This week’s theme
Sword Words

This week’s words
contretemps
hilt
feint
ensiform
swashbuckler


This week’s comments
AWADmail 807

Next week’s theme
There’s a word for it

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(SWASH-buhk-luhr)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A reckless, daring, swaggering adventurer.
2. A book, play, etc. dealing with such a character.

ETYMOLOGY:

From swashbuckler (one who makes a noise by striking a sword on a shield), from swash (of imitative origin) + buckler (a small round shield), from boucle (a boss on a shield), from Latin buccula, diminutive of bucca (cheek). Earliest documented use: 1560.

USAGE:

“In the 1970s and 1980s corporate swashbucklers such as Sir James Goldsmith created conglomerates through a succession of audacious takeover bids.”
Serial Thrillers; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 18, 2015.

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

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: