The Words of the Week - Jan. 30
Dictionary lookups from Venezuela, Minneapolis, and Winter Storm Fern
‘Fascism’
Fascism is a top lookup most weeks, and often the top lookup. This week its popularity could be due in part to an article published in The Atlantic titled “Yes, It’s Fascism,” which explores the meaning of the word and its applicability to the current political moment in the United States.
Fascism is not a territory with clearly marked boundaries but a constellation of characteristics. When you view the stars together, the constellation plainly appears.
—Jonathan Rauch, The Atlantic, 25 Jan. 2026
We define the relevant sense of fascism as “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.” Fascism is also used broadly for a philosophy or system with some combination of fascist values and governing structures.
‘Fern’
The name of massive winter storm that affected large portions of the continental United States this week drove a spike in lookups for fern.
Many cities with mild climates are reeling from the record-breaking amounts of snow from Winter Storm Fern.
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Fern, which is sometimes used as a personal name, refers to any of a division (Polypodiophyta) or class (Polypodiopsida) of flowerless spore-producing vascular plants having alternating sporophyte and gametophyte generations, and especially any of an order (Polypodiales) of homosporous plants possessing roots, stems, and leaflike fronds. The word fern traces back through Middle English to the Old English fearn, which shares an older relative with the Sanskrit parṇa, meaning “wing, leaf.”
‘Discombobulate’
A novel noun use of the verb discombobulate by the U.S. president drove increased lookups for the word.
President Donald Trump said the US used a weapon he referred to as a “discombobulator” to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro this month, but a senior US official said he’s likely conflating tools used by the US military. “The discombobulator, I’m not allowed to talk about it,” Trump told the New York Post in an interview that published Saturday ...
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We define discombobulate as an informal verb meaning “to cause to be in a state of confusion”; the word is thought to have originated as an alteration of discompose. We do not currently define discombobulator as a weapon or anything else, but it has appeared in print before in a wide variety of contexts, generally meaning “one that discombobulates.”
The most popular jump in the shows is the discombobulator, Reinhart said. It’s a backflip with a half twist and a backward landing.
—Viewers will miss more than [Ross] Perot, the can-do man, the discombobulator, the irritant sand grain in the oyster shell.
—... discombobulator: a series of teeter-totters linked together by big strips of rubber.
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‘Central casting’
The president also invoked central casting this week in describing his nominee for Fed chairman, and the entry became a top lookup on Friday morning.
“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump posted on his Truth Social site. “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down.”
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Central casting refers to the department of a movie studio responsible for casting actors seen as being stereotypical in appearance, behavior, or nature. It is used most often in phrases such as “right/straight out of central casting” to describe someone who fits a stereotype. The term has often been used by the president in the past:
At a luncheon at the Capitol, Mr. Trump said the generals in his cabinet "are going to keep us so safe" while describing them as out of “central casting.”
—When Trump was trolling him about becoming secretary of state, he said Romney looked like he was “right out of Central Casting.”
—“Right out of central casting,” Trump says of O’Brien.
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‘Brandish’
The death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis has led to brandish becoming a top lookup.
Noem’s claims included that Pretti had “attacked” officers and was “brandishing” a gun; Pretti was licensed to carry a concealed weapon in Minnesota, and it was taken from his waistband area by a federal agent moments before he was shot at least 10 times. “I don’t have any evidence that I’ve seen that suggests that the weapon was brandished,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said in a Sunday interview on CBS.
—D.H.S. Review Does Not Say Pretti Brandished Gun, As Noem Claimed
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We define the relevant sense of brandish as “to shake or wave (something, such as a weapon) menacingly." The link between brandish and weaponry is present in the word’s etymology: brandish comes ultimately from a Germanic word meaning “sword.”
‘Armada’
The word armada also made the news this week, prompting a spike in lookups on Wednesday.
Trump threatens Iran with ‘massive armada,’ urging nuclear deal
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We define the relative sense of armada as “a fleet of warships.” The word is a borrowing of the Spanish armada, meaning “military force, fleet of warships,” which comes in turn from the verb armar, “to arm, equip.”
Word Worth Knowing: ‘Gropsing’
Should you ever tire of using the word dusk for the darker part of twilight, might we suggest gropsing? It will turn heads for sure, and like another synonym, gloaming, sounds like kind of a bummer, but rest assured you’ll have it pretty much all to yourself. Recorded in 19th century dictionaries and glossaries of the dialect of English spoken in southwest England, it was already considered obsolete by that time. (The quoted use shown below is from 1616). The OED considers its origins unknown, but suggests the word might be related to another obsolete word for twilight (morning or evening), grisping.
Another witness in the case was a young woman of a roving disposition, described as one “whoe hath longe wandred the country,” who, with another damsel equally unsettled:— “Both came unto the sayd Tryvatts howse in the gropsing of the yevening, beinge on a Satterday, where they founde a shoulder of mutton at the fyer.”
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