This week’s theme
Misleading words

This week’s words
armipotent
legation
lipography
ribald
nosography

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(RI-buhld, RAI-bald)

MEANING:

adjective: Relating to coarse humor of sexual nature.
noun: A person who uses such language or humor.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Anglo-French, from Old French riber (to be wanton), from riban (to be in heat or to copulate). Earliest documented use: 1250.

USAGE:

“Time had not dimmed Mrs. Sapia’s ribald sense of humor and joie de vivre. ‘At Brightview, she had a sign on her door that said, Hot Men Only Allowed Here,’ Ms. Fowler said, with a laugh. When she fell in a parking lot and they were waiting for the paramedics, her son Ralph asked his mother, ‘What’s going on, Mom?’ She answered, ‘I wanted to see if those firefighters are really hot.’”
Frederick N. Rasmussen; Anna E. ‘Betty’ Sapia, Ocean City Restaurateur; The Baltimore Sun (Maryland); Sep 28, 2022.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: