, teary

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1. teary, sentimental

Origin: 1660–70; obsolete mawk maggot ( late Middle English < Old Norse mathkr maggot) + -ish. See maggot

Example Sentences
The dialogue was more dignified: no brainless chatter or mawkish introductions.
From New York Times

Not to be mawkish, but one of the things I like about the show is that if I saw it when I was 18, I think I would’ve enjoyed it.
From Los Angeles Times

This dialogue verges on the mawkish: “What does hermaphrodite mean?”
From New York Times

“Hourglass” suffers for its sometimes mawkish language, places where Goddard reaches for earnestness but sounds insincere, or just immature.
From Los Angeles Times

It sounds mawkish, but the picture’s low-key vibe and offhand humor land with surprising grace.
From New York Times

sallymn

mudlark [muhd-lahrk]

noun:
1a Chiefly British. a person who gains a livelihood by searching for iron, coal, old ropes, etc., in mud or low tide
1b someone who scavenges the banks and shores of rivers for items of value

2 Chiefly British Informal. a street urchin

3 either of two black and white birds, Grallina cyanoleuca, of Australia, or G. bruijni, of New Guinea, that builds a large, mud nest

(click to enlarge)
verb:
to play, dig, or search in mud or on muddy ground

Examples:

Mudlarking's popularity has grown steadily in recent years, driven in part by social media communities where enthusiasts share their finds, and tour groups that offer a trudge through the shards of history's castoffs (Megan Specia, Mudlarks Scour the Thames to Uncover 2,000 Years of Secrets, The New York Times, February 2020)

On a freezing January day during the recent cold snap, those walking along The Weirs might have been surprised to see Jane Eastman - Winchester's premier mudlark - waist-deep in the Itchen, bent double as she scoured the riverbed not so much for treasure, as trash. (Sebastian Haw, Hampshire mudlark looks for treasure and trash in Itchen, Hampshire Chronicle, January 2025)

Thames mud - damp and oxygen-free - is a 'magical preserver', Maiklem writes, and extracting an object from its embrace takes care, skill and an extraordinary level of patience, from both the mudlark and those who share her household. (Joanna Scutts, Unearthing London's history from a muddy riverbank, The Washington Post, December 2019)

"It always makes me smile, how emphatically people say, 'the piping shrike — that's the mudlark, we call it the mudlark' … and just how powerfully this myth has stuck," he said. (Daniel Keane, Magpies, magpie-larks and the striking mystery of South Australia's piping shrike, ABC News, March 2024)

Origin:

The first published use of the word was in 1785 as a slang term meaning 'a hog'. Its origin may have been a humorous variation on 'skylark'. By 1796, the word was also being used to describe "Men and boys ... who prowl about, and watch under the ships when the tide will permit." Mudlarks made a living in London in the 18th and 19th centuries by scouring the muddy shores of the River Thames for anything and everything that could be sold to eke out a living. This could include pilfering from river traffic. Modern mudlarks have sometimes recovered objects of archaeological value from the river's shores. These are either recorded as treasure under the Treasure Act of 1996 or submitted for analysis and review under the Portable Antiquities Scheme. (Word Genius)

sallymn

marcescent [mahr-ses-uhnt]

adjective:
withering but not falling off, as a part of a plant.

(click to enlarge)
Examples:

A bonus design tip for gardeners: A row of marcescent trees, although not technically evergreen, makes for an effective, nearly year-round screen. (Margaret Roach, How to Read the Tree Leaves, The New York Times, November 2022)

Another possible benefit to younger, shorter trees is that marcescent leaves appear to help protect against browsing by deer and moose. The leaves are lower in nutrients and more difficult to digest than new buds (which are present throughout the winter). (Susan Pike, Some trees retain leaves all winter long, Seacoastonline, February 2015)

I apologize if the metaphor is a little too on the nose, but the dissolution of a partnership such as marriage, feels marcescent. Sometimes I get mad at myself for hanging on too long to this or that aspect of my dead marriage, but that process just may be protective. (Brandy Renee McCann, Marcescent, Appalbrandy, March 2022)

