Word of the Day
curmudgeon
noun
a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
Why Focus Features chose curmudgeon
A perfect example of a curmudgeon is prep school teacher Mr. Hunham, played by Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne's new film The Holdovers. Will Mr. Hunham’s curmudgeonly comportment doom or redeem him in the end? Find out in this “irresistibly entertaining” film—get your tickets now at TheHoldoversFilm.com!
More about curmudgeon
- Curmudgeon was first recorded around 1570–80 and has an unexplained origin.
- A curmudgeon is someone who revels in having a negative outlook, insistently saying things like “adversity builds character.”
- A curmudgeon may have a tender heart, but they hide it behind a crusty exterior.
EXAMPLES OF CURMUDGEON
- Everyone knew Mr. Hunham as a true curmudgeon, the kind of teacher who would start a new lesson right before the holiday break.
- His students called him a curmudgeon behind his back, and he called them troglodytes, philistines, vulgarians, and Visigoths—to their faces.
retrospection
noun
the action, process, or faculty of looking back on things past.
Why Dictionary.com chose retrospection
More about retrospection
- Retrospection was first recorded in 1625–35.
- Retrospection was formed from the suffix –ion, denoting action or condition, and the word retrospect, “contemplation of the past.”
- Retrospect was probably formed from the prefix retro-, meaning “backward,” and the word (pro)spect from the Latin word prōspectus, “outlook, view.”
- The last piece of the puzzle, spect-, comes from the Latin word specere, meaning “to look.”
EXAMPLES OF RETROSPECTION
- The elderly man smiled as he leafed through his photo album, indulging in moments of retrospection, reliving his youth and reflecting on a life well-lived.
- After a year of travel, she looked out the plane window in retrospection, reminiscing about the places she had visited and the memories she had made.
machinations
noun
crafty schemes; plots; intrigues.
Why Dictionary.com chose machinations
More about machinations
- Machinations was first recorded around 1375–1425.
- Machinations comes from the late Middle English word machinacion, from the Latin stem māchinātiōn-.
- The verb form, machinate, entered English over a century later from the Latin word māchinārī, “to invent, contrive, devise artfully,” and is related to the more common word machine, “a mechanical apparatus or contrivance.”
EXAMPLES OF MACHINATIONS
- The mastermind behind the political machinations orchestrated a complex web of deceit to manipulate public opinion.
- Through cunning machinations and hidden alliances, the spy infiltrated the enemy ranks and gathered vital intelligence.