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May 2005Word Profile: conclaveThe death of Pope John Paul II and the convening of the College of Cardinals to elect his successor captured the attention of the world. There hasn't been a papal conclave in nearly 30 years, so many people wondered, what is a conclave? And where does that word come from? Get the definition and etymology! June 2005Word Profile: ineptIt's the kind of word that is frequently looked up (reminiscent of last month's insipid), but up until April 28th, it seldom cracked the top 100 words. But since late April—and for reasons not at all clear to us—it's been in the top ten almost every day. Get to know a little more about inept. August 2005Word Profile: pelotonLast month, American cyclist Lance Armstrong led the peloton to his seventh victory in the Tour de France. Non-riders flocked to the site to check out the definition of peloton. Read a profile of July’s third-most-looked-up entry for the full story on a word that is nearly as French as the Tour. October 2005Word Profile: refugeeHurricane Katrina was a meteorological storm, but it also created a linguistic storm of controversy over the use of the word refugee. And like Katrina, this was a Category Five storm. During the height of the controversy, refugee was being looked up approximately 1,000 times an hour. The dictionary itself provided most of the answer, but here’s the rest of the story. January 2006Word Profile: dichotomyDichotomy was No. 15 on December’s Top Twenty list. Although dichotomy has very specific applications in the fields of science and logic, its meaning in general usage is not always obvious. Looking for some guidance on its usage? Here’s some advice from the editors who tackled the topic in Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage. March 2006Word Profile: fungibleThe February 19 Dilbert cartoon, which joked about the word fungible, sent that word skyrocketing into the position of 6th most-looked-up-word by the end of February. Click here for more on the word that Dilbert doesn't understand. April 2006Word Profile: kerfuffleAlthough kerfuffle didn't make it to the Top 20, it earned a place of honor as one of the Top 100 most-looked-up words last month. Why? Click here and find out. September 2006Word Profile: promiscuousAfter debuting at number one in June, Nelly Furtado's single "Promiscuous Girl" stayed hot all summer, and its popularity helped the word promiscuous earn the top spot as the most looked-up word at Merriam-Webster Online this summer. Oddly enough, the lyrics to "Promiscuous Girl" correspond only loosely with the established senses of that adjective: the singer comes across as flirtatious and teasing, but not as . . . well, promiscuous. As a guide to the perplexed, we offer this profile of promiscuous. October 2006Word Profile: coupThe Thai army's September coup sent that word to the No.19 spot on the most looked-up words list. This sense of coup means coup d'etat, but that isn't the only coup term to have moved from French into English. See the selection of terms from the Unabridged Dictionary—there's a little something for everyone from violinists to chess players to playwrights. April 2007Word Profile: perspicaciousPerspicacious is often discussed in usage books along with the similar-looking perspicacity, perspicuous, and perspicuity. The purpose of these discussions is to point out the possibility of confusion when one of these words is substituted for another. If you've ever wondered about this bunch, here's the perspicuous explanation. November 2008Word ProfileBlame it on the election or maybe it's the upcoming holiday season, but cantankerous hit the Top Twenty list of most looked-up words in October. According to the Unabridged, cantankerous has two distinct senses, one applied to people ("marked by ill humor, irritability, and determination to disagree") and the other to animals or things ("difficult or irritating to deal with or use"). If that parsing leaves you cantankerous, stick to the more succinct definition found in the Collegiate. There are many gradations of irritability, and here's a brief primer of synonyms for cantankerous. May 2009Word ProfileLast month officials at the World Health Organization raised the swine flu alert to Phase 5, meaning "pandemic is imminent." We'll leave the health coverage to the experts, but usage commentators have something to add to this story, specifically about the word imminent. |