Word of the Day!

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

Tuesday, Mar. 25, 2025

Riffraff (noun, adjective)
riffraff [ rif-raf ]

noun
1. people, or a group of people, regarded as disreputable or worthless: a pack of riffraff.
2. the lowest classes; rabble: the riffraff of the city.
3. trash; rubbish.

adjective
4. worthless, disreputable, or trashy.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: 1425–75; late Middle English rif and raf every particle, things of small value < Old French rif et raf, formed on rifler to spoil ( rifle 2 ), raffler to ravage, snatch away

Example Sentences
He has some friends — acquaintances, really — whom he hates, mentally labeling them “the riffraff, the vulgarians, the slobs.”
From New York Times

She associated Georgia’s capital city with “crime” and “riffraff,” similar to how Trump once disparaged Atlanta as “crime infested” and “falling apart.”
From Seattle Times

Just before the riots he had also responded to a rowdy reception committee in one banlieue by calling them racaille - riffraff.
From BBC

Indeed, this “savage,” as Shakespeare took pains to note in his complicated depiction of Caliban, is a good deal more civilized than the drunken riffraff with whom he falls into cahoots.
From Los Angeles Times

“I’ve dealt with the riffraff on the street for 14 years so I know how to play that,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times

Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025

Clinquant (adjective, noun)
clin·quant [kling-kuhnt]

adjective
1. glittering, especially with tinsel; decked with garish finery.

noun
2. imitation gold leaf; tinsel; false glitter.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

Origin: 1585–95; < Middle French: clinking, present participle of clinquer (< Dutch klinken to sound); -ant

Example Sentences
Descartes has almost entirely discarded this quaintness, which sometimes passed into what is called in French clinquant, that is to say, tawdry and grotesque ornament.
From Project Gutenberg

Come here, Stephanie, and see a miracle of manhood, that could resist all the clinquant of a hussar for the simple costume of the cole Militaire.
From Project Gutenberg

The General and the generals went in and crowded the hall of audience, very clinquant with its black and white floor, glass chandeliers, long mirrors and single gilded center table.
From Project Gutenberg

Anecdotes of Painting," says, "Lely supplied the want of taste with clinquant; his nymphs trail fringes, and embroidery, through meadows and purling streams.
From Project Gutenberg

She that a clinquant outside doth adore, Dotes on a gilded statue and no more.
From Project Gutenberg

Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025

Levity (noun)
lev·i·ty [lev-i-tee]

noun Plural levities.
1. lightness of mind, character, or behavior; lack of appropriate seriousness or earnestness.
2. an instance or exhibition of this.
3. fickleness.
4. lightness in weight.

Related Words
frivolity, giddiness, hilarity, mirth, repartee

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1, 2. frivolity, flippancy, triviality, giddiness.

Origin: 1555–65; < Latin levitas lightness, frivolity, equivalent to levi ( s ) light + -tas -ty

Example Sentences
This isn’t just the levity viewers are seeking, it’s the community they require.
From Salon

Words outlast life, so I’m just determined to find my joy through the page, and bring as much light and levity to this burning world.
From Los Angeles Times

I really love music and film because it adds a levity and an emotional layer that not only lifts the audience in the story but the crew when we’re making the film.
From Los Angeles Times

Love is a killer in the new Valentine’s Day horror flick “Heart Eyes” — but Gigi Zumbado brings levity and charm to this cheeky, yet gruesome movie.
From Los Angeles Times

But that levity and absurdity was really the show’s superpower at a time when a lot of the other buzzy comedy shows are making us cringe or cry.
From Los Angeles Times

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025

Jolly (adjective, verb, noun, adverb)
jol·ly [jol-ee]

adjective
1. in good spirits; gay; merry: In a moment he was as jolly as ever.
2. cheerfully festive or convivial: a jolly party.
3. joyous; happy: Christmas is a jolly season.
4. Chiefly British Informal. delightful; charming.
5. British.
a. Informal. great; thorough: a jolly blunderer.
b. Slang. slightly drunk; tipsy.

verb (used with object)
6. Informal. to talk or act agreeably to (a person) in order to keep that person in good humor, especially in the hope of gaining something (usually followed by along ): They jollied him along until the job was done.

verb (used without object)
7. Informal. to jolly a person; josh; kid.

noun
8. Informal. the practice or an instance of jollying a person.
9. Usually, jollies. Informal. pleasurable excitement, especially from or as if from something forbidden or improper; thrills; kicks: He gets his jollies from watching horror movies.

adverb
10. British Informal. extremely; very: He'll jolly well do as he's told.

