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Nov 14, 2019
This week’s theme
Misc. words

This week’s words
froward
listless
indolent
matronly
valorous

matronly
Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, 1993
Photo: IMDb

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

matronly

PRONUNCIATION:
(MAY-truhn-lee)

MEANING:
adjective:
1. Stately; dignified.
2. Characteristic of a mature, plump, unfashionable woman.

ETYMOLOGY:
From matron (a married woman; a woman in charge), from Latin matrona (married woman, wife), from mater (mother). Ultimately from the Indo-European root mater (mother), which also gave us mother, material, matter, matrix, and matrimony. Earliest documented use: 1590.

USAGE:
“She had grown somewhat stouter of late, and her movements were already a little matronly, a little indolent.”
Anton Chekhov (translation: Constance Garnett); The Darling and Other Stories; Macmillan; 1916.

See more usage examples of matronly in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed, and love of power. -P.J. O'Rourke, writer (b. 14 Nov 1947)

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