Today’s word of the day is knavery, K-N-A-V-E-R-Y. Knavery is a noun that means a roguish or mischievous act.

If you’re familiar with Shakespeare, you’ve heard many people referred to as a knave. You may have noticed that the word is never intended as a compliment. This word of Middle English descent is a synonym of such unflattering terms as ‘scoundrel’ or ‘rascal.’ 

As a junior high teacher, I’ve witnessed a great deal of knavery over the years. The worst involved a prank that left my clothes full of ink.

The spelled of knavery is K-N-A-V-E-R-Y. 

Today’s word of the day selcouth. It’s spelled S-E-L-C-O-U-T-H. Selcouth is an adjective that means unusual, strange.

Selcouth is derived from an Old English combination of words that meant ‘seldom’ and ‘known.’ So our word of the day can simply mean that something is strange as in unfamiliar or it can refer to something or someone that is downright weird. For example: That jacket Harry wore yesterday was selcouth. I’d never seen him wear anything like that before.

Once again, selcouth is spelled S-E-L-C-O-U-T-H. 

Today’s word of the day is pleonasm, P-L-E-O-N-A-S-M. Pleonasm is a noun that means the excessive use of words.

Our word of the day began in Ancient Greece. The word pleonasmós (play on ESS moss) meant “I am superfluous.” Today pleonasm refers to a needlessly wordy use of words. 

When my English teacher told me I shouldn’t waste time being verbose and excessive and redundant while writing passages that were much more wordy than necessary, he seemed to be providing exactly the kind of pleonasm he was warning me against using.

Pleonasm is spelled P-L-E-O-N-A-S-M. 

Today’s word of the day is sibylline. It’s spelled S-I-B-Y-L-L-I-NE. Sibylline is an adjective that means mysterious.

History buffs may recall a figure known as the Cumaean Sybil, a priestess who presided over the Appollonian oracle at a Greek colony. Her reputedly divine powers have been preserved in Greek and Roman Legend.

The priestesses’ name comes from the Greek Sybilla (SEE bee la) which means prophetess. But a contemporary figure doesn’t need telepathic powers to earn it. Simply being mysterious is enough. Nobody really understood Mindy. She was just this odd sibylline figure in a black cape and a purple wig.

Once again, sibylline is spelled S-I-B-Y-L-L-I-N-E. 

Today’s word of the day is adust, A-D-U-S-T. Adust is an adjective that means scorched or burned.

Adustus (AHH doos toos) is the Latin word for scorched. It has traditionally been used in a medical context, but may also be used to describe an item that has been burned. After the fire, our favorite shade tree was adust. It saddened me to see something so lovely reduced to a charred piece of wood.

Adust is spelled A-D-U-S-T. 

Today’s word of the day is lucubration. It’s spelled L-U-C-U-B-R-A-T-I-O-N. Lucubration is a noun that means laborious or intensive study.

The Latin word Lucubro (loo COO bro) means ‘to study by lamplight or candle light.’ Although our word of the day’s meaning has broadened since its original definition, the image of someone intently studying in the late night hours is a good one to help understand lucubration’s best usage. 

It took weeks of lucubration to devise the perfect plan, but I think we’ve finally gotten it. It feels to great to have such hard work pay off.

Once again, lucubration is spelled L-U-C-U-B-R-A-T-I-O-N. 

Today’s word of the day is giant, R-I-A-N-T. Riant is an adjective that means cheerful or happy. 

Riant comes directly from France where it means ‘laughing.’ The word happy may refer to a long-term condition as in ‘he lived a happy life’ or it may simply mean laughing or mirthful at a particular time. 

Riant is best used to refer to the latter, as in: In spite of her current problems, Shelly seemed pretty riant. It looked as though she was laughing through the pain.

Riant is spelled RIANT. 

Today’s word of the day is gallinaceous. It’s spelled G-A-L-L-I-N-A-C-E-O-U-S. Gallinaceous is an adjective that means related to or resembling turkeys, chicken or other domestic fowl.

The Latin word gallina (guh LEE nah) refers to a hen, but gallinaceous may refer to any poultry. The word can be a fun way to describe a person unfortunate enough to resemble a turkey or chicken. For example: That sweater gives Fred a gallinaceous look. Maybe its the low opening that exaggerates the length of his neck.

Once again, the spelling of gallinaceous is G-A-L-L-I-N-A-C-E-O-U-S. 

Today's word of the day is etiolate, E-T-I-O-L-A-T-E. Etiolate is a verb that means to drain or make weak.

The French have generously donated the word etiolator (ay tee oh LAY) to our language. it has since undergone renovation to become etiolate. It means 'to make pale.' But to understand our word of the day's proper use, it would help to recall that when something is made pale, it has blood drained from it. 

Working at the zoo may be a rewarding job, but it can etiolate you. By the end of the day, you may be exhausted to the point where you never want to see another pelican again.

Once again, the spelling of etiolate is E-T-I-O-L-A-T-E. 

Today's word of the day is iconoclast. It's spelled I-C-O-N-O-C-L-A-S-T. Iconoclast is a noun that means a person who attacks settled customs or institutions.

You may you know the icon as referring to an object or person of uncritical devotion. It came from the Ancient Greek eikon (ee KON ahh) to mean a religious symbol or image. With the addition of 'cast,’ we get 'image breaker,' a good metaphor to help us understand our word of the day's meaning.

Salvador Dali is regarded as a great iconoclast of art. His groundbreaking images radically changed everything we thought we knew about painting.

Once again, iconoclast is spelled I-C-O-N-O-C-L-A-S-T.