February 2026 Word of the Day

Altruistic (adj.) 

• Definition:  Showing a disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. 
• Sentence:  Critics debated whether the character’s sacrifice was truly altruistic or merely a calculated move to secure his legacy.

Bellicose (adj.) 

• Definition:  Demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight. 
• Sentence:  The general’s bellicose rhetoric during the summit made a peaceful resolution seem increasingly unlikely.

Chicanery (noun) 

• Definition:  The use of trickery or sophistry to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose. 
• Sentence:  The antagonist’s rise to power was fueled by legal chicanery rather than the genuine support of the people.

Diffident (adj.) 

• Definition:  Modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence. 
• Sentence:  Though she was the most brilliant scientist in the room, her diffident nature kept her from speaking up during the debate.

Epigram (noun) 

• Definition:  A pithy saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever and amusing way. 
• Sentence:  Oscar Wilde was famous for the epigram, such as his claim that “I can resist everything except temptation.”

Expurgate (verb) 

• Definition:  To remove matter thought to be objectionable or unsuitable from a book or account. 
• Sentence:  The editors decided to expurgate the more graphic descriptions in the memoir to make it appropriate for a younger audience.

Fatuous (adj.) 

• Definition:  Silly and pointless. 
• Sentence:  The talk show host’s fatuous remarks about the global crisis revealed his complete lack of understanding of the situation.

Garrulous (adj.) 

• Definition:  Excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters. 
• Sentence:  The garrulous neighbor turned a simple “hello” into a forty-minute monologue about his collection of vintage stamps.

Hegemony (noun) 

• Definition:  Leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others. 
• Sentence:  The essay analyzed how the British Empire maintained cultural hegemony long after its military power began to wane.

Inculcate (verb) 

• Definition:  To instill an attitude, idea, or habit by persistent instruction. 
• Sentence:  The goal of the academy was to inculcate a sense of civic duty and intellectual rigor in every graduate.

Ineluctable (adj.) 

• Definition:  Unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable. 
• Sentence:  In Greek tragedies, the hero’s downfall often feels ineluctable, as if the Fates have already woven the ending.

Jejune (adj.) 

• Definition:  Naive, simplistic, and superficial; or (of writing) dry and uninteresting. 
• Sentence:  The professor dismissed the student’s argument as jejune, noting that it failed to account for the historical nuances of the era.

Kowtow (verb) 

• Definition:  To act in an excessively subservient manner. 
• Sentence:  The director refused to kowtow to the studio executives’ demands, insisting on keeping his original, darker ending.

Laissez-faire (adj.) 

• Definition:  A policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering. 
• Sentence:  The teacher’s laissez-faire approach to classroom management worked well for the independent honors students but failed the freshmen.

Metonymy (noun) 

• Definition:  The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant. 
• Sentence:  Using the phrase “the White House issued a statement” is a classic example of metonymy, where the building represents the administration.

Nihilism (noun) 

• Definition:  The rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless. 
• Sentence:  The modern novel explores the nihilism of the post-war generation, who felt abandoned by traditional institutions.

Obsequious (adj.) 

• Definition:  Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree. 
• Sentence:  The prince was weary of the obsequious courtiers who agreed with every word he said, regardless of his mistakes.

Paradigm (noun) 

• Definition:  A typical example or pattern of something; a model. 
• Sentence:  The discovery of the new subatomic particle caused a paradigm shift in the field of theoretical physics.

Precipitous (adj.)

• Definition:  Dangerously high or steep; or (of a change) sudden and dramatic. 
• Sentence:  The company faced a precipitous decline in stock value following the scandal involving the CEO.

Quixotic (adj.) 

• Definition:  Exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical. 
• Sentence:  His quixotic attempt to end world hunger through a series of viral videos was admired for its heart but criticized for its lack of strategy.

Quotidian (adj.) 

• Definition:  Of or occurring every day; daily; ordinary or mundane. 
• Sentence:  While the poem begins with the quotidian act of making coffee, it quickly evolves into a meditation on the passage of time.

Reticent (adj.) 

• Definition:  Not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily. 
• Sentence:  Unlike her boisterous siblings, Maya was reticent, preferring to observe the party from a quiet corner.

Solipsism (noun) 

• Definition:  The theory that the self is all that can be known to exist. 
• Sentence:  The narrator’s extreme solipsism made it difficult for the reader to trust his descriptions of other characters.

Tautology (noun) 

• Definition:  The saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered a fault of style. 
• Sentence:  The phrase “free gift” is a tautology, as a gift is, by definition, free.

Unctuous (adj.) 

• Definition:  (Of a person) excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily.  
• Sentence:  The salesman’s unctuous compliments made the couple feel uneasy rather than persuaded.

Vacillate (verb) 

• Definition:  To alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive. 
• Sentence:  Hamlet is famous for his tendency to vacillate, struggling to decide whether to take immediate action or wait.

Winnow (verb) 

• Definition:  To blow a current of air through (grain) in order to remove the chaff; figuratively, to sift through or eliminate. 
• Sentence:  The admissions committee had to winnow thousands of applications down to a final list of only one hundred students.

Zealot (noun) 

• Definition:  A person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals. 
• Sentence:  While his dedication to the environment was admirable, his peers viewed him as a zealot when he stopped using electricity entirely.