This week's theme
Words to describe various bodily configurations

This week's words
callipygous
prognathous
mammose
platyrrhine
lissotrichous

This week's comments
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Next week's theme
Archaic words

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(li-SO-tri-kuhs)

MEANING:

adjective: Having straight or smooth hair.

ETYMOLOGY:

The origin of this word isn't hairy at all. It's pretty straightforward -- the word is from Greek lissos (smooth) and thrix (hair). Some cousins of this word are cymotrichous (having wavy hair), trichotillomania (the compulsion to pull out one's hair), and its end result atrichia (baldness). Earliest documented use: 1880.

USAGE:

"Madonna's Blonde Ambition tour notwithstanding, women really aspire to be lissotrichous brunettes, since sleekness and shine - the season's chief criteria - show much better on dark hair."
Pamela Swanigan; Blondness: It's Probably Not the Real Thing; Vancouver Sun (Canada); Jun 16, 2001.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: