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Jul 3, 2013
This week's theme
Words to describe people

This week's words
mumpsimus
fustilarian
hobbledehoy
makebate
bellygod

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

hobbledehoy

PRONUNCIATION:
(HOB-uhl-dee-hoy)

MEANING:
noun: An awkward young fellow.

ETYMOLOGY:
Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1540.

USAGE:
"Burleigh's breathless accounts of the many figures of the British peerage in the story read as though written by some overawed hobbledehoy, someone who fingers the noblemen's lamé draperies in envious amazement and wonders how much they would go for at Wal-Mart."
Simon Winchester; 'The Nation's Attic'; The Boston Globe; Jan 11, 2004.

See more usage examples of hobbledehoy in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Men are the devils of the earth and the animals are its tormented souls. -Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher (1788-1860)

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