This week’s theme
Words related to clothing

This week’s words
top-hat
coattail
hairshirt
stuffed shirt
slyboots

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(HAIR-shuhrt)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A shirt made of haircloth, worn next to the skin as a penance.
2. A self-imposed punishment or penance.
3. A secret affliction.

ETYMOLOGY:

In some faiths, as a sign of penance some people wear garments made of coarse animal hair close to their skin. From Old English haer + scyrte. Earliest documented use: 1737. Also see cilice.

USAGE:

“‘We have spent a lot of time in this state wearing the hairshirt that we’re not going to pay people large sums of money to run institutions in this state,’ Jones said.”
Patrick O’Donnell; State Superintendent’s Salary Debated; The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio); Jan 14, 2016.

See more usage examples of hairshirt in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: