Larry's Pretty Good Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 23, 2025 is:

bastion • \BAS-chun\  • noun

A bastion is a place or system in which something (such as an idea) is protected and continues to survive.

// The restaurant is a bastion of the region’s ancient culinary traditions.

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Examples:

“In 2017, Harlem residents took to the streets to protest Keller Williams after the real estate company began marketing the neighborhood’s 15-block southern radius (between 110th Street and 125th Street) as ‘SoHa’ (South Harlem) without their approval. The biggest worry? That newcomers would attempt to erase Harlem’s history as a civil rights nexus and bastion of Black American culture. In response, then-New York Sen. Brian Benjamin introduced legislation that banned unsolicited name changes and fined real estate firms for using names like SoHa.” — Jake Kring-Schreifels, Spokeo, 26 Mar. 2025

Did you know?

Bastion today usually refers to a metaphorical fortress, a place where an idea, ethos, philosophy, culture, etc. is in some way protected and able to endure. But its oldest meaning concerned literal fortifications and strongholds. Bastion likely traces back to a verb, bastir, meaning “to build or weave,” from Old Occitan, a Romance language spoken in southern France from about 1100 to 1500. Bastir eventually led to bastia, an Italian word for a small quadrangular fortress, and from there bastione, referring to a part of a fortified structure—such as an outer wall—that juts or projects outward. Bastione became bastion in Middle French before entering English with the same meaning. You may be familiar with another bastir descendent, bastille, which refers generically to a prison or jail, but is best known as the name of the Parisian fortress-turned-prison stormed by an angry mob at the start of the French Revolution; the Bastille’s fall is commemorated in France by the national holiday Bastille Day.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 21, 2025 is:

hapless • \HAP-lus\  • adjective

Hapless means "having no luck." It's a synonym of unfortunate.

// The documentary follows a hapless victim of false allegations.

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Examples:

"The New York Yankees had a nice, feel-good return to their spring training home this weekend by beating up on the hapless Tampa Bay Rays." — Kristie Ackert, Athlon Sports, 19 Apr. 2025

Did you know?

Hapless means exactly what you'd expect it to mean: "without hap"—hap being another word for fortune or luck. Hap comes from the Old Norse word for "good luck," which is also the source of happen and happy. English has several words to describe those lacking good fortune, including ill-starred, ill-fated, unlucky, and luckless, a word formed in parallel to hapless by adding the suffix -less. Ill-starred suggests bringing calamity or the threat of a terrible fate ("the ill-starred year the Great Depression began"). Ill-fated refers only to being doomed ("the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic"). Unlucky and luckless usually apply to a person or thing notably or chronically unfortunate ("an unlucky slots player," "some luckless investors swindled in the deal"). Hapless is often imbued with a touch of pity, humor, or both for those to whom it refers, as in "a hapless goalie who couldn't block a shot to save his life."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 20, 2025 is:

chagrin • \shuh-GRIN\  • noun

Chagrin refers to a feeling of frustration or annoyance caused by failure or disappointment.

// I decided to take a gap year to the chagrin of my parents.

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Examples:

“Hundreds of fans decked out in Dodger blue crammed into Tokyo Haneda Airport’s arrival hall dreaming of pointing at and snapping a photo of the team or their favorite player. To their chagrin, the airport constructed partitions that blocked any view of the squad.” — Andrew J. Campa, The Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2025

Did you know?

Despite what its second syllable may lead one to believe, chagrin has nothing to do with grinning or amusement—quite the opposite, in fact. Chagrin, which almost always appears in phrases such as “to his/her/their chagrin,” refers to the distress one feels following a humiliation, disappointment, or failure. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the word’s French ancestor, the adjective chagrin, means “sad.” What may be surprising is that the noun form of the French chagrin, meaning “sorrow” or “grief,” can also refer to a rough, untanned leather (and is itself a modification of the Turkish word sağrı, meaning “leather from the rump of a horse”). This chagrin gave English the word shagreen, which can refer to such leather, or to the rough skin of various sharks and rays.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 17, 2025 is:

mercurial • \mer-KYUR-ee-ul\  • adjective

Mercurial is usually used to describe someone whose mood changes quickly and unpredictably. It can also describe something that changes frequently, such as weather, or something that is lively and quick, such as someone’s wit.

// The director had some concerns about working with the play’s lead, an actor with a reputation for having a mercurial temperament on set.

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Examples:

“‘The Guiding Light’ was the only radio soap to transition to TV. [Irna] Phillips introduced the ‘cliffhanger’ storytelling device and the mercurial female vixen character who still lives on the small screen today. Think reality TV or a Shonda Rhimes drama.” — Natalie Y. Moore, The Chicago Sun-Times, 3 Apr. 2025

Did you know?

The Roman god Mercury was the messenger and herald of the gods and also the god of merchants and thieves (his counterpart in Greek mythology is Hermes). His swiftness inspired the Romans to give his name to what they correctly assessed as the fastest-moving planet in the solar system. Mercury’s speed also apparently made the name apt for English speakers wishing to describe those whose moods travel quickly between extremes, a meaning mercurial has had since the mid-17th century. The adjective mercurial comes from the Latin mercurialis, meaning “of or relating to Mercury.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 15, 2025 is:

impervious • \im-PER-vee-us\  • adjective

Impervious describes that which does not allow something (such as water or light) to enter or pass through. It is also used formally to mean “not bothered or affected by something.” Both senses of impervious are usually used with to.

// The material is impervious to water.

// The mayor seems impervious to criticism.

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Examples:

“All of this ups the already sky-high stakes for ‘Superman,’ which relaunches the DC Universe under the direction of Gunn and Peter Safran. The film is the studio’s best hope at fielding a billion-dollar blockbuster in 2025, but even the Man of Steel isn’t impervious to box office Kryptonite.” — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025

Did you know?

Finding your way through some words’ etymologies can lead to surprising discoveries of origins that seemingly have little to do with their modern-day meanings. Impervious, which entered English in the early 1600s, is not one of those words—its history is entirely straightforward. The Latin ancestor of impervious is impervius, which adds the prefix im-, meaning “not,” to pervius, meaning “passable or penetrable.” Pervius in turn comes from per, meaning “through,” and via, meaning “way.” Impervious, it follows, describes things that don’t allow a way through something, whether literally (as in “asphalt, concrete, and other surfaces that are impervious to rain”) or figuratively (as in “impervious to criticism/pressure”). The opposite of impervious, pervious, entered English at around the same time, but it is much less common.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 14, 2025 is:

scuttlebutt • \SKUTT-ul-butt\  • noun

Scuttlebutt refers to rumor or gossip—in other words, talk or stories about someone or something that may not be true.

// According to the scuttlebutt in the financial markets, the company will be downsizing soon.

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Examples:

“If highly social otters want the local scuttlebutt, so to speak, they can pick up information through the scents fellow otters leave behind at communal latrines that a group of otters will create and use.” — Lisa Meyers McClintick, The Minnesota Star Tribune, 2 Mar. 2025

Did you know?

When office workers catch up on the latest scuttlebutt around the water cooler, they are continuing a long-standing tradition that probably also occurred on sailing ships of yore. Back in the early 1800s, scuttlebutt (an alteration of scuttled butt) referred to a cask containing a ship’s daily supply of fresh water (scuttle means “to cut a hole through the bottom,” and butt means “cask”); that name was later applied to a drinking fountain on a ship or at a naval installation. In time, the term for the water source was also applied to the gossip and rumors disseminated around it, and the latest chatter has been called “scuttlebutt” ever since.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 13, 2025 is:

apotropaic • \ap-uh-troh-PAY-ik\  • adjective

Something described as apotropaic is designed or intended to avert evil.

// The etchings are believed to be associated with ancient apotropaic rituals.

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Examples:

“Scholars ... say witches were believed to be attracted to the scent of a human shoe and, having entered one, found themselves trapped. Footwear is one of a mindboggling array of items used in apotropaic magic, designed to turn away harm or evil influence.” — Pete Pheasant, The Derby (England) Telegraph, 13 Mar. 2025

Did you know?

Apotropaic is a charming word, and not just because of its cadence. You see, this term is a literal descriptor for things believed to protect against evil. Apotropaic motifs can be found throughout history, from carvings of Greek Gorgons to charms worn to repel the evil eye. The word apotropaic comes from the Greek verb apotrépein, meaning “to turn away from, avert,” combining apo- (“away”) with trépein (“to turn”). The magic of apo- doesn’t end there: its influence is evident in many English words, including apology, apostrophe, apostle, and apocalypse.