The parchment-colored leaves riding out the winter - marcescent, he tells her - shining out against the neighboring bare hardwoods. (Richard Powers, The Overstory)

Origin:

'withering, liable to decay, ephemeral,' 1727, from Latin marcescentem (nominative marcescens), present participle of marcescere 'to wither, languish, droop, decay, pine away,' inchoative of marcere 'to wither, droop, be faint,' from Proto-Italic mark-e-, from PIE root merk- 'to decay' (source also of Sanskrit marka- 'destruction, death;' Avestan mareka- 'ruin;' Lithuanian mirkti 'become weak,' merkti 'to soak;' Ukrainian dialect morokva 'quagmire, swamp,' Middle High German meren 'dip bread into water or wine,' perhaps also Middle Irish mraich, Welsh brag 'a sprouting out; malt'). (Online Etymology Dictionary)

med_cat

marcescence, n.

mar·ces·cence märˈsesᵊn(t)s

: the quality or state of being marcescent: (of a plant part) withering without falling off

Etymology:

Latin marcescent-, marcescens, present participle of marcescere to wither, inchoative from marcēre to wither; akin to Middle High German mern to dip bread in wine or water, Middle Irish mraich, braich malt, and probably to Greek marainein to waste away.

~~

Have you ever walked through a forest in winter and noticed trees with dead leaves still hanging from their branches?
Amongst the towering pines in Yosemite National Park, the California black oak stands out orange against green, its leaves clinging to its branches like stubborn memories of warmer days. These trees are winter deciduous, meaning they lose most of their leaves in fall and become dormant during the winter. But here’s the twist: while many trees gracefully let go of all of their foliage, the California black oak defiantly holds onto many of its dead leaves through winter and only lets go when spring growth pushes them off. This phenomenon is known as “marcescence.”

Marcescence is an adaptation that is largely something scientists are still exploring. However, various theories offer a glimpse into its purpose. Some believe winter leaves provide protection for new buds and branches, guarding them against hungry deer. Buds hidden beneath these leaves are given a fighting chance to grow into foliage come spring. Another theory suggests that these clingy leaves play a role in moisture retention. More leaves mean more snow buildup, which eventually falls to the ground and melts into water for the tree’s roots to soak up happily. There’s even speculation that these leaves serve as a final gift of nutrients for the tree in spring, decomposing into a natural mulch that enriches the soil for the tree to feed off of.

Regardless of the reasons, marcescence is a t-oak-ally impressive survival strategy that showcases the resilience of the California black oak. Next time you wander through a winter forest, take a moment to appreciate these steadfast trees and the stories their stubborn leaves have to tell.

To learn more about the California black oak and the important role it plays to Yosemite’s ecosystem, visit: https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/black-oaks.htm

(from Yosemite National Park FB page)

med_cat

Micawber [mih-KAW-buhr]

(n.)

- An eternal and unrelenting optimist.

Eponym of “Wilkins Micawber” who was the incurable optimist in Charles Dickens’ novel “David Copperfield.”

Used in a sentence:

“One’s attitude is the filter that determines your personal experience as you interact with life, which is why I choose to be a Micawber.”

(from The Grandiloquent Word of the Day)
~~

Happy Valentine's Day, if you're celebrating, and Happy Friday to everyone :)

P.S. Do you like the new layout for this comm? Let me know :)

sallymn

myrmidon [mur-mi-don, -dn]

noun:
faithful follower who carries out orders without question; a subordinate who executes orders unquestioningly or unscrupulously

Examples:

These days Tate's name pops up occasionally in bookstores, never in cafés: he's simply not part of the contemporary discussion. Literary history and her myrmidons, the anthologists, have hacked down his poetic ranks - often to a single poem, 'Ode to the Confederate Dead' - and left the rest to lie where they fell, out of print. (David Yezzi, The violence of Allen Tate, The New Criterion, September 2001)

OK, first of all, George III didn't have myrmidons (Charles P Pierce, This Week In The Laboratories Of Democracy, Esquire, March 2014)

He was merely bored when Thrush tried to distract him with some account of the murder in which he himself was only interested because his myrmidon happened to have discovered the body. (E W Hornung, The Camera Fiend)

His myrmidon on this occasion was a little, red-nosed butler, who waddled about the house after his master, while the latter bounced from room to room like a cracker. (Thomas Love Peacock, Headlong Hall)

'"We are gathered," he ses, "to consider what can be done for the defence of our sainted Brother Lawley, who's in the hands of the myrmidons of the law." (Edgar Wallace, The Man Who Shot the "Favourite" (The Gold Mine))

Origin:

one of a warlike people of ancient Thessaly, legendarily ruled by Achilles and accompanying him to Troy, c. 1400, from Latin Myrmidones (plural), from Greek Myrmidones, Thessalian tribe led by Achilles to the Trojan War, fabled to have been ants changed into men, and often derived from Greek myrmex 'ant' (from PIE morwi- ), but Watkins does not connect them and Klein's sources suggest a connection to Greek mormos 'dread, terror.' Transferred sense of 'faithful unquestioning follower,' often with a suggestion of unscrupulousness, is from c. 1600. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

The Myrmidons, legendary inhabitants of Thessaly in Greece, were known for their fierce devotion to Achilles, the king who led them in the Trojan War. Myrmex means 'ant' in Greek, an image that evokes small and insignificant workers mindlessly fulfilling their duties. Whether the original Myrmidons were given their name for that reason is open to question. The 'ant' association is strong, however. Some say the name is from a legendary ancestor who once had the form of an ant; others say the Myrmidons were actually transformed from ants. In any case, since the 1400s, we've employed myrmidon in its not-always-complimentary, ant-evoking, figurative sense. (Merriam-Webster)

sallymn

mélange [mey-lahnzh, -lahnj]

noun:
a mixture sometimes of incongruous elements, a medley

Examples:

Made with a mouliné yarn which twists two colored threads together for a mélange effect, the cardigan is both chunky and cloud-like with a plush, wide shawl collar and tailored fit. (Gerald Ortiz, The Best Cashmere Sweaters for Men Are Literally Goated, GQ, November 2024)

The plot can sometimes feel like a chaotic mélange stretched too thin, but White, who wrote the Illumination avian charmer 'Migration', elevates the overall narrative by injecting doses of his perennial interest in the social codes of the rich. (Lovia Gyarkye, 'Despicable Me 4' Review: Gru's Family Grows in Illumination Animation That Serves Up Familiar Antics, The Hollywood Reporter, June 2024)

Baseball at the highest club level in Britain is competitive, but it's a league in which babysitters are just as important as balls and strikes. Teams are a mélange of locals and expats - some with college and minor league experience (Ken Maguire, In the UK's top baseball league, crowds are small, babysitters are key and the Mets are a dynasty, The Seattle Times, June 2024)

I invoke your consideration of the scene - the marble-topped tables, the range of leather-upholstered wall seats, the gay company, the ladies dressed in demi-state toilets, speaking in an exquisite visible chorus of taste, economy, opulence or art; the sedulous and largess-loving garcons, the music wisely catering to all with its raids upon the composers; the mélange of talk and laughter - and, if you will, the Wurzburger in the tall glass cones that bend to your lips as a ripe cherry sways on its branch to the beak of a robber jay. (O Henry, The Four Million)

Here he kept a retinue of Kaffirs, who were literally his slaves; and hence he would sally, with enormous diamonds in his shirt and on his finger, in the convoy of a prize-fighter of heinous repute, who was not, however, by any means the worst element in the Rosenthall mélange. (E W Hornung, The Amateur Cracksman)

Origin:

'a mixture, a medley,' usually 'an uncombined mingling on elements, objects, or individuals,' 1650s, from French mélange (15c.), from mêler 'to mix, mingle,' from Old French mesler 'to mix, meddle, mingle' (Online Etymology Dictionary)

Mélange got mixed into the melting pot of English back in the 1600s. It derives from the Middle French verb mesler, which means 'to mix.' 'Mélange' is actually one of several French contributions to the English body of words for miscellaneous mixtures. (Merriam-Webster).

med_cat

Mulligrubs [MUL-ih-grubz]

(noun, plural)

- A state or fit of depression; low spirits. Also: a bad temper or mood.

- Sulky or ill-tempered persons (singular is a mulligrube)
.

(n.)

- A stomach ache, colic; diarrhoea.

Used in a sentence:

“Overcome with a sudden bout of mulligrubs, I just don’t feel like doing anything today, so I’m not going to be coming in to work today.”

(from The Grandiloquent Word of the Day)

simplyn2deep

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024

Misnomer (noun)
mis·no·mer [mis-noh-mer]

noun
1. a misapplied or inappropriate name or designation.
2. an error in naming a person or thing.

Confusables Note
Misnomer is not a fancy, more elevated word for mistake. Nor is it a synonym for misstatement, misconception, or misunderstanding. As the word's Latin etymon nominare (“to name”) tells us, a misnomer is a special kind of mistake: a wrong name. The consequences of a mistake can range from trivial to catastrophic—from typos to train wrecks. But a misnomer is often just embarrassing, like trying to impress a friend by referring to a Burgundy wine as a “Bordeaux.” Sometimes, however, what began as a misnomer has become a standard term: the game of Chinese checkers does not come from China; the funny bone is a nerve, not a bone; hay fever is not caused by hay and is not a fever; and a pregnant woman's morning sickness can occur at any time of day. Other kinds of mistakes or misunderstandings—giving a driver wrong directions, thinking that the earth is flat, drawing an erroneous conclusion—are not misnomers. In fact, the word misnomer when used to describe a behavioral mistake or a misperception of reality is itself a misnomer!

Origin: First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Anglo-French, noun use of Middle French mesnomer “to misname,” equivalent to mes- negating prefix + nomer “to name, call by name,” from Latin nominare; mis- , nominate

Example Sentences
The wrestling worthy accessory is a bit of a misnomer—there is no cheekily exposed skin in this full-coverage contraption.
From The Daily Beast

But its title is a misnomer: The far-from-renegade Gay is a very good feminist.
From The Daily Beast

The sad thing is to see this misnomer being promulgated by gays themselves.
From The Daily Beast

The phrase “kids for cash” is something of a misnomer, according to May.
From The Daily Beast

Part of the reason for the bid-ask gap stems from the fact that calling Miramax or MGM a "studio" is a misnomer.
From The Daily Beast

stonepicnicking_okapi

mixtape [miks-teyp]

Noun.

1. noncommercial compilation of songs copied (as onto a cassette tape or a CD) from various sources
2. an album that is usually recorded and distributed without the involvement of a record label

Examples

In high school, I'd be making mixtapes for friends and girls instead of doing my homework, spending hours perfecting how a Smiths song and Joy Division song and Pixies song would convey the way I feel.
—Aaron Axelsen, quoted at SFGate.com
Writers like Nick Hornby have imbued the cassette tape with considerable romance, in particular the mix tape created for a loved one. In practice, these were often recorded directly from the radio, requiring your typical suburban suitor to sit around for hours on end, waiting for the desired track to appear.
—Richard Glover
The mixtape is an unofficial release. It might be tied to an imprint or a label, but it doesn't necessarily appear in stores. In fact, most of them can be purchased only on the streets, at the clubs, from the trunks of cars or from the artists themselves.
—Lance Scott Walker
Long before rap got any radio love, mixtapes were the main form of distribution, the currency that kept everything in rotation as the culture evolved.
—Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael

Origins

The word “mixtape” was first used in 1985. However, the phrase “mix tape” appeared earlier, in 1974, in Modern Recording Techniques by Robert E. Runstein. The phrase became so common that it was eventually shortened to the unhyphenated word “mixtape”.
The word “mixtape” is a combination of the words “mix” and “tape”. “Mix” comes from the Latin word mixtus, and “tape” comes from the Old English word tæppe, which means “strip (of cloth)”.

mixtape

calzephyr

Mascaron - noun.

These fabulous faces, whether human, animal or mythical creature, are often found decorating buildings or other objects. Mascarons are a worldwide and ancient phenomenon, although most people would know them from architecture.

By VVVCFFrance - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

sallymn

miscreant [mis-kree-uhnt]

adjective:
1 depraved, villainous, or base
2 (archaic) holding a false or unorthodox religious belief; heretical

noun:
1 a vicious or depraved person; villain
2 (archaic) a heretic or infidel

Examples:

Over the years, many hundreds of travelers have complained to me about others’ behavior on the roads, rails and trails. But it’s extremely rare to hear that the miscreant’s motive was concern about another traveler. (Robert Thomson, Sometimes courtesy by drivers creates uncertainty, The Washington Post, October 2012)

But whom would it call upon to track down the miscreant roaming in remote and isolated territory? (Jay Mark, When Buckhorn Baths owner tracked down a roaming buffalo named 'Old Renegade', The Arizona Republic, April 2017)

But that treachery is made to seem alluring through miscreant characterizations that media folk can disavow. (Armond White, Succession and Its Discontents, National Review, April 2023)

Moncharmin's last phrase so dearly expressed the suspicion in which he now held his partner that it was bound to cause a stormy explanation, at the end of which it was agreed that Richard should yield to all Moncharmin's wishes, with the object of helping him to discover the miscreant who was victimizing them. (Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera)

It was not improbable that the miscreant, having committed the unspeakable crime, was concealing it from Tozer, his ally in the dreadful business. (Edward S Ellis, Two Boys in Wyoming)

Jerk! Ass, arrogant, inconsiderate, mindless, frat-boy, low-life, butt-face, miscreant! (Rory, The Gilmore Girls, Season 5, Episode 10)

Origin:

c. 1300, 'non-Christian, misbelieving, pagan, infidel;' early 15c., 'heretical, unbelieving,' from Old French mescreant 'disbelieving' (Modern French mécréant), from mes- 'wrongly' + creant, present participle of creire 'believe,' from Latin credere 'to believe'. Meaning 'villainous, vile, detestable' is from 1590s. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

simplyn2deep

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024

Mufti (noun)
muf·ti [muhf-tee]

noun plural muf·tis.
1. civilian clothes, in contrast with military or other uniforms, or as worn by a person who usually wears a uniform.
2. a Muslim jurist expert in the religious law.
3. (in the Ottoman Empire) a deputy of the chief Muslim legal adviser to the Sultan.
4. (initial capital letter) Grand Mufti.

See synonyms for Mufti on Thesaurus.com

Origin: First recorded in 1580–90, mufti is from the Arabic word mufti literally, “a person who delivers a judgment,” originally a Muslim legal adviser; sense of mufti def 1 arises from the legal adviser being a civil official

Example Sentences
At the end of his prayer, the grand mufti whispered aloud: “May God accept it.”
From The Daily Beast

In 2000, the then-grand mufti insisted the earth was flat and disk-shaped and the sun revolved around it.
From The Daily Beast

Unfortunately, Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh and his colleagues who issued the fatwa against The 99 fit that description.
From The Daily Beast

What he calls a “papery palace of stories” sustains identity and ties Mufti to place.
From The Daily Beast

Mufti later describes the violence devastating his country as “a clash of civilizations inside Pakistan.”
From The Daily Beast

calzephyr

Menteng - noun.

Baccaurea racemosa, also known as the kapundung or menteng is a fruit-bearing tree from Southeast Asia. The fruit is edible--but very sour! It can be eaten raw or boiled, and sugar, salt or chili powder can be added to counteract the sourness.

By Sakurai Midori - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

med_cat

Some uncommon words with their meanings:

1. Cagamosis (noun): an unhappy marriage

2. Agerasia (noun): the state of looking younger than one actually is

3. Hadeharia (noun): the practice of frequently using the word "hell" in speech

4. Estrapade (noun) : the attempt of the horse to remove its rider. (estrange: alienate or remove)

5. Auto-tonsorialist (noun): a person who cuts his own hair. (tonsorial= of or related to haircut or barbering)

6. Dactylonomy (noun): act of counting using one's fingers (dactyl: tip of the finger)

7. Jument (noun): An animal used to carry loads like horse or donkey (beast of burden)

8. Gargalesthesia (noun): the sensation caused by tickling

9. Bombilate (verb): make humming or buzzing sound loudly. "a student was bombilating in the class while the teacher was delivering lecture"

10. Maledicent (noun): a person who does frequent abusive speech

(Today's words are brought to you by FB memories; this list is from a group titled "Improve English Vocabulary", which has, sadly, gone inactive several years ago. This post was from 2012.)

simplyn2deep

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Munificent (adjective)
mu·nif·i·cent [myoo-nif-uh-suhnt]

adjective
1. extremely liberal in giving; very generous.
2. characterized by great generosity: a munificent bequest.

