Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 28, 2008 is:

refractory • \rih-FRAK-tuh-ree\  • adjective
*1 : resisting control or authority : stubborn, unmanageable 2 a : resistant to treatment or cureb : unresponsive to stimulusc : immune, insusceptible 3 : difficult to fuse, corrode, or draw out; especially : capable of enduring high temperature

Example sentence:
Refractory students may be disciplined, suspended, or expelled, depending on the seriousness of their offense.

Did you know?
"Refractory" is from the Latin word "refractarius." During the 17th century, it was sometimes spelled as "refractary," but that spelling, though more in keeping with its Latin parent, had fallen out of use by the century's end. "Refractarius," like "refractory," is the result of a slight variation in spelling. It stems from the Latin verb "refragari," meaning "to oppose."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 27, 2008 is:

pejorative • \pih-JOR-uh-tiv\  • adjective
: having negative connotations; especially : tending to disparage or belittle : depreciatory

Example sentence:
The team's star player has come under fire for making pejorative remarks about women during a magazine interview.

Did you know?
"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Moms have given that good advice for years, but unfortunately many people haven't heeded it. The word "pejorative" makes it clear that both English and Latin speakers have long known that disparaging words can make a bad situation worse. "Pejorative" derives from the Late Latin adjective "pejoratus," which in turn comes from the Latin verb "pejorare," meaning "to make or become worse." Although pejorative words have probably always been part of English, the adjective "pejorative" has only been found in English texts since the late 1880s. Before then, English speakers could rely on older synonyms of "pejorative" such as "derogatory" and "uncomplimentary" to describe disparaging words.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 26, 2008 is:

sophistry • \SAH-fuh-stree\  • noun
*1 : subtly deceptive reasoning or argumentation 2 : an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially : such an argument used to deceive

Example sentence:
The senatorial candidate argued that his opponent was using sophistry in an effort to distort his plan for education reform.

Did you know?
The original Sophists were ancient Greek teachers of rhetoric and philosophy prominent in the 5th century B.C. In their heyday, these philosophers were considered adroit in their reasoning, but later philosophers (particularly Plato) described them as sham philosophers, out for money and willing to say anything to win an argument. Thus "sophist" (which comes from Greek "sophistēs," meaning "wise man" or "expert") earned a negative connotation as "a captious or fallacious reasoner." "Sophistry" is reasoning that seems plausible on a superficial level but is actually unsound, or reasoning that is used to deceive.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 25, 2008 is:

dilapidate • \dih-LAP-uh-dayt\  • verb
*1 : to bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin 2 : to become decayed or partially ruined

Example sentence:
Although years of abandonment had dilapidated the old warehouse, Stuart still thought it could be salvaged and remade into an apartment building.

Did you know?
Something that is dilapidated may not have been literally pummeled with stones, but it might look that way. "Dilapidate" derives from the past participle of the Latin verb "dilapidare," meaning "to squander or destroy." That verb was formed by combining "dis-" with another verb, "lapidare," meaning "to pelt with stones." From there it's just a stone's throw to some other English relatives of "dilapidate." You might, for example, notice a resemblance between "lapidare" and our word for a person who cuts or polishes precious stones, "lapidary." That's because both words share as a root the Latin noun "lapis," meaning "stone." We also find "lapis" in the name "lapis lazuli," a bright blue semiprecious stone.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 24, 2008 is:

aggregate • \AG-rih-gut\  • noun
1 : a mass or body of units or parts somewhat loosely associated with one another *2 : the whole sum or amount : sum total

Example sentence:
"The aggregate of incriminating details unmistakably points towards a conviction," said the prosecuting attorney.

Did you know?
We added "aggregate" to our flock of Latin borrowings in the 15th century. It descends from "aggregare" ("to add to"), a Latin verb made up of the prefix "ad-" (which means "to," and which usually changes to "ag-" before a "g") and "greg-" or "grex" (meaning "flock"). "Greg-" also gave us "congregate," "gregarious," and "segregate." "Aggregate" is commonly employed in the phrase "in the aggregate," which means "considered as a whole" (as in the sentence "In the aggregate, the student's various achievements were sufficiently impressive to merit a scholarship"). "Aggregate" also has some specialized senses. For example, it is used for a mass of minerals formed into a rock and for a material, such as sand or gravel, used to form concrete, mortar, or plaster.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 23, 2008 is:

callow • \KAL-oh\  • adjective
: lacking adult sophistication : immature

Example sentence:
"Back when I was a callow college student," said Emma, "I paid little attention to the advice given to me by my professors."

Did you know?
You might not expect a relationship between "callow" and baldness, but that connection does in fact exist. "Callow" comes from "calu," a word that meant "bald" in Middle English and Old English. By the 17th century, "callow" had come to mean "without feathers" and was applied to young birds not yet ready for flight. The term was also used for those who hadn't yet spread their wings in a figurative sense. "Callow" continues to mean "inexperienced" or "unsophisticated" today.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 22, 2008 is:

idée fixe • \ee-day-FEEKS\  • noun
: an idea that dominates one's mind especially for a prolonged period : obsession

Example sentence:
The fear that he was going to be fired became such an idée fixe for Toby that he could think of nothing else.

Did you know?
According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the term "idée fixe" was coined by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830, who used it to describe the principal theme of his Symphonie fantastique. That reference goes on to say that, at about the same time, French novelist Honore de Balzac used "idée fixe" in Gobseck to describe an obsessive idea. By 1836, Balzac's more generalized use of the term had carried over into English, where "idée fixe" was embraced as a clinical and literary term for a persistent preoccupation or delusional idea that dominates a person's mind. Nowadays "idée fixe" is also applied to milder and more pedestrian obsessions.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 21, 2008 is:

trepidation • \trep-uh-DAY-shun\  • noun
: timorous uncertain agitation : apprehension

Example sentence:
As she boarded the plane for her first flight, Corrine felt a mixture of trepidation and excitement.

Did you know?
If you've ever trembled with fright, you know something of both the sensation and etymology of "trepidation." The word "trepidation" comes from the Latin verb "trepidare," which means "to tremble." When "trepidation" first appeared in English in the early 1600s, it meant "tremulous motion" or "tremor." Around the same time, English speakers also started using the "nervous agitation" sense of "trepidation" that we use today.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 20, 2008 is:

rapporteur • \ra-por-TER\  • noun
: a person who gives reports (as at a meeting of a learned society)

Example sentence:
The rapporteur compiled the available evidence into a report and presented it to the full committee.

Did you know?
"Rapporteur" was adopted into English in the early 16th century and is a descendant of the Middle French verb "rapporter," meaning "to bring back, report, or refer." Other descendants of "rapporter" in English include "rapportage" (a rare synonym of "reportage," in the sense of "writing intended to give an account of observed or documented events") and "rapport" ("harmonious relationship"). The words "report," "reporter," "reportage," etc., are also distant relatives of "rappouteur"; all can ultimately be traced back to the Latin prefix "re-," meaning "back, again, against," and the Latin word "portare," meaning "to carry."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 19, 2008 is:

beleaguer • \bih-LEE-gur\  • verb
1 : besiege *2 : trouble, harass

Example sentence:
The new programming chief was hired to revamp the schedule for the network, which was consistently beleaguered by low ratings.

Did you know?
English speakers created "beleaguer" from the Dutch word "belegeren" in the 16th century. "[Military men] will not vouchsafe . . . to use our ancient terms belonging to matters of war, but do call a camp by the Dutch name," commented the English soldier and diplomat Sir John Smyth in 1590. The word for "camp" that he was referring to is "leaguer." That term in turn comes from Dutch "leger," which is one of the building blocks of "belegeren" (literally, "to camp around"). But neither "leaguer" nor "beleaguer" were in fact utterly foreign. Old English "leger," the source of our modern "lair," is related to the Dutch word. And the Old English "be-" ("about, around"), as seen in "besiege" and "beset," is related to the Dutch prefix "be-" in "belegeren."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 18, 2008 is:

metronome • \MET-ruh-nohm\  • noun
: an instrument designed to mark exact time by a regularly repeated tick

Example sentence:
After practicing the drums with a metronome, Lars had a better feel for tempo and kept time better.

Did you know?
The patent for the metronome was entered in 1816: "John Malzl [sic], of Poland-street, Middlesex, Machinist; for an instrument . . . which he denominates a Metronome, or musical time-keeper." The courts, however, later proved that the aforementioned Johann Maelzel copied a pendulum design of Dietrich Winkel, making Winkel the actual inventor. Nonetheless, Maelzel was the more successful marketer of the metronome and even has a notation named after him. The "M.M." in notations like "M.M. = 60" stands for "Maelzel's metronome" and indicates a tempo of 60 beats per minute or a beat per tick of the metronome as it ticks 60 times, in the case of our example. The name of the invention itself is based on the Greek words "metron," meaning "measure," and "nomos," meaning "law."