Word of the Day
Word of the Day: ancillary
This word has appeared in 110 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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Word of the Day: ancillary
This word has appeared in 110 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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NY Times
Word of the Day: ancillary
This word has appeared in 110 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
fix (2)
a dose of an illegal drug, especially one that is injected with a syringe
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fix (2)
a dose of an illegal drug, especially one that is injected with a syringe
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Englishclub
fix (2)
Learn English Through Football
Learn English Through Football Podcast: Book their place
In this week's football-language podcast we look at a phrase connected to qualifying for a competition or tournament: book their place after some recent 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The post Learn English Through Football Podcast: Book their place appeared first on Learn English Through Football.
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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Book their place
In this week's football-language podcast we look at a phrase connected to qualifying for a competition or tournament: book their place after some recent 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The post Learn English Through Football Podcast: Book their place appeared first on Learn English Through Football.
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
insinuate
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 9, 2025 is:
insinuate \in-SIN-yuh-wayt\ verb
To insinuate something (especially something bad or insulting) is to say it in a subtle or indirect way. Insinuate can also mean "to gradually make (oneself) a part of a group, a person's life, etc., often by behaving in a dishonest way."
// When the teacher questioned the students about their identical test answers, they knew she was insinuating that they had cheated.
// They have managed to insinuate themselves into the city's most influential social circles.
See the entry >
Examples:
"... when perennial talk among beachgoers about where to spend those beautiful but fleeting summer days involves rumors that, perhaps Narragansett is, say, uninviting to nonlocals, officials contend that just isn't true. 'When people say that or insinuate that Narragansett Town Beach is unfriendly or unwelcoming to nonresidents, this is absolutely untruthful,' said Parks and Recreation director Michelle Kershaw." — Christopher Gavin, The Boston Globe, 3 Nov. 2024
Did you know?
Insinuating involves a kind of figurative bending or curving around your meaning: you introduce something—an idea, an accusation, a point of view—without saying it directly. The winding path is visible in the word’s etymology: insinuate comes from the Latin verb sinuare, meaning "to bend or curve," which in turn comes from the Latin noun sinus, meaning "curve." The influence of Latin sinus is visible elsewhere too: in the mathematical terms sine and cosine, the adjective sinuous ("having many twists and turns"), and the noun sinus ("any of several spaces in the skull that connect with the nostrils").
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insinuate
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 9, 2025 is:
insinuate \in-SIN-yuh-wayt\ verb
To insinuate something (especially something bad or insulting) is to say it in a subtle or indirect way. Insinuate can also mean "to gradually make (oneself) a part of a group, a person's life, etc., often by behaving in a dishonest way."
// When the teacher questioned the students about their identical test answers, they knew she was insinuating that they had cheated.
// They have managed to insinuate themselves into the city's most influential social circles.
See the entry >
Examples:
"... when perennial talk among beachgoers about where to spend those beautiful but fleeting summer days involves rumors that, perhaps Narragansett is, say, uninviting to nonlocals, officials contend that just isn't true. 'When people say that or insinuate that Narragansett Town Beach is unfriendly or unwelcoming to nonresidents, this is absolutely untruthful,' said Parks and Recreation director Michelle Kershaw." — Christopher Gavin, The Boston Globe, 3 Nov. 2024
Did you know?
Insinuating involves a kind of figurative bending or curving around your meaning: you introduce something—an idea, an accusation, a point of view—without saying it directly. The winding path is visible in the word’s etymology: insinuate comes from the Latin verb sinuare, meaning "to bend or curve," which in turn comes from the Latin noun sinus, meaning "curve." The influence of Latin sinus is visible elsewhere too: in the mathematical terms sine and cosine, the adjective sinuous ("having many twists and turns"), and the noun sinus ("any of several spaces in the skull that connect with the nostrils").
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Wordsmith.org: Today's Word
epiphany
noun: A sudden insight, understanding, or realization.
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epiphany
noun: A sudden insight, understanding, or realization.
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Wordsmith.org
epiphany
noun: A sudden insight, understanding, or realization.
