Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 12, 2017 is: oftentimes \AW-fun-tymez\ adverb

: [often](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/often), [repeatedly](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repeatedly)

Examples:

Oftentimes, when children are in trouble, you will hear people say that it is all because of low self-esteem." — Lemony Snicket, The Miserable Mill, 2000

"However, it's important to remember that taking a nap for too long can leave you feeling groggy and oftentimes worse than before." — Bailey Jensen, The Daily Collegian (Pennsylvania State University), 1 May 2017

Did you know?

Despite its archaic, literary ring, oftentimes is quite alive today. In fact, it seems to be more popular now than it was in past decades, appearing frequently both in written expression and in speech. Oftentimes was first used in the 14th century (the same century that gave us often), and its meaning hasn't changed—as meanings oftentimes will—in all that time. It was formed as an extension of its slightly older synonym ofttimes. Today ofttimes is less common, but [oft](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oft) (which comes from Old English and also means "often" or "frequently") is popular in combination with past participles, as in oft-praised.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 11, 2017 is: calaboose \KAL-uh-booss\ noun

: [jail](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jail); especially : a local jail

Examples:

"To put it mildly, Independence was a rough and tumble place, the first of the Wild West towns such as cowboy folklore was built around. Even the more refined guys of that day and time didn't react mildly to confinement in the calaboose or restrictions of any sort…." — Ted W. Stillwell, The Examiner (Independence, Missouri), 14 Dec. 2016

"Moore said most of the calabooses were built in small towns, with local labor and local materials 'as cheap as they could because they didn't need a big jail or have the money for a big jail, and most of the offenders would be drunks.'" — Jim Hardin, Rockwall County Herald-Banner (Greenville, Texas), 28 Oct. 2016

Did you know?

Calaboose had been part of the English language for almost a century when John S. Farmer included the term in his 1889 book Americanisms—Old & New, defining it as "the common [gaol](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaol?utmcampaign=newsletter&utmmedium=email&utmsource=wotd&utmcontent=didyouknow) or prison." Farmer also made mention of a verb calaboose, meaning "to imprison," but that term was apparently lost in the years between then and now. Calaboose is Spanish in origin; it's from the Spanish word calabozo, meaning "dungeon."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 10, 2017 is: ascetic \uh-SET-ik\ adjective

1 : practicing strict [self-denial](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-denial) as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline

2 : [austere](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/austere) in appearance, manner, or attitude

Examples:

The monks have taken a vow of poverty and maintain an ascetic lifestyle within the walls of the monastery.

"His house has no modern conveniences, and the clinic he soon goes to, staffed by slim women with light-colored eyebrows, is similarly ascetic." — Glenn Kenny, The Kansas City Star, 8 Dec. 2016

Did you know?

Ascetic comes from askētikos, a Greek adjective meaning "laborious." Ultimately, it comes from the Greek verb askein, which means "to exercise" or "to work." There aren't many other English words from askein, but there's no dearth of synonyms for ascetic. [Severe](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/severe) and [austere](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/austere), for example, are two words that share with ascetic the basic meaning "given to or marked by strict discipline and firm restraint." Ascetic implies abstention from pleasure, comfort, and self-indulgence as spiritual discipline, whereas severe implies standards enforced without indulgence or laxity and may suggest harshness (as in "severe military discipline"). Austere stresses absence of warmth, color, or feeling and may apply to rigorous restraint, simplicity, or self-denial (as in "living an austere life in the country").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 9, 2017 is: squinny \SKWIN-ee\ verb

: to look or peer with eyes partly closed : [squint](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squint#h2)

Examples:

"Larkin had sat in the same place, squinnying at the little house, feeling anxious." — Andrew Motion, Granta, Autumn 1992

"EV Crowe's new play, The Sewing Group, is a sly thing. It begins in Shaker-like simplicity. Three women in long black dresses stitch in a plain wooden room. Two of them squinny with suspicion at the third." — Susannah Clapp, The Guardian (UK), 20 Nov. 2016

Did you know?

