Word of the Day
amphigory
[ am-fi-gawr-ee ]
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noun
a meaningless or nonsensical piece of writing
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Why Dictionary.com chose amphigory
More about amphigory
- First recorded in 1800鈥�10.
- From the French amphigouri; combines amphi-, a prefix meaning 鈥渢wo, both sides,” + gouri, possibly from the Greek 驳没谤辞蝉, meaning “circle,” or 补驳辞谤铆补, meaning “speech.”
EXAMPLES OF AMPHIGORY
- My essay devolved into an amphigory as I ran out of ideas.
- His argument tries to maintain clarity, though it strays at moments into amphigory.
SYNONYM OF THE DAY
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pelagic
[ puh-laj-ik ]
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adjective
of or relating to the seas and oceans
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Why Dictionary.com chose pelagic
More about pelagic
- First recorded in 1650鈥�60.
- Combines the Greek root 辫茅濒补驳辞蝉, “the sea,” + suffix -颈肠虏.
EXAMPLES OF PELAGIC
- The study revealed how some pelagic ecosystems are affected by plastic waste.
- The whale is a pelagic mammal, spending most of its life far from the coast.
quoin
[ koin ]
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verb
to secure or raise with a wedge, keystone, or cornerstone
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Why Dictionary.com chose quoin
More about quoin
- First recorded in 1525鈥�35 as a noun meaning “the outer angle of a wall.”
- From Middle French coin, meaning “wedge;” related to 肠辞颈苍鹿 for the wedge-shaped tool used anciently to strike images onto coins.
EXAMPLES OF QUOIN
- To quoin the gazebo and make it level, the workers used planks and other pieces of scrap wood.
- The centerpiece of the garden was the stone archway that the designer quoined with an intricately carved keystone.
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