This year, why not expand your vocabulary one thesaurus section at a time?
Word of the Week: Ephemeral
How to say it:
Ephemeral [ ih-fem-er-uhl ]
What it means:
- lasting a very short time
ephemeral pleasures
2. lasting one day only
an ephemeral fever
Where it comes from
First recorded in 1570–80; from Greek ephḗmer(os) “short-lived, lasting but a day,” equivalent to ep-,variant of the preposition and prefix epí, epi- “on; over; near; before” + hēmér(a) “day” + -os adjective suffix + -al adjective suffix;
Examples of debacle in a Sentence
There’s no ephemeral rush of terror from scaling icy chimneys or descending hillsides.
Honk introduces a real-time, ephemeral messaging app aimed at Gen Z — Instead of sending texts off into the void and hoping for a response, friends on Honk communicate via messages that are shown live as you type.
Word of the Week: Irrigate
How to say it:
Irrigate [ ir-i-geyt ]
What it means:
- to supply (land) with water by artificial means, as by diverting streams, flooding, or spraying.
- Medicine/Medical. to supply or wash (an orifice, wound, etc.) with a spray or a flow of some liquid.
- to moisten; wet.
Where it comes from
1605–15; <Latin irrigātus, past participle of irrigāre to wet, flood, nourish with water, equivalent to ir-ir-1 + rigā- (stem of rigāre to provide with water, soak) + -tus past participle suffix
Examples of debacle in a Sentence
Elders in the area say that farmers stopped using its waters to irrigate their crops in the 1980s when an oil company began operating upstream.
The proposed route ran underneath the waterway, which she uses to irrigate her 500 acres of corn and soybeans.
Word of the Week: Superfluous
How to say it:
Superflous [ soo–pur-floo-uhs ]
What it means:
- being more than is sufficient or required; excessive.
- unnecessary or needless.
- Obsolete. possessing or spending more than enough or necessary; extravagant.
Where it comes from
1400–50; late Middle English <Latin superfluus, equivalent to super-super- + flu- (stem of fluere to flow) + -us-ous
Examples of debacle in a Sentence
Mostly you don’t need to align, most folks taking part are superfluous and as accidental team-building exercises they are incredibly expensive in terms of human-hours.
In a speech from the Senate floor, he drew attention to taxpayer-funded research that he presented as unnecessary and superfluous.
