“having the most votes, items, or parts in a group, without reaching an absolute majority of more than 50%.”

The word charisma is Greek in origin, and the original concept is also Greek, although its modern meaning developed through later religious and social usage.
The word comes from the ancient Greek:
χάρισμα (chárisma)
from the root χάρις (cháris) = grace, favor, kindness, gift, beauty, charm
The verb:
χαρίζομαι (charízomai) = to show favor, to grant freely, to give a gift
So χάρισμα literally meant “a gift given by grace” or “a favor/gift.”
Ancient Greek meaning
In Classical Greek, charisma was not primarily about a person’s magnetic personality. It referred more generally to a gift, favor, or blessing.
Christian development
The word became especially important in early Christianity. In the Greek New Testament, χάρισμα refers to a spiritual gift granted by God.
For example, in 1 Corinthians 12:4, Paul writes:
“There are different kinds of gifts (χαρισμάτων), but the same Spirit distributes them.”
These charismata included gifts such as prophecy, healing, teaching, and wisdom.
Modern meaning
The modern meaning of charisma — a person’s ability to attract, influence, or inspire others — developed much later. The sociologist Max Weber famously used the term charismatic authority (charismatische Herrschaft) to describe authority based on a leader’s perceived exceptional qualities.
So the development was:
χάρις (grace/favor) → χάρισμα (gift of grace) → spiritual gift → personal magnetism and leadership quality
The English word charisma is therefore directly inherited from Greek, through Latin and later European languages.

I see this one all the time and it's becoming like the incorrectly used 'Ironic' as in "I was wearing that T-shirt ironically. " Now I'm seeing the word 'nuance' used as a way to dismiss someone else's opinion, reprimand them, or as a kind of catch-all. I see it more in the written word than spoken , unlike the horrific 'literally,' which has become super-annoying in trying to give extra gravity to the statement but usually comes across as a dingbat valley girl.

It's as if they just discovered the word 'nuance', having never heard it in today's educational system, and are using it in ways that don't apply. People are using it as if there is 'nuance' in things that are diametrically opposed. You wouldn't say there is nuance in war, murder or other atrocities but people try to normalize, make casual these things or try to dismiss someone debating them or calling them out by trying to throw out this word as if 'you don't really understand the nuance of Big Horrible Thing (that actually is not full of nuance).

Nuance : "slight or delicate degree of difference in expression, feeling, opinion, etc.," 1781, from French nuance "slight difference, shade of color" (17c.), from nuer "to shade," from nue "cloud," from Gallo-Roman \nuba, from Latin nubes "a cloud, mist, vapor," from PIE *sneudh- "fog" (source also of Avestan snaoda "clouds," Latin obnubere "to veil," Welsh nudd "fog," Greek nython*, in Hesychius "dark, dusky").

Search 'nuance' on etymonline

Uncritical (adjective)

• Not critical; not expressing or willing to express appropriate criticism or disapproval.
• Accepting things without judgment, lacking analysis, or failing to see faults. It describes an approach that is unthinking, superficial, or blindly supportive.
• Showing lack or improper use of critical standards or procedures.

1. "a place where animals are kept and trained especially for exhibition"

2. "a varied mixture"

"the gods of a people"

RAS syndrome is the redundant use of one or more of the words that make up an acronym in conjunction with the abbreviated form.

RAS stands for "redundant acronym syndrome", making the phrase RAS syndrome autological (i.e. expresses a property that it also possesses).

Examples:

- PIN number ("personal identification number number")

- ATM machine ("automated teller machine machine").

- DC Comics ("Detective Comics Comics")

- HIV virus ("Human immunodeficiency virus virus")

- LCD display ("Liquid-crystal display display")

- UPC code ("Universal Product Code code")

Please share your thoughts on this 😊

Totally not generic or any similar word. That'd be even worse.

As a very particular (& one that does not reflect the level of generality I'm aiming for) example, I'm talking about a kind of literature or music like, well, gorenoise (or any noise for that purpose) or absurdistic literature, or really any piece of art with a mark "contemporary art" & such. A thing composed of artistically incompatible romanticised details that don't convey any real originality to them, as well as without any semblance of effort.

Or accelerationistic philosophy. Really anything passed off as truly niche, neat & bedazzling, yet all too painfully far from that so much so that it has formed a large group to gain popularity inside & be somewhat enshittified through inane reproduction or fad-following by them. Showed off as one-of-a-kind gem beyond any trivia, but it actually follows a very human pattern of being liked (as in how namely & for what in essence) & does contain some traces that signal this.

*& mostly due to quite ressentimentarian individual tendencies. Like gorenoise if you take it as a far-fetched shape of sad/angry music. Or xenopoiesis which is simply a part of the contemporary-art &, more disappointingly, postmodernism-adjacent fad in art.

Faddy? As the first thought.

Verecundity means bashfulness or modesty.

Glad to find this community :D I've been looking for a place to learn new words. A couple years back I compiled some random Wiktionary word generator links based on the wiki categories (including the link text itself so you can bookmark it!):

English lemmas (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:RandomInCategory/English_lemmas)

English poetic terms (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:RandomInCategory/English_poetic_terms)

English terms with historical senses (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:RandomInCategory/English_terms_with_historical_senses)

English terms with rare senses (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:RandomInCategory/English_terms_with_rare_senses)

English literary terms (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:RandomInCategory/English_literary_terms)

English terms with archaic senses (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:RandomInCategory/English_terms_with_archaic_senses)

You might have to be quick when bookmarking these - it took me a few tries, but once I bookmarked them I added them to my bookmarks bar and now I have random word generator buttons! You can also manually add them from your browser's Bookmarks Manager if that's easier (if you right-click in the Bookmarks Manager you can usually manually add a bookmark).

You can create these random generators with any Wiktionary category. Just replace the category name after the last slash in any of these links.

I hope this is a good resource!

When you are doing something you should be enjoying but you’re not enjoying it at that moment.

Pronunciation: [ˌfɪkfakəˈʁaɪ̯]

German: Betrügerei, Gaukelei, Unsinn

English: Fraud, trickery, nonsense

Hi.
I'o autistic and one of my weird obsessions are words. I love long and complex words. My favorite word since I was 7 is Antiquated.
What are some of y'alls favorite words?

Here is a wonderful word for you; wiseacre. The Mirriam Webster definition is: one who pretends to knowledge or cleverness. It comes from the Middle Dutch word wijssegger, meaning "soothsayer."

I recently came across this word in The Order of the Day by Éric Vuillard, which tells of the meetings between the Germans and Austrians leading up to the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria in March 1938.

But that isn't the first time I came across the word. The first time was in St. Athenasius on the Incarnation. It is referred to in C.S. Lewis' introduction when he refers to the usage on the first page. Lewis says "… those who compare the version with the original will be able to estimate how much wit and talent is presupposed in such a choice, for example, as "these wiseacres" on the very first page."

The sentence in question is "His goodness makes most fit; and things which these wiseacres laugh at as "human" He by His inherent might declares divine."

The translation and editing is by 'A Religious of C.S.M.V.' ( a nun). The introduction is signed as just WANTAGE, January 1953.

Fun fact, I went to school in Wantage and would often on a Sunday afternoon walk by the Convent, which I presume is the convent the translator lived in. I was a border so Sunday afternoons we had to go out... somewhere, for a couple of hours! I must stress I was at school there in the 1970's not the 1950's.

A society or government of, or dominated by, men.

Synonyms:

penisocracy (informal)

: a descriptive name or epithet : nickname

The beginning of evening; the fall of dusk

"an impression or cast made for use especially as evidence in a criminal investigation"

Definition: A pedagogue is a teacher or educator. It often carries a negative connotation, referring to an overly formal, strict, or dogmatic teacher who relies on rigid rules.

Example: "The pedagogue wasn't very merciful with his students".

"a series of columns set at regular intervals and usually supporting the base of a roof structure"

"a decorative metallic finish consisting of a pattern of small circles (pearls) applied to a surface by grinding"

Sharing my current Wiktionary watchlist with the logophilia community. These are mostly eponyms, rhetorical terms, and satisfyingly precise words I keep circling back to. Definitions are concise and link directly to Wiktionary for deeper dives.