Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 3, 2021 is:

galvanize • \GAL-vuh-nyze\  • verb

Galvanize means "to cause (people) to take action on something that they are excited or concerned about."

// The council's proposal to close the library has galvanized the town's residents.

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Examples:

"I think circumstances we've been through helped get us to this point. Whether it is the natural disaster, the pandemic or some of the tough losses … all of it helped galvanize this team." — Dwain Jenkins, quoted in The Advocate (Louisiana), 19 Oct. 2021

Did you know?

Luigi Galvani was an Italian physician and physicist who, in the 1770s, studied the electrical nature of nerve impulses by applying electrical stimulation to frogs' leg muscles, causing them to contract. Although Galvani's theory that animal tissue contained an innate electrical impulse was disproven, the French word galvanisme came to describe a current of electricity especially when produced by chemical action. English borrowed the word as galvanism, and shortly after the verb galvanize came to life.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 2, 2021 is:

smarmy • \SMAR-mee\  • adjective

Smarmy means "behaving in a way that seems polite, kind, or pleasing but is not genuine or believable."

// Online reviews of the resort warned of smarmy street vendors when wandering from the tourist areas.

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Examples:

"Before [Daniel Craig], James Bond was portrayed by Sean Connery as suave and immovable; by George Lazenby as vulnerable and tragic; by Roger Moore as smarmy and loose…." — Aidan Whatman, Whatculture.com, 7 Oct. 2021

Did you know?

The history of smarmy is oily. Etymologists don't know where smarm (the verb from which it is based) came from, but they do know that it meant "to smear" or "to make smooth or oily" before gaining the meaning "to flatter." The adjective smarmy comes from the latter meaning.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 1, 2021 is:

derrick • \DAIR-ik\  • noun

A derrick is a tall framework over an oil well that supports equipment used in drilling.

// Areas of the desert have become fields of oil derricks.

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Examples:

"Oil derricks dot the coastline, often scattered in between residential and shopping centers with views of the ocean." — The Examiner (Washington, D.C.), 22 Oct. 2021

Did you know?

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, London was the home of a notorious executioner named Derick. Among those he beheaded was the Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux, who supposedly had once saved the life of the ungrateful executioner. While members of the nobility were accorded the courtesy of beheading, it was the lot of commoners to be hanged, and those sent to face the rope at the hands of the executioner Derick nicknamed the gallows after him. Today, derrick is commonly used for a framework, but one that supports equipment used in drilling for oil.