Other Words From
jol·li·ly adverb
jol·li·ness noun
un·jol·ly adjective

Related Words
carefree, cheerful, chipper, convivial, enjoyable, festive, jovial, joyous, lighthearted, merry, playful, pleasant

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1–3. glad, spirited, jovial, sportive, playful. See gay.

Antonyms
1–3. gloomy, melancholy.

Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English joli, jolif < Old French, equivalent to jol- (probably < Old Norse jol Yule ) + -if -ive

Recent Examples on the Web
The same jolly collection also returns to the Top Streaming Albums chart for another year.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025

Winter break is a jolly time of the year for many children.
—Holly Garcia, Parents, 31 Dec. 2024

Demi Moore is having a jolly good time with her family this holiday season!
—Angel Saunders, People.com, 27 Dec. 2024

That Hilty and Simard make it so jolly is a big relief and a big surprise.
—Rachel Sherman, New York Times, 27 Dec. 2024

The 4Chan programmers got their viral sensation and their jollies.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024

Sunday was a tough day for those, like me, who get their entertainment jollies by watching losers try to redeem themselves.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2024

As to the political will needed to jolly the process along, and arrange payment for those parts of the programme that will not pay for themselves, this can push both ways.
—The Economist, 21 Sep. 2019

So Watt sets out to convince them that the real killer is Peter Manuel by — wait for it! — taking him out on a bender and jollying him into a confession.
—Marilyn Stasio, New York Times, 19 May 2017

Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025

Dawn (noun, verb)
dawn [dawn]

noun
1. the first appearance of daylight in the morning: Dawn broke over the valley.
2. the beginning or rise of anything; advent: the dawn of civilization.

verb (used without object)
3. to begin to grow light in the morning: The day dawned with a cloudless sky.
4. to begin to open or develop.
5. to begin to be perceived (usually followed by on): The idea dawned on him.

Idioms and Phrases
In addition to the idiom beginning with dawn, also see crack of dawn; light dawned.

Other Words From
dawn like adjective
un·dawned adjective

Related Words
dawning, daybreak, daylight, morning

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1. daybreak, sunrise.
5. appear, occur, break.

Antonyms
1. sunset.

Origin: First recorded before 1150; Middle English dawen (verb), Old English dagian, derivative of dæg day; akin to Old Norse daga, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German dagen, Old High German tagen

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025

Hangfire (noun)
hangfire [ hang-fahyuhr ]

noun
1. a delay in the detonation of gunpowder or other ammunition, caused by some defect in the fuze.

Origin: First recorded in 1890–95; hang + fire

Example Sentences
According to Samantha Evans of Hangfire Southern Kitchen in Barry, South Wales, by far the best solution is to use one tool we always have close to hand: your thumb.
From The Guardian

They, too, were nervous about hangfire, the unstable snow left along the edges of an avalanche’s path that can release at any moment.
From New York Times

June Allyson and Robert Walker on a hangfire honeymoon.
From Time Magazine Archive

December 24, 2024

Cynosure (noun)
cy·no·sure [sahy-nuh-shoor, sin-uh-]

noun
1. something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance, interest, etc.: the cynosure of all eyes.
2. something serving for guidance or direction: Gandhi's life remains a cynosure for all of us.

Other Words From
cy no·sur al adjective

Can be confused: sinecure.

Related Words
figure, hero, luminary, personage, personality, someone, star, superstar

See synonyms for Cynosure on Thesaurus.com

Origin: First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin Cynosura, from Greek Kynósoura the constellation Ursa Minor (Little Dipper), equivalent to kynós “dog's” (genitive of kýon ) + ourá “tail”; hound ( def ), ass ( def )

Example Sentences
From these beginnings, the Voice grew into a cynosure of the counterculture.
From Los Angeles Times

This was near the climax of “The Path of Pins or the Path of Needles,” a cynosure of this year’s FringeArts Festival in Philadelphia, which began on Sept. 8 and runs until Oct.
From New York Times

DOM is in a spacious underground room, with a glowing bar done in striated honey onyx as its cynosure.
From New York Times

Brady was fortunate to come along just as the N.F.L. altered multiple playing rules that made the quarterback the cynosure of a pass-happy, high-scoring game with fleet receivers unfettered to dash upfield for long passes.
From New York Times

It’s also possible that the meme stocks will again become the cynosures of online promoters.
From Los Angeles Times

December 10, 2024

Wayworn (adjective)
wayworn [ wey-wawrn, -wohrn ]

adjective
1. worn or wearied by travel: She was wayworn after the long trip.

Origin: First recorded in 1770–80; way + worn

Example Sentences
Alhaji Kamara lifted the wayworn visitors to their first road win of the season last Friday at Kansas City, smashing his first MLS touch into the net 33 seconds after replacing Neagle in the 86th minute.
From Washington Post

The complexion sustains as great a change: it is no longer flushed with gaiety and excitation, but pale and wayworn, indicating a profound mental and bodily exhaustion.
From Project Gutenberg

She offered to give him lodging in her house, until Tuesday, and inviting him in she immediately prepared some dinner for him, which, though it was very frugal and plain, was received with great thankfulness by the weary and wayworn traveler.
From Project Gutenberg

To the wayworn soul you give your balm, Your cup of peace, your string d psalm, Your grace of bud and flower.
From Project Gutenberg

This home, though rude, was the abode of good cheer, in which the wayworn traveler and especially the minister of the gospel, always found a welcome.
From Project Gutenberg

Now YOU come up with a sentence (or fic? or graphic?) that best illustrates the word.

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024

Ostracize (verb)
os·tra·cize [os-truh-sahyz]

verb (used with object), os·tra·cized, os·tra·ciz·ing.
1. to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc.: His friends ostracized him after his father's arrest.
2. to banish (a person) from his or her native country; expatriate.
3. (in ancient Greece) to banish (a citizen) temporarily by popular vote.

Also, especially British, os·tra·cise.

Other Words From
os·tra·ciz·a·ble adjective
os·tra·ci·za·tion [os-tr, uh, -sahy-, zey, -sh, uh, n], noun
os·tra·ciz·er noun

Related Words
blackball, blacklist, exclude, excommunicate, expel, shun, snub

See synonyms for Ostracize on Thesaurus.com
Synonyms
1. shun, snub, blacklist.

Antonyms
1. accept.

Origin: 1640–50; < Greek ostrakízein, equivalent to óstrak ( on ) potsherd, tile, ballot (akin to óstreion oyster, shell) + -izein -ize

Example Sentences
After a fiery, action-packed sequence in which flying monkeys chase after Glinda and Elphaba, the two find themselves at a crossroads: Glinda wants to please Madame Morrible and the renowned Wizard — even if they do want to cast powerful spells to ostracize the talking animals of Oz — while Elphaba would rather flee the scene than align with these lying leaders.
From Los Angeles Times

As the far-right conspiracy theories circulate and Trump and Vance continue to espouse anti-immigrant rhetoric, they further ostracize Springfield, Aurora and Dayton's immigrant populations, posing a threat to their safety and impacting their quality of life.
From Salon

Linda refuses to accept an older man’s sexual harassment, but she doesn’t ostracize him either.
From Salon

Some Western governments, meanwhile, are caught in a delicate dance between not wanting to ostracize Trump as a potential next U.S. president and the need to respect the U.S. justice system.
From Seattle Times

Others warned that it was an expensive exercise that would consolidate political power with the most hard-line voters in both parties and ostracize the hundreds of thousands of Louisiana voters who are not affiliated with a party.
From New York Times