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Word of the Day
rappel
Definition: (verb) Lower oneself with a rope coiled around the body from a mountainside.
Synonyms: abseil, rope down.
Usage: She decided to try and overcome her fear of heights by learning to rappel.
Discuss
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rappel
Definition: (verb) Lower oneself with a rope coiled around the body from a mountainside.
Synonyms: abseil, rope down.
Usage: She decided to try and overcome her fear of heights by learning to rappel.
Discuss
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TheFreeDictionary.com
rappel
Definition, Synonyms, Translations of rappel by The Free Dictionary
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Idiom of the Day
scare (someone) silly
To shock or frighten someone very suddenly and/or severely. Hyperbolically alludes to frightening someone so severely as to cause them to lose their mind. Watch the video
Don't forget to drop a ❤️
➖ @EngSkills ➖
scare (someone) silly
To shock or frighten someone very suddenly and/or severely. Hyperbolically alludes to frightening someone so severely as to cause them to lose their mind. Watch the video
Don't forget to drop a ❤️
➖ @EngSkills ➖
TheFreeDictionary.com
scare (one) silly
Definition of scare (someone) silly in the Idioms Dictionary by The Free Dictionary
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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
stand down
to resign or retire from a job or a position
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stand down
to resign or retire from a job or a position
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Englishclub
stand down
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Word of the Day
Word of the Day: raconteur
This word has appeared in 31 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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Word of the Day: raconteur
This word has appeared in 31 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
➖ @EngSkills ➖
NY Times
Word of the Day: raconteur
This word has appeared in 31 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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Englishclub
freebie
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Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
griot
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 10, 2025 is:
griot \GREE-oh\ noun
The term griot refers to any of a class of musician-entertainers of western Africa whose performances include tribal histories and genealogies. The term is also used broadly to refer to a storyteller.
// Tracing her family lineage back to West African griots inspired the singer to focus on storytelling through her music.
See the entry >
Examples:
“Music is both the subject and mechanism of Sinners, which opens with a voiceover history of how some musicians, dating back to the West African griots, have been seen as conduits between this world and the one beyond.” — Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 22 Apr. 2025
Did you know?
In many West African countries, the role of cultural guardian is maintained, as it has been for centuries, by griots. Griot—a borrowing from French—refers to an oral historian, musician, storyteller, and sometimes praise singer. (Griots are called by other names as well: jeli or jali in Mande and gewel in Wolof, for example). Griots preserve the genealogies, historical narratives, and oral traditions of their tribes. Among the instruments traditionally played by griots are two lutes: the long-necked, 21-string kora, and the khalam, thought by some to be the ancestor of the banjo.
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griot
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 10, 2025 is:
griot \GREE-oh\ noun
The term griot refers to any of a class of musician-entertainers of western Africa whose performances include tribal histories and genealogies. The term is also used broadly to refer to a storyteller.
// Tracing her family lineage back to West African griots inspired the singer to focus on storytelling through her music.
See the entry >
Examples:
“Music is both the subject and mechanism of Sinners, which opens with a voiceover history of how some musicians, dating back to the West African griots, have been seen as conduits between this world and the one beyond.” — Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 22 Apr. 2025
Did you know?
In many West African countries, the role of cultural guardian is maintained, as it has been for centuries, by griots. Griot—a borrowing from French—refers to an oral historian, musician, storyteller, and sometimes praise singer. (Griots are called by other names as well: jeli or jali in Mande and gewel in Wolof, for example). Griots preserve the genealogies, historical narratives, and oral traditions of their tribes. Among the instruments traditionally played by griots are two lutes: the long-necked, 21-string kora, and the khalam, thought by some to be the ancestor of the banjo.
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Merriam-Webster
Definition of GRIOT
any of a class of musician-entertainers of western Africa whose performances include tribal histories and genealogies; broadly : storyteller… See the full definition
Wordsmith.org: Today's Word
sacrificial lamb
noun: Someone or something blamed or sent to their doom in order to spare others.
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sacrificial lamb
noun: Someone or something blamed or sent to their doom in order to spare others.
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Wordsmith.org
sacrificial lamb
noun: Someone or something blamed or sent to their doom in order to spare others.
Word of the Day
disburse
Definition: (verb) Expend, as from a fund.
Synonyms: pay out.
Usage: The aid will not be disbursed until next year, so until then, the refugees will have to fend for themselves.
Discuss
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disburse
Definition: (verb) Expend, as from a fund.
Synonyms: pay out.
Usage: The aid will not be disbursed until next year, so until then, the refugees will have to fend for themselves.
Discuss
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TheFreeDictionary.com
disburse
Definition, Synonyms, Translations of disburse by The Free Dictionary
Idiom of the Day
scream (one's) head off
To scream or yell very loudly and lengthily. Watch the video
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scream (one's) head off
To scream or yell very loudly and lengthily. Watch the video
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TheFreeDictionary.com
scream (one's) head off
Definition of scream (one's) head off in the Idioms Dictionary by The Free Dictionary
Word of the Day
Word of the Day: cacophonous
This word has appeared in 21 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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Word of the Day: cacophonous
This word has appeared in 21 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
➖ @EngSkills ➖
NY Times
Word of the Day: cacophonous
This word has appeared in 21 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
zoomorphic
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 11, 2025 is:
zoomorphic \zoh-uh-MOR-fik\ adjective
Zoomorphic describes things that have the form of an animal.
// The local bakery is famous for its wide variety of zoomorphic treats, from “hedgehog” dinner rolls to delicate, swan-shaped pastries.
See the entry >
Examples:
“The oldest known ceramics come from a handful of sites in the Czech Republic and date back to about 28,000 B.C.E., roughly 10,000 years after the Neanderthals went extinct. A now iconic figure of a woman and assorted ceramics were found at a Czech site called Dolni Vestonice in 1925. Additional anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines were found over the ensuing decades, and in 2002 fingerprints were discovered on many of the objects.” — Jaimie Seaton, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 July 2024
Did you know?
The first-known use of zoomorphic in English is a translation of the French word zoomorphique, used in a mid-19th century book on paleography to describe an ornately designed Greek letter in a manuscript from the Middle Ages: “The text commences with a zoomorphic letter, formed of two winged dragons, united by the tails, the open space being ornamented with elegant arabesques, composed of leaves and flowers …” The zoo in zoomorphique comes from the Greek noun zôion, meaning “animal,” and morphique from morphē, meaning “form.” The translation of zoomorphique to zoomorphic made perfect sense given the the existence of a similarly constructed word, anthropomorphic (“having human form”), which made its debut half a century earlier.
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zoomorphic
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 11, 2025 is:
zoomorphic \zoh-uh-MOR-fik\ adjective
Zoomorphic describes things that have the form of an animal.
// The local bakery is famous for its wide variety of zoomorphic treats, from “hedgehog” dinner rolls to delicate, swan-shaped pastries.
See the entry >
Examples:
“The oldest known ceramics come from a handful of sites in the Czech Republic and date back to about 28,000 B.C.E., roughly 10,000 years after the Neanderthals went extinct. A now iconic figure of a woman and assorted ceramics were found at a Czech site called Dolni Vestonice in 1925. Additional anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines were found over the ensuing decades, and in 2002 fingerprints were discovered on many of the objects.” — Jaimie Seaton, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 July 2024
Did you know?
The first-known use of zoomorphic in English is a translation of the French word zoomorphique, used in a mid-19th century book on paleography to describe an ornately designed Greek letter in a manuscript from the Middle Ages: “The text commences with a zoomorphic letter, formed of two winged dragons, united by the tails, the open space being ornamented with elegant arabesques, composed of leaves and flowers …” The zoo in zoomorphique comes from the Greek noun zôion, meaning “animal,” and morphique from morphē, meaning “form.” The translation of zoomorphique to zoomorphic made perfect sense given the the existence of a similarly constructed word, anthropomorphic (“having human form”), which made its debut half a century earlier.
➖ @EngSkills ➖