This week's theme
Insults

This week's words
flagitious
thewless
flaneur
prima donna
cunctator

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(PREEM-uh DON-uh)

MEANING:

noun: A self-important and temperamental person.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Italian prima donna, literally first lady. In an opera, a prima donna is the principal female singer. Because leading ladies of the opera often behaved in a vain and temperamental fashion, now the term is used for people, male or female, who have an inflated view of themselves and are difficult to work with. Earliest documented use: 1782.

USAGE:

"I was told by one well-placed source that George had been a prima donna throughout his brief stay."
Jules Quartly; Boy George Blows in and Blows Up; Taipei Times (Taiwan); May 10, 2005.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: