A.Word.A.Day --jaunty

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Oct 4, 2022

This week’s theme
Words that have changed

This week’s words
ludicrous
jaunty
hipster
decarbonize
surly

When it’s WW1 and you want head protection but it’s stylish to wear your helmet at a jaunty angle.
Guess I’ll die.
At least I’ll go out in style.

Image: me.me

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

jaunty

PRONUNCIATION:

(JON/JAHN-tee)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Stylish.
2. Lively; self-confident.

ETYMOLOGY:

In the beginning the word meant well-bred. From French gentil (nice), from Old French gentil (noble), from Latin gens (clan). Earliest documented use: 1662.

USAGE:

“A matching hat ... was perched atop her head at a jaunty angle.”
Helen Dickson; Miss Cameron’s Fall from Grace; Harlequin; 2012.

“Beneath his jaunty veneer, Brás Cubas harbours a melancholy pessimism.”
Dead Man’s Blues; The Economist (London, UK); Aug 15, 2020.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

He serves his party best who serves the country best. -Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th US president (4 Oct 1822-1893)

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