March 2026 Word of the Day

Avarice (noun) 

• Definition:  Extreme greed for wealth or material gain. 
• Sentence:  The dictator’s avarice eventually led to the bankruptcy of his once-prosperous nation.

Beguile (verb) 

• Definition:  Charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way. 
• Sentence:  He managed to beguile the investors with his charismatic personality and lofty promises.

Bellicose (adjective) 

• Definition:  Demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight. 
• Sentence:  The general’s bellicose rhetoric during the press conference signaled that diplomacy was failing.

Chicanery (noun) 

• Definition:  The use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose.
• Sentence:  The investigation revealed a web of financial chicanery designed to hide the company’s massive debt.

Cognizant (adjective) 

• Definition:  Having knowledge or being aware of. 
• Sentence:  The committee was cognizant of the potential risks before they approved the new medical trial.

Desultory (adjective) 

• Definition:  Lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm. 
• Sentence:  They had a desultory conversation about the weather while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Diatribe (noun) 

• Definition:  A forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something. 
• Sentence:  What started as a simple disagreement turned into a long diatribe against the local school board.

Efficacy (noun) 

• Definition:  The ability to produce a desired or intended result. 
• Sentence:  Recent clinical trials have confirmed the efficacy of the new vaccine in preventing the virus.

Exculpate (verb) 

• Definition:  Show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing. 
• Sentence:  The forensic evidence served to exculpate the suspect, proving he was miles away at the time of the crime.

Fractious (adjective) 

• Definition:  (typically of children) irritable and quarrelsome; difficult to control. 
• Sentence:  After the long flight, the fractious passengers began arguing over the limited overhead bin space.

Garrulous (adjective) 

• Definition:  Excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters. 
• Sentence:  The garrulous host made it difficult for any of the guests to get a word in edgise.

Harangue (noun) 

• Definition:  A lengthy and aggressive speech. 
• Sentence:  We were forced to listen to his harangue about the benefits of a raw food diet for nearly an hour.

Inimical (adjective) 

• Definition:  Tending to obstruct or harm; unfriendly; hostile. 
• Sentence:  The harsh desert conditions were inimical to the growth of most garden plants.

Jubilant (adjective) 

• Definition:  Feeling or expressing great happiness and triumph. 
• Sentence:  The crowd was jubilant as the clock struck midnight, marking the start of the new era.

Knave (noun) 

• Definition:  A dishonest or unscrupulous man. 
• Sentence:  In the classic folk tale, the knave tricks the villagers into giving him their gold.

Loquacious (adjective) 

• Definition:  Tending to talk a great deal; talkative. 
• Sentence:  The loquacious tour guide provided so much detail that the group fell behind schedule.

Mundane (adjective) 

• Definition:  Lacking interest or excitement; dull. 
• Sentence:  After his adventurous summer in the Alps, returning to his mundane office job was difficult.

Neophyte (noun) 

• Definition:  A person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief. 
• Sentence:  Even a neophyte in the kitchen could follow this simple recipe and produce a gourmet meal.

Onerous (adjective) 

• Definition:  (of a task, duty, or responsibility) involving an amount of effort and difficulty that is oppressively burdensome. 
• Sentence:  The onerous task of documenting every single transaction took the accounting team weeks to complete.

Paucity (noun) 

• Definition:  The presence of something only in small or insufficient quantities or amounts; scarcity. 
• Sentence:  There is a paucity of evidence to support the claim that the ancient ruins were built by aliens.

Querulous (adjective) 

• Definition:  Complaining in a petulant or whining manner. 
• Sentence:  The querulous child refused to eat his vegetables, insisting they were “too green.”

Recalcitrant (adjective) 

• Definition:  Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.
• Sentence:  The recalcitrant teenager refused to follow the rules of the boarding school.

Surfeit (noun) 

• Definition:  An excessive amount of something. 
• Sentence:  After the harvest festival, there was a surfeit of apples that the farmers struggled to sell.

Truculent (adjective) 

• Definition:  Eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant. 
• Sentence:  His truculent behavior toward the referee resulted in an immediate ejection from the game.

Umbrage (noun) 

• Definition:  Offense or annoyance. 
• Sentence:  She took umbrage at his suggestion that her success was due entirely to luck.

Vacillate (verb) 

• Definition:  Alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive. 
• Sentence:  I tend to vacillate between ordering the steak or the salmon whenever we eat at this restaurant.

Wily (adjective) 

• Definition:  Skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully. 
• Sentence:  The wily politician knew exactly how to pivot the conversation to avoid answering the difficult question.

Xenophobic (adjective) 

• Definition:  Having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries. 
• Sentence:  The rise of xenophobic rhetoric in the media caused deep concern among human rights advocates.

Yoke (verb) 

• Definition:  To join, link, or unite together. 
• Sentence:  The two small tech startups decided to yoke their resources to compete with the industry leader.

Zenith (noun) 

• Definition:  The time at which something is most powerful or successful. 
• Sentence:  Many critics believe the band reached its artistic zenith with their third studio album.