Can be confused:
1. beneficent
2. magnificent (see synonym study at magnificent).

Other Words From
mu·nif i·cence mu·nif i·cent·ness noun
mu·nif i·cent·ly adverb
un mu·nif i·cent adjective
un mu·nif i·cent·ly adverb

See synonyms for Munificent on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1. bountiful, bounteous, lavish.

Synonym Study
See generous.

Origin: First recorded in 1565–75; back formation from munificence or from Latin munificentia “generosity, bountifulness,” equivalent to munific(us) “generous, bountiful” ( muni-, combining form of munus “service, duty, gift” + -ficus -fic ) + -entia -ence

Example Sentences
We remain a people powerful with ideas and capable of munificent grace.
From The Daily Beast

It has been similarly munificent with Brian Moynihan, who took over the company at the start of 2010.
From The Daily Beast

He was distinguished for personal courage, as well as taste for elegance and splendor, whence he was called the munificent.
From Project Gutenberg

I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without expressing my thanks, as a citizen, for the munificent gift.
From Project Gutenberg

If wine and oil are your quest, said he, you have but to tap the surface of the munificent earth.
From Project Gutenberg

sallymn

milieu [mil-yoo, meel-; French mee-lyœ]

noun:
the physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops; surroundings, especially of a social or cultural nature

Examples:

This unique geographic, historical and political milieu confers a certain intrigue to this otherwise familiar fare, but the story itself is pure Western, the classic genre explicitly referenced in the plaintive score by sibling composers Diego, Nora and Lionel Baldenweg, and in the seasoned narrative beats of the script by Mark Michael McNally and Terry Loane. (Katie Walsh, 'In the Land of Saints and Sinners,' where Liam Neeson once again has his vengeance, Los Angeles Times, March 2024)

Knobkerry was, Ms Kitto explained, a brick-and-mortar fixture of the Downtown arts scene, both a trading post and junction point for an ever-evolving cast of the artists, actors, dancers and musicians that created a milieu that sometimes seems in retrospect more legend than truth. (Guy Trebay, An East Village Boutique Where the Avant-Garde Gathered, The New York Times, October 2021)

The realization dawns that Famuyiwa has made a mostly charming movie despite its cliche milieu. (Jake Coyle, Our Family Wedding’ surpasses stereotype, The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 2010)

Let's go ahead and assume that, like the helicopter, the man did not look like this when he entered Wanda's reality. Maybe he was wearing a Hazmat suit and her mind changed it to a beekeeper outfit to better fit the suburban milieu. (Eliana Dockterman, All the Marvel Clues You Missed in WandaVision's First Two Episodes, Time, January 2021)

She called everywhere; her calls were returned with enthusiasm, and by the time people found out that she was not exactly of their milieu, they liked her, and it did not seem to matter. (E M Forster, A Room With A View)

Origin:

'surroundings, medium, environment,' 1854, from French milieu, 'middle, medium, mean,' literally 'middle place' (12c), from mi 'middle' (from Latin medius, from PIE root medhyo- 'middle') + lieu 'place' (Online Etmology Dictionary)

sallymn

makebate, make-bate [meyk-beyt]

noun:
(archaic) a person who causes contention or discord

Examples:

Barillon was therefore directed to act, with all possible precautions against detection, the part of a makebate. (Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II)

Trying to set you against me, the spiteful old makebate, and no one knows how long she will be here, falling on the poor lads if they do but sing a song in the hall after supper, as if she were a very Muggletonian herself. (Charlotte M Yonge, Under the Storm)

