This week’s theme
Tosspot words

This week’s words
spitfire
shuteye
rotgut
clutchfist
fusspot

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(ROT-guht)

MEANING:

noun: A cheap or inferior alcoholic drink.

ETYMOLOGY:

From the possibility that a drink that’s poorly made or adulterated could damage the internal organs of the drinker. Earliest documented use: 1632.

USAGE:

“Secrecy is like wine. The good stuff is delectable, essential to the functioning of civilisation, a boon, and a blessing. The bad stuff is rotgut, frequently overpriced and dangerously inebriating.”
Ben Macintyre; The Stench of a Cover-Up over Libya Grows; The Times (London, UK); Jan 10, 2014.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: