• throe • Pronunciation: throw • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun Meaning: A spasm of pain, whether physical or psychological. Notes: Today's Good Word is a lexical orphan with no other form but a plural, throes, which is used far more frequently than the singular. In the plural the word is widely use...

This word hasn't even been borrowed yet; it's still Italian. I couldn't find it in any dictionary, its only in Wikipedia.

• surfeit • Pronunciation: sêr -fit • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, verb Meaning: 1. (Noun) Overabundance, superfluity, surplus, an excessive quantity, more than needed or desirable. 2. (Verb) To provide with an excessive quantity, to indulge in excesses, as 'surfeit on wickedness', or 'nauseated ...

• forthy • Pronunciation: for -dhee • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: 1. Open, affable, and forthcoming in nature. 2. Forward, frank, outspoken, or presumptuous in behavior. Notes: No, today's Good Word is not a misspelling of frothy , but a distinct adjective based on forth (see Word H...

According to my count, I have written 3485 Good Words since 2004, coming up on 3500. It catches up with you.

I cast no aspersions, just wanted yall who remember the repeats, why I'm doing them.

• emend • Pronunciation: i- mend • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb, transitive Meaning: To improve by editing, to make corrections, to mend flaws in a written document. Notes: Since amendments are added to a bill in Congress, it is easy to think that amend means "to attach". In fact, both amend and e...

Not being a cheese-maker, I was as surprised as you at the third definition and cannot supply anything beyond what I found in the dictionaries.

I’m giving myself a break on weekends, so I run repeats Saturday and Sunday. I rerun words initially run ten years before. I justify this with the justifications that (1) those who have subscribed within the past 10 years haven’t seen them and (2) those who subscribed before then probably need a ref...

• yearn • Pronunciation: yêrn • Hear it! Part of Speech: Verb Meaning: 1. To have a strong, wistful longing, crave. 2. To be deeply moved, to sympathize, to grieve. 3. (Milk) To curdle or coagulate or cause to coagulate, especially in the production of cheese. Notes: Today's Good Word is an indigen...

• prescient • Pronunciation: pre -shênt (US), pre -si-ênt (UK) • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Foreseeing, possessing foreknowledge, cognizant of the future Notes: Back before science acquired its current meaning, it meant "knowledge, cognizance", and was more closely related to today...

• engagé • Pronunciation: en-gah- zhay (US), aN-gah- zhay (UK) • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Politically engaged, actively committed to an ideology or cause. Notes: This is the French word for engaged. Americans have given up on the French pronunciation, but Britishers attempt to im...

• volitant • Pronunciation: vah -li-tênt • Hear it! Part of Speech: Adjective Meaning: Flitting about like a small bird, fluttering, scurrying around, scampering in all directions. Notes: Some dictionaries confuse this word with volant "flying, capable of flight". In Latin it only meant "fluttering...

I was always bothered by the same two prepositions used with talk : 'talk to' and 'talk with' are used today interchangeably. I always felt that to was too aggressive, as in 'I gave him a good talking-to.' I try to say 'talk with someone', implying equality of the coconversationalists. But then with...

I agree, too, with all said. I wish there could be more like this. This was my intention when I installed the Agora.

• Ramadan • Pronunciation: rah -mah-dahn • Hear it! Part of Speech: Noun, proper Meaning: The ninth month of the Muslim calendar is devoted to the Fast of Ramadan. One night around 610 AD, according to the Muslim faith, the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mohammed, a caravan trader, in the vicinity o...