multifarious \muhl-tuh-FAIR-ee-uhs\ (adjective) - Having great diversity or variety; of various kinds; diversified.

"Others will follow, others will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongruous and independent denizens." -- Robert Louis Stevenson, 'The ...Read more

acumen \AE-kyu-mehn\ (noun) - Sharpness of perception, keenness of mind, precise insightfulness.

"Kay is not only intelligent and well-educated; her acumen leads us through the murkiest problems quickly and surely."

Today's word comes from Latin acumen "acuteness, keenness" from acuere "to sharpen," akin to acus "needle." The past ...Read more

manse \MAN(T)S\ (noun) - 1 : A large and imposing residence. 2 : The residence of a clergyman (especially a Presbyterian clergyman).

"That Carmela was a certified divorcee was one of many facts about her which failed to fit, along with her still living with her adopted daughter in her eerie gothic Victorian manse."

Manse comes from Medieval ...Read more

spoliation \spo-lee-AY-shun\ (noun) - 1 : The act of pillaging and plundering. 2 : Seizure of neutral ships at sea in time of war. 3 : The deliberate destruction or alteration of a document.

"Before the company's acquisition and inevitable subsequent downsizing were even officially announced the spoliation had commenced, with nary a wheeled ...Read more

victual \VIT-ehl\ (noun) - Human food; (Plural) food and provisions

"Carrie was quick to point out that they had enough victuals in the house to live for three months without leaving it."

From Old French vitaille (also vitale), the normal descendent of Late Latin victualia, the neuter plural of victualis "food, sustenance." In Middle ...Read more

natter \NAE-dehr\ (verb) - 1 : To nag, grumble, complain (mostly Scotland and Northern England); 2 : to chatter mindlessly.

"Whenever Angela gets lonely she comes over to natter the afternoon away with me over tea."

It may be a variant of dialectal gnatter "to nibble, chatter" or it may be a blend of "nag" and "chatter," no one knows for ...Read more

catercorner \KAE-deh(r)-kor-nehr or teh(r)\ (adverb) - Located diagonally across from something else.

"Jason is the sort whose thinking runs absolutely catercorner to everyone else's."

Archaic cater "four" + corner. "Cater" is from Old French catre (today quatre) "four," the historical reflex of Latin "quattuor." The Proto-Indo-European ...Read more

albatross \AL-buh-tros\ (noun) plural albatross or albatrosses - 1 : Any of several large, web-footed birds constituting the family Diomedeidae, chiefly of the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, and having a hooked beak and long, narrow wings. 2 : A constant, worrisome burden. An obstacle to success.

"Getting the albatross that is Jacobs off of...Read more

kibosh \KI-bahsh or ki-BAHSH\ (noun) - 1 : (Slang) A restraining element; something that stops or halts something else. 2 : (Slang) Nonsense; palaver.

"Jasmine had an idea for a weekend getaway, but her husband's plans to go fishing put the kibosh on her scheme."

Etymology is unsettled, but probably not from Yiddish or Anglo-Hebrew "kye b(...Read more

bootless \BOOT-lis\ (adjective) - Unavailing; useless; without advantage or benefit.

"I have seen a swan
With bootless labour swim against the tide."
-- Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III

Bootless is from Old English bot, "advantage, profit" + -less, from Old English from leas, "without."

martinet \mar-tehn-ET\ (noun) - An unreasonably harsh and unyielding disciplinarian; an extreme stickler for detail and form.

"Elliot is such a martinet in the office you could cut the tension with a knife."

The eponym of today's word is Jean Martinet, 17th century French army officer and Inspector-General of the Infantry under Louis XIV. ...Read more

Falstaffian \fohl-STA-fee-ehn\ (adjective) - Characterized by joviality and conviviality.

"Colton's bushy beard, boisterous manner, and overall Falstaffian personality endeared him to as many people as it put off."

A large word for a large personality, today's word comes after Sir John Falstaff, a fictional character who appears in three ...Read more

Neanderthal \nee-AN-duhr-thol\ (adjective) also Neandertal - 1 : Of, or pertaining to Neanderthal man, a member of an extinct subspecies of Homo sapiens who lived in caves in Europe and the Mediterranean 100,000 to 30,000 years ago. 2 : Boorish, uncivilized.

(noun) - 1 : Neanderthal man. 2 : An unenlightened or uncouth man.

"Jimmy ...Read more

glower \GLA-wehr\ (verb) - To stare menacingly.

"You don't have to glower like that just because I smashed the chocolate mousse onto your new white shirt"

Middle English gloren, possibly from Norwegian dialect glyra "to look askance." It is less likely a blend of glare + scour "search" (ME glaren + scuren). In the motion picture world ...Read more

traduce \truh-DOOS; -DYOOS\ (transitive verb) - To expose to contempt or shame by means of false statements or misrepresentation; to represent as blamable; to vilify.

"In his idle moments, Henry would wonder whether those who traduce today's television had any conception just how much of it was actually worth watching even for those with ...Read more

futilitarian \fyoo-til-i-TAR-ee-uhn\ (adjective) - Holding the belief that human striving is useless. (noun) One who holds such belief.

"While management had promised an all-out effort to improve profits, everyone in the office seemed to have adopted a futilitarian attitude."

Blend of futile and utilitarian.

zany \ZAY-nee\ (adjective) - Amusingly strange, comical, or clownish.

"The annual variety show, designed for children in kindergarten through the sixth grade, is full of zany illusions, silly jokes, and features plenty of audience participation."

From French zani, from Italian zanni, a nickname for Giovanni.

digamy \DI-deh-mi\ (noun) - A second marriage after a divorce or the passing of a spouse, deuterogamy.

"All my friends become digamous so fast, it is difficult to say that that none are bigamous."

Bigamy is marriage to two spouses simultaneously; digamy is marriage to two spouses in succession. Polygamy is marriage to several partners ...Read more

piebald \PI-bald\ (adjective) - Having patches of different colors, particularly black and white spots. Used most frequently in reference to animals.

"We have such a piebald array of attitudes on our team, it is difficult to complete tasks on time."

From "pie," a derivative of Latin pica "magpie" + "bald" from "balled" in the sense of having ...Read more

"I just commented to my husband," writes Bobbie Lehigh of Edwards, N.Y., "that it seems quite quiet here on the Oswegatchie River this afternoon. Hmmm ... 'quite quiet.' There must be other words that have the same letters and like to sit side by side. Do you know of others? And what are they called?"

"All Quiet on the Oswegatchie" -- sounds ...Read more