This week’s theme
Words differing by a letter

This week’s words
exhort
extort

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(ik-STORT)

MEANING:

verb tr.: To obtain something by psychological pressure, intimidation, force, threat, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin extorquere (to wrench out), from ex- (out) + torquere (to twist). Earliest documented use: 1529.

USAGE:

“Former Speaker John Boehner called the [House Freedom Caucus] group’s members ‘legislative terrorists’ for blocking routine procedural measures in order to extort demands from the Party’s leaders.”
David D. Kirkpatrick; Maga Mike; The New Yorker; Mar 25, 2024.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: