Esculent is an adjective that means fit to be eaten.

Our word of the day has evolved from the Latin word esca (ACE cuh) which means ‘food.’ It is a synonym of edible, and may describe anything that may be eaten.

After eight hours of toiling away at the cattle ranch, I was hungry enough to ingest anything that could have been eaten. If you had convinced me that the living room sofa was esculent, I would have gobbled it up immediately.

Welter is a noun that refers to a jumble or a confused mess.

Coming from Middle English, our word of the day can be used a couple of ways. In addition to its main definition of a large supply of objects, it may also refer to a general state of disorder. Here’s an example of the later:

Once the donuts were gone, the meeting had become a welter. I’d never before seen things get that ugly, but I suppose this is what happens when people get hungry.

Kvell is a verb that means to be happy and proud.

Our word of the day comes almost directly from Yiddish and is mostly used in informal contexts. Example: Brad isn’t a man typically given to expressing his joy. So it was deeply amusing to see him unabashedly kvell when his daughter graduated with honors.

Philippic is a noun that refers to a bitter attack or denunciation.

Our word of the day has its origin in ancient Greece, namely when a Greek orator made a series of fiery speeches against Philip the second of Macedon. Centuries later, the word Philippic entered the English language as reference to any passionate tirade.

Sandy’s philippic against management caught everyone at the office off guard. Nobody knew she had such rage and bitterness in her.

Plethoric is an adjective that means inflated or overfull.

Coming almost directly from a Greek word that means ‘fullness,’ plethora is a noun that refers to ‘a large or excessive amount of something.’ Our word of the day is the adjective variation, used to describe things that are excessively filled.

Example: At first I was excited by the plethoric supply of Snickers bars we took with us on our hike. But after lugging those overfull backpacks around for two hours, I felt we had way too much.

Adulatory is an adjective that means excessive praising or admiring.

The Latin word adulari (ad you LARE ay) means ‘fawning’ or ‘flattering.’ To adulate is to praise someone excessively. Our word of the day is the adjective variation. An example of its use is: I understand the need to make our supervisor feel comfortable, but Tanya’s adulatory tone simply embarrassed me. She made it seem as though her boss was incapable of doing any wrong.

Jabberwocky is a noun that refers to meaningless language.

A poem by Lewis Carroll called Through the Looking Glass gave birth to our word of the day in 1871. This whimsical poem referred to a frightful beast called a jabberwock. Since then, jabberwocky has been a permanent fixture in the English vernacular, often used to describe made-up, invented words that have no particular meaning — like jabberwocky.

Andrea was a skilled mayor in all areas except one. She lacked the ability to extricate herself from unpleasant questions by making up language. Had she been more talented at the art of jabberwocky she would have remained in office for life.

Susurration is a noun that refers to a soft murmur or whisper.

Our word of the day comes from the Latin word susurrare (soo soo RARE ay) which means ‘to murmur or hum.’ A susurration typically refers to a whisper or murmur coming from a person, but it can also come from other objects. For example: As night fell, a soft susurration rose from the weeds outside. It almost seems the night was calling my name.

Finagle is a verb that means to obtain something by devious means.

Our word of the day was birthed in the 1920s, possibly related to the word ‘fiddle.’ It is mostly used in informal contexts. For example: As a highly ambitious young man, Frank was determined to get what he wanted in life — ethically or otherwise. Whatever he couldn’t earn, he aimed to finagle.

Dermic is an adjective that means related to the skin.

The Greek word derma (DER muh) means ‘skin.’ It’s related to English words like dermatological. Our word of the day may describe anything related to skin. For example: this horrible weather has given my skin a leathery feel. I haven’t had this many dermic problems since high school.