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Dec 28, 2010
This week's theme
Words derived from the names of body parts

This week's words
supercilious
impugn
sinister
orchidaceous
charivari
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

impugn

PRONUNCIATION:
(im-PYOON)

MEANING:
verb tr.: To call in question or cast doubt upon.

ETYMOLOGY:
Via French from Latin impugnare (to attack), from im- (towards) + pugnare (to fight), from pugnus (fist). Ultimately from the Indo-European root peuk- (to prick) which is also the source of point, puncture, pungent, punctual, poignant, pounce, and poniard. Earliest documented use: 1384.

USAGE:
"'You can't impugn somebody's integrity without having proper evidence,' David Collier, chief executive of board, said earlier."
Huw Richards; Troubled Tour Ends for Pakistan; The New York Times; Sep 23, 2010.

See more usage examples of impugn in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. -John Gilmore, software engineer and activist (b. 1957)

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