This week’s theme
Words used figuratively

This week’s words
scaturient
relucent
miasmic
labyrinthine


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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(lab-uh-RIN-thin/theen/thyn)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Relating to a labyrinth or maze.
2. Intricate, convoluted, or confusing.
3. Relating to the inner ear.

ETYMOLOGY:

From labyrinth, a maze built by Daedalus. Earliest documented use: 1632.

NOTES:

In Greek mythology, King Minos of Crete had the craftsman Daedalus build a labyrinth to confine the Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The back story is suitably labyrinthine itself and, like much Greek mythology, not recommended for the faint of heart.

In anatomy, the inner ear contains two winding structures: the bony labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth. Yes, they are as convoluted as the myth.

USAGE:

“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.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: