This week's theme
Negative words

This week's words
disingenuous
picaresque
venal
miasma
vituperation

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(VEEN-l)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Capable of being bought: open to bribery.
2. Of or related to bribery.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin venalis (that which is for sale), from venum (sale). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wes- (to buy) that is also the source of vend, bazaar, vilify, and monopsony. Earliest documented use: 1827.

USAGE:

"Named in honour of one of the most notoriously venal and corrupt banking groups of all time, the motor yacht Medici was the perfect status toy."
David Chaplin; How the Medici Sunk Bridgecorp; The New Zealand Herald (Auckland); Sep 15, 2010.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: