Word of the Day
discombobulate
verb
to confuse or disconcert; confound; bewilder.
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Why Dictionary.com chose discombobulate
More about discombobulate
- An Americanism first recorded in 1825–35.
- An earlier form, discomboberate, was recorded in the early 1800s.
- Apparently originated as a humorous imitation of fancy Latin words and is an alteration of discompose or discomfort.
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EXAMPLES OF DISCOMBOBULATE
- The sudden change in schedule discombobulated the students, throwing off their rhythm for the day.
- The loud noise and flashing lights discombobulated the performers, causing them to stumble through their routine.
carte blanche
noun
unconditional authority; full discretionary power.
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Why Dictionary.com chose carte blanche
More about carte blanche
- First recorded in 1655–65 as blank, blanck, or blanche (without carte) in the card game sense.
- First recorded in 1700–10 in the sense “blank, signed document,” and in 1760–70 in the more general sense highlighted here, “discretionary power.”
- Comes from French and translates literally as “blank document.”
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EXAMPLES OF CARTE BLANCHE
- The director gave the lead actor carte blanche to improvise during certain key scenes.
- As the team captain, she had carte blanche to choose the starting lineup for each game.
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Why Dictionary.com chose quotidian
More about quotidian
- First recorded around 1300–50.
- Comes from Latin quotīdiānus, “daily,” which is similar to cottīdi(ē) “every day.”
- Quotīdiānus is formed from quot, “however many occur, every” and diē, a form of diēs, “day.”
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EXAMPLES OF QUOTIDIAN
- The journalist’s task is to uncover the hidden stories within the fabric of quotidian life and shed light on important societal issues.
- As an astronomer, I study the celestial bodies that shine in the sky each night, but it’s the quotidian beauty of a fading sunset that always captivates me.
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