Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 5, 2021 is:

infix • \IN-fiks\  • noun

: a derivational or inflectional affix appearing in the body of a word (such as Sanskrit -n- in vindami "I know" as contrasted with vid "to know")

Examples:

The Philippine language of Tagalog adds infixes such as -um- and -su- to verbs to convey different tenses and voices.

"As Mark Peters writes, [The Simpsons character Ned Flanders] is 'hyper-holy,' and his infixes sanctify a typically profane process. He is also gratingly cheerful … and diddly perfectly conveys his sunny attitude: murder and dilemma sound a lot less forbidding when infixed as murdiddlyurder and dididdlyemma…." —Michael Adams, Slang: The People’s Poetry, 2009

Did you know?

Like prefixes and suffixes, infixes are part of the general class of affixes ("sounds or letters attached to or inserted within a word to produce a derivative word or an inflectional form"). Infixes are relatively rare in English, but you can find them in the plural forms of some words. For example, cupful, spoonful, and passerby can be pluralized as cupsful, spoonsful, and passersby, using "s" as an infix. Another example is the insertion of an (often offensive) intensifier into a word, as in "fan-freakin'-tastic." Such whole-word insertions are sometimes called infixes, though this phenomenon is more traditionally known as tmesis.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 4, 2021 is:

flexuous • \FLEK-shuh-wus\  • adjective

1 : having curves, turns, or windings

2 : lithe or fluid in action or movement

Examples:

The last leg of the trail is a flexuous path leading up the mountain to a spectacular panoramic view of the valley.

"This pine [the longleaf pine] is not confused (or at least shouldn't be) with any other tree: the combination of long, flexuous needles (in 3's), whitened-silvery buds, and large cones make it distinctive in the Southeast, although in some cases our native slash pine looks similar." — John Nelson, Post & Courier (Charleston, South Carolina), 18 Mar. 2021

Did you know?

Flexuous is a synonym of curvy. It is typically used in botany to describe plant stems that aren't rigid. But don't let that tendency deflect you from occasionally employing this ultimately quite flexible word. Stemming straight from Latin flectere, meaning "to bend," it can also mean "undulating" or "fluid." It might, for example, be used of writing or music, or of something or someone that moves with a fluid sort of grace.

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

berate • \bih-RAYT\  • verb

: to scold or condemn vehemently and at length

Examples:

"Don't berate yourself over canceling plans," the lifestyle expert said. "It is sometimes more important that you allow for time to take care of yourself."

"During Russell's tirade Wednesday, he didn't shout at any particular player, but his team as a whole. 'I would never single someone out and berate them,' Russell said." — Shaun Goodwin, The Kansas City Star, 17 June 2021

Did you know?

Berate and rate can both mean "to rebuke angrily or violently." This sense of rate was first recorded in the 14th century, centuries before the familiar (and etymologically unrelated) rate meaning "to estimate the value of." We know that berate was probably formed by combining the prefix be- and the older rate, but the origins of this particular rate itself are somewhat more obscure.