Word of the Day

adjective

I know David was in a bad mood all day, but the splenetic tone of his reply to Brenda’s question was not necessary.

"If he were 10 or 15 years younger (or at least looked like he was), [Charlie] Sheen would be perfect as the splenetic, screed-spouting anti-hero of John Osborne’s 'Look Back in Anger.'" -- From an article by Ben Brantley on the New York Times Arts Beat blog, May 26, 2011

In early Western physiology, a person's physical qualities and mental disposition were believed to be determined by the proportion of four bodily humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The last of these was believed to be secreted by the spleen, causing feelings of disposition ranging from intense sadness (melancholia) to irascibility. This now-discredited association explains how the use of "splenetic" (deriving from the Late Latin "spleneticus" and the Latin "splen," meaning "spleen") came to mean both "bad-tempered" and "given to melancholy" as well as "of or relating to the spleen." In later years, the "melancholy" sense fell out of use, but the sense pertaining to ill humor or malevolence remains with us today.

Test Your Memory: What recent Word of the Day means " to engage in contemplation" or " to chew the cud"? The answer is ...

Visit our archives to see previous selections »

A mug with meaning:

The Definition of "Grumpy"

Browse all items »

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP