The Coffee Writer

Tag: word of the day

  • Word of the Day: Zaftig

    Today’s word I’ve only heard about on the internet as a friend’s username.  So I’m going to completely botch my effort at an intelligent use of the word in a complete sentence.  I’m okay with this because this is a weird word but very fun. (It is such a fun word that auto-correct wants me to change it to rafting!)  It certainly falls under the category of “Learn something new every day!” because I never would have thought this word was referring to women specifically.

    zaftig“My friend is a zaftig geek and proud of it!”

    Zaftig – adjective

    1) of a woman:  having a full rounded figure :  pleasingly plump

    Interesting Origins of the word:
    Yiddish zaftik juicy, succulent, from zaft juice, sap, from Middle High German saf, saft, from Old High German saf

    ~per Merriam-Webster

  • Word of the Day: Cabal

    This word is just plain fun to say.  It even sounds mysterious, really.  I think it is entirely underused.  I know it is in my own work.

    cabal“The den was forfeited to the cabal of teenagers for their D&D afternoon.”

    Cabal – noun

    1:  the artifices and intrigues of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn a government); also :  a group engaged in such artifices and intrigues.

    2: club, group.

    ~per Merriam-Webster

  • Word of the Day: Verbose

    It’s the word of the day.  I had to use this one at some point! Just getting it out of the way… 🙂

    verbose“Not feeling particularly verbose, she replied with only a nod of her head.”

    Verbose – adjective

    1):  containing more words than necessary :  wordy ; also :  impaired by wordiness
    2):  given to wordiness

    ~ per Merriam-Webster

  • Word of the Day: Dayspring

    This word is ridiculously poetic and it caught my attention.  I’m sure I must have heard it before, but I didn’t remember it.  According to the Google graphic on the word, it was at its heyday around the year 1900, which sounds about right to me.

    dayspring“Who would have expected a chance meeting in an adult bookstore could be the dayspring of a new career.”

    Dayspring – noun

    1) archaic :  the beginning of day : Dawn

    2) the beginning of a new era or order of things

    ~per Merriam-Webster

  • Word of the Day: Veridical

    Yup, that’s right folks.  Veridical.  That isn’t a misspelling, despite how angrily my auto-correct is trying to fix it.  Personally, I think it falls under the category of “Words Not to Use” because it will very easily throw a reader out of a sentence if they’re any good at spelling.

    The origins of the words are, of course, Latin: verus (true) and dicere (to say.)  I would truthfully say this word should be used with caution in any non-scientific work.

    verdical

    “The second witness seemed veridical and forthcoming with his retelling of events.”

    Veridical – adjective

    1)  truthful, veracious

    2)  not illusory :  genuine

    ~ per Merriam-Webster

  • Word of the Day: Cadence

    Vocabulary is a writer’s best friend.  Mine is sadly lacking.  (My grammar is worse, but my vocab list is pretty short.)

    So! Here’s a word to think about today, maybe use it somewhere if it’s useful.

    cadence“The cadence of her footsteps on the marble flooring heralded trouble on the way.”

    Cadence: noun
    1)
    a :  a rhythmic sequence or flow of sounds in language.
    b :  the beat, time, or measure of rhythmical motion or activity

    2)
    a :  a falling inflection of the voice
    b :  a concluding and usually falling strain; specifically :  a musical chord sequence moving to a harmonic close or point of rest and giving the sense of harmonic completion.

    3)  the modulated and rhythmic recurrence of a sound especially in nature.
    ~per Merriam-Webster