Skip to main content

Word of the Day – Delexical

By January 22, 2025Word of the Day

Delexical (adj)

de-leks-ik-al

(of a verb) having little or no meaning in its own right, for example ‘take’ in take a photograph.

1980s

Example sentences

“Phrasal verbs are a quirk of the language, but these delexical words have no real meaning in their literal sense.”

Word of the Day – Wuther

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Wuther (verb) wuth-uhr

Word of the Day – Tenacious

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Tenacious (adj) ten-ay-shus

Word of the Day – Natch

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Natch (adverb) nach

Word of the Day – Entelechy

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Entelechy (noun) en-tel-ek-ee

Word of the Day – Somnambulism

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Somnambulism (noun) som-nam-boo-liz-m

Word of the Day – Amphigory

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Amphigory (noun) am-fi-gor-ee

Word of the Day – Demarcation

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Word of the Day - Demarcation (noun) dee-mar-kay-shun

Word of the Day – Soigné

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Soigné (adj) swahn-yay Carefully or elegantly done, operated, or designed First recorded in 1915–20. Borrowed directly from French; originally from soin, meaning “care.” (more…)

Word of the Day – Scuttle

| Word of the Day | No Comments
Scuttle (verb) skut-l to run with quick, hasty steps First recorded between 1450–1500. Combines scud, meaning “to dart or run,” + frequentative suffix -le. Sometimes associated with the locomotion of…