"I remember thine eyes well enough. Dost thou squiny at me?" So asks Shakespeare's mad King Lear of blind Gloucester, marking the first known use of the verb squinny. It is likely that Shakespeare formed the word from an earlier English word squin, meaning "with the eye directed to one side." Shakespeare also uses the more familiar squint in King Lear: "This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet.… He gives the web and the pin, / squints the eye … mildews the white wheat, / and hurts the poor creature of earth." Although this is not the first known use of the verb squint, it is the first known use of the verb's [transitive](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transitive) sense.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 8, 2017 is: penchant \PEN-chunt\ noun

: a strong and continued inclination; broadly : [liking](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liking)

Examples:

"The irony is that acting young kept me out of trouble, giving me a sense of focus and purpose. I had a penchant for adventure." — Juliette Lewis, quoted in The Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2015

"Among the many school-year rituals, none stands out in my mind more than picture day.… Ever eager to look my best, I had a penchant for trying something different with my hair—with less-than-stellar results." — Becky Kover, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, 4 Aug. 2014

Did you know?

Like its synonyms [leaning](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leaning), [propensity](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propensity), and [proclivity](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proclivity), penchant implies a strong instinct or liking for something. But these four words, while similar, are also distinguished by subtle differences. Leaning usually suggests a liking or attraction not strong enough to be decisive or uncontrollable ("a student with artistic leanings"), whereas propensity tends to imply a deeply ingrained and usually irresistible inclination ("a propensity to offer advice"). Proclivity frequently suggests a strong, natural proneness to something objectionable or evil ("a proclivity for violence"). Penchant, a descendant of Latin pendere (meaning "to weigh"), typically implies a strongly marked taste in the person ("a penchant for jazz music") or an irresistible attraction in the object ("a penchant for taking risks").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 7, 2017 is: incoherent \in-koh-HEER-unt\ adjective

: lacking [coherence](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherence): such as

a : lacking [cohesion](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohesion) : [loose](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loose)

b : lacking orderly continuity, arrangement, or relevance : [inconsistent](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inconsistent)

c : lacking normal clarity or intelligibility in speech or thought

Examples:

I found myself unable to follow the movie's rambling and incoherent plot.

"All it really says is that people are expressing profound unease, even if they have incoherent or contradictory senses of why…." — Nitsuh Abebe, The New York Times Magazine, 18 Apr. 2017

Did you know?

Something that is coherent holds or sticks together firmly, with resistance to separation (that is, it [coheres](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cohere)). [Coherent](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coherent), ultimately from the Latin co- ("together") and haerēre ("to stick or cling"), entered English in the 16th century and almost from the beginning was used both of physical things ("coherent stone") and of things which hold together in a much less palpable way ("coherent thoughts"). Its antonym, incoherent, entered the language some decades later. Like coherent, incoherent can be applied to both the tangible and the intangible. But, whether we are speaking of sand or logic, all things incoherent have one thing in common: they do not hold together, literally or figuratively, in a unified or intelligible whole.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 6, 2017 is: catercorner \KAT-ee-kor-ner\ adverb or adjective

: in a diagonal or [oblique](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oblique) position : [kitty-corner](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kitty-corner)

Examples:

The elaborate water fountain is catercorner to the building's entrance, so it's the first thing you see when you enter the foyer.

"A few doors down (near the sushi place in the same strip mall, catercorner from the spiral-cut ham shop) we stopped briefly at Euro Market." — Bruce Dorries, The News Leader (Staunton, VA), 4 Feb. 2017

Did you know?

