Word of the Day
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Why Dictionary.com chose dapple
More about dapple
- Dapple, the verb, was first recorded in 1545–55.
- Dapple was probably formed from the adjective dappled, “having spots of a different shade from the background.”
- Dappled first appeared around 1350–1400 and comes from Middle English.
- Dappled probably has Scandinavian roots and is similar to Old Norse depill, meaning “spot.”
EXAMPLES OF DAPPLE
- The artist used a hairbrush to dapple paint onto the canvas, creating an abstract masterpiece.
- The sunlight dappled the leaves, casting beautiful patterns on the forest floor.
unfalsifiable
adjective
not able to be proven false, and therefore not scientific.
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Why Dictionary.com chose unfalsifiable
More about unfalsifiable
- Unfalsifiable was first recorded in 1835–45.
- Unfalsifiable is formed from the prefix un, which means “not,” and the word falsifiable.
- Falsifiable was first recorded in the early 17th century and ultimately comes from the Late Latin verb falsificāre, “to make false.”
EXAMPLES OF UNFALSIFIABLE
- The existence of parallel universes remains an intriguing but ultimately unfalsifiable theory within the domain of theoretical physics.
- Pseudoscience often relies on claims that are vague and unfalsifiable, making it difficult to subject them to rigorous empirical scrutiny.
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Why Dictionary.com chose smaze
More about smaze
- Smaze was first recorded around 1950–55.
- Smaze is a portmanteau, a combination, of the words smoke and haze.
- Smoke was first recorded before 1000 and is from an Old English word, smoca.
- Haze was first recorded in 1700–10 and comes perhaps from a variant of the Old English word haswa, “ashen, dusky.”
EXAMPLES OF SMAZE
- The dense smaze hanging over the city obscured the view of the skyline.
- The combination of a morning fog and chimney smoke created an eerie smaze in the countryside.
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