Bromidic is an adjective that means commonplace or trite.

The chemical bromide’s etymology is of unknown origin, but we do know that bromide is a sedative used medicinally. When used metaphorically, something bromidic may not actually put you to sleep, but it may bore you — as trite, cliche things often do.

Our coach loved to deliver these bromidic speeches consisting of tedious cliches. Far from inspiring us, those speeches just bored us.

Osmotic is an adjective that means having the properties of osmosis (a gradual assimilation of knowledge).

The Greek word Omos (OSE mose) means ‘thrusting’ or ‘pushing.’ You could say that when something osmotic is taking place, it is being thrust or pushed in some sense or other. When the word is used in a medical sense, it refers to something being pushed through a membrane. But used in an everyday context, an osmotic process may simply be something effortlessly or unconsciously assimilated, for example: Cheryl never took a music lesson. But there is something osmotic about the way she learned to play the violin as a result of growing up in a musical family.

Actuate is a verb that means to put into action or motion.

The Latin word actus (OCK toos) meaning ‘a doing’ is parent to many English words including act, actor, actual and activate, a word similar to our word of the day. It’s often used to describe the act of putting machinery into motion.

I think the copy machine is broken. When I tried to actuate it, it didn’t do anything.

Catchpenny is an that means using sensationalism for appeal.

First coined in the 18th century, catchpenny may be best understood as a synonym of sensationalistic. For example: My grandfather was an writer of catchpenny biographies. His books were poorly researched and not very skillfully written, but they made money because of the popular subjects.

Nephalism is a noun that refers to the total abstinence from alcohol.

The Greek word nēphein (NEF fine) means ‘drink no wine.’ From this beginning our word of the day was born.

All of the free drinks on the cruise will make it difficult to maintain nephalism. I’m not sure I can make it eleven days without a drop of alcohol.

Ben Trovato is an adjective that means characteristic and appropriate even if untrue.

Ben Trovato comes directly from Italian where its words mean ‘well found.’

The fact that the accusations against Carl were Ben Trovato made no difference in the courtroom. That they accurately summed him up didn’t change the fact that they weren’t strictly true.

Effrontery is a noun that means insolent and impertinent behavior.

Our word of the day is derived from the Latin word frons (fronce) which means ‘brow’ or ‘forehead’ combined with the prefix E-F, meaning ‘without.’ If this seems like an unlikely origin of a word for insolent behavior, keep in mind that the Romans thought of the brow as the seat of a person’s modesty much in the same we think of the heart as the seat of a person’s love life. So effrons (EE Fronce) meant ‘without shame.’

I can’t the effrontery Erica’s children showed in front of her. I hate to think how my mother would have reacted if me or my sister behaved that way.

Cutpurse is a noun that refers to a pickpocket.

A combination of the English words ‘cut’ and ‘purse,’ our word of the day has been around since the 14th century. Its origin refers to the practice of stealing by cutting purses suspended from a waistband. But the term may be used to describe any pickpocket — regardless of their method of thievery.

I was victimized by a cutpurse at the fair last summer. Prior to that I had always assumed by wallet was safe in public.

Piecemeal is an adjective that means one at a time or gradually.

At first glance our word of the day may seem to be simply a combination of the words ‘piece’ and ‘meal.’ But its origin is a little more complicated than that.

The word’s second syllable — meal — has nothing to do with ‘food consumed on regular occasions,’ but the similarity stems from their Old English origin, meaning taken one at a time.’

It took several operations, but gradually, the surgeon removed every remnant of metal from the patient’s leg.

Gerent is a noun that means one who rules or manages.

The Latin gerere (Jair RAY ray) means ‘to carry’ or ‘bear,’ most likely used in a military sense initially. Today a gerent is someone who rules or manages, be it in the military or otherwise.

In sandlot football, I was the gerent of my team. I called the plays, assigned the positions and took all the credit when our team won.