Catercorner also has the variants kitty-corner and catty-corner, but despite appearances, no cats were involved in the creation of this word. Cater derives from the Middle French noun quatre (or catre), which means "four." English speakers adopted the word to refer to the four-dotted side of a die—a side important in several winning combinations in dice games. Perhaps because the four spots on a die can suggest an X, cater eventually came to be used dialectically with the meaning "diagonal" or "diagonally." This cater was combined with corner to form catercorner.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 5, 2017 is: adumbrate \AD-um-brayt\ verb

1 : to foreshadow vaguely : [intimate](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intimate)

2 : to suggest, disclose, or outline partially

3 : [overshadow](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overshadow), [obscure](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obscure#h2)

Examples:

"The opening scenes not only set forth the locale, the leading characters, and the first stage of the plot, but also adumbrate everything to come." — Richard Alleva, The Commonweal, 11 Sept. 2015

"His temper and tendency to violence, adumbrated in the first part of the book, lead not only to his decline as a journalist but also his inability to maintain relationships with the various women he encounters." — Gerald Early, The Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2015

Did you know?

You aren't likely to find adumbrate in children's stories or on the sports pages. That's not because this shady word is somehow off-color, but rather because it tends to show up most often in academic or political writing. In fact, some usage commentators find it too hard for "ordinary" use (although they are hard-pressed to define "ordinary"). Art and literary critics have long found it useful, and it's a definite candidate for those oft-published "lists of words you should know" (especially for vocabulary tests). You might remember adumbrate better if you know that it developed from the Latin verb adumbrare, which in turn comes from umbra, the Latin word for "shadow." To adumbrate, then, is to offer a shadowy view of something.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 4, 2017 is: redoubt \rih-DOUT\ noun

1 a : a small usually temporary enclosed defensive work

b : a defended position : protective barrier

2 : a secure retreat : [stronghold](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stronghold)

Examples:

From his redoubt on the ninth floor, the fugitive could see the line of police cars that had surrounded the building.

"Near Moore's home were the remains of the old earth walls of Fort Marcy built by Zachary Taylor's soldiers in 1845. These were dirt embankments, or redoubts, but there really was no 'fort' except on paper." — Murphy Givens, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 15 Mar. 2017

Did you know?

Based on its spelling, you might think that redoubt shares its origin with words such as [doubt](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doubt) and [redoubtable](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redoubtable), both of which derive from the Latin verb dubitare, meaning "to be in doubt." But that's not the case. Redoubt actually derives via the French redoute and the Italian ridotto from a different Latin verb—reducere, meaning "to lead back," the same root that gives us [reduce](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reduce). How that b ended up in redoubt is a lingering question, but some etymologists have posited that the word might have been conflated with another redoubt—a now-archaic transitive verb meaning "to regard with awe, dismay, or dread." Unlike its homographic twin, that redoubt does derive from the same root as doubt and redoubtable.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 3, 2017 is: oracular \aw-RAK-yuh-ler\ adjective

1 : resembling an [oracle](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oracle) (as in solemnity of delivery)

2 : of, relating to, or being an oracle

Examples:

"Wheeler had Bohr's rounded brow and soft features, as well as his way of speaking about physics in oracular undertones." — James Gleick, Genius: The Life & Science of Richard Feynman, 1992

"The New York Public Library's Live From the NYPL series continues with a conversation between Ms. Atwood—the prolific and oracular novelist whose latest book, 'Hag-Seed,' reimagines Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'—and Ms. Shaw, the actress and director." — Jack Williams and Joshua Barone, The New York Times, 14 Oct. 2016

Did you know?

When the ancient Greeks had questions or problems, they would turn to the gods for answers by consulting an oracle. The word oracle has several meanings. It can refer to the god's answer, to the shrine that worshippers approached when seeking advice, or to the person through whom the god communicated, usually in the form of cryptic verse. The words oracular and oracle trace back to the Latin verb orare, which means "to speak." Today, oracle can simply mean an authoritative pronouncement or a person who makes such pronouncements—for example, "a designer who is an oracle of fashion." The related adjective oracular is used in similar contexts: "a designer who is the oracular voice of fashion."