Angus answered somewhat sulkily, that "he was no makebate, or stirrer-up of quarrels; he would rather be a peacemaker." (Sir Walter Scott, A Legend of Montrose)

Origin:

The rare noun makebate comes from the common English verb make and the uncommon, obsolete noun bate 'strife, discord,' a derivative of the Middle English verb baten 'to argue, contend; (of a bird) to beat the wings' (cf. abate), a borrowing from Old French batre 'to beat.' Makebate entered English in the 16th century. (Dictionary.com)

The earliest known use of the word makebate is in the early 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for makebate is from 1529, in the writing of Thomas More, lord chancellor, humanist, and martyr. (Oxford English Dictionary)

med_cat

Malagrugrous [mal-uh-GROO-grus]
(adj.)

- Doleful, dismal, depressing, dreary; gloomy or morose.

From Scots via Irish “mala” (eyebrow) + “rocach” (wrinkle)

Used in a sentence:

“Mathilda Meldrop was malagrugrous ‘cause she missed her mother’s ‘Monday Movie Mashups™’ so she made a madcap montage of Mallrats, Mad Max, and Mamma Mia.”

(from Grandiloquent Word of the Day FB)

simplyn2deep

Tuesday, Sep. 5, 2023

Melee (noun, adjective)
me·lee [mey-ley, mey-ley, mel-ey]

noun
1. a confused hand-to-hand fight or struggle among several people.
2. confusion; turmoil; jumble: the melee of Christmas shopping.

adjective
3. Games. of or relating to close-range or hand-to-hand combat, especially in video games and role-playing games, but also in some other tabletop games: I don't enjoy playing melee jobs like Monk or Warrior—I prefer to snipe from afar with an archer or even a mage. // You can choose any melee weapon type, but most players prefer daggers since the polearm was nerfed in an expansion last year.

WORDS RELATED TO MELEE
brawl, brouhaha, clash, fracas, free-for-all, ruckus, scrimmage, scuffle, skirmish, tussle, affray, broil, brush, fray, row, ruction, rumpus, set-to, to-do, words

See synonyms for melee on Thesaurus.com

ORIGIN: First recorded in 1640–50; from French mêlée “quarrel, mixture”; see origin at medley

HOW TO USE MELEE IN A SENTENCE
In fact, Clark fell back first from her blows, losing his cap, tie, and badge in the melee.
DR. KING GOES TO HOLLYWOOD: THE FLAWED HISTORY OF ‘SELMA’ | GARY MAY | JANUARY 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST

It was Orlando vs. Justin in an Ibiza melee with two highly unlikely opposing parties.
THE BLOOM-BIEBER BRAWL WE DIDN’T KNOW WE NEEDED | KEVIN O’KEEFFE | DECEMBER 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

They made one last charge for the airport, and when the riot police blocked them again a melee ensued.
MEXICAN PROTESTERS LOOK TO START A NEW REVOLUTION | JASON MCGAHAN | NOVEMBER 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

The Kurds entered a buffer zone on the Turkish border and in the melee at least four protestor were wounded.
KOBANI STILL STANDS AGAINST ISIS AND ALL ODDS. BUT FOR HOW LONG? | JAMIE DETTMER | OCTOBER 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

But Silva, hapless Silva, got his merely for tangling with the Colombian goalkeeper in a clumsy melee of limbs.
BRAZIL AND COLOMBIA BRING THE UGLY GAME | TUNKU VARADARAJAN | JULY 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

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Word of the Day!

Entries tagged with m

Tuesday word: Mawkish

Sunday Word: Mudlark

Sunday Word: Marcescent

Friday word: Marcescence

Friday word: Micawber

Sunday Word: Myrmidon

Sunday Word: Mélange

Friday Word: Mulligrubs

Tuesday word: Misnomer

Monday Word: Mixtape

Wednesday Word: Mascaron

Sunday Word: Miscreant

Tuesday word: Mufti

Wednesday Word: Menteng

Friday Words: Cagamosis, and others

Tuesday word: Munificent

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Sunday Word: Makebate

Thursday word: Malagrugous

Tuesday word: Melee

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