A.Word.A.Day --plethora

A.Word.A.Day

Home

May 1, 2017

This week’s theme
Ugly words

This week’s words
plethora
comestible
myriad
nugatory
fructify

A.Word.A.Day on your site
Add the daily word to your web page. It is free.

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

The word “pulchritude” may mean “beauty”, but it’s an ugly word. So are the five words featured in this week’s A.Word.A.Day.

Please don’t use them.

If you ever feel tempted to use the word plethora, stay strong. Don’t give in. Leave plethora out of your mind -- you’re better than that. In extreme cases, you may have to temporarily remove A, E, H, L, O, P, R, or T keys from your keyboard until the urge subsides. (If you have used the word in the past, well, we wouldn’t hold it against you. We all have done things that we are not proud of.)

Now, I know we shouldn’t judge a word by its spelling or sound. Also, what is one person’s ugly may be another’s beautiful. This week’s words are just my pick. What words do you find ugly, and wish no one would ever use, and you never ever have to see again?

plethora

PRONUNCIATION:

(PLETH-uhr-uh)

MEANING:

noun: An abundance or excess.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin plethora, from Greek plethore (fullness), from plethein (to be full). In the beginning the word was applied to an excess of a humor, especially blood, in the body. Earliest documented use: 1541.

USAGE:

“The plethora and panoply of scents in his talented nose alone are beyond our mutual eloquence.”
Brian Doyle; Martin Marten; Thomas Dunne Books; 2015.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A full belly to the labourer is, in my opinion, the foundation of public morals and the only source of real public peace. -William Cobbett, journalist, pamphleteer, and farmer (1763-1835)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise