A.Word.A.Day Archives from https://wordsmith.org/awad -------- Date: Mon Mar 2 12:01:01 AM EST 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--incubous X-Bonus: Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. -Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator (2 Mar 1904-1991) One letter slips, and the meaning cartwheels into a different field entirely. Last week https://wordsmith.org/words/mucid.html we began with words that transform with a single keystroke. We closed the week on Fri with the oppressive weight of the incubus https://wordsmith.org/words/incubus.html . Today, we change the word by one letter and find ourselves in a much more peaceful place. incubous (IN-kyuh-buhs) adjective Arranged so that each part overlaps the one above it (the reverse of how roof shingles are laid). [From Latin incubare (to lie upon), from in- (upon) + cubare (to lie). Earliest documented use: 1857.] NOTES: If incubus has his counterpart succubus, sure enough incubous has succubous. The words are often used to describe the arrangement of leaves on a stem, in particular in liverwort plants. If you laid your roof shingles in an incubous fashion, your house wouldn't be haunted by demons, but it would definitely be haunted by a very large water damage repair bill In botany, no demons. Just polite leaves deciding who tucks under whom. Same Latin root, vastly better manners. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/incubous_large.jpg Illustration: Lorie Hetrick https://mossesofmissouri.com/liverworts/ "Her eyes rounded. 'The much-travelled, oft-published naturalist fails to recognize _Bazzania trilobata_ from its incubous leaf arrangement? Oh, my goodness. To whom can a poor country girl turn for reliable botanical guidance?" Avi Sirlin; The Evolutionist: The Strange Tale of Alfred Russel Wallace; Aurora Metro Books; 2014. -------- Date: Tue Mar 3 12:01:02 AM EST 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--morose X-Bonus: Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. -Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (3 Mar 1847-1922) This week's theme: Words one letter apart morose (muh-ROHS) adjective Gloomy, sullen, or sour-tempered. [From Latin morosus (peevish), from mos (manner, will). Earliest documented use: 1565.] NOTES: Some wear rose-colored glasses. Others go for morose-colored ones. They don't improve the view. They simply help you locate the cloud in every silver lining. "Melancholy Woman", 1902-03 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/morose_large.jpg Art: Pablo Picasso https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3APablo_Picasso%2C_1902-03%2C_Femme_assise_%28Melancholy_Woman%29%2C_oil_on_canvas%2C_100_x_69.2_cm%2C_The_Detroit_Museum_of_Art.jpg See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/morose "[Clarence W. Cole's] mood goes from merry to morose and back." Rod McQueen; 'I'm Never Going to Be Chairman'; Toronto Star (Canada); Jan 17, 2026. -------- Date: Wed Mar 4 12:01:01 AM EST 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--porose X-Bonus: Creativity -- like human life itself -- begins in darkness. We need to acknowledge this. All too often, we think only in terms of light: "And then the lightbulb went on and I got it!" It is true that insights may come to us as flashes. It is true that some of these flashes may be blinding. It is, however, also true that such bright ideas are preceded by a gestation period that is interior, murky, and completely necessary. -Julia Cameron, artist, author, teacher, filmmaker, composer, and journalist (b. 4 Mar 1948) This week's theme: Words one letter apart porose (por-OHS) adjective Having pores. [From Latin porosus, from Latin porus (pore). Earliest documented use: 1400.] NOTES: Porose lets things pass through. Morose lets nothing in. A synonym is porous. There's also morous, an obsolete cousin of morose, but we'd rather not wake a sour-tempered word from its long sleep. See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/porose Sponges in a shop in Greece https://wordsmith.org/words/images/porose_large.jpg Photo: Daniel Kulinskihttps://www.flickr.com/photos/didmyself/9085541355 "Bees most commonly harvest the concealed pollen of porose anthers by shivering their flight muscles while gripping a flower." Clarence Collison; Do You Know?; Bee Culture (Medina, Ohio); Feb 2005. -------- Date: Thu Mar 5 12:01:01 AM EST 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--perfusion X-Bonus: Sometimes they seem like living shapes, / The people of the sky, / Guests in white raiment coming down / From heaven, which is close by. -Lucy Larcom, teacher and author (5 Mar 1824-1893) This week's theme: Words one letter apart perfusion (puhr-FYOO-zhuhn) noun 1. The spreading of a liquid, color, light, aroma, etc. 2. The passage of a fluid through an organ or tissue, for example, to supply nutrients or oxygen. [From Latin perfundere (to drench), from per- (through) + fundere (to pour). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gheu- (to pour), which is also the source of funnel, font, fuse, diffuse, gust, gush, geyser, and infundibuliform http://wordsmith.org/words/infundibuliform.html . Earliest documented use: 1574.] "Norham Castle, Sunrise", 1845 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/perfusion_large.jpg Art: J.M.W. Turner https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Mallord_William_Turner_-_Norham_Castle,_Sunrise_-_WGA23182.jpg See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/perfusion "Meanwhile, eGenesis has approval for a trial of a pig-liver perfusion system. Unlike a full transplant, this keeps the organ outside the patient's body, although hooked up to his circulatory system. With help from an organ-preserving device developed by OrganOx, a spin-out from the University of Oxford, the hope is that the pig liver can keep the patient alive until a human organ is ready." A New Lease of Life; The Economist (London, UK); Nov 1, 2025. -------- Date: Fri Mar 6 12:01:02 AM EST 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--profusion X-Bonus: Beauty is the purgation of superfluities. -Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, and poet (6 Mar 1475-1564) This week's theme: Words one letter apart profusion (pruh-FYOO-zhuhn) noun 1. Extravagance. 2. A large quantity or abundance. [From Latin profundere (to pour forth), from pro- (forth) + fundere (to pour). Earliest documented use: 1545.] Olivia Rose Austin https://wordsmith.org/words/images/profusion_large.jpg Photo: Phyrexian/Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tremezzo_-_Villa_Carlotta_0994_(cropped).JPG See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/profusion "Olivia Rose Austin, in pale pink, flowers three times a year and although she hangs her head, her profusion is unsurpassed." Robin Lane Fox; The Balcony Scene; Financial Times (London, UK); Jun 13, 2020. -------- Date: Mon Mar 9 12:29:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--arcadia X-Bonus: Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it! -Yuri Gagarin, first human in space (9 Mar 1934-1968) As a computer science grad student, I started a little project that became Wordsmith.org. This Sat, Mar 14, it turns 32 (2^5)! Time flies when you're having fun, and apparently even faster when you're maintaining servers. I eventually traded the corporate tech labs to run Wordsmith.org full time. If you're the sort who names anniversaries, 32 years is duotricennial or duotricennary, from duo (two) + tricies (thirty times) + annus (year). Wordsmith.org has words, pages, and the occasional gremlin in the machine, but what really makes it work is you, our readers. Thank you for reading, supporting, and sharing Wordsmith all these years. I'm grateful you're here. To mark the anniversary, we're doing two things: dropping something and adding something. First, we're dropping the display ads that used to appear at the top of the email. Wordsmith.org has long been supported primarily by readers, and this felt like the right moment to simplify and keep the spotlight where it belongs: on the words. Second, we're adding a new section: puzzles and games! Starting with two: a classic jigsaw puzzle, featuring language and literature themes https://wordsmith.org/jigsaw and a brand-new game: Langitude, https://wordsmith.org/langitude where language and geography meet. And now, this week's words. To celebrate the launch of Langitude we're featuring toponyms: words derived from place names. This week we'll travel the globe without leaving our inboxes, visiting Greece, Iraq, Turkey, France, and Indonesia. If your own hometown or current city became a word in the dictionary, what would the definition be? Share on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/arcadia.html or email words@wordsmith.org. arcadia (ahr-KAY-dee-uh) noun A region that is idyllic, pastoral: simple, peaceful. [After Arcadia, a region of ancient Greece whose residents were believed to have led quiet, unsophisticated lives of peace and happiness. Earliest documented use: 1847.] NOTES: Picture shepherds playing their pipes, poets lounging under trees, and painters turning sunlight into pigment. In Arcadia, the loudest breaking news is a snapping twig. The wifi is down? The Dow is doing gymnastics? Arcadia shrugs and goes back to watching the birds. "The Arcadian or Pastoral State", 1834 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/arcadia_large.jpg Art: Thomas Cole Arcadia in modern-day Greece https://wordsmith.org/words/images/arcadia_map_large.jpg Map: Wikimedia See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Arcadia "In 2021, [Christian] Louboutin bought the 42-acre garden, an arcadia of specimen plants and statuary, sun-burnished hillsides and bosky valleys, exotic borders, waterfalls, and shell-encrusted grottoes." Sarah Medford; The Epic French Gardens That Nearly Upended Christian Louboutin's Career; The WSJ Magazine; Aug 17, 2024. -------- Date: Tue Mar 10 12:01:03 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Babylonian X-Bonus: Anyone who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid. -H.W. Fowler, lexicographer (10 Mar 1858-1933) This week's theme: Toponyms Babylonian (bab-uh-LOH-nee-uhn) adjective 1. Relating to Babylon or Babylonia. 2. Splendidly luxurious. 3. Decadent or corrupt. [After Babylon, an ancient Mesopotamian city in what is now Iraq, famed for opulence and grandeur. Babylon was the capital of Babylonia and is associated in classical accounts with the Hanging Gardens, though their historicity remains uncertain. Earliest documented use: 1534.] "Belshazzar's Feast", c. 1821 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/babylonian_large.jpg Art: John Martin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belshazzar%27s_Feast_(Martin)#/media/File:John_Martin_-_Belshazzar's_Feast_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg Babylon in Iraq (modern-day Hillah) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/babylonian_map_large.jpg See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/Babylonian "Dry numbers cannot convey the Babylonian scope of [congressman Bill Young's] works. Military bases and weapons factories rose from Florida's swamps at his command. After storms, he had the Army Corps of Engineers 'renourish' beaches with the finest white sand." Of Pensioners and Pork; The Economist (London, UK); Feb 15, 2014. -------- Date: Wed Mar 11 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--Laodiceanism X-Bonus: We are not an endangered species ourselves yet, but this is not for lack of trying. -Douglas Adams, author (11 Mar 1952-2001) This week's theme: Toponyms Laodiceanism (lay-ah-DIS-ee-uh-niz-uhm) noun Indifference or lukewarmness, especially in matters of religion or politics. [After Laodicea, a city in Asia Minor (now near Denizli, Turkey), whose Christians are rebuked in Revelation for being "lukewarm" (Rev. 3:15-16). Earliest documented use: 1774.] "The Sluggard", 1886 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/laodiceanism_large.jpg Sculpture: Frederic Leighton https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Sluggard_MET_DP-13486-086.jpg Laodicea in Turkey (near modern-day Denizli) https://wordsmith.org/words/images/laodiceanism_map_large.jpg Map: Wikimedia "The government's claim not to make windows into men's souls had an equal and opposite fault line imbedded within it from those who claimed that this policy was insufficiently godly, leaving the government open to puritan charges of Laodiceanism." Ethan H. Shagan; The English Inquisition; The Historical Journal (Cambridge, UK); Sep 2004. -------- Date: Thu Mar 12 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--gasconader X-Bonus: It is the hardest thing in the world to be in love, and yet attend to business. A gentleman asked me this morning, 'What news from Lisbon?' and I answered, 'She is exquisitely handsome.' -Richard Steele, writer and politician (12 Mar 1672-1729) This week's theme: Toponyms gasconader (gas-kuh-NAY-duhr) noun A braggart. [After Gascon, a native of the Gascony region in France, from the stereotype of Gascons as boasters. Earliest documented use: c. 1709.] NOTES: A gascon https://wordsmith.org/words/gascon.html was a braggart to begin with, which spun off the verb gasconade https://wordsmith.org/words/gasconade.html (to boast) and then we formed the noun again: gasconader (one who brags). Now we just need to wait for the verb gasconaderade to arrive. See also, roister. https://wordsmith.org/words/roister.html And speaking of boasting: Disney's Gaston may or may not be a Gascon, but he's a gascon or gasconader. Cyrano de Bergerac https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gasconader_large.jpg Illustration: Henriot Image: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6566896k/f28.item.r=henriot%20aventures%20cyrano The former region of Gascony https://wordsmith.org/words/images/gasconader_map_large.jpg Map: Wikimedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gascony#/media/File:MapOfGascony.png "The criticisms Bayor makes of Atlanta are fair (and now let him next bring his sharp eye and scalpel northward to our other Southern gasconader, the state of North Carolina!). What he does not do, however, is interpret why Atlanta ... if it is over-boastful, is it that way?" Leslie W. Dunbar; A City Too Busy to Hate?; The Virginia Quarterly Review (Charlottesville); Winter 1997. "[José Nicolás de Azara] was considered somewhat of a Spanish gasconader and a bully. He more frequently boasted of his wounds and battles than of his negotiations or conferences." Lewis Goldsmith; Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud; LC Page & Co; 1900. -------- Date: Fri Mar 13 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--bantam X-Bonus: Don't ask me who's influenced me. A lion is made up of the lambs he's digested, and I've been reading all my life. -Giorgos Seferis, writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate (13 Mar 1900-1971) This week's theme: Toponyms bantam (BAN-tuhm) noun: 1. Any of various breeds of small chickens, often miniature versions of larger breeds. 2. A small but aggressive person. adjective: 1. Diminutive; miniature. 2. Aggressive; spirited. [After Bantam, the former English name of Banten in Java, Indonesia, a port associated in English etymology with the importation of small fowl. Earliest documented use: 1749.] NOTES: Banten is both a province and a city in Java. It's the same Java that gave us another toponym: java, as in coffee. In combat sports and weightlifting, bantamweight is an official weight class. The name comes from Bantam, but many bantam breeds are from elsewhere (for example, the Japanese Bantam/Chabo is a distinct breed with its own history). Misnaming via travel and trade is a recurring theme in English. See turkey. https://wordsmith.org/words/turquoise.html Ty Cobb, Bantam Weight, 1910 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bantam_large.jpg Image: The Met https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/694249 Banten in Indonesia https://wordsmith.org/words/images/bantam_map_large.jpg Map: Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Banten_in_Indonesia.svg See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/bantam "He had a tough bantam body, easily detectable under the tight sweat shirt he wore." John Knowles; A Separate Peace; Secker & Warburg; 1959. -------- Date: Mon Mar 16 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--scaturient X-Bonus: You can sometimes count every orange on a tree but never all the trees in a single orange. -A.K. Ramanujan, poet (16 Mar 1929-1993) We are physical beings in a physical world, so when we try to describe the invisible landscape of the mind, we reach for what we can touch. We borrow from optics to illuminate intelligence; we borrow from geology to describe character. When we say a person is _bright_, we are borrowing from the physics of light. When we say someone has _grit_, we are valuing the endurance of stone. This week, we explore five words that have traveled from the concrete to the abstract. Each now does double duty, keeping one foot on the ground and the other in the clouds. For each word, we offer one example that stays literal and another that wanders into figurative territory. Put them to work. Use them literally or figuratively. Use them daily or save them for an occasion that calls for extra shine. Or use them both ways in the same sentence. Share your sentences on our website https://wordsmith.org/words/scaturient.html or email us at words@wordsmith.org. As always, include your location (city, state). scaturient (skuh-TOOR/TYOOR-ee-uhnt) adjective 1. Overflowing. 2. Overly demonstrative; effusive. [From Latin scaturire (to gush out), from scatere (to bubble up). Earliest documented use: 1684.] The Great Wave off Kanagawa, 1831 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/scaturient_large.jpg Art: Katsushika Hokusai https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa "Then my house flooded during a violently scaturient storm." Ben Frumin; Emergency Prep Isn't Just for "Preppers"; The New York Times; Aug 1, 2025. "'Small Rain', ... is a book that defends, in sumptuous, scaturient fashion, the wonders of the Snickers bar." Rhoda Feng; Garth Greenwell's 'Small Rain'; Boston Globe (Massachusetts); Sep 1, 2024. -------- Date: Tue Mar 17 12:01:04 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--relucent X-Bonus: We open our mouths and out flow words whose ancestries we do not even know. We are walking lexicons. In a single sentence of idle chatter we preserve Latin, Anglo-Saxon, Norse: we carry a museum inside our heads, each day we commemorate peoples of whom we have never heard. -Penelope Lively, writer (b. 17 Mar 1933) This week's theme: Words used figuratively relucent (ri-LOO-suhnt) adjective 1. Shining or reflecting light. 2. Radiant; luminous. [From Latin re- (back) + lucere (to shine). Earliest documented use: 1487.] NOTES: Relucent is a synonym of lucent. So why add the prefix re- and make the word longer when it means the same? Sometimes prefixes are added for emphasis, but over time the word loses its extra shine and settles back into the unprefixed meaning. Other examples are fulgent https://wordsmith.org/words/fulgent.html and refulgent https://wordsmith.org/words/refulgent.html , iterate and reiterate, splendent and resplendent. https://wordsmith.org/words/resplendent.html "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I", 1907 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/relucent_large.jpg Art: Gustav Klimt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Adele_Bloch-Bauer_I "The myriad-headed monster fights and bleeds for this one thing, this red-burning, relucent gold." Stefan Zweig; Émile Verhaeren; Constable & Co.; 1914. "And for the relucent queen of the Tonys, [Audra] McDonald, she's most focused on the present state of theater and how the Tony Awards reflect that." Alan H. Scott; Broadway's Returns Are up and the Tonys Are Proof; It's as Diverse as Ever; Newsweek (New York); Jun 13, 2025. -------- Date: Wed Mar 18 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--miasmic X-Bonus: Smaller than a breadbox, bigger than a TV remote, the average book fits into the human hand with a seductive nestling, a kiss of texture, whether of cover cloth, glazed jacket, or flexible paperback. -John Updike, writer (18 Mar 1932-2009) This week's theme: Words used figuratively miasmic (my/mee-AZ-mik) adjective 1. Relating to noxious emissions, such as smoke and vapors. 2. Relating to an oppressive or unpleasant atmosphere. [From Greek miasma (pollution, defilement), from miainein (to pollute). Earliest documented use: 1822.] NOTES: For centuries it was believed that many diseases were caused by foul air rising from decomposing organic matter, especially swamps. Malaria, for example, takes its name from the Italian mala aria (bad air). The germ theory of disease eventually displaced the miasma theory, though the word miasmic lingers for any atmosphere that feels unhealthy, physically or morally. LA after the passing of Clean Air Act (1963) and before https://wordsmith.org/words/images/miasmic_large.jpg See more pictures here https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/w26w8a/never_stop_fighting_at_one_time_smog_was_so_bad/ Photo: Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/LosAngeles/comments/w26w8a/never_stop_fighting_at_one_time_smog_was_so_bad/ See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/miasmic "The air is not near as foul as in the bad days of the 1970s, when skies were a miasmic yellow or brown." Robert Jablon; Smog Causing Health Issues in Southern California;   Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque, Iowa); Aug 13, 2016. "Maggie Thatcher's England has darkened into a forbidding nightworld of miasmic unease and emotional drift." Joseph Dewey; Sweet England; Review of Contemporary Fiction (Dallas, Texas); Fall 2011. -------- Date: Thu Mar 19 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--labyrinthine X-Bonus: Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism. -Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court (19 Mar 1891-1974) This week's theme: Words used figuratively labyrinthine (lab-uh-RIN-thin/theen/thyn) adjective 1. Relating to a labyrinth or maze. 2. Intricate, convoluted, or confusing. 3. Relating to the inner ear. [From labyrinth, a maze built by Daedalus. Earliest documented use: 1632.] NOTES: In Greek mythology, King Minos of Crete had the craftsman Daedalus https://wordsmith.org/words/daedal.html build a labyrinth to confine the Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man https://wordsmith.org/words/minotaur.html . The back story is suitably labyrinthine itself and, like much Greek mythology, not recommended for the faint of heart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus#The_Labyrinth In anatomy, the inner ear contains two winding structures: the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth. Yes, they are as convoluted as the myth. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/labyrinthine_large.jpg Photo: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1236444 See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/labyrinthine "Israel believed that [Yahya Sinwar] and his lieutenants were hiding in a labyrinthine tunnel network beneath the city." Dorothy Wickenden; The Last Mile; The New Yorker; Nov 4, 2024. "[China] has developed a labyrinthine web of lending institutions that ensure Chinese companies have enough cash on hand to acquire stakes in overseas assets. In many of these takeovers the receipt of state credit is never disclosed, or only made known after completion of the sale." China’s Financial Tentacles Run Deeper Through America Than Previously Thought; The Economist (London, UK); Nov 18, 2025. -------- Date: Fri Mar 20 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--superincumbent X-Bonus: Look into any man's heart you please, and you will always find, in every one, at least one black spot which he has to keep concealed. -Henrik Ibsen, playwright (20 Mar 1828-1906) This week's theme: Words used figuratively superincumbent (soo-puhr-in-KUHM-buhnt) adjective 1. Lying or resting on something else. 2. Weighty; oppressive. [From Latin, present participle of superincumbere (to lie on top of), from super- (above) + incumbere (to lie or lean upon), from in- (in) + cumbere (to lie down). Earliest documented use: 1659.] Farnese Atlas https://wordsmith.org/words/images/superincumbent_large.jpg Photo: studiodobsphotography https://flickr.com/photos/studiodobs/50930790553/ See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/superincumbent "The superincumbent weight of the coping renders the wall very insecure." Argen Duncan; Bullis: Multiple Cultures Helped Develop Adobe Building Methods; Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico); Aug 26, 2020. "Each year the three-hour Oscar show becomes a more impressive, superincumbent global ritual." Vernon Scott; UPI; Mar 21, 1995. -------- Date: Mon Mar 23 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--symbiosis X-Bonus: One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often. -Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and author (23 Mar 1900-1980) Writing can march in, deliver the facts, and leave without touching the furniture. Or it can kick open the paint box, scatter a few bright images around, and have a bit of fun on the way. This week we feature five words chosen from usage examples that do exactly that. They communicate, yes, but they also paint an image, sketching, sparkling, and occasionally smirking. Each reminds us that good writing does not merely tell us something. It shows us something. symbiosis (sim-bee/by-OH-sis) noun A close, often mutually beneficial relationship between different species, groups, or people. [From Greek symbiosis (living together), from sym- (with, together) + bio- (life) + -sis (action, state). Earliest documented use: 1622.] A red-billed oxpecker on an impala. Sometimes a mammal's tick is a bird's treat. https://wordsmith.org/words/images/symbiosis_large.jpg Photo: Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red-billed_oxpecker_(Buphagus_erythrorhynchus)_on_impala_(Aepyceros_melampus).jpg See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/symbiosis "Watching [weed-eating goats] for only five minutes, a spectator is reminded that one creature's trash is another's dinner, one beast's toil is another's reward. Our lives revolve and intersect in fur-covered symbiosis, turning meh into mehhhhhhh.” Josh Shaffer; An Army of Goats Arrives at Dix Park, Drawing Crowds While Landscaping; The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina); Jun 9, 2025. -------- Date: Tue Mar 24 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--genuflection X-Bonus: I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few. -William Morris, poet and novelist (24 Mar 1834-1896) This week's theme: Writers painting with words genuflection (jen-yoo-FLEK-shuhn) noun 1. The act of bending the knee. 2. Servile deference; groveling. [From Latin genuflectere (to bend the knee), from genu (knee) + flectere (to bend). Earliest documented use: 1526.] NOTES: A word with one knee in worship and the other in flattery. It can describe a literal act of reverence or a figurative surrender of backbone. A handy term for bending the knee, and sometimes the principles. "The Annunciation", c. 1508 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/genuflection_large.jpg Art: Andrea Previtali https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Annunciation_with_Angel_on_the_right#/media/File:Andrea_Previtali_The_Annunciation_ca_1508.jpg See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/genuflection "Certain business titans have made Mar-a-Lago a scene of such flagrant self-abnegation, ring-kissing, and genuflection that it would embarrass a medieval Pope." David Remnick; Inaugurations; The New Yorker; Jan 20, 2025. -------- Date: Wed Mar 25 12:08:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--juvenescent X-Bonus: Law and justice are not always the same. When they aren't, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it. -Gloria Steinem, activist, author, and editor (b. 25 Mar 1934) This week's theme: Writers painting with words juvenescent (joo-vuh-NES-uhnt) adjective Becoming youthful; young or youthful. [From Latin juvenescere (to grow young), from juvenis (young; youth). Earliest documented use: 1821.] "Krishnakrida (Krishna's Play)", 1896 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/juvenescent_large.jpg Art: Ravi Varma https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/YW045098V/Krishna-as-an-infant-on-Yasodas-lap-playing-with-a-cow-and-a-calf "Then, when I saw that 'young veal' was also proposed, my cup of sparkling mineral water ranneth over. I mean to say, just how young can veal be, given that it's pretty juvenescent to begin with? After all, most veal is killed at some time between 20 weeks and a year, although there is the delicious titbit known as 'bob veal', which comes from calves slaughtered when they're at most a month old -- and often only a few days old. Here at Borchardt, there was 'young veal', which was presumably very young indeed or they wouldn't have made a big deal about it. Perhaps that's why the waiters were so surgically precise: before the long evening at the dining tables began, they were assisting at operating ones, where cow foetuses were delivered prematurely, then butchered for their ineffably tender meat." Will Self; Real Meals; New Statesman (London); Aug 16, 2013. -------- Date: Thu Mar 26 12:01:01 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--exegesis X-Bonus: Devils can be driven out of the heart by the touch of hand on hand, or mouth on mouth. -Tennessee Williams, dramatist (26 Mar 1911-1983) This week's theme: Writers painting with words exegesis (ek-suh-JEE-sis) noun An explanation or interpretation, especially a critical interpretation of a text. [From Greek exegesis, from exegeisthai (to interpret), from ex- (out) + hegeisthai (to lead). Earliest documented use: 1600.] "Saint Jerome in His Study", 1514 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/exegesis_large.jpg Engraving: Albrecht Dürer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Jerome_in_His_Study_(D%C3%BCrer) See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/exegesis "Seeing Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, in the crowd, he went on a very long exegesis about building the border wall in Texas. He sounded like a beat poet of concrete." Maureen Dowd; Trump Has Everyone Just Where He Wants Them; The New York Times; Jan 20, 2025. -------- Date: Fri Mar 27 12:01:02 AM EDT 2026 Subject: A.Word.A.Day--turpitude X-Bonus: History is a novel whose author is the people. -Alfred de Vigny, poet, playwright, and novelist (27 Mar 1797-1863) This week's theme: Writers painting with words turpitude (TUHR-pee-tood/tyood) noun Depravity or baseness, or an instance of this. [From Latin turpitudo (ugliness, disgrace), from turpis (disgraceful, base). Earliest documented use: 1490.] NOTES: This term usually appears arm-in-arm with moral, as in moral turpitude, a phrase beloved by lawyers, bureaucrats, and anyone hoping to sound outraged in full ceremonial Latin. "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things", c. 1500 https://wordsmith.org/words/images/turpitude_large.jpg Art: Hieronymus Bosch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Deadly_Sins_and_the_Four_Last_Things See usage examples in Vocabulary.com's dictionary: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/turpitude "[On Sep 13, 1962,] federal courts ordered the University of Mississippi to admit its first Black student, James Meredith. The state legislature passed a bill declaring that those charged with crimes of moral turpitude could not be admitted as students to a state university, and, the day it became law, Meredith was convicted of voter fraud, a crime he had not committed." Casey Cep; Demon-Driven; The New Yorker; Nov 30, 2020. "'Do you smoke?' the nurse asked. It was a cheeky question. She already knew the answer, given he smells like a torched Audi. 'I do,' he replied. 'How many a day?' she inquired affably. 'Rothmans,' he answered. 'Yeees, but... how many?' 'I just wanted you to know I'm paying my taxes,' he said. 'How many? Oh, a couple.' 'So should we say five, then?' she asked. 'No, no ... not five. Five? Goodness ... a man would be mad. No. Two or three.' 'So,' she nodded, noting this on the questionnaire, 'three cigarettes a day.' 'What are you even talking about?' he said. 'Packets. Three packets. Why would you smoke at all if you only smoked three smokes a day? Do you not understand the nature of addiction?' ... I've done the maths on his habit (50 years x 365 days x 60 cigs = 1,095,000). He appears to have gotten away with smoking a million cigarettes. I guess if the packs were stacked they'd be about the size of a school bus. But you'd buy the bus and the school itself for the $2 million the smokes cost. He always has one lit, and in absent-minded moments two -- one waggling in his lips as he talks and the other being used as a baton to enhance his arguments. And I notice that every time he draws a lungful, as the ciggie crackles and glows, his pupils dilate, and a moment's serenity washes over his sallow face. So, who am I to say he's got it wrong? If it kills him now, he's still played games of chance against God and won. ... And when he finally got in to see the doctor he told her: 'The kidneys and liver, we're not discussing at all. They're off-limits, a no-go zone, my private affair.' That he felt protective of these organs rather than his lungs tells you how appreciative he is of the vintner's art. ... We all tell our doctors we're drinking half as much as we are, and they immediately double the amount to get nearer the truth. The first lesson at medical school is that each patient is a propagandist for their own virtue, a rakehell in sheep's clothing. I could have admitted to only a quarter of my turpitude -- but that would have been a breach of faith." Anson Cameron; Time's Bitter Pill; The Age (Melbourne, Australia); Jun 7, 2025.