Interstitial is an adjective that means occurring during an interval or between spaces.

The Latin word interstitium (een tear STEET ee um) means ‘interval.’ Anything interstitial takes place during an interval.

I enjoyed the bands that performed at the festival last week, but I enjoyed the interstitial music played over the loudspeakers even more. Sometimes music played between bands can upstage the bands themselves.

Neologism is a noun that refers to a newly coined word.

Our word of the day combines the Greek prefix N-E-O for ‘new’ and the suffix L-O-G-O for ‘word.’ Neologism itself is not a particularly new word. It’s been around since the early 19th century.

It’s always interesting to keep up with neologisms. The addition of new words to any language fascinates me.

Verklempt is an adjective that means overcome with emotion.

Our word of the day comes from the Yiddish word for ‘depressed’ or ‘grieving,’ but later came to be used in more prosaic contexts, like in reference to a person who is ‘choked up’ in the moment.

It was difficult for Detective Jones to get information from the witness because of how verklempt she was at the time. She was so choked up, the words just didn’t come.

Cutaneous is an adjective that means related to the skin.

The Latin word cutis (KOO tis) means ‘skin.’ Our word of the day is often used in a medical context.

The patient suffered from cutaneous injuries, but we are confident that damage done to her skin can be healed.

Abecedarian is a noun that refers to someone who is beginning to learn something.

Our word of the day’s origin comes literally from the ABCs. It was initially used to refer to people learning the alphabet, so its first six letters are a loose approximation of A-B-C-D-E.

When it comes to bowling, Erica was an abecedarian, so I was patient with her unimpressive first few outings at the sport. After all, someone just learning the basics can’t be expected to perform well right away.

Rictus is a noun that refers to a gaping mouth.

Our word of the day comes directly from Latin where it is translated into ‘open mouth.’ A person’s rictus refers to their mouth made wide open, usually in disgust or horror.

I didn’t know what had happened before I entered the room, but I could tell by Leslie’s rictus that something horrific had taken place. The grimace on her face made me shiver.

Firebrand is a noun that refers to one who agitates in support of a cause.

Our word of the day began in the 13th century as a term for a type — or ‘brand’ — of wood that was used to start or maintain fires. By the 14th century it had become used to refer to agitators for a cause.

My grandmother was a firebrand for equal rights in her day. She would give passionate speeches in support of her causes.

Inure is a verb that means to become accustomed to something unpleasant.

Our word of the day’s origin is from the Latin word opera (OH per uh) which means ‘work.’ From there it evolved into a word that means ‘to become accustomed to.’

Inure is generally used with a subject, meaning we usually become inured to something, as in:

I didn’t like coming in at six and working until two in the morning, but after all those years of working the graveyard shift at the convenience store, I had become inured to working late hours.

Exfiltrate is a verb that means to withdraw people from a dangerous position.

Our word of the day could be thought of as the opposite of ‘infiltrate,’ a word of Latin origin that means to secretly place people in an organization. To exfiltrate people means to secretly remove them. Both exfiltrate and infiltrate are often used in reference to spies or militaries.

After learning it was no longer safe for their operatives to be a part of the underground group, the FBI attempted to exfiltrate them from the scene. In cases like this it is always best to simply remove people at risk.

Hubris is a noun that refers to excessive pride or self-confidence.

Our word of the day comes from the Ancient Greeks and began to appear is English around the late 19th and early 20th century. The word may be used to refer to the excessive self-confidence of an individual or a group of individuals, for example: We had a number of great players on our high school team. But our collective hubris made us overly confident and we were beaten in the finals.